Oh, and first – HAPPY 4TH BIRTHDAY TO MY NIECE, HALLE!!!!!!!!!!! I can’t believe she’s so big. She’s gone from this:
to this:
in such a short time. We love you, Halleboo!!!!!
Our whole family has had some type of crud for a few weeks. It seemed to start with Ellie getting a fever that lasted just shy of the 48-hour mark where the doctor wants to see them. At its worst, it was 103. Brian and I both caught it, too. This is generally how we spent those days:
Note that Ellie is in nothing but a diaper, because she was burning up, and Brian is in a winter parka of some sort, because he was freezing to death.
Sunday was Mother’s Day. If you didn’t realize Sunday was Mother’s Day, and you have a mother, you best get your ass to the mall – or, preferably, somewhere non-generic and awesome – and pick up something really expensive and shiny to make up for it.
As a general rule, I don’t look forward to Mother’s Day. Before it was because I was struggling to become a mother. It was also because my grandma and my aunt ALWAYS. CRY. OMG. Not bad tears – Well, one year they were bad tears from my grandma, because my 18 year old cousin was contemplating moving to Hawaii for college, and she was freaking out (FYI, it never happened, which the rest of us knew would be the result, but she wouldn’t listen). No, my aunt and my grandma always cry because of the cards. They read their cards, they sob happy, sloppy tears, and I sit in the corner trying not to cry.
That’s right, I’m a sympathy crier. I’m also a sympathy puker, but that’s not generally an issue on Mother’s Day.
I don’t like crying in front of people. I don’t particularly enjoy expressing any deep emotion in front of anyone, either. I realize this is a trait I need to correct, because I should tell all the awesome people in my life, particularly my mother, how much I love them and how much they mean to me, but I’m not totally sure how to do it. I don’t know why I’m like this, but I am. As a result, my family gets cards from me that are sarcastic and funny.
My grandma still cries.
This year we made my mom and grandma cards with one of Ellie’s Easter pictures on the front, and put a cute quote inside, and then did her footprints in paint on the inside as well. The quotes were sweet, but funny.
CUE WATERWORKS FROM MY GRANDMA.
Then cue me leaving the damn room, because God forbid I express emotion in front of my family.
Oh, but maybe I should have started this post with the fact that I showed up to my parents’ house on Mother’s Day bawling my freaking eyes out. They were not overwhelmed-with-emotion-because-it’s-my- first-Mother’s-Day tears, they were Holy-freaking-crap-my-kid-is-being-a-psycho-today-and-I-have-PMS-and-I’m-sick-AGAIN--Brian-and-I-got-in-a-fight-last-night-and-the-location-of-brunch-was-changed-from-grandma-and-grandpa’s-house-to-my-parents’-house-and-I-didn’t-get-that-message-and-we-were-already-running-late-and-then-showed-up-at-the-wrong-place-and-then-had-to-drive-another-20-minutes-to-my-parents’-house-and-I’m-thisclose-to-having-a-massive-breakdown-even-though-I-got-to-sleep-in-this-morning-and-Brian-made-me-breakfast-in-bed-and-got-me-new-ceiling-fans-for-Mother’s-Day-and-already-installed-them-and-my-diamond-shoes-are-too-tight-and-all-my-money-won’t-fit-in-my-wallet-and-wahhhhhh-my-perfect-life-is-too-hard-and-I-suck tears.
In case you didn’t catch it, I realize I have it pretty darn easy, and my whining about my life is pretty redonkulous, in general.
So, anyway, I was grumpy, and sick, and late and I looked like crap, and then my grandma cried at the card we made her which was supposed to be FUNNY. Also, my grandpa has been sick for several months, and is now on oxygen 24/7 and wheezing and having so much trouble getting through the day and it scares the ever-loving crap out of me. As far as I’m concerned, my grandparents are going to live forever. They’re the only two I have left, and I’m not a fan of the thought that I may have to live without them someday. I’m very close to them, and always have been. Seeing my grandpa so fragile and weak was startling, to say the least.
He has a staph infection and rheumatoid arthritis in his lungs. He’s on massive doses of antibiotics to get rid of the infection, then they’ll start him on massive doses of steroids to treat the arthritis, which will probably send his blood sugar sky-high, obviously negatively affecting his diabetes. Fix one problem, cause another.
They think they’ll be able to reverse the arthritis in his lungs because they caught it early, which is really awesome news, because there is no cure for rheumatoid arthritis. That means, had they not caught it so soon, it would just continue to progress until he couldn’t breathe anymore, and he would die. And, as I said, that’s not really an option since my grandparents are going to live forever.
I won’t bore you with my thoughts on my parents and my expectations as far as their immortality. You know the rules, Mom. Pass that along to Dad.
As a whole, my first Mother’s Day was lovely, thanks to my awesome husband. Once I stopped crying at my parents’ house, I had a nice time.
OH, and I’m talking to my sister again. No details, but this is a very good thing, and I’m relieved.
Ellie is sooooo close to crawling. I don’t think she really realizes it, but she’s getting there. She can sit up, if you get her into position. She’s getting really close to sitting herself up, as she’s been doing this pilates move for about four months every single time we lay her on her back:
The girl’s going to have Abs of Steel by the time she’s 1. No joke.
She also said her first word: “Dada.” Actually, it’s more like “Dadadadadadadadada,” and she says it in this sweet little whisper that’s a stark contrast to her shrieking noises, which she does all the live-long day when she’s excited. Anyway, she has no idea what she’s saying, she’s just repeating sounds, but, as my mother-in-law pointed out, lots of people use words they don’t know the meaning of. I expect her next word to be “superfluous,” since it’s one of my favorites. I’ll settle for “Mama,” though.
She’s rolling back to front, front to back, and repeat, and repeat again, then get really pissed because, OMG, I HATE BEING ON MY STOMACH. I JUST REMEMBERED THAT, AHHHHH!!!!!!!!
She’s hilarious and smiley and genuinely just happy to be alive at all times. Okay, at most times. I mean, she has her moments. *Ahem* Mother’s Day.
She’s getting big. She has very long legs, like me, and very short, fat feet, like someone, who shall remain nameless (*cough* my mom *cough* *cough*). Shoes are difficult to find. She’s finally at a stage where I can find some that fit her, but they’re usually either way to small or way too big. Socks are also a problem. If I get them in a size that fits her short little feet, they’re also a wee bit tight on her
I bought her a shit-ton of summer clothes from Children’s Place last year, when I was still pregnant, because they were having a huge sale. I bought 6-9 months. They’re a little….snug…. I mean, I can get them on her, but they’re not going to last long. In fact, one of the cute little tank tops I got her was so tight it made her look slutty. It’s pretty hard to make a six-month-old look promiscuous, but this shirt did it. I put it in the box of stuff-that-no-longer-fits-aw-sad-where’d-my-tiny-baby-go?
I’m really loving this stage. I’ve loved every stage so far, and I’m trying to make a point of enjoying where she is instead of looking forward to where she’ll be. They grow so fast, and I don’t want to miss anything.
On Saturday at 10 we’re having pictures taken. They’ll be mostly Ellie’s six-month pictures, but we’re going to get a couple family shots as well. We’re finally going to get some shots of her in her purple tutu, and I have a Cubs onesie w/legwarmers combo that I can’t wait to put on her. I’m really excited about it, because we’re using this fantastic photographer who was referred to us by a friend of mine. It’s cheap, and he does a great job. I warned him about my general unphotographic-ness, and told him it’s his job to A) Make me look 30 pounds lighter, and B) Make sure I don’t look like I’m having a seizure, thus ruining every damn picture. I also got tips from my sister’s brother-in-law, who is an actor and a photographer and lives in New York City and is generally awesome at all this stuff. I’m hoping the combo of retouching and pointers will result in semi-decent pictures of me. I’m not worried about Brian and Ellie; they’re both very photogenic.
I’ll post those pictures as soon as we get them.
1 comment:
Oh how I love your blog! I had so many comments I wanted to share as I read this entry but now I have lost them all. MISS YOU!
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