Happy Mardi Gras!

A friend of mine who used to work here with me and moved to FL last year said they went to a Mardi Gras parade (which surprised me because I think of FL as being Spanish instead of French, but she's in Pensacola, so it kind of makes sense). She said it was a parade at night with the floats all lit up (I imagine like at Disneyland), and they threw beads and moonpies. I was like, moonpies? That's weird. And she said she thought so too, but they are like grits and really popular in the South. I said, Really? The only one I've had is like a chocolate covered marshmallow between graham crackers. I didn't know there were some that were like grits. She wrote back, no, they are big in the South like grits, not that they are like grits. DUH, I'm a dork....

I'm on a roll with dumb things because Friday, a girl I work with asked me how old I am, and I said "32, no wait, 33. No, wait, what year is it? Ok, 32." Then a few seconds later, I said, "Holy crap, no, I'm 34!" It was a little disturbing to age 2 years in 5 seconds.

Sunday I went to see "The Reader" with our neighbor. It was very different. I didn't know what it was about other than it was set in WWII. It was kind of Mrs. Robinson meets Schindler's List. Kind of depressing, but interesting. Told from a different perspective. I was excited Kate Winslet win the Oscar that night since that was the only nominated movie I'd seen. :) That evening, S and I went to see our friends at home with their new baby girl. S had fun - she loves to say "baby" and make the sign, and it's so cute that DH asks her to do it all the time. She also loves dogs and was intrigued that our friends' dog is named Pea when S knows that to be what her vegetables are called.

A new favorite of S's is stirring. She does a cute thing where she rolls her arms and tries to say stir. I let her help me stir things sometimes, so the other day DH said she poured her juice into her divided plate where the corn and peas were and used her string cheese stick to "stir" it all together. It went everywhere of course. Messy, but still adorable. As opposed to her tantrums which are getting a little out of control and not at all adorable. She hit me in the mouth with her head thrashing twice this weekend - the first time I got a fat lip and the second time she hit my tooth, and I thought for sure it must have cut the back of her head but it didn't. Unfortunately, she comes by it naturally as her Grandpa and I were discussing yesterday - poor kid.

The biggest news with her though is her interest in the potty. She got an Elmo Goes Potty book for Christmas, and she's wanted to wave bye-bye and flush for awhile now, but yesterday I changed her diaper and put her PJs on and a minute later, she started singing the no more pee-pee song we sing when we change her. I asked if she needed a new diaper already, thinking surely not, it's just a bedtime stalling tactic. But I checked, and sure enough, she had gone #2. So I changed her and she was pointing to the bathroom. I asked her if she wanted to sit on the potty and she said yes. Because we've cleared as much extra stuff out as possible, we'd taken her potty chair to Grandma and Grandpa's. I wasn't sure what she'd think of the big potty, but put her on it anyway. It was a little scary so I took her off pretty much right away and told her not to worry about it. Unfortunately I just don't want to deal with having her potty chair in the bathroom right now with the house being on the market. Maybe we can put in G'ma and G'pa's.

Speaking of the house, we had another showing this morning - our 15th in 3 weeks - but still no offers. I'm not too worried yet, but I wish people would leave us more feedback to know why we aren't getting the offers. Oh well. Que sera, sera.

Happy Mardi Gras!

Grover's Appetite

DH cracked me up last night. Apparently S was "feeding" Grover at dinner because when I was cleaning up, there was about half a granola bar crammed in his mouth and matted to his fur. So after I cleaned him off, I mentioned it to DH. He didn't know what I was talking about; she must have done it when he wasn't watching. We laughed about it and then later when we were going to bed, I was turning off the lights in the living room, and I saw Grover sitting on the coffee table with a granola bar lying on him. It cracked me up, so I went in to our room and told DH he was funny, and he was playing dumb and acted like he didn't know what I was talking about. That just made me laugh harder because he's such a bad liar, I totally could tell, so the more he denied it, the more we both laughed.

Nooo-oooo

Within the last few days S has definitely hit the "no" stage. She said it before, but just as a regular response. Now everything is no. It's pretty cute because when she says it, she drags it out and the intonation goes up at the end. "Are you Mommy's sunshine?" "Nooo-oooo." "Do you want something to eat?" "Nooo-oooo." I was losing appreciation for the cuteness by the end of the weekend, though. Particularly when I would ask something that wasn't a yes or no question: "Do you want to put your pajamas on first or brush your teeth?" "Nooo-oooo." I think I'm going to spend a lot of time praying for patience going forward.... :)

This weekend was pretty busy. DH's great-uncle passed away, so we went to the wake Friday night, and he went to the funeral Saturday. They had the rosary Sat, too, so between that and the luncheon after, he was gone a good part of the day. We had a showing Friday and two on Sunday. For Vday, he made me dinner (steak - yum!) and got me flowers which was sweet, but I had packed away all the vases, so I had to borrow one from the neighbor. :) Sunday we went to our nephew's bday brunch, and then to see our friends' new baby girl. Then we went to my parents' so S could take a nap during the second showing. It was busy, but I didn't get much done, ie, laundry and groceries. Ah well, that will have to happen tonight, I guess!

In the News

There were two amazing stories in the news the last couple of days. I don't actually watch the news - it's too depressing - but I skim the headlines from time to time. The first story from yesterday was about a baby who was born with 6 digits on each limb. Apparently it's fairly common for people to be born with a 6th finger or toe, and it's usually just a nub, but the doctors said that this baby has 6 on both hands and both feet and all are fully-functioning which is unheard of. Of course there's some debate as to whether they should be removed. The father had a nub on his hand that was removed when he was a baby. But since this baby's digits are fully functional, there's no reason to remove them. There are blogs about it that I've read and most people feel they should be kept but some people think they should remove them so the child isn't made fun of as he gets older. I think kids will always find something to make fun of others about, plus what a gift! Of course, having been blessed with a perfect baby, it's easy to say that.

The other story made me cry when I first heard about it a few months ago. A woman from Brazil married a man from the US and 4 years ago she took their son to her homeland to visit and never returned. She divorced him and married a powerful lawyer in Brazil. They had a baby and died from complications during delivery. The man here has been trying to get his son back this whole time - with the laws in the US and in Brazil on his side - but has been stonewalled. After the story was on the news and got national attention, he was able to go to Brazil with a senator and see his son. They haven't been able to return him here yet, but hopefully will soon. I can't even imagine! So heartwrenching.

Spring Tease

Saturday, it was BEAUTIFUL outside - almost 70. We had two showings so we went to the park and then to lunch at Chili's before coming home and raking leaves. DH was sick, so he wasn't able to enjoy it as much as S and I did, but he got to play with her for a bit which she enjoyed.
Sunday we relaxed; it was back to being cold by then, so we just hung out around the house for the most part. Unfortunately, my parents got the bug we'd had so Monday I spent most of the day home with S. While it was a little stressful - I've now used all of my sick days for the year and it's only Feb! - I loved being home with her. It rained in the morning while we ran errands, but then it was nice out again in the afternoon, so we went for a walk. I also got a caregiver lined up to watch her on Mondays who can be available for last minute emergencies like Mom and Dad being sick so I can hopefully avoid running out of vacation days, too. :)

It's nice out again today, but the rain is supposed to be coming this afternoon. I'm enjoying the weather, even though it's wreaking havoc on my sinuses, but I'm sad because I know it's not here to stay. We'll just have to enjoy it while we can!

TGIF!

I'm so glad it's Friday. This has been a long week. First an update on DH's dad. He was up and walking around last night and had regained feeling in his arm and leg, although they were still tingly. The tests didn't show signs of a stroke, and they weren't really sure what happened. I wonder if it was a reaction to the anesthesia or medications. Thankfully he appears to be fine now. My dad's procedure went well this morning. He was seeing fine when he got home from the doctor's office. Whew! Now I hope our dads have resolved their health issues for the year.

Last night I was lucky enough to go wedding dress shopping with my friend. She looked beautiful, and I'm so happy for her. I hope her fiance realizes how lucky he is. They will be getting married in May in Eureka Springs, AR. The girls were excited to find their dresses to wear, too. It was good to see them - I can't believe how big they are! It's only been a month since I saw them last but I think they've each grown an inch.

S is talking up a storm. She's started saying so many new words this week, I don't think I can list them all. She's getting so big, so fast. While we were waiting for my parents to get home this morning, I took her for a walk. Since they don't have sidewalks in their neighborhood, I put her in the stroller. I couldn't find the umbrella stroller, so I had to use her baby one and she's almost too big to fit in it! I couldn't believe it. As I gave her a bath last night I was telling her she was growing up too fast for me already and soon she wouldn't need me to help her take a bath, and then she'd be big enough to drive, and graduating from college and getting married and having babies of her own to bathe. I'm ridiculous, I know! But it helps me to slow down. Trying to enjoy each moment.

Prayers Needed

I can't believe it's almost been 2 weeks since my last post! I'd like to say I have a good excuse, but basically, any extraneous computer time has been spent on Facebook because it is my new fave thing! I've gotten in touch with people I haven't seen or spoken to since high school - some since elementary school! So fun to see where life has taken everyone and sharing memories.

Last Friday S turned 18 months old and had her checkup. She did great! Only fussed a bit when she was measured. She's 33.75" tall (93rd %), 23.4 lbs (48th %) and her head is 18.25" (30th %), so pretty much right on target with her growing curve. She'd stopped eating very much so I wasn't sure about her weight, but she still has her little belly and it's normal for them to go through these periods of eating little. She may be getting ready for a growth spurt again - she ate a ton at breakfast today - two scrambled eggs and some Cheerios!

Unfortunately, last Friday I got a cold so I took the day off and tried to nip it in the bud. But Saturday was so busy doing the last few things to get the house on the market, I am just finally feeling better today. The good news is, the house is officially for sale and we've had two showings already.

This morning DH's dad had to have surgery. His carotid artery was almost completely blocked, so they had to clean it out. It went well and he was in recovery when DH came home around noon to watch S so I could go to work. He called a little bit ago, though, and said that his dad was losing feeling in his left arm and leg so they are trying to determine if a piece of the plaque that remained broke free causing a stroke or what happened.

Tomorrow my dad has to have a procedure on his eye. He has fat on it that's blocking his vision (apparently it's very common with older people). They're going to laser it off and it shouldn't be a big deal, but of course anything that combines lasers and eyes makes me nervous. :) So praying for both of our dads to be ok. And for S and DH to feel better (now they have my cold).