o-HI-o

Back this morning from another quick weekend road trip. Braden's best friend growing up got married in Cincinnati yesterday. We drove most of the way Friday and stayed the night in Kentucky, then finished the drive on Saturday. I am starting to be a believer of the old school traveling, ie; no movie player. She does great with books and toys and her trusty falsetto singing voice. And her sister's appendages. It was delightful to hear her banter from the backseat. We got to the church a few minutes before it started and ran inside to change in the bathroom. While sprucing up, the majority of the bridesmaids came into the bathrooom at some point. Each time, Anabelle would ask them their name, introduce herself, and introduce "my baby sister, baby Lila". As each person from the wedding party proceeded down the aisle, Anabelle and I would say to each other, "Oh, there's Mia, she looks beautiful", "Oh there's Crissy, she looks beautiful". It dawned on me that my 2 year old had introduced me to the entire female side of the wedding party in the first 15 minutes we arrived. It was by far the fanciest wedding I have ever been to and we were feeling a little out of place. Something about having kids with a flatulence problem in the middle of someones ceremony made it hard to make eye contact with other guests. Definitely should not have carried my diaper bag purse. Note to self if I ever attend another wedding outside of a cultural hall. Anabelle busted out her Elaine-esq dance moves and I totally abused the open bar. 4, maybe 5 diet cokes.

the haps at our house

As previously mentioned, a last minute Reynolds rendezvous happened again. Friday afternoon I told Braden he should call his little brother Cody who is interning in Houston for the summer and get him to come over for the weekend. He chatted with him online. I walked by and read Cody's last message which was "see you in 10 hours". I got the rest of the story when Cody arrived. Apparently Braden promised that we would move to Washington if Cody would come for the weekend. Hmmmm. That's a pretty weird thing to promise without consulting the wife. Cody came bearing a contract to be signed. What is it with these nonsense bets and the notarized contracts that seal them that my dear Braden involves himself in? I used to think our marriage was the only binding document to which he was a party but oh contra ire. But, we got Uncle Cody for the weekend so we'll settle up with that other stuff later. We didn't do anything extravagant. Anabelle just loved playing with "my friend Cody". I went to pick her up from Nursery on Sunday and the teacher said she was already gone. I had passed Braden in the hall and he didn't have her so I had a small feeling of concern. The teacher told me that the door opened, a man came in, and Anabelle yelled that she was going with her friend, and left with him. Well that is pretty much what we fear about her so I was relieved to remember after a few seconds that Cody was there. Nothing too exciting but everything that a long holiday should include: grilling ribs, swimming, family, friends, and a trip to the emergency room. The day ended with a 4 hour trip to the ER for Lila with what turned out to be a UTI.

I returned her to the doctor today (a new stop in our doctor shopping...I think I'll keep this one though) because the antibiotics didn't seem to be helping. The doctor said it must be a very bad infection because this particular medication is supposed to work very well on this kind of infection. Truth be told I now think she's had it for the last few weeks. She has been a teensy bit fussy (fussy=less smiley, a bit less content) but I thought maybe she was finally getting a chomper. But then she had the unmistakable smell in her diaper and high fever which we've learned to recognize because Anabelle had about 5 of them as an infant as well. Apparently it is hereditary. Because it is so rare for infants to have these, she now has to go back to Children's and have an Angiogram and ultrasound to make sure there aren't big problems there. She may already have built up quite a tolerance for antibiotics because she basically lived with an IV of them for the first 5 weeks of life. The nurse today gave her a big shot of a more powerful antibiotic to see if we could break the fever. She said that this was a painful shot and was trying to brace me for it. Lila didn't make a peep. Not even a wince. I don't even know if she noticed. Given, there is a good amount of cushion in those thighs, but still, she is a champion.

We realize that Anabelle has spent way too much time in hospitals and doctors offices. Not that anyone makes her uncomfortable, but she feels the same ease talking with doctors as she does friends on the playground. When the doc walked out of the room at the ER the other night she climbed up on the chair and in a very serious voice looked at Braden and I and said, "Ok, so tell me what's been going on". The time before that she was dancing all around the room and singing loudly and she didn't skip a beat when the doctor walked in. As soon as doc entered the room Anabelle yells an invitation to join her, saying, "Shake your boodie Doctor! Shake your boodie!" And every time a new person comes in Anabelle proudly announces, "Dr, meet my baby Lila!" Then she's been saying, "She's a lil cutie pie. But she's a sickie. She has a fever. She doesn't feel berry good".

Anabelle has been all sorts of helpful this week with Lila. I've found her trying to take her temperature rectally or removing her diaper to check for diahhrea. And yesterday I stepped out of the shower to see that Anabelle had laid Lila down and filled up her belly button with lip gloss. 2 minutes. Is that too much to ask? Can a girl wash her hair for 2 minutes?

Other than that, I have girls camp coming up in a week and I am looking forward to that (being over) so I can have my life and my spare room back. Although Anabelle might be sad it's over because I will return to feeding them healthier meals and less movie time. Unless I don't...


Lila discovers her jolly belly

She seems okay with it


This is the morning I discovered the fever and smell. She looks fussy and miserable right?

You can see why I'm ecstatic when I get to share a bed with Anabelle. Braden had a good point though- if we teach all our kids to sleep this way we can pile them all in this very bed and never have to buy another. We could fit at least 8 or 9 (that is if I get pregnant with sextuplets on my next pregnancy)

Payoff

I'm walking down the hall with Anabelle. She grabs my hand and holds it and says, "I love you so much. And I love family home levening. And I love home."

Mothering

An unexpected Mother's day gift showed up unconventionally around midnight last night when our hallway filled up with water from a broken pipe. Some servicemen were called out to come extract the water. About this same time, two of Braden's brothers showed up to pick him up for their cross country trek to help the Silver Fox move. The cleaners spoke Spanish, as do the three hermanos. I told the guys to ask him what he would charge to clean the carpet in my dining room (either this is my last carpeted dining room, or my kids eat on our doorstep for every meal. Forever. Rain or shine. I mean it). The dude says 30 bucks. I said 15 bucks and a book that is guaranteed to change your life. So Reese paid the guy 30 bucks and my carpets are cleaned.(And it turns out, he is interested in the book). I made Anabelle eat on a towel today. Not sure when or if the kids get to return from their exile to all rooms tiled. Look at me shining on Mother's day. That probably wasn't as sad as when I dumped a pile of Cheerios on the floor for dinner for the girls to eat so I could fall asleep for 10 minutes. (That being said, I must congratulate myself on a huge parenting accomplishment this week in Anabelle's grooming. I successfully cut her fingernails, toenails, and her rat-tail mullet. Some of you know the struggle with the nails. Oh, the struggle. We have tried grandparents, uncles, aunts, friends, shameless bribery, and one morning I wrestled her to the ground and physically restrained her-no small feat. It was not my best idea. Not a glorious memory. But she got her nails painted as a reward and her hair no longer fits with the Alabama general public).

Then someone knocked on the door and it was our friend Jared. He handed me a huge bouquet of beautiful flowers. I wanted to say, "Uh, does Stephanie know you're here"? Turns out Braden took him the flowers before he left so they could be delivered to me today. There's no explaining that to Anabelle though. She keeps saying, "they're not from Daddy, they're from Jared". Good. Hope she spreads that around the ward real quick.

I also got invited into Anabelle's nursery class at church today for a special Mother's day treat. I was bracing myself for the usual nursery setup: all other kids running to their parents anxiously, throwing their arms around them and yelling their names happily. Meanwhile Anabelle either runs the other way, yells "NOOOO, I DONT WANT TO GO HOME!", or my personal favorite where she runs to you making you feel excited only to push you out the door yelling, "GO!". She lives for nursery and cheese. But, she was cuddly and loving with me and very sweet. She gave me a handmade craft to pin on my shirt and I said, "Oh! You made this for me?!" and she casually said, "Nah. Julienne did". At least she's honest.

Mother's Day has become not only a day of appreciation for my own Mom, but an immense gratitude for the blessing of being a mother myself. It has allowed me see my own Mom in a new way. To know something of her sleepless nights, her worry, her tender care, her pleading prayers- gives me a deeper gratitude for her service.

Nothing has changed me more, challenged me, rewarded me, aggravated me, lifted me, made me cry, brought more joy and laughter than has motherhood. When I found out I was pregnant with Anabelle I was preparing for grad school and had loved my post college jobs. I feared that I would feel unfulfilled and that I would miss work. There have maybe been five days where that has been the case. If I had a PhD I wouldn't miss the chance of raising these kids and being their Mom. One day I'll go back to work and start raking in the cash doing social work again. But until then, Anabelle is about all the social work I can handle.

I am thankful everyday that I get to be a Mom. With all that I am, in the deepest most sincere and raw parts of my soul, I love being a Mom.


Aldridge in the Fall

Me looking fabulous (clearly) while doing Buns of Steel with Anabelle- a highlight of my day. I had the camera out because I was trying to capture her working it. That's pretty much my goal for the month of May. I warned you about the lowering standards.

Making Lila laugh. Not hard- she's an easy crowd. If you can't make Lila laugh there is a good chance you are mostly dead.

A letter to...(yawn)....what was I saying?

In my Counseling class in college we learned that sometimes when one feels frustrated or angry at past offenses done to them, a letter written to the culprit could help work past these unwanted feelings to bring peace. Some of those words are a bit strong for me but, here goes...

Sweet Anabelle,

I know that you are still very small. I also know that you recognize and understand what a pattern is, you pick up on them everyday. So I'm hoping you will understand what I mean when I say that for the last few months you have established a pattern of staying awake all night. We hear you singing in your bed in the wee hours of the morning. I get several visits from you many nights of the week, sometimes 4 or 5 per night. The rest of the pattern is that during the day, you generally will not take a nap (unless we have spent the entire morning playing at the park). I have tried everything I can think of to help you remember your old beautiful sleeping schedule. The tragedy is that after you and I have spent a lot of time together in the night, sometimes we are not our best selves the next day. And I don't mean to be rude but, you especially. I am sure that this is just a phase. One day soon your little body will get back on track. But in the meantime, I've decided to stop trying to "fix" it, and as any good mother would do, completely lower my standards. There may be more movie time than I usually allow, I may rethink my definition of a "dirty" sock, it's possible that I will even somehow find a way to justify a fruit roll-up as breakfast (it wouldn't be that hard- I mean look at the name). And I know there's been recent debate about this, but I may even cast my vote on the side of 'yes, putting your hair in a ponytail is the same thing as taking a shower'. Please do not take advantage of this, as I'm only doing it out of necessity to preserve my sanity. Please know that I very much look forward to spending lots of time with you again. The real you, the one that is hilarious and sweet and a great sidekick. I love you completely and absolutely with my whole heart always and forever.

xoxo,

Mom

Things get ugly around 4. Doing a craft to try to make it through the day. I gave you the spaghetti you tossed last night as a snack....
...But again it didn't seem to work out. If you hate spaghetti that much just say so. Sheesh, you could just ask for a sandwich you know.

Dear, dear daughter of mine

A rough sketch of your life on May 5, 2009...

12:30- visit Mom at her bedside and stare creepily at her until she senses me
2am- visit Mom at her bedside to tell her that I am thirsty
3am- visit Mom at her bedside to tell her I want to snuggle her
3am-5am- snuggle mom in my bed. "snuggle" should be interpreted as playing with hair, petting her face, singing in my best falsetto songs that I make up as I go.
7am- awake and notice that mom has snuk back to her bed. Run to her room to see if baby Lila can be climbed on and squished yet.
10am- tell mom that you are too tired to go to Publix. Go to your room and instead of napping, dump every item out of every container, take all 200 books off the shelf, and run around like a monkey.
11am- play with Lila on the floor until she falls asleep. put her bottle on the counter and go to your room to find a new adventure.
1pm- see how far you can spread lunch around without actually consuming a single crumb of food.
4pm- become very whiny and emotional because you are exhausted. watch your mom take several deep, cleansing breaths.
6pm- throw your plate of spaghetti and your fork. Get put in the time out closet. Promptly pee on mom's freshly washed blankets. Go right to sleep.

xoxo,

your loving, tired Mother




Seriously? Did your father not whittle you beds with his bare hands?