After the emotional roller coaster of having to
unexpectedly put my cat down, (*see below post)
the kids and I needed a little happiest place on earth.
My friend Jessica was in town with her family and so graciously let us join in on their family fun with their employee pass. Her husband is an illustrator for Disney so she lets us in for free :)
I think there should be some sort of law that no pregnant girl should ever be allowed to do such a thing. WAY too emotional!
Topher my kitty ( Ella named him b/c of his fuzzy toes :) was deaf so he never really knew his name anyway, we resorted to kitty cat most of the time) was the sweetest cat. A true lap cat. That would curl up on your lap and fall asleep purring. Which to me, was the perfect de-stresser at the end of a long day. I miss that the most. He always was the nicest kitty to the kids, put up with lots of hair and tail pulling and dress ups, a good little buddy to tag along in their fun.
I'm writing this down more to vent my feelings so it may be long and involved as a warning to you if you choose to read on :)
This was a total unexpected thing to me. The cat was acting sick, so I thought I'd bring him in to get looked at. If I would have known how it would have turned out, I would have never brought the kids with me. The trip to the vet was quite the living nightmare, I had no idea how sick he was, but knew something was wrong.
I feel like a irresponsible pet owner since the whole time we lived in SD I never took him to the vet, but to my defence we were students and we didn't even have insurance while going through school, so how could I justify taking my cat when we never went to the Dr. ourselves?! But, now Dan has a good job, we have insurance, seemed as good of time as any to finally get the visit to the vet crossed off my list of to-do's.
Here is how the series of horribles all went down...when we 1st got there, they told me he had a massive tumor on his bladder and he was in a lot of pain, he would need to have an emergency operation right then for $4000 (not kidding I gasped) AND it was not a guarantee he wouldn't have to have follow up surgeries etc. meanwhile as they are telling me this devastating news, Ollie is running a muck through the office, since he has finally figured out how to open doors, he thought it was a good idea to run from room to room which resulted in a meltdowns on the floor once the door was locked and he couldn't leave. Then Ella started crying "Is our cat going to be ok?" All the while the nurse is pestering me if I have my paper work filled out...You kidding me lady? uh, no. I'm chasing my kids trying to calm a melting down 18 month old all the while getting this crazy news that my cat is not gonna make it? Ya the paper work has not been filled out yet.
To top off I called my hubby to talk over the choice we had to make. To give you some background, Dan has never liked or wanted a cat, the fact that he has been "putting up" with him for the last 10 years and the fact he has had to change the cat litter for the past 6 1/2 months since I been preggo left him a little less than sympathetic. Which added to my emotional stress since he acted a little excited that the cat might not come home with us that night. He really was not helping the situation at all. I called my sister who helped me gain some control of this crazy chaotic nightmare. She calmed me down, I had Dan get the kids and then I was left to make the call on my own with out any distractions.
I decided that it might be a poor quality of life having to keep having surgery after surgery and not to mention a huge money pit. I made the call to put him down. Once the decision had been made all my emotions from the building up stress and chaos from earlier craziness surfaced and I had a giant meltdown myself. In fact, I down right say I started to sob. The ugly cry kind of sob. The poor vet posed as my physiatrist trying to help comfort this poor crazy preggo chick and even laid out brochures for hot lines I could call if I needed help. It really was an meltdown that was brought on by a series of things that all lead up to it. But it was sweet the vet thought I needed to be on suicide watch ;)
I loved my cat and it was so heartbreaking watching him pass (one of the saddest things ever ever!) I miss my sweet cat, he was deaf and maybe a little dumb but really really sweet and loving and I still get teary just thinking of him. So since I write this blog as my journal I wanna remember my sweet kitty and how much fun my kids had with him as a little type of memorial.
Dont look at my ugly cry face and runny mascara
but It was nice to give him one last snuggle
A few baby Ella and Topher videos make me smile :)
I was invited to thee most beautiful Valentine Party EVER!! I mean every little detail was beyond adorable. We had dinner poolside with this gorgeous table setting. We had an old school Valentine exchange with sweet hand stitched valentine baskets to put them in. It was the cutest thing you've ever seen.
check out this table setting! wow! right?!
Some of the valentines we passed out
The delicious dinner
Cauliflower soup, sauteed salad, balsamic chicken with parmesan potatoes, and chocolate raspberry cake
Lela captured all the great photos (our resident photographer)
Love these ladies
Lela with Stephanie... our amazing hostest
Such a fun night!
On actual ValentinesDay
I put Ella's hair up in hearts
(a valentine tradition I started ever since she finally got hair)
She and Ollie got loads of valentine goodies from school and grandparents, we had fun going through and sampling ;) Thanks for the treats!
I was feeling a bit under the weather, so we opted to stay home but I was treated to flowers, take out, and a pedicure from my main Valentine. He knows the way to my heart.
If you have never been or gone to one,
you gotta throw one they are the best!!
The cute Valentine decor and yummy snacks
Here's how it works. Each person picks an item that they love. They suggested a price rage of $5-6 per item {which a few of us went over but that's fine}. Each person then brings 3 of that item to give away. Upon arriving the guests write their name on three pieces of paper and toss in a basket. Then once everyone arrives we go around the room presenting what our favorite thing is and then draw 3 names to receive our item. Cool huh!?! It kind of felt like Christmas. My "favorite thing" that I gave away was Redken guts root booster b/c I love me some big hair :) Other items brought were cleaning supplies, gift cards, beauty supplies and foods. Everyone brought great stuff so we all went home with awesome goodies.
I thought since he was going there anyway, might as well tag along and make a babymoon out of it
a little get-a-way before baby #3 gets here!
Times Square! Gotta love all the excitement
Obviously Dan is way too cold to smile...Or too cool ;)
Plenty of crazies trying to make some $$ wandering around Times Square
Elmo wanted $20 for this pic...ya that's a little steep
Only in NYC do you see Elmo and cookie monster splitting tips. lol!
This made me laugh
It was so nice just the two if us and being able to go and do whatever we felt like. We ate at some seriously yummy places!! NYC has some amazing restaurants. Went and saw some shows, did a little shopping, and walked all over the city (which totally wore this preggo gal out) But it was worth it to be on a several day, date night.
Me and my love in Central park.
25 weeks preggers little bun in the oven helped keep me warm
Check out some of the yummy food and treats we indulged in while there....Nom.
I think we ate a lot just to stay warm...February in NYC is cold...brrr!
Real NY style thin crust Pizza...YUM!
Holy Macaroons!! right?!
And yes, they put Carmel corn in my gelato Sunday! Could you just die!!
Traveling by subway, taxi. walking, and train...that's how we rolled
Had to bring the kiddos home some great candy
just in time for Valentines day!
Dylan's candy bar is the best place to go...Talk about sugar high!!
This is a real chocolate bunny...the thing was Huge!
Almost tempted to get Ella this bacon lolli...gross I know.
But she does love bacon :)
Such a great little get-a-way with lots of food shopping and relaxing.
I really do (heart) NYC!
And a huge thanks to my friends back home who rotated the kids amongst each other and are total rock stars! (that deserves a separate post) I owe them some serious babysitting and hair colors! I'm so grateful they helped to make this trip possible.
I was so worried trying to figure out a way to go with Dan to NYC and how it would work out with the kiddos, with school schedules, nap times, and sleepovers. My friends willing volunteered to rotate the kids amongst the 5 of my them so no one got too overwhelmed. I offered up lots of hair colors and payback babysitting to sweeten the deal ;)
They were so great to keep my worries at bay, by sending up dates and pics of the kids having fun and telling me they were doing great and sleeping great. I so appreciate that! As many of you moms out there know, your never really can completely relax while away from your kids. So hearing these little up dates put my mind at ease.
Here are some of the super cute pics they sent me while away...
Thank you all again!! I appreciate it so so much! Love you oxoxo
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