Posts Tagged ‘husband’
A *very* happy 33rd birthday today to my husband! (He’s now as old as me!) While Lucas was in preschool, I carefully wrapped Jeff’s birthday gift. And by careful, I mean that I *painstakingly* tried to disguise what was inside ~ the new Force Unleashed video game for the Xbox 360. He had mentioned a few gift ideas to me, and that was one of them. So, I got a box and wrapped the game in paper towels for cushioning. Then, I went around the house to figure out what items I could include inside the box to make some rattling noises. I seriously thought that he would never figure out what was inside. (He has this annoying amazing talent for guessing what’s inside a wrapped package.) Afterward, I called him at work and proudly said, “You’re *never* going to figure out what’s inside this box! I did a *really* good job of camouflaging it!” And then, he replied, “Hmm, let’s see … is it … The Force Unleashed?” I swear. Why do I even bother? I spent 10 minutes of my life putting together that box and going to such special effort … next time, I should just hand him some money and say, “Happy birthday ~ go buy something!” LOL! :) But, he said that I totally “hit a home run” with this gift ~ that it’s what he *really* wanted. So, I’m excited about that. P.S. Isn’t it neat that my birthday is 9/12 and his is 12/9?
Speaking of birthdays, I always try to keep Jeff’s birthday separate from Christmas preparations. I don’t give him any Christmas-related gifts, and I don’t wrap his birthday presents in Christmas (or even winter-themed) wrapping paper. He wanted a “Star Wars” cake, but unfortunately I don’t have one put together. :( Hopefully I can concoct something yummy for a special dinner tonight, though.
Lots of Christmas cards are starting to appear in our mailbox! So exciting! I *love* getting our mail this time of year! Thank you to everyone who has sent us cards so far! Ours are gradually going out as I get them addressed. By the way, if you’re still working on your holiday cards and need some inspiration (fast!), ChristmasCardsDirect.com has a ton of fresh, original, pretty designs that you could use to create Photo Christmas Cards this year. We always do a family portrait for ours, and it’s especially neat to see how our children have grown and changed from year to year! For 25 cards, you pay only $1.99 per card ~ and the price drops with the more cards you order. One thing that I like most about the website is that it’s *very* easy to navigate ~ more so than some photo uploading sites out there. They even give you ideas for sentiments to have printed inside your cards. And what I found interesting to read was the section about photography advice and tips. There are articles about photography basics, photographing special events and milestones, nature, and family and friends, to name a few. There’s also a “Photo Tip of the Day.” ChristmasCardsDirect.com features more than 200 card designs, and you can also request up to six free samples if you’d like to see the finished product before you order. So, if you’re nervous about getting your holiday cards out on time and want something a little different this year, make sure to check them out!
My husband has an annoying amazing talent: he can guess (with great precision) what’s inside a wrapped gift.
When he got home from work yesterday, he brought a package inside that UPS left outside our garage. It was from Barnes and Noble, and I said, “Oh! That’s one of your birthday presents!” (His birthday is December 9th.) Of course, after seeing where the box came from, I figured that he knew it was a book. But I said, “You don’t know *which* book it is!” I figured that there was *no* way that he would figure out which book I had ordered for him. I thought he would assume that it was a new Star Wars book. He picked up the package, shook it a little bit, weighed it in his hands, and finally said, “Well, I can’t imagine that it would be The Audacity of Hope.”
Damn.
That’s exactly what it was. I couldn’t believe it. I opened the package, handed him the book, and said, “Here ~ happy reading.” Grr! I thought that he would enjoy reading what our president-elect had to say, in his own words. My husband was an undergrad history major and is a total history buff ~ and he loves reading books about presidents, leaders, etc. (Plus, I want to read Obama’s book, too!)
But geez, can a wife not get a break?!? Maybe I should buy him some Leptovox. Let’s see whether he can figure that one out! LOL! :) But seriously? I’m going to have to disguise his birthday and Christmas presents even better this year!
Meredith climbed out of her crib this morning. I don’t know whether to be excited for her or sad ~ probably a little bit of both! Looks like it’s time for her to make the transition to her toddler bed. This should be interesting! Lucas climbed out of his crib at almost exactly the same age, and when he did, he also stopped taking naps. Ugh. :( I’m looking forward to taking apart our crib and storing it someplace, though, so that we’ll have more room in Meredith’s bedroom. We can make it more of a big-girl room now, too. Gosh, we’ve had a crib in our house since February 2005! I so vividly remember being 30-some weeks pregnant with Lucas and looking inside his newly set-up crib, thinking, “Oh my gosh … this is where our *son* is going to sleep!” And now, we’re taking it down. This is a milestone!
In other news, yesterday morning I accidentally sewed over my left index finger with our sewing machine. Ouch. Well, it actually didn’t hurt much at all right when it happened; it just took me aback. But then, it started hurting like heck. I walked over to our neighbor’s house ~ she is a retired nurse ~ so that she could take a look at it. The needle went through my fingernail and almost completely out the back of my finger. I had been making a Christmas present and was sewing in reverse in order to close a corner, and my finger just got in the way. Our neighbor said to put ice on it throughout the day and keep that hand relaxed. I called the doctor’s office this morning to see whether I’d need a tetanus shot, but thankfully I got that shot back in October 2007. My mom tells me that sewing body parts is hereditary … she also did the same thing when she was a teenager! LOL! :) I’m glad that the needle didn’t break inside my finger. And of course, I tried to milk my injury for all it was worth. After all, it takes *two* hands to change a diaper, right? :)
And finally, a melting-mommy moment from last night. I laid down with Lucas to snuggle with him a little bit before he went to sleep. Suddenly, he leaned over to me and said, “You’re, like, kind of neat.” I just wanted to scoop him up, give him a great big hug, and never let go! It was *so* incredibly sweet. Then, I said, “I love being your mommy.” And he replied, “I love being your Lucas!”
P.S. Today marks exactly 12 years since my husband and I went out on our very first date! November 17, 1996. We went to dinner at Puccini’s in Bloomington, IN, and then watched “The Mirror Has Two Faces.” (The love song from that movie was our first-dance song as husband and wife at our wedding.) Hmm … it might be worth a grocery store trip today in order to recreate the meal we had that night ~ penne a la vodka!
Here’s a question for all of you parents out there. Our pediatrician has told us, for both of our children, that when they turn two years old, we can give them any kind of milk that we choose. In other words, they don’t have to drink solely whole milk anymore. She said that if *we* drink skim milk, they can drink that, too. But I’ve heard conflicting advice from other pediatricians, who say that kids should keep drinking whole milk because they need the fat for development. We actually got into a big discussion about this topic in my parenting e-mail group. I’m just curious what you parents out there have been told. My husband thinks that we should continue buying the kids whole milk (and skim milk for us), and I think that we’ll probably go that route. But it’s just funny how doctors can give such different advice!
Speaking about parenthood … yesterday, I volunteered at our church to help take care of the infants during the service. One little boy (who was about six months old) cried pretty much the entire time, and I felt *so* badly for him. You could tell that he missed his parents, and he was also teething (he kept chewing on his fingers, on toys, etc.). I searched in his parents’ diaper bag to see whether I could find anything that might make him happy (some snacks did!), but when I looked into their diaper bag, I felt a bit of nostalgia. They had packed *everything* they would possibly need: teething tablets, several pacifiers, a change of clothing (with matching hat), diapers (of course), a bottle and formula (of course), acetaminophen and ibuprofen, various toys, a blanket, extra shoes and socks, a changing pad … you get the idea. They were *totally* prepared! And I found myself thinking, “Gosh, it seems *so* long ago when *I* carried around all of that stuff!” I remember the days of feeling sad when the kids would cry and it was *so* difficult to figure out what was wrong. I still find myself rocking back and forth sometimes, even though I no longer have a newborn to hold! :) I heard this baby’s parents talking about the challenges of getting him to fall asleep on his own and how they read about the Ferber Method. Right then, the baby spit up on the father’s dress shirt, and it made me smile. Gosh, I remember those days ~ when, at the end of the day, my clothes were covered with everything imaginable! :) Even though our children are still very young, it seems like *so* long ago that we went through all of that. I miss it a little bit, but in other ways I’m very glad to be in this stage, too. There are challenges with every age, though! I still kind of see Meredith as a baby, but she’s totally not. She just turned two! I guess that I just found myself feeling a bit nostalgic yesterday!
Here you go, Sweetie ~ an entire blog entry about you! And I’m not even venting about anything ~ imagine that! :)
1. He’s sitting in front of the TV. What’s on the screen? Some kind of science-fiction show that he has DVRed (”Chuck” comes to mind).
2. You’re out to eat; what kind of dressing does he get on his salad? I *guarantee* that he’ll order non-creamy Italian or a fat-free vinaigrette.
3. What’s one food he doesn’t like? He *hates* mustard. (OK, so that’s a condiment. He dislikes mushrooms, as do I.)
4. You go out to the bar. What does he order? A Sprite because he doesn’t drink. And chicken-noodle soup. :)
5. Where did he go to high school? In northern Indiana.
6. What size shoe does he wear? 12, I think.
7. If he were to collect anything, what would it be? He used to collect “Star Wars” stuff when he was a kid. But now, I’d say that he collects books. He loves to read. Oh, and I think that he enjoys collecting CAT5e cables, LOL! :)
8. What is his favorite type of sandwich? “Thanksgiving on a sandwich”: turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, etc. (in other words, “The Gobbler” at the Albany Pump Station). I’d have to agree.
9. What would he eat every day if he could? Chicken, spaghetti, frosted cherry Pop-Tarts, and orange juice (to name just a few!).
10. What is his favorite cereal? Apple Jacks.
11. What would he never wear? Pink. I really do think that he would look handsome in a pink tie!
12. What is his favorite sports team? Everything Indiana/IU.
13. Who will he vote for? I have a pretty good idea, but I’m not going to say in the interest of his privacy.
14. Who is his best friend? He has a lot of close friends, and we got to see most of them a few weekends ago when we attended our friend Chuck’s wedding.
15. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn’t do? Have an anxiety disorder (and flake out on things sometimes).
16. How many states has he lived in? He was born in Oklahoma, then lived in Indiana for a long time, and now we live in New York. So that’s three.
17. What is his heritage? Mostly Finnish, German, Danish, and a tiny bit of Irish.
18. You bake him a cake for his birthday; what kind of cake? He loves chocolate and raspberry together and also adores carrot cake. This year, I’m thinking about making him my mom’s apple-raspberry tart (a favorite of my dad’s).
19. Did he play sports in high school? Yes, he was on the basketball team.
20. What could he spend hours doing? Working! haha :) Being on the computer and playing the Wii.
- I was kind of bummed that I couldn’t stay to watch Lucas do his first show-and-tell at preschool today. Parents are welcome to stay only through “calendar time,” which I completely understand. I did bring our old camera to capture a short video of him during preschool, though, and I’m attempting to upload it to Flickr right now. Luke was in charge of bringing a snack for the class today, so we brought dog bone-shaped “Scooby Snacks” (graham crackers ~ thanks, Mom and Dad!) and white bread shaped like puppies with strawberry jam on top along with apple juice. He brought Learning Puppy and Blue for show-and-tell, so I tried to continue the theme. :)
- I’m swamped with freelancing right now. I have a book edit due on Thursday, then I have another book to edit after that. I’m interviewing two people tomorrow for a feature story that I’m writing, and I also need to make an appointment with someone else for a different article. Hope that I can get it all done. The end of the month is always hectic for me.
- I gave Meredith a bath last night. Dried her off, gave her a new diaper, changed her into pajamas ~ the works. And what did she do? Ran down the hallway and jumped right back into the bathtub. Fully clothed. It was hilarious!
- My husband has a business trip for work this week ~ just two days at West Point. He left this morning and gets back on Thursday.
- Green Mountain pumpkin spice decaf coffee is AMAZING. We sent some to my dad for his birthday (which was yesterday), and when he totally raved about it, I couldn’t resist buying some for myself. I’m the only one in our household who drinks coffee, and my parents gave me an awesome new four-cup coffee maker for my birthday! A little splash of milk, a sprinkle of sugar … voilà, an instant pumpkin-spice latté. Just delicious. Some of the best coffee that I’ve ever had! All it needs is an apple cider doughnut to go with it. :)
- Looking forward to snuggling with the kids tonight underneath our down comforter and watching a movie. :)
I’d been planning this weekend for months. Friday around lunchtime, I was going to hop into my car and drive to my friend Shannon’s house near Philadelphia. On the way, I was going to stop by our local apple orchard and pick up some honeycrisp apples for her to enjoy. We were going to have a yummy dinner together at Chick-Fil-A (which we unfortunately don’t have here in upstate New York). And I’m sure that Friday night we would have stayed up late chatting, playing with her daughter, eating the yummy birthday cake that she baked for me, and catching up. Saturday, we were going to do some fun outlet clothes shopping together and who knows what else, then drive two hours down to Baltimore to attend Lisa’s bridal shower. There, I would have gotten to meet Lisa’s sister, Laura, and fellow blogger Shanny for the very first time ~ in addition to Lisa’s family and friends (and visit a city that I’d never been to before). Afterward, I was going to stay at Shannon’s house that night and then drive back home today. But …
Plans quickly changed. I had just finished packing some last-minute items into my suitcase when my husband called about an hour before I was set to leave. He said that he had a meeting for work that he absolultely couldn’t get out of. He had to give a spur-of-the-moment presentation. Poor guy! He ended up not getting home until around 3 p.m. I totally don’t blame him, his boss, or his job. Stuff like that happens. I couldn’t just leave and take the kids with me, either, because Lucas’s carseat was in Jeff’s car (and nothing was packed for the kids ~ Jeff was going to watch them all weekend while I enjoyed a girls’ weekend out).
Driving six hours to Baltimore on Saturday would have been a *long* trip. I felt super bummed this weekend about how everything turned out. I wanted to see Lisa again (we’d only met once before in person) and have fun seeing where she lives, meeting her family and friends, watching her open her shower gifts, and support her/take part in one of the most special days of her life. The good thing is that we’ll get to see her in November for her Baltimore wedding reception. I’m definitely excited about that!
I did get to spend my birthday here at home with my family, though, which was wonderful. We ordered pizza from Four Brothers for dinner on Friday night (yay for not having to cook!). Also had fun picking up our CSA share from the farm. Saturday, we enjoyed a family apple-picking outing at Golden Harvest Farms. First honeycrisp apples and apple cider doughnuts of the season, folks! That was the highlight of my day! :) I wanted to take pictures but figured it would be too difficult running after the kids, picking apples, and holding our camera at the same time. (We need a wagon!) We picked a half bushel and also came home with some fresh blueberries and a “Fruits of the Forest” pie (totally delicious!). Afterward, we took the kids over to a great playground ~ but unfortunately I came down with quite a headache. I just wanted to go home. Took some Advil and just tried to rest after that. Still feel a little achy. :(
Now, I’m enjoying some quiet time while Jeff and the kids are at church. I went to CVS (had a 20 percent off coupon), the grocery store, and Dunkin’ Donuts this morning ~ with no children in tow! :) Even though this weekend was pretty different from how I’d originally planned, I had a blast and a terrific 33rd birthday! Thank you *so* much for all of your good wishes! I think that I’m loved. :)
I felt so overwhelmed on Saturday. Between freelance assignments with looming deadlines, my ever-growing to-do list, longing for a little bit of a break, and not being able to accomplish much lately, it just all kind of “hit the fan.” I sat down and wrote a blog entry, mentioning at the end that my husband would be in Baltimore all week for a business trip.
A few hours later, my mom called. I knew that something was up, because my parents don’t usually call us on Saturday mornings. She asked me, “Do you have anyone to watch the kids while you go to your doctor’s appointment on Monday?” I said no, that I was just going to bring them with me (ugh!). That’s when my mom replied, “Well … would you like to have a babysitter?” Kind of puzzled, I said, “Uh … sure!” And then she said, “Well … *I* can babysit, if that would be OK!” Huh? My parents live in Indiana! All I could say was, “What?”
That’s when my mom told me that she was going to hop a plane the very next day and stay with us until Thursday. She mentioned phrases such as, “doing the dishes,” “working on some laundry,” “babysitting the kids,” “fixing some meals,” and so on. My eyes immediately welled up with tears. I kept saying, “Oh my God!” over and over. I just couldn’t believe it. We got off the phone, and I just burst into tears. She had absolutely *no* idea how much I needed something like this and what *perfect* timing it was. Jeff said that it was an answer to his prayers, too, because he was concerned about me having to watch the kids all week by myself. I was simply on cloud nine. We hardly *ever* get to see our families. Read the rest of this entry »
A *very* happy second wedding anniversary today to our good friends Sara and Matt in Wisconsin! And a *very* happy third birthday today to Amanda, the daughter of an online mom friend of mine (Carrie in Massachusetts). And a *very* happy 33rd birthday today to one of my oldest friends, Carrie (we went to school together from kindergarten all the way through high school!). Lots of special reasons to celebrate today!
I’m doing a bunch of cooking today for two families in our church. One family has a daughter who has been battling leukemia for several years now (ugh ~ I just *cannot* imagine what they’re going through), and our moms’ group is helping them by bringing meals over to their house. I’m also preparing a meal for Karen, a fellow moms’ group member who just had a baby girl not too long ago (but unfortunately with some health problems). I made a huge batch of pasta salad (not sure what else I’m going to make, though), and for their dessert I made some chocolate-peanut butter fudge from Rachael Ray’s latest magazine issue. (Talk about a sugar attack … two sticks of butter, an entire jar of creamy peanut butter, six ounces of chocolate, three cups of powdered sugar … need I say more?) Bring on the diet pills! LOL! :)
I’m also trying to get our house clean (the downstairs, anyway!) for Thursday, when some members of our moms’ group come over for brunch. It’ll be a small group, and I think that one of the other moms suffers from anxiety, as well, so we’re going to share our experiences. I’m really looking forward to it. I get to cook again ~ and I think that I’m going to make that zesty brunch quiche that I blogged about the other day.
P.S. My husband’s root canal was scheduled for today, but his dentist went into labor! So, therefore, his appointment will have to be rescheduled. Oh, come on … why can’t she perform a root canal in between contractions? haha :)
So last night, I had a terrible dream that all of my teeth fell out, one by one. And let me tell you how *very* glad I was, when I woke up, to discover that it was just a dream! Has anyone ever had that same nightmare before? Besides needing a trip to the dentist, I thought that I would search online to see what this dream symbolism could possibly mean. Here’s a page that describes various interpretations, from being anxious about your appearance to a fear of getting old to a fear of being embarrassed in some specific situation to a sense of powerlessness. Yeah, I guess that I’ve been feeling all of those things, to a certain degree! Interesting. But seriously … I’m going to make a dentist appointment here soon. I could have also dreamed about my teeth because my husband casually told me this weekend, “Oh yeah … I have a root canal on Tuesday.” What?!? OMG … I hope that it goes well for him and that it isn’t too painful.
Our power went out yesterday for quite a while. Most of the afternoon, in fact. Made me incredibly behind on my freelance projects, but at least today I’m making some good progress. I love when the power goes out, actually. Jeff and I sat down in the living room by candlelight, each with a good book to read. We don’t do that enough. When the power goes out, it kind of forces us to take time out from the daily grind and just “be.” It’s always weird not to hear the hum of our various computers. But silly me … I thought to myself, “Oh! While the power’s out, I’m going to vacuum real fast while I have the chance.” Duh! That kind of requires electricity.
Oh, and last night I came up with some menu ideas for this upcoming week. Thought that I would participate in “Menu Plan Monday” for the first time! Here are my ideas … just loose guidelines …
-fettuccine alfredo with shrimp (Jeff actually requested this); garlic bread
-taco salad (inspired by Christina!)
-Italian pepperoni pasta salad; fried or grilled zucchini on the side
-breakfast for dinner: zesty brunch quiche; probably some fruit salad to go with it
-soup and sandwich night: some kind of deli meat sandwich; carrot-dill soup
-Fridays are homemade pizza night (Jeff wants pineapple/apple/pepperoni, but that sounds disgusting!)
And … some very exciting news around our household … the other day, Lucas went to the potty standing up! He was *so* excited and said, “Just like Daddy!” Meredith is also showing interest in sitting on the potty seat. I think that we might be potty training two at the same time!
