A Love-ly Week

We started out our week with a little Valentine's date on Wednesday. Daniel and I went bowling, which was a blast because we had never bowled together in nearly ten years of knowing each other. We were hilariously terrible, and we spent the whole time laughing at each other. It was awesome.

Then, on Friday night, Daniel took Anni on a date of her very own. Oh, my goodness, was it darling. When I was helping her get ready, I asked her if she wanted to wear what she was wearing, or if she wanted to change, and she told me, "Oh, I have to change! I want to be even special-er for Daddy!" We picked out a dress, did her hair, and I loaned her a little necklace that my godmother had given me when I was her age. It was such a sweet moment to help her get ready for her date, I only hope when she starts dating (in, ahem, 30 years), that she still comes to me for help getting ready.

Daddy whisked her off to pizza and ice cream, and she came home bubbling over with excitement to tell me all about it. (They also brought ice cream for little sister, who was rather thrilled with her side of the deal.)

On Saturday, Daniel had a meeting in the morning, and came home with flowers for all three of us! I got the loveliest dusty pink roses, and the girls each got half a bouquet of super-fun bright carnations. They both have their vase sitting on their bedside tables so they can smell them whenever they want.

 

I have so much hope that the way my husband treats our sweet girls will be a standard for them someday should they be called to a marriage of their own. 

On Saturday, we marked the feast of Sts. Cyril and Methodius by making kolaches! This is the first time I've tried to make them using my own whole wheat dough, so I have a bit to learn yet, but they ended up pretty yummy. They'll never beat out my grandma's, but that's to be expected.

Wrap all of that up with the bow of a snowy, Daddy-has-the-day-off Monday, and life is pretty good in this little family right now.

Taking it as slow as I want to...

In my high school days, I was inducted into Quill and Scroll (it's an honor's society for high school journalists).  My Dad showed up unexpectedly, with a bouquet of yellow carnations and a big hug.  That little moment of recognition, of letting me know that he saw me and my accomplishments was a big one for me.  

On St. Valentine's Day, Daniel surprised us by making it home a little early and bringing a gorgeous bouquet of flowers for me and a single, beautiful, white rose and a tigger balloon for Anni.  Knowing that Anni is shown love and respect by the most important man in her life right now gives me hope that she'll look for that same level of love and respect in future relationships. 

 

We're entering the "almost three, I'm a big girl and cannot listen to anything you want/need/ask because that would mean I'm not doing it myself" phase.  It brings with it lots of mommy and daddy desperately looking at each other trying to figure out the game plan is.  However; it also brings amazingly detailed and vivid stories from this little girl's imagination, dance parties like you wouldn't believe and, a healthy dose of, "I yike you, mommy.  I yike Daddy, too.  Do you yike Daddy?"  (The answer is yes, in case you were wondering.)  It's all about hanging onto those moments through the screams of, "No, I DO IT," even if we were perfectly happy letting her do it.  At least, as a 9 month pregnant woman... I can understand irrationality a little, even if I'm not as capable of patience as I should be.

Speaking of being 9 months pregnant (Lil' Bit and I reach our estimated due date tomorrow), Anni and I have been striving for a balance of "Do something" and "Get enough rest so that if this pre-labor actually turns into the real thing one night I'm not completely exhausted."

Valentine's Day went something like this.  Me = very glad I had wandered through the Target dollar aisle a few weeks ago so I had some fun projects for us.  We rolled out some pie crust we had leftover in the freezer and used some frozen raspberries to make some quick heart tarts for breakfast.  I was hoping to use the strawberry vanilla jam my sister sent us from summer canning... but, it didn't want to give itself up (aka, I couldn't open it, I think I've required help the last few times... I've got to find a better way), which probably means it wanted me to use homemade crust, so it is getting saved for homemade mini poptarts for my hubby's weekly "mini poptart time" that he has with a team (not quite his team, but probably the closest he has since he's kind of his own department) at work.    

Then, we rolled onto stickers, window clings and playing with the decorations (again, thank goodness for Target this time). 

Then came afternoon.  No really, that was our morning.  Afternoon was mostly me lying half passed out on the bed, Anni reading books and watching the PBS kids app and then her both having a dance party and throwing fits (they somehow can happen one after the other...) while I made dough for our Valentine's calzones.  whew.  By the time Daniel walked through the door, I may have shed a few tears of exhaustion and happiness that he was there to help.  Have I mentioned that he's just great?

The next day, some of our favorite people came to visit.  I love that my friend made the plans and was perfectly okay that they were contingent upon labor, sickness and general feeling of our household... despite the fact that she has to drive half an hour to see us.  I'm so grateful that we have such sweet friends in our lives!

 Then came the weekend... glorious weekend.  It's funny that a quick house showing and visit to the park wore me out completely and constituted a "busy" Saturday, but I'm okay with it.  I'm allowing myself to take everything as slow as I want, even if every other 40 week pregnant woman is doing amazing things and feeling awesome.  I'm just going to do my best not to worry about what's coming and maybe, just maybe, get caught up on the laundry. 

 

  

PS Was there ever anything quite as wonderful as my hubby having a three day weekend?  Because I'm pretty sure it's the best thing ever right now.

Happy St. Valentine's Day!

Happy St. Valentine's Day/ St. Cyril and Methodius' Feast Day (especially to you, my dear brother, on your feast day!)/ Thursday.  I hope there's lots of love and happiness in your day!

That sweet day

Yesterday, Daniel took the day off.  That had more to do with the fact that I couldn't hold a toddler and stay still during my thyroid scan than with the fact that it was Valentine's Day... but that was kind of a bonus.  I went to take my radiation pill by myself, because it was supposed to only last 15 minutes and Anni was just rolling out of bed.  By the time the first half hour had ticked by, I was lonely and wished I had both of them there.  This part was technically simple, they brought out the (single) pill in a lead-lined bottle.  I mean... really.  One pill in it's own chamber.  Should I really be putting that into my body?  It had another container inside, from which I was supposed to put it straight into my mouth (no touching with my HAND!  This was supposed to go in my body and destroy things there).  Okay, probably being a little over dramatic... but you wouldn't read this otherwise, right?  After that I went home and was tired.  I had to go back for the scan in a few hours, but in the meantime, it was breakfast burriters and chocolate... lots and lots of chocolate.

My scan was actually super quick and nice and painless (minus the moment of panic as the um, scanner? got a little too close.  I'm just a wee bit claustrophobic).  The tech told me there would be three "pictures", each 10 minutes long... except, after the first one, he helped me out so he could measure something and pronounced me ready to go.  When I asked why, he told me it was pretty obvious from the first scan, and I didn't need to do anymore.  I, of course, just wanted to know what was obvious and he (after an appropriate disclaimer that I would need to wait for sure to hear from my doctor) told me that a normal thyroid absorbs this stuff at a rate of 16% by this point (or 6-9%, Daniel and I disagree on what we heard... either way) and mine was currently at 1.4%.  Yeah... my thyroid is barely functioning, which kind of blew my mind since it was supposed to be crazy overactive and all that.  He explained that hypothyroidism (thyroiditis most likely in my case) presents as hyperthyroidism when an infection sets in and explodes a bunch of hormones everywhere.  Weird.  I'm not exactly sure what any of it means, so more waiting until my doctor decides to call.  That's all.  Except the tech was wearing Cornhusker crocs. 

Upon returning home, we realized there really wasn't time to make the stew I had planned, and we threw together a haphazard meal as we walked through the aisles of the grocery store while giggling (just a teeny, little bit) at the vast horde of men gathered around the flower section, a few looking completely bemused. 

Luckily, my husband saved the night with wine and love songs on the guitar and taking care of me when I felt yucky.

Oh, and more chocolate.

Today my funk continued... I'm blaming it on my darn thyroid.  Luckily, sweet Lucy and her mama came to play in our amazing blanket tent.

They brought sugar cookies and talked and played.

Anni adores Amy!  They spend enough time together that she's completely comfortable with her.  Plus, Lucy is kind of her best friend.

All in all, a pretty good day.

Take that, funk.

A traveling we go...

This weekend, I had a wedding to shoot in Wichita, so we extended the weekend a little and Miss Anni came along for some extra bonding time with her grandma and the rest of my family.  I took my first plane ride when I was in my mid-twenties, on my way to walk across the country.  Anni; however, has already flown multiple times... at only 21 months.  This was actually our best flight yet.  She ate apple sauce (three tubes of it), cheesy crackers and homemade granola bars all while checking out other passengers and singing Baa Baa Black Sheep in every possible form (moo, moo brown cow anyone?).  While we miss Daddy a lot, it's always wonderful to see my family.  We drove straight from the airport to my sister, Katie's, and spent the rest of that first day watching them on and off as my mom and sister ran errands, picked up the oldest from school and headed out for evening meetings. 

Anni actually had a lot of fun and when she saw one of her triplets, Jimmy, her face lit up and she shouted, "HI!  HI!"  I'm not sure she's quite as excited about him as he's spent most of the weekend beating her up, but she's still loving snuggles with her girl cousins and following her oldest cousin, Charlie, around as much as possible.  (She asks for "Tayee!" all the time, even in the middle of the night the other night.)  She also finally go to satisfy her requests for "Aunt Tinie," though connecting faces with the voices she hears on the phone gets a little confusing for her each time.  The night after the wedding, Miss Anni woke up almost as soon as my head hit the pillow... and stayed up, telling me about diapers, Tayee and Mr. Sun and kicking me in the face when I attempted to bring her to my bed to get both of us some sleep.  After three or so hours, we went through her bedtime routine again and she fell right asleep.  I did start sleeping in a different room; though, just in case it was me rolling around nearby that woke her up.  She woke up again the next night, but this time I was prepared and after some comfort, a little snack and her night time routine, she happily snuggled down to sleep.  I think my poor brother is ready to move out after all the interruptions of his sleep, though.  Good thing he loves us!

My sister hosted a cookie decorating party and all the littles gathered around a table and coated their cookies in frosting, crushed andes mint chocolates, sprinkles galore and a few well placed red hots.  Well, Anni mostly just ate cookies, though her cousin Lizzy was the best!  She would decorate it, lick all the decorations off... and repeat :).  Anni was a little overwhelmed by her cousins, but she loves watching them, even when she gets a little tired and cranky.

The weather turned cold and my niece started to get sick, so the next couple of days were a little laid back.  We had Sunday dinner with everyone healthy and listened to all my brother has learned on his new violin (he's had three lessons and is picking it up so fast!).

We celebrated my (other) brother's acceptance into grad school, and he and  I stayed up late watching Office re-runs while I worked on my hubby's Valentine's Day gift.  We finished out our trip by tromping through a dusting of snow and ice to visit my sister's classroom where I embarrassed myself singing Oh, Mr Sun (the request was for Baa Baa, Black Sheep... I politely demurred... did I mention these were 7th graders?).   

It was good, really good.  I miss them already, but was grateful to get home to my beloved and our little apartment. 

Oh!  Happy St. Valentine's Day.  Or Cyril and Methodius Day.  Or Single Awareness Day.  Happy whatever you want to celebrate today, just be happy!  We're celebrating by lighting up my thyroid and seeing what happens :). 

Weekend full of Love

Whether you celebrate St. Valentine's Day, St. Cyril and Methodius' feast day, both, or all of the above, happy day to you!  We do a little bit of everything :).  Being the unabashedly Czech family that we are, last year we made a big Czech feast (svíčková, potatoes, sauerkraut, kolaches, all kinds of lovely things...) This weekend was full of people and things I love.

Family

My parents came to visit!  My mom tries to come visit every month we don't make it to Kansas, but my dad normally can't make it out due to his job.  I loved getting to see him with little Miss Nugget.  She was a little nervous about them being around, but ended up having a great time.  We wandered around the 16th St. Mall and ate lovely panini's.  Ah... it was very happy.     

 Dad made a whole list of the possibilities for lunch and we walked past as many of them as possible before making a decision.

Good friends from out of town

 While we were downtown, I got to see one of my former college roommates and her littlest one :).  Anni was fascinated by a littler person than her and I loved getting to see Meghan!

Feathering my nest

Despite the fact that we are most likely moving again this summer, I love making our little apartment feel like a home.  It's important to me to make it feel like a sanctuary for our whole family.
 

 My "Valentine's Gift" to Daniel was to finally get some of our wedding pictures on the wall.  A bigger one above our couch and several above our bed.  They make the blank white walls a little more inviting :).

Also... my sister made me this table runner!  It spent its first couple of days on my coffee table.  Isn't it beautiful? 

I'm also in the midst of finally making Anni's room look like a baby room.  Because she was early (I never hit that major nesting stage) and we moved right after she came home, it has never really gotten done.  However, I have lovely things on the way and I'll share it all with you as soon as I can :).


All of it:

The sleepiness..

 The laugh-so-hard you squint

Those lashes...

Babywearing... seriously love it

Her littleness... I love standing back and taking in her smallness every once in awhile because a lot of the time all I can think is that she's getting so big!

 The crawling: after all that worry, Anni started to crawl (if you can call it that) forward this weekend!  Except, instead of using her knees, she digs those toes in, pushes her tush and stomach up and shoots forward!

My husband:

 We went on a date yesterday (it was World Marriage Day!)  It was... really good :).  I love getting just a little time to spend just being us.  (Not that I didn't jump out of the car as soon as we spotted Anni and my mom in the parking lot after...)

 

And, he made me a CD.  (Volume 2 because I made him one for his birthday when we were engaged.)  With commentary.  I love it!