The Most Eventful End of the Year, Ever

Well, 2007 is almost over, but the last two weeks have been crazier than any other weeks I've ever had. As I mentioned in my last post, Daniel's mom visited us off and on for the last two weeks. Abby had her first school play - she was the best stage-frightened angel I've ever seen. Last Friday was Daniel and my 9th anniversary! Not bad for two kids who married their first love at age 18.

Unfortunately, two sad things happened in the last week as well. The saddest of the two still makes me cry a little from time to time. Our little kitty, Saliva, had to be put to sleep last Friday. She was just really, really sick, so I made an appointment with the vet. I thought maybe they would say that she wouldn't last too long, maybe one or two months... But they said she needed to be euthanized right then, she was so sick. Her kidneys had shriveled up, and there was no way she could have lived much longer. So, instead of going out to dinner for our 9th anniversary, Daniel and I headed to the vet with our tiny, sick cat. As the vet said, we'll never forget this anniversary...

The next sad thing is more bittersweet than sad, really. I like to breastfeed all my babies to a year old, at least. I breastfed Abby for 15 months, and I literally had to force her to stop. I did the weaning that time. With Avery, I didn't have much milk after 9 months because I was pregnant with Ethan, so on Avery's first birthday I said, "This is your last boobie, baby." Avery agreed and didn't fight the next night at all. With Ethan, though.... He just decided this week that he no longer wants mommy milk. *sigh* I was hoping to breastfeed him to 15 months or longer - after all, he is possibly my last baby. But now, I offer him milk and he just sticks out his tongue and smiles. How did this little cutie go from demanding milk every hour as a newborn to this?

So, in the last couple of weeks we've had to let go of a lot. That's always been hard for me - especially when it comes to letting the kids grow up. I can definitely see why some people have lots and lots of kids - it helps you postpone the final letting go for a while. If weaning is this hard, how will I deal with sending my kids off to college??