Bat Girl

Daddy bought Cass her batman shirt from Old Navy when Mommy was home sick. Daddy does have good taste and always finds cute things for her.

Yesterday we went to the lake. We played in the sand, played on the playground equipment and of course went in the water. She stayed in my arms and we went out into the "deep". The water was only up to my waist but I knelt on my knees so it was up to her neck...she loved it. You would think the girl would be wiped out after a full day in the sun and water but she fights going to bed at night. However she did fall asleep shortly after 8, Grandma Rosek came over so Matt and I could go out to dinner. There is a new restaruant on the lake so we sat out on their patio and ate dinner over the lake. So nice! I had grilled tilipea and a cosmo...YUM! Then we went to watch some fireworks that my parents help let off....AWSOME and the best fireworks ever! After that we went to a martini bar so I could have one more Cosmo before heading home and to bed. It was a fun summer day!


Today we went to church, but our usual pastor was not preaching today which is always dissapointing. We love him and he also does such a great job with the message. He just really draws you in and I am always so intent on what he is saying. Matt said "lets skip out" naughty huh? :o) However we stayed for singing (Cass loves dancing in the aisle) and then once she started getting fussy we skipped out...shhhh!!! We went out to breakfast and ran some errands at Target. On the way home Cass fell asleep in the car, slept thru her whole diaper change at home and went right into her crib. Now were trying to think of something to do once she wakes up...its raining here so we are limited.

Summer Days

Earlier this week we went to the park in our subdivision. There were 2 little boys and a girl with their Grandparents. We started talking and turns out both of the boys were a result of IVF and the girl was a surprise that wasn't ever supposed to be possible. So out of the 5 kids at the park 4 were IVF!




I am so enjoying summer with Cassie. I am so grateful I am able to spend each and every day with her. We are having a wonderful summer and soaking up the sun. This afternoon we are heading to the beach for the first time! We are going to buy a season pass. They have the lake, sand and playground so it is sure to be a hit!

I have a plan to go swim suit shopping tonight. Ugh!! I weigh less than I did before I was pregnant (thank you to food poisioning)its just that my abs will never be the same. It is like the parting of the red sea excpet with me it is the parting of my ab muscles. So...it should be interesting trying suits on....Matt keeps asking if I will get a bikini again.....ummm...NO!!

My little Monkey

Fathers Day Weekend

So it turns out that I didn't have a stomach bug this past week but it was food poisoning. Turns out a ton of people got sick after we all ate Mexican food at a baby shower we went to last Sunday including the 8 month pregnant mommy to be!! The place the family got the food from is being investigated now.

Athena update: She is doing great. I went over last week, took her for a walk and swimming while my parents played with Cassie. She is getting more exercise than ever before and is my Dads shadow. Even though I was there she only cared where he was. That makes me feel alot better knowing that she is a happy dog.




Pictures from Friday:






Pictures from Saturday:





Fathers Day: We had a great day today. I made pancakes for Matt in the morning, then we went for a walk around the lake and stopped at a park along the walk. Cassie took about an hour nap after that and my parents stopped over. Because Cassie didn't have a good nap she was a bit whiny and clingy to me. She didn't seem to be in the best mood. After my parents left we headed on out again. We stopped for ice cream and walked around the lake AGAIN and stopped at the same park AGAIN. This time I thought Cassie could go into the lake so I brought a change of clothes should she get wet. I didn't think she would LOVE the lake,therefore I didn't put her suit on. Well...she LOVED the lake and was soaked. She loved being thrown up into the air and dunked into the water. I have a water baby on my hands! After today we decided to buy a season beach pass and start heading there on weekends. Happy Fathers Day Matt!!

Sick

Early yesterday morning (2 a.m) I woke up not feeling well. My stomach was hurting and I didn't feel right. I got up to get some water and a stick of spearmint gum. The gum usually always helps if I have a stomach ache...this time it didn't do a thing. 4 am came and I lost my cookies. Not fun! I have a paranoia about throwing up....to me its the worst thing ever!! I think I would rather break a leg. This is the first time in 15 years my hubby has seen me sick like that but at the moment I didn't even care. Thank goodness Matt was able to stay home and watch Cassie yesterday, he said they had the best time all day. He took her to story time at the library, the mall and my parents house. He said she was so well behaved. In the meanwhile I was quarentined to our bedroom. At 2in the afternoon I finally at 2 crackers and after 7 had a bowl of soup. I stayed in bed ALL day except to take a shower in the afternoon. I also pretty much slept all day. Today I am feeling better but still am not 100%. I feel weak and achy. Today is the funeral for Matts grandma which I can't go to. Matt has Cassie at the park right now and after her nap he will head out to the funeral with her. We had planned on my Dad coming over to watch Cassie so we could attend but those plans have changed now that I am sick. Here is to another day staying in bed!

Bangs or no Bangs??

Should I grow out her bangs or leave them? Which looks best?

20 months old

Yesterday Cass turned 20 months old! Hard to beleive in 4 short months she will turn 2. Now I know what people mean when they tell you to treasure every moment because it goes so fast.

The last new nights she has woken up crying. I pick her up, give her some milk and rock her. Lay her back down and 5-10 min later she is up crying again. This goes on for at least 2 hours and she settles down and sleeps the rest of the night. She has been pointing at her teeth and crying also. This morning while brushing her teeth I found the reason...she is cutting multiple teeth again, including her top molars.


Yesterday we went to a baby shower in Milwaukee. Cass did really well there...we only had 1 or 2 temper tantrums and when that happened we took her outside to the park. You can't expect a toddler to sit and watch somone open presents for hours!

We came home and I took Cass for a walk. I went a different way than normal. We passed a house and 3 little girls opened the door and out comes a big yellow lab. The dog ran up to us all happy and Cassie loved it. The dog ran back to the house and brought me back a tennis ball. Just like Athena....cue my heart breaking. We stopped at a park and some friends I know where there with their lab. They have 2 kids and the same thing happened with them. The dog growled and snapped at their boy over food, however they kept the dog. This dog has bitten others by the way. They keep the dog totally seperated from everyone, it stays upstairs all day and likes being alone. I couldn't do that to Athena...she is a people dog and LOVES attention - thats no life for a dog. Then we got home and our neighbor dog was out (another yellow lab) and Cassie saw her and got so excited. I took her out of the stroller and she started clapping and yelling "Thena". Ack!!! I told her " Girl, your killing me" I told her "Athena is staying with Nana and Papa." I am talking to Matt about when Cass is a little big older getting her a kitten. I just want the girl to grown up with a pet (and I love having a pet). Especially if she is an only child its so nice to have that companship and "friend". When I was a kid I had a cat also and it always slept with me...I loved that cat. So...we will see. She will have to beg her daddy for it.


I checked in on Athena this morning. She is doing well and behaving. She has been naughty a couple of times by dashing off after squirrels. I don't know what those squirrels ever did to her but she is out for them. :o) My dad did say she has been limping and is concerned about her leg. I am thinking she pulled something from all the activity she has been doing and is sore, however I told him if she keeps it up to let me know and I'll take her to the vet. I plan on stopping over there this week to spend time with her and take her for a walk.

Trying to get out of my funk

Matt made a comment this morning "you are acting like the dog died!" I know I am and I don't know why I am so sad about this. I mean...I know I'm sad because Athena is not here and I miss her like crazy, she is like a kid to me. But...she is 10 min away at my parents house and having the time of her life. She gets so many walks and is swimming every day in the ponds. I talked to a friend who is a big dog lover as well and she said I made the right choice...that I couldn't take the chance of that happening again because I may not be so lucky if there is a next time. She said I need to look at the big picture and it could have been alot worse. She is right and I need to keep reminding myself of that. I need to stop thinking maybe I could have kept her and made some new rules, because what if there was still a next time...Athena can be possisve once in a great while so it could happen again. Again...once Cassie is older and understands more it will be different. I want her to grow up with a pet because I think its great for kids to have that. I did stop at my parents yesterday, my Dad, I and Athena went for a walk...it was Athena's 3rd walk of the day!! She can go off leash in their subdivision and swam in all 3 ponds and chased frogs so she is having fun. She was so worn out she just laid under the tree so she is a happy dog, I will still see her and Cassie is fine. I need to break out of this funk!!!

Thanks for your comments girls! It was a super tough decision and I have still cried today about it.

Heartbroken

So...yesterday Athena was by Cassies highchair and Cassie was next to her with her arms draped over her back, everything was fine and in an instant Athena growled and snapped at Cassie, Cassie fell to the floor and started screaming. I screamed because I was so shocked! I picked Cassie up and made sure she was ok. Athena didn't bite her but that was scary. I don't know if Athena found food on the highchair and got possisve or the thought crossed my mind maybe something was hurting her (she is getting old) and Cassie leaned on her wrong. I don't know why it happened but it did. We have never had a problem, Cassie hugs her, helps put food in her food bowl for dinner, Athena eats food out of her hand....but yesterday we had a problem and it scared me.

I tried to think of how I could prevent something like that happening again but did I want to take the chance it would happen again....NO. What happens if I am not so lucky next time? Cassie is eye level with Athena which means if she bites her....its her face. Take that chance? No. So...I called my parents in tears and told them what happened. They agreed with me, came over and picked up Athena. Athena LOVES them, especially my Dad and is happy as can be over there. I have called numerous times to check on my furbaby. She has gone for a walk, played ball and swam. My parents are keeping her for the time being...maybe they will end up keeping her forever or my brother mentioned taking her. I am hoping my parents keep her because then I will see her all the time and still be able to go walking with her. I cried so much last night I felt sick and had to go to bed. This morning was hard not seeing my big puppy and Cassie was calling for her which really broke my heart and the waterworks started again. I love that dog, she was my first "baby" and really helped me while we were going thru infertility but as much as it hurts I can't risk this happening again and not being so lucky. What if she would have bitten her face...got her eye??!! This is hard. :o(
It may be different if Cassie was bigger and older and knew to watch out for signs from Athena but she doesn't know that yet. How could I live with myself if I saw this warning sign, I ignored it and something really happened down the road? I can't. At least I know my Pup is having fun and being loved right now...most likley more love than she was getting here since she doesn't have to share it with Cass. This sucks and as the title says I am heartbroken.




On another note we had Birth to 3 come to the house this morning to see is Cassie will qualify for them to come out and help with Speech Therapy. I had the speech therapist from Childrens fax me her evaulation and gave to the girl who came today. Cassie did awsome with her today and was interacting with her....yay!!! No stranger danger today!! This is why I want Birth to 3 to come out because it is so much easier on Cassie to be in her own home to work on speech than to go to the hospital which she has a phobia of. Do not close that girl in a room at the hospital....she will scream and cry thinking someone is going to hurt her. Poor girl So, I find out next week if she qualifys for the program.

Hope everyone has a good weekend. I am waiting for Cass to wake up and then heading to my parents. They are going to watch Cass so I can take my big yellow dog for a walk and have a talk with her about her actions and why she is staying with Grandma and Grandpa. :o) Man...I really need to stop crying because my contact lenses are so cloudy I can't see out of them and I really don't need another headache like last night. :o(

Naughty girl unrolled the toiletpaper

Rainy Tuesday

Today was a rainy cold day. Cassie was super sweet and slept till almost 8!! That let Mommy have coffee and watch the news in bed...I can't remember when the last time I did that was, but boy was it nice!!! We had waffles for breakfast and then went to the library. I had orderd some books to read...Toddler 411 and The Happiest Toddler on the Block. I want to read up on temper tantrums and other things....not that Cassie EVER has a temper tantrum...you know just in case. :o)

We got home from the library and she went down for a nap. I did some laundry and started reading my books. Once she was up we headed to The Children's Play Gallery. It was the second time I have been there. The first time was great because it was only us there. Today was alot more crowded. Now I know kids will be kids but it was pretty bad. I was kinda disgusted when we left. Cassie was playing with toys and one kid pushed her aside and took her toy away. Another time Cassie was playing with something and 2 older boys pushed her out of the way so they could play with it. I was ticked off...where are the parents??!! These kids were so out of control and they seemed really rude to me, its like the parents just drop them off and sit on the benches and ignore them. I am thinking I won't go back there again.

And now some pics of Cassie with her best pal...Athena. They were looking out the window at the rain. Athena was laying there and Cassie cuddeled up next to her. Both of them so wanted to be outside!

Secret Garden Cottage

Wow, this week went fast! I can't beleive its Friday already. This morning I had plans with friends to do some serious rummage saleing!! We have a subdivision in the area which had over 40 houses having rummages and these are nice ritzy houses so they usually have nice stuff and alot of name brands. It was pouring rain out this morning but we had some serious shopping to do and went anyway. It was just as crazy as last years...tons of people and even cops were there because there are so many people. The last thing I needed was toys inside the house or clothes, I was really looking for outdoor toys since its summer and we are spending the majority of the time outdoors. I wasn't having much luck and was getting wet and cold but then I hit the jackpot!! I saw a little cottage at a garage sale but it didn't have a price tag on it. Cassie saw it as well and was ringing the doorbell and going inside of it. I asked if it was for sale and the lady said it was $75. It was brand new and they used to have 3 of them. I quess family members had bought houses for the kids and never consulted each other so they ended up with multiples. I asked if they would take $50. They said the lowest they would go would be $65 since it was brand new. I said I only had $60 so they took it.....jackpot!!I looked online and it costs $170 brand new so I got a great deal. I had no way of getting the thing home so they loaded it into their pickup truck and follwed me home so that was really nice! Love a good day of rummage sales!!

Wedding Anniversary

9 Years ago today was our wedding day! Before we had Cassie we celebrated our anniversary by spending it in London and Paris, the past couple of years have now been spent celebrating with our little girl. I actually can't picture leaving her for a very long stretch of time...it would break my heart I would miss her so much. Matt didn't get home till late but brought back dinner from Chilis so I wouldn't have to cook (thats always nice!)