All Dogs go to Heaven

When we were kids we never really had a family pet. We had dogs, but they never really stuck around.

We had Tippy, a black lab mix that would run away literally EVERY DAY... My mom finally "sent her to a farm" where she could "run"... (Just last year I found out that she really had been picked up by the Humane Society, again, and mom could not pack all 5 of us kids in the car, again, to pick her up during a thunderstorm).

Then we got Hattie... a Cocker Spaniel. I loved Hattie so much... but she was NOT housebroken in the slightest... nor was she ever going to be... she had much too many urinary problems for my parents to deal with, when they were already dealing with 5 kids, and 2 in diapers. We really did give her to a farm after a couple years... and she was super happy there.

Then we had numerous gerbils, Guinea pigs, parakeets, rabbits, and such. It wasn't until we moved to Bellevue (I was in 7th grade) that we finally convinced my parents to get us a real family dog. That is when we got Boo. Her name was actually Pooh, but we though that was pretty stupid, and it was Halloween when we got her.

Boo was such a great dog for us. She loved all of us so much. She was small, but she could run faster and jump higher than any other dog. It was crazy. When I lived with my parents Boo would sleep with me every night... she really was a man's (or in my case, kids) best friend.

Over the years she has gotten much, much older. The last time I was in Texas she was blind, deaf, and hurting. She could hardly walk up stairs anymore. However, she was still happy as can be. The past few weeks she has quit playing, has quit walking up & down stairs, and has stopped acting like the happy dog we have all known.

Last night she got into a fight with one of our other dogs, Buddy. Buddy was not so friendly towards Boo, despite his name, and Boo had to go to the vet to get stitches. Long story short, Boo was not going to make it through surgery... and if she would have... she would have had limited days left anyway... my sister & mom made the hard decision to put her down.

Our very first pet that we have seen from the beginning to the end, the only real family pet that we had. Boo.... you'll be missed. Thank God that All Dogs go to Heaven.

Hmmmm?

So being a single parent is tough... especially on the days that I work. Poor Brady has to be in daycare for 13 hours! We wake up, I feed him, pump, get ready, drop him off.... go to work, pick him up at 7:30pm, feed him, bath, play a bit, and then bedtime.... oh yeah, then I wash bottles & get everything ready for the NEXT day... and THEN I get some time for myself. Not that I am complaining, it just gets tough...

My husband on the other hand... I know he is working hard in school... and he has a lot of homework that he does... but it sure doesn't seem like it when I get texts from him like this:

"Unemployment has its perks"

(glare)

Big Things....

Well the past two weeks have been big ones for the King Family... Let's look back on what all has happened....

1) I went back to work. Maternity leave it officially over and I have come to accept the fact that I can not stay home with my baby boy anymore. Well... until Austin becomes a lawyer and makes big dollars... then maybe I can stay home. :) It is good being around adults, I must say, but really hard to leave the little guy.

2) Moved out of our house! Yep... we sold our first home. We closed on Friday, and moved out completely on Saturday. We have been working our tails off getting the house packed and cleaned. I never knew that I would get so attached to a house... especially because when we bought this house we KNEW we would only be in it for a few years. Our plan was to always move to Texas... the plan just really crept up on us!

I think another reason why has been so tough for us is because we have (had) such great neighbors. We've recently become good friends with the neighbors across the street, Chanel & Scottie... and they have a little babe, Cameron, that is just 4 weeks younger than Brady. I think we could sit & talk about the babes forever!! :)
Our other neighbors, Jeff & Nicole, have been our friends since Day 1 of living in our house. They have the most ADORABLE girl too, Kennedy, that I love soooo much! She was just 2 when we moved in, and I have really gotten to see her grow up a lot. I think moving REALLY hit me when I saw Kennedy outside with her Dad, (wearing her new glasses), and Jeff was teaching her how to ride a bike. I lost it. Good thing nobody could see me in my mess. Haha.




3) Austin moved to Texas. Yep, on Saturday morning he loaded up a moving truck & towed his car behind it. He is now a Texan. I have a new-found respect for all the Military wives out there. I knew y'all worked hard being single moms... but I had no idea the emotional tow it has on you. It was so hard to say goodbye to Austin, and know that he would not be with Brady & me for a month. Thank goodness I know there is light at the end of the tunnel though.... Austin did get a Skype camera & Skype account, so we can still chat & he can see Brady. It really makes things much better.

4) Our cats moved to Brett & Nicole's house. Brett was one of my neighbor's when I lived in Bellevue but I suppose I didn't really become friends with him until after Austin & I started dating. He married just the sweetest girl in the world less than a year ago, Nicole. Thank goodness they came to our rescue when we needed a temporary home for our cats until we both move to Texas. (Austin is staying at my parents house where "no cats are allowed", (and I will respect that rule for a place to stay for the next 3 years!!) and Molly & John are still living in the guest house, where we will be living.. and very allergic to cats... and we already pawned our dogs off on them, so we figure we should give them a break!).... so we had no option but to board or get rid of them... and boarding is anywhere from $12-35 PER CAT!! It is ridiculous! So... we are forever grateful to these WONDERFUL peeps! And they are SUCH cat lovers I know our little guys are in good hands this month!


5) Austin started his summer Law School class! :) This is VERY EXCITING! Probably more for me than for him... because he has been spending MUCH of his time studying & doing homework already! This class helps prepare him for law school in August & gives him a heads up in all that is to come! Austin did send me this picture today, with the caption "This is my life for the next 3 years." However, he didn't say if this was a good thing or a bad thing....


6) Being homeless & without my husband, Brady & I moved into my brother's house. My brother, Willy, and wife, Erin, have the sweetest boy in the world (besides Brady). He is 9 months and almost walking!! I hope that he starts walking in the next month so I can see it!

They are sooo wonderful for putting us up for a month that I don't know how I will ever repay them! We've got a great set-up in the basement that works great for Brady & me. I will really be missing all of my family & friends when I move... but Liam I may miss the most. Watching kids grow up is so amazing... and not being able to watch Liam on a regular basis will be sad. AND... they are expecting ANOTHER kid in November!! I can't even BEGIN to imagine how hard that will be!

This is them with Brady in the hospital. I guess they saw how wonderful he is and then decided it was time for another!

Anyway... as you can see, it has been a couple weeks full of emotion. A few people have said that my facebook status' have been super depressing... so I do apologize for that... Things really are not that bad & Brady & I will make it through the month just fine. :)

Bridget Needs an Intervention....

As some of my loyal readers may remember... I once had an addiction. A very bad addiction. It's name was FarmVille. (to catch up on what you missed, http://didyoufeedthecats.blogspot.com/2009/12/as-some-of-you-read-in-earlier-blog.html)
Anyway... once I came to terms with my addiction, and was ready to quit, I did. Thank goodness I quit when I did because I still see some of my friends begging for certain things for their "farm" or "stable"... all these things I don't know about FarmVille anymore... thank GOODnESS. Since then I feel so free. I am so glad that FarmVille is not in my life anymore... it was consuming ALL my time... Well... Now my little sister has a similar addiction. It is call Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

I never knew quite how bad this addiction was. You see, she is in Texas, I am in Nebraska. I would see her write random quotes from the TV series on Molly's facebook wall every now & then... but nothing extreme. However, for the past week Bridget and I have been spending a lot of time together... Bridget is babysitting Molly's son, Jack (also Brady's identical cousin) and it is my last week on Maternity Leave. We have been Skyping.
For those of you that do not know what Skyping is... it is amazing. It is a free program where you can talk/see your friends. Bridget & I pretty much leave our cameras on all day even when we don't talk... that way it gives us just a bit of Adult conversation throughout the day... since we are both hanging out with babies the whole day. (No complaints about this at ALL by me... I'd much rather do this than go back to work next week....)

ANYWAY... Bridget does GREAT as Jack's nanny... however... when the little guy is sleeping... it is all Buffy. She gets very emotional when she watches it... she knows the words by heart, and she literally cries during some parts.

Did I mention this was the THIRD time she has watched the ENTIRE SERIES?!? Anyway... Today, she crossed the line... These are some of the things she has posted on my facebook wall (which I quickly deleted):

(Nevermind about posting all of Bridget's wall posts... I realized I have enough evidence to show her addiction that I do not need those... plus, they are boring).

Anyway, It is out of control. I guess I should have realized it was serious when she posted this on her twitter account last week when she was moving out of her apartment:

if i wasn't moving out of my apartment this wknd, i think i might stake my roommate and just tell the judge i thought she was a vampire

However... there were all these throughout the past couple weeks too...

jack wants to be a vampire slayer when he grows up too! http://twitpic.com/1mxcc6

ME: "i wanna be a vampire slayer so bad." ASHLEY: "omg. you can't make any money that way!"

oh, spike. i have loved you since 1997.

anyone want to patrol the cemetery tonight with wooden stakes?

@browynking Miley watched 6 hours of Buffy the vampire slayer with me last night.

couldn't sleep last night so i stayed up until 3am watching season 1 of buffy the vampire slayer. i wanna be a vampire slayer.

For those of you that know this lovely girl...

Please help!

Goodbye Maternity Leave... Hello Reality....

So... my first day back at work was supposed to be May 24th... I just looked at my vacation hours and realized I am out after this week. Since we are moving, Austin will be taking 3 months off work this summer, and just having a child, we cannot really afford for me to take a week off work unpaid... So... with less than a week to mentally prepare myself... I go back to work next week.

As Pam from "The Office" once said: "How was maternity leave? It rocked. It rocked my ass off."

Oh Pam... I couldn't agree with you more...


Today, other things have come to scare me about leaving my child while I am at work. San Antonio had a Tornado Warning today. Granted, they don't happen much down there, but they sure do happen a lot up in Nebraska. I couldn't imagine how scared I would be if I were away from my child during a tornado warning. Apparently, Molly was having a difficult time with it today too. She texted our little sister, Bridget, who is watching her son and said:

"If I die, take good care of my son and make him like the Baby Jesus. Oh, and don't sleep with my husband."

My First Mother's Day

So I never wanted to be one of those people that just talk about their child all the time... but being on Maternity leave, and him being the most important thing EVER to me, I tend to talk about my little boy a lot. Well, this past weekend I had my very first Mother's Day.

My Mother's Day actually started on Saturday. I got a phone call, and this is how it went:

Me: Hello?

Lady: Yes, is this Brow wan?

Me: Yes.

Lady: Well I don't know where you live, but I had some flowers delivered to my house for you.

Me: Really?!? Where do you live?

Then the lady rattles off my address that I lived in 2 years ago. Austin & I then went to pick up my flowers... wondering who on earth would send me flowers... especially to an old address?

Well... her house was not far away and we picked up the most beautiful bouquet of roses. Who were they from? My parents. :) I guess moving 6 times in the past 7 years, my parents can't even keep up with me! They are so beautiful and really made my day... and they are still making my day because they look so great in my house! Thanks Mom & Dad... I love you guys so much.



Now onto my husband. I cannot even begin to tell you how much my husband means to me. He is my everything.... Well, actually for that past 9 weeks and 1 day he has been my #2... but you get the point. But... he has never really been able to surprise me with gifts. With my engagement ring, he thought he was pretty sneaky... but asking my my ring size "just because," kind-of gave it away. The night we got engaged I knew for weeks that was going to be the night. Anyway, Austin always tends to give SOMETHING away if he is getting me a gift. If I haven't gotten some kind of hint the weeks before an occasion, I know it will be a card holiday. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE cards... it is just I know when I will get even a card. He is just sort of... predictable... when it comes to presents. Well... He really did surprise me this year.

The only hint I got was when he had small bills to break a $20. This may sound crazy to anyone else, but Austin is not the type of guy to have any sort of change. He is the type that when he gets money, he knows exactly what it will be spent on (and it always includes golf, golf tournaments, or some event with his friends). So it was very strange when he told me that he had been "saving" money... ha. Austin save money?!?

But... he did good. Not only did he get me a gorgeous Mother's Ring, but that meant he actually had to plan ahead! This is huge! He knew how much I love being a mother & he went out and got something that really means something. Even without a gift, he is my everything. (Or... my #2).
This guy is now my #1


Not only did Austin do good with his present, but he was wonderful the whole day. He got up early, ran to the store, and made me an amazing breakfast. That afternoon Nana & Grandpa Bob came by for supper. Austin made a great dinner as well and even did all the dishes! It was a great day and I just wanted to say thank you to my amazing husband and best friend.


Nana & Brady

Ten on Tuesday

So my sister, Molly, has a blog & every Tuesday she post "Ten on Tuesday." It is just a bunch of random questions & answers. I guess that I will start this up too... but only if Molly's are interesting... that way I don't have to fully commit to a weekly blog... that gets to be too much sometimes!

1. Do you prefer markers, crayons, or colored pencils?

Hmmm... I guess it depends on what I am doing.. but right now I am really into the fine tipped Sharpies. They aren't great for drawing, but they do a good job with all the scrapbooking I do... especially now with Brady's scrapbook I am working on.

2. As a child, how did your parents celebrate your birthday? (Parties, cake, you pick the dinner, etc.)

Breakfast in bed & we always had this ridiculous looking "Tiera"... that later turned into a birthday cake hat. This was always fun because we were NEVER allowed to eat anyplace but the kitchen... and to make it even better, all my sisters & my brother had to sit & watch me eat my gourmet meal (eggs, toast, hash browns) and then they only got cereal. Awesome. Plus, we always got to open at least one gift at that time. Austin & I still make each other breakfast in bed to continue this tradition... This year Austin will be in Texas for his birthday and I will be in Nebraska. I will have to make sure my parents are on top of it...

3. How do you feel about leggings?

Not a fan... for me.... If I had nice skinny legs I would be more okay with them... but I don't, so I'm not.

4. How do you prefer to follow directions? With a map? Words?
Words. Direct. Tell me exactly where to turn.... street names... and throwing in a landmark (gas station, hospital, etc..) makes it even better.


5. What do you eat for snack?

Right now I have an enormous appetite. I think my son makes me very, very hungry. I can eat about as much as Austin now... Just so everyone knows... he weighs 100lbs more than me... Sometimes I disgust myself... So... snacks are whatever I can see. It doesn't matter... popcorn? granola bar? big plate of pasta? Whatever....

6. Have you ever ordered anything from an infomercial or bought any As Seen on TV products?

Yes... Usually I get these crazy items after they are in the store though. I have the magic bullet & I bought those crazy bra barrettes that make your bra a racer back. I really want the "Slap Chop" It looks amazing.

7. What’s your favorite thing about summer?

I would say going to the lake & going boating... but I never do that... however, when my husband becomes a hot-shot lawyer I am going to convince him to buy us a boat. I REALLY want a speed boat to go skiing & tubing behind... Maybe I can convince my hot-shot lawyer dad or hot-shot lawyer sister to buy one... and reap the benefits. Right now my favorite thing about summer is grilling out... Yummy... cheeseburgers & brats... I think I need a snack now... :)

8. Do you have a tattoo? What and where is it?

I do. 2. I got my first tattoo in college with my friend, Beth. She was going to get a daisy tattoo & I was just going along for the fun of it... BAD IDEA. The tattoo artist told me that a little tattoo would only be $35 and she could do it right then! And gave me a book to look through. What is worse then getting a tattoo? Getting one with NOT THINKING about an idea... I ended up getting a "stick" lizard on my left hipbone. Seriously... a STICK LIZARD??? What WAS I thinking??? I also have a cross on my right foot. This one I like a bit more because my sisters, mom, & Aunt all have it as well. We tried convincing others but they were not too convinced.

9. Are you good at journaling?

Um... no. I did have a pregnancy journal where I just had to answer questions... and I still was not very good at that. I went back AFTER Brady was born to try & finish it... but many things I could not do. Oops...

10. What’s your favorite way to eat a hamburger?

Oh my goodness... I LOVE hamburgers. When I was pregnant I HATED chicken and LOVED red meat... seriously... craved it all the time. I thought this would go away once the little sucker popped out but I still CRAVE hamburgers & steak. It is nuts... and I TRY to eat chicken... but it is a no go. Maybe once I am done breastfeeding? Anyway.. my favorite way to eat a hamburger is with my hands. :) And guacamole!