Happy Halloween (early)!

From Halloween

Who knew Halloween could be so eventful for a nine month old? It all began yesterday with her day care Halloween "party." We got a little invitation in her cubby that said the party was from 10:45- 11:30 and parents were welcome. I was way curious to see how babies ages 6 weeks to 12 months partied.

I got there a little late (of course), and Matt and I were the only parents there. THe babies were all stripped down to their diapers (the party had already gotten pretty wild), and they were eating paint. The teachers assured me the paint was edible, and that there was a chance some of it would end up on the pumpkins they were painting. The activity went well for about two minutes, then there was an 8-baby meltdown. As each child melted down, their pumpkin was replaced with orange jello. Then, as the fun of jello grew old (about one minute for babies who didn't realize they could eat it, 3 or 4 minutes for the ones who stuck the jello in their mouths), they got arrowroot cookies. Wild. Here's the finished pumpkin.



Today, Anne Marie donned her bear costume for Book Babies at the library. Along with the usual fun, they went trick or treating to the librarians. So Anne Marie earned me a bag of candy with her cuteness.

It would probably be seen as a blatant attempt at candy for mama if I took her trick-or-treating tomorrow, but I think she'll want to wear the costume to Home Depot and the Journal.
Tomorrow, Rosa will get the chance to wear her angel costume and Bubba and Freddy will be magicians. Stay tuned for photos.

Back to the land of the living

After two rough days of puking, pooping and sleeping, Anne Marie magically woke up this afternoon back to her old self. What a crappy experience her first stomach bug was, for both of us. I was sure it was something beyond serious when she was erupting every 10 minutes or so. I called the pediatrician in the middle of the night, who talked me down a bit, and it turns out, he was right. She did survive.

She's eating solids again as well, as shown in the photo below.

From 9 months

Tonight, we leave her with Alex for a date night! That's the price you pay for living in our basement.

An ode to Angel

Today, my kitty Angel died. I took her to the vet yesterday because she has lost a bunch of weight after a horrid cold that didn't leave her for months. They did a bunch of tests (I was supposed to find out about it today), and sent her home.

By evening, she was looking rough, drooling and throwing up, hollow eyes, but still purring, in Angel-fashion. I was actually kind of relieved she died in the night so I wouldn't have to take her to be put down in the morning. The poor thing was only 5 years old. It was just like the vet said to Angel yesterday: "You're such a sweet kitty. A pitiful life form, but a sweet kitty."

Angel came to me about four years ago when my grandma finally caught her in the backyard. She had been living there since she was about 6 weeks old without a mama, eating stale bread my grandma threw out for the birds (she was too skittish to come up to the porch for cat food).

It wasn't very hard to tame her, and she warmed right up to Freddy, my other cat at the time, and to me. In fact, she warmed up to everyone.

We had some crazy times. I had to stop buying the cat litter with crystals in it because she kept eating them (gross!), and she ran away three days before my wedding, sauntering under the crawlspace in our apartment. I was so worried she wouldn't come back, or that she would come out when the neighbors would see her (the place didn't allow pets)that I slept by the crawlspace. In the morning, when she still hadn't returned, I was sitting in the living room, calling Animal Control to see if she had somehow gotten out and been picked up, when I felt her rubbing my leg. She was absolutely filthy, but totally unharmed.

She spent her whole life sick, and lots of times her eye was goopy and her nose snotty, but she was still loving, and never seemed to mind much. She liked to sleep under the covers.

I know she's just a cat, but I'm going to miss her a lot. BEfore Anne Marie, she was one of my babies.

Here she is:


And, I can't forget about the other family member we lost this year. We found Duncan in a Dumpster outside my apartment. HE was about 5 million years old, but he hung on like a trooper. He had some senile moments in his old age, but when he was younger, he used to love to quietly walk up and paw people so he could get pets. He also prefered to drink running water, and would accept no substitutes.

Here's Duncan:


This is when we had them all. It was disturbing for some people to walk in the house and see four cats, all together.

Stealing Jeni's blog, and a poll

Anne Marie has now been asleep for nearly 3 hours! I've finished my office work I brought home and done dishes. Now to blog:

I'd like to steal Jeni's blog idea. I loved it!

What I was doing 10 years ago: I was 19, in Missoula, and head over heels for a good-looking, but beyond cocky and tempermental guy. I go back and forth on whether I regret that relationship. It ended pretty painfully, but I don't think I'd be who I am now without it. Plus, we did have a whole ton of fun while we were having fun. I had no idea what my life would actually be.

5 years ago: I was 24, and had been living in Pocatello two years, I think in the apartment on Hayes Street. I can't remember how many cats I had, but I did have some. I was having a great time with the single (in the non-married, not the unattached) way of life, working long hours, then playing pretty hard with my good friend Aimee. It was about that time that Matt and I "re-engaged." I was starting to feel more comfortable with the idea of dedicating my life to someone else. Things have been pretty awesome ever since.

1 year ago: I spent most of my days throwing up, although by October, it was ever-so-slightly better. I was already absolutely in love with the little puke-maker, and soon I would find out she was a girl. Then, I finally had a reason to buy every pink thing I saw. On the social front, Matt and I had finally found friends that both of us loved (we've always liked each other's friends, but with Denise and Greg, we both loved them), and we were loving life.

Yesterday: Yesterday I dropped Anne Marie off at day care, worked two hours, then got a call to come pick up my pink-eyed daughter. I left without really thinking. I still enjoy writing and editing, but for the first time ever, my life is not at all defined by my job or my schoolwork. I'm still getting used to it, but it's kind of nice.

Now for the poll: I ask you, my three, maybe four readers: Ian (boss) called me today and asked me if I wanted to take Biz Pulse back and move up to 30 hours a week. Right now I work 25. I told him that I would need to get back my health insurance I lost from going part-time. He usually says no when I say that, but this time he said OK. Should I add the hours? Anne Marie now has two days a week at daycare, so it's doable, but it might be kind of tough some weeks. What do you guys think?


Update: Anne Marie woke up, and I found her with two nuks. Here she is: