Saturday, June 28, 2008

my book report

Should I make a note of it when I finish a book on my list? Feel free to share your opinion of the possibility of me doing book reports here. I'm so embarrassed -- I am no literary critic. They might end up sounding a bit like this:

"The Pillars of the Earth" Book Report, by Anna

I read "The Pillars of the Earth" (deluxe edition - Oprah's Book Club!) by Ken Follet. It was a good book. I didn't know if I would like it, but I did. It was about some people building a cathedral a long, long time ago in England. And they went to France and Spain for a while in the book too. It was really hard to build churches back then without forklifts and cranes and all the other cool things that we have now. There was other stuff going on in the book, too. It took me a little while to get into it but I really did enjoy reading it. I would recommend this book to a friend.

The End.

Sooo... maybe I won't write reviews of the books that I finish. I just broke out in a cold sweat remembering middle school assignments and I think I need to go finish my panic attack now. (breathe, Anna, breathe!)

delicious delicious bellinis


Last night I went out with some of the girls on my lia sophia team for a going away dinner. I'm sad to be leaving, because I love these girls! (I must -- I look way better in another shot, but no one else did -- so I posted my semi-cute photo. That's love.) We're a barrel of laughs, I tell you.

Yes, those are empty drink glasses scattered on the table. How had I gone this long without sampling the deliciousness that is a bellini?? I LOVE peachy-things. And I love champagne. And wine. And rum. It had a refreshness factor of 12 -- 12, people. I don't kid around with my made-up scales of greatness.

Friday, June 27, 2008

uh oh



As excited as I am about this milestone in Wesley's young little life, I am also pretty nervous for what it means. Aidan was always a pretty laidback, easy baby -- Wesley has been a busy boy since day one. At four months old he was picking bowls up off the counter while in my arms and dropping them on the floor.

Ready or not here he comes, right?? Ohhh, I long for the days when children would stay where you put them.

Monday, June 23, 2008

goodbyes

Today we said goodbye to Cuddles, one of our two kitties. She's been with Mike for a very, very long time -- I think she was around 21 years old. She was just so old, sick and weak that it was the kindest thing to do. But it really does feel like we're missing someone important in our house tonight. She was a sweet cat and we'll miss her terribly.




Saturday, June 21, 2008

family pictures

Wesley doesn't like cheerios... who ever heard of a baby who doesn't like cheerios?? If he puts one in his mouth he starts gagging and spits it out...quite hilarious.

If, however, he's eating something more agreeable to his delicate palate, he insists on doing it all by himself or he dissolves into a mess of tears. If he could talk, he would surely say "I want to do it by my own!" (a la Aidan)

Here's Doctor Aidan checking on his patient, Mike, who is apparently terribly sick (read: he fell asleep on the floor while playing with his children.)

happy birthday

Me: How old are you Aidan?
Aidan: I am two.
Me: And how old will you be on your birthday?
Aidan: Six.
Me: Well, not quite. You'll be three! That's so big! What do you want for your birthday?
Aidan: A swimming pool!
Me: Anything else?
Aidan: I want to be six.
Me: I'll see what I can do.

le freak out

Does that make me look like I speak French? Cause I don't.

Anyway, I'm a tad freaked out because we're MOVING as most of you know, and I loathe moving and I double-loathe the feeling of trying to juggle a hundred things while tap dancing which is pretty much how this move is making me feel. We're going to Idaho Falls for a business opportunity for Mike so I'm excited for him, plus my sister Jo lives up there which means fun, wine-drinking shoe-shopping adventures for moi. (there's that French again)

I am, however, sad about some things that are making me drag my feet a little. I don't want to move again, we haven't been in our house for very long and I'm happy here. I will miss the mountains, and all the friends I've made through lia sophia and mom's groups over the last couple years. I love my midwife, our pediatrician, and the school I found for Aidan. I like my neighbors, and my super fabulous grocery store Harmon's. (Is it way dumb to be sad over a grocery store??) Lastly, there is no Costco in Idaho Falls... and that saddens me a great deal.

We have people coming to look through our house (we're renting it out) starting on Tuesday evening, and I believe we're shooting for a mid-July exit. I will do my best to keep you updated on our progress (or lack thereof) as we move along.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

notes to self

1. learn how to make mango margaritas
2. drink a pitcher of them
3. ... hmm.

yeah, that's pretty much it.

Friday, June 13, 2008

if you need me, dear, i've run off to mexico.

Have you ever had one of those days where you just wanted to crawl back into bed and lock your kids out of your room while you drank an entire bottle of Shiraz and pretended that you didn't have dishes to do, hot pink wax to scrub off the wall (thank you Aidan with the scentsy warmer), or laundry to do? (I think you all know how I feel about laundry at this point)

Yeah...that was my week. I've been in survival mode, so I'm sorry that I wasn't around much. Wesley's teething and going through some wake-10-times-a-night phase, and Aidan's on night #2 without a binky (YES, I know he's almost 3, so sue me). It's ugly, people. I mean... wow.

Thank God for friends, right? I love my girls, the ones I see frequently and the ones spread all over. I don't think I could make it through weeks like this without them. Hugs, love, posies, sunshine, lace, kittens, and all that sugar-coated vomity stuff to all of you.

Saturday, June 07, 2008

scary times at wal-mart

That title leaves so much room to play with -- let's be honest, how many of us have had a scary and/or skeevy experience at a Wal-Mart? I choose not to shop there most of the time for that very reason. However, today I ran out because it's really close and I needed some baby food for Wesley and I had a truly scary experience.

I was going down the frozen food aisle where I had grabbed a bag of rolls when I passed a mom with 2 daughters -- one was young, in the front of the cart covered with a blanket and the older one was walking around looking at the food with her mom. I stopped to look at something in the freezer case and thought that the little one couldn't be very comfortable, it looked like she was sleeping slumped over in the front of the cart. Just then, the little one threw up and the mom didn't notice, so I mentioned that her little girl had just gotten sick. She went to pick her up and she lolled over and I saw that her little lips were blue. She was limp and her eyes were half closed, she wasn't responsive. I have never actually seen a child go blue before, it was truly terrifying.

The mom started crying of course and started trying to get her little one to breathe, and I grabbed my phone and called 911. Over the next minute the little girl (who wasn't quite 2, the mom told me as I relayed questions and answers between her and the 911 dispatcher) started breathing again, and eventually became more responsive. She was still totally out of it. I was so frightened for this little girl I was almost in tears.

I went to the front of the store, showed the paramedics where to find her, and got my phone back from her. It sounded like she had had a seizure, maybe? I don't know -- there was no reason for me to stick around after that, so I hope the little girl is doing okay tonight. I am definitely thinking about her...

As a mom, when scary or horrible things happen involving children you can't help but imagining yourself in a similar situation, no matter how awful. I can only imagine how terrified that woman was, holding her blue baby and trying to get through to her.

I started shaking after it was over, so glad that I had noticed this little girl under her blanket.

Thursday, June 05, 2008

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

i need a maid

I hate hate hate doing laundry. I don't even have a really good reason as to why -- it just makes me completely insane. As soon as you fold the damn pants and put them away, somebody WEARS them again. (the sheer audacity!) It's a maddening, pointless cycle! (except for how it keeps us from smelling like medieval bar wenches... which I guess is important in its own right. But really not important enough to keep me from complaining)

What bugs me even more is when my husband puts some loads through and then either folds them and leaves the piles all over the TV room floor, or leaves the crumpled heap of clothing in a basket in our room.... for over a week. It inevitably turns into a battle of wills -- who will cave and put the laundry away first. That is, until he starts putting dirty clothes on top of the clean ones in the laundry basket, and the vicious cycle is perpetuated.

Is it just me?? I am not in college anymore and there is no good reason for going through every single article of clothing I own before doing 127 loads of clothes in one miserable weekend... but I can't help it. The washing machine sucks my will to live a little bit at a time, with each sock that goes missing.

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

little lump of gavin-flavored sugar

My oldest friend Emily just had her first baby on the 29th! (oldest as in she's in MY baby book, not oldest as in...well, old.) Oh my gosh he's so cute. His name is Gavin, and he was almost exactly the same size as my son Wesley when he was born! 7 lbs 3 ounces and 20.5 inches long. I seriously want to snuggle him and smell his little newborn skin and steal him from his mom and love him, and squeeze him and hold him... pretty much pull an Elmyra.

Here I am with Em and her mom Hilary a few days before she went into labor... why are my hands in my crotch? Choice photo, I know... it was bit windy, okay??


Em with baby Gavin at the hospital


Closeup of Wesley's adorable new best friend. I didn't have one of these on my camera so I stole the one the Hilary uploaded to facebook. Thanks Hilary!

I just love new babies, and I love Emily too... so I double-love Gavin.