Maximus Aurelius!

...Or Max as we call him. He is a 3-4 year old, rusty colored, neutered male. He was given a clean bill of health today at the vets. He weighs 9.8lbs! He's a very sweet cat and stands his ground against our dogs. They cut is nails way back today so he wouldn't snag things anymore. His nails were so long! He adjusting well to our family and we're really looking forward to getting to know Max more! We adopted him from Petsavers in Shreveport!

~danielle~

Donations to Best Friends!

Here are the 3 items I plan to donate to Best Friends! The first pictures is an acrylic oddball pet snuggle. The 2nd one is a cotton oddball pet snuggle and the 3rd is a parrot sweater! The first two were knitted on by other people as well. It will hopefully be used to warm the floor of a kennel for a pet! Hopefully it might be able to help a pet who is sick or in need of special attention. Something they might be able to bond to and call their own in their time of need! The parrot sweater I knitted up in a few hours. Hopefully it will go to help a parrot during the stressful time to keep them from plucking feathers! It's very bright and colorful. I need to try and find a couple big buttons or something of that sort to help distract them!

I plan to mail this box out when I return from San Antonio! I hope it goes to help a few pets and also warms the hearts of the volunteers/workers of Best Friends!

~danielle~

14week mark!

This week has had me a little worried. I'm 14w4d today and I was 14w5d when I lost the last baby. Now I know things have been different thus far with this pregnancy, but I think it's human nature to be concerned. I'm trying to take it easy when I can, not over do it and drink plenty of water. I know what happend with my last pregnancy wasn't my fault, but I still feel as though I need to be conscious of what's going on.

Next week Lane and I are headed to san antonio for their spring break. It will be a nice week that we can spend with my mom and sister (and dad for part of it) with them at home. It will probably be one of the last trips I make there until after I deliever. When I get back I will have a doctor's appointment that following Monday (16w4d).

I feel pretty good these days. The nausea is mostly gone, but I find myself really tired. By 8 or 9 pm I'm ready for bed. I feel like such an old lady! LOL. My hubby usually stays up and games (something I've done VERY little of lately). I usually curl up in bed with a book or a netflix movie until I can barely keep my eyes open! I wish the DVR was in the bedroom. I have such great movies to catch up on, but no desire to sleep on the couch!

I am almost done with a parrot sweater! I am hoping to ship it and 2 pet snuggles to best friends this week or next. I hope the donation will help out and I hope it will warm the animals it goes to.

The weather is finally warming up! I'm so glad it'll be close to 80 by the end of the week. It makes me remember why I'm happy I left virginia! We are also getting new vinyl flooring put in the house after I return from SA!!! I'm so excited. We've been saving and saving and put ALL of our tax return money away! We will be paying CASH for the vinyl flooring and have almost half of what we need to do the new carpeting in the whole house too! I'd like to wait until I've had time to paint a few rooms before we put the new carpet down, but there is a light at the end of the reconstruction tunnel!

I'm off to bed. It's 15 minutes to 9. Little old lady I seem to be!!

~danielle~

My Bella.

Well Ming has not made it home. I hope that maybe she found a new home and is happy wherever she is. I miss her though. She was such a good cat!

Last week we went to a couple of the animal sheleters to see about adopting a new kitty. We found one we really liked in marshall at the humane society. Her name was baby. She was a domestic long hair around 7 monthes old. She had beautiful green eyes and was black/white/grey. She had been spayed on the 9th but managed to rip her stitches out and had to be restitched prior to us adopting her. They had put an elizabethian coller on her to keep her from messing with her stitches. We were told she would need to keep the coller on for a couple more days.

We brought her home and she was just so sweet. She slept in bed with us and adjusted well to the dogs. Saturday night I picked her up to realize she had managed to dig at her stitches again. I put some neosporin all over her belly and then applied a bandage and then put an ace bandage around her to keep her from having access to the area. Sunday the skin looked better so we just left it wrapped. Monday when I checked her belly again, she had gotten the ace bandage off and had open an area up. I immediatly called the shelter we got her from and was instructed to take her to our vet.

I took her to the animal clinic in Jefferson. They told me they would have to put her under, clean her up and then sew her back up, but this time sew her on the inside. I took all the paperwork the shelter gave me so they knew what shots she had done and anything else they may need to know. I was asked if she was tested for feline leukemia, which I didn't know for sure, but knew she had had a shot for it. They wanted to test her for it b/c that could be what was keeping her body from healing. They told me they would keep her over night but would call if anything came up.

I went home and about an hour-2 hours later I get a call and the vet tells me she's positive for Feline Leukemia. She explains my options, which there really aren't any b/c it can't be cured and it will be fatal. I, of course, break down on the phone and she tells me to talk/think it over and let her know what I'd like to do. She can stitch her up, give her some really strong meds and hope she's able to heal, but that it's like aids in people. It compromises the immune system and eventually will kill her. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but rarely do they live to be 3 or 4 and in her case she could go down hill soon.

I called the shelter we bought her from to tell them she was positive since it is contagious and she was in a room with other cats, and they told me they would call my vets office and take care of it. I made the decision to have her put down. I didn't feel like it was fair to her to have to be bandaged up and on strong meds to try and heal her. If she managed to dig the stitches out, she may not heal at all. I just think it was fair to her to have to live like that.
So after only 5 days with the new kitty that we named Bella, I had her put down. She DID get to live 5 nights in a house. She was able to sleep in a real bed and be loved by a real family. I suppose in the end she got the best of both worlds. She was rescued and then lived with a family just like any animal wants.

I'm still sad and a bit disappointed that she wasn't tested at the shelter. That could of saved us all a bit of heartache, but in the end the shelter has taken care of the vet bill and is mailing me a check back. Personally, I'd rather have my cat back and of paid the vet bill myself.

~danielle~

A happy day and a sad day!

I went to the doctor's for a checkup! The doctor did another sonogram and said that everything looks great. The baby was actively moving and the heartbeat was perfect! He didn't feel there was any problems and said he'd see me in 4 weeks were we would do the quad check. They test for downsymdrome and other things I believe. March 16th is my next doctor's appointment!

He did tell me I will not be able to travel to Ohio in July. He said that is too far away for being so close. He said it's not safe to really fly that far into the pregnancy since I am high risk. Bummer. I wont be able to see my best friend get married :(

He also told me that medicaid wont pay for anymore sonograms unless there is a medical reason. So if we want to do one later to determine the sex, we would have to pay for it 125. Mikie said we'd get the money together and the doctor told me 22-24 weeks would be the best and we'd have the best chance of finding out. That will be somewhere around the end of April/beginning of May!

He also said he likes to schedule the c-section 1 week before the due date, so that puts it on the 21st. Maybe I can convince him to do it the 19th, since the 20th is alli's birthday and the 21st is Mikie's birthday. If not, we'll shoot for the 22nd. Who knows though. I carried Lane 38w2d!!

He also told me I couldn't care for my horse because of the west nile virus! DOH! I can't even brush or pet/love on him. Hopefully when we do his coggins test we can get the shot for him as well then I should be ok to be around him.

Also, my sad news :( I haven't see my cat since Friday afternoon. It's not like her to disappear for this long. I, of course fear the worst. Mikie went out yesterday and didn't find her on the side of the road anywhere. I went out today and didn't find her. I'm going to ask around to the neighbors later when everyone gets home from work. *sigh* I love that cat. I hope that another animal didn't get her and I dearly hope someone didn't shoot her. She's spayed and up to date with her shoots. She wasn't feral and as far as I know, she didn't bother anyone. Blah. I'm sad :(

~danielle~

Life has a way of getting away from you!

Boy I didn't realize it had been so long since I've blogged! I am 12w1d today and feeling pretty good. I still have the nausea in the afternoon/evenings and I've started getting bad headaches around the same time. I figure it's the hormones and hope it will balance out here soon! I see the doctor on Monday and we will be doing another sonogram to check the progress of the baby.

I worked for the first time at the schools earlier this week. I was an aid in a kindergarden classroom. Boy are fiften 5 year olds a handful! You'd think with having a 4 year old I might be used to some of the chaos, but that doesn't even begin to compare! I had a good time though. Lane was able to spend the day with his dad as it had rained. It worked out well!

I haven't been knitting much the past week or two. I need to get back into my groove! Last weekend I must of eaten something bad b/c I was very sick for 2/3 days. It's funny, I don't think one realizes how "gross" their toilet is until they've spent time "praying to the porcelin god." Yuck! I cleaned the bathrooms yesterday, needless to say!

Today is Friday the 13th! We are taking Sherri (Mikie's mom) out to dinner tonight as her birthday is Sunday! Tomorrow night, Mikie, Lane and I will go out to eat as a family for my birthday/valentines day. I believe tonight we are going to Texas Roadhouse and tomorrow night to Big Pines Lodge to eat catfish. Score!!!!

We had a girls night out last night at Bulldogs pizza in town. The ladies from the church gathered and we eat and watched Momma Mia. Definitely a great movie and I had a really great time. It's nice to get out and do things with other ladies!

It's almost rest time. I like to lay down and put my feet up while Lane rests. Sometimes I snooze and sometimes I just catch up on my tv shows!

I hope everything has a safe Friday the 13th and a very Happy Valentines' day!

~danielle~

25 things about me?!

Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.(To do this, go to "notes" under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.)

1. There are certain things that only I can do. I hate to say that I do them right or better, but sometimes that is just the case, for instance, don't help me fold the laundry. I can't help myself, but if it isn't folded the way I do it, it's wrong. Poor Mikie, he tries to help, but half the time I refold things that he hands me. Most of the time, I don't even realize I've done it until it's done. It's not OCD, it's just a control thing!

2. I like to be planned. I like to know what's going to happen, when it's going to happen and how it's going to happen. I'm very much a schedule person. I can't just up and go do things on the fly. I don't like surprises b/c I can't plan for them.

3. I love to swim. When I'm swimming I feel like I'm flying or that I'm free. My body is weightless and I just have this feeling that nothing else can compare to. I can swim all 4 strokes and I can teach them. My favorite is the backstroke followed by the butterfly. I HATE the breaststroke b/c it's the only stroke that you remain flat while doing.

4. I hate mornings. I would stay up all night long if I could just sleep in the next morning. I seem to get so much more accomplished if I stay up late and get up later. Ugh!

5. My favorite HS experience was when I went to one of the teaching hospitals in Virginia for Bio II senimar class and we were able to "play" with a cadavar. Emily Lord and I were the only 2 girls that would get anywhere near the body. Who knew the lungs felt like a sponge? Who knew the heart slid all around in the paricardiam? It was the coolest thing every.

6. I wish that I didn't have a fear of blood. I would make a really good EMT. I'm really good in the heat of the moment. I can remain calm and rational. It's just ashame blood makes me nauseous!

7. I've done CPR before on a baby for 15 minutes. Unfortunately the baby had been gone too long and I wasn't able to save her. She and I shared the same birthday and her name started with a D (Denise).

8. I am a crafter. I love to knit, crochet and scrapbook. I don't sew well though and hope that one day I can get better at it!

9. I would like to go skiing one day! I hate the snow, but want to go skiing atleast once!

10. When I get mad/angry/upset, I get quiet. Not b/c I might explode but b/c I don't want to say or do anything before I have a chance to think about it. This sometimes drives people crazy when they want to hash out the issue right then and there.

11. I am OCD when it comes to my bed. The blankets/sheets cannot be hanging off the bed. My feet can NOT hang out of the covers at the end of the bed. If the bed is not made right, I have to take it apart and make it up again. This drives my hubby crazy b/c he'd be just fine with a fitted sheet and to curl up under one blanket, even if his feet stick out!

12. I'm always cold. My hands and feet are the first thing to be cold. Once that happens, it's over!

13. I was diagnosed with endometriosis at the age of 21. I have been complaining about it since I was 16 when my appendix mysteriously went "bad" and had to be removed. Endo on the appendix maybe?

14. I was a band dork! I spent middle school and high school in the band and the marching band. My mom had me in piano lessons at age 5. I wish I stayed with it b/c I love the piano!

15. I never took an art class in high school. I didn't decide until after my first semester of college that I wanted to be an art major. I can't draw, but I can create some really neat things on the computer!

16. Snakes give me the heebie-geebies. I can't function when I see one. I get hot and shaky. I have no idea why.

17. My house is always a mess. It doesn't matter how many times I vaccum or how many times I pick up toys. You will find toys and dog/cat hair in my house!

18. I want to adopt a kiddo one day! My sister is adopted from South Korea and it was the coolest experience.

19. I want to do barrels in a rodeo one day. I'd even like to try pole bending and roping, even just for fun.

20. I suck at crossword puzzels. I'm just not good at riddles.

21. Harry Potter was the first fantasy book I'd ever read.

22. Math and Science are my worst subjects. I LOVE science but I had to work really hard in those two areas in school.

23. I swam with the manatees in Flordia with my family right after my freshmen year in HS. I Loved it. I'd love to swim with the dolphins next. If they'd let me, I'd even swim with the Killer whales!

24. I will never understand why my hubby gets up at 4am, in the freezing cold to go hunting. I guess hunting to my husband is like the thrill I get over new yarn.

25. I love yarn. I have bags upon bags of yarn. Sometimes I buy it without having a project in mind. Half of the yarn I currently have, I have no idea what to do with. I knit a lot of charity but I can't seem to use up what I have before more accumulates.

~danielle~