Deep Breaths

It's been a trying week so far.  A few hurdles have been jumped, a few more to go.  Thank goodness I have my daughter to distract me, entertain me, and keep me strong.  Yesterday morning she rediscovered her Halloween outfit from 2008 when she went as a butterfly.  Here's what she ran around the house in this morning......

Yes, that ensamble includes her pajamas, the top to her butterfly costume, rain boots (on the wrong feet, I believe), a tiara, and you can't see it, but she's also wearing a Tinkerbell necklace.  She has quite the sense of style already!

Scenes From A Weekend

Pineapple Eating Machine.

Jumping up and down while holding onto this half wall kept her occupied for quite some time.  (Is it just me, or does she kind of remind you of "Animal" from The Muppets here?)

I can't tell you how proud this makes me.  She was so gentle with the keys.  

This piano was so beautiful.  It was as if she knew......her great-grandfather was a HS band director and had his own orchestra.  Maybe it's in the genes.

Taking a break from the party with Daddy.

A big "Congratulations!" to my Aunt Maize, who is retiring after 28 years as a Title I reading teacher.

"I'm SO tired."

"What do you mean I can't have any more pineapple?"

Helping Grandpa with the dishes.

Someone got a few golf lessons from Daddy this evening.  Please excuse the mess behind her.  I'm lazy tired after personifying "Flight of the Bumblebee" this weekend.  

More Coffee, Please.

I was prepared for another not-so-great day.  For the second time in 3 nights, I hadn't slept at all.  I think that if I could sleep for at least 3 hours every night for a week, I could rule the world.  It's probably a good thing that we may never know what that would be like because insomnia likes to visit me regularly.  It must like me because it stops by at least once a week.  Life with Mr. Insomnia makes me wonder how people ever functioned before the availability of Mr. Coffee.

On top of my exhaustion, Eva's been dealing with some tummy issues lately.  It seems like every time she has some sort of ailment, I give it a week and then end up taking her in to see the pediatrician.  With a few exceptions, this visit seems to magically cure her.  Regardless of how bad off she is when we leave the house, within a few hours after we leave the office, Eva is cured.  Today it was approximately an hour later.  I hate being that mom who's always dragging her kid to the doctor, I just don't want to let a problem go on and on and on if it can potentially be cleared up a little faster.  Either way, I'm just glad that she's doing better.

On a related note, after some convincing she allowed the doctor to listen to her heart, lungs, and tummy. She willingly let her take a look at her throat.  Before all that, she happily hopped up on the scale.  She was not at all pleased about the ear check.  But what sent her into a fit with screaming, crying and wailing of epic proportions?  Having her temperature taken!  Under her arm.  Still!  You'd think they were trying to pull her fingernails out.  We talked about everything that would happen before we left, and she said that she was fine with it.  We even practiced with her My Little Pony doctor set.  No dice.  Of course, once that part was over with she was happy as a clam once again and chatting up her doctor.  Ugh.  Maybe one day that'll get a little easier.  Maybe....

At any rate, even with as cooperative as she was and as otherwise happy as she was, it was apparent this afternoon that I was not the only one around here that might be a little tired.....

He likes to pretend that she annoys him, but he loves her.

A Couple Of Wins For My Wednesday

Today totally made up for yesterday's incredibly high number of failures.  My sweet, snuggly little girl was back, agreeable, and spoke with a minimal amount of whining.  Yay!

She had a great time at the gym this morning, getting to play with 2 of her friends.  How did I know this?  Because she told me.  In a conversation.  A real conversation where there was an exchange of sentences back and forth conveying thoughts, feelings, and actions.  Up until now our verbal communication has consisted mostly of her telling me that she wants- or needs something, and then my response.  (For the record, I've found that the more she needs something, the less she actually needs it.)  Anyhow, she told me who she played with and that they played with the kitchen and the playhouse and the slide.  She also told me that she didn't get to play with them the whole time because they left before she did.  Bam!  Hello language burst!

After lunch and some tower-building, she told me that she wanted to snuggle and watch Word World, her favorite TV show.  She snuggled up next to me on the couch, her head resting on my chest while she held my hand.  It was so incredibly sweet, definitely one of those moments that parents live for.  It was easily the best part of my day.

The first runner-up in the "best part of the day" contest was after her nap, when she was in the mood to sit and read.  I lost count of how many books we read.  I sat in amazement as she recited the letters composing each word and then asked what each one spelled.  I love that she's already so interested in reading.  I can only hope that this lasts for a lifetime.

I knew as soon as I got up that today would be better than yesterday.  This was clear when I managed to drag myself down the stairs this morning and found this scene on the dining room floor:

Cheddar Bunnies, the Breakfast of Champions.

Entirely Too Much Fail For One Day.

I won't bore you with the details of my day.  To sum it up, the universe decided not to cooperate with my plans for the day, and the plot plat for our house is something that everyone requires before work is done, but no one knows how to acquire.

I'm pretty sure that my child was on a mission today to drive me to the brink of insanity.  It started with her deciding that I needed to rise and shine at 5:30 this morning.  I do not shine at 5:30 in the morning.  (Shining in the morning is exceedingly rare for me, but is sometimes possible after 9:00.  Sometimes.) This was after waking up twice last night with nightmares.  I was more exhausted this morning than when I went to bed last night.

Then came the whining.  It was as if she couldn't speak without whining, there was so much of it.  The "experts" all say to simply ignore kids when they whine and that eventually they'll stop.  Um, apparently these people haven't met my kid.  I seem to have given birth to the most persistant child on the planet.  She does not let it go.  Ever.  And if you don't respond in what she deems to be an appropriate amount of time? Rapid-fire whining.  If anyone has any suggestions, please, feel free to let me know.

A few things did go right though- I made it to the post office, accomplished 1/2 out of 3 things I had on the agenda this morning, got my car vacuumed out this evening, and the Pens won.  Along with all the frustrating toddler behavior, there were also a lot of hugs and "I love you Mommy"'s.  All in all, I guess it wasn't such a bad day after all.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to go and put myself in the same state of deep sleep and relaxation that the puma is currently experiencing.  Night night!

This picture seems to appropriately sum up our day.

The March For Babies

Yesterday morning we got up and at 'em bright and early for the March for Babies walk, supporting the March of Dimes.

The morning started out cold, cloudy, and a little windy.

A fellow Pens fan in the crowd!

Once we got going, the sun came out and it warmed up a bit.  Such a pretty walk!

More prettiness.

Lake Anne

Along for the ride.

Infinitely grateful for my healthy little girl.

The two hours or so I had to wait to hold my baby girl after she was delivered seemed like forever.  I can't imagine how difficult it would be to give birth to a child and then not be able to hold them for days, weeks, or months on end because they're in an especially fragile state in the NICU.  Tragically, some don't ever get that chance.  A big thank you to the March of Dimes for everything they do to promote healthy pregnancies, healthy babies, and to support the families of premies!  Thank you also to those of you who donated to the walk!

Nothing Like The Sound Of Demolition In The Morning.

It all started with a kind gesture from the next-door neighbor.  He's a stone mason and therefore does a lot of work on new home construction jobs.  Every once in a while people order a slab of granite, see it, and don't like it.  They then order new granite and the "old granite" is ordered to be thrown away.  This happened recently on a job and said neighbor was given the option of just taking the granite home, and so he did.  He used what they needed to upgrade things in their house and then offered us enough to replace the vanity tops in 2 of our bathrooms.

Again, it's an amazing and kind gesture.  He's refusing to accept any money for the granite, only for the sinks that he's under-mounted to them.  The one teensy problem with this?  Our house was built in the mid-80's and nothing had been upgraded since.  No way will I put new granite on top of a crappy 1980's builder's grade vanity.  But we can't just upgrade the vanity and be done with it, because they tiled the floor just up to that vanity.  That means that either we find a replacement that fits perfectly into that space (we've looked and found nothing), or...... that means that we also rip up the tile floor and replace that as well.  And because we just can't get enough of this stuff, we're also replacing the toilet, medicine cabinet, lighting fixture, and towel hooks.  New paint and decor will also be involved.

We've been down this road before.  A few years ago we gutted our master bathroom down to the studs and replaced everything.  Plumbing was even moved.  It took my dear husband over a year and quite a lot of blood, sweat, and tears.  Literally.  It was not fun.  It was finished just before I gave birth to our daughter.  He hated every second of the renovation, but I hope he finds comfort in the fact that I love the way it turned out and that it added value to our home.  He also learned a lot and has proven himself to be very capable to doing just about any kind of work around the house.  Despite these gains, he vowed never to do it again.  It was simply too frustrating and time consuming.

And here we are again.  I can only hope that this time around it will be a smoother and faster process.  At least this time there won't be plumbing or drywall replacement involved.  (Famous last words.)  I just jinxed us, didn't I?

A few minutes ago he officially got underway with the demo.  Before walking into the bathroom he asked if I had any last words before he started.  "Good luck, God speed, and may The Force be with you.", I replied.  Cross your fingers and say a little prayer for us.  This could be painful for all of us.

One last look.

Not suitable to display granite.

I cannot tell you how much I hate this tile or how happy I will be to have it replaced.

How you know you're a Hyperemesis survivor (you know, beyond the literal survival):  I actually said "Goodbye" to the toilet in that bathroom.  We spent quite a bit of quality time together during my pregnancy with Eva.  I'd crawl down the hallway to it, throw up for hours on end, and often just lay on the floor beside it for much of the day.  Good times.  Goodbye, old friend!

Why My Daughter Will Know How To Kick A Little Ass.

Anyone who knows has ever met me knows that I'm a HUGE Pittsburgh fan.  The Penguins, the Steelers, and even the Pirates.  While I hate to contribute to the overshadowing of the Pens being in the playoffs, I have something to get off my chest about the recent developments surrounding my favorite pro football team.  1.  I nearly threw a party when I heard that Holmes was traded.  He's probably too stupid to understand what an insult it is to be traded for a 5th round draft pick, but at least the rest of us were satisfied.  2.  After reading several pages of the police report in our starting QB's second accusation, it is now official that I hate him with the fire of 1,000 burning suns and would enjoy seeing him in pain.  I only read a portion of the details before I had to stop.  It was so upsetting that I just couldn't read any more.  There should be no mercy for anyone who would do such a thing.

Maybe I'm wrong.  I suppose there's room for a sliver of doubt, but I believe her.  When the story first broke, I hoped against hope that it wasn't true- for both of their sakes.  Reading the documents, I find it difficult not to believe her.  As a former victim of assault myself, my heart breaks for her thinking of the long road she has ahead of her.  The mental and emotional toll that it takes on you is far, far worse than any physical damage.  I was somewhat lucky in that my ordeal was simply of the "assault and battery" variety and that my injuries weren't severe.  Even then it took a month for my body to heal completely and 14 years to get to the point where I could think about talking about it on a forum like this.  I can't imagine how much an assault of a sexual nature would mess someone up.

Two thoughts on the subject:  1.  Regardless of how drunk one or both parties were or what may or may not be alluded to beforehand, no means no means no means no.  Just. stop.  I don't think I can make that point any more clear than that.  2.  Ladies, listen.  We're at a size disadvantage.  Men are just bigger and stronger than we are.  As much as that ticks me off sometimes, that's the way it is.  Whether you're out drinking or just out and about on a daily basis, please be careful and don't make yourself an easy target.  It's important that we do everything in our power to ensure our own protection.  Know your surroundings.  Be aware of the people around you.  Take a self-defense class.  Use (and trust!) your common sense and intuition.  It's NEVER the victim's fault, but it's also important to do everything you can to prevent an attack.  Even then there are no guarantees, but your chances are better than they would be otherwise.

This is why, along with the discipline aspects, my daughter will be in a martial arts class at some point in her life.  There will also be self-defense classes.  She will know what to do if God forbid, anyone ever violates her in any way, and her parents will ensure that there will be hell to pay for such actions.  In short, she'll know how to kick some ass.  I certainly don't want to make her paranoid that something horrible is imminent, I just want her to be able to take care of herself.  It's all about empowerment over fear.

If you have ever been assaulted in any way, I strongly encourage you to seek counseling if you haven't already.  It helped me tremendously.  You can't erase what happened, but it is possible to move on and begin to heal emotionally.  Learning self-defense moves is also very big on my list.  In addition, I take a cardio kickboxing class called Body Combat where I get to pretend that my assailant is standing in front of me and that I'm beating him to a pulp once a week for an hour.  It's fabulous.  I only wish that I had known all those moves and to use them immediately during my ordeal when I was 17.  I've always felt that he deserved more than a knee to the crotch and a right cross.

I know this is going to sound weird, but a part of me wishes that I could go back and use all of those moves, report him, have him arrested, and have him convicted.  One of the few regrets that I have in my life is that I didn't report it.  I can only hope now that the karma boomerang packs quite a wallop.  I can't go back and change what happened, but the important thing now is that I've taken steps to empower myself.  I strongly encourage you to do the same.

Oh, and one last thing......LET'S GO PENS!!!!

In Remembrance.

I remember this morning 3 years ago very well.  I was sitting up in bed, watching the Channel 4 Morning News.  Barbara Harrison was telling us about a shooting at Virginia Tech.  I, along with the rest of the country was shocked that this had happened.  Not only at my Alma Mater, but starting in the first floor of my old dorm no less.  I watched in horror all day as the death toll kept rising.

I distinctly remember hugging my pregnant belly and telling my daughter that she was welcome to stay in there forever.  Hyperemesis, be damned.  I'd just take Zofran and waddle around for the rest of my life.  Of course a few minutes later, I heard in my head a quote from one of my favorite episodes of the Golden Girls.  It was the one where Blanche's daughter Becky goes into labor and decides she can't do it, that she'll just stay pregnant forever.  Blanche responds to her with, "Oh, no honey!  You can't do that.  It's a bad look."  A month and a half later my body decided to agree with her, thwarting my plans.

Another thing I struggled with was not being able to understand why the university hadn't taken any action about this guy previously.  My sophomore year, my roommate had a stalker.  It was one of her friends from high school who also happened to be in one of my classes.  Long story short, there was an incident.  Fortunately for the rest of us he chose to harm himself rather than anyone else.  He was required to take 2 semesters off and show proof of counseling before he was permitted to return to school, we moved and kept our new location out of the university directory, and I changed the tags on my car.  Hindsight is always 20/20 and there's simply no way to guard against crazy all of the time, but I'm very sure that I'm not the only one who wishes that something could've been done to prevent the shootings.

I think about events like the shooting at Tech and it terrifies me to ever let Eva out of my sight, let alone send her off to college and adulthood where I'll go so long without seeing her.  It's a good thing that we have a few years before we have to face that.  The very thought is a tad bit overwhelming right now.

My heart goes out to all those who lost loved ones on April 16, 2007.  My thoughts and prayers are with you.

(Picture by akla3en on flickr , CC-BY license. The author has not endorsed me or my blog.)

Just Add A Cat, A "Big Girl" Cup, And Some Water.

Eva started out the morning by once again donning her swimsuit.  She might be trying to tell us something. Maybe.  At some point we really are going to get her into a pool.  As a former swimming instructor I haven't wanted to rush the process.  I just hope she's still as excited about in once we're actually in the pool.  Fingers crossed.

While I was on the phone this morning and unloading the dishwasher she decided that she wanted to practice drinking from a "big girl" cup.  Don't you just love the sense of timing that kids have?  She used the the opportunity to reach into the open utensil drawer and fish out a spoon.  A few seconds later I turn around to check on her, and find her trying to spoon-feed water to the cat.  Further and further back, he kept moving his head, trying to avoid the spoon.  Eventually he made his way to his feet and backed himself into a corner.  Eva seemed very concerned that he didn't want to drink from the spoon.  It took until a good 30 seconds later for him to finally realize that he could simply walk away.  I love him, but he's really not a bright animal.  As he left the kitchen, Eva ran after him- with the cup of water and spoon in hand.  You know what happened next.  (It involved a towel and an empty cup for those of you who are unsure.)

After running a few errands we made our way to the neighborhood playground for a while.  The weather was absolutely perfect today and she had the place all to herself.  She had a great time running around and playing and I had a great time watching her burn off some energy.  All kidding aside, there's nothing like watching your child exude pure joy.  Absolutely nothing.

Sliding is serious business.

Intently studying some ants.

Chasing a bird.

"Biiiiiirdeeee!"

"Sweetie, I think that might be a little too steep for you to climb....."

".......or not."

Happiness is.

P.S.  Just another little reminder that I'll be walking for the March of Dimes on Sunday.  If you could spare a few bucks, I (and they) would greatly appreciate it!  Just clickity click on the button on the upper right side of the page.  Please and thank you!

Mission: Accomplished......Sorta.

Well it took 3 full days, but I think I've finally accomplished everything I had on the agenda for Monday.  Errands have been run, grocery shopping has been done, meals have been cooked, a get well card has been made and sent to my grandmother, laundry has been folded and put away, estimates have been acquired, and trips to the gym have been made.  It only took 3 times longer than I wanted it to.

Oh, and notice how "progress has been made with potty training" was left off the list?  No?  I did.  I keep having nightmares that after getting into the class at the preschool that we wanted, that she won't be able to go because she won't be potty trained in time.  Oh, the pressure!

I've said it before and I'll say it again, sometimes Eva is like a cute, sweet, little girl version of the Tazmanian Devil.  She moves about as quickly and leaves a trail of destruction in her wake.  Only difference is that she regularly throws herself to the floor and occasionally runs into walls because she's not looking where she's going.  One of these days I'm going to count how many times I actually say, "Eva!  Please look where you're going!"  Seriously, it's probably once every 10 minutes (on average).  At least.

I'm wondering if she's not going through another growth spurt.  That's usually what's going on when she's managed to drain my patience by the time my husband gets home from work.....for several days in a row.  She's always incredibly active, but lately she's been in a state where she can't manage to stay still for more than 5 seconds in a row.  I love her dearly, but it's been exhausting the past couple of days just trying to keep her from destroying the house and/or herself.  I'm hoping that there's a reason for all this beyond her simply marching toward her 3rd birthday or trying to drive me to insanity.

Our morning started out with a classic Eva moment.  Upon waking up, she immediately changed from her jammies into her swimsuit.  Then she added a Valentine's Day headband that her grandmother made for her and some Elmo slippers.

Yes, there was a dance involved.

I did manage to get her into regular clothes before we left the house this morning, although the first thing she did when we walked back in the door was to go straight upstairs, take off said clothes, and change back into her swimsuit.  Perhaps we should finally get around to taking her to the pool.  

Throwing "The Plan" For The Week Out The Window

Today was the second day in a row that I spent running around like my hair was on fire.  I got a lot done again, it's just that very little of it was actually on today's agenda.  Most of it wasn't a big deal, I was just in a mad scramble to keep up with aspects of my day that kept changing.  Luckily, Eva just rolled with it.

She even seemed to understand when I told her that they changed the schedule at the bouncy sporty place I promised to take her to, and so we couldn't go today.  She was so excited about going and I was looking forward to letting her run free and play for a little bit while burning off some of that extra energy.  I checked their schedule just before we were going to leave to confirm the open gym times, only to find out that this week's schedule was different.  No more open gym on Tuesdays.  I felt so horrible having to tell her that we wouldn't be going now, after she had her heart set on it.  She took the news like a champ, despite her obvious disappointment.  I think she's over it, but I still feel horrible.

I did however, manage to get some housework done, get 2 people to come by and give us estimates to do some work to our house, go grocery shopping, and make dinner.  All in all, I suppose it was a rather productive day.  And today's nap?  2 1/2 hours.  If only I could get a 2 1/2 hour nap!  I suppose I should probably try to start out with more sleep at night.  Nighty night, everyone!

Uninspired

I've been feeling the pressure to write a post for the past 2 days.  Trouble is that I have nothing interesting to say.

We went to see my grandmother last weekend.  She's doing better than I expected, but things still aren't great.  Things change by the minute and none of the doctors seems to have a solid grip on what's going on.  Needless to say, I'm more than a little preoccupied.

Eva had one of those days that indicated that time is hurling us towards her 3rd birthday and "those" days I keep hearing so much about.  Oy.  She was full of a frenetic kind of energy that kept her bouncing around non-stop all day.  I'm serious.  She didn't stand, she hopped.  She didn't walk, she galloped.  She didn't sit, she chair danced.  All.  Day.  Long.  And did I mention that she didn't take a nap?

I had one of those frustrating days where I ran around all day doing chores around the house, and somehow by dinner time it still looked like I hadn't done anything all day.  I still feel like the only things I accomplished around here all day were cooking dinner and serving as a heated mattress for the cat this evening.  I guess I also kept the kiddo safe, clean, and fed, so there's that too.

Time to go to bed and hope that tomorrow's a smoother day with some good news mixed in.  I could use both of those things.....and maybe a drink too.

Sorry for the lack of pictures......we're still working on getting my phone and my iPod to sync with my new laptop.  Hopefully everything will be up and running tomorrow.

Sweetness in the Midst of a Storm

It's been a week, let me tell ya.  It started with me dealing with some "Mommy Issues."  That's a saga in itself.  I wrote a novel-length blog post about it last night, although I don't plan to publish it.  One day soon I'm sure I'll write about it on here, but tonight's not the night.  Progress has been made on my part and for the first time in a very long time, I am ok with this new little place that I've found.

My grandmother went into the hospital last week, came home yesterday afternoon, and was taken back by ambulance this morning.  Things aren't good.  We're going up tomorrow.  I can't tell you how much I am not looking forward to this trip.  Between seeing my grandmother in her current state, thinking of the possibilities of the near future for her, and dealing with my mother, it's not likely to be a fun weekend.

And tonight I'm sitting here, wearing my Lemieux jersey, watching the Pens play their final regular season game at The Igloo.  I even had Eva chanting "Let's go Pens!" with me at the beginning of the game.  I'll never forget my first game there.  I went with an ex-boyfriend of mine, his brother, and his father.  It was April (I think) of '95.  They played the Caps.  I will never forget how bright the light was, reflecting off the ice.  I was a fan already, but that was the night that I fell in love with hockey.  The boyfriend, not so much, but wow did I fall for hockey.  I'm so sad that I never really got a chance to take my husband and The Diva up for a game.  Such a great place.  It will be missed.

As usual, Eva was the bright spot of my day.  As I sat on the porch this afternoon and talked to my sister on the phone, Eva ran around the front yard and picked dandelions flowers for me.  Then when the next-door neighbor came outside with her two young daughters, she ran to give them flowers too.

I might have taken advantage of nap time and napped a bit myself.  (Please don't hate me- last night was rough.)  When Eva woke up, she climbed into bed with me and snuggled for a good 5 to 10 minutes.  It was the sweetest thing.  Then she gave me a big hug, said "I love you so much, Mommy!", and hopped out of the bed to go downstairs and play.  I love this kid, even more than I love hockey.

She's Good With A Socket Set

I love that at least for now, in the early stages of life, my daughter seems to be a very balanced little girl.  She loves nothing more than wearing a dress while digging in the dirt.  Yesterday, she was helping Daddy fix her bike- while wearing her tutu jammies.  This kid amazes me, cracks me up, and impresses me every day.

You can't see it from this angle, but she's helping Daddy with a socket set.

Working solo.

Her Father Will Be Teaching Her How To Drive

Last year for her birthday, my parents got Eva a tricycle.  She absolutely loved it, but she was too small to ride it until recently.  She had been asking all afternoon to take it out for a spin, so after dinner we took her out to do just that.  Oooooh my.  After much coaxing, we finally got her to use the pedals rather than Fred Flinstone around on the trike.  Turns out that that was the easy part.  Getting this child to actually look where she was going was nearly impossible.  She was looking EVERYWHERE else.  This shouldn't have surprised me- it's something we tell her everyday as she's running around and not looking ahead of herself.  To her left, to her right, behind her, up in a tree!  We learned quickly that telling her to "look up" wasn't a good idea- she just looked up at the sky.  Her father had to stick close as she kept veering off the path, either into the grass or headed toward the street.  It was much more stressful for me than it should have been.  As I stood there, having visions of what was to come in 13 years, I made a decision.  Her father will be the one to teach her how to drive.

On a completely unrelated note.....

Opening day for MLB has arrived.  For now there is hope that the Pirate's 17 year losing streak will finally be broken.  They're in 1st place!  (For now.)  I'm not so naive to bet against Burgh Baby in the Make Room for Crazy campaign either, though.  I'm a Pirates fan out of obligation.  Hopefully one day they'll win some of our pride back.

Humanity and a Zoo

Thanks to the Go Out and Play! blog that I just discovered last week, I found out about Easter egg hunts going on at a local zoo this weekend.  I knew The Diva would love such a thing, so away we went this morning.  Despite the sea of humanity ahead of us in line, the wait wasn't as long as I thought it would be.  It was a typical-sized crowd for the weekend.  More people than I would like to have dealt with, but all things considered in this area, it wasn't too terrible.

It was Eva's first Easter egg hunt, so we had to explain the concept to her.  She took to it pretty well.  I was very glad that while she was participating, she was really more into the animals than any competition.  Seriously folks, it's Easter.  It's an egg hunt.  For CHILDREN.  It's supposed to be FUN.  We were taken aback by the number of rude parents, pushing and shoving their children in front of others to claim ONE.  MORE.  EGG!  According to my Facebook friends, we were not the only ones with such an experience.  Do we not have enough competition around here with everything else?  I promise you, life will go on if your little darling doesn't leave with more plastic eggs than anyone else.

Eva's only contact with the Easter bunny the past two years has been during photo ops at the mall.  This year we didn't bother with it because a) We'd be seeing him at the egg hunt today and again tomorrow at brunch, and b) Eh, is it really that big a deal?  Maybe it is, but I just didn't see it as necessary this year.  I didn't know what she'd think of him since he was out and walking around rather than sitting in a big chair.  She adores the mascot at Red Robin and a certain large rat named "Chuck", so I should have known it would be love at first sight.  She walked up to him and just looked up at him in amazement.  Then he reached into his basket and pulled out an egg to give to her.  Ooooh, the excitement!  She actually tried to give it back to him, the altruist that she is.  My favorite moment of the day was when she proceeded to stand there and try to pet him.  Hilarious!  I guess to her he really is a giant bunny!

On a side note, after watching that Muppets video repeatedly for the past couple days, every time I saw a bunny of any kind at the zoo, all I could hear in my head was, "HI!!!  I'M A BUN-NAY!!!".

All in all it was a great time and Eva had a blast.  She's a kid who loves animals.  I don't think she's seen an animal yet that she wasn't interested in.  Future vet, perhaps?  Guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Aaaaand, today was day FOUR without a nap.  This kid is exhausted.  The one saving grace is that because her grandparents are here, she's all kinds of happy about that.  Otherwise it would be meltdown city here almost constantly.  I'm very much looking forward to having Bloody Mary's and Mimosa's at brunch tomorrow to comfort me.

In all seriousness, I'm VERY excited about brunch tomorrow.  The food is going to be A-MA-ZING!  Hope everyone out there is having a great weekend!  Happy Easter!

Things I've Learned Today

1. Regardless of how hard I try to have everything organized and ready to go in the morning, I will forget at least one thing at least once a week. This morning it was our water- my water bottle and Eva's sippy cup. This meant no running after my pilates class. I was a little disappointed because I intend to throw caution to the wind this weekend and eat whatever the hell I feel like. (I might have already done this at dinner tonight....and lunch before that...)

2. Easter grass is the devil. As I was getting ready today, I noticed that fear-inspiring silence that generally indicates a child be mischievous. I walked downstairs to our dining room to find my daughter, who had just emptied the Easter baskets of their contents, as well as 2 half-full bags of that ubiquitous shredded junk. She had separated most of the strands and covered almost all of the dining room floor with it. Before I allowed myself to express on the outside what was going on in my head, I somehow managed to find some perspective and not lose my mind. It was easier to get cleaned up than I thought it would be. Mercifully, my mother-in-law arrived with an Easter basket that used tissue paper rather than the loathsome plastic-y grass. *A mental note has been made for next year- our family is making the switch to tissue paper.

3. No matter how much I try to get done ahead of having company arrive, I will always be working frantically to get everything done up to the last second. I started the process on Monday. Skipped the gym for 2 days, ran a ton of errands, worked on stuff around the house. Somehow I still found myself vacuuming the stairs as my in-laws pulled up this afternoon. It's not that my house was that bad, it's that I was doing ridiculous things like ironing pillowcases, top sheets, and duvet covers. Please don't tell my mother. She'd be proud, whereas the idea of doing such things makes me twitchy.

4. If there is a big event/weekend coming up, it practically guarantees that The Diva will not nap. (I knew this already, but got a refresher course today) Today was Day 3. IN A ROW. I know there are kids her age that don't nap. There are some kids that don't need it as much as others. Eva's very much a "Go big or go home." kind of girl. She NEEDS her naps. Her grandparents are here, we have an Easter egg hunt at a local zoo in the morning, and on Sunday we have church followed by brunch at a really nice hotel in the area. Today included meltdowns at the drop of a hat over nothing. This child HAS to nap tomorrow if there is any hope for my survival through Sunday.

Talked to my grandmother this afternoon, she's doing better. Had a drink with dinner. The Diva is in bed and hopefully asleep. Time to stare at the TV (haven't sat down and watched anything at all this week) and maybe drool a little bit. Peace out.

I'm Sure I Have A Few More Gray Hairs After Today

What a day. It started out so well. I used to get kind of depressed this time of year. This morning on our way to the gym I had an epiphany of sorts about it. I decided that what once upset me should actually be celebrated. Paradigm, shifted. I had a good run this morning and was feeling good when we got home.

Then my mother called. My grandmother, who's been in the hospital for 3 days now, was not doing well. I talked to her yesterday and she was fantastic. This morning a big jerkface of a doctor upset her so much that she took a turn. No one else was in the room when he was there to ask him questions or for clarification. The nurses knew nothing and despite HOURS of being paged, he wasn't responding. All my mother and aunt knew was that my grandmother's breathing wasn't good, her coloring wasn't good, and things in general were REALLY not good.

I pulled myself together and started getting ready to make a flying trip to Altoona Hospital to take names and kick some ass. The last time my grandmother was there, it was for emergency gallbladder surgery. She was admitted the day I found out I was pregnant with Eva. I drove up and was planning to tell her about her first great-grandchild before she went into surgery the next morning......except that they took her 2 hours early and didn't bother to call anyone. Then upon bringing her back to her room, the nurse was upset that she didn't want to take more anti-emetic medication. A) She reacts to EVERYTHING and has to be very careful about what she takes. B) She was 90 and just came out of surgery. Give the woman a break. The nurse actually said to her, "Well, then you'd better not throw up for the rest of MY shift!", and walked out into the hall. I followed her out there, where we had a lovely little chat about all the other things WE expected not to happen for the rest of her shift.

Believe it or not, I'm rather timid and mild-mannered most of the time. That was my first act using my shiny, new Momma Bear instincts. You do NOT want to feed this bear. I had her all set to go while waiting for an update that would tell me whether to stay put or hop on the car and drive 3 hours to go and yell at people. My aunt and mother are pretty good at that, but I'm sure they could use reinforcements. Fortunately she improved over the course of the day and I was called off. She's not great, but she's better. I'm hoping and praying that continues to improve and get her strength back.

At some point in the middle of all of this, a former co-worker and Facebook friend of mine happened to post this video:

It was exactly what my day needed. (Thanks Alicia!) I just love it when The Muppets do dark humor. My kind of stuff. My first viewing was very "Steel Magnolias" laughter through tears. Then Eva wanted to watch it. Again, and again, and again, and again. "How 'bout the crazy bunny, Mommy?! How 'bout the crazy bunny?!" She laughed that amazing childhood laugh where hear head went back and she could hardly breathe through all the laughter. And with that, my day got a little better.

I LOVE that laugh.