In transition

Someone tell Ellie she needs to sleep tonight or I’m going to crack.

Well, the husband is back on night shift, just in time for Mark’s birthday.  The kids are sleeping, pizza dough is in the bread machine, pizza sauce in the crock pot.  There are steaks marinating for tonight.  Soon I need to bake a cake or cupcakes, I’m not sure which one the little guy wants,  I’ll quiz him when he wakes up.

Five years ago we were struggling to get pregnant, never dreaming our lives, our home, our hands, and our hearts would ever be so full.

For some reason I forgot August has thirty-one days or I just can’t count. Mark’s birthday is Monday, not Sunday.

Thankfully I don’t plan huge shindigs for toddler birthdays.

I’m looking over an itemized list of charges for an afternoon spent stopping labor.  I think a doctor spent less than three minutes in my room.  Over four thousand dollars for a few tests, IV, a steroid shot, and terbutaline.

Something smells and I just changed the baby.

I’m waiting for a call back from billing on a couple of the more obscure, but extremely expensive charges.

Two weeks old.

• That was quite the storm that rolled through Moncks Corner at 2am.  First we were joined by the dog, at the foot of the bed.  A few thunderous crashes later, Aidan appeared, and shortly after that Mark joined us, too.  So much for a king being plenty big enough.
• Stepdaughter has gone home to Minnesota, I look forward to getting into a routine again, but dread the tantrums associated with big change.
• I am so very thankful for my church.  The dinners provided after Ellie’s birth are just one small aspect of how very generous the members are.
• The boys have discovered that I am less likely to intervene when I’m feeding the baby.  This is causing a lot of irritation.
• Aidan begins “biolin” lessons next week.  I’m excited to find someone who teaches the Suzuki method in the North Area, she’s very reasonable, too.  Today we’re heading out to find a 1/10th violin, wish us luck.
• I love having friends and family willing to be seen in public with the traveling circus that is my life.
• Mark will be two on Sunday, wow.

At some point yesterday I was putting away laundry.  In one hand I had a pile of clothing belonging to the boys and in the other nearly every bra I own.

For the life of me I cannot find where I hid the second pile.

Never in my life have I squealed over tiny pink things. Suddenly my house is overflowing with pink and I’m happy?

My aunt sent these and I can’t wait to put them on her.   I’m beginning to believe that the shot they gave me after delivering Ellie was not in fact pitocin but some curious infusion of girl germs.

It’s the stuff of my childhood, gasping for breath and pouring sweat, unable to scream as I struggle toward consciousness.  I’ve always been prone to nightmares, they peaked in late adolescence fading as I slowly trudged toward adulthood.

They have returned as my body downshifts from carrying a child and the hormonal nightmare wreaks havoc on my subconscious.  Dark entities wait in my sleep.  In the light of day, they are nothing more than an anecdotal “I had a bad dream.”  But, in the witching hour they are a force to be reckoned with as I wait for dawn.

This too shall pass.

Elizabeth was born Wed at 5:29pm.  8lbs 5oz of dark haired wonder.  She’s 20″ long and sweet as pie.

She looks just like her aunt Laura.

It’s hot, I’m bored.  I normally don’t do memes, but I visited Patrick’s Place and decided to play along with his Saturday Six.

1. What is your favorite flavor of chicken wings? How many do you generally order at a time?

“Hot” unless we’re at Wild Wings and then “Gold Rush”  as an appetizer, I’ll split a basket (12) as a meal I split a sampler platter (25).  I haven’t had wings in forever and am looking forward to tomorrow.

2. How often do you check out a restaurant’s nutrition information before going there to have dinner?

Never, going out is counted as a splurge, not a daily occurrence.

3. If you have ever done so, what was your biggest surprise in reading the calorie or fat counts?

N/A

4. Take the quiz: What does your pizza say about you?

The stereotype that best fits you is geek. You’re the type most likely to order pizza to avoid leaving your computer

::sigh:: even my pizza gives me away

5. What style of food do you think is generally served at what you’d consider the most romantic of restaurants?

Around here, the “maverick Southern” restaurants.  We don’t get out often though.

6. What type of food would you be likely to sample first: food that is hot and spicy or food that is more mellow but has a richer taste?

It depends on the time of year, Spring and Summer spicy tends to fit the bill as it’s less heavy.  Fall and Winter find me craving comforting, rich foods.