Father's Day Foibles

We decided to go out to eat last night for Father's Day. C loves Outback, and since I've recently learned I'm borderline anemic, steak sounded good to me too. Now we knew there would be a wait, so we called to put our name on the list. We still had about 25 minutes to wait when we got there, so the boys stayed in the car with the a/c with Daddy while I got the little buzzer and braved the heat. Don't worry, I was in the shade and had a book to read. Although it is super
hot with support hose, those few minutes sitting alone, reading were really a gift to me.

We are seated, and both H and his daddy need to use the restroom. While they are gone, our drink orders arrive. I have concocted W's Sprite and water mix and am starting on H's, when I turn my own water over and it spills all over my pants. It was a full glass. I was sitting in puddled water. Since, I don't bring a spare change of clothes for myself just the boys, I dried off as best I could and decide to grin and bear it.

C and H come back from the restroom, and my husband announces that he thinks he passed two kidney stones while in the (public) bathroom, and he has them. I think my eyes probably rolled back in my head as he explained that he, "used some MacGyver type skills" to "fish" them out of the (public) toilet while my 5 year old looked on. Apparently, the whole time he is fishing them out, he's telling H he should never do this and that he will explain why Daddy IS doing it when we get home. When he got to the part of the over-the-dinner-table story about how, "they're in my pocket," I had to ask him to stop the conversation before I hosed him and H down with Purell from across the table.

So while I'm riding home, sitting on a plastic bag (because my clothing- including support hose and undergarments- are still soaked), I'm thinking: Maybe we should have just ordered online and picked up?

Hope all the dads in your lives had a great day!

A Hitch in My Giddy-up

I really, really want to be doing a whole bunch of sewing for the coming baby, but my aching legs make the cutting fabric and ironing parts of sewing difficult. Here is my first finished project for baby:
Itty Bitty Baby Dress tutorial from Made by Rae (free!)

So, my varicose veins have really put a hitch in my sewing giddy-up as well as my giddy-up in general. I am hoping to go tomorrow to get some better support hose that the midwife actually wrote a prescription for. Maybe that will help me get going on my ever-growing list of projects for baby.

In other news, things that are making me happy:

1) Only one more week of school for the boys! Hooray! Can't wait to wake up and not have to rush around like a mad woman.

2) A shower for baby! Great friends are hosting a shower for me and baby next month. I have been having so much fun registering for pink clothes. Mel, wouldn't it be cool if you could register at fabric.com??

3) Aunt J and her husband are visiting us today! They are in town for the week from their home in London.

4) Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles Recipe from Smashed Peas and Carrots go here! Dangerously yummy!

5) C has agreed to paint baby's room if I take the boys away from the house for a full day :)

Hope to be back with more sewing projects soon! Maybe between the new hose and no school, I'll be giddy-upping:)

What's a Quarter of a Century Where Excitement is Concerned?

My husband and I just got word last Friday that H had the opportunity to attend kindergarten at a school that is at a nearby university. The program is excellent with national accreditation and not easy to get into without being a professor at the university or having attended yourself (yes, it's been in existence a long time). So after talking to the folks we know who have had children attend and going for a visit ourselves, we decided to enroll H. It's farther from home than the school he was going to attend and is more expensive, but we feel like it will be worth it and our younger children would have the opportunity to attend there in the future (there are programs for 3, 4, and 5 year olds).

We go later in the week for orientation where H will see his classroom and meet his teacher (he didn't go with us for the visit).

With all that said, we (C and I) are so excited! You'd think we were confident kindergarteners-to-be! Maybe because we saw the classroom and observed (from the observation room, yes they have one) or just because we really feel this is the right decision, but we are looking forward to orientation! I was feeling kind of silly and so told C "I know it's funny, but I'm excited about kindergarten." Imagine how tickled I was to hear him say, "I know, I am too!"

So whether you're five or thirty something, it seems learning is exciting!

How Tough Is It?

So I was asking my husband this weekend, how tough is it, this having a baby? I mean I know how tough the actual birthing part is, despite all that "you forget it" stuff, I remember my 8+ lb-er (W). Pretty vividly. What I mean is the no sleep, nursing part. C responded with, "Pretty tough." I continued about how I knew it really didn't get easier after a month or six weeks (like so many people tell you). It really takes more like three months to get into a groove (at least, for us, maybe we're slow compared to others). C looks at me and replies deadpan, "Let's just say, we may not want to have a fourth." I love my husband, love that he makes me laugh. I've been cracking up over that comment for days :)

Is it just my imagination...

or could I really spend all day, several days washing, drying, folding and putting away laundry? I think I need to do just that to eliminate some piles that are forming!

We are NOT Getting Wild and Crazy

You know how sometimes you say something, and when you hear it coming out of your mouth, you think, that's not sounding exactly like what I meant to say? That happened to me the other night. Now, as you know, if you've visited here much, I am an avid fiction reader. In fact, I like to read so much that I have actually cut myself off for now, so that I can accomplish things (but that's another post). Now, my husband, C, is not a fiction reader. Give him a photography book or even an instruction manual, and he will read it like he enjoys it, but fiction? *sigh* No can do.

So the other night I was getting the boys ready for bed. C had just left H's room (to go look for Lightening McQueen again). The boys were on H's bed and starting to get a little rowdy, and I said, "We are NOT getting wild and crazy, we are going to READ BOOKS!" I hear a little laughter from the other room, and then C calls, "Can I get that on tape?" Followed by more snickering. I'm afraid I will not live that comment down. I think he may have said, "What? You're not a wild and crazy bookworm?" As soon as I said it, I knew it would not be the last time I heard it repeated back to me.

So, we may not be getting wild and crazy, but I will be trying out a recipe for Lemon Poppy Seed Bread tomorrow and Mel and family may be visiting tomorrow and bringing some dinner which means I get to see the sweet little baby girl! Let's hope the recipe turns out well, and maybe we'll have some dessert=)

Oh, and in case you're keeping track, right now all Cars cars are present and accounted for. H has taken to putting some of them in his nightstand drawer before bed. Since my last post, we managed to lose and find "Old Lightening" and find Mr. The King. C found them both, go Daddy! We also introduced "New Lightening" aka H's Lightening, not because we thought Old Lightening had disappeared for good. We actually bought a set, the parts of which will be used for prizes for H for working on his writing. The set included Lightening, and H was awarded his very own Lightening after doing really well sharing with his little brother over the past couple of weeks. That sounds a bit saccharine, but we really are very proud of him for learning to share with W.

Friday the 13th Came Early

Maybe I need to worry about Thursday the 12th rather than Friday the 13th? Yesterday, the boys had woken up and were playing on our bed before we went to the kitchen to get breakfast. At one point, they both were laying down (so cute, H's toes at W's head), so I decided to snap a picture and stood up on the bed. The next thing I know I am hit in the head - by the ceiling fan! It's okay to laugh; I am a goof ball. It hurt, though, still does. Being the hypochondriac that I am, I really want to go to the doctor. I am sore from my neck to my ear. My husband assures me that, "You got hit in the head by a ceiling fan, you're going to be sore." I still got my picture of the boys, and it is cute (although it would probably be cuter if it hadn't cost me a very sore head and neck).

Next bad thing, I got the wrong change at the drive through. I was so busy checking that they gave us the correct food, I didn't look at the bills. Then, I had to park the car, unload the boys, and go inside to ask for my $10.00. Fortunately, they were nice about it.

Finally, I get us all home to eat lunch. While changing H's clothes, W whacks me across the head with a toy broom handle (luckily not in the same spot the ceiling fan clobbered). I call C, almost in tears, and he laughs and not just a chuckle or for a second. He laughs for like a minute, and although I do see the comic aspect of my misfortunes, I really was looking for some sympathy. I must say in C's defense that this was not my first run in with a ceiling fan, although this one is much more painful (go ahead, laugh again). So, considering my 12th, I am not planning to go anywhere or do much of anything today!

The Cards Have Been Sent

One thing down (Christmas cards mailed), what seems like a zillion to go... I am still here just trying to finish Christmas shopping. I don't think it's going to happen. Poor C may only get one gift this year. I don't have any great ideas for him, and it's really hard to get out to shop even though my poor mom has been coming over every afternoon to help. Thanks to everyone for their prayers and concern for W. He is doing well, although it seems that we all have a cold and of course, I am worried about infection in him as he just had surgery. We are going to be praying and hoping REALLY hard for a very healthy new year.

Back to the gifts, though, I have no ideas. We had planned to order family pictures, and I was hoping to give my mom one as part of her gift. We missed our appointment with the photographer due to our stay in the hospital! I feel so bad. How can I not have good ideas for people I see every day?!? My dad was so good about thinking of gift ideas or picking up on small things folks mentioned they'd like to have. Apparently, I didn't get that gene! I am very excited about the boys' gifts though and love seeing the packages arrive from good ole Amazon.com. I like to "try out" some of the little ones' toys, just to be sure they're safe and all :)

Will I Ever...

1) stop talking about that birthday party? Well, maybe soon, but I did want to say that in my craftiness frenzy, I decided to make something for the birthday girl! A headband! I found a fairly simple, quick tutorial here. So, after a few issues with back-stitching that required the use of the seam ripper, I got it looking pretty good.

Good enough to consider making it a part of a gift! Then, I tried it on H's head. (Hey, I needed a toddler-sized head :) He said it was too tight. I got C to take a look, he agreed, too small. Aargh! I had cut the fabric length halfway between the toddler and child size measurements. I could have remedied this with a bigger hair elastic thing, but of course, I don't have any bigger ones on hand. I couldn't make another headband or go shop for a bigger hair elastic thing, because, I like to leave these things to the last minute, you know the morning before the party! Oh well, one of these days, (begin dream sequence music) we'll get invited to another little gal's party, and I'll be on the ball. I'll make a great headband. The little girl will pull out the headband, and say, "It's so pretty," and I'll smile and say, "I made it" while the other moms ooh and aah. Then, they'll tell all their friends, and I'll have an etsy store - huh? Oh where was I? Back to will I ever...

2) buy a new sewing machine? I'm one of those people who cannot make a decision without agonizing over it, rethinking it, changing my mind, bugging those close to me about their opinions, and the like. So after working on the headband, I realized that my aunt was probably correct when she said she'd never liked this old Kenmore because it never did what she wanted it to do. Well, it's not that bad, but I think there could be some feeding issues, particularly when I attempt to back-stitch. Sometimes, it just seems to sit there (i.e., not back up). I still worry some that it may be OE and would like to get my aunt over to check it out. Still, overall, it would probably be best to get a new machine. This one is about 35 years old, and after using a Bernina in sewing classes, I'm just spoiled. Maybe too spoiled to not have an electronic machine. My dilemma is whether to go whole hog and buy a pricey Bernina or get something less expensive until I see whether I really will stick with the sewing. If I do get something less expensive, which one? Trying to make that decision is enough to push me toward the Bernina. I saw one comment on a sewing forum that said "if you bought the Bernina 220 (the machine I used in class), you'd probably never have to buy another sewing machine." Decisions, decisions! I am so not good with decisions! At least, I know what I'll most likely be asking for at Christmas time :)

I put two pictures beside each other! Hooray!

From Blue Lagoon to Routan Boom

Am I the only person who finds the Routan Boom ad campaign, um, strange? It’s not really offensive or necessarily disturbing; it’s just odd. Maybe that’s Volkswagen’s diabolical, reverse psychology plan? It wouldn’t be quite so weird if they had not chosen Brooke Shields to be their spokesperson. That she agreed to appear and say the words in the ads seems out of character to me. See, when I think of her, first, of course, I think Blue Lagoon. Then, I think of the whole anti-depressant spat with Tom Cruise. This is a woman I admire for writing Down Came the Rain (I haven’t read it, but I’d like to, love the title, too). I love that she spoke up and said PPD is real and needs to be treated, in some cases with meds. I have been blessed to have okay postpartum experiences, but I also know that those first few months with a newborn can be very trying. I can see how PPD develops in some. So, back to the point, I find it surprising that this same Brooke Shields would sort of poke fun at becoming parents “just to get a VW Routan.” That she would say, “Have a baby for love, not out of a desire for German engineering” (or something like that). I have to admit every time I see one of the ads on television, I have this sort of uneasy feeling come over me. I question, is this really a good idea for Volkswagen?. Not that I own any stock in Volkswagen, but it just doesn’t feel right to me. IMO, they should be focusing on the great color choices they offer on their automobiles. I have to hand it to the German auto-makers, their car colors are tops (ooh, how I love that dark navy blue of a BMW or the silvery blue of a Mercedes). So, am I the only one?