Post-Thanksgiving with Paul’s Family (11/26/10 - 11/28/10)

We arrived in Grayling fairly late on Friday night so Paul’s parents were already asleep. The next morning, we got up and had Maureen’s delicious pancakes for breakfast. Seeing as how Lily has to eat everything with “dip” nowadays, she had pancakes and dip (a.k.a. syrup):

Sharing her dip with a toy tiger. How generous (and messy):

Lily remembered how much she loves whipped cream when I gave her a few bites of my pie at lunch:

Watching daddy feed the birds outside:

Ron, Paul, Lily, and Maureen reviewing the pictures we took on our vacation to Houston:

What do you mean I have a beard made of yogurt?:

Playing with daddy and grandpa:

Lily loves her grandpa:

Sharing cashews with beagle:

More pumpkin pie with whipped cream for dessert! Lily was in heaven:

We decided to go straight to the source for whipped cream goodness. Yeah, I’m that good of a mom:

Lily attacking a balloon on Sunday:

We spent most of the weekend just lounging around the house and visiting. Lily tried to play with every toy they own as is evident by the mess on the living room floor:

We headed back home after lunch on Sunday. We had a great Thanksgiving break and certainly gorged ourselves as is evident by almost every picture in this blog post involving food. Unfortunately, Lily slept just as poorly on vacation as she did at home. At both my parents’ house and at Paul’s parents’ house, she freaked out when I tried to put her in a crib and insisted on sleeping in bed with Paul and I. Unfortunately, we slept in double beds at both places which meant that Lily got plenty of room in the middle while Paul and I desperately clung to the edges of the bed trying not to fall out. Not so conducive to restful sleep!

Happy Thanksgiving (11/25/10 - 11/26/10)

Thursday was Thanksgiving. We usually always celebrate the holiday at my grandma’s house with my parents, my Aunt Gloria, and my Uncle Lee and his family. This year, my grandma could not host the holiday because she is still on the mend from her hip fracture and replacement so my parents had dinner at their house. We attended along with my Aunt Gloria and grandma but Lee, Robin, Ashlee, Jeremy, and Todd had dinner with Robin’s family instead. We had a wonderful dinner and a great time but it felt odd to not have Lee and the gang there. They did stop by for a visit later that evening which was nice.

We spent the night so that my mom and I could go shopping on Black Friday with the rest of the world. We are definitely not ‘storm the doors of Wal-Mart at 3am’ people so we moseyed out of the house around 11am to begin our shopping day. We got a lot of good gifts and even had time to stop at the outlets in Birch Run. Lily got to spend the day hanging out with the guys. We got back around dinnertime and enjoyed Thanksgiving leftovers. Delicious! We then packed up the truck and headed to Grayling to spend the remainder of the weekend with Paul’s parents.

Here are some pictures.

My cutie showing off her Thanksgiving outfit:

Complete with turkey hair clip:

Lily loves playing with the blocks at grandma’s house:

Gobble, gobble:

Lily went to climb off the couch but Paul’s face was right under her. He wasn’t too happy about getting kicked in the head but I thought it was kind of funny, hence the picture:

Lily checking out the dessert table:

She is sooooo ready to eat:

Family photo:

Lily loves to have grandma read her books in the rocking chair:

Todd, Robin, Ashlee, and Jeremy:

My mom, Aunt Gloria, my dad, Lily, and a ton of toys:

Lily coloring with her kitty on Friday:

Everyone is indeed thankful for Lily:

A big hug for grandma:

For dinner, Lily wanted carrots and dip (a.k.a. mashed potatoes). To each their own:

25 Days of Thankfulness (11/25/10)

Since Thanksgiving is on November 25th, I posted 25 days of thankfulness on Facebook. Here is what I was/am thankful for:

November 1: Today I am thankful for my babysitter’s good test results.
November 2: Today I am thankful for my loving husband who tells me that I look good even with no make-up on and my hair in a greasy ponytail. (Wait, maybe that has something to do with the fact that he needs glasses…)
November 3: Today I am thankful that, in a few minutes, I will be crawling into a warm bed in my own home with a full tummy and a happy heart. It is sad that many people in the world cannot say the same.
November 4: Today I am thankful for my daughter’s laughter. When I hear Lily giggle, all is right with the world.
November 5: Today I am thankful for the power of love. It makes people do some pretty amazing things.
November 6: Today I am thankful for my Aunt Margaret who came up from Florida to help out my grandmother so my parents didn’t have to miss their trip to Italy.
November 7: Today I am thankful for my grandmother who turns 90 years old today!
Today I am doubly thankful that my parents are okay after their flight to Italy had to make an emergency landing back in Atlanta. I pray that the rest of their trip is stress-free!
November 8: Today I am thankful that my home is filled with toys and is never quiet. My hair is usually a mess and I am always tired but there is constant love and laughter here. In 20 years, Lily won’t remember the house or my hair- she will remember the time we spent together and the love we felt. Make childhood memorable.
November 9: Today I am thankful to have stable employment in this unstable economy. A few days ago, I celebrated my 9th anniversary working for U of M Hospital. Where does the time go?
November 10: Despite my injury, today I am thankful for the health of my family, especially my 90 year old grandmother who is recovering nicely from her hip replacement.
November 11: Today is Veteran’s Day so I am incredibly thankful for all of the service people out there (especially my father) who put their lives on the line for our freedom.
November 12: Today (and every day), I am thankful for my beautiful miracle baby.
November 13: Today I am thankful for opportunities. My parents are currently touring Italy as my mother and I did when I graduated from college. Visiting other countries gives you a perspective on life that no book ever can.
November 14: Today I am thankful for my friends who have stood by me through thick and thin, especially Krista, Amanda, Amy, and Janet. They are the sisters I never had.
November 15: Today I am thankful for unanswered prayers. It is not just the joys but also the disappointments in life that have shaped who I am today.
November 16: Today I am thankful for Lily’s smile. It lights up my world.
November 17: Today I am thankful for the simple joys and wonderful innocence of childhood. I don’t know the last time I did a “happy dance” when someone offered me a pear like Lily did tonight for her bedtime snack!
November 18: Today I am thankful for God’s love and forgiveness.
November 19: Today I am thankful for chocolate.
November 20: Today I am thankful for family. It was so nice to spend the day with both sides of our family and Lily was elated to see both sets of grandparents!
November 21: Today I am thankful for naps and Nick Jr. Without them, I could never get anything done!
November 22: Today I am thankful for the time that I got to spend with my dear sweet cat, Nolan. RIP little buddy. I will miss you.
November 23: Today I am thankful for my wonderful parents. They are my rock and I cannot say enough nice things about them.
November 24: A few days ago, I was thankful for unanswered prayers. Today I am thankful for answered ones, especially those for our friend who is going home today after needing emergency surgery earlier in the week.
November 25: Today is Thanksgiving! Today I am thankful for all of the blessings God has bestowed upon me this year. I am thankful for a wonderful year with my beautiful little girl and for the health and well-being of myself, my family, and my friends. I will be spending today surrounded by my happy, stable, loving, and supportive family. Who could ask for more?

1Y39W: Saying Goodbye but Not Goodnight (11/22/10 - 11/28/10)

Monday morning was very sad and tragic as we woke up to find our sweet cat Nolan dying. It was very touching because the other two cats were hovering around him as if they were trying to provide moral support in his time of need. Dear Nolan had never given us one bit of trouble but he left this world in a very messy fashion which involved pretty much every room downstairs. The vet’s office wasn’t going to be open for a few more hours and we didn’t want to make him suffer any further so I carefully placed him in his carrier and took him to the 24 hour Animal Emergency Center in Novi to be put down. Paul stayed behind to try to clean up the house while Lily, thankfully, slept through it all. I was very impressed with the Animal Emergency Center. They took Nolan to be cleaned up and get an IV inserted while I filled out the paperwork. Then they led me to a nicely decorated tasteful sitting room and brought Nolan to me for our final goodbyes. It was so hard to say goodbye to such a sweet and loving cat. I was so glad that we had so many wonderful years together. When I gave them the okay, they injected the overdose of anesthesia and Nolan took his final breath. They sent him home with me so that we could bury him next to Betsy in the backyard and also gave me a plaster impression of his paw print to remember him by. I drove home in a daze totally forgetting that it was a workday and that I was scheduled at Brighton which meant that no one could take my place. The shock of the morning put all of that completely out of my mind and I didn’t realize that I needed to get to work until I saw the immense amount of commuter traffic heading westbound on I-96. I got home and had a whopping 10 minutes to make myself presentable before having to run out the door to make it to work on time. That evening was spent finishing cleaning the house and burying Nolan. It was not a good day at all. Nolan’s obituary is on my previous post.

Tuesday and Wednesday were fairly uneventful which was fine with me. Thursday was Thanksgiving so the details of that day and beyond will be on the next two posts.

After over a year and a half of Lily being a horrible sleeper, we finally had her in a good routine and in her own bed for the entire night. That all changed on Monday night as Lily suddenly became a horrible sleeper again and seems terrified to sleep in her crib. The fight begins as soon as we sit in her rocking chair to read her ABC book as is our bedtime tradition. She used to lean right back on me and happily listen to the book but now she bawls her eyes out. I tried reading her a different book instead which made her stop crying but perhaps she thought that not hearing her bedtime book meant that it was no longer bedtime because she seemed surprised when I put her in the crib after the story and instantly started crying again. She used to lay right down without a fuss. I would leave while she was still awake and not hear a peep from her again until at least 1am. Now she will not fall asleep and instead fusses constantly and cries until I come into the room. When I do come into her room she is standing up in her crib all covered in tears reaching for me, desperate to get out. I tried leaving more lights on, letting her cry it out, taking her out to rock in the rocking chair, you name it. Nothing seems to work. This goes on until nearly midnight when she finally passes out with exhaustion. Then she still wakes up at 1am and 3am as usual. The whole ordeal means that she (and I) hardly sleep at all. She was exhausted and crabby when she got to daycare and I was in a sleep-deprived fog all day at work on Tuesday and Wednesday. The rest of the week was bad, too, but we were out of town. Lily always sleeps poorly away from home so that was no surprise.

All week Lily talked about the Splash Dogs that she saw at the Pet Expo last weekend. She would enthusiastically say, “Dogs jump, SPLASH!” She was very animated while talking about it which was adorable. Another cute thing she did this week was to demonstrate that she recognizes emotions. She was watching a short segment on Nick Jr about a boy who always made a lot of noise and annoyed everyone until his parents got him a drum set as a creative outlet and then everyone was happy. Lily watched him when he got in trouble for banging on the table and said, “He sad.” Then after he got his drum set and everyone was smiling, she said, “he happy!” I found that very cute and a further demonstration of her growing empathy skills. Now if she could only be empathetic with poor exhausted mommy and sleep at night to help me out we would be all set!

Since this post only encompasses three days, I have hardly any pictures to post. Just these three of Lily building onto a Lego tower that Paul started:

R.I.P. Loveable Nolan (11/22/10)

Sweet Nolan the Cat: a Gentle Giant
1994 – 11/22/2010

With his big, pointy ears, rotund belly, and skinny rat tail, Nolan certainly would never have won a beauty contest. But give him one minute of your time, and he was sure to win your heart. Nolan was the sweetest, gentlest natured cat that this family has ever known. He was very loving and completely lovable. Nolan’s life prior to his adoption by Kelly on 7/19/2000 was largely a mystery. He was adopted from a friend’s family and was named Nala at the time. Kelly immediately renamed him Nolan to eliminate confusion about his gender. His birthday was unknown but the vet approximated him to be 6 years old at the time of adoption. He had been an indoor/outdoor cat but instantly adjusted to apartment life with never an attempt to escape back to the outdoors. He also instantly adjusted to having an adopted brother, Reiley.

Nolan liked to take car rides and walk on a leash. That combined with his unequaled gentle nature and love for all people led him to be considered for pet therapy. He passed the test with flying colors and was certified through the Capital Area Humane Society and the MSU College of Veterinary Medicine. He amazed them all while he continued to stand still and purr as they pulled his fur, hit him, and attempted to frighten him with loud sounds and sudden movements. Sadly, he was ahead of his time and, being a cat instead of a dog, was never called into service. What a loss for those requiring therapy! Nolan loved everyone and had zero stranger anxiety. If you had a lap, he was instantly sitting in it purring up a storm. And if you didn’t pet him, he would use your hand or arm to pet himself for hours on end.
After living with Kelly in two different apartments, Nolan settled into our current home in Brighton where he was joined by Paul and Rachel. Being humans, Nolan instantly loved them both but he took a special interest in Rachel as he seemed to have a soft spot for children. He quickly became her shadow. We called him Rachel’s “guard cat” and he slept with her every single night. This helped her work up the courage to spend the entire night in her own bed as she was a little girl in a big new house. Rachel and Nolan loved to cuddle together.

When Lily arrived, Nolan took on the role of “guard cat” for her as well. Whereas most animals run away from crying babies, Nolan always ran toward her to offer his services as a calming distraction. He never minded Lily pulling his fur when she was a baby or trying to ride him when she became a toddler.

In addition to gaining a human family, Nolan also gained more four-legged siblings in the form of Betsy the dog and then Amber the cat. He was never as big a fan of them as he was of his human family but he always tried to peacefully co-exist with everyone.

Besides people, Nolan loved food. He always purred whenever he ate which was completely adorable. His pendulous belly was a testament to the fact that he never ventured too far from the food bowl.

Sadly, Nolan departed this earth on the morning of Monday, November 22, 2010. Much like his dent on the couch cushion, Nolan’s passing has left a giant fur-covered hole in our hearts. He was preceded in death by his canine sister, Betsy, and is survived by his loving human family, Kelly, Paul, Rachel, and Lily as well as his furry family, Reiley and Amber. We will always love him and miss him greatly. We hope that he resides in kitty heaven where there is always a full food bowl laced with treats, a sunbeam to sleep in, and our love to keep him company.