A Weekend at Memaw and Pepaw's

On Friday, Jana&Keith, along with Kyle, Matt & Ethan, all left to spend their spring breaks in Gulf Shores. The girls and I stayed back in Pekin, where we spent the weekend with my parents (aka, Memaw and Pepaw). I just couldn't handle being in Alabama and not seeing Evan. Once again, if I didn't like him so much...

Elisabeth has been stoked about spring break. She keeps telling me that there will be NO ONE in her schools ("Not even the teachers!"). The poor thing knows all about spring breaks because Evan and I have both been in college since she was born, but she's never had her own spring break before. So, I have some fun activities planned for the week (zoo, museum, library, parks, etc.).

This is a picture of a perfect over easy egg. No, Evan did not fly up to make me that egg (he makes PERFECT over easy eggs). I did this all by myself. I wanted proof to show Evan, since I normally try to flip the stupid egg, end up breaking the yolk (my absolute favorite part), whine to Evan about my egg-tastraphy, make him eat the subpar egg, and force him to make me a perfect one. These are the reasons why we stay married, people!

Perfection!


Julia has decided that it would be fun to start beating up Elisabeth. The kid's a brute, I tell ya! Ebeth does a great job of putting up with said bully. She's such a good big sister (because you all know I'd have beaten the crap out of Terra by now).

Here's Julia trying to choke Ebeh while Ebeth is reading.

A moment of peace from Julia the Bully.
Now she's trying to whack Ebeth with her pacifier.
Checking to make sure her nose is good.


My parents live by a cemetary. My dad loves to walk the cemetary trail (it's a mile and a half!) and talk about the "new neighbors". (he's so funny, that Joseph) Anyway, we went on a walk with him and he pointed out some highlights for us.
The Civil War monument.
Ebeth practicing her balancing.


After our cemetary walk, we headed to Coal Miner's Park, where there was going to be an Easter Egg Hunt. After a tramatic parking adventure (seriously, Coal Miner's Park does not have adequate parking to accommodate the entire Pekin Primary School crowd that showed up to participate), my mom dropped Ebeth and I off and then tried to find somewhere to park with Julia. There were tons of families there all grumpy and yelling at their kids for being so hyper (or excited, duh!). I got to witness one 4 year old continuously beat on his grandma for telling him in wasn't his turn. Oh, and the one mom who was yelling at her daughter for crying because this would be her first year having to run out on the field solo to get the eggs and she was scared. Priceless.

Enough of my superior mommy rantings...Here's some pics of Ebeth on her egg hunt.
She was grumping about the sun being in her eyes while I kept taking pictures.
Look at her go!
She got 5 eggs, all orange, with only tootsie rolls and peppermints inside. Someone was cleaning out their Christmas candy supply, I see.
Memaw and Julia finally found us. My mom had to park across the street on Parkway (which is the 2nd busiest street in Pekin). While recrossing it (on the crosswalk, with signs telling drivers that pedestrians have the right of way), one car decided to not stop and speed infront of me and my children. It was pretty scary. But, as soon as we'd safely crossed, the park policeman, who'd witnessed the whole event, turned on his sirens and went after the girl. It's so nice to actually get to see justice actually be served every once and a while (I say see, because we got in the car and went in the direction of the policeman to see if he'd caught up to her. He had.)

After Easter Egg Hunting, we went to the baby shower of my dear friend Sharee, who's due in May. Her nursery will be decorated in a jungle theme, hence the cake decorations.









And, what day wouldn't be complete with Memaw and Pepaw without a trip to Denny's.



On Sunday, my mom let me take a nap. A nap, I say!!! I meant to sleep for an hour, but got woken up by Ebeth after 2!!! I love naps. And sleep. Without a baby next to me, kicking and grunting. Other Sunday activities included...
Julia swinging in a swing she is only 2 pounds lighter than the limit of.
Ebeth performing at the Palm Sunday service at church. Notice her awesome sequins shirt!
Julia posing in her Sunday best (with her Jesus sticker from the nursery).

Notice how large my child is when my mom is holding her!! Memaw is the best nap rocker.

Along with our awesome spring break plans, Julia will begin sleeping at night in her crib in Ebeth's room. Yes, I realize she is 9.5 months old, but she's been in the pack and play in my room for convenience's sake. Now, however, I feel like we are keeping each other up, and, frankly, I need my stinking sleep. So, wish us luck as we try a little seperation at night. :)

Remember that one time when I had a husband?

Yeah...me too. He was way cool. His name was Evan and we met in high school. We were the cool people on the speech team and in the school plays. Oh, and in band and color guard (respectfully) and student council. We started dating (when he was 15?! WTH?) and it was cool. Then, after a few years we got married, had some kids (not totally in that direct order, but details), graduated from our respective colleges. And then, I decided to tell him to pursue his dreams and apply for a JAG officer position in the Air Force, which he totally got. Hooray! So exciting! Oh, but he'll have to go to training in freaking Alabama, which didn't seem so bad before it actually happened. Now, I'm this single-ish mom, living at my in-laws, taking care of the kids minus a husband. Stupid me...never should have encouraged the whole "dream" thing.

Having him gone, though, really does make me appreciate all he does. Like getting up in the morning when the girls wake up way too early. I always got to sleep in on Saturdays as late as I wanted. And he'd make pancakes and eggs. Oh, and he's great at getting Julia to take naps. He doesn't mind doing diapers or entertaining a crying baby. He can listen to Ebeth rant and rave about Star Wars and knows how to pronounce all those stupid planet names from the movies. Yeah, having a husband was way cool. I should look into getting another one soon.

Table for One

I am the most excited person alive. My parents are taking the girls for dinner and I will get to eat BY MYSELF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There will be quiet. There will be warm food. There will be book reading!!! I have included a video of Julia eating. She is not making even 1/10 of the noise she normally does, but it is cute. I will try to capture her true volume level (for those non-believers), but she always shuts-up once the camera comes out.

Which makes me an idiot because then I should just leave it out all meal time. Doh!

How we have fun on cold days in March

Ahh...spring. Since March did provide a few spring-ish days, Elisabeth was able to enjoy her new gift from Pepaw...a scooter! And being the good Pepaw that he is, he even remembered how insanely safe Evan and I are and provided Ebeth with a new set of knee and elbow pads and a new helmet (since hers are in storage in Colorado). Don't worry, Ebeth's head is so big, that helmet is for ages 8+ and fit my own head just fine. (I'd make fun of her more, but she totally gets that from the Macfarlane side...sigh) Elisabeth was very excited and about her new set of wheels and, since it was kind of warm out, was able to practice.

Proud scooter owner.

She is so mine...look how lopsided she is. No balance whatever.

I love how she looks so sk8ter-y!


While Ebeth was practicing her mad scootering skills, Julala was inside helping Memaw with her Avon phone calls.
"What is this tail on your phone? It's so 'antique-y'. No one else I know still has a wall phone like this. It tastes divine!"
"Um, Memaw, you have about 5 seconds to get off that phone and get me some real food."



Last week, Julia and I decided to visit Ethan at the arena while he played with other children in the tot area. For one dollar, your child is able to roam the rainbow padded room and play with all the equipment. Now, while my child is completely immobile, Ethan had tons of fun. He even paused long enough to share a snack with Julia.
Julia was receiving her own snack, but decided she liked the looks of Ethan's more.
Look at him look at me for help. So cute. Too bad I was taking pictures and wasn't able to save him. (Just kidding, I continued to feed my fat, fat baby her own snack)
"Here, Ethan, let me help you take off your socks. You don't need them on."
"Thanks, Juju. Now I'll take yours off."
"Wow. We both have enormous feet for our ages."
Julia flapping her sock in the air like a pompom.
Eating Ethan's diaper that was being used to clean his nose. I did not get that information until after I let her suck on it. Thanks, Memaw.
Ethan trampolining.
Seriously, look how big his feet are!
Debbie helping Ethan on the balance beam. Isn't he so cute? I love that red-headed boy!!!

In other news, Evan has safely arrived in Washington DC where he will be hanging out until Saturday with his Air Force Jag schoolmates. (It's like a field trip paid for by taxpayers instead of fundraisers!!!)

Elisa-birth story!!!

At one of the parenting groups I am apart of (I enjoy meeting other mommies who boob their babies...we are way cool), the monthly meeting was about birth stories. Now, birth stories are exactly as they sound--stories of your baby's birth. I was inspired and have decided to share my birth story with you (they encouraged that at the meeting as well). To keep your attention, I will put pictures at the end. We will start chronologically with my lovely Elisabeth!

Baby B. #1 (as we called her in those days), was due November 9th, 2002. By my 8th month, my blood pressure was ridiculously high and I was told to be a "lounging lizard", which meant I was to lay on the couch all day and only make maybe one trip out. I hated it. I was so grumpy and bored. I was in my last year of college, and my professors had given me all my assignments early so that the majority of them were done for the fall semester by the time I was ordered to couch rest. On Friday, November 1st, Evan and I had our weekly doctor appt., and Evan drove us there in the trusty Nissan Altima (may it rest in peace). When they took my blood pressure it was the highest it had ever been, I was 1 centimeter and was having contractions that I wasn't really feeling yet. My OBGYN was extremely concerned for me and told me that he wanted me to go straight to the hospital because my BP was too high and he wanted to monitor the baby. I started crying because I hadn't eaten lunch yet and was starving. I asked if we could eat first and the Dr. stared at me for a few seconds (apparently determing if I was worth receiving lunch), and then said, "You have one hour. If you aren't there in an hour, you're in trouble." Then I asked if I could have french fries (because I was told no salt due to my swelling that made me resemble something of Jabba the Hut) and he laughed and said yes.After a joyful car ride to Arby's (where I purchased a roast beef sandwich, CURLY FRIES, and a Dr. Pepper), we went to Evan's house to make phone calls and pack up. The Dr. told us that if my BP didn't go down we'd be inducing, so the baby was coming within the next day or so.

We arrived at the hospital where I was immediately hooked up to machines to monitor my BP and the baby. Baby was doing super. I was bored, but, fear not, I brought crocheting! (Ahh...the joys of yarn) Nothing too exciting went on concerning the baby. My BP was still very high, but otherwise, there was no reason to start any inducing. The doctor told me that I could go at it naturally, but if my BP went any higher or hadn't gone down by morning, then we'd start pitocin. Evan and I had some visitors Friday night including, Brian, Bryan, Kyle and the Jimmy John's Turkey Tom. Yum.

Ugh...I look super bleh in that picture.

Evan slept in a pull-out chair bed (which he did complain about, in case you were wondering), and I tossed and turned all night. I was starting to feel slight contractions...nothing like what they would be, though. I was also really nervous. As much as I wanted the baby to no longer live in my belly, I wasn't so sure that I was ready to be a mommy. At 6:00AM on November 2nd, the nurse came in to tell me that the Dr. had said to start pitocin at 7:00. My BP wasn't going down and, in fact, had gotten a smidge worse. For some stupid reason, I decided to shower before they put the IV in. Why, you ask? I have no idea. Maybe to smell good before I sweated and stank for hours on end? Maybe so my wet, curly hair would be completely and utterly crazy by the time the baby arrived. After my dumb-idea shower, they put the IV in. My contractions immediately intensified and my body went into defense mode, which for me, is sleep. I slept between contractions and don't really remember too much about labor except that if I didn't talk or move, I didn't cry or scream. I remember telling Evan that I still didn't want drugs (even in labor, the thought of needles completely scared me), that my mom was in the room with me, that Terra walked in with fast food and I screamed at her that she was going to make me vomit, that Evan held my hand, fed me ice chips, and wished for magazines because he was bored. :)

At 1:30PM, I started feeling the need to push. The nursing staff were wonderful this whole time and they went to get the mid-wife, Chris, who would be delivering the baby. Having a baby is really hard to describe afterwards. There are no known words in the English language for the pain or thoughts running through your mind. I remember not opening my eyes the entire time. I remember yelling, "Don't cut me!" when I saw Chris with scissors (turns out she was getting them ready for when Evan would cut the imbilical cord). I remember wanting to give up because it felt impossible. I remember Evan whispering me encouragement. Finally, I heard, "One more push", and then what sounded like a baby lamb. I was crying by now and asked, "What is it?", because we hadn't found out what sex the baby was (because the baby was uncooperative). Chris said, "Tell her Dad," to Evan. Evan said, "It's a girl!" and the entire waiting area outside of the room burst into applause. My parents, his parents, Terra, Kyle and Matt (and Shaman), my aunts and cousins, and my grandma were all out there waiting for us. And then they handed her to me. She was gorgeous; with her little cone head and her lamby cry and her perfect face. Evan cut the cord and then we introduced ourselves to Elisabeth Jennings. It really was nice to finally meet her.

We stayed in the hospital another night. Ebeth did not take to the boob very well, and I was very frustrated by that. We ended up leaving the hospital with her not ever getting a good latch. She only lasted 6 weeks with breastfeeding, something I still struggle dealing with today. Besides that hiccup, Elisabeth started out incredible.

The view from our hospital room.

Introducing ourselves to Elisabeth.

Her first "professional" picture taken at the hospital.

I think one of the things that I always come back to when I think about Elisabeth's birth, was that I was so unprepared. Not just unprepared for the responsibilites of parenthood (because no one is ever ready for that, despite age, finances, life experience, intelligence), but unprepared for how easily we got used to her. It was like she'd always been with us, always been apart of our lives. Watching her grow into this insanely smart, beautiful, weird, loud, amazing girl has been absolutely incredible. And the fun part is, she's only 6. We have a lot of time to go still (and some days feel even longer than others!).

Seriously? Another post in the same day? Wow, the girls must be in the basement with their Nina while Mommy is hiding in her room upstairs.

So very true. Yes, I'm hiding. I'm not scared to admit it. The girls are overwhelming today and at dinner I asked if I could have a bottle of wine to drink. By myself. From the bottle. I'm not ashamed. You haven't eaten a dinner with Julia. She's sooooooo loud. And you know Elisabeth isn't about to be outdone by her baby sister. And where's Evan while all of this is occuring? Oh, eating a steak dinner (or rib dinner) at a nice restaurant surrounded by peers. Now, I know Evan would much rather partake in our obnoxiously loud dinners because he does truly love his girls, but I would much rather be eating at a nice restaurant in Alabama. So jealous.

Anywhoo...I am merely posting the snow pictures I took today to prove to Evan that we had snow, it was very pretty, but I still was grumpy about it. You know, ironically, Evan can stay updated on the girls through this blog currently. See, so I have every right to post daily because Evan needs to be informed about how his girls are doing. (Nevermind I call him constantly and text him even more...)