Sharing some photo love . .

These are two separate photos that almost work as one. I didn't even realize till I uploaded them here!

..my favorite kitty, Millie, who we got the year we were married, so showing this one only seems right, eh? :c) She's been a part of our marriage the entire time. Wow. I mean, meow. ;)

Playin' around.

What we're seeing lots of. Ewww. They are pretty colors and they're here for a reason, but unfortunately they're not too kind to the flowers and plants they land on, and they are all over my sunflowers!

Noah got his first big-boy bike a few weeks ago. He loves it. It won't be long until the training wheels come off. Then I'll really probably cry. The kids growing up is happening way too fast...

A cute picture of Erin. She made some killer martinis that night! :) I miss you, Erin!!

A couple favorite shots from my second-to-last wedding.

This one deserves a spot on Wordless Wednesday, and it is Wednesday, but it just can't be "wordless". The explanation is this... Sometimes Maia likes to read by herself after we read to her. The other night my husband said, "you have to see this", and I asked him if I needed my camera and he said "probably". (I knew that meant "yes".) This is what we found (Erin was with me). We could NOT stop laughing! Definitely a Kodak moment :c)

Happy 4th of July!

Maia and her first kitten

At the end of Noah's school year this year, all the pre-school classes and the kindergarten class visited one of the teacher's farms. What an amazing farm it was, too. I think I had just as much fun (but probably more fun, hehe) as the kids. I was in heaven :) We played with dogs, puppies, cows, horses, roosters (just watched those as they aren't nice animals!), and goats. We also played with a litter of kittens.

I grew up on a farm so we had litters upon litters of kittens every year. They were always a part of my "family" and I could probably name all 100 of them over my 16 years still today :c) Because of that, it was incredibly special for me to see Maia have her first experience seeing, and then holding, a kitten. Love is written all over her face while the kitten's face clearly reads panic :c)

Happy Love Thursday!

Seasonal Allergies

Anyone have them? If you do, can you tell me if you've ever had an eyelid swell up? That's what's happened to me.

My eye doesn't hurt but it itches. Actually, both eyes itch but my left one is swollen so much I can't open my eye fully. I've never had this happen before, but it doesn't surprise me. My allergies seem to get worse and worse each year. And the past few months especially, I've experienced lots of weird changes and I think I can blame it on hormones and my weaning Maia.

So does anyone know what I can do? Will my Zyrtec help? Anything o-t-c help? I noticed it last night, thought it would go down overnight while sleeping, but I woke up and it was even worse.

Guess it could be a cat? I'm allergic to them also, especially my short-haired cat, Chloe. I've never ever contemplated giving them up before, but if they are the cause of this, I may have to.

Help, please!

Scaredy Cats

My sis, Chel, posted an Easter picture of my niece, Ella, (and I posted it below a few days ago) on a day when she didn't want her picture taken, and of all days, when she was all dolled up and beautiful. It's funny that she posted Ella acting that way (and I giggled when I saw it) because just a few days before that I caught Maia on camera doing the very same thing - just not in a corner but on a leg! So here is my bashful one, refusing to have her picture taken. Like cousin, like cousin! (They are 7 weeks apart in age.)


And here is my other "scaredy" cat. It looks like he is growlin' but I caught him yawning right as I clicked the cam! This is Mr. Heinz. ("Heinzy" as we call him.) Isn't he pretty? He's my baby. I got him right before I got pregnant with Noah. He still thinks he should be carried and gets jealous when it's the kids and not him that I am paying attention to! (And look at his big paws . . . I love those feet of his!)

Oh no! Recall on dog and cat foods!

This is not good. I'm sure you're heard by now, a huge amount of pet food has been recalled. I have a doggy and three kitties. To find out if your dog's food has been affected (and I hope not!) click on this link: dog food recall.

Media newswire says this:

There has been a small number of reported instances of cats and dogs in the United States that developed kidney failure after eating the affected product. Ten deaths, one dog and nine cats, have been reported at this time. The firm has undertaken extensive testing of the pet food products in question, but to date has been unable to find the source of the problem.

To find out if your kitty's food has been affected, click on this link: cat food recall.

I hope all your furry friends have not been affected and are still barking and purring as they should be!

Cat problems (and more) revisted

So Heinz (oh yes, did I forget to mention I have a cat named after ketchup?), he is acting all weird again. (See this post to get a refresher course.) He's still pulling out his hair, and at 8 weeks later, he has hardly any hair left from his neck down. (He use to be a beautiful long-haired tabby kitty cat and now he is just . . . so sad looking!) And starting today he has been throwing up. Not hairballs, not food, but yellowish clear slimey yuck. Anyone know anything that could help me? I know it could be nothing, but with this hair thing, I'm afraid it is something. I think it's time I take him to the vet. I probably should have done it a long time ago, but my black cat went through a depression period after Noah was born and pulled out all of her hair. I gave her more attention per my vet's suggestion, and the hair grew back in. Simple as that! I guess I thought Heinz was depressed and that loving him more would help him as well, but it's not helping at all. What do I do to kitties?! I swear I am a good mommy to them! Heinz sleeps with me and I find myself sometimes petting him through the night. (Now that's a good mommy, don't ya think?!) So . . . I guess I call the vet lady tomorrow. Sigh . . .

I have this cat . . .

. . . and he is pulling his hair out like crazy. And I don't know why.

I had one other cat, Chloe, who shortly after Noah was born, started licking her hair, behind her legs, tail, on her back and belly, completely off. We found out later, after about 8 months of this resulting in an almost-hairless cat, that she was depressed and had high anxiety from the new baby. So instead of putting her on anti-depressants, the vet (my AWESOME kitty vet!) recommended us just giving her more attention because she felt abandoned since the baby had arrived. So we did just that . . .loved and petted her more than we ever had, and the rest is history. Her hair is 100% back and she looks, once again, like one of my nomally-fat full-of-hair cats.

Now we have a problem with Heinz. Not sure what is wrong and I'm not sure I want a vet bill (yet) to find out the culprit. Which is why I'm posting this here. Maybe someone out there can help?

Heinz is losing huge chunks of hair. At first I thought, wow, he really going through a shedding phase. But it's been going on for a couple weeks now and it's not just a little here and there. It's CHUNKS. I looked him over really well and he doesn't appear to have any fleas. And he gets plenty of attention because he is my cuddle-dud who sleeps with me and cuddles all day long. And most of this hair is coming fom his back. Could he be sick? Maybe he just has allergies that we never noticed before? Anyone know? It's driving me nuts and apparently something is driving him nuts, too.

Help my kitty, please!!

Chloe the kitty cat

Chloe was posing for me the other day and I captured her in her best light, I think! She's the weirdest cat in the world but also the most photogenic of my kitty cat clan.