Life around here..

- We celebrated Aleah turning 2 on the 14th. So fun to have family and friends here for that. And we were scrambling to get the house more unpacked/organized before company showed up. So it was a busy, crazy week, followed by fun with family, followed by a bit of crashing, if I remember correctly. One slightly humorous thing we've been noticing as Aleah gets older - she has that typical first-born love of order, likes her ducks to be in a row, thank you very much (her dad is firstborn too, but that one totally flew by him without stopping to visit). Any open door or dresser drawer, a raised toilet seat, things out of place (although there's frequently toys all over and that doesn't bug her too much) tends to really disrupt her delicate sensitivities, as my niece might say. I should mention this tidiness does not include her eating behaviors, sadly. Anyway, the other day I said to Dave, wow, you're really gonna drive her nuts! "I know!" he says... "and vice versa" I added, as she toddles around behind him asking him to put things away and close doors. HA! Cracks me UP! I'm hoping in a few years I can hand her a mop and say, oh, that floor really bothers you? why don't you do something about it!

A recent conversation: D: "What's on your foot?"
                                     R: "It's a pea."
                                     D: "Why are there peas on your foot??"
                                     R: "Because Aleah had peas for lunch. Look, there's more on the other foot." Makes perfect sense to me.

The last couple days turned rather crazy. It was like there was one thing going on and then another and then before you knew it, you were dashing around like a mad woman all day. 2 hour glucose test (which always take longer than 2 hours), ultrasound, Bible Study with new friends, making food to take to people, getting pictures taken of small offspring, etc, etc. It all sorta piled up. So let me just tell you about yesterday because I think there's a couple of you who might get a kick out of it. I was taking food to 2 different families from church. I was trying to keep it simple, but um, yeah, that rarely works with me. And things just always take longer than you think they will. I also decided to try making bread for the first time, with my handy dandy new kitchen aid mixer. I know, it's not a bosch, but I've still been pretty happy with it so far. =) Anyway, realized I didn't have everything I needed for that, so Dave went to the store while I did other prep stuff. Finally got the bread going. huh, this isn't too hard. The mixer is huge. Our counters are high and narrow, and the mixer fit doesn't under the ledge where the cupboards stick out, if that makes sense. So the thing has to just sit out pretty close to the edge of the counter when I use it. So anyway, I got the bread kneading away in the mixer, and went to the living room to talk to Dave. We were sitting there chatting when all of a sudden, KABOOOOM! A huge crash was heard by all. Oh dear. Of course, those things get to jiggling around a little when mixing like that and I didn't even think about it that it might take a nose dive off off the counter. DRAT! I went to look and there was a pile of dough on the floor and a sad looking mixer beside it. I think it's ok, other than a bent piece where you would put attachments in. I guess I haven't really tried to fun the mixer since but I hope it still works. I wasn't going to throw out all the dough, so I picked up a bunch of it that wasn't touching the floor and used that, and threw the rest out. gracious! then scurried around trying to get everything else done. Over baked a pan of cookies that were supposed to go to someone for supper, so quickly rebaked another pan. The plan was that Dave would deliver the food before my ultrasound appointment at 4, and at that point, I'd get cleaned up and ready to go. As time clock ticked away, I started to realize that this was looking less and less likely. I wasn't going to get everything done in time. I was scrambling to finish up the main food I was making, and realized I needed way WAY more milk than I had. And there was simply no time to go to the store and get more. I was already running late. So, I added a concoction of plain yogurt, water, and a little sugar to hopefully cut out the taste of the sour yogurt. shoot! I was annoyed because I had made it for us earlier and it was stinkin good. Ok, got it thrown together, dave will have to deliver it when I get back from my ultrasound, no time to clean up, just get out the door, arrived only about 10 min. late. whew. got that over with, rushed home, dave rushed the food to where it needed to go, I threw some supper together for us and stuck it in the oven, then we rushed off to the park to get Aleah's pictures taken. A friend with a good camera took them and did a great job. There's some on FB so I won't post any here. :) As we were finishing up, I remembered that I left the oven on the whole time and the food had been in well over an hour. The perfect ending to an insane day. We rushed home to a house still standing and food that wasn't even burned. how lovely. Whew! glad that day was over. Today, as of yet, I really haven't accomplished much of anything. I think the previous 2 days were crazy enough to include today as well. And that is my long, boring story of yesterday. Ok, I guess I'll leave you in peace now.

freaky baby...

So the other day I was moving some of my things from boxes to my cedar chest. You know, where you keep all your precious belongings from days gone by, the ones you can't bare to part with, that you dream of passing on to your own children. I know I keep too much junk. It's hard for me to throw things out that I really should. But this particular day, I was struck with how utterly and totally ridiculous my saving habits can be at times. I mean SERIOUSLY???? Get a look at this treasure, sure to be a hit with the kids and grand kiddos for years to come -

Yes, we really must ask ourselves "WHY??" What with the gnawed off fingers and poked out eyeball, OF COURSE I kept this beauty! She was, after all, my true and real Gerber Baby and I do remember playing with her (and messing up her poor lil eye beyond repair). She does look a tiny bit better with clothes on, but not so terribly much. I just looked at this thing and couldn't believe I had actually kept her, yes, her, in all her hideousness, Gerber or NOT. She soon found her way to the trash, not to be seen or heard from again.

Ok, that's all from Creepy baby land... Feel free to make fun of me to your hearts content. I total welcome it, deserve it, and would happily join you. Gerber Shmerber - what a little freak! 

In other news around here - not too much is going on of interest. Aleah's Wiggles crush has, I fear, moved to the full blown obsession category, where she talks about them non stop, wants to thank Jesus for them when ever we're praying, etc. She's also currently rather obsessed with the song "Let's go fly a kite" from Mary Poppins. She's hasn't seen the movie but we made the mistake of playing the song for her on you tube. game over. She loves actually flying kites with Dave the few times they've gone - not sure if that's why she loves the song. Anyway, now the phrase "Practically perfect people never permit sentiment to muddle their thinking," said in a perfect British accent, runs through my head at will. 

Some boring baby news for the few females who may feel like reading - I had a rather frustrating Dr. appointment yesterday. I wish I could just move to Canada to have this kid! It's getting so ridiculous and feels like I don't have many options or choices in the matter. Once you have had one c-section, finding both a practice and a hospital that will let you at least try for a VBAC is difficult. I did find one and was also told that one of the docs in this practice is very supportive of VBACs and if that's what you want to do, he'll do everything he can to see that you have a shot at one. Well, yesterday was the first that I really discussed it with him. And I was NOT impressed. He seems to be dragging his feet, and not too thrilled to let me try for one. When I had my ultrasound a couple weeks ago, the baby was measuring small. So they want to rescan in a couple week. Well, I have a couple thoughts on that - first is that I think I just have small babies. Aleah was overdue and not even 7 pounds. My mom had all small babies - 6 pounders. So there's that. The second thing is that those silly ultrasound machines, in my experience, and the experience of friends I've talked to, are rarely that accurate. I find it funny that they were predicting Aleah to be this huge baby who wouldn't come out cuz she was too big. Now THIS time around, they are making this huge deal about this baby being small. When we were talking about a VBAC, the doc had the nerve to say that if the baby is small and unhealthy, then she probably won't respond well to labour and we'll just have to do a c-section. PALEEEZE! So my last kid was too big to be born naturally and this one is too little?? You just can't win! I was also really unimpressed with him making me feel like this kid is probably weak, small, and unhealthy. If I believed the machines and everything he was saying, I probably would have left worried sick that something was really wrong. I asked him, "Isn't it possible that I just have small babies?" Oh yes, very possible he said. He also said the ultrasound machines aren't an exact science at all. So why freak out your patients over them?? ARG! And it's not as simple as go find another doctor, trust me. So unless I want a home birth, I'll probably end up with another c-section. We'll see what happens. And maybe we'll get more assertive and start being more vocal about what we really want. If I have to have another one, it's not the end of the world, but I would like to at least try to do it the other way. I know moms do it all the time, but how in the world am I supposed to take care of a 30 pound 2 year old after major surgery? Have constant, live-in help for 6 weeks or whatever it is that you're not supposed to life more than 10 pounds? ugh. Like I said, I know many moms have had multiple c-sections so I'm sure there's a way. Just not my preference. ANYWAY, sorry, this got long and rambly. I guess that's the news around here for now.