13 Years

Yesterday was our 13th anniversary. It started out with a bang when Spitz' pager went off at 5:30 a.m.
It's quite a jolt to wake to a beeper; they don't seem to come with any settings other than Wake-the-Dead! In the last six years of practice when he has been on call one out of every 5 or 6 weeks, he has only had a single middle-of-the-night page. Well, until this weekend when he got paged in the middle of the night two nights in a row. Ugh!
But despite the fact that it was one of those frustrating pages where he couldn't actually do anything to be helpful in any way, the anniversary was kicked off in a very positive way. The best thing about our marriage is that we can make each other laugh. We can tell each other jokes we would never, never, NEVER tell another soul and always know just what can make the other person laugh. Even at 5:30 when we were just awakened for no good reason at all, we shared a laugh and tried to go back to sleep.
Later in the day, we had some other extremely romantic time together. (-; After dropping May 7.10 and Ruth 5.1 off at Jump-N-Art camp for the morning, we got to go grocery shopping together with just our 17-month-old! Woot! Well, seriously, it was awesome to go shopping with just one child, almost like vacation.
We did get a babysitter and went out for a matinee showing of The Hangover. (It was extremely crude, but absolutely hilarious.) Then we headed to the Limestone Restaurant. Yummy! I love getting Filet Mignon at a place that really knows what to do with it. They also had strewn rose petals all over the table because my husband mentioned that it was an anniversary - a very nice touch. The dessert, a flourless chocolate cake covered in dark chocolate ganache with port-soaked berries, was fabulous. And again we laughed together when I swore the port-soaked berries (which I have never had before, of course) tasted exactly like a childhood cough medicine I remember taking.

Another note about the day - we pulled out our wedding video and watched most of it with our daughters. They were amazed with us at how much their grandparents, cousins and aunts had changed, and shouted out one comment, "Daddy, your beard was freaky!"

Sixth set of tubes

We got it today. Another set of myringotomy tubes. This one is the first for Rose 1.4, and was the easiest so far. She came back from recovery sleepy, drugged-looking, but not hysterical as is the norm for the two older girls. And she never threw up.

So, it was a long, tiring day, but hopefully a productive one. Grandma hopes it will improve her balance and therefore her walking, which even after walking three weeks still looks like drunken wobbling. Spitz hopes she will now start to sleep through the night. (Ha! I'm dreaming of that, too. She has yet to EVER do that, even once. The other two started sleeping through the night routinely about now, but had at least done it periodically before this age. Not Rose. Not once.)

She wasn't allowed to breastfeed after midnight last night. I hadn't fully realized how often she searches for me and latches on in the night until I wasn't supposed to let her do it. We did not get much sleep last night. At all. Probably why I have a migraine this evening.

But it's done, and we can go on with life tomorrow. Fortunately, kids bounce back, and she'll seem just like normal tomorrow.

Ruth's birthday Ruth-isms

Ruth was on a role on the day of her 5th birthday. (Oh, can I say I can't believe it's been 2 months without a post?)

She asked as we walked along at the zoo: "Does mommy have more money than daddy?"

In response to my exclamation of "oh, my word!" as I passed a gas station whose price was 50 cents higher than 2 days before: "Maybe they just want to get rich."

Shoot. I know there was one more. That's the reason to write these things down. They just disappear out of your mind....

Ruth-isms

I'm collecting special comments from Ruth this week:

Those look like magic. Are those magic, Daddy?

I'm going to poop, so you probably should.... *waves me back*

You still freak out about being late.

Hurray!

My brother called last night to say that he and his wife are 12 weeks pregnant with their first baby! We are so happy and excited! They've been trying for about 2 years and were starting early fertility treatments and other medical options to assist and have been successful. Ruth 4.10 predicts a girl. May 7.7 predicts a boy. (Actually, just before bed time last night she revised her prediction to a cross between a boy and a girl. *cringe* Not a sensitive thing to say to someone who had trouble getting pregnant and has some endocrine issues that were causing problems with pregnancy.) Overall, the girls are just overjoyed. They are saying, "We are going to have a cousin!" as if they don't already have any. They actually have 5, but they are so much older that my girls don't really realize they are cousins!

I'm on pins and needles today as the potential lease for the new site for Ruth's preschool goes through the final approval stages (zoning and otherwise). Cin said that the school is already receiving calls from people who've heard of our proposed location and are interested in enrolling. Yay! Praying it all goes well.

Nothing Says "Happy Birthday, Daddy!" Like Puking in His Bed

Happy Birthday to the love of my life!
He was awakened, as was I, at 5:45 this morning when Rose 1.2 threw up in our bed. At those moments, I'm always grateful that we only use waterproof mattress pads. At those moments, I'm also the receptacle used for the vomit; my pajamas catch it all and in an effort to let the poor, sick child sleep, I lay there cuddling her throughout all the rest of it. She threw up about 6 times in the next 2 hours; the whole time she would heave and be asleep before she was done.
This on top of the two ear infections she was diagnosed with on Tuesday.

Our birthday plans may have to change. We were planning on going bowling this afternoon with family. I expect that I'll be staying home from that and also from the yummy dinner we were all planning for at Bonefish Grill. *sigh* Maybe I can request that they bring me the huge brownie from Bonefish (and just the brownie) for my dinner.

Well, the auction is over. It was a huge success as far as the evening went. The room was beautiful. The emcee and auctioneer were hilarious. The crowd had fun. The glitches were nothing too major. The fund raising was only mediocre, but for our first attempt at a large formal party, it went amazingly well. We learned a lot. In a month or so we need to start planning for next year. I harbor a great secret fear that no one will step up to run it and it will fall on me. I really enjoyed my part in it this year - the production of the event. I did not have to hire the tech company or speak or line up speakers. I got to hire a caterer, arrange for volunteers, organize the auction, collect the money.

I've been offered a job. Spitz' partners at work have periodically asked if I was interested in working for them, but they've never all agreed they were comfortable with the idea. Spitz came home Thursday after having been approached by N with a request that I take over some of what their CPAs do. It would be paid, part time, flexible and seems like every dr. partner is fine with it this time. They would want it to start after they move into the new building in the fall. I'm waiting on more info on what the functions are and how many hours it typically takes the CPAs right now. But I'm a little excited. More surprising is that Spitz is willing to talk part time preschool for Rose! He is so against it in general, but would consider it for me to be able to work with him.

So much to think about!

Update

The annual family calendar is out. The year end payroll tax reports are complete (except one) for the school. I've made appointments for all the open odds and ends I need to wrap up (new main water shut off valve is getting replaced tomorrow a.m. so that the next time we lose power in winter, we can shut off our water and not stress about broken, frozen pipes!). The refinancing on the house should close this week. The caterer is all lined up for the benefit auction except for final headcount.

I feel like I've accomplished a lot, which is good. And it kept me busy and not blogging. I guess I should just admit to myself that a couple of entries a month is sufficient for my life and move forward without the guilt.

Rose started cruising (just a little) while we were living at Spitz' parents' house this past week. She absolutely loved living with grandma and getting to see her all day long. It was a nice change for a bit, but I admit to being completely thrilled that our power came back on and we returned home on Sunday night. I did not look forward to driving in to school all the way from Corydon (40 minutes or so), and I missed my own bed.

Our back yard is quite a mess. Half of the magnolia tree is on the ground, just short of the swing set. I was glad to see it hadn't damaged the set at all, seeing as it is not even a year old yet. The power company guys came out while we were gone and moved our power lines from under the fallen tree from next door, but our cable line is still trapped underneath. Speaking of that, I probably need to call Insight to get them to come reattach that properly; it was mostly ripped off the house and is barely still connected. Lots of other limbs are laying around the yard. Today was yard waste pickup, but shoot, the snow needs to melt off some before we can tackle the cleanup. Today is dropping to bitterly cold and has gotten really slick again with a new inch of snow or so.

I think I'm on my way to having mastitis. I'm trying to get Rose to drink, drink, drink! I actually have a circle of red, sore skin over a painful area. I've never had visible symptoms the few other times I've had plugged ducts. I'm hoping that gets better, not worse; I've heard bad, bad things about serious mastitis. Ouch.

Well, the girls have ballet today. They seem to really like it. Having both of them go on the same day right after each other makes for a crazy day. Get May from school 3pm; Ruth's ballet 3:45 pm; Ruth ends, May starts ballet 4:30 pm; get home after 5:30 pm end to have dinner ASAP because Spitz' sister eats with us every Tuesday before she heads out to Tuesday night church.
We had to get leotards that were specific colors for a dress code this year. May is lavendar. Ruth is baby blue. Yes, that means next year, we won't be able to reuse. And that sucks.

A baby calls. Not patiently.

Big Growth

Well, Rose is now 1.0, and she is celebrating in style! Her week has been fraught with milestones. Tooth number 6 is keeping her up nights. She has started pulling up on anything she comes to (she pulled up to standing for the first time in late October, but only did it occasionally since then). Yesterday she climbed to the top of the stairs (with her daddy following along below her) for the first time. I asked him how many times she fell back against him, and he said none! If we hadn't been paying attention, she would've been at the top without any falling. We will definitely keep an eye on her because we do not need another toddler with a broken leg!

Her birthday celebration this past weekend was entertaining. I baked her a special 6 inch teddy bear-shaped birthday cake all of her own (and then several mini bunt-shaped cakes for everyone else). Ruth 4. 8 selected the cake mix; it was white cake with sprinkles mixed through it and princess edible images to lay on top of the cake. When the teddy bear was set in front of Rose, she picked the entire thing up and took a big bite, as if it were a great big sandwich! When she was done, there was nothing but a large pile of crumbs (the cake was a bit crumbly anyway) and she and Peanut looking very happy.

Peanut is her best friend at meal times. Rose often leans to the side of her highchair and passes Peanut (our beagle puppy) some choice bit of something she doesn't want. I have never seen a dog that would eat absolutely anything, but probably that comes from being starved as a puppy before she was rescued by the humane society-type group we adopted her from. She is food obsessed. (She jumped up and ate pizza right off a plate I was not actively guarding the other day.)

And finally, beyond the climbing and tooth emerging, Rose has really been making a wide range of verbalizations, constantly. One of her favorites is to make a sound and alter it up and down in pitch, on and on. Ruth declared, "She does a great Tarzan!"

Imaginary blog with Puppies!

Most of this blog is imaginary. I can't tell you how many times I begin a blog post in my head but then never remember it when I'm at a computer or never get time to log in and type it up.

I think I need to make my aspirations a bit more reasonable. I'd much rather post short blurbs of our life on a daily basis than write grand, deep thoughts about earth-shattering issues every 2 weeks!

Ruth 4.8 has a fever today, so she is home from school. What that means to me is that I got to shut off my alarm last night and "sleep in." I got to stay in my fuzzy fleece jammies (still there now!) and pass up the 7:40 run to school. Yay! The good news is that it is just a fever and headache. So far, no vomiting; she's still got an appetite. I HATE vomiting. Ruth is finally old enough to seek out the toilet when she's going to vomit, though. That is such a bright spot in child development!

Rose 1.0 (at least she'll be 1.0 in 2 days! Woot!) is sporting a new tooth today. It finally broke through yesterday, and so she actually slept last night. I'm a bit on the sleep-deprived side from the few nights before that when that tooth was really bothering her. Now, if the whole family were fever-free, I'd finally be able to catch up on my sleep, too. The next logical prayer for me to offer today is that the bug that Ruth has would not spread.

My sister is coming to visit today to spend the weekend and enjoy seeing Rose dig into her first birthday cake. We plan to go rollerskating/blading also. It isn't really a very nice way to celebrate Rose's birthday since she's way too young to skate, but everyone else really loves to do it and with additional adults to pass Rose around to, I'll get to skate much more than normal., maybe even without holding anyone's hand for a few laps! (The little things in life that bring joy!!)

Yesterday, we had a visit from a friend, Beth, and her new little puppies! Beth's 1-year-old great pirenese had 7 puppies 10 days ago. Unfortunately, the mommy immediately fell ill with infection and several days later did not survive. Additionally, she smothered 3 of the puppies, so Beth is now bottle-feeding 4 little puppy orphans. They were so cute, with still-closed eyes and trying to suck on anything they touched! Ruth loved them! She didn't even mind when one peed on her. Rose was interested and tried to touch them. May 7.4 was sort of scared to touch them. We gave the little puppies some pacifiers that we are done with. They sucked and sucked and seemed to like them.

Mmmm, Mojitos

Last night we tried a new restaurant. If you ever hear that phrase come out of my mouth (or my keyboard), you know that Spitz has been looking up reviews and/or heard of a new place he'd like to try. Me, I'm happy to go to familiar places and order the food I've tried before and enjoyed. But he urges me to stretch my comfort zone and try things. He's really good for that, because I totally admit to enjoying many of his plans once we are there. I like to think I've gotten better about being willing to try new things, too.

Well, last night he looked up recently reviewed restaurants in our area and found one owned by some folks whose food we've enjoyed before, but in a different place. Havana Rumba is a Cuban restaurant near us that is fabulous yummy. (That one we heard about from my hairstylist and tried out a few years ago.) Its sister restaurant does Spanish tapas. We headed out to find it last night with all three kids in tow. I doubt too many people bring 3 kids under the age of 8 to Mojitos. It was classy. Didn't completely break the bank, but it was nice.

Spitz and I loved it. The salad with cranberries and pear (and who knows what else I can't actually name) was yummy, and the sweet potato fries with smoked honey were delicious (how do you make honey taste like that?). The melty cheese on bread from the Blue Dog Bakery was also really, really good - couldn't believe we couldn't even get May to try that one, though she loves cheese. The shrimp and beef tenderloin were also yummy; next time we'll pass on the paper-thin pieces of ham. The downside, as I hinted at, was that the girls ate, well,... not much of it beyond the bread and pear slices. Much griping was had. The good side was that at a tapas place, we could order many different things to try. Oh, and they did eat the shrimp.

Then we ordered dessert, because what else could we do at a place where everything was one big experiment? Churros con chocolate and Trio de chocolate.... Oh. My. Word. The chocolate with the churros (the girls loved the "donuts," of course) had espresso mixed in it. mmmmmm The trio of chocolate was pretty good, too, but the dark espresso chocolate... I ended up eating most of it just with a spoon, forget the churros! And because of the espresso, we didn't let the girls have much of it.

We will definitely be going back, but next time we'll be taking adult friends with us, not little girls who'd rather be eating mac 'n cheese.

Pffft and some rambles

Well, I am looking forward to settling back into a normal routine when school starts back up next week, both for my sanity and for the survival of my house. Having all the girls home to play all day and create art all day... we are buried in it! And boy do they like to create art.
There comes a point when a mom has to determine what to keep and what to throw away. It feels awful to pitch the hard-worked, colorful, unidentifiable paper or cardboard constructions. And you have to find a way to do it without the child seeing it in the trash or the hurt in their eyes will just paralyze you. But if you aren't strong and decisive, the sheer volume of paper and yarn and paint and tape....
Some moms I know do not let their children have tape. May has always loved stickers and tape. I have given it to her freely. What harm can it possibly do? Most surfaces in the house can just be un-stuck as long as it is not left too long. And children love tape. Love it. It just seems like a cheap way to entertain without much downside. It's not a battle I think is worth having, and it is an entertainment source worth exploiting.
The baby cries, so I cut this train-of-thought ramble short. She and I need a shower.

The House

This year the girls and Spitz took over decorating the table we bought at the church Christmas dinner. All the tables at the dinner have a host or hostess that is given a list of items needed for the dinner (candles, salad tongs, etc) and told to gat the table ready at certain times. It makes for a beautiful fellowship hall, and the morning before the dinner, everyone tours looking at all the fabulous decorations. Each table is a work of art created by the individual hosts. Some go all out and have fancy china and little gifts, maybe place cards or candy. Others just buy paper plates and make sure all the necessary silverware is set on the table. But the combination of all the different approaches is wonderful.
For the last few years, I've decorated our table (some years we've sat with our Sunday school class and members volunteered to do the tables; recently we've invited enough family along that we needed our own table). Some years, I've gone all out, but the clean up at the end of the night is extensive when you are hauling home big glass pitchers and tons of china. So, other years, I've done simpler, but tried to still be creative on the decorating. This year, Spitz informed me it was his turn.
The trip to the party store was fraught with arguments. We should not have done it just before dinner; that's the worst time of day for moods. But we finally settled on a blue-green table cloth, red plates, clear cups, red candles, all covered with silver snowflakes. We found an extra touch in some streamer-like snowflake decorations to hang from the ceiling (never seen anyone else hang something from the ceiling - we had to stand out!). We also grabbed enough candy to decorate the centerpiece.
Now, Spitz doesn't do things like this halfway. They decided on a gingerbread house, but we didn't go buy one of those kits with the rock hard gingerbread walls already baked. No. Every inch of this house was homemade. He found recipes on the internet. He sought out powdered, pasteurized egg whites to make the icing hard enough to stand, but still edible. They used Andes mints to give the roof shingles (yummy!). Gum drops were supposed to look like lights. They even made some tree and people shaped cookies to set around the house. It was a work of art.
And at the end of the dinner, we ate it! (-: