Not Waist Watcher Wednesday

So, I know I've been slackin' on my good ol' blog lately. And honestly, I haven't gotten alot of traffic here either, especially on my Waist Watcher posts. And let's be honest, my weight loss journey has pretty much sucked lately anyway. So, I'm officially retiring WWW until next year. I'll probably pick it back up around the first of the year with ideas and tips to get ready for bathing suit season. (which it currently is RIGHT NOW and I am no where near ready) Thank you SO much to all who participated, I appreciate you all SO MUCH, and I hope that you decide to stick around.

Now, a quick update on the pups: They are a week and a half old and we still have all seven! They're doing great =) Here's a quick pic.

I am IN LOVE.

Other than that I don't have much to report. I have a Nail Files post scheduled for Friday, and a Significant Other Saturday post coming up this weekend, so I'll be around a little bit more. I've just been super busy with the baby and the puppies, and getting the house together and cleaned in preparation to rip our carpet up. We're almost there.

Have fun this week!

Oh and if you want to get more updates than on my blog, you can follow me on Twitter @growingtreeblog or on Instagram @thegrowingtree!

An Unexpected, yet Awesome, Surprise

So, I'm not sure if I mentioned this or not, but if I haven't it will be a surprise for you as well.

Back in February, we had an "incident" with our doggies. To recap, here they are:

Our male husky, Marty

And our female beagle, Vala

So anyway, back to the "incident." You know what kind we're talking about, but here's a clue anyway. Neither of them are fixed. So, just imagine the worst and there you have it.

We were suspicious for a while, but last week she started getting REALLY BIG and when we put our hands on her tummy we could feel the little kicks from the puppies. We had NO idea how many were in there or how long they would STAY in there.

Well, we got our answer on Saturday night...actually it was more along the lines of Sunday at 2 am. Hubby is woken up by Vala, who put her paws up on the bed and scratched him until he woke up. Not out of the ordinary, because she normally does this if she has to pee really badly. So, he asked her if she needed to go out, and next thing you know she's plopping a PUPPY down on the bed in front of him!! We immediately start freaking out, because I have never had a preggo doggie before, and had NO clue if I needed to watch her or help her, or just plain leave her alone. So I watched her for about three hours while Hubby went back to bed, and watched puppies #2, 3, and 4 enter the world. After that she seemed to calm down, and I figured the pups were so big that there couldn't POSSIBLY be any more in there. So I went back to bed.

YEAH..... I was SO wrong!

We woke up the next morning and there were TWO MORE puppies!!! Then we checked again about an hour later and figured out we had miscounted and there were actually SEVEN!

Oh. My. GOD! What are we going to do with SEVEN puppies!!!??

So, that's why I haven't had much time to blog. And probably won't be here as much for a while. And, without further ado:

The black ones

The spotted ones

Puppy #1 - the oldest

 Puppy #2

Puppy #3

Pudgy Spots - Puppy #4

Puppy # 5

Puppy #6 or #7 (not sure) - I call him Tubby!

And lastly =)

Oh my god the cuteness!!! I can't take it! Feel free to scroll up and look through again and AWW at them! They're definately AWW-worthy!! =)





Yesterday, I did one of the hardest things I've ever had to do...

::NOTE: This post had the potential to be sad, if you would like to skip it, please do. There is another post today, my better-late-than-never weekend recap::

I had to willingly give away a pet.

It was SO hard, and I cried like a big ol' baby.

So, I casually mentioned that we had a cat that was peeing and pooping all over our floors. Well, she has been doing this since pretty much day one. Meet Holly my gorgeous black and white tuxedo kitty:

(kitten)

(adult)

At first, she would use the litter box, but she never wanted to get in it, so she would squat over the corner. Then we got covered boxes, and all hell broke loose. She would go anywhere and everywhere, just because she didn't like the litter. I think it's all because of the conditions she lived in before we got her. A small garage with 30 plus cats, no litter boxes, feces everywhere, fleas, and food just strewn all over the floor. So, we took the covers off thinking she would go back to squatting: NOPE. Then, a few years ago, we started noticing her losing hair on her hind end. It would come and go, so we thought it was just a mild irritation. Well, this summer it started happening to our other cats as well, so we started worrying. We took her to the vet three times, and each time all they did was give her some steroids and antibiotics, and it would go away for three weeks and come back. They never did any tests on her, and I didn't feel like they were going to help. So, last week we made a decision. She couldn't live with us anymore. We can't have these conditions once our baby starts to crawl, so we needed to nip it in the butt before it gets bad. (we already need to replace our carpet) It was a very hard decision because she is 6 years old now, and it made me sad that she won't be around for Natalie to love on. But, it was for the best.

We sent her to Hubby's dad's farm about 20 minutes away to live outside with his other barn cats. He feeds them cat food, and sets water out for them, and Hubby said that she settled in almost instantly. I just hope that she is happy and lives out the rest of her life that way. I will try and visit her, but I  didn't go with Hubby to drop her off. It was too hard.

I will miss her cuddles, although it already kinda felt like she was gone, because all she did all day was sit in the window. She wouldn't come to bed with us or cuddle with us or even come around for some love anymore. It made me sad. So, now I say goodbye to my beautiful little Holly-girl.

Mommy will miss you cuddle-bug. Be happy.

The saddest day I've ever had was today.

My husband and I found this little darling one day before our wedding on July 4, 2009.

Hubby had heard a faint meow coming from the basement and went down to check it out. This tiny little kitten emerged. He brought her upstairs just as I was getting home from errands, and I instantly fell in love. She was rambunctious, loving, and cute as a button, not to mention scared and hungry.

She became my world, and a few things became quite obvious:

1. She loved us both instantly and showed us often with neck cuddles.

We cuddled on almost a daily basis. She knew when I got home and instantly came running to greet me. She hung out with me as much as possible, and when she wasn't lying tucked into my neck purring her heart out, she wasn't far away, usually curled up against me with some extremity of her little kitty body.

2. From the time she was little, she slept in the wierdest (and cutest places/positions):

 I loved that she could always find a comfortable place to sleep, no matter where we were or what part of the house she was in at the time.

3. Eddie was HER man:

 Every time I turned around they would either be sleeping together, grooming each other, or playing with each other. I called them my lovebirds.

Lately, Indy and I have had this ritual where when I go into the bathroom in the morning, she comes and jumps up on the sink and from there crawls into my arms for cuddle time. She has been doing this for about three months now. It was our time together, and this morning was no different.

She came in and I gave her a few rubs and she nuzzled my neck on each side, and then I set her down to put my contacts in. I turned around and all of a sudden she is breathing heavy and twitching and her legs are all stiff. I picked her up and she took a ragged breath, and then it was sheer pandimonium. I'm not sure what happened - we think it may have been a stroke, heart attack, or seizure. Either way, she was gone. We gathered her up as fast as possible ( I was freaking out) and drove to the nearest animal hospital, only to find it closed. It didn't matter, I truly believe she was gone as soon as she felt herself in my arms. I just couldn't let her go, I kept holding her and petting her and whispering "I love you's". There was nothing I could do. We buried her in the yard as it was raining, and later tonight it turned to snow.

So, now I must say goodbye to the best cuddlebug I know, my Beeber, Independence, my wedding kitty. You were closer to me than any kitty I've ever had, and you always knew when I needed you just for some love and affection. You were the best cuddler, and your purrs in my ear I will never forget. I will miss our "Mommy and me" times, I will miss you greeting me at the door, I will miss your squeaks, I will miss your eyes, and your silly little bicolor face. I will miss you always getting in the way at the worst times, and I will miss you always butting in when I'm late for work for one last cuddle - knowing that I won't be home for a few hours. You weren't here long enough to say hello, let alone goodbye. I will say this...

I love you, and Mommy will never EVER forget you. I will miss you every day - FOREVER. I love you so much, Beebs - and I will see you again someday.

Sleep well, and wait for me.

Mommy loves you.