The Cat

I'm sure most of you know the story of how we acquired our cat, but, just in case, here's the story again. (It's too good NOT to tell!)... The boys & I were finally getting set to move from Georgia to Tennessee in early May. Several weeks prior to our move, we'd been noticing a cat wandering around our part of the neighborhood. It looked well taken care of, and was a friendly cat, but didn't know of any of our neighbors having cats. Fast forward to the first week of May as Howie is unloading our "crates" of belongings... We get through most of the big inside furniture and start unloading the pods of mainly outdoor stuff. Howie starts noticing a lot of "fuzz" on the boxes coming out along with a strange smell. He says, "Cherri, that cat is in here." I, of course, said, "No way!" and was a little grossed out at the thought of what we might find. NOTE: We packed up on a Friday & Saturday in GA and did not receive our furniture until the following Thursday or Friday - almost a full week later!!! Sure enough, after a few more boxes were removed, and with a little prodding, out came the cat - YES! - alive and well... hungry and very skiddish, but OK. So, long story short, we kept the cat (felt slightly responsible for it! ha!) and called it "Georgia" (very original, I know!). Georgia stays close to home and has claimed the garage as its domain, while Daisy (our lab) claims the backyard. (They don't really get along.) Georgia is a sweet cat, still skiddish, particularly around the boys, but sweet nonetheless. In November, I decided Georgia was definitely going to stick around so we needed to be responsible pet owners and take it to the vet. There we discovered that Georgia would officially have to have a name change - to George. Ha! HE would like to come in the house (as long as Daisy and the boys aren't around) sometimes, and occassionally Howie and I comply. Here are a couple of pictures of our George...

May '08 - a few weeks after moving in... one of the few times he's been in backyard

Feb 09 - After a brief look around the house, he decided to settle in Howie's sink!

Cade, Cade, Cade...

Heard the cliche' "When it rains, it pours"? I should have known when we woke up on New Year's Day with a high fever what early 2009 had in store for our little Cade-man. That turned out to be an ear infection. (His tubes put in Jan. '08 are almost all the way out.) Ten days of antibiotics for that one. By the third week of January, what started as a little nap-time cough on Thursday, had turned into a fever, and a very restless & unhappy child by Saturday night, that became a diagnosis of pneumonia on Sunday at the pediatrician's office. What?! A double-shot (1/2 in each leg), plus ten more days of antibiotics and breathing treatments for that. Before we could completely recooperate, we had, as Cade would say, a "hursey" accident. His beloved Molly, before she even took her first step with him in the saddle, somehow became spooked, I guess, rared up and rolled him off the back. If only the fall, I think we would have come out better, but then she lost her balance and fell back on him - yes, GASP - pushing him over onto some pavement. He escaped with only some ugly scrapes and hand-swelling, but the entire event certainly took a few years off the three adults' lives who were standing there helpless, trying to prevent something that was already in motion. And we're not sure yet what the consequences will be for poor, old Molly. Anyway... while recovering from those nasty wounds (and finishing up pneumonia treatments I might add), Cade had an annual check-up with the ENT. Yep, tubes are coming out, we knew that, and... wait a minute... What?!... another ear infection! Huh? He's currently taking an antibiotic!!! So they x-ray the adenoids (his 3rd x-ray in 10 days... poor child is glowing in the dark!) and see that they are quite enlarged. Know what comes next? You got it! Surgery is scheduled for the end of February. He'll come out with no adenoids and a new set of tubes. (And we have to stay on an antibiotic until then.) Whew...

Some good news, though! Our baby boy is sleeping in his big boy bed & loves it!
... sweet, angel boy...

More snow!

About a week after our first snow, we got a second snow. WOW!! Once again, the boys were thrilled! Cade, unfortunately, had recently been sick (more about him later), so I really didn't want him outside in the cold. But big brother was a different story... He got to play outside for a little while after Cade went down for his nap. He rode the 4-wheeler around and around and around, making tracks and more tracks, running through mud, getting off & pushing it through mud... on & on! He didn't care what he was doing as long as he was outside in the snow. He loves the stuff! I hope he gets to see more before the winter is over...