Florida

Last week we went to Florida for Aaron's sister's wedding.  It was kind of a tough trip, off and on.  Aaron is hard to travel with.  He is a very nervous flyer, and being nervous leads to stress.  We had a first class ticket for the flights out there (actually I had a first class ticket, but we split it).  Aaron rode in first from Oakland to Phoenix, and I rode in first from Phoenix to Tampa.  It was nice, but it wasn't all I expected.  Though, I'm not sure what I was expecting.  Neither flight had tvs on it, which was annoying.  Bertie did well on both flights.

The rental car place was not at the airport, so we had to take a shuttle.  It was so hot!  Once we got in the car Bertie fell asleep.  We hit a lot of beach traffic.  It took an hour to get to Treasure Island.  We had the whole 2-bedroom condo to ourselves.  It was right on a canal.  After we settled in we went swimming in the pool.  Bertie really liked the pool.  When bedtime came around, Bertram wouldn't get in the pack'n play.  Actually, he completely freaked out.  So we put him in bed with us, and he eventually fell asleep.

The days kind of blur together.  The wedding was beautiful.  The kind of wedding I would have wanted.  Bertie played in the sand during the ceremony.  I cried like a baby.  We only spent one day at the beach, I wish we'd spent more time there.  Bertram didn't really get in the ocean, but he loved the sand.  Aaron and I tried stand up paddle boarding.  It was really fun.  I fell in, of course.  We saw a lot of pelicans, and some cranes and even a couple dolphins.  I was hoping to see a manatee, but we didn't.

Bertram didn't nap at all, except falling asleep in the car, or stroller.  That made for a rough and stressful trip.  Overly tired 2 year olds are terrible people.  It was hard to get him to settle into bed at night too.  So we were all a little sleep deprived.

Aaron's bio-mom took great care of us, and overall, we had a lot of fun.

We had some time to kill on the way back to the airport, so we went to a mall to get lunch.  I tried to had Bertie to Aaron, and he freaked out and stepped in/kicked Aaron's food, which then got all over our (me and Aaron's) pants.  So we ran into Old Navy on the way out and got Aaron new pants.  I changed into a pair I had in my bag.  Then we returned the car and waited for the shuttle.  And waited, and waited.  We got to the airport with 50 minutes til our flight.  By the time we got through security, there was less than 20 minutes.  It was really stressful, but we made it.

We all sat together on the flights home.  Bertie did pretty well.  One flight had tvs, which was great.  Baby fell asleep on the 2nd flight for about an hour.  We got in to San Jose around 10pm.  So it was another late night.

But today (our first day back) he is back on schedule.  A 2.5 hour nap, and in bed by 8:30.  I'm glad we didn't ruin him for sleeping in his own bed.

Stress

Things I am stressed about

• We are traveling soon. (So all the things that go along with that.  Plus we're going somewhere we haven't been.  We're renting a car, carseat, pack n play.)
• Grandma is in the hospital with high levels of Potassium.  She's on the med now, but still won't be home for a few days.
• A stomach virus is making it's way through the family.
• My house is a mess.
• Bertie is driving me crazy (which makes me feel like a bad mom).
• Can I say that Bertie is driving me crazy again?
• I haven't exercised in days (which is also driving me crazy and probably adding to my stress).
• I am PMSing.

Another pet blog

Zelda:
She was our first dog (as in neither of us had ever had a dog before).  We had wanted a greyhound for sometime, and where matched up with her.  She has lived with us for nearly 6 years.  Zelda is the sweetest dog.  She loves all people, and cats!  And she is an easy dog, she sleeps all day.  She has deep brown eyes with Egyptian-looking eyeliner.  She loves walks, holding hands, zoomies, sleeping on the couch and treats.  She will be 11 in October.  Her full name is Zelda Belle.  Aliases: Zelly Belly, Zoody, Zooby, Zelby, Zella, Noodles, Big Dog, Dogzilla, Belly, and Zoo.

Fiona:
Thinking all dogs were awesome, like Zelda, we got Fiona at a chihuahua sale, at the local shelter. She is not full chihuahua, but possibly has dachshund, or terrier as well. She tricked us, she acted very quiet and friendly.  Neither of these things have been true.  When she first came home, she peed on the floor a lot.  That, fortunately, has stopped.  But she barks all. the. time.  And she hates all dogs that aren't Zelda, and is not fond of many people either.  But she is a snuggly little idiot, and we love her.  The age estimate from the shelter puts her about the same age as Zelly.  She still acts like a much younger dog.  Her full name is Fiona Josephine.  Her aliases are: Yoie, Yoie Joey, and Small Dog,

Julius:
Juli is possibly the most handsome, and troublesome cat we've ever had.  He is friendly, and loves to be a lap cat.  But he also sprays whenever he is in the house, and after trying many things, he had to be an outside/garage cat.  Juli got along with our previous cat (Moss) but doesn't like any other cats.  He gets along with the dogs without any issues. He is a jerk, but we still love him.  He is likely about 7 years old.  Neither cat has a middle name.  Aliases: Juli, Jules, Juli-Booli, Julius-Boolius, and Juli-Cat.

Priya:
Priya has only been with us since January.  She is a shy cat, but likes snuggling once she knows you.  She is missing one of her rear feet, so she hops a bit.  Her name was Tinsley when we adopted her.  She doesn't like dogs, but likes hissing and swiping at them.  Priya has Bertie get along fairly well; she likes to sit by him in the big recliner.  She doesn't have many aliases: Pree, Pree-Cat.

Notes to be elaborated on later

Things Bertram says:
Ham meat, papa instead of grandpa, candy beans, all meals are dinner ("dider"),

Coney dogs are annoying dogs

Bertie didn't sleep til after 930 tonight. I went in to get him and he was so happy to see me. We snuggled in my bed for a bit. If he would actually sleep there, i would let him. But he won't.

We read a lot of books. 1000 books by kindergarten.

The incident

A week ago we took the dogs on their nightly walk.  We went on one of our non-typical routes.  As we were walking down the sidewalk a grey pitbull charged out of a house, and straight towards the dogs.  It all happened so fast, I didn't even have time to think. (We carry pepper spray in our walk bag for that specific purpose, but didn't even have time to grab it).  I hoisted Yoie up by her lead, and the pitbull went straight to Zelda.  In a matter of 2 seconds, Zelda had several bites on her leg (one was muscle deep).  

The friend of the dog owner had let the dog out into the front yard without a lead.  The owner (Regina) was not happy about this, of course.  Aaron called his mom to come pick up him and Zelda, and they went off to the emergency vet.  I walked Bertie and Yoie home.  Aaron had to leave her for a while, and pick her up around 1:30 am.  It was $400-something. When Fiona and I went to bed, I noticed that she was bleeding.  She had been bitten on her chest, but it didn't look too bad, so I decided to take her to our normal vet in the morning.

Zelda came home and looked alright.  When we got up, Fiona's bit was really, really swollen.  I took her to the vet.  She had a hematoma and needed a drain.  So I left her for the day, her bill was around $500.  

Then on Wednesday we noticed that Zelda's stitches looked really bad, like she'd popped a stitch.  Thursday I took her to our vet, who told us that the emergency vet didn't fix her correctly and she had necrotic tissue in her wound.  So she needed a drain too.  Another $500.  Aaron is still in talks with the ER vet to reimburse us for their error.  The pitbull's owner paid $1000 for the first round of bills (but it it's right for her to have to pay for the vet's error).

In the meantime, my sister made a go fund me for Zelda and in a day we raised enough money to cover the bill, in case the ER vet doesn't pay.

Fiona had her drain out on Saturday.  She's looking a little better, and her appetite is coming back.  Zelda's leg is still looking bad.  She's suppose to have the drain out tomorrow, but we'll see that the vet says.

It's been a very stressful week.

And now, some complaining...

Bertie is definitely in the terrible twos, or maybe a two-nager.  He is always saying no, or when it's time to be done: one more, or one more time.  (Why am I trying to have another again?)

Today he wanted to draw with markers, then paint stamps (dot markers?  I'm not sure what they're called) then real paint.  I like him doing these things, so that was all fine.  When he paints he get super washable crayola paints, a palette and a cheapie brush.  Lately he wants a cup of water, but doesn't understand the water is for washing the brush, and then just keeps adding paint to the water.  Anyway, he was painting, then spilled the water cup.  No big deal, I had him continue on, but no.  He needed the water cup.  I said no, then the threw the palette across the floor.  He got a timeout, and I got to clean the floor.

He refused to nap today.   I tried 4 different times to put him down.  No dice.  Which means I didn't get anything done.

I have either a sinus infection or some terrible allergies.  My face/head hurts.

After his non-nap, we went to buy groceries.  There are always cookies there, so I got him a cookie.  Then he wanted another snack.  I had a squeezy pack in my purse, so I gave him that.  Then he wanted another snack.  The store sells individual squeezy yogurts.  He seemed excited, and chose a flavour.  I opened it, then he said no.  So I closed it, and let him hold it.  He was upset about me closing it, and threw it on the ground.  And the package split open.  Then he wanted it again, and, stupidly, I obliged.  He, then, of course, spilled it everywhere.  (Fortunately, the grocery clerk was nice, and didn't charge us).  Also, he bit into an unripe avocado, skin and all (and then was upset when it didn't taste good).  I'n not sure if that will ripen properly.

We had to go to one other store.  There he grabbed onto a gallon of water, by the strap.  He wouldn't let go, so I tried to unwrap his fingers.  But when I succeeded, he lost his balance and hit his eye on the cart.  (Mother of the Year).  Then he started crying.  So I carried him for a minute.  When I went to put him back (because he was reaching for everything, again), he threw a fit.  I had to wrestle to get him back in the cart, and buckle him in. (At which he was screaming "too tight", because that's what he says when he is unhappy).  And everyone stared, and I was "that mom"

My bridesmaid skirt came in today! I was so excited, because I thought it was really cute, and I could wear it again, unlike other bridesmaid dresses.  And if I'm pregnant I can still wear it with no issue.  Following the description I was a Medium, but following the size chart (which they said to do) I was a Large.  I opened the bag, and said "well, this looks huge.".  I tried it on, and said "this feels huge"  And it's very long (supposed to hit at the knee, but falls to my mid calf.  Then I looked in the mirror.  Oh Lord.  It was even worse than I imagined.  Like wearing a large tulle garbage bag.  I filled out the return paperwork tonight (since you have a mere 10 days to return it. (Thanks Obama. (Lol)).  Now I'm not sure what to do.  Do I order the medium and hope it doesn't look like garbage?  Do I order a dress, and hope I don't get prego, or huge and that it actually fits?  Also, this company is 15 miles from my house, and they have no show room.  Grr.

Catching up

We had Bertie's second birthday.  Just a small affair with family, pizza and cake.  Bertie had a good time, and got some nice gifts.

My mom was here for 2 blissful weeks.  I love having her here, and Bertie does too.  We always have fun together.  We went to the aquarium on day with my dad.  Bertie loved it!  It's fun to see my parents together again too.  Like we get to play the happy family, which we actual are now.  Funny, how divorce can make things better for everyone.  And, unlike make divorced couples, they can actual hang out, and be friends.
(Sometimes I feel guilty that I'm the stay at home parent.  Some days Bertie and I have so much fun.  I know I'd be jealous if the situation was reversed).

I ordered my bridesmaid dress today.  Well, skirt.  I'm pretty excited, because I'll actually be able to wear it again.  But it's going to take til mid April to get here.  :-/

I've been keeping up with my exercise.  I've only missed one day so far this year.  I want to concentrate more on running.  But I've been really tired lately, which makes 6am running hard.  I tried a beginning plyometrics workout today.

 But, I've been eating like crap lately.  Lots of sugar, lots of diet coke.  And I've been more flexitarian than vegetarian.

My friend Brianon had her baby yesterday.  She had a lot similarities to Bertie's birth.  Emergency c-section, babies in NICU.  I wish I could be there to help out and meet baby Henry.

We finally got some rain today.  It's supposed to continue for a while.