Our dog has lupus

Our Rhodesian ridgeback Zeus turned three this by month and his birthday gift was systemic lupus, an autoimmune disorder that causes his body to attack itself. We took him to the vet at the first sign something was wrong; he stopped eating and started drooling. Sores developed on his mouth, ears and paws and started to get infected. His paws pads slowly fell off and after three weeks on some serious steroids and antibiotics, he's in remission. His white and red blood cells are normal and his bone marrow has new growth. He lost ten pounds in two weeks but is back to wagging his tail and eating like normal. With a pill a day for the rest of his life we can control the symptoms but never cure it. We'll treasure every moment with him.

winter warmth

winter warmth by stacywill featuring suede boots

sweater weather

sweater weather by stacywill featuring a black shirt

warming up winter

warming up winter by stacywill featuring black boots

Business First Class

Business First Class by stacywill featuring a blue long sleeve shirt

Angry Bird & King Pig

My kids wanted to be angry birds characters for Halloween this year and after searching online, I couldn't find the right costumes. With a little encouragement from my handy friend Chrissy, we took a trip to the fabric store for supplies.

I used the patterns from twindragonflydesigns.com as a starting point and decided to wing it from there. The hardest part was teaching myself how to sew by hand... I'm crafty, but a seamstress has always been a close friend.

With a lot of breaks, it took two weeks to complete both costumes.

Falling for Blue

Falling for Blue by stacywill featuring beaded jewelry

one skirt: two ways

one skirt: two ways by stacywill featuring black wedge boots

Casual Friday

Casual Friday by stacywill featuring a pave diamond ring

The Kids Are in School, and Mom is.... Bored.

It's only been six weeks since my son started kindergarten, and seven since my daughter started preschool. This was both of their first times to attend any type of school at all, with the small exception of my son's twice-weekly hour-long speech phonology lessons over the past two years. Going from four students to a room of 22 unruly, talkative, wild boys and sweet, loving girls full of hugs brought my poor introverted, shy boy to tears.

The first few weeks were really difficult, leaving the boy in tears in his classroom. My heart ached all day and I watched the clock for 10:30, when the teacher had her free period and would call if anything was wrong. There were a few calls, but mostly just me being a protective mom, and now the phone is silent. Each day when he gets in the car at pick-up time, his smile radiates a newfound confidence that makes me so incredibly proud.

Of course, the girl is excelling and doing stellar in private preschool. She is independent, fierce, strong minded.. the exact opposite of her brother. They are polar opposites and best friends just like their daddy and me.

I never thought I'd miss them so much after five years at home with them. The silence only emphasizes their absence. 3:00 is now like Christmas morning.

Intuition

I truly believe if you put all your efforts and positive energy into the universe, what's meant to be will find its way to you. Sometimes you simply know in your heart what the answers are.

Undercover [detective]

Undercover [detective] by stacywill featuring a straw fedora

Wildflower

Wildflower by stacywill featuring a floral dress

Jessica Alba Style

Jessica Alba Style by stacywill featuring a leather crossbody

Summer Must-Haves

Summer Must-Haves by stacywill featuring mary jane shoes

The right track

The right track by stacywill featuring silver jewelry

Fuck yeah, Parenting!

I'm always too afraid to write personal things here for fear of being judged, but everyone judges all the time and if you can't accept it, you aren't living right. Right? So fuck it.

Today I'm wondering why having kids ever sounded like a good idea. Being a mom is so fucking overrated. You feed them, wipe their asses, try to teach them manners, all while they ignore you and treat you like shit. As i write this, my two very loved little jerks are jumping on my bed at 11 pm while dad's out of town for work.

I totally believe children are clones of their parents so they won't eat them like rejected puppies. I have zero patience.

After 5 years at home with these delightful midget monsters, i understand why moms work. Being two months into my new job, i actually want to work. In journalism it felt like my alternative nature needed to be smothered, but my weirdness is embraced now. It's refreshing.

Tonight they ripped up a Dr Seuss book from my childhood and i cried. Stella throws herself on the floor in dramatic tantrums while Cole whines my ears off. I need an off button or some actual wine to go with that whine.

Omg i can't hear myself think.. the oldest one wants chocolate (please pleasy pleasy) and the girl has disappeared into the living room to blast cartoons.

Fuck yeah, parenting.

P.S. love & logic can suck my d*ck.

New Ink: Pirate Ship

Tattoo by Caleb/Lobster at Someplace Else Tattoos, Euless TX // one more session to completion

New Ink: Pirate Lantern

Tattoo by Caleb/Lobster at Someplace Else Tattoos in Euless, TX // still one short session to finish

First Loose Tooth, New Job & Foster Puppies

Life has settled down quite a bit after all of the reality tv producers and companies were trying to get the THPMs to do a show. The media hasn't called in months, and it's a welcome silence. It makes me feel more comfortable writing here because I don't get the overwhelming sense someone is taking my information to a public media source. I can finally talk about the things I want to talk about!


Like, Cole lost his first tooth!

I started a new job about six weeks ago that has become my newest obsession. It is absolutely perfect for me and although it isn't in journalism, it allows me to use my research and interviewing skills in a new, exciting way that actually pays better! Let's all do a happy dance! It's flexible so I only work 3 days a week and am able to be home with my kids for two days. They seem to have adjusted really well and it's only been six weeks. We've had a great live-in nanny for the past few months who they really like. She's moving to Austin at the end of May, so our friend will be our sitter until C starts kindergarten and S starts preschool in the fall.



We are fostering a Shepherd momma, Sasha, and her TEN puppies. She came to us from the local no-kill shelter I volunteer for when she was 10 days away from giving birth, and the vet techs estimated she was carrying seven puppies since she has a fairly small build, but they didn't have time to do an x-ray. Imagine my surprise when I thought she was finished at seven and then TWO MORE popped out!

She's a very sweet momma dog who will go back to the shelter to be adopted in about four weeks. Her pups will follow in another two. We named them all starting with the letter 'S' to make it easier for the shelter to keep track since they have so many animals. But we tried to keep a few original.

Here is momma:

A tiny newborn:

And here are the puppies at two weeks old... See how they fattened up! [For some reason I can't find week 1, sorry!]

And of course some adorable puppy shots to complete this entry.

Style Icon: Ashley Olsen

Style Icon: Ashley Olsen by stacywill featuring home decor

Style Icon: Gwen Stefani

Style Icon: Gwen Stefani by stacywill on Polyvore

Style Icon: Jessica Alba

Style Icon: Jessica Alba by stacywill featuring pin jewelry

Steal This Style: Shorts & Tights

Steal This Style: Shorts & Tights by stacywill featuring gray shorts

Steal This Style: Jessica Alba

Steal This Style: Jessica Alba by stacywill featuring a western denim shirt

Printspiration

Printspiration by stacywill featuring a mini skirt

Cool

Cool by stacywill featuring a green duffle bag

clueless: coffee time

clueless: coffee time by stacywill featuring newgate clocks

clueless: black & white

clueless: black & white by stacywill featuring a patterned hosiery

first week at work

first week at work by stacywill on polyvore.com

risky business

risky business by stacywill featuring knee boots

sunny southern shivers

sunny southern shivers by stacywill featuring a v neck pullover

ice storm

ice storm by stacywill featuring heart pendant jewelry

private eye

private eye by stacywill featuring mary jane pumps