Counting down!

We are only 2 weeks away from the baby's due date now! I can't wait to meet our new little baby girl. The doctor says everything looks good and she is developing right on target. We have been filling our days with the usual work and play and enjoying spending time with each other before the baby arrives.

The kids are growing and getting into mischief all the time now. Last week, Caleb wrote all over the TV, entertainment center, and himself with my lipstick. Just this afternoon, he dumped all of the cat food bowls into the water bowls, tore up one of my Little House books, and wrote on the counter with permanent marker. Those are only a few of the highlights of his naughtiness. Just when I am cleaning up his latest mess, he is in the next room creating another mess. He is quite a handful! Libby has been mothering Caleb, tattling on Caleb, and enticing Caleb to get into trouble. Between the pets and the kids, our house is really a crazy place lately!

























Our old dog Mandie has taken a turn for the worse over the past few weeks. We were thinking that we would have to have her put down this past Saturday, but she has temporarily improved on Prednisone. We are enjoying her while we still have her! She has in inoperable brain tumor, so it's only a matter of time. . . In the mean time, we have adopted a new dog as well to make the transition easier on both the kids and us when poor Mandie girl does leave us. The new dog is also a black lab female named Pepsi. She is a younger trimmer version of Mandie, and we are really impressed with how well she is fitting in so far. She is about a year and a half old, house trained, calm around the cats and kittens, great with the kids, and really sweet all around. Most importantly, she and Mandie get along as though they have been together forever; this is a major accomplishment for Mandie, who normally would like to eat any dog who looks at her. They walk together side by side on leash, lie down next to each other in the house, and sit next to each other for treats and handouts. It appears that Pepsi was meant to be and is the perfect dog to follow in Mandie's paw prints.


Hopefully, we are not too far away from baby Sara's arrival and will be posting pictures of her on the blog very soon! Here's to hoping anyway!

Not Dead Yet

I've had this nagging feeling for months that I really need to get caught up on my blog. I realized I was really overdue on it when I saw that my last post was last December! Time has been one thing just running away from me at top speed lately and I haven't made blogging a priority. So, I'm trying again. I have to get caught up some before our new baby arrives, and I've only got about 4 weeks left!

The kids have been keeping busy learning all kinds of new things this spring and summer. They have learned how to jump off the diving board, pedal their big kid bikes with training wheels, swing by themselves, make their beds, and potty training for Caleb! It's been so active, but lots of fun for them and us.

The new baby is developing right on target and is VERY active most of the time. She is a little bigger than we were expecting at the last ultrasound, so the doctor said she should be around the same 8 1/2 pounds that Caleb and Libby were if she's on time. She is due August 11th. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she makes her appearance a little earlier than that, however. . . Most of the baby things are ready for her arrival - Libby's old baby clothes are washed and ready, the crib is up, the car seat is in the car, and her little hospital bag is packed. I had to get all of the little things out of the way early, or I was going to forget them!

We are the proud owners of a three Siberian cats and six kittens at the moment. We launched our kitty website earlier this spring when we learned that we had kittens on the way (http://www.kriskasiberians.com/). So far, the kitten from Millie's first litter is sold and gone, and we're working on finding homes for the second litter of six Annie. One is spoken for and we're keeping our fingers crossed that we'll be receiving deposits on two more in a few days. That leaves three more to find homes for. We're just hoping and praying that they are all spoken for before our new baby arrives.

In other pet news, Mandie has been having some health issues over the past few weeks. It's currently a mystery to the vet what is wrong with her, so we're just trying to treat with steroids to stem her symptoms. She has been exhibiting a head tilt to one side, vertigo, and stumbling, in addition to some potty indiscretions. I'm not sure how much longer she'll be with us. Poor old girl :(

We had to find homes for some of our other pet cats a few weeks ago, as well. Libby and Matt graciously agreed to take Honeycomb for us, since Annie and Millie had been chasing her and beating her up at every opportunity. Mom told us about some ladies in her church who were looking for cats to keep them company. So, we packed up Honeycomb, Static and Butternut and made the flying car trip to Maine in one weekend to drop off the cats at their new homes. I really miss them, but I'm hoping they are happy and settle in to their new homes soon.

While we were in Maine, we finally met baby Matt and had a great time holding him and making him giggle. He is so cute! He really got me into baby-mode. Holding him made me want to hurry up and have our baby ASAP!

Hopefully, I'll be on here a little more often than 6 months next time! I'll end this post with a few pictures from this week of Caleb and Libby being themselves.