Today was a busy one. After I got Chloë off on her bus, I came home and checked email and balanced the checkbook. Then I showered and woke up my two sleepyheads to get them dressed and ready to go.
Oh, Soap was so sleepy. Sweet and sleepish. I love that reluctance to wake up - even when we're short on time - because it means I can go in her bed, pick her up and have her wrap herself bodily around me, head on my shoulder. My old therapist, Jeff, taught me it was important to make sure I get my 'warm fuzzies' every day, and that's one certain way to achieve it. I just sat there and held her like that until she was ready to move again. Loved it.
We didn't have time for breakfast, so I filled two cups with Cheerios and buckled my babes into the van. They never complain about that - unless they drop their cups down the side! Fortunately that only happened today after Soap's cup was emptied.
We made it to the Naval Hospital, and our first stop was at Pediatrics for Jack's 5-year check-up. Daddy had to meet me there, because I had my own check-up to get to afterward, and I didn't think I'd be able to make both. Plus I wanted him to drive Jack to school, but we ended up having too long a wait in Peds.
For those keeping score, our little guy is now 27.6 pounds and 36.5" tall. Yes, he's tiny. Tiny but loud and proud!
Finally, just before I had to head upstairs to OB, the doc came in. I stood and fired a few questions at her before I left, but Rob was left to handle the majority of the visit. We talked about his bedwetting, and they're going to check and make sure he doesn't have a UTI or something, even though it's been months since he started doing it. We're all just guessing it's more developmental issues and physical immaturity, although it frustrates me that he was dry for so long before this started up. Just when we're finishing diapers with Sophie, the pull-ups re-emerge for Jack.
We're also going to get him to Ultrasound to figure out where his right testicle went! It's been a while since that guy's been found, so hopefully it's just deep in hiding and will come out, come out, wherever it is. Lastly, we discussed his snoring. He snores as much as any old man! Apparently this is very common, but we'll take him to ENT to see whether he has enlarged tonsils - also very common. I don't know what else was discussed, because details on check-ups are never forthcoming from the hub, but I guess it was all okay.
Upstairs, I met with the illustrious Dr. Bidus again. I'm loving that guy, truly. He's genuine, he takes time to really talk to me and connect with me, and he doesn't make me feel like a mental midget. I had Sophia with me, and he was also very sweet with her. He was pleased with my incision healing and the progress I've made pain-wise and cleared us to um, you know, *ahem* in another week or so. I'm a little panicky about that, but since my MIL reads this blahg, I'm not going to explain why! Hehe! *blush*
We also discussed my on-again, off-again gastric bypass surgery. He really wants to help me get one, in a nice and not 'oh-my-god-you're-so-gross' way. So he's putting in a referral for me to be seen 'out in town,' as we say in the ol' military, and hopefully I can get the deed done sooner by a civilian. Not Europe trip soon, but I've come to terms with being the chubbiest chick on the Mediterranean. Anyway, all-in-all, it was a nice visit, and I was sad when he told me I don't need to come back to see him for my future annual exams.
Sophie and I walked right out of the waiting room, right past Rob and Jack without knowing it. I stopped in the main hallway to call and find out where my boys were, and they were in the OB waiting room with all the preggos! Didn't even see me. Speaking of which, it's really kind of difficult to be waiting with a room literally full of giant baby bellies. My uterus is gone, but my baby fever is not, and for the first time in my life, I actually felt pretty useless. It was a weird, uncomfortable feeling. Like, what is my function as a woman, if not to make people? What now, now that that ability is gone? Guess I'll just have to deal.
We walked out as a family-minus-Chlo and parted ways in the parking garage. The non-twins and I headed home, and I had a nice long conversation with my dad along the way. It was a good talk, the kind that makes you smile and feel good after. I rarely have that with Dad; usually it's more of the eye-rolly variety. Good stuff.
At home, I ran inside to pack Jack's lunchbox, and then we headed back out to get him to school. Rob had commented, "He'll only be at school an hour and a half by the time you get him there!" Believe me, it's enough. It's a separation both mother and son need by this point. I've gotten over my guilt for feeling that way. He needs his space away from me, and I need mine away from him. Even for an hour and a half.
Sophie and I stopped at Subway again for lunch, because when I get on a tuna sub kick, it stays with me. We went home to eat it this time, and she gobbled down at least half of the footlong sandwich! My girl can eat!
I would have put her down for a nap at that point, but it was ballet night. So she relaxed in front of PBS Kids for a little while ("Mommy! It's SuperWhy!"), and I doddered about checking email and cleaning up my desk. I meant to have the whole thing done but did so much less than that. Oh, well. It's an ongoing process.
When Jack came home, I was ready for him. The kids had a fruit snack, and I decided to whip up my own bread recipe, just for kicks. I wanted something cinnamon and raisiny, and allrecipes.com, while great, has mostly bread machine recipes. I started throwing ingredients together in the bowl just as Chloë came home from school. They all wanted to help with the bread again, but I thought since I was improvising, I better just do this one myself. So I set Chlo to the task of getting her leotard on, while I figured out what I was doing.
I goofed, though: to make sure I wasn't leaving out anything crucial, I grabbed the recipe print-out from the cheesy Italian bread I made the other night, and started reading down the ingredients. Completely forgetting what I was making, I did what the recipe said, grabbed the garlic powder, and dumped a hunk into my mix. Gah! I realized it too late, and the only thing I could think of to do was dump a huge amount of cinnamon into the bowl to counteract the damage. Hey, when I go in, I go all-in. No starting over for me! I kneaded away at my dough and after transferring it to a greased bowl to rise, I ate the sticky dough off my hands. Not half bad! I thought it would be edible after all.
We headed out to ballet, me with my knitting back in hand, Jack with his truck book, Chlo with her ballet shoes, and Sophie with... nothing, as usual. After Chloë went inside, I knitted exactly two rows before I realized I was going to mess up if I kept going, so tired was I. I leaned back my chair and closed my eyes, and before I knew it, Jack was hollering at me that Chloë was standing outside the van, trying to get in! Sweet. I should sleep through ballet every week; passes much faster that way.
My driver's seat was all messed up after that. I normally pitch a fit when anyone moves it, so difficult is it for me to get it exactly right, and this time I was the culprit. I moved it around and up and down and forward and back, and I still couldn't get it right. Hate that. Will have to fiddle with it more mañana.
Back at home, the chillens were just as sleepy as I had been, so I sent them upstairs to sleep, rest, relax, read, whatever they felt like doing. Jack and Chlo probably just played, but I knew Sophia conked right out. I sat downstairs and went through the mail, cut coupons and made a huge mess of papers on my floor that I have yet to clean up. Rob came home and decided to do more work on his car, so I was surprised when Stephanie and Tim showed up as he left to get some oil.
Tim was there to fix my computer. Sorry Steph-Canuck, I just can't get used to firefox. Plus I wanted it sorted out back to the way it was before. Tim's in IT, and he fiddled around with it a while and eventually got it all cleaned up and back to normal. Yay, my hero! He's officially on the payroll.
Speaking of new positions, Steph was there to pick out buttons for the red cardigan, since I have bestowed upon her the title of Official Button Chooser for CARE Package. She got down on the floor, dumped out my big ol' bag of buttons, and spent a good long time choosing just the right ones. After she picked, I quickly finished knitting up the buttonhold band and sewing in all the ends, so I could work on her selections.
So what do you think? Cute, right?
That's finished now, and I've started right up on a pair of Saartje's booties to go with it. I'm now going to switch gears and work on putting complete packages together to get ready for another donation. That will take a while; I have my work cut out for me this time.
After the buttoning and the computering were all said and done, the seven of us were going to head out and enjoy Ben & Jerry's Free Scoop Day, but alas, we were too late. Oh, and I baked the bread and force-fed it to Steph and Tim. And the kids. And Rob. I'm the only one who hasn't had any, actually. The consensus: Not the best bread ever, but certainly edible! It will be good to try without the garlic next time. And more raisins. Anyway, we were too late - the ice cream shop was closed by that point. Rats! We were all set on going.
So Steph and Tim went home, and Rob and I quickly made the decision to go out for ice cream anyway. But where? And what about dinner? We decided on Sonic for an ultra-healthy meal of tater tots and mozzarella sticks and hot fudge sundaes. Oh, well. At least the kids ate!
Rob bathed the kids and fell asleep shortly after, while I helped Chloë with her homework. As usual, the math was tough on her. She just doesn't get money math at all. It's frustrating for both of us. I keep hoping it will somehow just click, but we are not at that point by a long shot.
And then I fell asleep watching Law & Order, waking up at 0200 to the sound of Jack running around downstairs! Hello! Go to bed, you! I'm off to do the same, I hope, now that I've had a good long snooze of it.
Fin.
Recent Comments