Lately

Sorry I haven't blogged much lately. At the beginning of September when we found out we were pregnant, I wasn't ready to share yet. So I had to be guarded in what I posted. And then I sort of fell out of the habit.

Morning sickness hasn't been too bad on the puking front. I can count on one hand how many times I've vomited, so that's somewhat encouraging. Although the food aversions have been much worse this time. Like I can't eat anything. Or what I can eat changes on a day to day basis. As soon as I found out I was pregnant, I gained 5lbs. Mostly water weight. On the cruise I gained a few more, but the massage I had released a bunch of the water, so I was up all night going to the bathroom. Oops! As of today, I've gained 2lbs total from my pre-pregnancy weight. Not too bad for 12 weeks and 1 day! With Baxter I lost a lot of weight the first trimester, and didn't start gaining for a long time. I didn't have the nausea as much with him though, I just didn't want to eat. Now I HAVE to eat. Maybe because I'm still breastfeeding Baxter? Dunno.

Bax is down to nursing 3-4 times a day, and one nap a day. That's been an adjustment. And my great sleeper has turned into a molar bear. He's getting two molars and two canines right now, and that makes a VERY grumpy baby. Ugh.

I'm defiantly looking pregnant now. Looking at me now, I look like I did at 17 weeks with Bax. We had family pictures taken with Fred Calma Photography yesterday, and I can't wait to see them. We had my mom, Richard (stepdad), me, Jason, Baxter, Brent (my brother), April (stepsister), Aaron (April's husband), Riley (April and Aarons almost 8 month old), Andrew (stepbrother) and Tony (stepbrother). It went pretty well other than Baxter being fussy, and having a lovely run in with a cat that morning...

More on that later, it's Jason's and my date night :)

Baxter is going to be....

.....15 months in 15 days

......a handsom man when he grows up

......devastatingly charming

......a cat whisperer

......not talking until he's 3

......a professional climber

......a big brother next May

The end and the beginning.

It's taken me a while to write this, because it took me a while to process it. After 10 days on antibiotics, Aiko did not improve, and his nose began to drip on one side. I took him to the vet on Monday, October 5th. In the 11 days between vet visits, Aiko had developed a large mass in his intestines. Because of the unilateral discharge from his nose, the vet suspected a secondary tumor in his nasal cavity. We could have done painful steroid shots that might reduce or at least slow the growth of the tumors, but his quality of life had declined so much that we didn't want to put him through that. It would give him at most 2-3 months before he would be gone, based on how quickly the tumor was growing.


He was always such a beautiful cat, full of life. As a siamese he was very smart, and would talk to us. If we left for the weekend, when we got home he would corner us and meow and tell us all about while we were gone. You could ask him questions and he would respond. My mom never believed me until he stayed with her for 3 weeks while we went on our road trip. The next time she came to visit, he remembered her and talked and talked and talked to her, like he was catching up with an old friend.


He was a great older brother to Tabetha. And just a great cat overall. After Jason got home from work that monday, we dropped Baxter off at a friend's and took Aiko to the vet again. He was so frail, and tired looking. He was so peaceful through the entire process, and the vet reassured us that we made the right decision. We knew it was, it was just so difficult. Indoor cats are supposed to live much longer than 8.5 years!


Baxter had a grand time, and didn't even notice that we had left him. Jason and I spent the night zoning out, watching TV, and reminiscing about Aiko during commercials. Aiko, you will so be missed. You were a great cat, and we loved you. We loved you enough to try to save you, and to know when you were done.

While Aiko had been sick, Tabetha distanced herself from him. She knew something was wrong. She stopped playing and started eating more. Always a very slight cat, she gained wait and filled out. The night Aiko left us, she walked around the house crying all night. It just about broke my heart.

That left us with a very hard decision. Do we get a new cat right away? Do we grieve longer? It's nearing the end of kitten season. Tabetha is lonely. We knew we needed a kitten, since Tabetha is an alpha female and since she's so small the new cat would need to be physically smaller than her.

Enter Mr. Waffles. Mr. Chester P. Waffles to be exact. And yes, the P stands for "pancakes."


At 7 weeks old, he's all of 1.3lbs, and a complete love. There was no adjustment period for him. He cuddles all night, and plays all day. Except when he's napping, which is often. He adores Baxter, and Baxter adores him, they play all the time. He misses us, and if he can't find us he wanders the house crying until we call out and he can find us for cuddles. Tabetha loves him already, and they've started cuddling together after only 3 days. He hasn't filled the void Aiko left, but he's certainly trying to make a dent in it. He will be a much loved cat as well. In fact, he already is!

So much going on

A few weekends ago we took an over night cruise to Vancouver with Jason's family. It was a great relaxing time, and a fun introduction to cruising! Next time hopefully we'll be on the cruise ship for more than 21 hours. And have a car seat that's not crazy old, hehe.

The big thing going on right now, other than Baxter being adorable, is that I think our kitty Aiko isn't going to be with us much longer :( He's been losing weight, and this last month he's just dropped a ton of weight. He used to be between 11-12 lbs, but now he's down to just over 7. We spent $300 to find out it's an intestinal issue. We could spend another $200 to find out if it's one of 3 things. It could be a bacterial infection (treated with antibiotics that we can afford), a B12 deficiency (shots every week for 6 weeks, then every other week for as long as it takes, at least $1000), Pancreatitis (same treatment but different meds, still about $1000). Or it could be intestinal cancer, which they would have to do an expensive biopsy for and there's no treatment available. Since the only treatment we can afford is the antibiotics, that's what he's been on the last 9 days. We also switched him to a super expensive hypoallergenic food. He's also been really dehydrated. Since then, he stopped making the effort to go upstairs to use the litterbox, so we moved his food to the bathroom, and he's taken up residence in the bath tub. He won't budge, and can't wait to get back in it. I think he's just soiling himself too, and he's not eating enough to have any solid waste. He's eating *maybe* 1/16th a cup of catfood a day. It's just so sad. We got Aiko as a kitten before we got married, and he's only 8 years old. I wish I had the money to save him, but we just can't afford it. I need to take him to the vet again this week to make sure he's not in pain. Poor guy :( He was my first baby.

Oh, and Baxter is using more and more sign language.

This is a short and completely uninformative update, sorry!