Happy 30th, Reid!

It wouldn't be difficult (and perhaps I will in a different post) to list 30 things about Reid that amaze me, 30 things he's done to make my life better, 30 ways he makes me smile, 30 reasons i'm still madly in love with him, etc, etc--but I've got too many other things to write about here, and it's already midnight.... It really would be easy, though, since everything that's amazing about him is really a combination of hundreds of small things. So, come to think of it, i believe i shall compose such a post sometime here in his 30th year...just not tonight :)


The night of Reid's b-day we had a few friends over for cake and ice cream. This was the first sugar Reid had eaten in two weeks! (i'd cheated a few days earlier with a few girl friends who forced cheese cake down my throat) It turns out that we really like sugar and have had lots of it every day since then...but that's a whole other story...



We opened a few small things that the girls and I had gotten for Reid. I'd told him earlier that week that his BIG present was on back order and wouldn't get here until Monday or Tuesday--which he completely believed....

Wednesday night we left all three of the girls with my awesome friend, Kristin, and ate hummus, falafel and baklava with our good friends, Eamonn and Laura. We talked WAY too late, and could have kept talking all night. And then we got to come home and have MORE grown up time with Kristin and Dan, who'd put their kids down here. I love grown-up time. We have some seriously awesome friends, and too many kids to enjoy them!! (by the way, if you dig middle eastern food AT ALL, and live here, you gotta check out the hummus at Damascus on Colorado Blvd!!!!)

So, Reid knew that i'd gotten him something awesome but had NO CLUE what it was. I've known for about 3-4 months exactly what I wanted to get Reid for his big birthday. Several obstacles tried to get in the way of this gift. But after a bizillion miracles (and i DO mean miracles, but won't get into all that here) it all worked out.

I have a really hard time keeping secrets from Reid, especially when they involve other people, travel plans, golf, etc. But I did it. He had absolutely NO IDEA that the "awesomest birthday present ever" that i'd told him was going to be a few days late was actually a weekend with his brother, Tom (and of course we had to have Jana and baby Gabe come, too!!)

Friday evening I told Reid that i needed to go to the fabric store.. He, as he always does, willingly agreed to stay home with the girls so i could have a break. I sped to the airport, picked up the crew, and 90 minutes later I called Reid and told him that i'd just pulled up, and saw his present on the doorstep. It was awesome, awesome, awesome seeing Reid's face go from excitement, to shock, to confusion, to pinch-me-i'm-dreaming, to you-are-the-best-wife-ever, and then back to excitement--lots and lots of excitement--as he just kept hugging Tom, and saying "are you serious?" The shock lasted well into Saturday morning. awesome.

A really big part of this gift was to get these two brothers together for a day of golf. Well, the 60 degree weather we've had for the past 3 months decided to dump 15" of snow on Thursday, so the day of golf turned into an hour at the driving range. But the hanging out, stuffing our faces, staying up late and talking about nothing, and especially meeting our newest nephew more than made up for our snowed-on parade.

Reid couldn't say enough how awesome that gift was. I have to agree. And having this MASSIVE secret out in the open has freed up so much mental space--I can finally talk to Reid without fearing that i'm going to blurt out something that would give it all away. i feel like a new woman!

Thanks, Tom and Jana, for coming out here, in spite of all that you have going on! we love you!! And Happy Birthday, babe. Welcome to your 30's. It's nice to have you here. I've felt like a bit of a cougar lately:)

Stuff

random things i want to write down:

1. Eliza's sitting up by herself. She's fairly stable, too. I LOVE this stage! with all 3 of my girls i've looked forward to and loved the arrival of this stage!

2. Reid and i have made a goal for National Nutrition Month to eat 10 servings of fruits and vegetables a day, and to cut out sugar and most processed foods. We're on day 10 or so. It's getting easier as it goes to get the fruits and veggies in...but i'm REALLY missing sugar. i really like sugar. lots. Reid's also started a new diet adventure, just for a couple of weeks (sound familiar??). I'm trying to support him, in a "if you can't say something nice, then don't say anything at all" kind of way. So that's all i have to say about that.

This is what's in our fridge right now. thank heavens for Sunflower Market!! grapes for $.67/lb, red peppers for $.88 each--what would i do with out you!!

3. tickets to Denver are REALLY cheap on Southwest right now. I've convinced my parents, my sister and my brother to come see us for Easter. Is there anyone else out there just dying for a little get-away? $39 is hard to beat!

4. My ankle's just sprained. The dr. took an x-ray yesterday to be sure. It's been feeling lots better the past 2-3 days. it's so nice to be able to walk again!!! And the Dr. said i could resume exercising, just no aerobic-type classes, with lots of side-to-side movement. the problem with that is that aerobic classes are the ONLY type of exercise that i like! all you joggers, and spinners and runners can keep your comments about how "awesome it is to just push yourself till you want to throw up" to yourself! :)

5. DST is killing us. We can't get back on schedule! we're sleeping until almost 9am, i'm up past midnight every night--we just can't get our bodies to "spring ahead one hour!"

6. I'm almost ready to start thinking about painting my kitchen.

7. the remote to our DVD player is lost--really, truly lost

yet another wake-up call...

Eliza got this nasty respiratory bug that we all have. The dr. said to be sure to watch her cause it could easily turn into RSV (bronchiolitis) in her. Well, i've been fearing that since the morning Grace first had a fever last Friday. And i've been praying and praying that it wouldn't. And all of my prayers were heard! It's just been a nasty cold for her! But that doesn't mean we didn't have a scare with her...

(warning: this story is less than pleasant, so don't read if you're the queasy type)

Tuesday night I was at a ladies' activity at our church, enjoying my away time immensely, when my phone rang. It was Reid, in a panic, telling me that Eliza was dry heaving and that he was really worried and I needed to come right now. Now, i've seen my share of sick kids, but i've NEVER had a kid with both a terrible cold AND the pukies! I rushed home to see a very swollen-eyed Eliza, and a panicked Reid. Eliza hadn't actually thrown anything up, but had "wretched" (reid's words, here) for like 10 minutes. He said she'd gotten a little bit of paper in her mouth and thought that maybe that was what was causing this.

So, she stayed up with us until 10 or so, and then i fed her and put her down. When midnight rolled around and she hadn't puked i figured we were good. Then at 2:30am she did it again. It was the saddest, scariest thing ever. I don't know how to explain it, but it was awful. again, nothing was coming up, but for like 20 seconds at a time she'd "dry heave"--turning bright red, and then scream and the end of it. It was awful. But once it was over she was fine. so weird. by 3:30am i was delirious and figured i should just put her down and stop freaking out over this.

The next morning she seemed fine, apart from this cold, so i was hoping we were over it. But then it happened AGAIN!! This time was the worst. Each "heave" was lasting for soooo long, and she was in so much pain, and I had no idea what in the world was going on. And for a minute there I was so sure that i was loosing her--a feeling i'd been fighting all night, that had kept me up praying so much of the night.

But with the last little gag, I looked in her mouth and found this: (not the lens, just the wrapper on it)

I spent hours and hours that day in shock, on my knees, in tears--thinking over and over how amazing it is that she is alive. I don't know that much about the human esophagus or wind pipe--but the fact that this thing was wedged in one, and didn't go down the other for 14 straight hours seems like nothing short of a miracle.

And that day it was me who wanted to hold her all day.

Did you know?

Did you know that if you have every earthly and heavenly need met, like warmth, shelter, faith, family and health and STILL have the cajones to complain about life that God will give your children the runs?

well, I didn't know it until right after i posted that last post. Moments after clicking "submit" Abby starts screaming from her crib, and i go up there to find the contents of her diaper smeared all over her crib. lovely. And then, 3 hours later Grace's bowels ended up all over the bathroom floor. She hasn't had an accident in months--esp not that kind of an accident!

And Reid was conveniently at church meetings for both of these.

Now, I know that's more info than you wanted, but just be warned--whining when you've got relatively very little to complain about, no matter how good it feels can come back and kick you in the butt, or worse--in your kids' butts!!! (but you still might deciede it's worth it--whining can feel really good :)

p.s. thanks for all your comments and empathy and concern and encouragement and love--i'm feelin' your love--and i'm feeling much better today, mostly 'cause i know that all of you know right where i'm coming from :)

I need to vent. (mom & dad--don't read this, it'll just worry you, and i'm fine, i'm just in a bad mood!)

My kids are driving me crazy. Grace and Abby (although they play well together, too) have been fighting SOOO much lately and it makes me absolutely batty! i CANNOT stand them fighting, so i yell at them...which i'm sure is the best thing to get them to start being pleasant!

And they whine. And they scream. And they pout--ohhhhhhhhh how they pout.

AND (not that this is they're fault at all, but i'm in the complainin' mood) they're sick--at least Grace is. She's had a fever for 3 days now, with a cough and a runny nose. No biggie-except it's meant missing her best friend's b-day party, us missing church AGAIN today, cancelling the babysitter when i REALLY wanted to get out, etc, etc, etc... And abby's had a cough for over 2 months. i want to just ignore it...but maybe it's more than "just a cough"--i dont' know. i HATE my dr/health insurance -Kaiser- and going to their evil facility and i hate all their stupid loop holes and so i don't go to the Dr unless i absolutely HAVE to. luckily Eliza's still healthy. (And though i'm thinkin' she'll probably get this bug that Grace has, I've been praying SOOOO much that it won't turn into RSV in her--and i'm confident God's hearing my pleas. He knows i couldn't handle RSV right now.)

Eliza wants to be held ALL THE TIME!! I guess it really started back in January, but I was in denial. Now i've accepted it--she's completely spoiled and i have no idea how to undo what i've done. I have a really hard time letting her just sit there on the floor, in her exersaucer or bumbo, or wherever-and cry and cry. Reid can do it. I can't. And so what do i do? i hold her. way too much. and i am grumpy all day long because it's really hard for me to do all i have to do with Eliza in my arms. And the worst part? she still has the gall to fuss when i'm holding her. Not often, but sometimes--how dare she?!?!?!?

I'm so sick of laundry i could scream. it literally takes me 2 weeks to start and finish all the laundry in our house...and, of course, by the time it's done, i have to start all over again!!

And Abby's the messiest thing in the world and I'm sick of cleaning up after her 25 times a day. And she's trying desperately to not nap anymore. I am doing everything in my power to keep her napping for at least 6 months more which means her staying awake (albeit in her crib) until 10pm every night. But i need her to nap every day. why doesn't she need more than 12 hrs of sleep/day?!?!?!

And i'm so sick of cooking, doing the dishes, sweeping my ever-filthy floor, and trying to find/make healthy snacks for my kids who want to eat ALL THE TIME,--all of which are done with a 6 month old in arms!

And Grace's "shyness" is becoming a REAL problem, and I'm sick of it. I'm sick of having an almost 4 year old who STILL freaks out anytime we talk about going anywhere there might be people she doesn't know. And the "show" she puts on when she's out of her comfort zone--it's probably the thing that bothers me the most in life--honestly. She acts like a cat or a baby, and freaks out and it's mortifing and it (along with everything else my kids do) makes me feel like an absolute failure as a parent and it's enough to make me never want to take her anywhere!! And she freaks out about all sorts of other things that are driving me crazy, too (e.g. band aids that come off in the middle of the night resulting in her screaming at the top of her lungs, sending me into a complete panic that something's really wrong only to find that her band aid had fallen half-off).

And my ankle's getting worse. Today's the worst it's been since it happened on Wed. i'm gonna have to see my lame Dr. (who i absolutely despise) because my HMO, Kaiser, still hasn't changed my personal physician because they're evil and they don't care at all about their patients and i hate them, hate them, hate them!!!!

And i'm sick of these last 8 lbs that i can't loose. And I hate my hair. And my tulips are up 2 months too early because we haven't had winter since December. And my kitchen's still not done--and I have zero motivation to do ANYTHING about it!!

And i'm sick of not being one of those moms who can take all the credit for the good things their kids do, and take none of the blame for the bad. Honestly, if you are one of those moms, you have NO idea how lucky you are--i really mean that, even though i secretly hate you.

Now, if i were in a good mood right now i could write about how lucky i am to have two legs that work, a baby to hold all the time, a house to cover our heads, food in our fridge, a curious toddler who reminds me that exploring is a good thing, health insurance, clean clothes to wear everyday, a timid, but extremely loving and thoughtful 3 year old who's learning SOO much and gaining self-confidence everyday, and a garden that makes me so happy, and a husband with a job, beautiful weather in januray, etc, etc, yadda, yadda, yadda...

But i'm not.

Sprain

So i was at my recently discovered favorite aerobics class yesterday morning

when about 45 minutes into the class i completely rolled my ankle, fell as ungracefully as possible, and wound up with this:

Okay, that's not really my foot. maybe the leg hair clued you in...or maybe not. my ankle doesn't look anywhere near that bad, but it is definitely sprained. (and how could i not post that picture? did i make you feel sorry for me? or just gross you out??)

It's been a tricky 27 hours here at our house. Thank heavens for my sweet Grace who climbed the pantry to get a bag of pretzels yesterday that was our lunch, our snack and our dinner. And thank heavens (i can't believe i'm saying this) that Eliza just wants to be held ALL THE TIME. She's never been happier since all i can do is sit here and hold her. And thank heavens that Abby wants to read books here on the couch with me all day.

Reid came home 30 minutes early yesterday, went in 90 minutes late this morning, and has been really helpful with the girls. I was kinda hoping he'd come home and pamper me, feel sorry for me, massage me, etc. But, i'm pretty sure he just thinks that i'm a total wimp. I mean, how many times can he reference Michael Scott's Foreman grill-burnt foot without me thinking that?!?!? Well, wimp or not, everything i've read says to try to take it easy--esp the first 24-48 hours. So, i've got my leg elevated, i've been ice-ing it, and it's currently wrapped up nice and tight.

I'm really wishing i'd done even just a little bit of work around the house yesterday morning before going to the gym. This has been a good little wake-up call/reminder about not procrastinating things. I'm pretty sure this lesson will stick with me for one whole week once i'm back on me feet :) Does anyone know if there's some direct and inherent correlation between people who procrastinate and people who never learn their lesson. It'd make me (and my ankle) feel a little better if i knew that there was...

Where do babies come from?

Grace and I were looking through some pictures of us at the hospital when Eliza was born. This is how the conversation went:

Grace: How did you get Eliza out of your belly?
Me: I pushed her out
Grace: But where did she come out of?
Me: (i'll spare you these details, as i spared her most of them. i figured i'd let her ask for more details if she had more questions...which she didn't)
Grace: That must have hurt really bad!!!
Me: yeah, it did actually!
Grace: did you yell?
Me: yeah, I yelled lots until the doctor gave me some medicine, and then it didn't hurt anymore
Grace: you shouldn't have yelled so much, you probably hurt the doctor's ears
Me: yeah, he probably should have given me the medicine sooner!

I am getting such a kick out of the conversations we've been having lately...and I'm gonna start doing better at writing them down!!!