Hootie, the one with the udders

Two years ago, when Hootie still had a 'swinging' belly we called udders.
May 18, 2011 is when Hootie went to Heaven.

Letter to Hootie

Dear Hootie,

I must confess that I always thought of myself as a dog person. When I was a baby my parents had to give away our kitten because I was allergic to him.

Since then I grew up with dogs, and later ferrets until I met you.

I know it wasn’t love at first sight.

Butter was how I buttered up to you, and once I got to know you I knew you were no ordinary cat.

I actually wondered many times if you knew you were a cat. You acted so much like a dog most of the time, and even learned to act like a ferret when there were treats involved!

You were not thrilled with the ferrets, though. You did not quite get to the snuggling part as I had hoped, but you tolerated them and I like to believe you had a strange bond with them in the end.

You slowly but surely crept into my heart.

You were terrified of balloons, so I made sure nobody brought them into our house;

You sat up like a ferret, and I rewarded you with ferret paste;

You jumped onto my pregnant belly from the window sill, and I was mad at you for days;

You snuggled up against my growing belly and purred loudly, making a little Jacuzzi for Kaitlyn, and I loved you for it;

You got mad when we put a Santa hat on you for the Christmas picture, and I made sure Daddy would not ever do that again;

I shared my milk with you and you loved me for it;

The maddest I have ever seen you is when we tried to rescue a little kitten until we could find the owner. You made sure that we knew in no uncertain terms that a scrawny creature like that living under the same roof was completely unacceptable to you. To prove your point you jumped first on daddy’s lap, then on mine and hissed at us right into our faces, just making sure…and we made sure to never, ever do that again;

You tried to escape by jumping off the balcony only to bounce back from the screen, and daddy still cracks up every time he thinks about that;

I told you to stop sleeping practically on top of my face, tickling me with you whiskers, and you started purring loudly, making it impossible for me to get any sleep at all;

You tried to escape once more by hiding under the trailer next to our house in Louisiana, and we got you out safely by waving deli meat under your nose;

You reverted back to the ‘ferret’ pose when we got the annoying Fudgie, and you sat on your hind legs and batted the dog’s face with both front paws;

You could not clean your whiskers when you had to wear a cone around your neck, and I cleaned them for you;

You called out a few minutes before you passed away, and KK and I held you and told you we love you…

I miss you so, my sweet Hootie bootie!

I want you to know that these are just a few of the things I remember about you. You had so much personality, such charm and such beauty. You are the most handsome kitty I have ever known and I love you.

I can’t wait to see you again.

Love,

Mommy

The rocking chair

Yesterday I spent much time in the rocking chair. My baby boy was sick. One of those inexplicable bouts of fever that scare me half to death, because his fever is so high and he is so out of it.

So I sit with him in the rocking chair and we rock back and forth, his face on my chest, his little legs hugging my hips, and his little arms tucked in between the two of us. We just rock, for what seems like an hour, and it feels so very good to hold him, comfort him, to feel his breath on my cheek when he looks up at me and sighs a little, then smiles a little. And I totally melt when he wraps those little arms around my neck and squeezes to give me a tight little hug.
Aahhh, heaven.....

The rocking chair has been around a few years. I remember buying it at Walmart almost 8 years ago, when I was pregnant with Kaitlyn. This one was the "inexpensive" version, dark brown wood covered with dark green cloth. Not exactly what I had in mind decor-wise, but it was in our budget, unlike the pretty white wood one with light blue cloth covering. It has since moved into Zander's room. Two of the springs are no longer attached, and the matching ottoman is in the garage somewhere since there is no space for it.
I love that rocking chair, for all of the memories attached. Starting with me breast feeding Kaitlyn, Hootie's 'fave spot' when KK and I were not occupying it, our faithful 'go to' seat for cuddle moments. Then there were the countless times when I just went into their room and rocked, listening to them breathe, and those times (and there were and still are plenty of those) when there was fever or otherwise "not feeling good" involved. We just sit and rock gently. I will sing songs, hum, or tell stories and enjoy holding my baby for a little while longer.

But my most favorite part these days is the time before bed, when we settle into the rocking chair after putting on pj's and get ready to read a book first, then sing songs.
Zander knows the routine and before we are even settled in the chair, he already signs 'book'. So I pick a book or I give him two options and let him pick. We 'read' the book (I read while Zander adds his own comments), then put it away when we are 'all done'. I ask him what he wants to do next and he signs and says "sing". 'Okay, what song do you want to sing first?', I ask. "Pidah", Zander says while bunching his little fingers together to make a spider. Okay, I say, we will sing Itsy Bitsy Spider. And we sing our song and then we clap. Then we sing another song and we clap some more. Finally, I will start singing his bed time song 'slaap kindje slaap', at which point he turns from a sitting position to lay on my chest and tucks his little arms and hands in between us, resting his head on my shoulder and starts soothing himself using his tongue as his pacifier.
I sing the song slowly and sit some more, savoring the moment. Then I put him in his bed, turn the night light on, the big light off and tell him: lekker slapen. I tell him I love him and leave the room, at which point he turns on his belly, tucks his arms and legs in and goes to sleep.
Later, once he is asleep I may return and sit in the rocking chair and listen to my baby breathe.

Happy Birthday, baby!

She is 7 years old today.
She is at home with dad and Zander. I called this morning to sing Happy Birthday to her and she told me it was her best birthday ever! She has a white birthday: our little corner of the world is covered in beautiful, white snow. She has been playing in the snow, making snow angels, throwing snow balls to her poopoo, building a "snow girl" with daddy. The snow girl did not live long, though. She got attacked by Fudge, whose only experience with snow has been getting snow balls thrown at him which he then catches and chews to pieces. Naturally he had the same idea when he saw the "giant snow ball". Snow girl will have to be rebuilt at some point today, once Kaitlyn is tired of watching tv or playing on the computer, or daddy tells her to take a break. Whichever comes first.
My baby is having a great time on her birthday and I am not there. I am snowed in with SuSu, surrounded by a pristine blanket of snow that is preventing me from being with my daughter.
Things could be so much worse, though. I could be stuck on the side of the road, or worse, in a ditch, trying to get home to be with her on her birthday.
Or the power could go out and she could not watch tv or play on the computer...

Predictions of snow

Okay, at first I thought people were pushing it with this whole 'snowstorm' deal, closing schools and all. They actually called at 9:59pm on Wednesday evening with the message that school was closed on Thursday. Still, better than 5am, which happened to Renee in Clarksville.
With all the hype about there being 2 to 4 inches of snow, it was a HUGE disappointment to all of us, but especially to Kaitlyn. She woke up on Thursday and raced to the window, only to be hugely disappointed by the lack of that white stuff. What is so fun about a snow day if there is no snow, she wanted to know.
While having breakfast she told me that she predicted that there would be no snow today.
I predict there WILL be snow, I said, not wanting to give in to the gloominess of her prediction.
About half an hour later she came running and exclaimed: momma, I am changing my prediction! It had started to snow...
Thank you, God!

Merry Christmas

December 26th, 2009 - VERY early morning

4am - my arm is asleep, which wakes me up. I need to 'wake up' my arm in order for me to go back to sleep (is this backwards or what!?) Kaitlyn is already up: Mama, is it morning yet?!?!? No, baby, not yet. Go back to sleep, okay?

5am - my arm woke up, and I went back to sleep. Rousing me from a deep sleep is my daughter: Mama, is it morning now?!?! Sigh...no, baby. Go back to sleep, okay?

5:30am - Zander is up and partying...

6:45am - my son is still partying, although my daughter's room is quiet. I sigh and get out of bed.
Fudge notices me putting on my pants, which means I am up and we are going for a walk!
The weather is beautiful; the sun is almost up and the cold, wet wind feels wonderful, waking me up fully and I take deep breaths of fresh air.

7:15am - I tiptoe back into the house with the paper, turn on the coffee machine and feed the pets. I am hoping to get in a few minutes of alone time before Christmas kicks off. Both children have dozed off. I do not have to worry about Aaron: he is a teenager and will not rise voluntarily before 10am...:)

7:20am - I get Fudge out from behind the tree, where a present with a bone in it for him was "hidden".












7:21am - I make room for Hootie to get behind the tree, since Christmas tree water is a real treat for him and he could not reach because of all the presents Santa dropped off.

7:25am - Jim wakes up, completely taking me off guard. Did you fall out of bed, honey?

7:28am - after reading an article in the paper I am immensely grateful for what we have. Thanking God for all our blessings.

8am - both Jim and I try to wake up the kids, which takes us a long time.

8:15am - finally! The kids are awake (Aaron qualifies as "awake", since his eyes are open) and we are heading for the stockings.

9am - Breakfast is in the oven and Ama and Poppy arrive to witness the opening of the presents. Merry Christmas, everyone!

Christmas card pictures