There are only a few things that are awesome about ridiculously cold weather. Sun Dogs tops the list, in my opinion. While on my way home from my morning work shift (4-8 am) I spotted some the likes of which I haven’t seen since my first month in Winnipeg Canada- 12 years ago. I didn’t get a photo, but it looked pretty close to this:
Today is my birthday. Events from this weekend (a traumatic visit to the ER, Zoe, Jed and Lucy all having the stomach flu, no sleep, etc) had me coming into it with low expectations. This morning we decided to go out for breakfast. After we finished our meal and asked for our check the waiter said our meal had already been paid for. We sat there a little confused and told the waiter there must be a misunderstanding. The waiter then explained to us that people from another table had paid for our meal, and he gave us this:
Wow! If that doesn’t put you in the holiday spirit, what does? Feeling inspired, we picked someone else in the restaurant and paid for their meal. I wonder if they were inspired and paid for someone else’s meal, too!
The whole experience made my day!
My hope for this holiday season – that everyone who reads this post does an anonymous act of kindness for someone else this month. Pay for someone else’s meal next time you are at a restaurant, the drive-through, or even Starbucks. Or do something else that will lift someone else’s spirits! Please leave a comment about your experience and, hopefully, in a few weeks this post will have a bunch of great stories of spreading Christmas cheer!
Like everyone, Thanksgiving reminds me of the millions of things I am grateful for, big and small. This year I’m especially thankful for my little family. I love my babies!
And who doesn’t love fabulous dessert?
We spent Thanksgiving day in MN with some friends and their family. We were too busy eating and hanging out to stop and take pictures, but we had a great time and SO much food! Especially dessert (all homemade): apple pie, cherry pie, pumpkin pie, banana cream pie, creme brulee, eggnog, chocolate bunt cake, chocolate covered nuts and marshmallows, cookies and (not homemade) ice cream! Whew! That’s a lot of suga!
Pictures for this week…Zoe and her “babies” (Lion, Sheep, Dino, Charcoal and Striped Kitty) without whom she rarely voluntarily goes anywhere and is very, very grateful for…
Lucy proudly showed off her new cheeks.
Uncle Ryan (rivaled only by Uncle Preston as Zoe’s favorite Uncle) came out to visit and meet Lucy.
I’m constantly in awe by everyone else’s fantastic blogs. Especially all of my friends who have beautiful blogs and more children than I do. For some reason, I can’t manage the two. I have a ton of other things I have to do, and honestly, so many other things I’d rather do. And since everyone decides to email me about every post (which I do appreciate) instead of post comments, I end up emailing updates to people instead of blogging. So I’m going to simplify my life (or use that as a front). Instead of being bummed about how lame my blog is, I’m going to admit it and embrace it by just posting pictures weekly. Here are a some from this week (and Halloween:)…
Now that you’ve decided which presidential candidate to vote for, give yourself a 2-minute break from watching/listening to the pundits and make your voice heard to the FCC about another important Nov. 4 vote. The same folks that tried to stop everything from cable TV to TiVO are attempting to block the use of “white space” slots which open up all kinds of possibilities for advancing broadband in this country. More via Google’s Blog.
Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about my late (paternal) grandpa Earl. Maybe it was my sister-in-law’s recent post about her grandpas.
Like most people that live long full lives, Earl had plenty of wisdom and experience. Here are 3 gems that come to mind:
When two people are business partners or own something together (i.e. farm equipment), and one person wants out, here’s what you do: The person that wants out proposes a price. The other person decides whether they want to buy or sell. This pretty much ensures that the proposed price will be fair.
Experience is the best teacher, but it’s also the hardest; it gives the test first, and the lesson after.
When election season came around, Earl’s voting strategy was simple: go in and vote against every one of those damned incumbents.
Yes, it’s been four weeks since she was born - I’ve resurfaced and feel human again.
Let me start by saying that she’s beautiful!!! I was completely unprepared for the rush of emotions and the familiar ache that comes when a new helpless little person enters your heart and your life. I remember feeling overwhelmed by it when I had Zoe, and it was just as powerful this time. Having a baby is so incredible. Lucy and Zoe are absolutely worth everything I endured to get them here. But I’m so glad they are already here!
Lucy’s birth stats:
September 16, 2008 at 7:54 pm
5 lbs 13 oz, 19 inches
She’s so tiny, but she’s healthy! I feel so much better about having to boot her out three weeks early. In fact, she’s healthier than Zoe was. She only had one hiccup with breathing and that was when she choked on some amniotic fluid still stuck in her tummy the day after she was born. She turned blue and then purple, and scared me to death! The nurse helped us get her breathing again. I cried the rest of the night, but she was fine. We also had to take her to ER a few Saturdays ago to double check her bilirubin level, but it came back fine. As of last Monday she passed up her birth weight and was a whopping 6 lbs and 3 oz. In just the last week we’ve noticed her little skin rolls are filling out - she’s going to be chubby in no time! I love plump babies!
(During her first bath in the nursery at the hospital.)
Thank you for all of the emails, texts, phone calls and packages that still keep arriving in the mail. It means a lot to all of us to have so many great friends and family thinking of us. A big thank you to everyone who has prayed and fasted for us over the last 8 months. Babies are miracles, and me actually getting mine here is a miracle, too. I’m certain I’ve met my miracle quota.
Zoe and Lucy’s first meeting was a bit uneventful until after they both took their naps. Jed posted some video footage of it on Flickr and a follow-up to it on his blog.
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For anyone who’s interested, here is my L&D story. I typed it up so that I could remember it, but thought I’d include it anyway….
Needless to say, the amnio results were positive and I was induced the next day! I had an epidural during my labor with Zoe and it was so strong that I sat around reading magazines while Jed ate sushi until it was time to push. This time it was completely different.
It took a nurse, a nurse anaesthetician and then the anaesthesiologist to get the IV started (which would make my homecare nurses feel better about their failed attempts). It actually wasn’t that bad because they gave me me a shot of litocaine before each stick so when the veins blew it wasn’t very painful, just ugly. Although it was a lot of shots. I was already having big contractions a few minutes apart when I got to the hospital and the pitocin made them more intense, so it got really painful pretty fast. Unfortunately, I had to wait forever during contractions that were peaking on the machine and two minutes apart to get my epidural because the anaesthesiologist was tied up in some insanely long c-section. Big thanks to the dead fly in the light on ceiling of the L&D room that helped me keep my focus during the contractions. It stopped me from screaming like a lunatic. I now understand why laboring women get loud.
After I got my epidural (I may have actually told the anaesthesiologist that I love him), I felt great until I got dizzy and started throwing up. I guess my heart rate went down and I wasn’t breathing very well so they stopped the epidural and gave me one of those fun little nose breathing tubes. That helped with the dizziness and nausea a little, but not with the pain. Finally they let me dispense little doses of the epidural to myself. It worked off and on through the rest of labor until I didn’t give myself any and went into transition. Big, big whoops. The pain was insane. I cannot even describe it. But after pounding on the epidural button for 35 minutes it kicked in just as my doctor showed up and I started to push. I felt the delivery, just not that much pain. And I actually liked it better than my delivery with Zoe because I felt the contractions and knew when to push, and I could walk right afterward. When I had Zoe, I couldn’t walk unassisted for a day.
I left the hospital feeling great less than 48 hours after I had her. The recovery has taken a few weeks, unlike the three months it took last time. Wooohoo!
Needless to say this went much better than the first attempt. Note the advice that Zoe offers regarding having more babies.
Just over a year ago I wrote the following:
I don’t know where we’ll be living a year from now. I’m not exactly sure what I’ll be doing for work. I dont know if my grandma will still be with us. I don’t know if my parents will be somewhere in Mongolia or Venezuela or North Dakota serving a mission. I don’t know if we’ll be expecting another child.
Grandma passed away, and I think I’ve covered the rest!
