Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Fixing Rascal...

So, I have a full figured Pembroke Welsh Corgi. He will be 3 on January 4th {I can't believe we have had this rodent without a tail for that long...seems like longer} and has always loved everything to do with food and has been nursing a year long heartache from losing his best friend Webster. (R.I.P Webbie)

My big boy...Rascal Roni


On the ride home, when he pooped in my car.


He still sleeps like this sometimes....

What a sweet face :)



Growing up some..still pint size!
Halloween 2010

With his best buddy Webster...Kings for Halloween!



So with his depression, adding Lilli, then Bella his world has been a crazy road of twists and turns. He has adapted pretty well. He has never had any problems with Lilli. He often tries to herd her when she runs through the house, which either stops her or encourages her to run faster. He herds all of us, it is in his blood and it's something he has always done. He was okay with Bella when she first came home too. Everything was great until Bella started crawling.

Bella is the animal lover. She is drawn to any animal that is around her and she is very interested in animals in general. When she started crawling she would often go under the table and get into the dog food. Now, Lilli did this but she was redirected very easily, Bells not so much. She started eating the dog food one day and I think that was Rascal's last straw. From that point on he would growl, show is teeth, and pace around like he was guarding the crown jewels.

A couple weeks of this and I moved his food into our bedroom and it got better. He wouldn't do it so much anymore and I thought - how easy of a fix! Well, at the same time of moving his food, we put him on diet dog food and slowly stopped feeding him table scraps. He's about 20 pounds over weight and I really want him to live a long time. At the point when I thought I had cured everything with food placement he started up again. Only this time was anytime the kids (both of them, not just Bella anymore) where walking/crawling around him. If he was laying in the middle of the kitchen and they walked through he would growl..most the time not even lifting his head. He was giving them warning to get away from him, but for what reason?!

I thought about all the changes that have happened for him. I also noticed that he wasn't eating as much as he used to. I switched his food to Chef Michaels because he has always LOVED that food. He started eating again and was happy and left the girls alone. I was so happy for 2 days thinking, I again fixed things. However, then the runs and vomiting started. He was sick for a full week. I was pulling my hair out running after him wiping his butt along with Lilli's, Bella's, and my own butt! He would vomit mostly at night, which I thought was weird. I know that changing your dogs diet can weird their system out but he had NEVER had this. On top of it...he got an ear infection!

So, I switched his food once again to a lamb and rice formula because I know that is gentle on dogs stomachs. He stopped the vomiting and only had the runs every now and then. He was still crabby sometime and his ear infection was going away. My mom's dog has had issues with her bum for quite awhile....she has her on a grain-free food. It has firmed up her poo and her bum is better. So I once again (this will be the last time - for a while if it doesn't work out) changed his food. This is 4 times in about 3 - 4 months. I know that's a lot for his system to take but I want him to eat a really good quality food. AND to not be hungry!

So now he is on Simple food...it is grain free, dairy free, soy free, all kinds of free stuff. It's basically just turkey, potato, and some vitamins. I hope that he can start eating this and become a healthy happy pup. I am going to start taking him on daily walks. It's good for him and the girls to get out and exercise together. This morning was our first morning...it took 15 minutes to prepare for the walk and a walk down the block took 18 minutes - but it was worth it. I gave him some extra snuggles when both girls were down resting. He is shedding MAJORILY right now....and will be groomed either this week or next. Does anyone else have any advice out there about this? I know that some dogs aren't made to be super kid friendly and I don't let them hang on him or hurt him, but I need him to be okay with them being around him.....what to do...what to do?!


Sunday, November 25, 2012

It's already 8:35 a.m. - that's what I get for sleeping until 7!

As some of you may know (since you follow me on Facebook also, yes I am that popular!) Isabella has not been sleeping through the night for most of her life. However, it has been especially bad lately. She seems to be getting in what seems like every single tooth that she will ever get in her entire life. Like, I think she is even 2 year molars. Which I don't think is humanly possible. But this child has been miserable. She has successfully made all of the rest of us miserable while dealing with this.

So last night we were out late and I didn't get the girls home and in bed until about 10:30, okay - it was more like 11 but I feel like a bad parent saying that. They were sleeping at Nunna and Papa's so I guess my "strict" parenting didn't go to complete waste by waking them up to get them home. {When in actuality Isabella (teething baby vampire) was up and playing because she gets to do whatever she wants at Nunna and Papa's} I got them home and in bed, I slide in bed and instantly fell asleep since I haven't gotten more then 5 hours of solid sleep in the past week.

So, at 6:50 a.m. I woke up with my heart racing and sweat all over my body feeling like something was wrong. No one had cried, screamed, or started talking to themselves yet and it was almost 7 a.m.!!! I slept from 11:15ish until 6:50. HOW EXCELLENT! And now my stupid internal clock had to set itself off and kill off the rest of the 30 minutes I could have slept until a child woke up. Stupid clock.

You don't realize how much you can get done when you wake up at 5:30 because you are in such a zombieatic state that you are lucky if you don't flush a kid down the toilet or put one in the dishwasher. As I sit here letting the time waste away, while I should be getting ready for the 30 people that are coming over for my brats' birthday parties, I can't help but think how much my life has changed in the last two years. I mean what the hell did I do with my time? There was NO reason and I mean NONE for any of our apartments, cars, or this house (before kids) to have been messy or dirty. I don't even remember what it is like to sleep past 7. On some rare occasions when the Hubbs is feeling bad for me he lets me sleep until 8 or 9 (feels like all the holidays rolled into one!), but how in the hell did I ever sleep past noon and then feel the right to still feel sleepy?!

I remember at one time thinking, I could NEVER function on less then 8 hours of sleep. HARDY fucking HAR HAR - what was I thinking? If I could talk to that carefree sleep loving bitch now - I would say CHERISH every moment you sleep!! One day sleep will be come a chore - that has to occur when you could be cleaning the floors, doing laundry {that will NEVER end}, cooking something, or organizing something. Sleep isn't even enjoyable anymore. When I lay down I am running through all the things that happened that day, what needs to happen the next day, and to remember that the dog groomer is coming this week. Crap - I forgot about that just until now. I have a calendar that I write everything down on....I just need to remember to look at that thing!

So - now I have successfully wasted another 22 minutes by writing this post...which I think is success in the making since, I still haven't showered, gotten the girls dressed, done their hair, cleaned up, or started the marinara sauce that I decided to make from scratch to save money to dip the homemade garlic bread in....why do I think I can be Martha freaking Stewart sometimes? I need to remember that I do not have a full production crew along with a gazillion dollars to get things done!!!!! Any way - another minute wasted and Isabella is asking for more milk, while biting my knee with those damn new teeth...bastard teeth!

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Another year has flown by!

What? How is it possible that I am a mother of a 2 year old and a 1 year old?! As of November 20th and 21st, I will have 2 toddlers. My life is over as I know it! I don't even know how that is possible since I just graduated high school a couple of years ago! HA!
It still amazes me how much a child changes in one year. They go from being limp lugs that eat, cry, sleep, and poop to getting into EVERYTHING and still eating, crying, sleeping, and pooping. Although, the pooping gets worse...yuck!

Lilliana Mariposa~
She has the biggest attitude ever. She asserts her independence at every turn. She wants things her way and she wants them now, or else someone is going to pay. When she gets mad she throws things and thinks putting a blanket over her sisters head is funny. She speaks in small sentences now. She can tell me her basic wants and needs. She loves hugs and body slamming her sister. She is an attention getter and lives for pop music. She is the biggest Icee eater and loves cookies. Saying that she is overly obsessed with Dora and Diego is putting it mildly and if it weren't for those shows I would not have my sanity.
I remember the minute they let me hold her. Then I remember sleeping for what seemed like 12 hours, while Silva came to visit and took care of our child while us excellent parents slept. LMAO...I will never forget that! Or the fact that she looked exactly like my father-in-law. She is such an Angel....literally. I was so happy to get her out of me after 22 hours of labor that I didn't care if they pulled her out of my ass....that girl just needed to come out!
Lilli when she was born.




Lilli on her 1st birthday with her Fairy Godmother.











My bratty 2 year old.

We have videoed almost her whole entire life. I have become one of those people that shows strangers pictures of my child even if they don't care. She has changed so much in 2 short year. She is the highlight of my day and the reason why I want to pull my hair out. She is a Daddy's girl and loves her Blankie and Paci. She loves being outside and gives the biggest open mouthed kisses. She loves to dance and knows how to move her hips (yikes!). She has completely stolen my heart, patience, and every ounce of energy I have. I worry and wonder about what she will be like when she grows older. How many times she will fall in love and how I hope that she will be strong and follow her dreams. I want her to be opinionated, driven, and full of spunk. I want her to know her worth and that we will always love her no matter what she does. Happy 2nd birthday baby girl. You are a gift from God and make every day of my life just that much sweeter!

Isabella Elizabeth ~

Now on to the 1 year old. It's funny that my sister posted a picture of Miguel, Lilli, and I on Lilli's 1st birthday and captioned it as: Yep, that's a happy family! Adding another daughter in 15 days (or less as Jennifer would like). 
What a fluke that the very next day I would go to the OBGYN and they would say - "Um, we are sending you to deliver today, you have preclampsia." I remember crying first for the baby's sake, then thinking - Oh, Lord - they are going to hate me for having their birthdays so close. Then I thought, my mom is going to kill me because she wanted a pay day in between their birthdays. That was one of the worse and best days of my life. It's amazing how so many emotions you can go through in the matter of 12 hours. My blood pressure was out of control 200/180 (so stroke level). They took me in to deliver via c-section, only to have to postpone it 8 hours because my dumb ass ate breakfast...how was I supposed to know that she was going to come that day?! She was supposed to cook for another 2 weeks! 
I thought for sure that I would have another 8 pounder..maybe more - however, I gave birth to a very tiny, 6 lb 2 ounce baby girl that was in the NICU for 7 days. I got to hold her in recovery and then I didn't get to see her for 24 hours (due to the blood pressure issues). Seeing her all hooked up was one of the hardest things I have had to endure. She was so small and was poked and prodded and she was perfect. She looked like her sister with the dark hair (all over her body, holy monkey), the Angel hands, and she was just so small. 
I should have known that she would be the neediest, clingiest, life sucking child anyone could have that first time I saw her in that incubator. She is my right hip...literally. I don't even know how she has already managed to learn how to walk 2 steps due to always being held and loved on. She had colic for 4 1/2 months and at the worse of worse moments, when I hadn't slept in 3 days and all she did was cry, I thought - I would do anything for this child. 

The day she was born:

 Doing what she loves best.....eating





My big girl on Halloween!










She has always and will always loved to be held, hugged, and kissed. She giggles with her whole body, she can and will eat absolutely EVERYTHING. She is super tiny (for our standards) and is not fearful of any animal. She tortures our dog and me every chance she can get. I honestly believe that if she could crawl into my belly and hang out for the 2 weeks that she got shafted on she would.

What amazes most about her, is in all my worry about how small she was and the rough start she had, she has grown and surpassed all of my expectations. She has started walking (granted only 2 steps then she gets scared) and babbles with the best of them. 
She is for sure going to be my soft-hearted Mommy's girl for the rest of her life. She will be the first to cry, tattle tell, and brown nose. She plays "shy" around strangers and it melts my heart. I have held her for more hours then she has been alive, first inside my belly and then for almost every single minute she has been alive. She is beautiful and a little shit. She gets into everything and isn't afraid of anything. She has gone from having a full head of hair and hairy body, to bald with cradle cap, to a mullet. She looks much more like me then I thought was possible with Hubbs strong mexican swimmers. But she is the joy of my day. 
She makes me smile about 1000 times a day. I get to sing her to sleep at least once a day. She fits so perfectly to my side, I often wonder how I walk around on my own. She is my life's one miracle. From being so tiny and small, needing help to breath to being a terror on 2 feet. I hope that she doesn't turn into the biggest brat in the world and becomes her own person. I wish she would sleep longer then 8 hours and if not, then that she would learn to play in her crib until 7 am. 
I know that she will do good for this Earth. She will be my free loving, hippy child. That runs around without shoes on, rescuing every stray animal in our neighborhood. I hope that her curiosity takes her tons of places and that she doesn't have a problem with telling people, "No." I know that she has the biggest heart and will give herself 110% to every challenge that appears. 
She is my fighter and inspiration. Happy 1st birthday sweetness.
"And though she be but little, she is fierce." -Shakespeare