playing catch-up

This is kind of like potpourri but with more pictures and less random thoughts. I feel like I've been going insane lately. Kids not taking naps and going to bed late leaves no time to blog. Somehow I've managed to find time to blog about the really important stuff (like chocolate peanut butter balls and begging for birthday gifts).

I'm pretty much the most horrible slacker mom though because I didn't even write a post to Cate on her birthday telling her how wonderful she is and how blessed I am to have her in my life. I tell her that every day though so I think she'll forgive me. I'll save that post for her third birthday.

So here we go with the catch-up. It's about 2 weeks' worth so get ready to be bored to tears.

Monday (not Cate's birthday, the one before that)

Cate learned how to say something new. I'm not happy about it. When she didn't want to do something, she said, "No wah-noooooo" in a very whiny voice. It means I don't want to. I'm trying to teach her to just say no thanks instead because no wah-noooooo in a very whiny voice gets very old very fast. Trust me. When she says no thanks, she says thanks while shaking her head no. It's terribly cute.


Tuesday

Grandma came to stay with us for a few days. She needed to attend a conference for work and we let her crash at our pad. We're so good to her. Dan and I even let her sleep in our bed (not with us, of course...that would be weird). Partly because we didn't want her to have to sleep on the mattress we set up in the front room. Partly because we were hoping that if Cate decided to cry for 2 hours in the middle of the night (like she did the night before), then maybe Grandma would take care of her and we wouldn't have to (or maybe I should say so Dan wouldn't have to).

We took Grandma to a fancy restaurant to really wine and dine her and show her how classy we are. Maybe you've heard of it. Denny's. Top notch. So fancy that they let kids eat for free on Tuesdays. Then we accompanied her to Costco for a little shopping. I know. We really know how to treat our guests. Nothing but the best for the ones we love. If we had really wanted to wow her, we would have bought her a gourmet berry smoothie for dessert at Costco. Maybe next time. That'll give her something to look forward to.


After the kids were alseep (which was way later than I was hoping for), the grown-ups stayed up way too late playing cards. I believe we played Mormon poker but I'm not sure. I haven't played cards like that since my college days. Dan and Grandma got lots of practice playing on the cruise last fall. I pretty much lost big time. I blame some of that on Dan's cheating though (that one was for you, Grama Bama).

Wednesday

I can't remember much about Wednesday. That's probably a good thing. I do remember noticing some drainage coming out of Cate's ear. Aren't you glad I shared that little tidbit? It was a windy day. A huge tree branch almost bonked Dan on the head. He narrowly escaped. Grandma accompanied me to a church meeting.

Thursday

Candis invited me to a birthday lunch at her house. We were playing in the front yard before that and some salesmen came over and tried to sell us some books. I really hate it when that happens. They were from Europe (supposedly). The one guy who did all the talking had a pretty good accent going. We turned them down, after listening to the whole schpiel.

Grandma left to go back to her house in the afternoon. We miss her still.

Friday

Cate woke up crying at 4:00 because she had puked in her bed. Danny woke up crying at 5:45 for no reason (as far as I could tell). Later that morning (after I had recovered a little from my delirious state of no sleep), I went to Judy's house with the kids. Cate puked on Judy's couch. I cleaned it up but Dave said it was still stinky a few days later. Sorry about that, Hunsakers. Dan came over and took Cate home with him.

I organized Judy's hall closet, a few kitchen drawers and under her kitchen sink. I was very productive with the sick little girl gone.

I took Danny to see Toy Story 3 with James and Candis a little later in the afternoon. He was very excited to go. He's seen part 1 and part 2 many times before. He's got the Woody dolls and the Buzz dolls in many different sizes.

I was really hoping he could sit still and enjoy the movie, unlike the last time he was in a movie theater. He did not disappoint. He was great. I had to keep one hand on his seat the whole time to keep it from folding him in half though. Danny loved the movie. When we were walking out of the theater he said, "Dat was a dooooooooood moobie!" (that was a goooooood movie) I loved it too. I even had a few tears in my eyes at the end.

Saturday

My dear mother, Grama Bama, called to wish me a happy birthday at 7:12 in the morning. She was probably hoping to wake me up. Ha! You have to call way earlier than that to wake me up. Danny had already woken me up a good hour and a half earlier. I don't know what's going on with these kids of mine and all this early morning waking up stuff. It really needs to stop.

My dad called to wish me a happy birthday at 7:14.

I spent a few of the morning hours shopping. Dan took the kids to the park and then helped them wrap and color all over my birthday presents.

The rest of Saturday is kind of a blur. Or maybe I've just blocked it from my memory. My brain is trying to protect me from the trauma of it all. I'm not sure if any naps took place. I'd bet they did not. I do know that Danny was crying because I took off the dirty old bandaid that had been on his finger for way too long. He freaked. Cate was crabby and cranky all day (except when she was at the park or being held by me or Dan).

The kids helped me open my presents. I'm pretty sure this was before dinner. By that point in the day I didn't care. As far as I can remember, the kids ate birthday cupcakes for dinner. Anything to make them happy, right?

I'm going to just skip on past the rest of my birthday evening. It was all about a crabby little girl and a grouchy old me. Dan tried to make the day good for me. He really did. A sick kid just didn't help much. Danny was mostly wonderful though (aside from the dirty bandaid meltdown).

I finished the night by eating the Ben & Jerry's NYSFC that Christina had gifted to me earlier in the day. It hit the spot. Danny helped me eat it. I hope he knows how much that means I love him if I'm willing to share my Ben & Jerry's with him. We even saved some for Dan (but I ate it myself the next day).

Sunday

Happy Father's Day! Dan slept in and so did the kids (for the first time in a long time). That just shows who they love more. On my birthday they wake up early. On Dan's special day they sleep in past 9:00. Whatever.

After church we went up to Aunt Cindy's house for some Father's Day/Cate's birthday/my birthday celebration time. Cate and I got lots of great presents. Thanks, family!

We ate yummy dinner and then yummy cupcakes. I didn't take one single picture of the cupcakes though. See, slacker mom. They were cute though (if I do say so myself). Cousin Rusty seemed to enjoy his.

Danny had a blast playing dress up with Ricky and Billy. He just wasn't very thrilled to have his picture taken.

I got to hold baby Tommy and remember that on my shoulder is my least favorite place to hold a newborn baby. No offense to the baby, of course. It's not their fault I suck at holding them up there. It just freaks me out a little. Like I have no control. They're floppy. I'm always worried they're going to just flop right off of me.

And being the extra grand slacker mom that I am, I forgot to take a picture of Dan with his kids on Father's Day. Shame on me.

Monday

Cate's birthday. I went into her room to retrieve her from her crib. I said, "Cate, it's your birthday! Happy birthday! You're two!" Guess what she said. You guessed it. "No wah-noooooo!" That was a good predictor of how that day was going to go. I spent the morning just trying to keep her happy. I called the doctor and made an appointment for that afternoon. I was hoping they'd have some kind of magic pill to bring my happy kid back.

Danny and Cate "helped" Dan put together Cate's new kitchen.

I left the boys working on the kitchen to take Cate to the doctor.

Of course, Cate saved all her smiles and happiness for the doctor. Sheesh. Diagnosis: ear infection in one ear. She does have tubes but the doctor thinks one of them might be clogged. Good grief. Ear drops for a week (those are absolutely no fun to administer) and antibiotic for 10 days.

We came home and I got dinner stuff ready. We were expecting Judy's family and my friend, Michelle (the one who got her hair cut with me) and her family for dinner. We ate pizza. Cate blew out her candles. We ate cupcakes. She opened presents.

Then we played outside in the back yard. The big boys played on the slippery slide. Cate just watched. She doesn't like to get wet. Not even a sprinkle.

Later we cleaned up and went to bed (probably way too late again). The longest day of the year turned out to feel like just that...a very long day. Maybe we should have named Cate Summer Solstice instead. That would have been very clever of us. It's better than Sessfordina.

That's all. Catch-up is over. I feel much better.

You might beg to differ though.