Sick of Being Sick

Here, once again, is our only picture from this week.  Mariah and I were going on a walk during a particularly cold, sunny morning, so I had her all decked out for the weather.  She was less than thrilled, but she looked terribly cute. 

 

This has been a sick week at our house.  Since this week was Thanksgiving, instead of complaining, I’ll describe our week by counting the many blessings we’ve received. 

Blessing #1: Anna threw up in Michael’s, the craft store, and while it was an unpleasant surprise and totally gross, clothes are easy to clean up, she was inside the cart so it didn’t get on any merchandise, and after I cleaned up the goop on her, the worker lady sent me on my way and cleaned up the little puddle in the aisle underneath the cart.  All in all, it was very tidy, considering.  She threw up several more times that night, but since there was pretty much nothing left in her stomach, it wasn’t too messy. 

Blessing #2: Despite feeling yucky, Anna managed to remain fairly cheerful through the week.  She was feeling better, so we got to go to the home of a nice family from our ward for Thanksgiving dinner, and both girls were feeling great and had a wonderful time.  They both ate a dinner almost entirely made up of mashed potatoes and Jell-o, so who could complain about that? 

Blessing #3: On Friday morning, since everyone was feeling good, we went Black Friday shopping.  We got about five feet into our first store when Anna started feeling bad, but she held herself together while I picked out, tried on, and purchased four shirts, two pairs of pants, and a jacket for myself (Black Friday is the day we shop for ourselves, not for other people – duh!).  She was looking worse, so when I’d finished, we headed out, but Adam wanted to run in to Best Buy on the way home.  I stayed in the car with Anna, and before he’d been gone for five minutes, she’d thrown up again.  So where are the blessings? She didn’t throw up in the middle of shopping, I was sitting next to her in the car, so I caught the goop in a blanket and the only part of the actual car that got dirty was her seatbelt.  Plus, although Adam was planning to buy something and wait in the hideously long line, he ended up not finding what he wanted, so he came out rather quickly and we were able to head home. 

Blessing #4: She hasn’t thrown-up since then. 

Blessing #5: Mariah has thrown-up twice in the last hour, but at least I don’t have two girls really sick at the same time.  Plus, both times have been almost entirely in her bed, so we just whip the sheets off, get her some new blankets, and pop her back in the bed.  We may have a long night ahead of us, but we also sort of know what to expect with this little illness, so we’re not worrying about whether it’s something more serious and we’re more prepared for what kind of night it might be. 

Blessing #6: Neither of us has gotten sick yet.  Hopefully we won’t at all, especially considering how much work Adam has to do (he can’t afford to take time off for himself or to cover for me).  But so far my prayer that we won’t have more than one person sick at a time has been answered, so I’m going to have faith that it will continue to be answered. 

Blessing #7: A washing machine.  And a dryer. 

Happy December!

More Bumps and Bruises

Here you can see the only picture I’ve taken in the last two weeks.

So, yes, Mariah has another big boo-boo, and there’s another one on her cheek, although in the picture it just looks like a shadow.  Both were received within 24 hours, and both were received on a wall/door jamb.  See, this little girl likes to run, and when she’s very excited, she runs VERY FAST.  Unfortunately she reminds me of one of the kids from the movie The Mighty Ducks 2 (doesn’t that reference date me? :)).  He was the fastest skater that anyone on the team had ever seen, but he didn’t know how to stop.  They finally had him setting up a wall of empty pop cans as a barrier to stop in front of, and every time he knocked them over, he had to set them all back up and try again.  Well, Miss Mariah has a similar problem—she can’t stop.  So she goes running to get something, trips over a toy, rug, sock, or speck of dust, and crashes headlong into the nearest large object.  I think the cashier at Babies ‘R Us last night was concerned we were abusive, but most parents who’ve experienced the joy of a one-year-old can understand readily. 

Today is the first weekend in the last month that we haven’t had company for dinner, and while it’s nice to rest for a bit, it’s kind of silly that we pick the one Sunday that we get out of church at noon instead of 2:00 PM to be by ourselves.  We’ve gotten to catch up with a lot of friends, and Anna has had a wonderful time playing with other kids.  She hasn’t even minded sharing her toys, which I think is a great sign that she’s getting ready for some kind of preschool in the fall.  She’s dealing better with other kids at home and at nursery.  Last night we went to the play area at the mall, which was absolutely teeming with children, and she was perfectly happy.  She didn’t let anyone scare her, and if another kid got in her way, she waited her turn and got on with life instead of giving up and running to mommy.  She also jumped off the tallest toy all by herself, and we were almost as thrilled as she was. 

The only other recent event worth mentioning was Monday’s doctor’s appointment.  We discovered that our little Anna, who has always been so tiny, is now in the 75th and 85th percentile for weight and height, respectively.  We never thought she’d catch up, but apparently she has.  I’d stopped even noticed how big she was compared to the other kids, but I realize now that she is one of the biggest.  That was the good part of the visit.  The bad part was Flu Shot #2.  Mariah handled it normally – a scream of blood-curdling fury, a few minutes of sorrow, then a return to cheerfulness.  Anna, however, was traumatized.  The nurse didn’t do a very good job of distracting her, so she happened to look at her arm right as the needle went in.  She cried, and was solaced by a Tootsie Pop, but Mariah got her shot second and Anna kept trying to look.  When Mariah screamed, Anna started sobbing uncontrollably and is still fairly traumatized.  She wouldn’t even let me take the bandage off her arm for days.  We were going to get her a pretend doctor’s kit for Christmas, but now I’m not so sure.  I don’t want to remind her about shots.  In the old days you could tell a kid they wouldn’t have shots for years, but there will be another flu shot next year, so I can’t make any promises.  It’s so sad, and yet, pretty typical I suppose.  Poor kid. 

Happy Thanksgiving, and Happy Black Friday!  Stuff yourselves with turkey and spend some money – help the economy!!!  :) 

Another Happy Birthday!

And now, only a month after Mariah’s birthday, we have some pics from Anna’s birthday.  She had a wonderful day, and she is very proud now to hold up her three fingers and tell people she is “Free.”  She got quite a few presents (despite our attempts to keep things more under control and not spoil her… yeah, right), so she was all set.  Her favorite present is her box full of dress-up costumes (yipee for a post-Halloween birthday – yipee for Clearance sales!), and she has spent a significant amount of time in the last few days as Glenda the Good Witch…

or a Cowgirl.  She loved her chocolate cake with strawberry frosting and strawberries on top.   And she’s already been enjoying her new sets of paints from Grandma. 

 

I am very proud to now be the mother of a 3-year-old and 1-year-old, and I think we’re all excited to see what year #4 of parenthood is going to bring.

Year #2 of Mariah has already brought it’s first significant accident.  I refuse to reveal details (because it was just too close to being MUCH more horrible than it really was), but it happened yesterday morning and here is the result. 

As you can see, it hasn’t left too big of an emotional scar, but I feel scarred.  I’ve always known that Mariah’s determination could combine with her lightening-strike temper to make trouble, but it’s so much more real now.  Oi.  We’re in for a ride.  Here’s a classic look at her earlier in the day, too.  The people in the restaurant last night were quite interested in the band-aids, especially older kids, so that’s why I took them off. 

Other than this event, we’ve had a great few weeks.  Hope you all have, too. 

All Hallow’s Eve… and Other Stories

Two weeks  with no posting have given us lots to discuss, so prepare yourselves. 

Here are some pictures of us in all our Halloween related activities.  First, a couple of weeks ago, we made Halloween cookies.  I bet you can guess which ones Anna decorated. 

For FHE last Monday, we carved a pumpkin.  Anna had a glorious time with all the goo inside, and she loved that we got to put a candle inside. 

Funnily enough, we only remembered to light the candle once.  :) 

Here are the awesome Halloween costumes.  Anna is holding her “magic wand” and her “flowers.”  She was also boing-ing around the house yelling, “Princess princess boing boing boing!”  Yes, she liked being a princess.  And luckily, she’s young enough not to mind that almost every single other little girl out Trick-or-Treating was a princess.  She just thought everyone else looked so pretty, too. 

We got to Trick-or-Treat at Adam’s work, and after going around one half-floor of one building, we had more than enough candy.  We came for dinner, then went to the Halloween party at the church.  It was fun to see everyone in all their costumes, even if the evening ended a little too late for at least one princess and one ghost.  And although we gave out our candy in handfuls, we still have plenty for Mommy, Daddy, and Mariah to all eat at least as much as Anna.  *sigh*  Anyway, we all had fun, and Anna is just sure she wants to be a princess again next year.

The few days after our last posting were filled by having our water leak repaired.  It ended up being right under the driveway, so I was absolutely dreading getting it dealt with, but luckily it was done very efficiently, and our landlords were great about everything.  All in all, it was done with relatively small inconvenience to us, excepting the 36 hours we spent without much running water.  It was easier than I had expected because, luckily, I had done laundry the day before.  The most frustrating part was having to go out to the street and turn the water on at the meter every time we needed it.  That’s why we just filled a jug and some pots and only turned the water on to shower, to wash the dishes in the sink, and to get ready for bed.  We just didn’t use the bathroom.  :)  It was rather exciting, though, after the pipe was hooked up, to turn my kitchen faucet on.  I was almost cheerful about doing the dishes that day. 

We had a great family experience two Mondays ago.  Sunday morning, we had let Mariah carry around Adam’s work badge (because she loves it so much).  Sunday evening, as Adam got his stuff ready for the next morning, he couldn’t find the badge.  We still couldn’t find it the next morning, so he paid for the bus and got a temporary work pass, but since we didn’t find it during the day (after cleaning almost the entire house), he was getting really frustrated.  Finally, I decided that it was a good time for us to have a Faith experience, so I taught our FHE lesson about how Heavenly Father gives us answers to prayer, and I told a story about EFY a few years ago when He helped a friend of mine find her room key.  It was a scary lesson for me to teach because although it’s easy to believe in the theory of answered prayers, it’s unnerving to put my faith on the line and test it for my vulnerable children.  Anyway, at the end of the lesson, I suggested that we all say a prayer together and then look for the badge again.  Anna was very excited, and for a few minutes after the prayer we all searched diligently.  And we found…. nothing.  Still absolutely no sign of it.  We decided to have our treat and get ready for bed, and while the girls were eating at the table, Adam kept looking.  After a couple of minutes, he thought to look under the oven and saw nothing.  But for whatever reason, he grabbed a flashlight and shined it underneath.  Sure enough, there was that badge, against the back wall under the oven.  Now everyone, as you sit in your chairs and read this, must realize that under-the-oven is not a place we often think to look for lost things.  We were all thrilled to have found it, and I was hugely relieved.  It’s not that I didn’t believe He could help us.  I just worry that for His own reasons, He won’t help how we think He should.  But I should have trusted more, and hopefully next time I will. 

Have a great week, everyone, and welcome to November!