FLEAS!

TreeBeard. That darn cat.
Let me start by saying that the flea situation is taken care of. I hope.
I suppose it all started when TreeBeard, one of two of our indoor cats, escaped into the wild for 3 days in July. I'm guessing some rogue flea laid eggs on him or something. There wasn't much sign of the horrible pests until a couple weeks ago when I noticed both the cats scratching. I thought to myself, "Self, you should probably go get some Frontline or something." But then I didn't.
And then it got worse. And then I noticed little black things coming off of them when they scratched and when I brushed them. And then I saw an ACTUAL flea. So I brought home some Frontline.
I applied it to both cats (I'm sure Olive is REALLY happy with TreeBeard). And the next day, it was like the fleas were running for it. Jumping ship, but not really. They were flocking their poor faces, and the cats were running around like someone had lit them on fire. I was cleaning the house like I'd never cleaned before. Matt said he wouldn't mind the fleas sticking around if it meant I would be cleaning this much. Oh ha ha ha Matt.
Well the Frontline seemed to do the trick, but I still got a couple Capstar pills that would make sure to kill 'em dead. And giving the cats the pills wasn't nearly as death-defying as I thought it would be. In fact, I would say it was EASY. No blood-shed or scratches or anything. Awesome.
And Matt is bringing the carpet van out to clean the carpets. So yay!
Let's hope the fleas stay away!!

In other news, TreeBeard managed to escape again the other evening. We didn't even notice. I think he must have gotten out when I came home from work one evening. It got to be about 8:30 pm, we were watching some tv, and I heard a cat howling at the front door. "What cat is THAT?" I said to Matt. He goes to the door, opens it a crack and then says "It's TREEBEARD." Gracious. At least we know that he may still want to get out, but he's not keen on spending DAYS out there.

We love you TreeBeard.

It's Happening!

So, the house is officially FOR SALE!

Wish us good luck while we try and sell our house and look for another.

Natalie's 15 month check-up

Natalie had her 15 month check-up last Friday.
15 months?! What?!
Yeah.
She's weighing in at 21 pounds, and she's 31.5 inches tall. Tall and lean they tell me. I think she's just perfect.
Here's a photo of her while we waited for the doctor to come in.

Then she got TWO shots. She's a real champ about it really, but she gave the nurse a look of pure hatred when she was done. And even as we were leaving she was pointing at her as if to say "Did you SEE what that woman DID TO ME?! And you're just letting her get away with it?! DO SOMETHING! She's RIGHT THERE!"

After the doctor's, we headed to Backstreets for lunch with my mom. Natalie enjoyed the baked ziti, and some ham & pineapple pizza. We loved spending time with Grandma too. Out of several attempts, here is the best picture we captured.

Then we headed home, and Natalie passed out in the car. Matt and I even got to enjoy watching half of a movie while she napped at home!

Well...

I suppose I'm not very good at this so far. Although, I shouldn't sell myself short. It's been incredibly busy for me lately. The students are back at VT, and that makes life a little more hectic. I just haven't had the time to focus on blogging.
A few things going on in our lives:
We're counting down the days until the beach! Abbey and I made a paper-chain counting down the days. I made the mistake of telling Abbey we were going to the beach back in July. So we've been counting down the days ever since! We're heading out September 24. I'm so excited! The girls have never been, and it's been several years since I've been.
We are in the process of getting our house market-ready. We'll probably be putting it up for sale in the next few months. I have to admit that I have my reservations about it. Am I ready to be out of that house? YES! We have outgrown it by a mile and the 30 minute commute to anything is wearing me down. But the process of moving and finding care for the girls...that's very nervous-making. Things will work out how they're supposed to though. And I have complete trust in Matt. He knows what he's doing.
Natalie is moving up in daycare-land. She's spending most of her time in the Toddler Room, as opposed to the baby room. She even has her very own little cubby. No more diaper bag to take to daycare. She'll be 15 months old tomorrow! The time does fly. Miss Francis at the daycare asked me if I was ready for her to be moving up to the other room. I said I wasn't sure about myself, but there is NO DOUBT that Natalie is ready. She's so over all the baby stuff. She's only nursing in the morning (sometimes) and then at night. I'm not even doing my "motherly-duties" at work anymore. I'm happy and sad about this change.
Natalie is such a different child than Abbey. I envision the way they will get in trouble in the future, and believe me, they WILL get in trouble. I imagine their conversation being something like this:
Natalie: Come on Abbey! Let's go do something extremely out of bounds and mother-terrifying!
Abbey: Sure that sounds like fun! I like having fun! Fun is fun!
Natalie has no respect for the word no. In fact, I do believe she thinks it means "keep doing that". She hits, she bites, she gets ANGRY. She's like a little Incredible Hulk. She screams and says "NO" in a way I can't even imitate. But she's also a real cuddle-butt and I love her oh so much.
And it's not like Abbey doesn't have her struggles. She's pushing her limits (and ours too) so much these days. Seeing how much she can get away with. She's been openly mocking our punishment techniques and laughing when we trying to be serious with her. She's been sent to her room several times in the past week. She hates having to go to her room and be all alone. No one there to react to her fake crying and other attention-seeking methods. For the most part she's a good kid, but right now she's just learning. And it's definitely testing my Mommy-Patience.
But man are they cute, and man are the a blessing, and man don't I just love them to pieces.