It was in the garage inside an old chest of drawers (that I will soon be painting and putting in Cate's bedroom).
It works...sort of. I plugged it in, put the needle on the record and listened to a scrapy staticy sound. I don't think that's what Count Every Star by Donnie and The Dreamers is supposed to sound like though.
Other titles found inside the plaid case include
Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart by the Kalin Twins (Herbie and Hal) The Payoff by Martin Denny and his orchestra I'm Going Back to School by Dee Clark Just a Little by Brenda Lee Sax Fifth Avenue by Johnny Beecher My Baby's Comin' Home by B.B. King and Just Close Your Eyes by Dean Martin
Written in pencil on the label of that last one are these words:
"Hi there Stupid"
I love it.
I'm just wondering who wrote those words. Was it my dad or my uncle?
Last week I was excited to share some of my wedding pictures on this blog. I started scanning and remembering that special day. Then I started to remember how much I hate my bangs in my wedding pictures. And how my dress needed to be about three inches longer. And how I really wish someone had patted a little powder on my face. But I'm going to try to focus on the good things of that day and not on how much better I think I could have looked.
So here we go...
Our first picture together as newlyweds, a smooch (and in the background, my friend Mooch), and more standing and smiling (while I do something weird with my fingers...and I'm not talking about the ones on the hand that's hidden behind Dan's back)
This next one is my favorite of my family that day. I have no idea what was so funny. I love my mom's face though. I can almost hear the laugh. Jenny obviously thought something was hilarious. Even Grandma cracked a smile. I just wish I could say the same thing for my dad. Oh well. I'm kind of wondering now exactly where the funny stuff was going down. Mom, Mary and Dad are all looking one way while Judy, Grandma and I are looking in the other direction.
Here's Dan's family looking smashing, as always.
I had to include this one of the gang because it's the only one with Kevin (future brother-in-law, second from the left).
This one isn't my favorite of my sisters and me. That one is framed on my wall right now. I don't have the energy to get it down and scan it. Sorry, Judy.
I love these next two. Dan and I with two adorable little nieces. And I love that I can see my veil. Braided pearls that fit so nicely around my curly bun. It took me forever to remove all the bobby pins holding that bun together. It was worth it because I loved that veil. I still do. It matched my earrings and the little pearly beads on my dress.
That's chocolate on my teeth in the second picture. And I think that's the exact moment Dan started having second thoughts about marrying me. Good thing it was too late to do anything about it.
Here's one of all the ladies. I really like Grandma's smile in this one. I'm just wondering why one of her arms is missing.
Here's me with my in-laws. I think I had just elbowed Tim in his belly to get him to smile nicely and not ruin the picture. I'm not sure if it worked.
A lovely photo of Dan with his siblings.
My handsome new husband, cutting the cake (and laughing because someone told us to just hold our hands like that while they took some pictures), and finally, Dan with his gorgeous new bride. As I was scanning all these pictures, I kept thinking about what I would tell that new bride version of myself (in addition to, "For cryin' out loud, brush your bangs to the side!") if I could go back in time and just whisper some things into her ear. Advice. Words of wisdom. Maybe a joke or two.
Be nice, even when you don't feel like it. Say sorry, especially when you don't feel like it. Don't worry about how the toilet paper is hung. Your kids will be perfect. They'll be worth the wait. Be thankful you married your best friend. They make the best husbands.
Sorry to anyone who stayed up late last night checking this blog over and over again for the twelve years ago today post I had previously promised. It didn't happen. Dan and I were busy spending time with the family in the Ogden Temple. It was a lovely afternoon.
We ditched the kids for almost 7 hours (the longest ever for me...not counting all the hours I was away from Cate when she was in the hospital for 3 weeks...and not counting all the hours I was away from Danny because I was in the hospital birthing his baby sister...and not counting all the hours I was away from him the two days after that recovering from birthing his baby sister).
Danny and Cate spent those 7 hours playing with Jarrett and Kris at their house. I worried about them for most of those 7 hours. I really didn't need to, I know. That didn't stop me from worrying anyway. They didn't even seem to want to go home with us when we finally picked them up at Judy's house at almost 9:00 last night. Thanks for taking good care of them, Judy and Kris and Jarrett and Dave. And Danny would probably want me to add a little thank you to Maggy and Lucy (the dogs).
I'm pretty sure Cate had a good time. I swiped these pictures of her from Judy's facebook page.
If you look really closely in the pirate picture, you can see what else Cate was up to last night (or should I say what Judy was up to?). See Cate's toes? They're pink. Judy gave her a little pedicure. I can't believe Cate sat still for that. (Remember the last time one of her aunts gave her a pedi?)
I didn't notice the painted piggies until this morning. I might have noticed had we bathed her last night when we got home. We didn't. It was late and Danny was having a meltdown because I wouldn't let him watch Star Wars before bed. It was after 9:00 by the time we got home and I was pretty sure he'd already watched it 6 times at Judy's house that afternoon anyway. It was straight to bed for the both of them. Maybe Dan noticed (he's the one who put Cate to bed) but he didn't tell me.
The first glimpse I got of the little pink piggies was this morning as I was removing Cate's footed jammies to change her diaper. It was quite a surprise. You know how sometimes people say that babies are so cute they just want to eat them? Maybe nibble a little on their chubby cheeks? I totally understand that feeling because when I saw her little toes I couldn't resist. I nibbled her toes. I ate them. Just tiny little bits because I know she needs them. But I really had to have a bite.
See for yourself.
And now I'm pretty sure that she inherited her toes from her daddy. They're nothing like mine.
Anyway...
Right now Dan is asleep. Cate is asleep. Danny is taking a bath. I'm working on the pictures for my twelve years ago today post while the house is mostly quiet.
Dan and I celebrated one year of blissful marriage by stuffing a bite of one-year-old cake into each other's mouths.
Mmmmmmmm
And I celebrated by wearing my best pair of mom jeans (a whole 7 years before I was even a mom). I've always been ahead of the fashion trends.
Stay tuned for my next post
twelve years ago today
some time later tonight.
I'm still working on scanning all the pictures I want to share (to entertain those of you who read this blog who are not actually in the pictures).
Dan and I were married last century, long before digital cameras were all the rage.
But mom jeans certainly were. I have the pictures to prove it.
a few observations:
My nails were long and painted. That doesn't happen anymore. It's kind of fun to see what Grandma's kitchen used to look like. I've bumped my head on that hanging down cupboard thing more times than I care to remember. I'm glad it's gone. Thanks to Dan's mom for freezing the top layer of our cake for us. She's so thoughtful. I didn't even know people did that. Dan was really tan. It looks like he's trying to pick my nose.
ok...I'm done now.
Oh, yeah. I almost forgot.
Happy anniversary, Dan!
a little editing a few hours after posting:
Dan just reminded me that we were still living in California on our one year anniversary. How could I have forgotten that? Beats me. We must have eaten the cake a few months later when we moved back to Grandma's house. Close enough.
smiling because we love summer (or maybe because Grandma bribed us with cookies)
Now I know the answer to the question
Who wears short shorts?
That would be us.
Other observations:
I wish Grandma hadn't torn down that fence and put up the chain link one instead. I already had the beginnings of a muffin top at age 11. We still have those little chairs Jenny and Judy are sitting on. Danny and Kris love them. Judy was so stinkin' cute.
Cate reached the ripe old age of 21 months on Sunday. There was no trip to the doctor to check her stats. I'm pretty sure she's still somewhere close to that 50th percentile. I think she might weigh around 25 pounds (with her clothes on...and possibly her boots). That's what the digital bathroom scale read once when she stayed on it long enough to register something.
Her language explosion continues to amaze and thrill me.
She's still going strong with the sign for more. Now she's added the sound muh when she bumps her fists together. The only problem with the whole muh thing is that sometimes we have no idea what she wants more of. It becomes a guessing game. More cheese? More milk? More tickles? It's a good thing she knows how to say nooooo.
She can say yes too. It comes out as yeah and I think it's the cutest word she says.
She says something that sounds like cheese (more like deeesssss but I know what she means since she's pointing to the cheese in the fridge when she says it).
Cate says hi and bye a lot, usually accompanied by a wave of her hand. She likes to put a little purse on her arm and then come over to me and say bye (with the hand wave). Then I try to guess where she's going. Are you going to church? Noooo. Are you going to school? Noooo. Are you going to the store? Yeah.
If Dan tries to change her diaper or get her dressed or put her shoes on (or any other thing she'd rather have me do instead) she tells him nooooo. Then she comes over to me, pokes me with her little finger and says, "Ma ma ma ma."
She won't say daddy. When he comes in the door from work, many times she runs over to him and says ba ba ba ba ba. She doesn't say Danny yet. When I try to get her to say his name, she just points to him.
If I ask her how old she is, she puts up all 10 fingers. She knows her age has something to do with her fingers but she's not quite there yet. (If you ask Danny how old he is, he'll say he's 5.)
When Cate hears a sound (dog barking, train, loud truck, sirens, Danny yelling) she puts her hand over her ear and says, "Huh?"
When she eats a bite of something she likes, she says Mmmmmm. Of course, she doesn't say that when I try to get her to eat vegetables.
She says peeeees for please (and uses the sign for it too). Sometimes it just sounds like psssss.
When she can't find something, she'll wiggle both hands in the air (kind of a modified sign for all done) and say, "Go?" with a puzzled look on her face.
Sometimes I can get her to say I love you. It sounds more like wuh wuh wooo but it's adorable. Listen for yourself.
She knows lots of other words. They don't always come out sounding like the real word, but close enough. It's all about the context clues. Here's a few:
coat shoes (sounds like zoooose) boots shirt socks eyes water (sounds like wa wa) truck, duck, stuck, yuck (all sound like uck) locked (sounds like ock, says it when she can't open something) cat hot (sounds like ot, also says it when something is cold) up out help (sounds like elp...she says this one a lot) ouch uh-oh stop (sounds like bop and says it when I'm singing to her) woah baby (sounds like bee bee)
Her little lip pucker to get ready for a kiss is simply adorable.
I think I see a tooth poking through on her bottom right side.
She puked again last night. She's had a few really good puke-free weeks so I wasn't very happy about it. I never am.
As per her request, I rocked her for a good 20 minutes (maybe more). She loves to be rocked to sleep (or sometimes a semi-sleep with suffice). She was still awake but rubbing her eyes when I put her in bed. She cried for about 3 seconds and then up came the puke. She didn't even gag herself this time. Quite a talent.
And last, but not least, Cate can tell you the sounds for several animals, point to body parts when asked (most recently cheek and chin), sing the ABC's, write the numbers 1 through 10, and recite Pi to 14 digits.
My little girl is growing up. I'm so proud.
And just for funzies, here's a little video of Cate and Danny when he was 21 months old. It's one of my favorites.
I personally think she'd make a much cuter Princess Leia but monkey see, monkey do.
If I can convince Danny to come over from the Dark Side (and figure out how to make a Luke Skywalker costume that doesn't look like a night in Bethlehem...the blue lightsaber should help)
and if I can get Cate's hair to grow by leaps and bounds (you know, enough to twist it around into a big cinnamon bun over each ear) all before October 31st,
then we might just have our Halloween costumes figured out seven months early.
Maybe I could be Jabba the Hutt and Dan could be Chewbacca.
Yesterday was Danny's last class of Itty Bitty Ball. He was really hoping they'd be playing "gock-uh" (soccer). I was really hoping we hadn't missed it last week when we were home with the croupy crud. We missed it. And we missed basketball too. Crud.
We got to class early, so early that they hadn't even rolled out the bleachers yet. We walked over to where a few coaches were standing. The boss lady said, "Oh, here's Danny!" He played the shy/grouchy kid we all love so much. I said something to her about how teachers always remember the names of the naughty kids. (Of course, I didn't refer to Danny as naughty in front of him. He had already sulked off by then.) She laughed and said something about how she just loves his cheeks.
Yeah, right. Those coaches have about 80 kids in these Itty Bitty classes and they remember Danny because of his cheeks? I'm thinking they remember him because he acts like learning how to play volleyball, football and baseball are about as fun as a trip to the dentist.
I love that kid of mine but I just don't understand his reluctance to participate in fun activities. Doesn't he know about just going along with the crowd? Play the game because the other kids are playing it and they look like they're having FUN? It's all nature, of course. It can't possibly have anything to do with nurture.
We'll keep working on it though. Itty Bitty Soccer starts in July. Woo hoo! Gock-uh! He needs to learn how to have fun playing something other than Star Wars.
We spent a few minutes on the unrolled-out bleachers taking pictures. I was tempted to crop Danny out of that first one. Don't Kris and Cate look absolutely adorable together? He put his arm around her, held her hand and tilted his head towards her. So cute I can hardly stand it. Cate was loving having her picture taken. That's her signing "more." She likes to ham it up for the camera.
Eventually, the bleachers were ready for us. We sat down and watched Danny do a lot of not participating. Don't believe me? Take a look. All the pictures are fuzzy. He's a tiny speck in some of them. I don't have a paparazzi camera with a super zoom lens so that's all I got. I can't even zoom my camera very far because of the sand that's stuck in there from the Green River trip.
Notice the first picture where he's standing (orange shirt, in case you couldn't figure out which one was him). Head down. Arms straight. Fists clenched. Ready to stomp away. He's probably saying "grrrrrrrr." That's my boy! He's actually laying on the floor in that bottom one. Ug.
He decided to participate when they brought out the giant parachute and even had a smile on his face. I was so proud. I was even prouder of him that he listened to the coach when she told them to not go under the parachute until she said so. Woo hoo for small victories.
They put the parachute away and played a rousing game of basketball. Danny rotated between watching the game and playing with the little signs that were stuck inside some orange cones by the wall.
Enter Lenny the Lion. Danny is scared of Lenny. He saw him last year when Kris was in Itty Bitty. Fear. Terror. Serious dislike. I told the boss lady at the beginning of class that he's afraid of Lenny. She said not to worry. She'd have Danny come over to sit with me right before Lenny entered the room.
She forgot.
The loud music started and I saw Lenny through the window in the door. I'm not sure what I could have done to help Danny at that point. He was all the way across the gym. No way I could have gotten to him before they opened the doors. Plus, I was kind of hoping that maybe he'd have a different reaction this year. Maybe he'd be a little bit okay with Lenny.
He wasn't.
He high-tailed it over to the bleachers where we were sitting. Four seconds elapsed between this first picture and the next one. And then four more and he was at the bleachers, telling me that he doesn't like the lion and hiding behind me with his hands over his face. A total of 8 seconds. Maybe we should sign him up for Itty Bitty Track.
I enlarged that second picture a little bit to get a better look at Danny's face. Fear. Terror. Serious dislike. Is he not old enough to understand that's just a guy in a costume? Kris kept telling him that over and over again but he just kept hiding behind me in fear of the deadly Lenny the Lion.
Of course, Lenny was waiting at the door to say bye to all the itty bitty boys and girls. Kris walked right up to him and gave him a high five. Danny, on the other hand, was being carried by me. He had his favorite stuffed puppy covering his eyes at that point. He was so worried about Lenny that he forgot to collect his complimentary Laffy Taffy candies from his coach.
Here's his team picture. It was taken on the second day of class. Danny was not happy about the Itty Bitty t-shirt. I threatened to take away his Star Wars toys if he didn't put it on. And of course, he almost missed out on the shot because he decided he needed to use the restroom a few minutes earlier. Maybe he did that on purpose. And here's his individual picture. Look at that smile! I love it. They let him choose a ball to hold. Of course, he chose gock-uh.
I can't wait for July. Maybe I'll let Dan be the chaperone for those classes. I don't want him to miss out on all the itty bitty fun.
I was thinking about making something special for dinner tonight. Maybe something Irish to celebrate this special greenish day. Maybe just something green. Here's what I came up with:
We won't be eating green eggs and ham. I have a hard enough time getting my kids to eat food in its normally colored state. Plus, how on earth do you turn eggs and ham green? I've tried to make green scrambled eggs before. They turned out gray.
We won't be eating Irish stew. I looked at some recipes. They all had beer in them. I don't have any beer handy right now. Plus, we had stew last Wednesday. Danny didn't eat it and Cate only ate the meat.
We won't be having shamrock sugar cookies for dessert. I considered making some because I found a sugar cookie recipe that's really good. And because I have a shamrock cookie cutter. And because I have white frosting left over from our Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss celebration.
We'll most likely be eating some Irish soda bread. I found a recipe that looks yummy and, best of all, easy. I'm all about being easy.
We'll also be feasting on these edible shamrocks. So easy (hooray again) and, best of all, my kids will probably eat them. They actually like peppers.
I'm not sure about the main course for our dinner. Looks like we might just be eating peppers and bread tonight. I'm not into the whole corned beef and cabbage thing. It's stinky.
One more thing for sure: a great big bowl of broccoli for Dan. It's green and oh, how he loves his broccoli.
Upon returning from his workout one evening, Dan told me that my husband used to be old, fat and out of shape. Now he's still old, but the fat and out of shape parts are getting taken care of. (Those are his words, not mine. I'd never call him old.)
So here's the Forty by Forty update.
It's been eight weeks. As of Friday morning (our last weigh-in), we have both lost exactly the same amount of weight. That might not be true anymore though. We went out to eat with Grandma and Aunt Nancy on Saturday. Some of us pigged out on cheese fries and ultimate dipping sauce.
Despite all that greasy goodness, Dan and I are 70% of the way to our goal. I'm still eating celery. I still don't love it. I'm ok with oatmeal now. It's all I've eaten for breakfast for 8 weeks. I'm never going to love it. As long as it's apples and cinnamon flavored, I can handle it. I haven't had a bite of Ben and Jerry's since January 16th. I miss those guys and their frozen chocolaty goodness.
Celery Oatmeal Ben and Jerry's
Sometimes two outta three ain't all that good either.
Once upon a time, I gave Dan a haircut. We were either "just friends" or dating or somewhere in between. I didn't go to school to become a hairstylist. I am not a barber. I just really wanted to get my fingers into that thick gorgeous hair. And I did.
But I didn't do a very good job of the cutting. I kinda sorta had no idea what I was doing. Dan had to have his head shaved almost bald to repair the damage. The "head shaved clean" look works for some men. I don't think it was the best look for him. Sorry, Dan.
Somehow he forgave me. We dated. We got engaged. We got married. Dan told me that he'd like me to cut his hair. He wanted to save money. I didn't really care about saving money. I wanted to redeem myself. I was really nervous. I probably even protested a little bit. Ok. Probably a lot. But I did it anyway. That's the kind of loving wife I am.
This was back in the Spring of 1998. We had no internet. We didn't even have a computer. (How did we even survive? I have no idea.)
No You Tube video to show me how to cut hair. No next door neighbor to give me a little lesson. No mom close enough to be a mentor.
We did what we had to do to get information back in those computerless days. We went to the public library. I checked out a book. I brought it home and took notes. Pages and pages of them in a little notebook. I have no idea why I didn't just use the copier at the library. I also have no idea why I didn't just check the book out again after it was due. Instead, I took notes and returned the book. I'm just a weirdo like that.
I used those notes to cut Dan's hair. I was nervous. I didn't want a repeat of the tragedy that happened the year before. The haircut took a long time. I had to read and cut. Read and cut. Read and cut. I had to visualize what I was supposed to do. That's not easy for me.
I did it though. I cut his hair. Lots of times. I'm not really sure how many times I cut it before I stopped using the notes. We probably saved enough money that year from my haircutting skills to send me to haircutting school.
I don't cut Dan's hair very much these days. Just trims around the ears and neck in between his professional haircuts. I'm not such a loving wife anymore.
Danny won't even let me cut his hair. That's Angie's job. He says so.
That's ok with me though. I'll just stick to what I do best. Just as soon as I figure out what that is.
Well, it was supposed to be nine on the ninth. I took some pictures throughout the day. I had high hopes of getting them all uploaded during nap time. That didn't happen. Danny and Cate woke up. Then I watched Oprah. And then Dan came home from work. And then I made dinner. And then I went to the store. And then I went to a meeting. And then I helped put kids to bed. And then I had a headache. And then I watched Lost. And then I went to bed.
So here's nine on the ninth a day late.
1 Finishing off the Mud Pie ice cream at Judy's house Kris told Danny it wouldn't taste good because it had mud in it.
2 On the ride home from Judy's house She had just recovered from the biggest meltdown in history. Stupid croup...still
3 Picking rocks out of the dirt made her feel much better. I'm afraid she's going to be a tomboy. Not much I can do about it now.
4 Enjoying a popsicle on a crisp winter/springish day Thankful for the sunshine at least
5 Keeping a close eye on the little pizzas as they cooked One sausage and one pepperoni
6 Cate's the only one that wanted pizza. All she did with it was stuff it into her cup. (that already had water in it) gag
7 Danny fell asleep watching his favorite movie. He pitched a fit when I woke him up to put on a pull up. Go figure. And no, napping while watching a movie is not a common practice. He's sick.
8 Post-nap Cate with an adorable piggy on top of her head
9 I ate some of these. I was seriously losing my mind and needed chocolate. It was either eat M&M's or run away from home. I figured it would be less traumatic for the kids if I just ate the M&M's.
And just so I feel justified in posting this a day late, here's one more picture. This technically makes it ten on the tenth. Now I can sleep well tonight.
A little post-nap entertainment this afternoon. fishy crackers fruit snacks and Lego Star Wars on YouTube
Here's my favorite. We watched it over and over and over again.
She helped me escape the house of coughing, runny noses and crankiness last night. (Thanks for tending the kidlets, Dan. Sorry for making you eat cheap pizza for dinner.) If she hadn't come over, I might have just run away from home anyway. This sickness had better leave my house soon or I am going to lose my mind. (what little there is left of it)
Arlene and I went to eat dinner at Zupas. It was yummy. I ate the same thing I always get there. Chicken Enchilada Chili and a Turkey Bacon Avocado Panini Sandwich and a chocolate dipped strawberry The chocolate was cheap. The strawberry was divine.
As if rescuing me from the house of coughing, runny noses and crankiness wasn't enough, Arlene came back to my house and showed me how to use my camera properly.
the camera I've owned for as long as Danny's been alive the camera I thought was broken because I couldn't take close-up pictures in focus the camera that has sand inside the lens from taking pictures on the "beach" in Green River
Who knew all I had to do was click one little button? Obviously not me. I guess it would help to read an instruction book once in a while. Look at this beautiful picture she took.
My friend (and camera guru) is moving to Texas in a week. I'm going to miss her.
Next time I eat at Zupas, Arlene, I'm going to take a close-up picture of my bowl of Chicken Enchilada Chili and think of you.
As I was loading kids into the truck on Friday morning to head to the doctor, a huge blob of melty snow dropped out of the tree above me and landed mack dab on my head. It was not a good feeling. As I look back now, I'm pretty sure it was a sign of crappy things to come.
The doctor said Cate has croup. I've heard of croup. I always just thought it meant coughing. I've heard moms say, "Yeah, Little Lucy woke up all croupy this morning." I've heard of the stick-em-in-the-bathroom-with-the-hot-shower-running plan followed by the run-outside-in-the-freezing-cold routine. Repeat as necessary. Is that what you do for croup? I don't know these things. My children have been diagnosed with ear infections more times than I care to remember. Croup? Never. Until Friday, that is.
Cate was a good little patient for the exam. No problems with the cold stethoscope on her chest and back. (Her lungs apparently sounded good.) No problems with the little ear-examining instrument in her ears. (Her tubes also looked great.) Little problem with the huge popsicle stick in her mouth to check her throat. Big problem with the needle full of some kind of steroid concoction jabbed into her thigh.
The rest of Friday was spent with a cranky little girl (who barely took a nap) and a Star Wars obsessed little boy. Loads of fun.
Saturday morning started off way too early. Will my children ever learn to respect their parents enough to just sleep in on Saturdays and an occasional Sunday? I mean really. Is that too much to ask?
This little shot of some Happy Time with Daddy lasted about a minute. Maybe two. Cranky little girl remained. And the runny nose. And the barking cough.
I hate croup.
Cate decided she was ready for a nap around noon. That's a good hour before normal nap time. I told Dan to take Danny to McDonald's so Cate could have some peace and quiet and hopefully sleep a long, long time. It didn't happen. They left and she woke herself up from all the coughing shortly thereafter. Did I mention she was cranky? She was.
I did the only thing I could to help get her out of her funk. I put her to work. She "helped" me wash the dishes. She was happy. I was happy that she was happy. I wasn't so happy about all the water on the floor but whatever. Dan and Danny came home shortly after we finished the dishes. I advised Dan to give them baths to kill some time. Then I left for a few hours for some church stuff.
The rest of Saturday was filled with more coughing, more crankiness and more requests to play Star Wars. Fun times.
Today started way too early again. I really hate croup. Danny started coughing today too. Lovely. I've avoided telling him that he might need to go to the doctor since he witnessed the shot Cate got on Friday. He told me the nurse was mean because she hurt his sister.
I attempted to keep Cate occupied this morning. It wasn't easy. I failed miserably. Dan tried too. I'm just wishing she was old enough to be obsessed with a movie. That might have helped pass the time.
She took a way too early nap yet again, and woke up after less than an hour. We spent the rest of a very long Sunday afternoon going for a long walk, playing in the backyard, playing Star Wars (the boys, not me) and being cranky (Cate and me).
I really really hate croup.
I'm currently sitting in Danny's room while he snores. Star Wars is playing on the little DVD player. He woke up crying from all the coughing he was doing. A promise of Star Wars was the only thing I could do to get him to calm down.
