2/28/05 - Insecurity

Last night Dave took Eva’s toddler bed and rocking chair over to the new house, leaving only her mattress and bedding on the floor in her room.  A little later she walked in, noticed everything missing and started crying.  It was so loud, at first I thought she had hurt herself, but I guess it just freaked her out somewhat.  This morning my friend Terra met me at the house with her little girl and helped me clean the kitchen while the kids played in the new playroom.  After she left, I walked Eva through the house again, showing her “that’s where Mommy and Daddy will sleep, here is where you’ll play, and here is where you and sister will sleep”.  She saw her bed frame in the room, pointed to it and said, “No, bed go home!”  I tried to explain that this is our new home, but she didn’t seem to be buying it.  When I tried to show her the tub where she and sister will take baths, Eva wouldn’t even come through the door, preferring to stand in the hallway and peek around the corner. I think this is going to be a tougher transition for her than we had thought. 

Swamped

I had to bring the girls back to the apartment for lunch and naps.  They just won’t sleep except in their own beds (or ours).  There’s so much to do, and so little time.  I’ve gone over it a dozen times in my head, but I have no idea how I’m going to manage to fit everything I need into the few kitchen cabinets.  Dave doesn’t want any dishes or food items under the sink because it’s old and gross, but I can’t put household cleaners there because Eva can get into them. I still have to figure out where to put pots, pans and Tupperware.  We still have to build shelves in the garage to use as a pantry, and shelves in the kitchen too, but we have to paint the kitchen walls first.  I haven’t finished cleaning the kitchen or bathrooms yet, and Dave still hasn’t had a chance to put in the baseboard.  I have NO idea how we’re going to get this all done in the next three days! 

 

And just to keep things interesting, Dave is expecting a state inspection of his building any day now, and some big shots from corporate coming to do a walk-thru evaluation next week.  He needs every second at work to prepare, all while we’re trying to move. 

2/27/05 - Shots

I took the girls to the doctor this morning, and though I was concerned that Amanda’s ear infection might be back, it appears she’s in the clear.  She’s now 18lbs, 4oz, and 26 ¼ inches long.  Eva found the toy stethoscope in the waiting room, and imitated Dr. LaPlante’s every move as she examined little sister.  She’d see the doctor listening to Amanda’s heart, and take her little stethoscope and press it against Amanda’s leg, listening intently.  It was so darn cute, it got both of us laughing (but of course I’d forgotten the camera again)! 

 

We decided to go ahead to give Amanda her second round of immunizations.  It’s one of the hardest parts of being a mother, watching them look at you and cry and wonder why you’re letting this happen to them.  She was so exhausted after the ordeal, she almost fell asleep in my arms on the way to the car, and then slept soundly as I got her out of the car seat and into the house – something she hardly ever sleeps through.  She’s going to be sore and crabby the next few days, poor thing!  It’s a rather inconvenient time with the move, but we’ve already had to delay it once before when she was sick, and can’t keep putting it off.  I almost didn’t make it because my car wouldn’t start this morning, and Dave had to come home from work and give me a jump.  I’m guessing that the trunk wasn’t closed completely after I went grocery shopping last night, so the light was on all night and drained the battery.  At least, I’m hoping that’s all that was wrong. 

 

Sand and Sun

I’ve been looking for inexpensive ideas for making the girls’ room look like a little surfer’s paradise, in honor of one of Daddy’s favorite sports that he left behind.  He couldn’t wait to teach his little girls to surf.  So I started checking out luau party decorations and other Hawaiian-themed stuff.  But the more I looked, the more I realized I’d rather go with the relaxed, familiar Southern California beach style.  I found several beautiful posters of Torrey Pines, La Jolla, Oceanside, Tamarack and other familiar places on Art.com, and thought it would be great to decorate their room with sunny reminders of home, when suddenly I started to get homesick.  Maybe it was all the pictures of people in shorts and T-shirts while I’m bundled up on yet another rainy day, but it kind of got to me.  I know - horrible timing, right?  When we’re just days away from moving into our new house with the beautiful big yard (a rare, expensive luxury back home)?  It’s probably the stress of moving for the second time in less than six months, and the long, drawn-out winter weather. 

 

I shouldn’t complain too much, though.  The days are getting noticeable longer already, and the weather IS warmer, though not by San Diego standards.  It just means I can occasionally open a window for a few minutes of fresh air, leave my snow hat in the car and don’t always have to zip up my coat.  When I see my girls running around to their heart’s content in our big backyard (something we could never afford in Southern California) and a detached, single-level floor plan, it will all be worth it.  Even if we decided to move back, we’d end up back in our tri-level condo with the tiny patio, and no place for the girls to play.  I’ve looked at recent listings in our old neighborhood, and we wouldn’t be able to sell the condo for a reasonable price in this market, so we certainly wouldn’t be able to move up to another place as nice as what we have now. 

2/25/08 - It's Out There

Amanda has found her tongue, and gotten into the habit of sticking it out all the time.  Especially when we’re outside in the wind, she’ll leave her tongue sticking out so long that it gets dry.  When I playfully try to poke it back in, she just giggles while stubbornly pointing it at me.  It’s a little weird when we’re out in public and it looks like she’s sticking her tongue out at people.  Yesterday at the store, the greeter at the door noticed Amanda and made a comment about the “cute baby with her tongue sticking out”.  On our way out an hour later, she spotted us and said to her co-worker, “there’s that baby with the tongue again!”  Nice to know that’s her most noticeable feature right now. 

Packing Up

We’re living half way between two places right now, which is a little awkward, but it will all be over by this time next week.  Our garage is full of boxes, and we’re taking over a few more every evening.  Dave sanded down his new dumpster desk, and wants to install baseboard before we bring in the major furniture.  My parents are driving up this weekend to help, which is a Godsend!  We’ll need to clean up the apartment to get our deposit back, and I still have to clean the kitchen at the new house before I can move anything in there. 

Wedding Belles

Back when I was on staff at the Los Angeles YWAM base (1996 to 1998), I built close friendships with the girls who lived in the dorm trailer next to mine: Eva, Kate, and Suzanne.  We all worked in different departments, but we spent almost every evening hanging out together in trailer #4, sitting on the bright green couch and laughing our tails off.   We shared a passion for missions, and seeing God use us to reach hurting people with his love.  Three of us had been dubbed “The Leprechauns” because we were the shortest people on staff (under 5’2”), so we closed ranks and made “Petite But Powerful Ladies Club” cards to carry in our wallets.  Nicola was a fellow student in my DTS, went to Estonia with me and came on staff in LA a little later, so she became part of our close-knit crew. 

 

We loved watching old movies like “Philadelphia Story” or “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers”, and newer classics like “Princess Bride”.  We’d have impromptu dance parties to the soundtrack from “That Thing You Do”.   Kate, our consummate hostess, was always into everything British, Scottish, Irish or Celtic, so it was all about tea and scones, Celtic music, and the guys in kilts.  We always made a big deal out of St. Patrick’s Day (though none of us are Catholic or Irish) from using green dye in our food to wearing crazy hats and frolicking in the green fields.  It was our comic relief in what was often a high-stress environment, and though we’ve gone our different ways over the years, we’re still really close.

 

Over time, it seems the only occasions we’ve been able to reunite is when one of us gets married.    Kate is the last one to go, and we’re all looking forward to getting together for her wedding in May.  She’s marrying a Brit and living in England, but the wedding is in her hometown of Milwaukee.  I’ll be flying in with Amanda on my lap (she’ll be 10 months old by then).  We’re all looking forward to some girl time before the big day, and who knows when we’ll get to see each other again, especially with Kate and Suzanne living across the pond?  Maybe “Big” Eva and I will have to find an excuse for an excursion to the UK, one of these days.   

California Dreamin'

So I was browsing the web for surf or Hawaiian themed kid's room decor, and I stumbled across this: http://www.bungalowbeachdesigns.com/giincupi1.html for the girl's room.

Isn't that the cutest?!?  I showed it to Dave, and he thinks it's adorable.  Hmm, one piece at a time, we just might do it.  :) 

2/21/08 - Carpet and Paint

We got the carpet installed today, and can finally start to move in!  We chose a beige speckled pattern from Home Depot called “Sand Dollar” because it looks like it would hide stains pretty well, and it looks fantastic.  With two kids, spills are inevitable, and I don’t want to worry about how it looks.  Later we might put in hardwood, but for now we’re saving up to replaced the beaten cabinets (all five of them, LOL). 

 

I can tell already Dave isn’t too impressed with the paint colors we picked, but we were in a hurry to finish before the carpet came, and how much can you tell from those stupid paint chips anyway?  As he was painting earlier this week, he called to tell me “I see repainting in your future”, but it was too late to change anything.  I wanted to go a little brighter than I normally do because I thought it might help during the dark, gray winter days, but I think we might have overdone it.  The yellow looks like a giant post-it note, the pink like Pepto Bismol, and the green?  Well, we’re still deciding.  Dave wanted to steer clear of shades that might look more gray on cloudy days, and I wanted to avoid anything with too much yellow (lime isn’t my color), so we chose something in between, and of course, pleased no one.  Ironically, the one color we’re happy with is the beige in the living room.  Sure, it’s plain and common, but it’s warm and bright, and that’s what matters. 

After...

Paint and carpet make a big difference, even if we're not completely sold on the colors...

Momma's Love

Babies are so adorable, with their chubby cheeks, tiny toes and scrumptious rolls of baby fat; you just want to eat them up.  It would appear the feeling is mutual, because Amanda can’t wait to get her gums around anything from my fingers to my face, as if I was a big teething toy.  When she reaches her chubby arms towards me, sometimes she gets this eager look on her face with eyes and mouth wide open, so intense that she trembles.  It’s part grimace, part smile, as if to drive home the point, “I want…Mommy…NOW!”

 

Of course, Daddy gets his share of baby love, too.  Last night I was trying to nurse Amanda to sleep in our bed while Dave read, and she kept getting distracted by the reading light, twisting around to look at him.  Dave finally turned it off, thinking it would help her fall asleep, but that wasn’t her plan.  She knew Daddy was behind her, and kept rolling over so she could grab his chin and cheeks with her little hands.  I couldn’t help giggling as Dave tried to sleep while Amanda wanted to play with his face.  I finally moved her to the other side where she couldn’t reach him, so she just grabbed my face instead and finally went to sleep. 

My Preschooler

Eva still has a runny nose and a junky cough that sounds terrible.  She just can’t seem to shake this bug.  I’ve been taking her out only for necessary errands, trying to let her rest at home as much as possible.  She’s been watching more TV than usual (albeit educational), and has started asking for Dora or Sesame Street whenever I turn it off.  I’ve got a little couch spud on my hands!  It’s just until she fully recovers, though, and there have been side benefits.  Thanks to these programs, Eva knows most of her letters and numbers, and can now count to 10 in Spanish (doesn’t that make Uncle X proud?).  Her verbal abilities grow by the day, as she puts up to three words together in sentences.  She discovered “chwocwate” on Valentine’s day, and is now an official chocoholic like her momma, asking for some at least once a day.  She’s a persistent little thing, and won’t let anything (including heights) get in her way.  She’ll carry her potty or toddler chair across the house to use as leverage to reach whatever she wants, and I’m learning to look where I walk, lest I trip over one of her “stools”.    

Keep Trying

Amanda is trying so hard to crawl right now, and it can get frustrating for her.  Sometimes I’ll hold out my arms to her and cheer her on, and Eva will join in, saying “C’mon, Amanda! Go Mommy!”  Occasionally she’ll try to help by giving her a little push.  Amanda will reach and strain for a toy just beyond her reach, and finally push herself back up into a sitting position, often ended up further back than when she started because she scooted backwards without realizing it.  Just as she’s about to fuss in frustration, another toy catches her eye and she starts all over again.  Eva likes to collect baby toys from around the house and put them in one big pile next to sister.  As Amanda starts to play with them one by one, Eva will sometimes decide they look interesting enough to play with herself, and try to take them away.  Sometimes she’ll offer her another one instead, saying “here, Amanda” as if she’s doing her a favor, and then watch me closely to see if I’ll catch her little ploy.  If Amanda starts crying, she knows I’ll be intervening.     

2/19/08 - New Foods

At nearly 7 months old, Amanda still hasn’t had much in the way of solid food.  We’ve been so busy getting ready to move, I usually just plop down on the couch to nurse her and often forget that I could give her baby food at least once a day.  This week I tried mixing rice cereal with applesauce, and then bananas.  It’s the first time she’s had food that wasn’t mixed with breastmilk.  She wrinkled her nose at first, but then willingly opened up for more.  We have a winner, folks!  Part of the challenge is that I have to use the bouncy seat to sit her up to eat, even though she’s outgrown it.  She’s more than ready for the high chair, but it’s packed away in the garage a the new house, waiting for us to move in a couple weeks.  She’s overdue for her crib as well, taking her naps in our bed because she’s outgrown the bassinet (and doesn’t like the pack-n-play).  Once again, we’re waiting until we move it to set it up.  It’s almost as if Amanda knows what we’re waiting for, and has tacitly agreed to hold off crawling until we’re in the new house with fresh new carpet.  How considerate of her!  J 

Dumpster Divin'

It’s a long-standing family joke that certain members of Dave’s family have been known to “recycle” treasures that others have thrown away (and sometimes give them as gifts, too).  Well, this weekend Dave showed he was truly his father’s son, when he spotted a perfectly good wooden desk leaning against the dumpster outside our apartments.  We’d been looking for one on CraigsList for weeks, and here was one for free!  So I helped him load it up into the back of his truck, and he took it over to the new house.  I guess it’s sort of a family rite of passage: you’re not a true B______ until you’ve done SOME form of dumpster diving!  LOL! 

Family Friendly?

Target didn’t have the curtains that I wanted for the closets (we had to get rid of those dangerous folding metal doors), so I went to Wal-Mart this morning and got a few grocery items while I was at it.  I was standing in the checkout line browsing the magazines when I saw the new “Sports Illustrated: Swimsuit Edition” staring back at me.  Problem was, this chick didn’t have a bathing suit on.  Just a beaded necklace that barely covered her nipples.  Honestly, do my kids need to see that when we’re standing in line for groceries? 

 

First I just threw another magazine in front of it, but then I thought, “how are they gonna know if we don’t speak up?”  So I asked for the manager and when he arrived, I held up the magazine and said politely, “Sorry to bother you, but I’ve got kids in my cart.  If this isn’t soft porn, I don’t know what is, and I don’t think I should have to worry about my kids being exposed to that in public.  This really isn’t appropriate for a family oriented store.”  He looked at it, blushed a little and said, “yeah, that is a bit much”, and took the whole stack off the display.  The girl at the register told me “Thanks for doing that.  It’s my first day and I didn’t want to cause any trouble, but I really didn’t want to have to look at that all day while I’m working.” 

 

Now, I’m no prude.  Sex is a wonderful, God-given gift, and I enjoy it as much as the next person.  But it’s not a spectator sport, and I want my girls to grow up understanding that they’re valuable as PEOPLE, not sexual objects to be ogled over by strangers.  This is a hot-button issue for me, after the damage I’ve seen porn cause to people I love.  It starts so “innocently”, but the more you look at what you can’t have, the more you want it (or advertisers wouldn’t be in business).  That’s the natural and normal progression, and it’s very hard to turn around once you’ve gotten started.  I’ve seen too many marriages and families (including my own) ripped apart by “innocent” sexual fantasies that finally turned into cheating and other destructive behaviors.  

 

If people want to invite porn into their own homes, that’s their business.  They’re playing with fire, in my opinion, but consenting adults have a right to blow themselves up with moral gunpowder if they want to.  Just don’t take my family with you.  Leave it in your own bedroom where it belongs.  I have no problem answering my girls’ questions about sex or explaining anything they want to know – I just shouldn’t have to do it as early as two years old.  There’s nothing shameful about the beautiful human body – but it’s just not a cheap product for public consumption.  Let them be kids, for goodness sake!  And let me go to the store without wondering what pornographic images my kids are going to be exposed to.  

Move to Oregon

Our move to Oregon when Amanda was just 2 months old.

2/17/08 - Sunny Days

This weekend has been absolutely beautiful, hitting an unusually warm high of 60 degrees.  For a native Californian like me, that’s still pretty darn cold!  But it’s nice to see the sun so much again, and we’re going back to the 50’s and 40’s for the rest of the week.  If we were back in San Diego, I’d want to take the girls for a walk along Tamarack beach.  Instead, Dave is working like mad on the house, texturing and painting the ceiling, and getting the walls ready to paint.  We originally scheduled the carpet install for Thursday, but since the paint has to be dry for at least two days beforehand, I think we’re going to have to push that back a few days. 

 

I brought the girls over with lunch so he wouldn’t have to come home, and met our new neighbor across the back fence with the three dogs.  Eva loves dogs, and I was afraid she’d stick her little hand through the chain link fence and not get it back.  But they did a good job of sniffing her over and getting to know us, and their owner is hoping that means they won’t bark at us.  Still, Eva isn’t going into the backyard unsupervised anytime soon. 

Play Nice

Sometimes I think it’s difficult for Eva to understand that Amanda is not just another one of her toys.  She loves to play with her little sister, and Amanda likes the attention, but she often tends to get the raw end of the deal.  Eva likes to dump her toys (like her wooden toolbox) in front of Amanda so she can play with her, but then snatches away any toy that sister reaches for.  Then she’ll find a toy she thinks Amanda would like to play with, and try to force it into her fist or mouth.  She’ll give sister one end of a toy to play tug-of-war, and laugh as Amanda gets pulled over.  She likes to swing toys in front of her face and watch as Amanda flinches or blinks when the breeze gets too close to her face, but of course she usually ends up accidentally clocking Amanda upside the head.  If she wants to give Amanda a “nap”, she’ll arrange a pillow behind her back, push her over, and cover her with a blanket. Sometimes she tries to share her snacks by stuffing them into Amanda’s mouth, or to make her drink from her sippy cup.  She likes to put toys on Amanda’s head like a hat, or arrange her glasses over her nose and laugh at the effect.  I know she means no harm, and I want to encourage them to play together, but I spend most of my time trying to protect one from the other and putting Eva in time-out for getting too rough. 

High Needs

I was reading Dr. Sears’ description of the “High Needs Baby” on his website the other day, and it was as if he was describing Amanda perfectly.  In his story about his own high-need baby, Hayden, he said,

 

“Our first clue that she was going to be different came within a day or two. "I can't put her down," became Martha's recurrent theme. Breastfeeding for Hayden was not only a source of food, but a source of comfort. Martha became a human pacifier. Hayden would not accept substitutes. She was constantly in arms and at her mother's breast -- and after a while those arms and breasts would get tired. Hayden's cries were not mere requests, they were all-out demands. Well-meaning friends suggested, "Just put her down and let her cry it out." That didn't work at all. Her extraordinary persistence kept her crying. Her cries did not fade away. They intensified if we didn't respond.”

 

Yep.  Been there, done that!

 

“Hayden was very good at teaching us what she needed. "As long as we hold her, she's content" became our baby-care slogan. If we tried letting her fuss, she only fussed harder. We played "pass the baby." When Martha's arms gave out, into mine she came.”

 

Hmmm.  Why is this sounding so familiar?

 

“Hayden became an in arms, at breast and in-our-bed baby. If we tried to leave her for a much-needed baby break, she'd protest against any baby sitter. The neighborhood slogan became: Everywhere Bill and Martha went Hayden was sure to go. We tagged her "The Velcro Baby." Hayden opened us up as persons. The turning point came when we closed the baby books and opened our hearts to our child. Instead of defensively getting caught up in the spoiling fear, we started listening to what Hayden had been trying to tell us from the moment she exited the womb: "Hi, mom and dad! You've been blessed with a different kind of baby, and I need a different kind of parenting. If you give it to me, we're going to get along fine. If you don't, we're in for a long struggle." As soon as we discarded our preconceived ideas of how babies are supposed to be and accepted the reality of how Hayden was, we all got along much better. Hayden taught us that tiny babies don't manipulate, they communicate.”

 

That’s a good way to look at it.  Saves my sanity!

 

“She really wasn't a "fussy" baby, as long as we held her and attended to her needs. "Spirited" was misleading; everyone wants a spirited baby. She wasn't "colicky," since she didn't seem to be in pain. Nor did the tag "difficult" ring true; some may beg to differ, but we were finding that holding and being near a baby to whom we were becoming so attached was not all that difficult. Besides, these labels were too negative for this little person who seemed to know so positively what she needed and how to get it. It wasn't until years later, after talking with dozens of parents of babies who also needed to nurse so often, needed to be held a lot, needed human contact at night, that the term "high need child" came to us. It best describes the kind of baby Hayden was and the level of parenting she needed.”

 

Bingo! That’s Amanda to a T!  Since we started using Attachment Parenting methods when Eva was born, we’re already used to doing most of what he suggests, such as co-sleeping and babywearing.  Except that wearing Amanda around the house is a little more difficult than when we’re out and about.  Trying to get housework done with a baby in the sling is like trying to do them while 9 months pregnant, except now you have to worry about bumping their little head when you bend over, and you certainly can’t wear them near a hot stove.  Besides, Amanda weighed in at 17lbs, 11oz at her appointment a couple weeks ago, and that’s a lot of baby to haul around all day!  Needless to say, I usually sit down when I’m holding her for long periods of time.   She can push herself up into a sitting position now, so floor time is a good option for her, but she only likes that for about 20 minutes before she starts fussing to get picked up again. 

2/16/08 - Sisterly Love

Now that Amanda can sit up on her own and scoots or rolls across the floor, she’s able to be a lot more interactive with Eva.  She gets so enamored watching her big sister, cooing at her and trying to reach for her whenever she walks by.  It’s so adorable to see how Eva talks to Amanda and tries to play with her.  She’ll give her a toy or take one away, try to cover her with blankets or push a toy fruit into her mouth until she gags.  Right now I’m trying to drive home three basic rules: Don’t put anything over sister’s head, in her face, or in her mouth.  I can’t tell you how many times Eva’s been sent into time out for nearly choking or smothering Amanda with toddler kindness.  I now consider it a miracle that any second child survives to their first birthday. 

Puzzles

Eva loves puzzles.  Awhile back Dave bought her some 24-piece puzzles that were for 3 years and older, but it wasn’t long before she was doing them all by herself.  She’s a bit hard on the cardboard pieces, though, bending and occasionally ripping them.  We thought that wooden puzzles might be better for now, so my brother Tim gave her a set of four 12-piece farm animal puzzles from "Melissa and Doug" at Christmas.  Not only can she do them individually, but she can dump out the whole box, sort the pieces out and do all four puzzles at once.  Not bad for a 2½ year old!

"Touched Out"

Before I became a mom, the term “touched out” was completely foreign to me.  It sounded like some sort of weird phenomena that happened to people with sensitive nerves.  How on earth, I thought, could a mother not want to hold her child?  The answer?  Perhaps when she’s been holding her for the past 36 hours and counting.  I never realized how personal space could become such a rare luxury.  Between a toddler who isn’t feeling well, a teething baby who wants to be held all day and nursed all night, and husband who's working long hours and crashes around 9pm, it’s hard to catch a break.  Right now I think it’s safe to say that not 10 minutes goes by in my day without being held, pinched, bitten, pulled on, nursed on, or held tightly by one little person or another.  I feel like if one more person touches me today, I’m gonna jump out of my skin. 

 

I think it’s safe to conclude that Amanda is more of a high needs baby than Eva was.  Even trying to type this, Amanda is crying in my lap because she wants to nurse, even though she fell asleep nursing for the last hour while I tried to distract myself watching TV (I set her down, and she immediately wakes up. So much for a break).  Nights are just more of the same right now, with Amanda wanting to nurse constantly.  I get a crick in my back from staying in one position, but when I move away Amanda is rooting and crying for me within a half hour.  Lack of sleep makes for grumpy mommy, so I try to take B-vitamins to offset the crabbiness and Advil for my aching back. Now, if that nasty tooth would just pop through so Mommy could get a few minutes break! 

Flying to Milwaukee

Start:	May 15, '08
End:	May 18, '08
Location:	Milkwaukee

My friend Kate is tying the knot with a handsome Brit! :)

Aunt Laura Coming to Visit!

Start:	Apr 12, '08
End:	Apr 14, '08
Location:	Portland

Moving In!!

Start:	Mar 1, '08 9:00p
End:	Mar 2, '08

Finally leaving our apartmet for the new house!

Painting The New House

Start:	Feb 16, '08
End:	Feb 18, '08

Living Room & Kitchen: Beige
Girl's Room: Pink
Master & Guest Room: Green
Play Room: Yellow

Be My Valentine

Dave kissed me goodbye this morning and handed me a single long stem rose.  When I got out of bed I found cards and chocolates on the table for myself and Eva.  Isn’t that the sweetest?  I gave him a leather organizer with a handle for work (he doesn’t like briefcases).  It may not seem romantic, but he loves practical gifts, so he enjoyed it.  I took Eva to a little Valentine’s party at a friend’s house this morning, and she had fun playing with the other kids.  I baked chocolate cupcakes and decorated them with Valentine sprinkles.  When David gets home tonight I plan on having a candle lit dinner waiting.  We may not be able to pawn off the kids for the night, but we can still have a little romance on the side. 

 

 

Chocolate Kisses

 

Working Hard

Nanci brought the sunshine with her when she came to visit, giving us a “warm spell” in the low 50’s.  On Sunday the rain and drizzle had returned, and hasn’t stopped until today.  Dave has been going over to work on the house every night after work, getting ready for us to paint this weekend.  When the weather gets like this, I normally wait until he’s home to do major errands like the grocery store.  But since he’s been busy, I decided to brave the rain yesterday and took the girls with me to Home Depot to order the carpet and schedule the install.  I also had to stop at WinCo.  It’s a lot less expensive there, but you have to bag your own groceries.  It’s tricky trying to keep the girls dry while getting both of them in and out of their car seats: somebody obviously has to get rained on while I’m taking care of the other.  They were pretty cranky by the time we got home, so I won’t be doing that again anytime soon. 

Under The Weather

Eva has just not been herself the past couple days. She’s emotional, cranky and overly sensitive, almost as if she was teething again.  Her nose is occasionally runny, too, and she’s not sleeping well.  It’s not the flu, but it just seems like she’s having a hard time fully recovering.  This week she’s been in the church nursery during MOPS and the community center play park, in addition to our weekend excursion to the falls.  She had been getting cabin fever and wanting to get out, but maybe her immune system just wasn’t ready for going out in the cold and being around other kids again.  Amanda isn’t sleeping well, either, but I think it’s still a combination of teething and her ear infection.   

Counting Down

Last night we found a note on the door informing us that our water would be shut off all day again today.  Last week it was turned off between 9 and 5 for four days in a row, while they tried to repair a broken water main.  I guess it didn’t take.  I had to stay up late trying to finish up all the laundry and dishes while we still had water.  I filled a bucket of water for the kitchen and a pitcher in the bathroom.  When apartment living gets to be a hassle, it’s nice to know we’ll be moving into our new house in just over two weeks.  I’m really looking forward to having a full size washer and dryer, in the garage instead of the kitchen, that are so quiet that you don’t have to yell over them.  I’ll miss having a dishwasher, though. 

Aunt Nanci's Visit

Playing with her favorite nieces and our outing to the falls.

2/11/08 - Aunt Nanci's Visit

It was sooo nice to have Dave’s sister here for a visit this weekend!  Amanda was a bit unsure about her at first, but Eva was really excited to see her again.  She hung out with us on Saturday morning while Dave was away picking up his tools, and spent the afternoon helping him unload at the new house.  After dinner she helped us start packing boxes, as Eva handed her DVDs off the bookshelf.  I suddenly had a flashback to the last time Nanci had come over to our house, when we were moving back in September.  She helped us pack up then, too!  I think I can safely promise her that the next time she visits, we won’t put her to work packing anything! 

 

When we first moved here in the fall, we did a little sightseeing and took Eva to see Multnomah Falls.  She hasn’t stopped talking about them ever since.  Whenever she can’t think of something to say, “waterfall” is the first word out of her mouth.  So on Sunday we decided to take Aunt Nanci to see the famous waterfalls.  Dave took the girls in our car, while I enjoyed a quiet ride with Nanci in her rented Toyota Prius.  We stopped at Wahkeena Falls and took the short hike up to the stone bridge.  Dave and Nanci carried the girls while I played photographer.  Eva had never been that close to the water before – the roar was deafening and the spray was like rain.  She buried her face the whole time and was glad to wave “bye, waterfall!” when we left, telling us afterward that she was “scared waterfall”. 

Homesick

Having Nanci here for such a quick visit suddenly made us very homesick.  We were spoiled living only a few streets away for so many years, putting the kids in the stroller and just walking over to her house whenever we felt like it.  Now visits have to be few and far between, involving elaborate travel plans.  Of course we miss the warm weather, sunshine, and casual beach culture of San Diego.  But we miss friends and family most of all.  Hopefully we’ll be able to plan a trip to go down for a visit sometime this summer. 

Birthday

It’s been so busy lately, I almost completely forgot my birthday was coming until Nanci gave me a card.  As she was leaving she hugged me and said, “Happy Birthday, a day early.”   Was it really that time of year already?   I guess it's true that the older you get, the less it matters.  I’ve been so looking forward to fixing up the new house and moving in, that’s had most of my attention.  Dave surprised me with goodies he brought back from my parents, and his own gift bag full of sweet little presents.  Today I've gotten sweet webcards, e-mails and phone calls.  It's nice to be remembered, even when I forget myself!  :) 

Before..

Our new house as it is right now, with the popcorn ceiling scraped off and no carpet. I'll have "After" pictures to share when we're done.

2/8/08 - Another Casualty

Just when it looked like the worst was over, Dave got mowed down with this nasty bug.  So much for flu shots!  He felt better in the morning and went to work, but had to come home and crash in the afternoon.  He had originally planned to drive down to my parents’ to get some tools and supplies we were storing there.  He needs them to retexture and paint the new house, but it looks like that will have to wait.  I just hope the weather stays nice this weekend.  It’s a 9-hour round trip (and he’s got chains for his truck), but if it starts snowing in the pass, nobody is going anywhere.

 

Eva is starting to become her perky self again, though she doesn’t have her appetite back.  When she was so sick, she kept making strange requests, like for a “burger”, or to “go bye, bye”, as if those things could somehow help her escape her misery.  Today I got her out of her pajamas for the first time in days, but she refused to put on her socks or slippers, insisting that she wanted to “go swimming water”.  When we first moved to Oregon she used to say that when she saw big puddles outside from the rain, but I think the idea came from hearing that Aunt Nanci was coming to visit.  She used to love going over to Auntie’s house to play with the dogs and swim in the pool. 

 

Aunt Nanci arrived in Portland tonight, but she was unfortunately delayed in San Francisco and didn’t get in until everybody (but me, of course!) was in bed.  So she’s enjoying a relaxing night in a hotel before coming over to revel in fun time with her nieces.  I hope she’s got a strong immune system!  I’m still having to give Amanda that bubble-gum pink antibiotic for her ear infection.  She still doesn’t quite get the idea of how to eat without nursing, and ends up pushing it out of her mouth with her tongue.  I put a bib on her for before each dose, but I’m losing track of how many outfits I’ve had to change. 

Interior Decorating

Our new house has 4 bedrooms.  Apart from the master, we’ve decided that Eva and Amanda are going to share one room, one will be a guest room, and the last a playroom.  The girl’s room will be pink, and the playroom will be a sunny yellow, and I want to decorate both in a flowery, Hawaiian “surfer girl” theme (surprising? LOL).  On those dark, gray days in winter, these rooms will hopefully be a taste of summer and sunshine.  Eva is still in the toddler bed and Amanda will have the crib, so I’ll wait until they graduate to big beds to get new bedding, and just stick with their old bedding for now.  I don’t have much of a decorating budget, so I won’t be doing it all at once, but it’s not hard to piece it together over time if you know where to look.  I’ll probably start at the local party supply store and find a couple luau things, just to get the ball rolling.  I already found a few things on Amazon.com that I like, but I just stash them in my gift list as ideas I can refer back to.

Design Shows

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Other

DESIGN ON A DIME
Very creative, to say the least! Sure, you might have to be a carpenter or seamstress to use half these ideas, but if you can pull it off, you just might get exactly the look you want, while cutting your budget in half.

DECORATING CENTS
Another show about low-budget interior decorating, with a $500 limit for one room. Could I borrow this lady for about one hour some weekend?

DESIGNED TO SELL
Great ideas about how to make your home the most appealing to buyers. After watching this show a few times, we'd be walking through so many houses during our real estate search, and start noticing things that could have added so much more value, if the seller would just put in a little effort. Fresh paint, new fixtures, arranging the furniture to maximize the space - little things that make a big difference. If you're selling and you have HGTV, there's no excuse anymore for not knowing how to showcase your home to its best advantage!

2/7/08 - Recovering

Eva is exhausted from yesterday.  Whenever she tries to get up and walk around, she ends up curled up on the floor with her eyes half closed, as if she could fall asleep right there.  She asked for oatmeal this morning, but wasn’t able to eat it.  Instead, she’s been eating small amounts soda crackers and dry cereal, and drinking Gatorade from her sippy cup.  At least she’s able to keep it down, which is a great improvement from yesterday.  I’m wiped out, too, but there’s no rest for the weary.  I’ve got a huge pile of laundry to sort through.   I don’t think there was a single blanket, towel, or piece of bedding in the house that didn’t end up needing to be washed.  We kept trying to put a bowl under Eva’s chin, but the minute she saw it she knew what was coming, and tried to turn away as if that would stop it.  Poor thing! 

 

Even in her misery, Eva has such a compassionate heart.  She knew I was sick and saw me laying on the couch yesterday, so she came up to me and stroked my hand, and said, “OK, Mommy?”  Here she was, sicker than I was, but she wanted to check up on me.  Isn’t that sweet?  It almost brought tears to my eyes.  I felt badly that I wasn’t able to help my sick little ones as much as I wanted, but I’m glad David was able to stay home yesterday.   I spent most of my time in bed with Amanda, trying to drink enough to keep my milk supply up for her.  David ended up with the messy job of cleaning up Eva time and again, poor guy.  That’s when you know you’ve really married a winner! 

2/6/08 - Hit Hard

Looks like I spoke too soon.  Poor Amanda started throwing up last night, and got me pretty worried.  Today Eva and I joined in.  We’ve all got the stomach flu pretty badly (only Dave has escaped thus far), and Amanda has an ear infection to boot.  It’s can get dangerous when an infant can’t keep fluids down, and the doctor told me to give her about 30 minutes after vomiting to give her tummy a rest, and then feed her only small amounts.  That’s tough when she wants to nurse for comfort because she feels so miserable.  She and Eva had both been taking longer naps then usual, running low-grade fevers and acting cranky and clingy.  Eva had been waking and crying several times during the night, but she couldn’t tell us what was wrong, and sometimes I wonder if she was even fully awake.  Now we know.  Dave had to stay home to take care of us because I’ve been too weak.