April Fools!

Or as we like to call it, Natalie's Birthday! My baby is 4. This may require that I spend tomorrow in bed with a carton of ice cream reminiscing over her baby pictures and trying to figure out how to actually slow down the passing of time.

I remember very clearly 4 years ago today, when I had called the hospital to be induced and the nurses said "no thank you, maybe later." Which made me wonder what they'd do with me if I just went into labor. So I rehashed with my doctor, and he pretty much said don't ask tomorrow, just go, if you're sure you want to have the baby on April Fool's Day.

Do not leave it up to the enormously pregnant woman to choose the birthday. It falls in the IDon'tCareJustGetItOut category. When should the baby be born, Really Pregnant Lady? ASAP, thank you. April 1 was a Friday, it was that or wait til Monday. So because I wanted her out, she will now live the rest of her life the butt of April Fool's jokes. Love you, Nattie. Mommy was not in the right frame of mind.

Scheduling induction with my doctor was a little like scheduling getting tires changed. Let's just pick a day we're both free near the due date, April 9. Did I need to be induced that early? Probably not. I was uncomfortable -- sure -- what outrageously pregnant woman isn't? Honestly, I fought for early induction because I was absolutely petrified of going into labor and all it involves.

Oh, and my feet were swollen. Or something. And I have a vague memory of Natalie settling in on my sciatic nerve. But it's faded with time. Which is, I think, how God gets us to have more babies. Selective memory.

But thank you, sweet Jesus, that my doctor was for random inducing because little Natalie was 8 lbs. 2 oz. Another week and she would have broken me.

So I went in for inducing, I got the same room I'd had with Ella and the same nurse. I remember meeting her when I had Ella. I almost died. She's a sweet tiny YOUNG little Barbie Doll. She had no business helping me with what was about to happen and all that...stuff... But to my surprise she was Super Nurse. So very awesome. Almost worth having another baby. Don't tell Captain America.

Anyway, pitocin around 7:30 or 8 a.m., Natalie born around 12:30 p.m. Short & sweet. Then Super Nurse said they needed to move me to a C-section recovery room so somebody else could have a baby. And so Natalie and I hung out mostly by ourselves for the next couple days watching the Catholics get a new Pope. The nurses were busy with all the other mommies traipsing through, and Ella was only a month out from an overnight in the hospital for dehydration from the flu. She had NO DESIRE to set foot in the hospital. We didn't want her to feel abandoned, so Captain America stayed home with her, what with her not even being 2 and all. And Natalie and I watched for the smoke signal while I ate peanut butter toast to my heart's content.

Keeping it real, Natalie was not scheduled in for less than 2 years after Ella was born. And for TMI, it was sort of surprising what with all the fertility drugs required for Ella. But our schedule sucked. God's schedule was good. Really good. She is a treasure and a delight and oozes sweetness and a little trouble to keep us honest.

And I will spend the rest of my days apologizing to her for her April Fool's Birthday in addition to being named after a dead tormented actress and a baseball player.

Lakeshore Property, and The Economy Lives!

I live 2 blocks from a rather large lake. After a massive snow melt (although we've still got some patches even after nearly a week of temps above 32), and a week of forecasted rain perhaps I will live closer to the lake. In the meantime, I have to stay close to the sump pump today. It's running hourly.

Totally brings me back to when the cat used to shove stuff in the sump hole in the basement, and one particularly rainy week our pump died because ribbon had gotten wrapped into the motor. And I mopped up a whole lotta water with a week-old baby upstairs while my dad bought the last pump in town and got it in. Thanks, cat. Good times.

In other news, I declare the economy to be alive and well. I know this because I went to Ikea and the Mall of America on Saturday. At Ikea there were nearly 400 people in line to check out. Sincerely. Almost 20 registers open, and at least 20 people per line. Insanity. Glad we didn't promise the girls the tiny stuffed animals they liked because I would not have stood in line for an hour for them. Many tears would have been shed. People were abandoning full carts left and right.

Then we went over to the Mall of America with the munchkins. We'd had a later breakfast (Mom! The hotel has Lucky Charms! And doughnuts!), so we figured a later lunch would work. First we swung past Rainforest Café because it's the girls' favorite. Luckily we were able to get a photo op with Cha Cha the Frog, because at 12:45 or so we were told the earliest the 4 of us could eat would be 2:08. Next... We headed up to the top level for restaurants and settled on Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. with their 30 minute wait. I'll take it.

Delicious tilapia and shrimp on jasmine rice later, and we wandered through the masses. Everyone was holding numerous large shopping bags. We managed to make it out without a single purchase other than lunch. Because nothing was worth waiting in the lines to check out (that and I gave up spending on myself for lent - it took great restraint to just walk by Sephora). What luck! Saturday's characters at Nick Whatever (Camp Snoopy in my heart forever) were Dora & Diego. There was a 5 minute or less line for a photo op.

After that insanity we started to head home. Stopped at Cold Stone Creamery, but again, a very long wait. So we headed to the trusty DQ where Ella polished off a chocolate sundae in a heartbeat. And then, because we're apparently new, we expected them to crash (or at least sit somewhat calmly) for a 2 hour ride home. Have we not read the manual?

And now it is spring break. So I have two cranky children. Tired. But Ella is already reminiscing about our trip. "Mom? Remember the hotel had Lucky Charms? AND doughnuts? And remember we ate at Applebee's? I want to do it all over again!"

Lastly, thank you, Jesus, for the Wii. We WILL survive spring break.

IT'S SPRING!!!

And now I've jinxed it. But for today at least, it is Spring. Even in Minnesota. It is 51 degrees right now. Last Thursday when I took the girls to school it was -17. Welcome to Minnesota.

Captain America brought to my attention that some Southern Friends think that when you say "-17" you mean "17 degrees below freezing." I just want to make sure y'all understand (see how I'm trying to make you feel at home? Y'all?). When we say "-17" it means "negative 17 degrees." As in, below ZERO. Just as it was on March 12. That's Freeze Your Face Off cold, people.

In other news, it was an exciting weekend for me. It'll be boring to you, but I'm going to tell you anyway.

Saturday Ella and I ran some errands in Slightly Bigger Eastern Lake Wobegon while Natalie took a nap at home and Captain America worked on fantasy baseball. We dropped some things off at a thrift store. We drove around a little. Then we had ice cream at Dairy Queen. "MmmmmmmmMMMMM...Deeelishush!!" Then we went to a different SuperWal. We came home and I gave the girls baths after popping in a pan of enchiladas I made a couple weeks ago and had frozen. I felt like SuperMom.

Sunday I got up prior to the crack of the new daylight savings dawn. Had to be at church at 7:30. I got to go to Caribou inbetween practice & the contemporary services with some other music team peeps. I ate a youth-made cinnamon roll (or I inhaled it. I can keep it real.). When I was done around noon I headed home, ate a quick lunch (and, yes, another cinnamon roll. back off.). Then I loaded up the girls to take in the high school's Wizard of Oz while Captain America had the fantasy baseball draft he'd been preparing for lo these many days.

Which totally brought me back to my drama dept. days. Only I don't recall SELLING OUT THE SHOW. The girls and I were the last 3 in, and I'd venture they sent 25 or so home. Glad we made it in because the girls had started crying when I told them I didn't think we'd make it. Did I mention we were 20 minutes early? It's not like I got there at the last minute for once.

Anyhoo. I was so impressed. The kids did a great job (and made me feel old thinking of them as "kids"). And Toto? Really Dorothy's dog. Looked like Toto from the movie. The dog was like a well-trained movie dog. Even Natalie, who loses interest after an hour of a movie (even in the theater) was riveted the entire time. All 2 1/2 hrs of it. Luckily Ella had been to see it with her class on Thursday, so she knew when it was going to get loud and would tell Natalie to cover her ears.

After the movie I pushed my luck and we went to Target and McDonald's. But they were really pretty good the entire time.

Which kind of makes me want to take them on a vacation...

* sniff * {COUGH, COUGH} hack WHEEZE

I've got a horrible Spring cold. HA! That implies it might be Spring. Instead, we got another blizzard today. I'm not even exaggerating, weather.com says it's a blizzard. Underneath this new dump of snow is a nice layer of ice. Our ice melting salt is gone. Stores aren't selling it anymore. Because it's MARCH. Thank you, Minnesota.

Natalie went to preschool for a couple hours today, then they called and said when it started to snow could we please pick up our child? Sure enough, she had to be picked up about an hour early. Ella's school only went til 11:25, but it didn't matter. She was home "sick" today. She has caught my cold and was up all night coughing. Which means I was up all night with her. While Captain America and Natalie blissfully slept through it all. So I let her sleep this morning, and she looked tough for the first couple hours after she finally got up. But by afternoon she was tearing all over the house again. Occasionally stopping to cough up a lung.

This cold has beaten me down. The cough has been awful. Hack, hack, HACK, choking, CAN'T BREATHE!, hack, hack. I slept on the couch most of last week because it was the only way I could get propped up enough to sleep. So tired. From coughing? From not sleeping? Just from the cold itself? Went to the doctor Friday and she declared it a really bad cold, but not yet bronchitis. It's improved a bit since then so I've avoided antibiotics.

Captain America injured his elbow this weekend rough housing with Ella. So the shoveling was up to me today. March snow is much heavier than December's.

I'm thinking perhaps a couple of Tylenol PM and an early bedtime are in order.

Oh, March. Don't do me wrong.

It's March. Not that you'd know it looking around Minnesnowta.

Natalie needs a nap. But here's how that's going today.

"Mama? I need a warmer blanket."

"Mama? I'm too warm, I need shawts."

"Maaaaahhhm? Am I done yet?"
Me: Nope.

"MAAAAAAAAAAAHHHM... I NEED you..."
So I go in.
"Mama? Did you know that leprechauns hide gold from people? And if you catch one, you get to keep their gold! And Mama. Guess. What. Their favorite color. Is green."
Me: Ok, honey, go to sleep.

"Am I done yet?"
Me: Nope.

"Maaaaaahhm... I need you to come in here..."
Me: What's up?
"Mama, do you want me to tell you more about leprechauns?"
Me: Nope. After naptime.
"But Mama, I'm not tired."
Me: I know. Go to sleep.

Etc, etc.

Friday after the Big Snow and the Big Bus Scare, I got the most wonderful box in the mail. It was from Jessica over at Bits & Pieces. I'm lucky enough to know her in real life too. She sent me a Box of Sunshine.


How cute is this? That just made my week. A little note on Sunshine paper. And all those sunshiny yellow goodies. Wrapped in yellow tissue paper. Just because it's been so snowy & gloomy. I emailed Captain America and told him I'd be back the next day, because I needed to drive the 4 hours one way to go give that girl a hug. In real life I didn't go, but I did think about it. And if she lived 4 hours south of me instead of slightly north, you would have had to physically restrain me. Anyway, Jessica, you are a treasure -- here on the internet, and in real life too. Thank you!

Minutes and seconds

Do you ever have one of those days or moments where you realize that life comes down to the minutes & seconds? Maybe you get stopped at a stoplight, and you're miffed. Then when you get through you come across an accident and realize if you hadn't gotten stuck at the light, it could have been you? Or some such?

Late start at school today. Plus it was -5, so I bundled both girls in snowpants to walk across the street to school. Captain America had shoveled the driveway to get out, but not the sidewalk, so we had to go around. Once we got onto the school sidewalk, Ella ran ahead a bit. I usually like her to walk with me, but today I thought it was fine. I called to her, to tell her she could go ahead. Once she got to her locker she should get her stuff off and Natalie and I would be right in. She stopped long enough to listen and by that time we caught up to her. It was right then that I saw an SUV kicking it in reverse and backing up pretty quickly. I grabbed the girls hands, because it was kind of heading for us. Then it stopped.

And I looked ahead of it. Where the giant school bus was barrelling backwards. It went up over the sidewalk we were walking on and landed in a snowbank. Probably about 10 feet from a classroom window. The driver of the SUV hopped out, and ran to the bus to see if anyone was on it. Another person ran out of school to check it too, followed closely behind by the driver of the bus. Sounds like the driver had parked the bus in front of the school door and gone inside, and the brake had slipped. Well that was scary, I thought. But I was just glad no one was on the bus, and the SUV driver had the presence of mind to get out of the way, and that no one was on the sidewalk there at the time.

So I dropped Ella off and went home with Natalie.

Where I freaked out.

Because I thought about it.

The bus had gathered some decent speed by the time it hit the snow bank -- it rolled at least 6 ft into a good sized bank. 30 seconds later, and we would have been walking in that spot. If the sidewalk had been shoveled, that was 30 seconds. We could have left 30 seconds earlier. I had almost just let Ella run ahead about that far.

I can be sort of a chicken little/drama queen. But it's just made me think how often our lives come down to 30 seconds. Or minutes. Split second decisions. How easily things can change. And I feel confident that God is there in those seconds. No matter how they end. This morning we watched it from a relatively safe distance. Had it ended differently, I know God would have been there all the same.

In any case, no matter how I complained about all the snow yesterday, I'm glad it was there today. Too much snow to take the sidewalk in front of our house. Enough snow to stop the bus before it got to the window of that classroom. So (at least for a few days), when I want to complain about the extra FOOT or so of snow we've gotten a couple of days before March, I will bite my tongue.

Welcome to Narnia!

Before Aslan comes. The land of eternal winter.

It's snowing. Again. It started at 7 a.m., and at 7:45 they decided to close school at 9 a.m. It starts at 8. So Ella went over for an hour of school. Which I suspect was a little book & puzzle time, followed by breakfast, followed by get your things back on you're going home. I didn't attempt to take Natalie to preschool, because they usually close when the schools do.

So I'm home. Shoveling. Listening to the high volume of fighting. Or playing. It sounds so alike these days.

I have made The Announcement. I will not be listening to fighting all day. There will be no screaming. There will be no crying. If you need something, you will ask for it nicely.

They have gone to the playroom in the basement. What does this tell you?

Works for Me Wednesday - Credit Cards

Works-for-Me Wednesday has actually moved to We Are That Family's blog. In any case, I wanted to share how Captain America and I rack up the credit card every month, and pay it off every month, earning ourselves cash or gift cards in the process.

Ever since we've been married (10 1/2 years), we've put everything we can on the credit card every month. Target. Gas. Groceries. Restaurants. Everything. Every. Thing. But the trick is, every time we make a purchase on it, we write it down in our checkbook as if we had written a check (or used a debit card), only we code it VISA instead of a check number. That way the money is subtracted out of our checking, and we consider it gone. When the bill comes, everything is accounted for. We sit down with the bill and the checkbook, and mark each item off. Then if we've missed one (it is McDonald's, never fail) we write that into the checkbook. And then we pay the card off online (the entire amount is already subtracted out of our checking, just by the individual purchases throughout the month).

We have never carried a balance. We have never been charged interest. Meanwhile, we're getting points on a rewards card, and every couple of months we either get cash or gift cards for bonus spending. Since we use the card so much, our points add up quickly. We also happen to have a card that gives us triple points for gas, grocery store & drugstore purchases. Sometimes we get cash as our reward, and we split it for some extra fun money to blow. Last time we were able to cash out $300 in Target gift cards to cover a few of our regular Target trips. That was free money, because we never paid a dime in interest and our card has no fees.

It's also like giving yourself some revolving credit. We sometimes let ourselves go a little in the hole in checking, because a good deal of the money is on the card and we'll get more paychecks before it needs to be paid. It just gives us a little flexibility.

The key is, you HAVE to be diligent about it, and write down every single purchase you make on that card. I usually just hang on to my receipts, and then write them into the checkbook every few days (ideally, but I sometimes forget and then have a bunch to do after a week or two). In the meantime, we have built up some great credit, we've always paid the card off every month, I'd bet we've saved a bit in using less checks, and we get some great rewards just for using a credit card instead of a debit card. See? Credit cards don't have to be evil.

I have to give COMPLETE credit for this process to Captain America. It never would have occurred to me. Left to my own devices, I would probably be swimming in credit card debt. But being married to Mr. Financial Responsibility sometimes has really nice benefits. Like Target gift cards.

Hey. Remember me?

It's not that I don't have anything to say. There's so much going on. It's just a challenge to put together coherent thought. NOT THAT IT'S STOPPED ME BEFORE.

Last week was crazy. Natalie got a little fever Monday night. With ibuprofen it would go away. She was playing. Feeling good. Just warm. Tuesday afternoon. She's fine. Next thing I know, she's all red, can't get up, and the ear thermometer says 106. 106!!! We hightailed it for the doctor. Remember how I live in Lake Wobegon? Yeah. I sang in high school choir with the nurse practitioner we saw. And you know what? She was awesome. She was great with Natalie, she explained the slew of tests and their findings well.

Starting with the strep test. Because her tonsils were swollen & yucky. Certainly it must be strep. Natalie had said it felt like there was a frog in her throat. So NP said she needed to tickle the frog with the big qtip. Natalie thought that was funny. Until she did it. Results: negative.

Then there was the flu test. Do you know what they do for a flu test? They shove giant skinny qtips up your nose. She told Natalie she had to try and get to the frog that way. Again, it was funny until she did it. Then it made Nattie gag. Results: negative.

Next stop, a urinalysis and blood draw. Oh good. It was definitely a challenge to convince her to pee in the cup. And the blood draw was just ugly. Brennan held her down and held her face so she didn't look. I held her arm in place. Lab Girl did the sticking & drawing. Not our happiest family moment. Blood results: not bad. Evidence of infection fighting. Low-ish hemoglobin, we should get her to eat more red meat & leafy greens. No problem on the leafy greens, good luck on the red meat. Urinalysis results: Holy infection, Batman!!! She explained the numbers, but I've since forgotten. All I remember is the number that was supposed to be 0-5 was 50-100.

Poor Natalie had a bladder infection. With apparently no symptoms but a fever. Because she says she hadn't been in any pain at all. After starting around 4:45, it was now 6:30. And because we live in Lake Wobegon, I had to bolt for neighboring Bigger Lake Wobegon to get to the Target pharmacy (everything here was closed by then). We pumped that girl full of ibuprofen, tylenol and amoxicillin, and put her to bed.

Meanwhile, our sweet Ella was at Grandma's, telling Grandma that they should pray for Natalie because she was so sick.

Natalie wasn't down for long. By the next afternoon she was pretty perky again. And by Thursday she was bouncing off the walls and fighting with her sister again. And I kept trying to remind myself how glad I was that she felt better, so I should be happy to hear the fighting.

* * * * *

In other news, I got my permanent crown today. The dentist was very concerned that the lab had sent a white gold crown instead of yellow gold. I told him I just wanted to chew, and I didn't think anyone would be looking to closely at my back molar. If I had known I should have picked, I would have chosen white gold anyway. It feels weird, but I think after a month I was just used to the temporary crown, and they feel nothing alike. This one feels shiny & costly. (bonus points for that vague song reference)

Friday's Fantastic Festival of Facts!!

I don't know what that means. But everyone always has these catchy day-related titles. I feel scatter brained & random today.

Natalie (3) has started making use of manipulative threats. Yesterday as Captain America was heading back to work after lunch she said, "NO. You can't leave. If you do, I will NOT eat, I will just sit here and whine. For 60 minutes." Then at rest time she wanted a movie. I said no, after your nap you can watch one. "Then I will NOT nap. I will NOT listen to music. I will just lay in my bed and whine." For what it's worth, she does not follow through on the threats. Yet.

At Christmas Ella (5) felt we needed a gift for her teachers. Her teachers are apparently any adult that has ever crossed her path at school. The same was true for Valentine's. We needed to send one for the music teacher, even though he'll be gone, AND we need one for his sub. Etc, etc. I think it's nice though, that she remembers everyone. Including the woman who visits them once a week or so to teach them sign language.

Natalie is observant. I mean above and beyond observant. Yesterday she saw a big beach towel in the bathroom that has a spikey sun on it. "Mom, did you get this at Pamida?" I wasn't sure what she was talking about at first. Then I remembered the Pamida logo has a spikey sun in it. We drive past it on the way to preschool.

I need more tea. So far on my Teavana wish list I have the rooibos chai, the kamiya papaya oolong, and the zingiber ginger coconut. I'd like to go to the store and sniff them, but this is probably not the best use of resources since the closest one is 2 hours away.

Had a fascinating talk with Ella about God. And how He can even hear your thoughts. Ella seemed kind of relieved. Apparently there's a little boy in her class that they have a hard time understanding when he talks. "You mean God knows what he's saying all the time?" She thought that was pretty cool for that little boy.

I'm ready to stop wearing boots. I would love a new pair of wedge sandals. I have my eye on these. And these.

Are you doing something wonderful for Valentine's Day? I'm going to a wedding. Of people I don't really know. It'll be a nice date though, and I can dress up a little.

Ok then. Until next time.