& here i was planning a quiet morning at home

let me preface this story: our subdivision is getting new light posts--for no apparent reason b/c the current ones work, except that these new ones *look* much better (i think it a bit frivolous). i have been annoyed that we are paying (via taxes) for new *light posts* when the current ones work (did i say that already?! let me reiterate, the current ones work, they just aren't as aesthetically pleasing as the new ones; it just doesn't seem like a good enough reason to spend such a large amount of money on something unnecessary). so for the past week there has been construction going on in the street lawns on our street. kind of annoying, especially when they block the driveway (they did warn me about that, to their benefit). but it's also noisy & a big mess. & i just don't see the point--remember, the current ones work? however, as my friend kara pointed out--this whole mess of it is giving jobs to the construction workers, good point. i should just leave it at that! but i'm just wondering why this money isn't going to schools or police departments or fire departments or road construction or public services, etc. but to *aesthetically pleasing* street lights. hhmmm...
***
sadly, yesterday adeline had to miss school due to a fever & croup. over the night she amazingly recovered & was well enough to go to school today. *sigh of relief* from the mama. how have i gotten used to her being gone for the morning after just 1 week? i dunno, but i have. amelia still has a touch of a cold, as do i, so i was anticipating a lot of sitting on the floor with my coffee playing with amelia & watching the today show while amelia dances to the commercial music. it was a fuzzy, warm, & pleasing thought to just hang out at home with amelia who seemed very much in love with me already this morning. hugs, kisses on my back! then...

8:20 a.m: hear fire sirens, they seem very very close. interesting. see fire truck stop in front of house, don't think much of it (cat in tree? lol).
8:24: smell gas, everywhere, in every room--start to wonder what's going on.
8:28: start to load girls into the car to take addy to preschool & notice very strong gas smell in the garage. i take a peek out of the garage window & wowzers there was about a dozen firemen in full gear, all the construction workers grouped with them--& they were across the street, looking into a hole in the ground.

apparently, the diggers broke a gas line while putting in the new underground wires for the unnecessary (*smile*) light posts. & then the police & fire department closed down our street, evacuated the 4 surrounding houses (us included)...and i was still in full pajama gear. the firemen made it sound as if i could go back in very soon but once i returned from dropping off addy & was told that yes, i could go back into my house--the columbia gas guy flagged me down & told me that i was *not* to go back home at least for another hour or two. oh, wonderful. i was like do you see what i'm wearing?! & he was like what a cute baby you have {change subject quickly before i tell this lady that yes she looks very, uh, sleepy}.

so here's the gist of it, baby crying b/c she's been put in & out of the car seat 4 times in 20 minutes, me still in pj's, no baby wipes or stroller or snack or even water cup for amelia. did i mention i didn't even brush my hair yet & didn't have my handy white hat with me? still, off we go to the mall, hoping to score a cinnabun at least. an hour later i realized i didn't have my wallet with me (thankfully, cinnabun was closed so it's not like i ordered then was like CRAP! i don't have my wallet, do i have to do dishes?!). i do think i was the most disheveled looking parent there but oh well! we weren't sucking gas vapors. i've seen others there is pj's.

90 minutes later i attempt to go back to our house & the columbia gas guy walks through the house with his gas sniffing machine & says it's okay now. amelia & i hang out in our house for 20 minutes & open the garage door & i get hit with a gas smell. so out we go, telling the gas co dude that there's gas in our garage, pick up addy, & then off to a friend's house for the next few hours.

but we are back & wow is there a very large earth digger thing across the street now. wes is probably *so jealous* that i get to be here observing all of this machinery use. sorry, but dear you weren't at the mall in your pj's. & then you also didn't step in the rushing stream of water from the fire hose & fire hydrant, soaking your shoes & socks (pre-mall also). okay, i'll stop complaining.

this is 1 of the 3 fire trucks. i'm not exactly sure what the 3 loads of firemen were doing as most of them seemed to be sitting on their trucks...ensuring my safety? *wink*

hole 1. notice the working light post in this picture, soon to be taken down.

hole 2 (see the guy in the green vest standing & digging in a big hole?)

a bit of an odd start to the morning & day, eh? & as of 2:30 they are still digging out there. i am guessing that part of the problem is the neighbor who mows his lawn every freaking day (not even kidding) moved a flag showing where the gas line was buried. anyhoo, now he has a ginormous hole in his yard. so our street is *still* closed, even though the construction guy let me know residents can drive through (as i was walking by holding adeline's hand so she didn't stick her hand into a machine, carrying amelia, a diaper bag, 2nd cloth bag with lunch stuff & halloween costumes from judy, & addy's book bag. i was like gee, *now* you tell me i can drive through? didn't you see me unpacking & loading myself up like a mule for the past 5 minutes at my car?).
***
anyway, i hope to get some pictures & maybe even a video of addy's birthday party. folks, it was a blast! the kids had fun! the parents enjoyed each other! grandparents enjoyed seeing it all go down! but i'm glad we've decided not to do this again for another 2 or 3 years *smile*

a talent for

so this is for all grandparents, something to make you proud (& anyone else who is sweet on my girls): adeline knows how to write her name!!! well, at least her nickname. & to think she just started saying her name last spring! here is a picture to prove it. smarty pants, i know *wink*

when i picked adeline up from school thursday mrs. g said with a big, nearly winking, but really ecstatic smile: addy make sure you show your parents your papers tonight! so i went home & pulled the papers out to see if maybe i would learn the why of how addy's pants became covered in (hopefully washable) paint on wednesday, maybe a note of apology, hardy har har. that wasn't the case; instead, it was the addy written addy. i was so proud i nearly cried. i was like DID YOU WRITE THIS ADELINE?! & she just looked at me & said "yup, addy" like yea mom i do that every day now, i'm in *preschool*. what a kid.

& i believe here is the answer to why addy's pants were covered in paint. every day they get to paint, but this day she was especially covered (apparently they painted with the 5th graders?). that was the day that a kind friend offered to pick up addy from school, right after i was in that stupid car accident (even though i later checked my voicemail to hear this friend say she wasn't even going to be at this playgroup b/c of work & then wes called her b/c he couldn't get ahold of me & asked her to go there to see why i texted him saying in car accident, call asap b/c he couldn't find the phone #'s of the playgroup host & i was then talking to the cop & couldn't answer my phone...anyway, judy, thank you for helping wes not have a heart attack...note to self, put in text: in car accident, call asap, we are okay! & to all the other ladies there that day, thanks for calming my nerves; what would work better than coffee & apple cake?!).

*anyway* so here's some sample art work from addy.

& you guessed it: shapes. you'd think she'd be tired of learning by now.

last sunday we went to the new albany classic, a fundraiser for my sister's non profit (columbus coalition against family violence)...the founder is loaded (think former? owner of limited brands, wexner) & it was at their ritsy small town sized estate. anyway, my sister invited us via vip tickets...so we got to slum it with the richies in the columbus area, complete with catered food, free *everything*...& this is what we have to show for it, a caricature of the girls (free!). the artist was a sweet guy to do this for our wiggly duo. cute, eh?

& i just have to say, new albany sorta freaks me out. hellooo, stepford? i mean, nearly the whole town is surrounded by a white picket fence?! egads. every single time i drive through new albany i get this weird vibe. (it's not you, it's me?)

***

& today my mom drove here & arrived by 8:30 a.m. which is good b/c i was having a very rough morning with the pain situation. anyway, my mom came to watch the girlies so i could do some shopping & prep for addy's birthday party tomorrow night. somehow my mom kept them entertained, fed them, & also vacuumed the upstairs AND dusted! woah, slow down. THEN she took me up on my joke offer for her to take amelia with her for the night & pre-party tomorrow. it's amazing what can get done without a baby around. like, uh, going out to eat *smile* & watching a tivo'd show...& doing a bit of work around the house. a bit.

BUT we all miss dear amelia! addy walked around the house for a good 15 minutes seriously crying real tears saying 'baby come back'. what i should have done is recorded that & then will replay if for addy next week when she's angrily grabbing a toy out of amelia's arms screeching 'mine baby!' it was touching, though; they are friends!

so yes, tomorrow is our first attempt at a 'friend party' instead of only parent friends. (let me clarify, all the families coming tomorrow are our friends as well. it just so happens that you have a kid within a few months age of adeline also. good timing, folks.) so today i decorated (with adeline's help) 5 wee shirts that will be used for painting pumpkins...we are borrowing a friend's jump house (that we will pick up in the morning, crawfords, sorry!), & will be setting up like fiends in the morning. slow fiends, but fiends who will most likely have had a solid night's sleep (my parents will most likely arrive tired & hand over amelia with a sorrowful, tired, smile). the in laws are arriving early to help us...the rest is history. how will the first friend party go?

to cheer myself up

...let me think of good things, stuff that brings a smile to the frown or furrowed brow.

how adeline was so excited to go to school yesterday waving & shouting 'HI HI HI HI' to her classmates sitting on the inside steps that she didn't notice the crack in the sidewalk & fell smack on her front. instead of getting upset, she hopped up & started to laugh hysterically, then continued running to her teacher (who was coming down the steps quickly saying 'oh addy, are you okay?!'). she turned & waved 'buh bye mommy' with a huge grin.

amelia, who is now walking behind the toy walker...she walks a bit, does an odd imitation of galloping, then runs into something. she has gone from standing there stuck & frustrated, flailing her arms around with a very pissed off look on her face to learning the technique of moving the toy walker away from her stuckedness. the ornery & goofy grin she gives me as she walks by is both heart warming & a bit scary (per the ornery look).

oh adeline. she came out of her bedroom tuesday morning with 3 pairs of pajama shorts on & then FOUR pajama pants on her legs. she could barely walk, so she just plopped down in the hallway. when i asked her why she had on 7 pajama bottoms she just gave me the sign for cold. so apparently she woke up in the middle of the night & instead of pulling her blanket back on herself she went into her dresser & just kept layering on bottoms. i still wonder how she managed to climb back into her bed with all those clothes on, i mean, she could barely walk!

amelia loves to suck on her lips & tongue, especially when she's crawling around. so not only do we hear the pat-pat-plunk-pat of her crawling body, but we also get this high pitched slurp-suck-slurp as well.

last night adeline *asked to do her homework*. asked! as in, got wes' attention, said something resembling "addy home work please". her joy when we said 'you want to do your homework?!' & she was all YES YES YES HOMEWORK! she has a packet that's just enough to do a page a night of simple coloring, cutting, letters, size or object comparison. simple things. but she gets to cut with kid scissors & color & play with us all the while. wes & i are taking turns doing homework with her b/c *it's that fun* (well, most of the time, except when she jokes with us that a little c is a little s & then laughs when we're like 'no, that's a little c' & she's all yea i know stupid, it was a *joke*!

& i have two girls who love to wrestle. the pick ups & smack downs & tickles thrown in there for extra laughs. but they wrestle constantly throughout the day with each other. & if they happen to spy an adult laying on the floor--look out. you are about to be body slammed. by a cute little one, of course, but still, body slammed.

there are good things going on here, in this house of bad luck or whatever you may call this series of unfortunate events that has been the past year.

double meaning day

so monday adeline went to her first day of preschool & it was also month 2 after harold removal. to all you grandparents, aunts & uncles anxiously awaiting her pictures, sorry it took so long! (the past few days have been a bit harrowing). i'm hoping to get this post done today--we'll see! these kids to not seem to like me being on the computer at all.

adeline, right before walking out the door on her first (full) day of preschool!

#1
adeline was giddy getting ready for 'cools' as she calls school. she put her clothes on with *gusto* & was smiling & laughing when we would ask her what she was going to do today ('COOLS'!!). once dressed w/ shoes on, she was opening the garage door to leave, trying to tote around her heavy backpack...it was just plain adorable, folks. she wanted to go to school, she didn't want to leave. the only slight discomfort happened when we (yes, wes was with us, of course--first day of school!) walked away towards the steps & door...adeline cried out 'mommy!! mommy!!' & my heart was shredded & i turned back rather quickly for my healing balance nerve (didn't fall over, thankfully) & was ready to scoop her up saying 'she'll be ready next year!' & take her home. but then the teacher leaned over & handed her little bear (yes, little bear went along for school) & adeline sorta looked at me like 'it's under control now, you can go please' & then she walked into the classroom, head held high. amazing.

what's even more amazing is that i didn't cry about it until amelia & i got home. it was only a few tears, then amelia decided to take the chance & get my undivided attention for the next 2.10 hours. actually, i think amelia missed her sister the most as she was crying & pouting & crawling around with this lost look on her face. when adeline hopped into the car after school amelia was nearly bouncing the car with her happiness.

the happy duo pre preschool

amelia missing her sister as we were waiting to pick up adeline

adeline bounding out of school

***

#2

month 2, post harold removal
my hair grows very fast so you can barely see where the incision is, except at the bottom.

i am still experiencing most of the side effects, but they come & go in severity. i still feel like i've been hit by a truck, run over or what have you...but things around here are slightly normalizing. i don't want to use this blog to complain, so i'm just going to stop here, but things are still difficult & i am excited to heal completely.
***
as for today & this week, it's just been a difficult one. amelia is up for hours at night crying. amelia is grumpy during the day, especially when adeline is gone. i've woken up with a killer migraine once & bad head & muscle aches the other days. today i'm on my way to a play group for amelia's 'friends' & was hit (slow speed, thankfully) on the driver side. it wasn't my fault (i admitted i didn't turn my blinker on to park on a residential one way street curb. who does?!) but the other driver was calling me a liar, etc & told the police that i was lying. lovely. i'm thinking, what do i have to lie about?! it appears that he's just trying to turn it into my fault (passing someone on the left side on a one way residential street? i think that's not my fault he hit me, eh?). after the cop mentioned something about being in the twilight zone (b/c our stories were different, i dunno) i just stopped disputing this guy, let him rant about how i was lying about *everything* showing the cop how it was in a different location that where it was, etc. i think eventually the cop understood what was going on, i mean, he deals with this type of situation at least once a day i'm sure--he'll be able to tell the person who's telling the truth from not. but it's just so frustrating! so now we're letting our insurance co's duke it out. no one was hurt, although amelia was in the car with me which freaks me out. what if we were hit harder? what if adeline had been in the car (her door took the brunt of the hit). i'm just ready for things to stop happening to us. no more tumors, pay decreases, huge medical bills, minor car accident, illness. gosh, i just want to wake up feeling good & *knowing* it will be a good day.

for the birthday girl

you guessed it, newborn adeline

1 year old adeline
two year old adeline
3 year old adeline (yes, she blew them out by herself! rock on, girlie)

***

today adeline is three. holy crap-a-moleee! so i asked her some of the favorites in her life. since she is speaking better to a point that wes & i can nearly understand 80% of what she's saying i think these answers are legitimate (btw: other people probably understand about 25%, which is much better than 3 months ago). AND i think she's learning how to spell (that story another time) & she can draw a very lopsided heart suddenly, making her daddy's heart flip around & cause tears to come to his eyes (softy). tonight she told her grandma sue where we went out to eat (5 guys burgers & fries...but gma sue heard '3 guys' so that's pretty good talking!). anyway, here's her list of favorites:

color: blue {i was *shocked* & asked why do you get everything PINK?!}
food: oreo cookie
toys: matchbox cars
activity: playing outside
tv show: dora
park: innis woods
stuffed animal: little bear
book: all dora books
word: home (mama heart melting)
night-night song: jesus loves me
wants to: go to SCHOOL!
hair to be: down
doesn't like: naps {sour face}

what a kid we have with our sweet adeline. she has a huge heart for others & quite the silly & rambunctious attitude. adeline is growing into a little girl right before our eyes; if it weren't for the plethora of pictures, i would hardly notice day to day but mature she does. she is one who holds the hand of her preschool teacher but still looks behind for her mama (then smiles & wildly waves to her mama & little sis), one who cares for the crying kids in stores & on playgrounds & asks to give them a hug or a band aid. she still asks me every single day how my 'owie' is doing (my scar/incision) & checks it out by carefully pulling my hair back & says things like 'hmm, ooohh, sorry mama, owie'. then she wishes it gone by blowing on it & saying bye bye to the air.

just at target last night when we were sorting through all the shoes, we went over to the sock aisle to put a pair on her (of course, i forgot to put socks on her so we had to buy more socks...not something she needs). so i put the socks on her, then the shoes & as i was trying to explain to this shakily excited preschooler that she wouldn't be able to run b/c of the elastic around the shoes, well, she attempted to run, quickly. then she fell down, laughing. i was all 'addy you can't run b/c the shoes are tied together' but she just got up & tried *4 more times* to run with the new shoes, laughing hysterically the entire time--it was like i was witnessing her first drunk episode! i was nearly ready to pee my pants from watching her do this up & down then finally she figured out how to walk with her legs tight together & then how to hop. it's just moments like these that i am not going to forget, her ability to make light of what could be frustrating situations (then melt down for hours over eating a bite of food?! doi!). i know i had never laughed so much until she came into my life (& now that's double the trouble fun, eh?).

when i think about the next 2 decades it's anticipated with joy & love, bring it on, right? she is *so excited* to grow up & we are *so even more excited* to help her on this journey. we love you, sweet adeline! happy birthday.

oh the joys

• my pair of tom's came today! i am so excited YEA YEA YEA! i have not been a 'shoe person' ... until i saw these on our friend's blog & then waited for them to visit us so i could see them first hand. loved them. ordered them that week & here they are & i love them. comfortable. wearable with everything, i assure you. they already have spilled milk on them but i wore them out anyway. COMFORTABLE. maybe i haven't been a shoe person before b/c i have wide feet & am mostly uncomfortable in women's shoes (except sandals!). but i'm finding my way around the very tight women fitting shoes & into the comfy ones. i believe on 3rd rock i would i be like liz lemon, wearing 'man shoes'. who cares?! COMFORTABLE.
  

• & these would be the shoes adeline *agonized* over for 30 minutes in target tonight. these special, fast, sparkly, pink shoes beat out a DORA pair (my guess is b/c the dora ones were brown. or maybe she was pondering the fact of her dora boots at home are also brown...to0 much brown?). my goodness! her feet are a size *NINE*!
  

• & these shoes, folks, are her "dressy" shoes. no kidding. she picked these, again--agony-- over the total sparkle shoes (even had 3 sparkle shoe colors to pick from...but none were pink). so was very thoughtful & excited during this shoe buying process. lots of 'huummmm' & 'mmmmhhhmm'??? & no not dat, yes dat, NO YES. etc.

• another joy of parenting? this is addy's plate. our 3 year old (well, as of tomorrow at 11:19 a.m.). we bribed her to eat the carrots (just by saying we'll eat a carrot when she eats one) but she's refusing to eat any meat except chicken nuggets especially from costco, the ones that are in the shape of mickey mouse's head (???). she used to eat nearly as much as wes, just about a year ago, actually. & she would eat nearly anything. ah well, so it goes. what do 'they' say, just keep offering it & eventually she'll eat the things that she's okay with & will show us for sure the things she really doesn't have a taste for (gah, do we have a vegetarian on our hands? will her daddy be okay with this?! lol)
  

• & this, this is amelia's plate. her 1st helping. she ate about two plates with this much food *not even kidding*... she doesn't stop eating most of the day.
  

• going to preschool went wonderful today, once i finally found a parking spot. this particular elementary school has about 12 parking spaces for everyone (including staff). i was driving like a mad woman trying to find a spot. i think (yes, i know) i yelled a big fat what the f*&% are you doing dude?? to another parent trying to navigate the tiny alley behind the school. he was going the wrong way, btw, down the 1 way street. it was my 2nd time around looking for a spot. ((& carol, if you're reading, i didn't even attempt to replace the f-er with frack or fiddlesticks or stupid idiot. it just came out. *sigh*))
  

• i must stop letting adeline talk me into putting her hair barrettes in my hair. she will pull one out of her hair (yes, ouch) & then push it into my head (yes, ouch again) so i say no no, that's for addy, not mama & then suddenly my brain stops working & i'm putting her barrette in my hair & then she laughs & oogles over how beautiful it looks in my hair, etc. then millie chases me around trying to grab it out. good times! but then i totally forget it's in my hair & *then i leave the house* wearing a pink plastic butterfly barrette. lovely! hello wes! tell me these things before i walk out of the house!

• amelia is working a tooth out *finally* this has been nearly 2 months in the making. the swollen gums, the drool, the diarrhea, etc. we think this b/c she had a lego dude in her mouth for an entire 70 minutes tonight. that was after she chewed on the infant dropper all day.
  

• amelia & i had our first date out together this morning. of course, we went to starbucks & she was treated to a raspberry muffin & floor scum (she chose to pick up & attempt to eat floor scum mostly). it was fun & she *loved* it. her eyes just light up even more than usual when she has my undivided attention, which makes my eyes light up i'm sure. what a kid.

• & how would i do this blog without wes? who knew that 'undo' is <>??? not me. but he does. what a guy, what a hubby. i tell ya.
  

whhhaaattt?!

today we finally got our butts down to addy's school to pay the fees (that were due last week) & turn in the rest of her paperwork (due 3 weeks ago). since the preschool is separate from the actual elementary school the secretary didn't know what to do with all her paperwork & our fee payment, so we were sent down to addy's soon-to-be classroom. filled with the afternoon class of kids. in school. i was ready for the teacher to be a bit peeved & abrupt...

but! her teacher, mrs. r., is amazing & was so kind to us & seemed genuinely happy that we came in so adeline could see the classroom again. she magically integrated adeline quickly (they were messing with play dough, come on, i guess that was an easy sell) & then took the paperwork, gave us some more paperwork (forced *smile* on my part. MORE?!) & then walked me to the school nurse to get, again, more paperwork for her tree nut allergy & epi pen situation. THEN she dropped a bomb: school pictures are tomorrow! and she wants us to bring addy in to get her picture taken for both the individual & also for the ever popular group picture. *GASP*

i kinda sorta still see adeline as a toddler. you know, my first baby. this whole school picture thing quickly launched her from maybe an older toddler into preschool kid land & i nearly burst out in tears right there in the school hallway *next to addy's locker*. i was all 'of course addy will come to get her picture taken, that's nice of you to offer that before she's officially a student' blah blah blah all the while thinking to myself 'don't cry don't cry don't cry'. it's all about the life cycle & i know she's ready for this preschool & after a few days i will acclimate & accept that my baby is now in school, if only for 4 days a week, 2 1/2 hours a day. plus, she gets speech, physical, & occupational therapy there as well. (PLUS her individual therapy at children's hospital...which has become *wow* expensive with our new insurance. but her speech therapist said adeline is severe enough to need it for probably another year...good bye date night, eh?)

anyway, so tomorrow i get to drop adeline off for an hour so she can get her *first ever* school picture taken. did i mention in a bright orange tie-dyed t-shirt that could fit as a dress? (hhmm, thanks PTA??). humph. i think i'll still send her with a cute shirt, just in case that bright orange tie-dyed shirt is for the group picture. i know fashion-addy will either love it or hate it & can't wait to see which it will be when we get the group photo back in a few weeks (either elated adeline or pissed off & crying adeline...yes, all b/c of a shirt).

the best of all, though? she was enjoying herself in the classroom. she didn't become upset & clingy & she was sad to leave the school. she said bye bye to the classroom *all the way home* which is cute & endearing but after 5 minutes wes & i were like, okay i think you said your goodbyes already *enough*.

did i mention she will be in the YEARBOOK?! oh yes, we are going to buy one. & grandparents, aunts, uncles, fake aunties (you know who you are): exactly what size photo do you want?
***
yes, wes is home as of midnight last night. he made coffee for me this morning & was crazy enough to let me sleep in a bit (neither of us sleep when he's flying). but right now he's taking a much needed nap with adeline. we are ALL happy to have him back. you should have heard the gasp adeline gave when she saw him in her doorway this morning. 'MY DADDDDYYY!!!' *laugh laugh, hug hug giggle giggle, tickle, laugh* that's how it went.