Hard...

So hard to leave for work most mornings when all I want to do is crawl back into bed with these two little people.....

RIP JYNXIE....

For those of you who don't know already, Almost two weeks ago now, on Wednesday, February 5th, 2014, We said goodbye to our beloved Jynx.

Jynxie was diagnosed with diabetes a little over a year ago and had slowly deteriorated.  The vet advised us that sometimes cats with diabetes do well on insulin and others not so much.  At first Jynx was responding well and seemed to be feeling better, then around Christmas time her body stopped responding to the insulin.  We knew that her kidneys were starting to shut down and I had to make the decision that it was time.  The vet concurred with my decision and said that if I hadn't brought her in that she probably would of had a seizure and died at home within a month.  While this decision was a difficult one, I know it was the right one.  Her quality of life was not great and I didn't want her to be in pain anymore.

Saying goodbye to Jynx was definitely a hard thing to do.  I had made the appointment a week prior, just to give us some final time with her as well as to give us time to prep the girls.  I got a few books from the library on losing a pet and the night before the four of us sat down with the girls to have a discussion.  Addison shed a few little crocodile tears and didn't say a whole lot.  Alexis had a full on nasty cry and kept saying she didn't want Jynxie to go to heaven.

The night of her appointment, Terry helped me get Jynx in her crate.  I set her on the coffee table and gave the girls a chance to say their final goodbyes.  Addison again had a few little tears sliding down her cheek.  Alexis was a sobbing mess.  I was generally OK until Terry started crying and then I got sick to my stomach.  I left with Jynxie and Terry stayed home to console the girls.  We decided that they didn't need to be a part of the final appointment.  Which in hindsight was definitely best!!

 

 

It's been a hard few weeks.  Jynxie was more like a dog than she ever was a cat.  Until about six months ago, she would be waiting for me at the door when I came home from work and she was always an active part of our family activities. 

 

The day after we said goodbye, the girls got up and were getting ready for school as usual.  Part of our morning routine was that the girls would help me feed and get water for Jynx.  I will never forget the sad look on Addison's face when she looked up at me standing next to Jynxie's food bowl and said "I guess we don't have to do this anymore".  I'm very thankful that while I was at work that day, Terry casually removed all the remaining traces of "jynxie reminders" from the house. 

 

It's truly amazing how attached and how much a part of your life an animal can be.  Jynx never left my side the entire time I was on bed rest with the girls.  She was the only one who ever got to feel the babies kick in my belly.  She would meow non-stop at me when I got out of bed during my bed rest phase.....almost as if she was yelling at me for being up.  When the girls were first home from the hospital she would lay right next to their bassinets or right outside their bedroom door every night.  Whenever one of them would cry during the middle of the night, she would instantly jump up onto my bed, as if she was telling me that the girls needed my attention.  She's always been more than just a cat!!!

 

R.I.P. JYNXIE CAT....7-5-2002--2-5-2014

 

Sweet....

Typically once a week I make a trip to Aldi's to get milk, eggs, bread and a few other odds and ends.  Usually this happens on Saturday mid-day after I take the girls to the library.  The girls love to go shopping whether it is for groceries or anything else.  They really love to people watch. 

As a general rule, if the girls had been good the previous week, gotten all green check marks at school, and have done their chores, I let them pick out a treat at the store.  I'm really not a slave driver or a totally hard ass, I'm just trying to instill a little consequences vs actions system around the house.  And chores don't amount to much other than picking up their toys, keeping their room clean, and helping me put away their laundry (which they love to do).

They don't usually eat a lot of sugary foods so this is very exciting for them.  Both of them have recently been on a huge ice cream/frozen yogurt kick and have been choosing ice cream and/or yogurt as their special treat.

They also have a $4.00 limit on their reward.  Not because I'm trying to be cheap....but also trying to teach them the value of money and paying attention to what things cost.  They both look for things that start with the #3 and know that those are acceptable.  They enjoy looking at the numbers and searching for things with a #3 on them.  It's almost a game to them. 

Last week Alexis chose ice cream sandwiches.  Her logic and reasoning behind this is because she knows that there are a lot of sandwiches in the box.  She knows that if she chooses the ice cream bars there are only six in that box, but in the sandwiches box there are twelve.  If some ice cream is good more must be better right???  The apple doesn't fall far from the tree on that one....

 

 

Addison selected drumsticks.  Her reasoning behind choosing these was because she knows that I like them too.  Love her to pieces!  I tried numerous times to convince Addison to select what she wanted, not what Mommy would want.  I told her that this was her treat and that she should pick for HER not for ME.  Still adamant that she wanted the drumsticks, that is what we got.  She wanted to be able to share her ice cream with everyone. 

 

It's moments like this that make me so proud to be her Mom.  When I feel like I'm failing terribly as a mother, little things like this help make me feel like I'm doing a little something right.

 



 

On a side note.... Both girls have gotten haircuts since these shaggy-haired photos were taken!  :-)

Different.....but yet the same?!?!?!?

I always find it interesting to compare and contrast my two girls.  They are complete polar opposites 99.999% of the time, and then I find them doing something like this.....completely unposed, unprovoked and unplanned.  I walked out of my bathroom to find them laying in my bed watching Dora like this.....

Picture Perfect...

This past Saturday we did our usual Saturday morning routine....Breakfast, library, story time, grocery shopping.  After toddler story time there is craft time and then usually an hour or so of play time. I was reading my book while the girls were playing.  Addison comes up to me and says:

"Look Mommy, I made a picture frame."

 

 

Then of course Alexis needed me to take her picture too!

 

And why not a group shot?

 

How can you not love these two little faces!!!!