Grin and Share It

Today I ran errands with all three kids and we were out right around lunchtime.  For some reason they love to eat pizza at Sam's Club.  I don't know if they love the excitement of it, or the novelty of it, or if it's just really that good.  So we sat at a table at the front of the store and they ate their pizza before we did our shopping.  Eliana was already strapped in the cart, but she ate her fair share too.  And the thing that struck me is that quite a number of people who were headed out of the store left with a smile on their faces because of Eliana.  We were right next to the exit, and so everyone who was leaving passed us. 

I think all of my kids are pretty good (most of the time), especially with other people.  Eliana just happened to be the one folks saw-her position was prominent.  So, these sweet little older ladies would walk by and Eliana would grin and wave and kick her feet, and the ladies would wave and smile back at her, and then at each other.  It was funny to watch.  And it wasn't just little older ladies either.  So many people waved and smiled at her, and she at them.  Something so easy to do, and so contagious.  Just a little grin. 

I take so much for granted, and watching this interaction between strangers, and generations, was a little lesson for me.  Small things can mean so much, and have such a big impact.  Some small things ought to be small (a spill-which we dealt with in the store; a missing pencil-I think we have 700 lost pencils floating around our house; when my clean clothes fall on the floor-this happens daily).  Distinguishing between the small things that are meaningful in a good way and the small things that should be "let go" is a skill that I need to sharpen.  Maybe reflecting on that daily can be a helpful enterprise for me.

Think "I Wanna Be Sedated" by the Ramones

I'm feeling kind of yucky

But I think it's in my head

My house is a disaster

I just want to go to bed

I'm waiting for another kid

To throw up in a towel

But I think that if that happens

I might just have to howl

I should be getting ready

For school tomorrow morn

But instead I'm on this website

Writing nonsense, so forlorn

There are dishes on the counter

And luggage still unpacked

The laundry's coming out

Into my kitchen to attack

I wish that I could close my eyes

And make it disappear

But that's just not the way it goes

And so I'll shed some tears

And then I have to go unload

Clean dishes so that I

Can load up all the dirty ones

And wipe the counters dry

I really should sweep up the mud

Collecting near the door

It makes the entry look so gross

And somehow covers all my floor

I want so much to have it clean

But just can't get it right

And now it's late and all I want

Is to scream,"GOOD NIGHT!"

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no..."

Two Guys and One Long Night

Well, my healthy little guy finally got a bug.  Something got to him last night, at around 1 in the morning and he threw up then and two more times.  I was there for the first time and then when he went back to sleep Eliana woke up and I went in with her, hoping she wasn't going through the same thing.  She was fine, but poor Christian.  And Mike was with him all night.  They rested quite a bit today.

It's so awful to throw up.  And it's awful to watch someone else throw up.  And it's awful to clean up throw up.  Mike took care of a bunch of the initial stuff, and I've been washing towels and water-proof pads and blankets all day.  And having some obsessive-compulsive tendencies does not help.  I have to be honest, it makes it hard to feel like I can care for my own kids.  There's this "thing" hovering over and around me that I have to overcome (and I don't always do that so well) and all I can say is I'm so grateful for Mike and his compassion and wise fatherly knowledge. 

Christian seems much better tonight, but very tired.  And Eliana was acting super fussy just now, so I hope she does not get what he has/had.  She may have just been super sleepy.  At any rate, I'm looking forward to a less crazy day tomorrow.  Unless more people start heaving in the middle of the night! 

Taking a Break

What is very funny is that taking a break is the last thing I need to do.  I need to stop taking a break.  I have been on a break for two and a half weeks!  I cooked dinner for the first time tonight in that long!  Well, I did make spaghetti one night when we were on our Christmas vacation, but other than that, someone else was cooking.  I did lots of baking, but no dinners! 

So tonight, I have to get back in the groove.  Back in the swing of things.  Back in the saddle.  Back in the day.  Oops, I got carried away.

Right now, I am putting off the inevitable.  There are many things to do, and I am not doing them.  I must stop procrastinating, and begin my work.  Because really, it is my work.  And in 2009, I would like to do my work well. 

Hey, I have a new haircut.  I'll have to get a picture of it up soon.  It's different! 

Well, I have dawdled.  Now it's time to get serious.  Thank you for my break!

January 2, 2009

Life flies by and we hardly have time to blink and all of a sudden eight years are gone.

When I think back to January 1, 2001, and remember giving birth for the first time it is so hard to believe that it was really that long ago.  I can remember hanging over the back of our couch thinking,"This is really hurting.  OWWWW," and things like that.  I remember throwing up my dinner (because I was oh-so-foolish and actually ate dinner that night) as my contractions got stronger.  I remember pushing and pushing and finally hearing that she (we knew we were having a girl) was around the difficult bend.  The relief of it all.  I lost too much blood.  The medicine that made that okay in the end.  Passing out the first time I went to the bathroom.  Holding that tiny, tiny little girl and being amazed to see her next to my belly.  Watching Mike hold her and rock her and stare at her. 

And now...she's eight.  Eight seems so old.  Very big.  Oh, my. 

Here's something special...she shares a birthday with her Grandma Diana.  And since we are in Florida right now staying with her, she took "the girls" out to lunch.  Michaela's cousin, Michaela, and Grandma had a wonderful afternoon together.  And that was just the beginning.

We celebrated the two birthdays with dinner and cake and ice cream.  Michaela got to blow out the candles.

They both opened cards and gifts, which was a sweet time.

I'll just say it one more time...I can't believe she's eight...

She'll always be our "baby girl."