In redemption of the deer

This should make up for the murder of the deer...

I've been feeling somewhat apprehensive about getting our kittens de-clawed so I've been doing some research. I've read that, apparently, if you give cats adequate things of their own that they can use to scratch and stretch, and a little training, that they should leave your furniture and carpet alone.

I haven't made up my mind yet, but I asked Dave if he would build me/the cats a cat tree. We had the scrap wood and carpet so basically we would be out no cost! He actually thought that it would be a great idea and was enthusiastic about building it, I love my husband! I think he was excited about building it to save the couple hundred dollars it would have cost us!

So I searched the Internet for ideas and we came up with this which we, mostly Dave, spent ALL weekend building:

I'm not sure who likes it more, the cats or the girls.

It didn't take Smokey long to properly use it as a scratching outlet!

Dave says that if the cats don't like it that he was going to get new cats that do.


Next, we are going to build a cat castle for the girls room. We are going to look for pink and purple scraps for the covering. It's going to be a Christmas present for Karilyn, Heidi, Sparky, and Smokey, don't tell them.

Poor Deer

Dave brought home this last night:

Smokey and Sparkle-works

Well, we finally broke down and got Karilyn a cat and since we were at it we got Heidi one too. Karilyn has been asking for a cat ever since she could talk. A few weeks ago I met a friend of a friend who had kittens so I told her we might be interested. Now we have two cats, both girls. Poor Dave, even our pets are all girls.

We let the girls name their cats. Heidi named hers Smokey, or "Mokey", she stole the name from you Caiti, I hope you don't mind. Karilyn named her cat Sparkle-works. I think we might call her sparkle for short, or maybe sparky.

Dave and I did a LOT of contemplating! I'm not sure I've ever been so stressed out about a decision before, but I did it for Karilyn and Heidi.

Heidi is a mother hen with her cat. She tries to make her eat, drink, and pee all the time. She pushed her around in a stroller for a very long time. Karilyn just likes to sit and hold her cat. The cats are really tolerant of the girl's less than gentle handling.

Misty is tolerating the cats pretty well, she doesn't seem to care much. Karilyn's cat is more afraid of Misty than Heidi's cat. But we've not had anything worse than a bit of hissing. I think they'll get used to the idea of living together really soon.

I'm sure you all want to see pictures:

Bean Bag Chairs are EVIL!

Happy Birthday Heidi!

Heidi's birthday was last Thursday. I can't believe she's two already! We celebrated her birthday with grandma and grandpa. Grandma made her a turtle cake. Here are a few pictures from the party extravaganza:

We let her blow out her candles 3 times, she wanted to do it over and over again.

She had to immediately cut the tags off of her new outfit. She also got a new leotard, that's all she ever wants to wear anyway.

She put her outfit on backwards.

Karilyn helped her open all her presents.

Happy Birthday, my sweet little girl!

Never in my life have I wanted to leave a place so badly

I know I just posted, but I wanted to post this as well.

I have been contemplating on what hospital I wanted to go to for birth and who I wanted to attend it. I like my old doctor, but I have some bad experiences at the hospital that he delivers at. So I thought I would try a hospital in a different city and see what I thought of some midwives. Some of my friends really liked the midwives and the hospital.

So on Friday I went to my first appointment with the midwives. It was horrible! They were really pushy with what they wanted to do, like testing and stuff. I thought midwives were supposed to be more natural, I guess most are, but they seemed really clinical! I could kind of tell by the paperwork they had me fill out.

Then it all went horribly wrong when the midwife told me I needed to wean Heidi! OK, pick your jaw back up off the floor, It's normal in most cultures, and the World Health organization recommended breastfeeding for AT LEAST 2 years! Nobody tells me to wean my kids, nobody! That decision is for me and them to make. She said that it would put extra stress on my body to continue to nurse. Hum, It didn't seem to be a problem that I nursed Karilyn through my entire pregnancy with Heidi, in fact, I was more healthy during that pregnancy than my first. There are even a lot of benefits to nursing while pregnant. So at that point I thought I could either argue or lie. I didn't want to do either. And, why would I want to go to somebody that didn't understand that this is an okay thing to do. My old doctor NEVER had a problem with it.

So after that, she took me into the examination room and handed me a paper sheet to cover up with. My old doctor didn't use paper, he had nice soft sheets to cover up with and nice cotton gowns to wear instead of paper. Are you getting it, at this point I'm really missing my old doctor.

She didn't even try to find the heart beat, I've always heard it at 9 weeks with my other two. So I was kind of sad about that.

Then, I went to a different room to get my blood drawn and a different girl came in to do it and she was complaining to me, a new patient, that the office didn't put her pay check in on time and she was having bank problems. Do I really want to go to a place that doesn't pay it's employees?

When I got to the van, where Dave was waiting for me with the girls, I started bawling. He probably thought that sometimes horrible had happened. I was so upset that It took me a while to be able to tell him that I just didn't like it there. I know, kind of dramatic and emotional of me!

So, I'm going back to my old doctor! Yeah!

I was kind of laughing at myself. At work, sometimes we'll have people just get up and walk out in the middle of a procedure because of nerves or whatever. I've always thought that they must have serious problems or something. I came REALLY close to doing that!

For the record...

Some may not like what I'm about to say. If you have a problem with it, go away, seriously!

I am deeply saddened by the way the election turned out. I couldn't sleep last night. So just for the record I voted for McCain and Palin!

Obama spent more money than anyone ever did on a presidential campaign, a lot more, and in the middle of a financial crisis. How do people think he's going to limit his spending in the White House?

He makes promises to fix the economy. He blames, as many Americans do, President Bush for the bad economy. I blame Americans who took out loans they knew they couldn't pay for. I blame Americans who took out loans for amounts worth more than their house, borrowing $700,000 on a house worth $200,000 is not okay! They like to blame the banks, but honestly, I think the people are even more at fault. I blame Wall street and Americans for being greedy! How dare they blame President Bush!

I have a problem with people who say that by voting for the white guy I'm being racist. I didn't not vote for Obama because of his race, I didn't vote for him because I didn't like his values, attitude, or plans. I think it would be ignorant to vote because of race. I did my research on the candidates. Should we stop and wonder if the 95% of African Americans did their research or just voted on race alone? I guess I've got a problem with people who have never cared to vote before now? Would they have come out of the woodwork to vote if Obama was white?

I'm scared and worried. I'm worried that we will loose rights; health care rights, education rights, and financial rights are just some. I'm worried that my boss will be taxed a lot more! Obama has been full of promises, It sure seems like he won't be able to keep most of these! He promises change in this country, it will be interesting to see if he can do that, and still keep peace. I feel like McCain was more honest and realistic with what he said he would and could do.

I'm also bothered that the media announces on election day, after half of American has voted, that Sarah Palin was, by the way, not found guilty of unlawfully firing one of her people. Anyone who does their research would have known this anyway, but the media's portrayal of the candidates is upsetting and unfair. They're reporters, and although I see through them, I'm afraid that a lot of people take them seriously. Of course, I could talk all day about the media.

I know I'm not alone in feeling a little scared and disappointed, but It pains me to think more Americans believe in Barak Obama than John McCain. It's frustrating that my state went for Obama, and not only that, but my own county.

So for the record, if Obama doesn't "fix" our problems, I voted for John McCain and Sarah Palin! This may seem trivial or obvious, I've never been very good at writing or politics, but I wanted to get these thoughts out of my head so I can sleep tonight.