An update of sorts

Chloe is done with all of her laser therapy and adequan injections. We still owe $2500 on her surgery...so please tell people to visit our etsy store http://www.etsy.com/shop/rebwim76 and buy some tasty treats for their favorite doggie :)

The rem.eron is working well and the side effect of the out of control appetite is finally gone. Gained a total of 2 lbs from it (and illness, more on that later) so I will be working hard to lose a total of 7 lbs before P gets home.

Speaking of P, we are down to the last few weeks of this deployment and some days it seems like time has stopped. ALso, I am gonna be smoking hot at the homecoming ceremony and at the ball later in the summer.

We decided to do FET with our 1 remaining embaby rather than doing deeper into debt with IVF. Praying and hoping that we get a BFP and then a baby :)

The babes are doing well but wow, they take up almost all of my free time. No one really tells you that when you are TTC or in the adoption process. I love them but sometimes I feel like I might drop my basket.

My husband is already making plans to get out of his current unit, so we might PCS somewhere before the end of the year. The thought of PCS'ing with 4 dogs, 2 cats, 2 fish and 2 toddlers makes me want to sit in a corner and rock back and forth.

I'm exhausted. Must try to sleep soon.

"It's time for you to take care of you"....

I am sick for like the millionth time. It seems I have stayed sick since the kids came in December. This time it is a sinus infection and upper respiratory infection...last month it was enterocolitis that landed me in the ER. I take vitamins. I eat healthy. I try to exercise when my body allows it. The doctors all agree that the weeks of untreated insomnia wrecked my immune system and now I can fight off all the nasty germs that the kids pick up at daycare. It will apparently get better, eventually.

Also, the doctor today strongly recommended that I get a thorough physical once I'm feeling better. I will definitely do that because I want to discuss the possibility that I am showing symptoms of/developing fibromyalgia (Nave, you should be proud of me, lol). No, I'm not a hypochondriac. My mother has fibro and started showing symptoms in her 30s and I have been showing what could be several symptoms. Better to find out early so that I can start managing it better.

Many friends of mine, both IRL and the ones who live in my computer, have told me "you need to take care of you." I love all of you and I get it, but I really don't know how or when to do that any more. I work FT (necessity); have 2 babes (17 mos and 35 mos); take care of the zoo (4 dogs, 2 cats & 2 fish); oh yeah, and my husband is deployed so I'm doing this all (temporarily) by myself. My family is across the country, as are many of my friends. I knew how to take care of me when I was childless, but now....it doesn't seem possible or easy.

I try to exercise (yes, I consider that ME taking care of ME) but being sick every fucking month has made that difficult. I read, when I can (that reminds me, I need to download Dexter Dreaming Darkly tonight) because I enjoy it. I need to get back into a regular yoga routine to help with stress....but again, where's the time? I already get up at 0515 so getting up earlier is NOT an option. Perhaps at night after my other (somewhat) regular workouts, which will put me going to bed later.

Today, one of my Twitter friends tweeted "now I know why celebrities check into hospitals for exhaustion." I totally get it too. The 7-8 hours I spent laid up in the ER last month were kind of awesome (maybe it was the morphine). I wasn't responsible for anyone or anything; in fact I had a staff of people waiting on ME. That my friends, was a very nice feeling....I could get used to that (and the morphine).

So I ask you, in all seriousness my friends, what do I do? How do I find the time to take care of me consistently without hiring a babysitter every freaking weekend? For real, I am willing to hear every legitimate suggestion. I WANT to take care of me again. I just feel defeated in that area and honestly, I want someone to take care of me....but he's thousands of miles away, dodging bullets right now.

Our girl is home and surgery is done!

Chloe had her TPLO surgery yesterday and she did great though the damage was worse than expected. Her ACL was non-existent and her meniscus was damaged and calcified. The surgeon repaired her knee with plates and screws Our poor girl has a shaved back leg and her skin is so dry :-( Thankfully she has not shown an interest in licking/biting the sutures.

She had her first laser therapy and Adequan injection before leaving the vet's office. She will have 5 more laser therapy sessions and 7 more Adequan injections over the next 4 weeks. She will have at home PT for the next 12 weeks, at which time she will finally be back to normal activity. For the first week after surgery I will have to help her in getting up from a sit/laying down position and will have to help her up and down stairs (with a towel under her belly, like a sling). This should be interesting.

I am very happy with our vet's office (always have been since finding them last year) and am happy with the surgeon who completed Chloe's surgery. They gave me a 5 page report, complete with a title page, picture during the surgery and detailed PT instructions. I could not ask for a better team of vets, techs and surgeon.

The kids are VERY happy to have her home. J's eyes lit up when the vet tevh brought her out to us. SB kept hugging on her neck and saying "choe (SB leaves out the L) owie. Choe hurted." Now the work begins on getting her rehab'ed and back to her 100% happy, healthy self.

Surgery is BOOKED

So this past week Chloe has been worse...she's been in more obvious pain. She's yelped more than once when getting up from laying down...broke my heart. So i did it, I applied for Care Credit and was approved. He surgery will happen in a week, so on April 29th. She will spend the night (which kills me) and we will be able to go back and get her on Saturday. So next weekend will be full of me giving her lots of TLC and snuggles.

I've made a Facebook page for the dog treats that I will be making and selling to help pay for her $3000 surgery. If you're on FB, please search for and like Chloe's Tasty Treats. I will first be doing some all natural peanut butter treats (that will be taste tested with Chloe and the rest of the pack) but plan to branch out to more flavors. I am still working out the pricing since this is my first time venturing into business :) If you have any ideas or tips, I am definitely open.

So please, say a little prayer/send good thoughts for Chloe and her upcoming surgery. I am eager to have it done but I am naturally nervous. She's one of my babies and she is AMAZING with the kids. I know that our girl will miss Chloe while she's gone <3

To Everyone.....

who gave me ideas on how to raise money, THANK YOU!!! It has been a ridiculous busy/stressful week for me so I am just now looking at my blog.

I would LOVE any dog treat recipes that you can send me.

I have never tried to sew BUT I love the idea of hand making collars-researching NOW!

And please, keep the ideas coming-THANK YOU <3

Making money....I need a money tree

I cannot thank all of my online friends enough for the money that has been donated to help Cloe get her ACP repair surgery. Between Chip-In donations and checks sent directly to me we now have just over $300 :) Just $2300 more to go (not all through donations, which is why I am writing this blog post.)

So folks might think this is weird but I am determined to save for her surgery first before we do IVF. She is our furbaby and we have an obligation to make sure that she is properly cared for and loved. I am considering using CareCredit for her but we REALLY don't want to go further in debt right this second. So for now I am focusing on how to raise/earn the rest of the money to get her knee fixed. One thing I am doing is ChaCha. For months I've been saying that I'm gonna do it but today I really am doing it. I am reviewing all of the videos and then I will get started answering questions :) I know ChaCha won't make me rich but even an extra $100 or so per month will help.

I really have to get my ass in gear and get my BeachBody business going. For real. I want to do this to earn money and to help others improve their health. I hope to tackle that this weekend.

I am considering opening an etsy shop but am not sure what I would sell. I'm good at photography but I am wondering if people will even want to buy my prints....that would be the worst, if people didn't want my stuff. Also, I have no idea how much I'd need to charge for prints in order to make a profit. I'm also trying to think of other ideas for things to sell on etsy...perhaps something dog related since I want to use the money to raise money for Chloe's surgery. Any ideas from my faithful readers?

#TTCFitnessTeam

So I have been on a mission to lose the 17 pounds that I have gained while undergoing 5 IUIs and 1 IVF, all of which failed. I want to get down to the weight that I was when I met P 5 years ago, which is 135 pounds. I want to do this for me....so that I feel like me again. Along with me, there are other Twitter friends who are on this journey as well and we came up with the hashtag #TTCFitnessTeam I love it! I love having a support system to help me on this journey-it helps to keep me honest :)

So far I have lost 6 pounds in 5 weeks which is great! Some people have asked how I am doing it and really, it's not rocket science. I am exercising regularly and eating in a more health manner. I am NOT dieting. I have been doing P90X and Turbo Fire for exercise. For the healthy eating, I have been drinking Shakeology every day, eating 1 salad per day (that's not ALL that I eat, lol, but I make sure that I eat one for/with lunch or dinner each day) and trying not to eat out as much. I am also a new Beach Body coach and have met some AMAZING people through Beach Body....amazing people who are another branch of support for me-encouraging me and keeping me accountable.

I have to say that I am very proud of myself for losing these first 6 pounds :) I know that it's not a lot to some people but I am freaking excited about it! I am also super freaking proud of myself for doing P90X again with my own spin. Rather than just doing P90X this time, I am doing Turbo Fire with it-still doing the P90X weights/strength training and then doing Turbo Fire for cardio and in place of the yoga. I REALLY believe that the it's making the difference.

My point in all of this rambling is this-do what works for you. Find an exercise that you enjoy and do it. If you hate hitting the gym, you won't stick with it. If you find out that you love getting outdoors, then hike, run, walk, whatever. Seriously, if you don't like the exercise you won't stick with it. I know this from experience. I get bored easily and need to switch things up, which is why I a doing a hybrid program now and I love it!

Thank you to all of my healthy living supporters on Twitter, WOWY, Facebook and BeachBody. I love y'all and you are making difference in many people's lives!

On a separate note, thank you to all of you who have donated to Chloe's fund; prayed for her; sent good thoughts to her; shared this blog; or have listened to me and made me feel better about the whole situation. I cannot explain how much it means to me, P and Chloe <3