A Pioneer Woman Kind of Thanksgiving…
Grammy and Mike arrived on Tuesday, and as luck would have it, they arrived just early enough to catch the 2nd half of Big C’s gymnastics class. She was thrilled to show off the improvement in her skills to grammy since last fall – and it was all new for Mike, as he hadn’t been up in the past year to see gymnastics at all! After a nice dinner, we headed home to put Lil C down for the night and visit a bit. And cook. There was lots of cooking! My prep on Tuesday had included green beans with onions and bacon, sweet potato casserole, homemade cranberry sauce, and pot roast for Wednesday night’s dinner.
Wednesday I had to work, but left the troops at home, complete with a cookie-making project for the day. When I got home, I warmed up the Pot Roast (borne from the Pioneer Woman’s short ribs recipe – which was what I planned to make until I found out that Beef Short Ribs aren’t in such grand supply around these parts), made creamy polenta with goat cheese to go underneath, and chowed down with the family. After dinner, bathtime and bedtime for the Littles – more cooking…i made the dough for the No-Knead Rolls and PW’s Texas Sheet Cake. This was my first honest experience with yeast. Really, truly making yeast dough, from scratch. And I liked it. I liked it a lot. It didn’t hurt a bit. It was much easier than I thought it would be, everything went exactly as the recipe promised it would, the dough cooperated, didn’t rise up out of the pan and overtake my refrigerator as I’d feared, and baked up beautifully on Thursday. Will definitely make it again, and really could use that dough to make cinnamon rolls and it would also be delish!
Thursday, we gathered for the usual fun, frolic and food!
The turkey roasted up nicely in my Roaster Oven, a technique I have been successfully using for the past several years. It’s great because it frees up the oven to warm/bake other dishes all morning long, and the turkey really takes care of itself. Did I mention that Thanksgiving is my favorite day of the year?!
Thursday night, we played Cranium with Brian’s parents & sister…many laughs and much trash-talking. The girls prevailed, of course!
Friday, we went on an outing to the USAF Museum, and taking Major Uncle Bub really enhanced that experience. Having an in-depth look at the B-52 is really something! After the Museum, we headed to the Greene for a late lunch/early dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. We explored the Greene a bit, though it was too windy and chilly to make a day of it. Lil C is definitely getting out of the sleep-anywhere-through-anything phase – she was wide-eyed, though exhausted, for much of the afternoon/evening. We arrived home around bedtime and sent the Littlest One to bed while Big C stayed up a while longer visiting with Grammy, Mike, and Uncle Bub.
Saturday morning Grammy & Mike departed and we enjoyed a fairly quiet the weekend the next few days. Putting up the Christmas tree and trying to maintain the house in its semi-destroyed state took up most of our time. We look forward to the basement being put back together quite soon!
Late-onset colic?!
The last 3 nights have been disrupted by our normally delightful and cooperative baby morphing into a screecher! Our normal routine has been that she begins to get sleepy between 6:15-6:45pm and as soon as she shows the signs, I take her up for bath, nursing and bedtime. She has gone to bed with fantastic ease, far outshining her older sister at a comparable age.
Saturday and Sunday nights, however, we met with fierce opposition when bedtime approached. I wouldn’t even mind holding her, if it would do any good. She screeched and fussed, fidgeted and fought. Tonight went much better, however she had a few short outbursts. It hasn’t been helped by the fact that she caught Big C’s sniffles at some point over the weekend. She hasn’t seemed to develop fever or anything more serious, though we keep toying with the idea that maybe, just maybe, she is teething. Seems impossibly early, but the amount of drool and the zeal with which she gnaws her fists seems to indicate otherwise. Only time will tell. This is what I found when I went in to get her on Sunday morning. Precious pie!
Happy Birthday to Big C!
The historic first chew:
We’ve been counting down to the debut of chewing gum for at least the last 2 years. Several weeks ago, I bought a multi-pack of Extra chewing gum and C saw it on my desk. She said, “When it is time for me to chew gum, can that kind be the very first kind I chew?” I agreed, and saved the package on my desk for her. When we got home from the babysitter’s on Thursday, C eagerly went to the desk and was ready to get going on the Big Chew!
The first piece lasted well under a minute! It was “too juicy” and “too sour”. Throughout the rest of the night, she attempted several more pieces, most lasting between 10 and 30 seconds. She reported liking the flavor, but was “just getting so tired of chewing!”
Coolest gift of the day, a gumball machine from Uncle Bub:
Saturday night, we went out with Mimi, Pop and Aunt Katie for a special dinner at one of our favorite local restaurants…
Lil C wasn’t so much into the fall menu, or the chosen dinner hour. I spent the better part of appetizers/meal arrival touring around the outside of the front entrance and sitting on an extra chair in the bathroom nursing. She did eventually settle down and let me eat in peace.
then came home for birthday cake and more presents!
Among the favorite gifts was a uber-trendy outfit from Aunt Katie, and a dry-erase Activity Board with cards that she can practice writing her letters and numbers. She spent every waking moment the rest of the weekend working on these letters and numbers, and has been thrilled with her progress so far! Happy Birthday to our Buzzy!
Ring, Ring
On Saturday, I took Big C for a super-special outing in anticipation of her 5th birthday. Much to my dismay, “Mamma Mia!” has become one of her favorite movies this past year. It all started last Christmas when I was stuck on the couch, in the throes of morning-afternoon-evening sickness. “Mamma Mia” had been recently released on DVD and my mom got it for me to enjoy. Again, and again. At some point, Big C joined me in watching it, and the rest is history. Yes, admittedly too raunchy for a 5-year old, especially since I consider myself exceptionally conservative as a parent.
At any rate, I had toyed with the idea of taking her to see “Mamma Mia!” (the show) at some point, but continued to have concerns about its content. We had researched it and discovered that it was playing Cleveland the weekend of 11/14-11/16…but Cleveland is a three-hour drive, and life is hectic enough as it is this time of year.
Enter the miracle of the Schuster Center! I discovered that “Arrival”, an ABBA cover band, was playing a one-time show, on Saturday, November 14th! Apparently, they are wildly popular and the recent success of “Mamma Mia!” has done wonders for their tour. I knew immediately that Big C would love this outing, and so with Dad’s blessing, I bought tickets. This would be a special girls’ night out, with Dad staying home to man the fort and Lil C.
We went to a yummy dinner at Max & Erma’s (BTW, whoever invented the funnel cake sticks with strawberry sauce ought to be rewarded. Richly. Yum.) Then we headed downtown and took our seats in the second row!
C loved every minute of it, though she started to fade towards the end. In retrospect, I know I should have made her take a nap that afternoon…naps are a rare occurrence, but when a special activity is planned for the evening, it’s not a bad idea.
At the close of the show, we still hadn’t heard “Dancing Queen,” so we knew there had to be more. The band came back out for an encore. And, in a surreal way, the percussion guy looked right at me, pointed at Big C and motioned her to come up on stage! I passed her up via the guy sitting in front of me, Percussion Guy handed her a tambourine, and planted her center stage, between the 2 female vocalists! She was so tired, and I know she had no idea what was going on…she didn’t dance around like she does EVERY NIGHT OF THE WORLD at home. I should have told her on the way up “Dance around on the stage!” but of course, she wouldn’t have automatically known what to do. It was pretty overwhelming, to say the least. But soooo exciting!
I had to carry her back to the car as she was near tears by the time the show closed. We created quite a stir as we left, heads were turning, people were whispering…”Oh! That’s the little girl that was onstage! There’s the star!” A lady on the elevator said, “Well, who knew we’d be riding the elevator with the star of the show!” Big C, in her pure exhaustion, could hardly respond, but the next day excitedly talked about all of it. For the kid who forgets nothing, I hope this will be a favorite memory of hers for years to come!
Birthday Weekend!
Last weekend, we celebrated Pop’s 60th birthday in fine fashion. Friday night, a surprise dinner party at a local favorite Italian restaurant with some of Mimi & Pop’s closest friends.
Saturday morning, we were up [not too] early, as I had a work-week to recover from! We headed over to Columbus and enjoyed a yummy brunch at first watch, followed by a stop at Starbucks to warm up before we hit the zoo.
The weather was dry but chilly and windy. Many animals it seemed were happier in their inside habitats, but we particularly enjoyed the baby langur, almost the same age as our Little One. I didn’t get a picture, but this little guy was so sweet. So tentative and tiny, and so protected by its mother. Funny little creature.
Secondly, the gorilla house entertained as always. Gorillas have some habits that are amongst the most disgusting, but I could watch them all day. Their behaviors are fascinating (for the most part). Big C and her new friend:
Her other favorite exhibit was “the horse thing,” also known as the carousel. Mimi joined Big C and dad for a few rounds on the classic carousel. I love seeing her so happy!
When asked about her favorite exhibit, Little C declined to comment:
We headed out after a stop at the Komodo dragon:
On to a delicious dinner at Montgomery Inn. So delicious!! On Sunday, Pop departed for a week in Hilton Head with some golf buddies. I hope when I’m 60 I can spend a week in Hilton Head, too (though not on the golf course).
Swine Hall: Vacancy
So there is a major flu outbreak going on up here. I hear it is not as bad in other regions of the country. It seems that just about every family I know has been touched in some way here. I have gone into major Germ Nazi Overload Mode, being that I have a 3-month old that basically has no immunity to anything. I realize that Brian, myself, or Big C could contract the seasonal flu or the Famed H1N1, and probably survive. Some days of misery, yes. But we’d survive. The Littlest One, though, truly does concern me. And for that reason, Big C and I ventured out to the fairgrounds yesterday for the first available H1N1 vaccine clinic. I was eligible as a healthcare provider, and a caregiver to an under-6-month-old. Big C was eligible for being age 6 months -4 years, and as a household contact of an infant. Much ado was made about how the demand far exceeded the supply.
A friend and I decided to go about 10:00am for the noon opening of the clinic. We had originally planned on receiving a report from a Scout who’d planned on arriving around 8:00am; however, said Scout’s son became sick in the night, so she was unable to report for duty and we had to shift to Plan B. We decided to deploy earlier than our original plan, and arrived about 8:30am. After waiting in line for several hours, the entry and vaccine process itself was quite speedy. I applaud the Clark County Combined Health District for its thorough preparation and attention to detail. I can’t think of anything they could have done better. The only thing I would have changed would have been to have it in the Swine Hall instead of the Arts & Crafts Building. I mean, really – opportunities like that don’t come around every day.
Anyway, Big C and I are now vaccinated against H1N1 (and Seasonal Flu, but we took care of that a while ago); miracle of all miracles, I convinced Brian to go in later that day. (He was also eligible based on being in a household with an infant).
Of course, Brian (a.k.a. Golden Boy) arrived about 12:15pm, walked right in, right through the clinic, got his vaccine, and was out by about 12:30pm! I was just glad we were able to get it at all and tried not to focus on the fact that I wasted about 4 hours of my day off.
I continue to keep Clorox in business, and our remote controls, light switches, and doorknobs are just sparkling! Here’s to more good health…
Got a few more pictures of the girls together the other night, right after bath time. Sometimes we call the Littlest One “Fluffy”…Can you see why?
And we haven’t done this in a while! Name that kid! Thing 1 or Thing 2?!?
Woke up, fell out of bed, dragged a comb across my head…
I read a post on the (in)Courage website the other day about slowing down. Let’s all slow down, stop rushing, stop trying to fit so much in. Mmmmkay. Sounds delightful. No, really, it does. The person who wrote it doesn’t have the most typical lifestyle, hence it’s a bit hard for me to take in her words. Not that I don’t appreciate the idea, but it just sounds absolutely impossible.
My return to work yesterday went as well as could be expected. Big C and Lil C went to the sitter’s both yesterday and today because Big C didn’t have school today. I actually felt good about having her there, because I knew she would watch closely after Lil C.
Lil C has gotten good reports both days – lots of sleeping, taking bottles great, lots of talking and sweet faces. Thursday she went about 4 hours between each bottle, and today she condensed that a bit, going first four hours and then three hours between the next 2. I am indescribably thankful that she seems to have made the transition well, is drinking her bottles (it’s my milk, not formula, so nothing new to get used to. We’ve been giving her 1 bottle a week since she was 3 weeks old just to get her accustomed to it.)
I have been warmly welcomed at work, for which I am thankful as well. My new office is absolutely delightful. Perfect. Private. Out of the way, but still accessible. It says “I’m available” but it’s enough off-the-beaten-path that I don’t have everyone who blows through the door hanging over my desk. Did I mention, perfect for pumping? I can leave the pump half set-up and plugged in, which shaves a few precious minutes off each session. Two days down, 9 months to go.
So here’s my day. I am totally exhausted at the moment (good thing I’m blogging, then, instead of sleeping, huh?).
5:20am – Wake up and feed Lil C. Re-set alarm clock so I don’t sleep past 6:00am, in case I doze off.
5:45am – try to sneak in another 10 minutes of sleep, get Lil C re-settled to sleep a bit longer before I get her dressed and ready to go. Big C comes in our room to ask something. I don’t know what she wants, she talks to Brian. He tells her to go back to bed because it’s not time to get up yet.
6:00am – up, shower, dress, eat breakfast, double check diaper bag, pack bottles, gather pump parts, pack pump bag including ice pack, start to take stuff out to car, discover it’s raining, think about finding umbrella, subsequently forget about finding umbrella, get big C’s teeth brushed, get Lil C up, dressed, packed into car seat, and car completely loaded.
7:15am – Depart. On time. For the second day in a row. Wonders never cease. The next 1 hour+ involves half my commute, dropping kids off at sitter, getting soaked, and second half of commute. Lil C hates the car seat these days so she screams most of the way. Yippee. Did I mention it is pouring rain?
8:30am – Arrive at work.
8:50am – PUMP. Discover I can pump and hold my BlackBerry at the same time. Little miracles, you know?
9:00am – Get to call someone with good news. The best news, actually. One of those moments that keeps me working.
The morning is filled with continuing to organize my office, find my files and other stuff, a few calls, a few patients, navigating through new EMR system…i did grab lunch with an NP friend, which was a great time to catch up.
1:20pm – PUMP. Time gets away from me so quickly!
The afternoon is filled with more patients, more EMR, and some updates from the office manager. Our IT guy shows up to fix my computer – apparently while I was gone, my (ancient) computer died a valiant death. Good news: it was old, I was due for an upgrade, so I got a brand new computer. Bad news: death of hard drive=loss of all content. There are some things I had backed up on a jump drive and given to one of the other clinical staff before I went on maternity leave. When the office manager said, “Did you have any of that backed up?” “Oh yes!,” I enthusiastically replied. “I put it all on a jump drive right before…” She interrupted me. “They lost that.” Mmmkay. So, yeah I backed it up. But I didn’t back-up my back-up. Probably nothing that is totally irreplaceable, it will just be a matter of having to recreate some forms and things.
Anyway, where was I?…oh yeah, 4:45pm – time to pump again. Do my best to leave before 5:00pm so my elder daughter doesn’t cry when I pick her up about why I was the latest mommy.
4:55pm - Depart. Later than I wanted. Finish up a patient call on my cell on the way home because I know she will take at least 15 minutes and I just can’t stay a minute longer. More commuting, picking up, commuting.
6:00pm – We’re home. (refer back to 7:15am when we left. Great grief, that was 11 hours ago. I’m kinda tired). Figure out dinner. Pancakes. Fancy I know.
6:40pm – Not quite done with pancakes, but Lil C has decided she’s hungry. She gets a bottle of today’s milk because I’m not going to have much to offer her at this point. We got a little out of sync time-wise, but it will be fine by tomorrow.
7:30pm – Off to Kroger. I have to get my life together and get some planned, pre-cookable meals together. I call my dear friend Joy on the way there to get her input about crock pot recipes. She recommends pot roast and roast chicken. Rolling in at 6:00pm every evening makes it nearly impossible to cook something that requires more than about 10 minutes of prep.
8:37pm – Arrive home from Kroger. Unload groceries. Brian is entertaining Lil C but she is fading fast. She is fussy and feisty. She’s definitely ready for bath!
8:45pm - Bath, snack and bedtime for Lil C. Send Big C to bed after she claims her dad told her she could stay up until 10:00pm watching Olivia on nick jr. Uh, no.
9:30pm - Wash 4 bottles, wash pump parts, bag milk for freezer, clean kitchen, Change sheets, clean bathroom, wipe down upstairs with Clorox wipes. Clorox wipes, I love you. Thank you for protecting me thus far.
So now I’m sitting down. I am beat. That’s my day. What was that again about slowing down?Not sure what the weekend holds, but I hope for some rest! And on that note, good night!
The end of an Era!
Today will be the last day that the girls will fill their days with fun and mischief!
Baby Julie works on “Bear Hug 3″ for AWANA next week:
Baby Avery picks out some books from the bookshelf for some fall reading:
Back to work tomorrow for Mom. It’s a day of mixed emotions, but I do feel ready and I am so comfortable with where Lil C will be going. I am anxious still about the flu raging around seemingly every family we know, and if/when it will strike us. I look forward to seeing what lies ahead!
Water, water everywhere – The Sequel.
If you ever feel like buying a house that is somewhere around 88 years old, and there is a basement, and the owner tells you that the water comes in “in a small trickle in one corner,” resist the urge to yell, “Liar, liar, pants on fire!”. And then run, do not walk, away from the closing table.
If you ignore this advice, and you stay in the 88-year old house with the wet basement, and you tear out all the paneling and poorly-done-DIY-drywall, here is what your basement walls will look like:
Barf.
If you have ever visited me and spent any time in my basement, I wholeheartedly apologize. I hope you haven’t contracted mesothelioma or any other evils from breathing the obviously-contaminated air. Special shout-out to the Bible Study girls – I hope that three years of meeting in the Poker Room hasn’t ruined your lungs for life.
If you ever have a bunch of money that you’re not sure what to do with, and you definitely don’t want to spend it on anything fun, frivolous, or enjoyable, you can buy this:
Fancy, I know. And if you ever wonder why your basement was flooding to start with, jackhammer out some concrete and dig a trench around in the inside wall.
Almost immediately, there was standing water in the trench. I felt like that explained a lot. Our house has been sitting on/in lots of water for a long time. Which is why we couldn’t tolerate even the most modest of rainfalls. Apparently there was a drainage system of sorts installed when the house was built. It was made of clay pipes, which were currently filled with mud. About 8 inches above the floor, they drilled “weep holes” to allow water to drain down into the collection system. Brian said when they were being drilled, water came gushing out of those too. Ew. Our foundation thanks us, too, I imagine.
Today was a loud day. We spent much of it out and about, because, really, how much jackhammering can you listen to before you start to feel just a little bit crazy inside? Not how I had hoped to spend my final 2 days of leave, but I didn’t have much choice. This phase will be done tomorrow and then we will begin the rebuild. I am excited about the possibilities, though still unsure as to how it all will turn out.
At the end of the day, the Little One explored her crinkly mat. I realized that she hasn’t rolled over yet, and it is entirely my fault. I hold her too much. But she is my baby, and she is my last, and I want to remember how special it is when she was little. She already feels so big to us! I love the surprised, curious look on her face here. Who is this in the mirror?, she wonders…
Real Health Care Respects Life
