First off, thank you all SO MUCH for your amazingly kind words on my Lost post. Knowing that I’m not alone or entirely crazy is a tremendous help.
Secondly, I know New Year’s was a few days ago, but that’s ok. I still want to wish you all a happy, safe, prosperous, and peaceful 2013. May each year get better than the last…
Here I sit at 9:30 on a Thursday night. Folding the last of the day’s laundry by the light of the Christmas tree, Lana drifting off to sleep on the couch beside me. Her snuffles and grunts on the pacifier are slowly becoming quieter the closer she gets to the night’s slumber. Not that folding laundry is a particularly sentimental activity, it just happened to be what I was doing when the mood to type struck. I don’t mind it either. I’d much rather be folding laundry than ironing. Bleh. And have you ever folded size 2T/3T underwear? The fact that they even make butts that tiny is hysterical enough to make the activity almost enjoyable.
Della has just gone to bed and fortunately didn’t pull another round of crying as soon as I shut the door. That’s been her trick lately. Well, that and throwing a crying/whining fit before bed to try and avoid it all together. “Me sit Mama baby.” No, you already sat with Mama and Baby Lana. “Me sit Dada.” (increasingly whiny and teary) No, you already sat with Dada. “Me watch Do-do” (a.k.a Dora) Hell no, child. It’s bedtime.
I did just hear a thunk against the wall, though, which usually means she’s out and has rolled over to knock one of her million stuffed toys into the wall next to her bed. It’s probably the light-up ladybug that projects stars and the moon onto the ceiling and walls, which is her new favorite. A gift from one of Ryan’s cousins for Lana actually, but D has commandeered it until L needs it. Which, my guess is, will be never, or at least until D gives it up willingly. So, never.
This has been a week for the record books around here. All 4 of us have been simultaneously sick. Urg. It started last weekend, when both Ryan and I felt the early twinges of sore throats and headaches. Fortunately mine progressed from there, as it usually does, into just a full-blown head cold. Unfortunately Ryan and D bore the brunt. Ryan has been home sick the past 2 days, which I think is a record for him, with fever, aches, chills/sweats, all over nasty. D barfed Monday and yesterday, but now seems to be on the mend with just the remnants of a runny nose left so far. We’ll see what tomorrow brings, however. L has gotten super congested again, but thankfully I think that is the extent of her cold. I hate when infants get sick, because what can you really do for them?
So we are anxiously awaiting the return of health within our walls. Needless to say moods will be improved all around when it comes. Not that we’ve been mean to each other, but being in the throes of the flu doesn’t really lend itself to robust conversation. Grunts and phrases have been our main modes of communication this week. Fortunately Ryan was feeling better today than yesterday and was able to help me take care of the tinies, but he’s still struggling and going to bed well before either of their bedtimes. So it again falls to me to get them ready and asleep, then finish up everything I need to do around the house. At least I was able to eat dinner before 10:00 tonight.
I do still need to clean up the kitchen. I actually cooked dinner tonight! It was a slow cooker beef bourguignon over egg noodles, which I thought was pretty good. Ryan said it was bland, but whatever. See, moods need to improve soon.
Right now, though, I think I’ll get L into her crib. Before she was born, I read a very helpful newborn trick for cold weather babies – put a heating pad in their crib to warm it up before you lay them down (remove it when they go in there, obviously), and they won’t be awakened so much by their head hitting a cold sheet. So far it’s worked wonders for L. She almost never wakes when I put her in there at bedtime or after her nightly feedings. And fortunately she doesn’t need this pacifier anymore once she’s asleep. She does get a little frantic looking for it when it falls out before she’s totally out, but once the eyelids have drooped for the last time she doesn’t need it to stay asleep or need it put back in if she wakes in the night. Hallelujah. That was one game I was completely unwilling to play – find and replace the pacifier. No way.
I know I should go to bed immediately once the kids are asleep, but these night time hours when I have the house to myself (who am i kidding – i mean the tv to myself) and everyone else is quiet are when I can get “me” stuff done – work on L’s baby book, clean up whatever messes have been left from the day, eat if I haven’t gotten around to it at regular meal times during the day (which is almost always these days), breathe. They help remind me that these peaceful times far outweigh the bad ones in this crazy, exhilarating, frightening, amazing thing we call parenthood. They help remind me why we are not one of the species who eats their young, but rather one who loves and embraces the next generation we have bred. For these tinies right here are going to grow up to be wonders. Our wonders.
See, just look at that face. A precious person in the making…
Hi guys. Yes, we got back from vacation last weekend, and no, I haven’t been on here since. So sorry.
I’m realizing just how much I have to do in these next couple weeks before Dv2.0 comes, so that has now become my main focus. I’ll still be on here every once in awhile, though, so have no fear.
I will have a ton of vacation pictures to share once we sort through all of those. We did leave one of our cameras up in Canada, however, so I just need to wait until we get that back from my sister before I can get through those. We got some good ones, though, so I think you’ll like seeing them.
D is getting so big! She had an amazing time on the island in Canada, and it’s simply mind-boggling how different this visit was from last year’s. Last year she was just a little baby, only 11 months old. This year, at 25 months, she owned the place. She ran all over the island (with life jacket on, of course), up and down all the stairs, playing with all our family and the dog, and loving the lake and boats. It was so fun to watch, and I can’t wait to take her back each year and watch her grow to love it more and more.
We’re going to get her a twin bed this weekend, so that will be a change for her. She slept in one the whole week in Canada and did great, so hopefully she’ll transition ok here as well. We need to get the crib moved into our room for the baby, and I want her completely comfortable in a big bed before #2 is here. And right now she’s using the paint app on my iPhone. It seriously blows my mind how much this kid knows.
And of course there will be my weekly pregnancy posts until Dv2.0 arrives. I’m now 33.5 weeks, which scares the crap out of me. I made a pre-baby to-do list this week, and it takes up an entire page! Yesterday I did start in on it, though, getting out the most neutral of the baby clothes and getting them washed and put away, so there’s one thing I can cross off. I had my latest doctor appointment yesterday and got the pre-registration forms for labor and delivery, so yeah, it’s definitely starting to feel more real. I just hope we can get enough crossed off our lists before he/she gets here!
So bear with me, please. I apologize if I’m sporadic in my posting and such, but rest assured I have not forgotten about any of you. I can’t wait to catch up on my reader feed, too. I’m sure I have about a million unread blog posts in there, so that’ll take awhile. But I’ll get there. I hope you’re all doing well!
Please excuse the purple socks with her red, white, and blue outfit. She insisted…
Have a Happy 4th of July!
The other night I sat D in the bathroom sink to wash her hands and feet. At some point she must have stood up and planted her left hand on the mirror for balance, because later in the night I found that little reminder above. A reminder that yes, a munchkin lives in our house.
My first thought was to just clean it off, but then I realized that never again will her hands be that exact tiny size. So what else was there to do but take a picture?
And do a little comparison.
They don’t show up extremely well, and it was hard to even capture the hand prints at all with a white ceiling and bright lighting, but I tried to see just how big mine was next to her 22-month-old hand.
Della and Mommy.
Not ghosts.
As you know if you know me, or may have gathered if you don’t know me but have ever stumbled upon this blog before, I’m a very laid-back person. I don’t get riled easily, I don’t follow controversy, I HATE confrontation, and I’m not a fan of debate. (which brings back terrible grade school memories, ick)
For this reason I rarely discuss hot-button topics, here or in my non-internet life – politics, religion, etc. But there is one topic which gives people fits that I just don’t get – homosexuality.
What the?? I can hear many eyeballs putting on the brakes right now. And that’s ok. Like I said, I know this is a very hot-button topic, sometimes scalding actually. And kind of out of left field since lately I’ve been talking mainly about being pregnant here.
But I read an excellent post by Glennon over at Momastery today, and it got me thinking. And agreeing.
What’s the big deal if someone is gay?
I just don’t understand it. How can that possibly determine their worth as a person? Does one’s sexuality really serve as a legitimate foundation for judging every other quality about them, usually without even knowing them personally? Their work ethic, their morals, their overall ability to simply be a contributing, functioning human being?
And why, too, should that be the determining factor in what rights they are given? The right to marry, the right to have children, the right to actually be happy like the rest of us “normal” people (please know that i mean that in the most sarcastic way possible. gay or straight certainly does not determine normality in a person. actually, what does? who’s the standard for “normal”? uh-oh, there’s another whole post…)?
Again, I just don’t get it. Call me liberal, call me anti-religion (which i kind of am. not like i hate god and all organized religion, but i just don’t have a very strong religious lifestyle), call me crazy, but being gay certainly does not make a person unworthy of the love and happiness a straight person has. Hell, I know a lot of gay people who are infinitely happier than many straight people I know.
I really hope I can raise our children to be tolerant, no not even tolerant but unquestionably accepting, of this also. Besides her absolute safety, the 1 thing I want D to know above all else (well, and Dv2.0 now too) is that she can come to us at absolutely any time, anywhere, with anything, and know that we will never love her any less. Yes, we may be severely disappointed and possibly heart-broken, but we’ll never not love her.
You’re gay? So what! You got a tatto? So what (as long as you were 18 and it was legal)! You’re pregnant? Umm, well not so what, but we’re definitely not going to abandon you. You’re in jail? Ok, so maybe my “so what” answer wouldn’t work for everything, but I could never stop loving her. Yes I’d be beyond pissed and trying to imagine the worst punishment she’d ever endured, but the love would always be there.
So I guess this is just a long way of saying why is being gay such a big deal? Love whoever you want to love. Be happy.
Last night while taking D for a walk in the stroller, I realized that I am totally incapable of walking in a straight line.
I know, weird, but true.
For whatever reason, I can’t keep on a straight track, even with a guide to hold onto like the stroller. I constantly veer a little to one side, then back to center, then off-center again. I noticed I did the same thing while jogging with her in the stroller last week, too.
(side note – jogging with a non-jogging stroller sucks. i do not recommend it.)
And I don’t just do it when I’m pushing the stroller. Whenever I go for a run I’m always all over the side walk. Talk about the least efficient route possible. I’ve probably added miles to my runs over the years simply by not being able to keep a straight course.
I wonder why this is. No, it’s not the pregnancy-induced center of gravity shift. My belly isn’t nearly that big yet, fortunately. Plus, like I said, it always happens, pregnant or not.
Anyone else do this, or am I the only off-kilter one in the bunch?
Ah well, as long as I don’t start tripping every time I wander I guess I won’t worry about it. For that would make for some really long and painful walks.
