Illuminating the No on My Vacancy Sign

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery...right?

2009-08-18T17:23:00.001-07:00

Tonight, Abby told me, "I love you Mom, you're my best friend. Someday, I'm going to be chubby just like you."

Good thing she's cute.

Camping

2009-06-19T09:07:00.001-07:00

I thought I'd write up our adventure we had last weekend. There was a
conference talk in this last conference about how we should spend our
money on things that really matter, like making memories with our
families instead of toys. I thought that made sense and I wanted to
make sure that we made an effort to make some good memories with Abby
now that she's getting older and is almost to the age where she can
remember stuff. So...with that in mind, I suggested to Adam that for
our birthdays this year, instead of getting each other movies and CDs,
that we spend a certain amount on camping gear and go on a camping
trip. We've been wanting to go camping for a while, but we didn't have
a tent and could never justify buying one. Adam got on Craig's List
and found a great 2-room, barely-used tent for $30. He went out and
also bought a small stove, an air mattress and a Princess sleeping bag
for Abby. Abby was absolutely thrilled. She was so dang excited to
sleep in a tent with her princesses. We took advantage of a rare
Saturday night off for me and went south about an hour and a half to
Hocking Hills to a little camp ground that was beautiful. We had a
little secluded area in the trees and didn't hear too much from our
neighbors. It was a gorgeous weekend weather-wise. The temperature was
probably around 80, it was a little humid, but not bad, and sunny and
nice all weekend. We got down there Saturday afternoon, set up camp
and set out to go hiking. Abby was disappointed because she wanted to
go to bed right away in her own little room in the tent with her
sleeping bag. So she sulked and pouted and was generally grouchy. Then
she saw the playground at the campsite and wanted to go on the slides
and swing and whined and whined about that. We got her into the car
amid much grumbling and complaining and headed out to Old Man's Cave.
We told Abby that we were going to see a really cool cave like in
Aladdin and we could go in it and look for Pocahontas. She liked that
idea. Little did we know, that a cave 'round these parts just means a
big hole-like thing in the ground that we hiked down into and around.
Like a mini canyon. So the whole time we're hiking, we're thinking
that we're going to get to this awesome cave any minute, and then
we're back where we started from with no cave in sight. When we
realized that we got to the top and what we were just in was the
"cave", we turned to Abby and said, "Wasn't that a really cool cave?
Neat, huh?" She took it all in stride and was a good sport about it.
Then said, "I'm tired. Can we go back to the camping place and go to
bed?" Sigh.... So we headed back and Adam took her to the playground
while I stayed at our site with Molly and read. Nice. We cooked up
some brats for dinner and Abby ate her bread hotdog. (Hotdog bun) Abby
was so excited to go to bed in her new sleeping bag that she wasn't
really interested in the s'mores so we got her changed, washed up and
put her to bed. After about five minutes, she started complaining from
inside the tent about how she was scared and lonely and didn't want to
be there and wanted to go home and she didn't like camping, etc. We
got her up and let her hang out with us until it got dark then we gave
her a flashlight and put her to bed again. She fell asleep eventually
and Adam and I stayed up and watched Alias on our portable DVD player
while Molly slept in Adam's arms. We ate lots of s'mores, toasties
(toasted sandwiches with applesauce, cinnamon/sugar and a marshmallow
in them) and RPM before feeding Molly one last time and heading to bed
ourselves. Molly fell right to sleep and didn't bother our neighbors
too much. Abby woke up with the crows at 5am and cried for us, waking
Molly up. Adam got Molly a bottle really quickly and I reached through
to Abby's "room" and dragged her on our bed with us. We talked for a
while and all eventually fell back asleep on our little air mattress.
Even Molly. We woke up around 8:30, cooked a nice breakfast then
packed up the car. Abby was so grouchy and snotty the whole morning.
She wanted to go home. She wanted to play on the slide and swings. She
wanted to eat some more. She wasn't hungry. She was thirsty. It went
on and on and on. We got her and Molly all packed up in the car and
headed out to do some more hiking. We went to Cedar Falls-a little
waterfall in a gorgeous setting. Abby looked for Ariel in the water
and for Pocahontas in the little caves that were in the rocks. She and
Adam took their shoes off and went wading in the water. When we got
back up to the car, we told Abby that it was time to go home, thinking
she'd finally be happy because she had been asking to go home all
weekend, but she said, "I don't want to go home. I want to keep
camping." I think she just wants to be difficult. We can't win with
her. Anyway, that was our weekend! Despite Abby's grumbliness and
snotty attitude, we had a lot of fun. We're thinking that we should go
with friends next time so Abby has someone to play with. Good times.

Family Photo Shoot

2009-05-24T18:11:00.001-07:00

We had a photo shoot yesterday with my friend. We had a blast and got some great pics out of it. Here are some of my favorites. There are lots more so maybe I'll put some more up later. Enjoy!

Gardening

2009-04-29T17:08:00.000-07:00

Abby helped with the garden today. She planted "apples, ponatoes, and smarshmallows". Can't wait to have me a good smarshmallow.

Blog-worthy

2009-04-23T19:42:00.001-07:00

Abby: "What movie are you watching, Mommy?"
Me: "It's called Princess Diaries"
Abby after a bit of a pause: "Are all those guys going to die soon?"

Get it? Princess 'DIE'aries?

2009-04-15T08:35:00.000-07:00

My cute Baby Molly. She's turning out to be a sweet little girl most of the time. She has started up this thing where she cries whenever I don't want her to. Like at church, dance class, story time, etc. I don't care if she cries at home. She also HATES it when someone tries to feed her with a bottle. And it's getting worse. Poor Adam has a heck of a time when I go to work. Along these lines, she also really hates binkis. I wish she would like them because I loved being able to get Abby to be quiet by plugging her up. No such luck with Molly. But when she has her way, she's a happy little girl. She sleeps through the night fairly consistently (midnight to 8:30) which makes the rest of us very happy.

Abby wanted to play hide and seek with Molly. These were the awesome hiding places she found.

Abby got a Fancy Nancy book from Grandma Karen a while ago and all these awesome accessories came in it. I think Adam loves it just as much as Abby does. And Abby loves to take pictures.

And this is what I've been up to! My cool friend is giving me Photoshop lessons. I know there's not MUCH difference between the two pics, but I think the difference is worth it. I've learned some other cool things too but this is a start!

First Semi-Annual Bevan Family Girl Party!

2009-04-04T18:05:00.000-07:00

Since adam had to fulfill his duties and go to his Priesthood meeting tonight, Abby, Molly and I decided to have our very own Girl Party. I got on our Netflix account and had Abby choose an instant play movie (she chose Casper. It's full of swears and kinda gruesome for a three-year-old. Who knew??) and we had some cookies Adam made earlier today. I let her stay up until almost 9:00 and she insisted on wearing her Snow White garb. Because a girl party isn't a girl party unless you're wearing a princess dress, you see. Periodically throughout the movie, she would hug me or kiss my face and say, "I really like you Mom", or "You're my best friend". That alone was worth doing this every Conference Saturday night.

Abby-isms

2009-04-01T10:43:00.000-07:00

The other day we were all in the car and I was being silly. Abby was looking at me and when I stopped she said, "Mom, what's your deal?"

Abby frequently runs around the house singing, "Supersalicrashilisticexpialidoshus! Umma-limma-lumma-lie, umma-limma-lumma-lie!" She's pretty close....

Abby has been learning her letter sounds lately. I was eating pancakes with her and she said, "I just want maple syrup on mine, please." Then she was unusually quiet for a minute then said, "I said MMMMMM for maple syrup!" Then she looked at the bottle of syrup, pointed at the M and said, "That says MMMMM!!" THEN she saw the word Meijer, which is our grocery store we go to and said, "I can read that! It says grocery...store!"

We went to the grocery store today and there was a bunch of Easter stuff so I said, "Abby, Easter is coming up! The Easter Bunny is going to come visit us!" Abby replied, "Ooo, I like the Easter Bunny! What's his name? Let's call him Cottontrail."

And Molly's greatest accomplishments include smiling, gaining weight and sleeping through the night.

Ahhhhh

2009-03-21T06:36:00.000-07:00

BOTH my girls slept all night last night. It's gonna be a good day!

Help!

2009-03-19T13:41:00.001-07:00

I have an unusual dilemma and would like some advice on what to do. Abby will not come out of her room during nap time, or in the morning when she wakes up for anything. Yes, this is great, but it has its downside. For example, I was trying to take a nap during this daily quiet time (since Abby rarely actually sleeps so I can't really call it nap time) when I kept getting woken up by Abby crying over the monitor which I had next to me. I heard the following: "Waaaaaahhh...I need to go potty...waaaaaaahhh!" and on and on. I have told this girl repeatedly that she can come out of her room if 1) She needs me, 2) She needs to go potty, or 3) If she's scared/bored/lonely. So pretty much, she has permission to come out any time. But she refuses. And I can't figure out why. When I got her to go potty we had a little talk and I could not get out of her why she wouldn't come out and go potty. Or at least why she wouldn't come out, get me and make me take her potty. All I got was, "Because I just don't want to". I asked if she was afraid I would get mad, or send her back to her room or anything and she wouldn't answer. So because of this, we're going to have to buy another monitor to get Molly into her own room. I used to think Abby was pretty self-sufficient, but now she has me wondering about that. Any ideas??

More Molly

2009-02-13T11:59:00.000-08:00

We haven't really taken a whole bunch of pictures of Molly. I guess that happens with the second child, right? However, we have taken some so here are a few:

Abby looooooves Molly. I love watching her take care of her. She always wants to make sure Molly is comfortable and happy and will frequently try to get her to stop crying. In this picture, Adam put Molly on Abby's back and Molly tickled Abby while she was flexing and unflexing her fingers. Abby thought it was pretty hilarious.

Molly's still sleeping all the time. I guess that's why we don't have too many pictures? But she's doing really well with her feedings still and hasn't had any more really scary episodes. She's finally getting onto a good schedule and will hopefully (cross your fingers) start sleeping through the night relatively soon. She has started smiling, but I have to really work hard for it. Her first smile was for a random lady at church! Little stinker.

6th Picture Tag

2009-02-12T14:45:00.000-08:00

If I had a choice, I wouldn't have chosen this picture. The light definitely isn't right. But I was tagged and so must follow the rules. So this picture is the 6th picture in the 6th folder in my picture folder. This (like the 4th picture tag) was taken on our Mediterranean cruise that we went on back in 2006. Abby was three months old! Looking back, I can't believe we actually did that. It was awesome though so I'm really glad we did. Anyway, this picture was taken on the island of Rhodes, on our hike up to the acropolis there. Pretty, huh? If I were to live somewhere for the views, this would be my second choice. First, of course, being Norway. I tag Maren, Breezi, Andrea, Melanie and Emily C. Go!

2009-02-09T16:55:00.000-08:00

Abby's princess obsession has gotten scary. When I picked her up from nursery after church yesterday, I was handed her picture that she had colored with her "name" in the upper right hand corner. So when I looked at it, I was surprised to see "Sleeping Beauty" written where "Abby" should have been. Apparently, Abby had insisted that her teachers call her Sleeping Beauty the whole time. I should have known she would do that. For the past several days, whenever I referred to my sweet toddler as "Abby" she would yell out, "No! I'm Sleeping Beauty, remember??" I guess I should be feeling lucky that a princess has honored us with her presence. Oh, and I'm Jasmine now, by the way. Just ask Sleeping Beauty.

WHY?

2009-02-05T13:35:00.001-08:00

I'm wondering if anyone else out there is experiencing the same thing I am. My three-year-old is asking why alllll the time. She's been doing this for a while, but her questions are getting a little more...cryptic...I guess you could say. Please tell me how to answer these questions:

-"Why is she Molly?"

-"Why are these M&M's?"

-"Why is this a robe?"

-"Why is this the store?"

-"Why is she not Mary Poppins?"

Before Abby started asking all these stupid questions, I wanted to take a page from my sister's book and try to answer all my kids' questions as honestly and thoroughly as I could. But now I really believe Abby is asking "WHY??" purely out of habit. I started just ignoring her "why" questions and I discovered she doesn't even wait for an answer. I could have saved myself lots of "just because that's what it is" answers if I had discovered this sooner. And honestly, when these questions come up, I find myself racking my brain for a real, honest and thoughtful answer because I really though she wanted to know. In case you're wondering, it's aggravating.

Being tested

2009-01-23T09:37:00.000-08:00

Has anyone out there listened to or read Elder Uchtdorf's talk on hope that he gave during the last LDS General Conference? This talk really hit home for me because I never have hope. Never, ever. I'm always looking at the worst case scenario and imagining doom and gloom in the future. I crumble at the tiniest sign of adversity and don't handle unexpected problems well. Adam and I have often commented that I'm the pessimist of the relationship and he's the optimist and so things balance out between us and we maintain a healthy relationship. Since I read this talk though I've been trying to change this part of me, and I feel like my determination to change has been tested, especially during these past few days. Molly is still in the hospital and I've had to deal with making some decisions that I felt were tough ones to make. Yes, I know that Molly is not as sick as most kids I take care of in this same hospital room, but this is my baby. I never imagined that I'd be trying to talk doctors out of doing a spinal tap on her or that I'd be arguing the purpose of senseless treatments and refusing them when the doctors insist my daughter receive them. Being an advocate for my daughter, although it has been for very minor things, has had more emotional toll on me than I thought it would. That, and getting practically no sleep for 4 days has been pretty rough. I've had many reasons to give up on my goal of being more hopeful, but I'm determined to see it through, the best I can. I think I've been told every day that I only had one more night here and then something happens. We're still here by the way because she developed a fever and had to get a full septic work-up and IV antibiotics for 48 hours. That 48 hours will be up tomorrow morning. So...I'm being hopeful that nothing else can go wrong. I feel like everything I've hoped for so far has been taken away from me. For example, all last night while I was up with Molly I was looking forward to Adam getting here after dropping Abby off at a friend's house so I could get a couple of hours of sleep. When I called him this morning, he said that Abby had a fever and was throwing up. So I had to give that up. I was also told today that Molly had a UTI and would be able to go home today on oral antibiotics. Later I found out that the specimen could have been contaminated so she didn't necessarily have a UTI so we had to stay another night. Adam's mom is flying out and will land in an hour. So...I'm hoping she gets here without any delays so that Adam can come spend the night here and give me some time to sleep. I'm hoping Abby gets well quickly. I'm hoping Molly continues to recover from her choking spells until she can get her test done next week. But mostly I'm hoping I'm done being tested because I'm not sure I could take much more! (Knock on wood, knock on wood!)

And it starts....

2009-01-21T13:54:00.001-08:00

Molly's already being a troublesome teenage type. Since her birth, she has had a little trouble coordinating her suck-swallow-breathe pattern when she eats. In the last 48 hours, her trouble increased and she had noticeably increased distress with every feed. I tried everything: changing positions, bottle with a slow-flow nipple, more frequent feedings, burping more often, but nothing helped. Yesterday afternoon she had a really scary episode that got me reviewing infant CPR in my head so I called my pediatrician and after lots of phone tag, we came to the hospital. She wasn't going to be admitted until I opened my big mouth and said she had one blue spell about a week ago that she recovered from without any problems. That did it and we were sent to our temporary residence of room 6635. (Side note: this is the unit I work on. My friends are basically serving me. Weird.) Since we got here, Molly has cured herself. She had one minor episode of choking/gagging/coughing during her feed yesterday evening but since has been a perfect baby. She's doing better than she was when she was born. Apparently, she didn't believe my threat of going to the hospital and I had to prove I was serious. I AM the boss! Now, I'm faced with conflicting emotions: 1) I'm happy she's doing better. But 2) I feel like an idiot. I tell everyone who enters my room (friends/colleagues) that I swear I didn't make this up and this must be a different baby than I came here with. And to make matters worse, the doc wants us to stay another night just to be sure she's okay. Another night of sitting in a hospital room with Abby at a friend's house, watching Molly be okay. Can't wait.

Baby Molly

2009-01-11T13:48:00.000-08:00

After 48 hours of really fun contractions, our baby finally arrived. She was born Jan 7th at 4:04 pm, weighed 8 lbs 11 oz and measured 21.5 inches. She's been kind of fussy these first few days of life and I'm hoping that changes soon. But she's cute and sweet and we love her! Abby seems to be pretty fascinated by her and wants to do everything for her. She offers to feed her, change her diaper and always wants to hold her. I think they'll be good friends. What do you think?

When it rains....

2008-12-10T10:55:00.000-08:00

Picture you're me for a second. (I know, for some of you, quite frightening. Others of you, quite awesome.) 8 months pregnant, working two nights a week, having preschool with an almost-three-year-old two mornings a week, Dr's appointments every two weeks (soon to be every week) and Christmas and Abby's birthday coming up. Don't you think my house should NOT fall apart at this time?? We just got our shower and bathtub replaced due to faulty installation when it was put in a few years ago (before we moved in). To make a longish story shortish, water was getting behind the shower wall and causing mold to grow. As soon as that was done, Adam tried to fix our sagging ceiling (again, due to faulty installation-this time when the house was built in the 60s) and instead made the problem worse. Now there's a giant crack down the middle of our ceiling. So we're getting quotes for how much it will cost us to replace our entire living room ceiling. Then today, when I got home from the Dr., I walked across a patch of our carpet and got my socks wet. I looked and looked, stood up on a chair and felt all over the ceiling, but found no source of the wetness. So now, we (meaning Adam) get to pull our (new) carpet up, dry it out, hope that there is no mold, and find the source of the wetness. Hopefully it's something easy. But at this point, I don't know what easy option is left. I'm thinking leaking pipe or something even more horrible like a super cracked foundation or something.

I'm tired of being a homeowner. I give up. Anyone want our house?

It's happening...

2008-12-08T13:06:00.001-08:00

I actually seriously considered canceling our babysitter we had for Saturday night because it had been snowing all day.

I'm becoming an Ohioan.

It's nice to feel so appreciated

2008-11-23T10:13:00.000-08:00

Abby: "The baby can't have my daddy when she comes out. She can have you because she'll need her mommy, but Daddy is my daddy. She can't have him."

Me: "But don't you think your baby sister will want a daddy too? Maybe you could share Dad."

Abby: "Ummm...no please. He's my daddy. But she can have you!"

I guess it's nice to be informed ahead of time.

A challenge

2008-11-17T12:17:00.000-08:00

Summer made a challenge for all her blog followers to blog about their five all-time favorite songs and why. After reading this, I couldn't turn off my mind to go to sleep because I was thinking about what my five favorite songs are. So, mostly because I spent ten minutes awake when I could have been sleeping, I feel I must blog about this.

1) (I'm sorry, Summer if you feel like this is copying you, but I swear it would be on here without your prompting) Orange Colored Sky by Natalie Cole: When I was in I think Jr. High, my sister introduced me to this song. I thought it was totally cool to go have sleepovers at her house (and it was) and she played Natalie Cole's album Unforgettable With Love which had this song on it. As soon as I could, I went out and bought this CD and spent literally hours trying to figure out the lyrics so I could sing along properly. Over the next several years, I kept going back to this album when I needed something to listen to. It's just totally classic and I've come to love Natalie Cole's voice and style. I've gradually realized that she is my favorite singer and has a song on some album somewhere that I always want to listen to, no matter what my mood is.

2) Come Away With Me by Norah Jones: I bought this album when Adam and I were engaged and just about to get married. We both have lots of good memories come flooding back whenever this song is on. Plus, it's just a good song.

3) Mahler's Symphony No. 2, "Resurrection": I don't know if this counts, but I don't care. I had the immense privilege of being in the Philharmonic Orchestra during my last year at BYU and we performed this entire symphony with all the parts (it was written for roughly one thousand performers, and we had about one thousand performers at the concert). Aside from it being one of the most incredible works ever written, it has an incredible message. Mahler wrote this symphony based on Christ's life and resurrection, hence the nickname "Resurrection". During rehearsal one day, Kory Katseanes (our conductor and my benefactor for allowing me in the orchestra as the only violinist without "Music" as my pronounced major) read the english translation to the german lyrics that are part of the last two movements. Since this was at BYU, we could discuss what those lyrics meant to us and therefore make it much more special for each of us. We performed this several times, but the final performance was the most incredible. The giant choir behind us was perfect, the ten french horns behind us and in the balconies and the percussionists and trombonists on stage and off were flawless and we strings weren't so bad ourselves. The Spirit was so strong, especially among the performers and as I looked around at my fellow musicians, I saw that most had tears running down their cheeks and flooding their eyes. I just thought to myself that I would never have another opportunity like this ever again in my life. Because I chose Nursing instead of music for my career path, I would not be able to be in any really good orchestras like the Phil again and even if I was, I couldn't have such a strong spiritual experience with roughly one thousand others who believed the same things I did. When I listen to recordings of this now, I mean really listen, I can't stop the tears from flowing. I absolutely love it.

4) Someone Else's Story from Chess: My little sister and I frequently took turns stealing the recording of this little-known broadway musical from my mother and listening to it endlessly when we were young. This was my favorite song and C and I would sing it all the time. Good times.

5) Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler: I. Love. This. Song. End of story.

I, like Summer, want to know everyone else's top five songs and why. Because it's really fun. Go!

2008-11-11T16:08:00.000-08:00

The 8 Things Tag...

8 TV shows I love to watch:
1. The Office
2. The Amazing Race
3. 24
4. Lost
5. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (I know. We're Netflixing it right now. It's actually quite entertaining.)
6. The West Wing (Also being Netflixed)
7. Firefly
8. I'm stretching here...can't think of another one. Sorry.

8 Favorite Restaurants
1. The Melting Pot (!!!)
2. California Pizza Kitchen
3. Maddox
4. Cap City
5. Cafe Rio
6. Searle's (gas station in middle-of-nowhere Idaho)
7. Mi Mexico (which is no more...stupid)
8. Del Taco

8 Things that happened today
1. Ate breakfast and did emailing/Facebooking
2. Shower
3. Wrote out a grocery shopping list
4. Preschool
5. Lunch with Adam
6. Watched last night's Amazing Race
7. Went grocery shopping
8. Watched Adam make a chocolate cake for no reason

8 things that I look forward to:
1. No longer being pregnant
2. Adam graduating from grad school
3. Adam graduating from med school
4. Adam being done with residency
5. Abby's bedtime
6. My bedtime
7. Abby's 18th birthday
8. Fetus's 18th birthday

8 Things on my wish list:
1. Skinniness (At least less fatness)
2. More energy/ambition
3. Chocolate cake (good thing Adam just made some)
4. New kitchen
5. New house (preferably self-cleaning)
6. A less picky taste for food
7. Talent. For anything.
8. A good movie to watch now

I'm going to be a party pooper and not tag. Mostly because I don't think 8 people even read my blog.

Good thing, because I hate surprises

2008-10-24T16:27:00.001-07:00

There was a lull in the conversation at the dinner table today so Abby took initiative to fill that void:

"Mommy, Daddy said that maybe we could get you a birdhouse for Christmas!"

Awesome. I've wanted one for a while.

I got picture tagged

2008-10-09T09:57:00.000-07:00

So thanks to Summer, you all get to see the fourth picture in the fourth folder in my iPhoto and learn about it. Fortunately, I have kind of a cool one. Well, if it were up to me, I would have chosen a different picture from the folder, but enough stalling. Here it is:

When Abby was three months old, my parents, my sister Caitie, my sister-in-law and her husband, my in-laws, Adam, Abby and I all went on a cruise through the Mediterranean. Included in this cruise was a stop in Egypt where we went to Cairo, took a cruise down the Nile and visited the pyramids. This guy was one of the policemen patrolling the pyramids as it's a hot spot for petty crime. Nice, huh? And like I said, I have cooler pictures of the pyramids, but rules are rules.

Now I get to tag people! How many am I supposed to tag? Oh well. How about...Carrie/Tim, Caitie and Melanie. I'm feeling like I'm in a generous mood so only you three are affected.

Dilemma

2008-10-06T14:14:00.000-07:00

What do you do if your 2-year-old goes potty all by herself but forgets to take her panties off before doing her business on the potty? Laugh, or cry?

My conversation with Abby the other day

2008-10-04T15:14:00.000-07:00

Abby: Mommy, I need to go potty
Me: Okay, go ahead
Abby: Is the light on for me?
Me: You can turn it on yourself
Abby: Oh, okay! (she runs off and goes potty-I'm in the kitchen)
(Several seconds go by)
Abby: Mom! I'm all done!
Me: Okay, did you wipe?
Abby: yup!
Me: Did you wash your hands?
Abby: I did, actually!
Me: Did you pull up your panties and your pants?
Abby: Sure did!
Me: Did you flush the potty?
Abby: Actually, yes, I did!
Me: Okay! Come here and I can help you with your belt!

Abby then came prancing out of the bathroom with nothing on below her waist. I smelled her hands-not clean. So I told her to go wash her hands and she said, "Oh! I gotta wipe too!" Also, the sounds of a flushing potty soon came from the bathroom.

Sigh....

Scotland

2008-09-12T10:04:00.000-07:00

After our first night in Dublin, we had to wake up early to catch our bus to the airport to catch our plane to Glasgow. Again, everything went well and we got there just fine. Amazing in this world of unpredictable airline schedules, etc. We got our car and slowly drove to Edinburgh. Slowly because we kept stopping along the way. Stopping for reasons like this:

Yes, that is my sweet husband, rocking away on the bagpipes. This was in the lowlands (as opposed to the highlands) just outside of Loch Lomond. Adam's dream for years has been to play his pipes in the highlands of Scotland so this was just a preview. Don't worry, he did it again later, as you will soon see. We also stopped at a castle near the banks of Loch Lomond and walked around for a bit. We also discovered a few valuable knowledge tidbits about Abby during this long drive. 1) She can go potty in the grass and 2) She CAN still fall asleep in her car seat when the need gets great.

We got to Edinburgh that night and settled in. The next day, we headed out to the Royal Mile to see what the Fringe Festival was all about. Apparently, there's a huge festival every year in Edinburgh and we were there in the middle of it. A major part of the festival every year is the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, which is why we made this trip in the first place. Wayne and Dee got tickets, which are pretty hard to come by, and it's been another one of Adam's life-long dreams to go to this thing, so that's why we went! Anyway, the Tattoo wasn't until that night so we hung out around the Royal Mile for most of the day until Abby's nap. It was pretty bizarre. There were thousands of people and some really weird street performers everywhere. Personally, I prefer the Royal Mile without the Festival going on. Oh well. But on the plus side, Adam got to eat haggis for lunch. He really likes haggis for some reason that I can't understand. I've had it before, and trust me, sheep innards are not all they're cracked up to be.

After lunch, we headed back to the hotel so Abby could take a nap since we were headed to the Tattoo at 10:00 that night. I was pretty anxious about taking Abby to an event so late at night since she's never been up that late without at least cat naps here and there. But I must say, she did remarkably well. She enjoyed the Tattoo and kept asking for more bagpipes. There was one incident, however, that I'm not too proud of. As soon as we found our seats in the tight stadium seating area, she had to go potty. Fine. Adam took her to the port-a-potties that were just outside the arena, and came back about fifteen minutes later saying that she refused to go. The Tattoo started just as they sat down and Abby immediately started screaming and crying because she had to go potty. Now, she was wearing a pull-up, but apparently refused to go in it. So I again climbed and tripped over about twenty people to take her to the port-a-potties. Again, she freaked out, not wanting to go in because they were too "scary". I forced her in one with me and pleaded and cajoled her to please, please use the potty or go in her pull-ups. No. She would have neither option. I even went on the potty to show her it wasn't scary. She still wouldn't go. So, with all kinds of people outside the plastic walls, listening to all of this, I yanked down her pants and plopped her on the potty amid much screaming, hollering and even a little bit of kicking. As soon as she started relieving herself, she stopped the screaming and crying and said, "This isn't scary! I'm going potty!" I just couldn't believe I wasted all that time trying to talk her into it. But as soon as it was over, we went back to the show and she was wonderful for the whole thing.

So...is anyone wondering what the Edinburgh Military Tattoo entails? Basically, it's a show of many of the world's best military bands performing and basically showing off. Lots of marching bands, lots of drill teams, lots of dancing and lots of bagpipes. It was really cool and there was an amazing drill team from Norway and an even more amazing marching team from New Zealand. I never knew what a marching team was, but trust me, it was very cool. Basically, it was a very large group of people just marching. And most of the time, there was no music or audible beat. Incredible. Anyway, we had a great time and didn't get back to our hotel until after 2am. Abby was a good little trooper.

We left the next day for Prestwick and again took our time getting there. We stopped at Abby's first castle experience: Scone Palace. As I walked through the Palace with her, we looked for Princesses and dragons. Every window we passed, she had to look out and see if the dragon was out there. We also saw where the Princess slept and ate dinner and everything. It was pretty fun. We also stopped at a great little Scottish pub along the way and had a great little Scottish lunch. Adam had more haggis and was generally pretty happy with things.

We topped off our Scotland experience with a stop in the actual Highlands of Scotland so Adam could get all garbed up in his kilt and bagpipe gear and give us a nice little private concert. Dream: fulfilled. Adam had to lug his pipes and his kilt and stuff all over the rest of Scandinavia, but he still says it was worth it. I was very happy he could finally do this. Mostly because he had been talking to me for as long as I've known him about how great it would be to play his pipes in the Scottish Highlands so now when he brings it up I can say, "Good thing you've fulfilled that life-long dream!" And he did look pretty good.... So did Abby.

We eventually made it to Prestwick, then woke up early to catch the train to Newcastle to catch our ferry to Bergen, Norway. I'm not going to say much about the ferry because it wasn't the most fun time in my life. Except, Abby made a good little half-Scottish, half-Spanish friend named Ashelagh who was absolutely adorable. They had a good time together and it's a good thing, too because she kept her entertained and out of my hair! But we made it to Norway and all was well. Till next post....

Ireland

2008-09-07T18:11:00.000-07:00

Okay, okay, here goes. Our trip summary. Complete with pictures. Is this like coming to my house and being forced to watch a slideshow of our family vacation? Kinda. Oh well.

We left August 13th for Dublin, Ireland. Abby did really surprisingly well on the 6 1/2 hour flight from Toronto to Dublin. After her dinner, she watched her new Shrek movie for a little while then turned to Adam and said, "I'm tired. I want to go to sleep." So he helped her get comfy in her little seat and she slept the rest of the time! We were impressed. Anyway, when we got to the airport, we waited around for Wayne and Dee (Adam's parents) then headed to our hotel for a much needed nap. When mostly awake, we headed to the center of Dublin and walked around, ate ice cream then went home. I wasn't too adventurous on account of the incredible tiredness. Abby was pretty tired too.

Interesting fact: while we were on the bus on the way back to the hotel, we drove right by the hostel where my friends and I stayed when we were there back in 2001. Good memories were remembered. We actually left the next morning for the rest of our trip, but we came back to Ireland for two nights at the end of our trip. So that's included here too.

When we returned, we stayed a night in Mullingar, a little town about an hour or so west of Dublin. It was so beautiful! And really fun to be more in the countryside of Ireland. Adam and I actually took advantage of our apartment-style hotel suite we were staying in with his parents and left a sleeping Abby with them to go to a quaint pub for dessert. It was nice to have a night alone after three weeks of 24/7 time with Abby and in-laws, as much as I love them all.

Anyway, Dee's brother actually died in Mullingar several years ago so she and Wayne took the next morning to locate his grave and spend some time there while Adam, Abby and I got ready to go. We spent the rest of the afternoon making our way to Dublin, stopping at Belvedere Mansion and Trim Castle along the way. Abby learned to really love castles. She'd go around all the little "rooms" and look for princesses and dragons. So when we stopped at Trim Castle, she had a blast. After an hour or so of wandering around the ruins in the rain, Abby saw a wedding party and just about wet her pants with excitement over seeing a real "princess".

We eventually made our way to Dublin and found our hotel. By this time, Wayne was coming down with the same horrible sore throat Dee and Adam had so we all turned in early. Unfortunately, we didn't get the best sleep that night. The fire alarms in the hotel went off two or three times throughout the night for no apparent reason. If we didn't have to leave for the airport before breakfast was served, I would have requested a free breakfast. Oh well. We made it to the airport, got on our flights and made it back home. Three weeks is a long time for a vacation, but we were so glad we did it!

That last picture on the right was taken in our hotel that last night. Abby climbed up in there and said, "This is my little treehouse!" I didn't know she knew what a treehouse was.

"My baby's killing me!"

2008-08-13T06:53:00.000-07:00

I now realize that probably wasn't a very good title for this blog. Oh well. I'm keeping it. Lately, Abby's been having trouble with her "baby". The one in her tummy. Yesterday, at random moments she'd say, "Oooo...ow, ow, ow! My tummy hurts!" I was starting to get concerned because I really didn't want her to be sick on our trip. Then last night she said, "Ow! My baby's really hurting me!" And then I realized. I should have made the connection earlier, but a few days ago, Abby went up to Adam and said, "My tummy hurts, Daddy. My baby's killing me!" I've been expressing my discomfort at being pregnant at times and I think she's just imitating me. That or she really has some life-threatening illness that I'm ignoring. But I can honestly say that I've never said that my baby was killing me.

We leave for the airport in three hours. I THINK we're ready but I also think we'll never be ready. We're so excited! Abby's especially excited to sleep on the big, big airplane. I think she thinks she's getting a bed though. Oh well. At least she's excited to sleep. I'm not taking that away from her.

Update:

2008-08-10T10:14:00.000-07:00

Hey. It's been a while. Anyway...if you don't know me that well, you probably don't know that I'm going to Europe on Wednesday. In three days. For three weeks. Adam, Abby, Adam's parents and I are going to Ireland, Scotland, Norway, Denmark and Sweden then back to Ireland for a fun-filled adventure. Wish us luck.

Also, this is how we've (mostly Abby) been spending our time lately. Check it out. (Some background for that: Abby loooooves the original version of this song [Feist's 1 2 3 4 from her album Remember] and can sing it by heart. And does. All the time. So Adam found this and it's been her favorite ever since.)
This discovery has led to some other fantastic discoveries. Here are my favorites:
Neil Patrick Harris

Ahhh...I love Sesame Street.

Training....

2008-07-16T09:47:00.000-07:00

Abby and I decided to ditch story time today for a more educational activity: going to a movie with her friend. When I told Adam of our plans he said, "Yeah, that's good. She needs to start training for movie theater movies." We saw Shrek the Third because she's such an avid Shrek fan. I could tell she liked it when we got home because in her prayer for lunch she said, "Thank Thee for Shrek and baby Shreks and Donkey and Kitty and Dragon and Princess Fiona and movies!" Guess we'll have to own that movie too.

Growing up

2008-07-08T07:26:00.000-07:00

Now that Abby's growing up, her vocabulary and speaking skills are getting better, which makes me pretty sad. She's speaking in full sentences which are actually intelligible most of the time. While I appreciate the ease in conversing with my child, I miss her made-up words she had. I think the saddest day for me was when she started calling her "Keepies" "Blankies". But she still has the best word still in use. She has always called fruit snacks "ya-yas". Don't really know why, but she has. And she still does! I'm going to be totally depressed when she realizes, after getting made fun of in first grade, that they're not really called ya-yas. But until then, she must never know.

FYI

2008-07-02T05:41:00.000-07:00

I'm pregnant. 12 weeks along, due January 11th. Abby's pretty excited to have a baby come live with us and is constantly telling us she has a baby in her tummy too. I just smile and nod. I don't ask questions.

These people get paid? MONEY??

2008-06-30T19:32:00.000-07:00

On the news tonight, I learned that there are seven listings in the Central OH area of people whose names are John McCain.

I've just decided

2008-06-30T10:08:00.000-07:00

This is amazing. I had a really hard time getting into Mozart when I was growing up, (not for a lack of trying...I kept having my teachers give me Mozart concertos and sonatas to play. I could never get them how I wanted them to sound) but I just heard this recording and it changed me for life. THIS is how Mozart should be played! Beautiful!! Now I must own it.

You know what's creepy?

2008-06-26T13:46:00.000-07:00

Hearing tornado sirens go off as you're going to sleep. Eerie. But on the plus side, Abby has had almost 3 full days of accident-free potty training!! Maybe this will work after all.

Direct Quote

2008-06-18T18:08:00.000-07:00

I have some tooters on my bums, so be careful, okay?

-Abby

What I like about Abby

2008-06-18T12:35:00.000-07:00

Abby and I went to Story Time then to the park today. She's becoming very independent and I love that! During story time, I barely even saw her. As soon as it started, she ran up to the front of the room and sat down during the stories and danced her heart out during the songs. When it came time for the kids to get stamps on their hands, she came and sat by me until most of the other kids had their turns. Then at the park, she went out of her way to make a couple of friends. She usually does this but doesn't always get very positive responses. These two girls she met were very friendly and more than willing to be Abby's friend. They played on the slides, taking turns and when they had to go home, Abby came to me and said, "Mommy, I want to go home too." I guess she didn't have the heart to carry on by herself. I'm so glad she's so sociable, because I am sooo not. I've been shy my whole life and I'm glad that so far, Abby's not.

Tagged

2008-06-15T14:22:00.000-07:00

Melanie just tagged me. For the second time. Guess I'd better do it this time. So here goes, seven interesting things about me:

1) My right thumb is a good 1/2 inch longer than my left. No traumatic injury or anything, it's just that way. I think it makes me special??

2) I love to travel and have been to several of countries. Here they are in no particular order: Canada, Mexico, England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Germany, France, Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Egypt, United Arab Emirates (with a brief several hours in Oman), China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines and Japan. This summer, I'm going to go to Ireland, Scotland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark so that should be fun. My goal in life is to go to a lot more places. South America, for instance.

3) I play the violin. Is that interesting? Well, anyway, it's true. I took lessons from when I was five years old until my duet recital a month before my daughter was born when I was 23. I now play in a little non-audition community orchestra and I think I actually may be getting a student in the fall! I'm way excited about that.

4) Some staggering statistic exists where something like 74% of all nurses would NOT recommend the hospital they work in to a family member. I think I'm one of those nurses.

5) I collect boxes. Little decorative ones from all over the world. I've even coerced my family into getting me some from places they've been. So I have some from Kenya, Tanzania, Estonia, Russia, Prague and other places I've never been. I'm getting to have quite a few and am having a hard time trying to decide where to put them all.

6) I never did anything bad in high school. I was a total nerd and was too afraid to misbehave. I think this actually makes me boring, not interesting. Oh well.

7) I was in a pretty bad car wreck when I was in eighth grade. I had to miss school for a week at the end of the term and all my teachers let me make up my work except for my science teacher. So I ended up getting a B in that class. I was mad.

I don't think I'm a very interesting person, so that's all I could come up with. I'm glad it was only seven.

Abby sings

2008-06-07T17:39:00.000-07:00

In case you can't tell, she's singing "I Am A Child Of God" with only just a little bit of help. She surprised us one day by singing along when we sang it during Family Home Evening so I guess Nursery is working! I now go into Nursery every week to do singing time and I see now how she knows the song so well. She totally gets into singing time. I love going in there and seeing her sing so enthusiastically. Anyway, enjoy.

Abby and Jake

2008-05-30T12:48:00.001-07:00

I have been having a lot of fun lately watching Abby interact with other kids her age. She's just getting to the point where she likes to have intelligent-sounding conversation with them. So I'm watching Abby's friend Jake today and they're both having a great time. Although I'm starting to notice Abby likes to kind of be in charge. I have to keep reminding her that Jake already has a mother and it isn't her. But it just seems like she's genuinely interested in getting Jake to have a good time. She likes to make him laugh so puts on shows for him. She'll go to the middle of the room and spin around and around until she falls. Then they both laugh and laugh. She also likes to hide in our blanket cupboard and have him find her. It's amazing what they find to keep themselves busy. And I must say, they're sharing their toys very well! I'm very impressed. Wonder how long that will last.

Abby's Dances

2008-05-24T13:54:00.000-07:00

Here are two videos, as promised. More to come.

Dance class update

2008-05-21T17:08:00.000-07:00

So I haven't updated since that first disastrous dance class, but Abby has come a long way. After that first week, we had a little discussion about how to be happy and how to listen to her teacher Miss Stephanie. I even bribed her and told her that if she was good and happy and did what her teacher said I would take her to McDonald's. It worked. Since then, she has been an angel during dance class and will even occasionally ask for a happy meal after class. I have to smallerize some movies then I'll put those up, but I thought these pictures were pretty cute. The first one is of Abby and the other girls warming up. Next is all of them standing in line waiting for the music to start so they can do their little dance. Then the last one is Abby doing her "Princess Walk". She's really good at it.... As good as a two-year-old can get I guess.

Rescue, 911!

2008-05-19T14:26:00.000-07:00

Does anyone remember that show? I think it needs to come back. It was pretty freaking awesome.

Feist

2008-04-23T05:29:00.001-07:00

It's a beautiful thing. We went to her concert last night and it was amazing! If you have the chance to go see her, GO! She's way good.

Vomit and Cuddles

2008-04-17T19:17:00.000-07:00

Abby was sick today and besides all the vomit I cleaned up, I really enjoyed it because she just wanted to cuddle all day. Does it make me a bad mother to enjoy my daughter's illness?

Dancing, anyone?

2008-04-16T13:33:00.000-07:00

Abby went to her first ballet lesson yesterday and I've been trying to pretend it didn't happen ever since. She had been so excited to go to "dance school" for a couple of days and Adam even practiced the positions with her. (I don't know the ballet positions since I never took any dance lesson of any kind. But thankfully Adam knew them quite well.) We got there and I showed Abby what all the other kids were doing and gently asked if she would like to participate. She said, "NO!" and started to cry. She cried off and on for the next 10 minutes until she just didn't stop. We left half way through the lesson. So much for trying new things.

Tired

2008-04-09T15:57:00.000-07:00

When Abby and I drove home from a friend's house this afternoon, (after her "nap", aka two hours spent in her crib, not sleeping) Abby decided to cry and cry and basically throw a fit. After carrying on for some time, she started to say, "Go ni-niiiiiiiiight!" We got home and I immediately put her to bed where she fell asleep until I woke her up, 2 1/2 hours later. At least she knew what she wanted.

After dinner today, Adam showed Abby a bunny out in our backyard and said, "What should we name the bunny, Abby?" Her response: "Boot". So Boot the Bunny came to visit us tonight. Sweet.

Family pics!

2008-04-06T11:19:00.000-07:00

I guess Summer inspired me to put these up. Or maybe I'm just afraid that now that she reads my blog, she might wonder why these pics haven't been posted yet. And I don't want to offend her because she took these awesome pictures and we want her to keep doing it!

Phew!

2008-03-29T18:31:00.000-07:00

So....my pain was not a result of a kidney stone or an ovarian cyst. It was an infection. In my kidney. I guess I don't get fevers when I get infections. Go figure. And I guess I want the world to know of my health problems. Also go figure.

So, so sad

2008-03-19T16:36:00.000-07:00

I'm in a lot of pain and my doc thinks it's either a kidney stone or an ovarian cyst.

Please, please let it be a cyst.

SNOW!

2008-03-08T16:29:00.000-08:00

We got 18 inches of snow in less than 24 hours. It's the most snow Columbus has ever gotten. Ever. In the history of Ohio. It's been pretty awesome.

Dentist

2008-03-07T09:05:00.000-08:00

I went there today for the first time in five years and guess what. STILL no cavities!

Whew!

2008-03-06T18:50:00.001-08:00

I've been working a lot lately. I'm tired.

Is there any doubt?

2008-02-25T16:43:00.000-08:00

Abby is definitely a girl!

Happy Birthday, Abby Dabby!

2008-02-12T15:21:00.001-08:00

We finally got around to celebrating Abby's birthday last week because I was out of town for her actual birthday (see previous post). She had a blast. It was really fun to see her get all excited about her birthday cake and presents. We didn't get her much, but other people did. We tried to put less emphasis on the actual presents, but it was hard not to because of the huge pile she had and because of her excitement. Oh well, maybe next year. Abby's been so much fun lately. It's been a joy to see her grow and learn, even if it has been a challenge at times. Anyway, here are pictures.

Dubai, in a single post

2008-01-28T08:41:00.001-08:00

As I've said before, Dubai is amazing. Big city in a third world country almost. I thought I'd post some pics of what it was like. Most of our time was spent shopping so I didn't get to take too many pictures since the shops didn't allow it. I think it may have been because their goods were obtained in less-than-legal ways. Anyway, here are pictures of what we did in between shopping.

The first three pictures are at the Bastakiya. Basically "Old Dubai". They're a bunch of buildings that were built to look like the dwellings that were there a couple hundred years ago. The towers were their form of "air conditioning". The breezes (that were pretty much non-existent) were funneled through the towers to the rest of the house. I like modern conveniences myself. The first one is of my cute nephew petting a falcon.

These next few pics are from the day we went off-roading in the middle of the Arabian desert. So fun.

The next two pics are from Global Village: the greatest shopping extravaganza on the face of the earth. I bought lots of silver jewelry and frankincense from Yemen, leather jackets from Pakistan and hand-painted pottery from Palestine. Don't know what that sign's about.

We went to the Jumeirah Beach Mosque on a tour. It's the only mosque in Dubai that allowed non-muslims. It was very cool. I'm still impressed at how similar Islam is to Mormonism. Very cool

We went to the Eat and Drink one night for dinner. Despite the name, it's actually a really good hole-in-the-wall restaurant. This is a list of the specialty fruit drinks they offer. I got the Titanic, which of course was a blend of fresh fruit juices with a scoop of pistachio ice cream. ???

Okay, okay...

2008-01-20T19:49:00.000-08:00

I guess it's time I post. Because I know there are so many avid fans of mine out there waiting to hear what I'm up to! Currently, I am in Dubai, hanging out with my sister who lives here. Adam and Abby stayed home with Grandma and Grandpa. Awesome. I have been having the time of my life! The best part has been all the shopping we've been doing. Amy takes the time to get to know the salesmen and they are all so friendly. I've been to so many countries where the shopping is frustrating because the salesmen are so pushy and annoying and mean when you bargain with them. But the people here are so nice! They keep telling me how beautiful I am and are always giving me free gifts. After I buy their stuff, of course. But it's been amazing to talk to these people. We've spent the last 2 evenings at this big shopping extravaganza that's only in Dubai for a couple of months called Global Village. There are shops representing countries from all over the world and people from these countries are selling their goods. So we have met all kinds of people of all kinds of nationalities. The thing I've noticed about Dubai is what Amy said, "It's like the UN, but it actually works." And it's true. I went to a party with Amy last Friday and met all her friends, also from all over the world. And you have to hand it to the Muslims who are native here. They are very tolerant of all the immodesty and rude people. It has been an incredible experience. I'll post pictures when I get home. Stay tuned!

It's back!!

2007-12-12T08:32:00.000-08:00

The greatest cereal ever made is back on grocery store shelves! Rice Krispies TREATS! That's right. It's back. I ate two bowls of it this morning and savored every one of the 320 calories. Mmmm....

Watch out

2007-12-09T15:26:00.000-08:00

When Abby really wants something these days she says, "Please, Mommy Dear?" Adam said that encouraging this behavior is like teaching our enemies to use guns when they're fighting with swords. Apparently, Adam gives in to anything when she looks at him with her big blue gorgeous eyes and sticks her lip out and says in a plaintive voice, "Please, Daddy Dear?" I have to keep reminding him that he's bigger than her and to stick up for what's right. Sissy.

Adam quote:

2007-12-07T09:51:00.000-08:00

You know how I feel like I need to eat all the meat in a meal because I feel bad for the animal that gave its life to feed me? I feel the same way about chocolate. All those little chocolate bunnies gave their lives to feed my chocolate addiction so I need to eat all that's put in front of me.

Long Time....

2007-12-05T09:56:00.001-08:00

It snowed in Columbus last night! And it's actually still snowing. We got about 2-3 inches and it's beautiful outside. Abby loves it too. She stands in front of the window for quite a while and says, "It nosing!" I'm guess that means it's snowing. We went out in it for a bit today and she was thrilled. Until some got in her eye. She didn't like that much. Anyway, to catch up, we had a great Halloween and a fantastic Thanksgiving. I had my appendix out and my mom came to visit. Other than work for me, school for Adam and playing for Abby, we haven't really been doing much. I think it's time for more pictures of Abby though. So here they are!

$850 later...

2007-10-19T21:47:00.000-07:00

I have a working automobile.

Cute!

2007-10-10T17:47:00.000-07:00

Adam went to get Abby dressed the other day and actually picked out a really cute outfit for her. Abby saw it and started protesting, saying "No! Cute, Cute!" and pointed to the basket of dresses in her room. She apparently wanted to look cuter that day and thought a dress would make her so. This is the dress she chose. I can't say it was a bad choice though. I'm afriad I have a very girly girl.

Not fair!!

2007-10-04T18:49:00.000-07:00

Adam and I had not had a date for a really, really long time because he has been so busy with school. Today was his last day of his first year boards, so a week ago, I planned a big date for us tonight. I got a babysitter and planned to drop Abby off before Adam got home so that we could leave the second he pulled up to the house after school. We started off the night by going to Columbus Fish Market and if you know me, you know that this was no easy feat. I hate seafood in all shapes, sizes and forms. But, Adam loves it and he doesn't get to eat it much because of me, and since this was a night to celebrate him, I decided it was worth the sacrifice on my part. Luckily, they had 3 or 4 non-fishy items so I got a delicious lemon pepper chicken with mashed potatoes and green beans. It was fantastic. So after dinner, I took Adam to the Bodies exhibit. It was awesome. It was basically an exhibit of human bodies and body parts that have been preserved in a special way then put back together in cool positions and stuff. Anyway, I don't know how to describe it, but it was incredible. About half-way through the exhibit, I started to feel queasy. I thought this was weird since I'm a nurse and have gone through anatomy and have seen numerous horribly gross things in my career. So I decided to speed things up a bit and not get as close to the bodies. But I was feeling worse as we went on. So that was weird. After we finished up with the exhibit, we went to the Melting Pot for dessert. This was what I was really waiting all night for. Adam and I love the Melting Pot and we only go there for our anniversary. So this was a big deal. I had a present in my purse for Adam and I planned to give it to him during dessert. Anyway, we got to our table and I knew that I could not eat anything. So I went to the bathroom and took deep breaths, but I still felt like garbage. I seriously considered taking my straw out of my water and shoving it down my throat so I could puke and get it over with so I could eat my delicious dessert. But I didn't. Unfortunately. As I sat at the table watching Adam eat our lovely dessert, I started noticing the smells wafting over to our table. The smell of cooking alcohol was overwhelming and I almost lost it. I gave Adam his cd, muttered a half-hearted "congratulations" then made a bee-line for our car. I turned on the car and put the air conditioning on full blast. But to no avail. I got the plastic bag off the floor of the front seat and lost my dinner in it. Adam chose this perfect time to return and offered to take the now full bag to the nearest garbage, which was quite a ways away. That's when I knew I am truly loved. I declined his offer, telling him he was nuts to even think about offering then got out of the car to dispose of my bag-o-goo. Adam kindly escorted me then took me home while he picked Abby up. He's still at our friend's house getting her and I'm laying down, sipping ginger ale and trying to keep my stomach in line. Why did this have to happen on our first date out in months?? Just like how this almost exact same thing happened on our second anniversary. Stupid stomach.

I love my job

2007-09-25T07:34:00.000-07:00

This post really has nothing to do with me loving my job, it's just to distract my boss in case she reads this post because I might get fired for it. For those of you who don't know, I work at the children's hospital in Columbus, which was just renamed from Columbus Children's Hospital to Nationwide Children's Hospital. Why? Because Nationwide (insurance company...based in Columbus) just donated $50 million to the hospital. Now, isn't that generous? Except, the hospital just conveniently just decided to be nice and rename the hospital after the company. We just learned that over $7 million of the $50 million has been spent just to rename the place. Everything has to be relabeled. From the signs on any affiliated buildings to the linens in the hospital. Yes, the linens. There were faded stamps of Columbus Children's Hospital on every piece of linen, from sheets to isolation gowns. So, what did they do with the old linens? Shredded them. And in the garbage they went. Now, that just seems like a waste of money to me, but what do I know. Also, every employee, from nurses, to housekeepers to researchers, received free items to replace the ones we had that had the old logo on it. I got: a lunchbox/bag thinger, a water bottle, a lanyard, badge pull, polo shirt, and a pin to pin over any item of clothing that has the old logo on it. It seems to me that Nationwide should have "donated" another $10 million to cover the cost of having their name splashed all over our stuff. I feel like a walking advertisement now. I didn't mind so much when I had "Columbus Children's Hospital" on everything I brought to work, but I don't think I'm advertising the hospital anymore.

January 14, 2008

2007-09-20T13:56:00.000-07:00

I'm going to Dubai from Jan 14-23!! I bought my plane tickets, so it's official! Everyone, get your orders in for anything exotic you want. And I'm going without any small child tagging along!! Wahoo! Thank you Grandma Dee!

What we did today

2007-09-20T13:52:00.000-07:00

Abby and I went to Abby's friend Mia's house for an hour or so this morning. Mia has twin baby sisters and Abby loves them. When we were there, we went for a walk around their apartment complex and threw rocks in the pond, scaring all the frogs back into the water. So when Adam got home today, he asked Abby what she did today. Her response: "Mia, babybaby, strollerstroller". Because you see, there were two babies and they were both in the stroller.

The Office Spoiler

2007-09-16T07:57:00.000-07:00

Jim and Karen?!?!?!?! WHAT??????

Ahhhh....

2007-09-15T02:54:00.000-07:00

You wanna know a fabulous way to spend some extra time? Adam and I decided we wanted to go hang out on our hammock together because it has been so nice outside lately and we haven't really been able to enjoy our hammock because it's been so hot since we got it. So...we got a blanket, some pillows, Adam's computer and the latest disk of The Office and watched it out on the hammock. It was fantastic. I discovered a few bug bites tonight at work, but it was worth it. Maybe we'll try it again tonight...until we freeze. Also, I think I'm going to Dubai. Anyone wanna join me??

Yesterday

2007-09-12T16:40:00.001-07:00

Who here has slept for 24 hours straight in the recent past? Ooo! Me!!

2007-09-10T08:48:00.001-07:00

Adam and I spent many hours (I'm not saying how many) this weekend watching The Office. Have you seen the show? Hi-larious!! We decided we're new fans. Netflix has this great thing where you can watch movies on your computer for an allotted amount of time per month, depending on the plan you have. We have the cheapest plan, so we get fewer hours. But still. We used it all up this weekend watching the show. Now we're trying to restrain ourselves from going to Blockbuster and renting the disks we didn't have enough time to see. We can't wait to see what's going to happen with Pam and Jim. If you know, don't tell us. We want to find out ourselves. Oh, and, here's a picture of Abby.

Nothing to say

2007-08-30T20:26:00.000-07:00

I have nothing to say today. Adam has been crazy busy with school so Abby and I have been hanging out a lot together. Maybe someday I will do something worth writing about. Abby has been a pretty cute little monster though. If you haven't met her yet, you should.

A rather entertaining show...

2007-08-13T08:41:00.000-07:00

is Sesame Street! The other day, I saw a group of grouches doing a spoof of the song "Camelot" from the broadway play "Spamalot" which is of course a live rendition of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It was awesome! The writers really knew their stuff! There was even a reference to a shrubbery in it. Today, Tina Fey was on as a pirate captain and she had 2 muppet buccaneers in tow. They were pirates who loved to read. Tina asked one guy what a pirate's favorite letter was and he said..."RRRRRRRRRRR" (Yes, we all saw that coming...wait for it...) Tina Fey or one of her buccaneers, I can't remember said, "No, it's F. You're just stereotyping us pirates." Later this same guy said something about X marking the spot on a treasure map and the same buccaneer said, "No! L marks the spot! There you go again, assuming we're all alike. You're just making it worse." I thought it was hilarious. And now there's the new fairy-in-training Abby Kadabby. She's cute. Even if you don't have an 18-month-old child like I do, it's worth tuning into. They also have a short called "Survivor: Musical Chairs". I heart Sesame Street.

Simple pleasures

2007-08-07T13:01:00.000-07:00

It's amazing how nice it is to be able to do stuff that you were temporarily unable to do.

Cheese!

2007-07-31T14:44:00.000-07:00

Abby has just started posing and saying "Cheese!" for all of her pictures. This is my favorite pose ever. We were trying to get her to display her new dress, sandals and hair style. I may be biased, but I think she's cute.

Dear Caitie Again:

2007-07-24T16:54:00.000-07:00

If you really got me a present, I'm sorry. If not, I still hate you.

Love,
Mamo

Dear Caitie:

2007-07-17T20:01:00.000-07:00

I hate you.

Love, Maury

OCD

2007-07-16T13:58:00.001-07:00

I'm afraid Abby already has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Example: when I was in the shower the other day, I heard a random soft banging sound coming from somewhere in the bathroom. I peeked around the shower curtain to see Abby with her spray bottle I use to do her hair. I kept watching and I saw that she took the bottle, hit the nozzle on the shelf a few times, then got a towel and wiped vigorously where she had touched the bottle to the shelf, thus thoroughly cleaning the shelf. Now, I ask you, is that normal 18-month-old behavior?? NO!

Update

2007-07-11T12:53:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've really updated our lives, so I guess now is the time. Abby's friend Jake is over and is keeping her entertained so I can actually do something without her bothering me. (Fullers-I promise I'm keeping an eye on them! They're safe!!) I had a fabulous July 4th and an even better birthday. On both occasions, we had our friends the Fullers over for a barbeque and games and we (at least I) had a blast. Probably more fun than Mom, Dad, Caitie and Amy had. Since we haven't heard from them, I'm guessing they have been eaten by a giraffe or something. Suckers. That's what you get for going to Africa. Abby's vocabulary is increasing at an alarming rate. She is definitely Adam's daughter as she likes to talk. A lot. The problem is getting her to stop. She is very good at getting her point across though. She also loves reading books, which I mentioned in my previous post. She likes looking at the ones she knows well and pointing certain things out. She'll point to a baby's diaper and say ,"di-poo" for example. Another of her favorites is finding "she-she" (Jesus) in her little scriptures-for-kids books. Jake is another favorite past-time of hers. Jacob is the Fuller's son and she has been spending a lot of time with him lately. She gets SOOOOO excited when she sees him and says "kakie" (Jakie) over and over. She'll then run over to him and give him great big loves. We already have their marriage arranged. Perhaps the Fullers don't know this yet. Surprise! We are eagerly awaiting the time when Abby can join Jake in Nursery too. Only one more Sunday to suffer through!! Yippee!!

Hooray for books!

2007-07-05T15:29:00.001-07:00

Abby has finally realized that books are pretty cool. She has never liked reading time too much until just a couple of weeks ago. Her favorite toys now are books and I couldn't be more thrilled! I was starting to get worried that she might not be a book junkie like me. That would have been too depressing to handle. She now enjoys going through her books and pointing out monsters, balls and fish repeatedly to whoever's nearest. Good girl.

Lonely Once Again

2007-06-20T09:06:00.001-07:00

I would just like to say a hearty thank you to the Unsworths for coming to visit me this past weekend. We had a fabulous time going to North Market, COSI, Kirtland, church and spending the evenings outside playing games and catching fireflies. See what fun things you could do if you visited me?? You'd all be welcome anytime.

Daddy's girl

2007-06-06T10:49:00.000-07:00

I think this look is going to get Abby whatever she wants from her dad.

Knowledge: A Blessing and a Curse

2007-05-21T10:18:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of people out there who think it's great that I'm a pediatric nurse and have 3 years of experience helping sick kids so I can help my own sick child. Well now my own child is sick and the urgent care couldn't figure out why. So I'm sure she's ultimately fine, but stories of diffuse enterocolitis resulting in colostomies and ruptured appendices leading to sepsis and mluti organ failure keep running through my mind. So if I wasn't a nurse, I wouldn't know of these things and I wouldn't be so worried about my child. But on the other hand, if she had trouble breathing I could tell the difference between a wheeze and a crackle. So should I be mad or grateful? Sigh...my life is hard.

Grapes and Spaghetti-O's: a winning combination

2007-05-16T12:08:00.000-07:00

Abby would not eat her Spaghetti-O's for lunch today unless her grapes were in the bowl. Because they taste better that way you see.

Absolutely Sinful

2007-05-04T19:27:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had a dessert that was just so incredible you feel it's a sin to tell anyone else about it because they can't have it? I had this experience last Tuesday. Adam and I went out for dinner and we decided to get dessert which we don't normally do and I have to say, it was the best $5 I ever spent. It was called "Big Mug O' Chocolate" and that's pretty much what it was. We got a large warm mug, the inside lined with hardened chocolate. Then filling the mug about 2/3 full was a warm, luscious, heavy, divine chocolate cake. The cake was topped with mostly melted chocolate chips, 2 small scoops of vanilla ice cream and another drizzle of hot fudge. It was decadent. I've been longing after it ever since and drooling whenever I thought of it. If you're ever in Columbus, OH, go to Cap City Diner and get this dessert! You will not be the same person after having eaten it.

Thoughts

2007-04-24T10:12:00.000-07:00

What would a Total Eclipse of One's Heart look like? More than that, what would it feel like? What does it even mean? Would that person's actual heart be covered by something else? If that's the case, everyone's heart really is totally eclipsed. By their pericardium. Duh. I don't think Ms. Tyler knew about that. Maybe she never took anatomy. Also, is love in the dark really a bad thing? I guess it would be, maybe, if you no longer had the light in your life. Still though, love in the dark is better than no love at all right? I would think so.

Why

2007-03-23T10:42:00.000-07:00

I love Ohio is the reason most people hate it: The Weather. It rains most of the time. I love it! It's raining right now in fact and I know that when I go to work tonight, most, if not all, of the people I work with will be complaining about what a miserable day it was. Not me! It's 10:44 am and Abby and I have already eaten breakfast, gotten dressed and shopped at 2 stores. When I got Abby out of the car when we got home, I had too much stuff to carry, so I just put her down. She went right out of the garage and into the pouring rain. She giggled and danced and generally enjoyed herself experiencing the downpour. That's how I know she's my daughter.

New experience

2007-03-13T09:41:00.000-07:00

Adam is sick today. Really actually sick. In the 7 years I have known him, he's only had the usual colds and coughs and I have been the one to have whooping cough and bronchitis and various other infections that required doctor visits, late-night trips to urgent cares and hospitalizations. I think I can consider this an epoch in my life. Adam's in the back room laying in bed with a bucket nearby and sipping water and grape soda. I really do feel bad for him, but really, it makes me feel a lot better for all the times I've required his slavery. So, Adam, thank you for not being able to keep anything down today.

Welcome Spring!

2007-03-10T16:30:00.000-08:00

Abby and I spent a glorious five minutes in my backyard the other day. It was still a little chilly, so that's why it was only 5 minutes. But she had a great time. She mostly just stood in the middle of the yard because apparently she's scared to move when she's on the grass. She just doesn't get it. She did squat down a couple of times to feel the grass, but that's as adventurous as she got. Oh well. Baby steps I guess. Literally.

Almost a new house

2007-03-06T09:58:00.000-08:00

I know I've blogged on this before, but I have to again. We're getting new and exciting things done to our house for free! I love it! We just picked out the colors of everything yesterday and I'm so excited! We're getting: a new roof, new siding, new shutters, new gutters and new trim. We could get a new awning for our back porch too, but we really don't care about that, so we get to keep the money they give us for that instead. The only thing we'll have to do ourselves is paint our garage door. Because, as you can see from the picture, it's green. Our new shutters and trim are going to be a nice chocolate brown, so the garage door has to change. But that's no big deal. Spring break is coming up!

Breakfast

2007-03-01T05:18:00.000-08:00

Adam's feeding Abby chocolate Lucky Charms for breakfast this morning. We're fantastic parents....

Sleep!

2007-02-27T09:39:00.000-08:00

Abby's been asleep for 3 1/2 hours now. I put her down about an hour after she woke up this morning because she was SOOOO cranky and sleepy. Obviously. And while it was nice to get some extra sleep for myself, it makes me unsettled whenever she sleeps this long. Why you ask? I'm a nurse and I work in a children's hospital. I've taken care of many a child who have mysteriously stopped breathing while they were asleep. Even one the other day who was Abby's age. I can hear her breathing and rustling over the monitor, but still. Curse my career for making me so paranoid!!!

Happy (Late) Valentine's Day!

2007-02-15T07:38:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!!

Snow Day!

2007-02-13T10:15:00.000-08:00

One fantastic thing about Columbus is that they believe in Snow Days. Snow Days were non-existent in Utah. I think for a Snow Day to occur in Utah, there would have to be a blizzard, an earthquake, a typhoon and a tsunami, all happeneing at once. So now we have about 4-5 inches of snow, which all fell this morning, and everything is closed. So that means that Adam gets to spend the afternoon at home because they closed OSU!! YAY! I don't think I'll like Snow Days when Abby's in school, but for now...they're fantastic. Really though, the conditions are not that bad. I've experienced MUCH worse when the only warning we got was, "You might want to make sure your snow tires are on today." There are heavy snow warnings and snow emergencies all over the state. I don't get it. But I won't complain for the sake of Snow Days.

Just because she's cute

2007-02-08T10:39:00.000-08:00

I wanted to post a picture of Abby because I haven't for a long time and because I think she's cute. But I couldn't decide which one to post, so here are 4. Enjoy!!

Sad news

2007-02-06T16:54:00.000-08:00

I have two sad things to report:
1) Adam is still driving home from school. He's almost half-way. Now let me explain. It snowed today. Barely. I can still see the tops of the grass blades in my backyard. He left at 5pm...it's now 8pm. School is 15 miles away.
2) My favorite restaurant, The Old Bag of Nails (see a previous post) burned down last night! OH NO! It was the oldest running restaurant in all of Columbus, and now it's gone. But they're going to rebuild it and there are 2 more around the Columbus area, so if we get really desparate, we can go to one of those. But still. My Gahanna river-side restaurant is currently gone.

In other news: Abby is walking all over the place and I think it's very cute. We are getting new a new front door and the a new door to replace the one going out to our garage because our heating bill was $260 AND because there's a big crack under our garage door and mice are getting in. EWEWEWEWEW!! We caught one last night in our garage so THERE! Dumb mice. I haven't seen any recent evidence the mice are still getting in the house, so that's good. We had to duct tape our door shut. AND, when it gets higher than 40 degrees outside, we're getting a new roof and new siding on the three sides of our house (the other side is brick) all for free! Hooray for tornados and hail storms...and good homeowners insurance!!

Will it ever be warm again?

2007-02-05T10:18:00.000-08:00

This morning as I walked out of the hospital and started the 3-mile trek to my car (not really 3 miles, they're just doing construction so I have to walk around the hospital outside now...grrrr) I thought, "Well this isn't so bad...." Because, you see, at work, everyone was freaking out about how cold it was going to be and how no one wanted to leave because they didn't want to go outside. It really wasn't as bad as they made it out to be at first. But then after about 5 seconds, my nose almost froze off. And I still had 8.2 miles left to walk to my car. I stepped up the pace. By the time I got to my car, 2 minutes later, my hands (which were gloved) were numb and my nose and cheeks were ice blocks. Then I found out why. It was 1 degree with a wind chill factor of -17! Yikes! My heater in my car doesn't work so I had a very cold car ride home. And yes, the car actually started. I bet some of you were wondering. The power steering fluid was semi-frozen, but other than that, our little car did pretty well. I had to take a really hot shower and take hot rice bags to bed with me to shake the feeling of frozen that was in my insides. You all should come visit me so you can experience it! Good times....

It's official!

2007-01-29T13:15:00.000-08:00

Abby is officially walking. She really took a giant leap (haha) in walking yesterday in church because she was wearing a dress and she can't crawl in dresses, so she decided it would be beneficial for her to walk. She's far from perfect at it, but I'll take what I can get.

Interesting....

2007-01-23T00:36:00.000-08:00

I've been paying a lot of attention to my belly button lately.