Happy Birthday Amelia Kate. . .a bit late. . .

Poor Amelia. She's getting lost in the shuffle again this week! Yesterday was her 4th b-day and so far the only special thing she gotten to do is go to see the doc for her check-up. We planned to do something fun today but just got a call that a family member of someone in our small group died or is about to die so we are taking care of kids and VBS commitments instead and general running around instead.

So Amelia Kate. Where to begin?! As many of you know, we were trying to have a second baby for years after Caroline was born. After 18 months of drugs and injections and really embarrassing (yet funny!) procedures with the fertility doc, it just never happened. So we started to pursue adding to our family through adoption. We were about 1/2 through the process when I found out I was preggers. Shocked the heck out of me! I called my fertility doc and asked him what he thought. His question was, "Have you changed your body chemistry at all? Quit smoking? Lose a lot of weight? Quick drinking?" Well, I have never been a smoker, still just a "social" drinker, but hey! I did join WW and lose 40 pounds. He guessed that was what did it for me. He said the healthier lifestyle~mostly reduction in sugar intake~stabilized my body enough to ovulate regularly. (And boy did it ever~got preggers 2 more times with very little effort!)

Fast forward to June of 2003. I was a few days from my due date and just as miserable as a very pregnant woman can be. I went in for my appointment hoping that there was enough "action" to get me sent to the hospital. No such luck. Upon hearing that news I did what we all would have done in that situation~I burst into tears. Just sobbing, "I can't be pregnant anymore!"

Doc felt sorry for me and says, "Baby is not moving real well, right?"

Me: "Um, no. Baby is moving fine." I was a bit confused.

Doc: Winking and writing a scipt, "Baby is not moving, RIGHT?"

Me: Getting it now. "Oh no. No baby moving."

So she sent me to the hospital for a bio-physical profile which measures many things including level of movement. Wouldn't you know it, she wasn't moving enough! She actually flunked the fetal movement part of the test. So I went in the next night to be induced. Aunt Christine showed up at about 8 am and proceeded to be a really great coach/doula. She had be walking the halls, sitting on a huge bouncy ball, and on my hands and knees at one point. Tim slept through most of this. Around 1pm they decided to go get lunch thinking I still had awhile to go. The returned to my water broken with the discovery of menconium, lots of pain and me begging for my epidural. Once my good ole epidural was in, it was great! They had called the Neonatologist since there was menconium and warned us I wouldn't get to see her right away since they wanted to clear her airway. She was born at 3:29 and no one would tell me if it was a boy or girl. I remember asking Christine and her answer was "I can't tell." So NOT what you want to hear. Finally a nurse said she's was a girl.

Amelia has been a firecracker every since that day! She screamed though her first bath that day and has hated the water ever since. These days she won't play outside because she figures if she doesn't get dirty, she won't need a bath. Hates to swim. Loves to play computer games and dress-up. Her plans for the future include marrying Matt-Matt and being a princess as a full-time job. We love her to pieces!

Bye Bye Caroline

I spent the whole day doing a run to O'Hare Airport. Caroline left yesterday to visit Aunt Kim and Uncle Jer and Elise in Memphis for the week. It was the first time she ever flew alone. She was SSSSOOOOO excited and scared all at once. So was I. I was all cool about it til we stood in line at the ticket counter for 45 minutes among a throng of zillions of people. Then I started to panic! "What are we doing? Putting our 8 yr old girl on an airplane ALL ALONE?!?!" Once we got her checked in it was easy. AA was great~yes, Jer, they really do take care of your minor! But it took 2 hours to get there, almost 3 hours at the airport, and then almost 2 hours home. Pretty much the whole stinkin' day. Evening was taken up with VBS at church~or as the girls call it "BBBBBBS"

I will post Amelia's birthday post later this afternoon. . .I hope.

Cheap Thrills

With Caroline gone camping for the week her sisters were getting B-O-R-E-D. So here's what we came up with. Painting the house with a bucket of water and DIRT. Look at those filthy children. You'd think we live in Indiana or something.

What Did You Learn Today?

Why do you like to read? My sister-in-law says she likes to read to veg out~"nothing too serious that makes me have to use my brain." My sister only likes to read things that tell her what time her favorite shows are on. I have lots of friends who only read "Christian" fiction and just as many who shun the genre. I love to read to learn. If a topic interests me, I read about it. Ask my small group friends about our trip to an Amish area. They were ready to throw me out of the van because I kept spouting off bits of Amish trivia. I especially like to read fiction in which I learn about a subject. I just finished a great book that did exactly that. "Keeping Faith" by Jodi Picoult is all about a child who appears to have healing powers and shows stigmata. I had heard the term but really knew very little about stigmata or any other Catholic signs or miracles. I won't give away the story but I really learned a lot about the Catholic faith through this story. Now I spend time googling all kinds of interesting stuff about the historic church. Then when the small group is ready for a trip to Rome or the Holy Land, I will be ready!

QOTD~What good book have you read that taught you about a subject you knew very little about?

Say Thank You to Uncle Jim

There is a story in my family about me refusing to say "Thank you" to my Uncle Jim. I was about 3 and it was 1975 so Uncle Jim had a lot of hair. I remember being scared of him and all his hair. My dad was not taking "NO" for answer so the showdown began. I don't remember how it ended but I do know that for my parents saying "Thank you" was a huge deal.

We had an incident last night which made me realize that manners are not what they should be. Our neighbor was giving all the kids rides in the back of wagon attached to a tractor. First of all, I saw that on "Dateline" and it's not safe. I didn't want to be the uncool mom so I let the girls go. When ride time was over I helped the girls out of the wagon and said "What do you need to tell Mr. Brian?" Amelia and Greta both went over and said "Thank you Mr Brian!" I swear to you at that moment all my neighbors looked at me like I was from Mars. Not one other kid was prompted to say thank you. There was dead silence.

One of my biggest pet peeves is rude kids. Now I understand kids are kids and will always forget the politeness we try to engrave in their brains. What I am talking about is kids who never say "please" or "thank you". Or worse to me is the kids who's parents don't teach it. If I give a neighbor kid a juice box and he/she is older than 3, I expect a "thank you" (and a Mrs Last Name, but more on that later) I do expect said child to forget to say "thank you" and that is when I expect Mom/Dad to say "What do you say Junior?" What sends me over the edge is when parents don't prompt or correct their kids. Is that asking too much?

And on the subject of politeness. . .I expect to be called Mrs Last Name. (Or Mrs Jen or Mrs Amelia's Mommy are also fine) I was discussing this with a friend of mine who doesn't quite agree. She was trying to figure out why it bothered me so much. After thinking on it, I have come up with one reason. I am my mother. This was something my own mom was big on and it is ingrained in me. Deeper into it, I am bothered by the fact that the line between kid and grown-up is so blurred. I am a grown-up and kids are not. Adults are to be respected just simply because they are adults. My girls are not allowed to call an adult by a first name. Ever. Period. It is Mr or Mrs First Name if they are little and Caroline now says Mr or Mrs Last Name. Only exceptions are very close family friends who are "Aunt" and "Uncle" and our pastors at church who are "Pastor Kris" and "Pastor Drew". I have had other adults say "Oh no. She can call me Mary" While I respect another person's right to be called what they wish, I am trying SO hard to teach this that it frustrating. Sure, I feel weird when someone calls me by what I consider my mother-in-law's name, it is important to me that kids learn that grown-ups still run the world.

OK, stepping off my soapbox. . .Thank you for listening.

Happiness is. . .

buying dairy products that expire after your due date.