Dogs.

My sister in law's shower was tonight.

Since I have missed most of her pregnancy, I really wanted to go. My gift was picked out a week ago, and sitting by the door ready for the quick grab when I got home.

I left the hospital after Tessa's 5pm bottle, with intentions of changing and pumping before the party. We were late leaving, because her bottle took a little longer than expected.

Upon arriving home, I went upstairs to start packing my bag.

I heard the garage door open and slam shut.

The boys know they are not allowed to go outside without me, so I ran downstairs to see if Kayden had gone outside.

I yelled out the door to him, and heard him reply "What?"

He was in the area.

"Come inside," I said, which is usually enough to get him back in the house.

Back upstairs to finish getting things together.

Minutes passed, and I realized the house was strangely quiet.

Again, I called his name.

This time, no answer.

I hollered at the top of the stairs to see if he had wandered into the basement.

Looked out back.

Bounded upstairs to double check.

Went into the garage to yell his name again.

I am panicked.

He always responds immediately when I call.

I ran out front, because that is where I thought he had been the previous time I summoned.

Have I mentioned I was wearing only a tank top and underwear?

Classy Class.

The van door is slightly ajar.

No Kayden.

I peered over the gate into our backyard, yelling his name the entire way.

Zip. Zilch. Nada.

Before getting too far, I reckoned I might need some pants.

As I was hustling through the garage, I heard a loud wail.

I know that wail.

The "I'm terrified or really, really hurt" wail.

All sorts of horrible things are going through my mind- did he get hit by a car, is someone trying to take him, how badly is he injured.

Placing that it was coming from outside, I darted back to catch him running from the stop sign down the street.

"The dogs ran away," he howled, in between sobs.

It's no secret how I feel about my dogs. Lately, they are more pain than pleasure. I forever tease Josh that I wish they would run away.

I knew he would be devastated if they actually had.

Kayden was beside himself.

He had tried to catch them and they ran too fast. By the time he got to the end of the street, they were gone.

Finally grabbing a pair of pants, we ran down to the end of the street.

I should have grabbed shoes, too.

On a hunch, we took a left, praying we would catch sight of them.

They do not snag freedom often, so I did not know if we would ever find those two ninnies.

We ran another block. I just kept telling Kayden to keep up with me, and don't lag behind.

Kept praying.

At the corner, we saw them at the end of the street, about 15 houses down.

"Melo! Cali!", shouted over and over, was not doing the trick. We hunted them down for a good five minutes before I asked if they wanted to go bye-bye.

They sprinted to me.

Melo allowed me to pick him up and Cali kept running circles around us. Holding Melo in one hand made it far more difficult to catch her. Every time I got close, she bolted.

Remembering the one and only trick up my sleeve, I started praising Melo.

Jealousy.

Works every time.

As I scooted them into the house, I promptly informed them that they lost all school drop-off privileges for one full week.

They might not understand now, but they will tomorrow morning.

***********************************

Tessa's last few days have been.....up and down.

I sit all day with my teeth clenched because she desats so much. I just want to help her.

But I can't.

So frustrating.

Her bottle feedings are going okay. She took one full bottle today for the nurse, and two half bottles for me.

Both last night and tonight, she has had periods where she really struggles with breathing.

I planned on attempting thank you notes today. If I owe you one, I am sorry to say it might be a while. It always amazes me how much of a time suck hospitals are. Once I leave, I am not even really sure what I did all day; yet, I am always busy. Regardless, I will get to them eventually but wanted to put out a broad thank you in the meantime.

The sibling pizza party was a blast. They had a doll, complete with leads, in a Giraffe Isolette that the kids could play with. Each sibling got a stuffed animal they could "play doctor" on, as many band aids and you wanted to use, coloring books, crayons, etc. The March of Dimes organizes it, and I know my boys felt great having a tiny bit of BOTH mom and dad's attention. I will put up a few pictures tomorrow from the event, along with a few new ones of my 5lb 13 ounce miracle girl.

Prayer requests:

no infection
easy breathing
hemoglobin levels to rise
a healthy heart


and dogs that don't run away:-)

Happy Friday all!