Show us an unforgettable memory from 2006.
Most days, it's easy to forget that Liam spent the first two weeks of his life in the NICU. Or that I didn't even get to hold him until after he was already a week old, or nurse him until he was nearly 12 days old. He's a big healthy boy now, with only his eczema left as a visual reminder of how tenuous everything is.
But at night, I don't forget.
today:
- Abbey had unhappy bowel issues, but still managed to use her potty and keep her big girl pants clean
- We thought grandma was dead, which left me to drag husband, infant, and unhappily boweled toddler to grandma's house, only to find that she had been whisked away by my Uncle Frank for the day without anyone being told, and without him answering his cell phone or returning calls about where gram might be and if she was in his care.
- We then had to go out to eat on the way home from my gram's since Abbey was starving and it was already past her bedtime. She refused to eat anything there. Mercifully, she was in a diaper since we were travelling, and we were able to drop her right into bed from the car.
- Jump to 11 pm and I go to put Liam (and myself) to bed. Out of nowhere, he's suddenly stuffed up and won't stay asleep for long. I suspect it has to do with Gram's cat, who coincidentally also caused a lovely asthma attack for me.
- Jump to 1:20 am Liam is up again, I was never able to fall asleep, and Bill is just coming to bed. Liam nurses again, Bill conks right off and I keep laying there awake as before.
- Jump to 2 am when I hear Abbey asking sadly for daddy in her bedroom. She's rather quiet and sounds half asleep. I go in to check on her, only to find her sitting up in bed, covered in puke and what appears to be a state of shock. She tells me, "I think there's still a spot on my pillow that's dry, mama. Can I sleep there?" I manage to get my poor girl out of her wet clothes, and she's apparently had a diaper blow out as well, which hasn't happened to her in, well, years. She's shivering as I get her cleaned up and search frantically for her spare sheets, which I forgot I moved to Liam's room.
- Jump to 3 am and I'm washing her clothes and bedding and listening for the very flaky washing machine to become unbalanced, which it does a few times, and which is where I was when I started this post. It's now 4 am, Liam has woken back up twice and is downstairs with me, and her laundry is going through the wash again without her blanket because nothing got clean.
So, fellow voxians, how was your day? Mine apparently isn't over yet.
Will YouTube do for John Edwards what MTV did for Bill Clinton back in '92?
Air your grievances for the year; the feats of strength will come later!
Have you ever secretly unwrapped a gift before the big day?
Submitted by Red Pen.
Yup. The notorius incident being the unwrapping of my coveted copy of the newly released "Thriller" on LP back in, what, 83? And more to the point, I would pull it out often to look at, then carefully re-wrap when my parents weren't home.
I have often wondered about long-term memory in toddlers, and I just got to see proof of some excellent recall from Abbey first hand. We're currently watching Sesame Street together and the dreaded (by me) Elmo's World section is on. Today's theme is horses. We saw a little girl riding a pony and I asked Abbey if she remembered when she got to ride a pony. She said no at first, thought a minute, then exclaimed excitedly, "Yes! At the Halloween playground!"
Said Halloween-playground was the annual fall festival at Trax Farm over a year ago and it's not something we've really talked about since then. Wow!
Are you throwing or attending a holiday party this year? Any ideas/tips to share?
Yup. We're having brunch for my family on Christmas morning. I don't have the menu completely set but it will most likely consist of some of the following:
- fresh baked croissants (both traditional and au chocolat)
- fruit salad (probably a jazzed up version of the mixed fruit from Whole Foods)
- tossed salad
- baked cauliflower with gruyere (at which time I'll measure amounts of what goes in for those of you to whom I promised the recipe!)
- vegetarian minestrone sans beans
- french toast
- ham (for my dad and Bill)
- sausage/bacon for my sibs
- roasted new potatoes
- fresh juice
- a cornucopia of desserts include pizzelles, Abbey's "train cake," and chocolate mascarpone cheesecake with raspberries
Advice? Suggestions? Don't try this with a newborn and a toddler, lol. Thank goodness we'll only have ten people and the bulk of this is made (and/or prepped) ahead so it won't be too nuts between presents and 9am Mass and people showing up around noon.
And now, my friends, I need to finish my Christmas cards before they turn into Chinese New Year cards. Again.
My daughter now has a new favourite song. Gee, thanks, Honda!
(frightening to know that I had similar taste in music when I wasn't much older than she, lol)
I just got the following letter in the mail:
Dear Ms. Gillingham,
To protect the value of yur Subaru and keep it operating at peak performance, it is important that scheduled maintenance be performed in a timely manner.
Our service records for your 2007 LEGACY OUTBK 2.51 AWD show that your mileage is probably now around 2,316 miles and/or your vehicle is 1.5 months old, which means--unless recently serviced--you require the following dealer recommended maintenance:
3,000 Oil Change Service
I stopped reading right there and laughed my ass off. And then went outside to look at my odometer:
405
Yeah, thanks Mr. Service Director, but I don't think we'll be needing that oil change just yet, lol.
And the nice thing? I can log into Subaru's site and update my current odometer so they can e-mail me when I really *do* need that oil change. Nice to see some companies are getting it right.
Where do you do your online shopping?
People who know me know that I do 9/10th of all of my shopping online! When you have 2 children under the age of 3 and are stuck out in the 'burbs, the "brown truck" is a godsend!
Favourites include a mixture of both local and large shopping portals:
Fortunes Coffee --we're actually friendly with the owners, and used to hit the physical store in Pittsburgh's Strip District bi-weekly, but these days, we make it to the brick and mortar maybe 3x a year
Pennsylvania Macaroni Company--another local business from the Strip that we don't make it to nearly as often as we'd like since we moved.
Amazon--among other things, we order diapers online Although if I am in the mood to buy a box full of bargain hardbacks or hard-to-find tomes by Michael Ondaatje, I go to Powells. The online store is great, although nothing compares to hitting the physical space when in Portland. Highly recommended!
Smith & Hawken--this place is dangerous for my pocketbook; we get everything from gardening tools, to porch furniture, to plants & bulbs, to Christmas ornaments and gifts here. If you know me in real life, this is probably where I bought your present.
Everything Coffee & Tea--we still buy our coffee locally, but since Fortune's doesn't carry my favourite cocoa, we get it here.
Gymboree--probably where I spend the most money online. It all started innocently enough with Abbey's first halloween costume. And then they started sending me gymbucks. They have slowly sucked all of the money from my account since. This place will probably put me in rehab someday.
Zappos--because who doesn't love shoes?
Honourable mentions go to chains like Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware, Crate & Barrel, JJill, Hanna Andersen, Penzeys, etc. I think it's safe to say I buy pretty much everything online. If we had a local milk/egg man and if Whole Foods delivered, I think it's safe to say that we would rarely have a reason to leave the house! Probably part of the reason why I want to move back to Pittsburgh proper. There's something to be said for wandering through Shadyside or Squirrel HIll, or spending an afternoon at the Waterfront.
