This week has been one of the busiest, and most stressful, for me in recent memory. Tons going on. You have to remember that I am a total homebody so leaving my house at all is stressful and considered an event to me!
Starting last Saturday: Drew had T-ball practice at 9am. I took her and Darcy to the park for practice while Paul and Mason helped the Cub Scouts pick up the Good Will Good Turn donations in Columbia City. Drew is really enjoying T-ball. She has a big smile on her face when practice is over and tells me how much she loves it. That's good, since we have spent our retirement fund on equipment for her. She was very disappointed that she couldn't get a pink batting helmet or pink bat, but this equipment has to last through the siblings coming along behind her so we went with neutral blue and red. Sorry Drew, but at least you get it new! Later that evening I took Drew to the Urgent Care with a fever and ear ache. They gave her a prescription but told us to wait to fill it in case it was a viral ear ache and not bacterial. That's what it has turned out to be. She has a pretty bad cold and it seems to have settled in her ears. She can barely hear anything and we have to practically shout to get her to hear us. I feel horrible for her but the last time we were at the ear specialist he said he didn't want to do tubes since her hearing loss seems to come and go so quickly. Hopefully this will pass soon too. My poor little Drew! Darcy surprised me Saturday morning with her bottom left front tooth poking through. No wonder she has been a bit fussy and needy. My kids always get their teeth late and Darcy is right on schedule with the other two.
Sunday: Paul's nieces Korrin, Paige, and Kendall came from Vancouver and attended church with us, then had dinner and played and visited with us for the day. It was fun to have such a strange mix, since Korrin is an older cousin babysitting the younger sisters whose parents are in Italy. We had a great time with them!
Monday: I decided to leave the love of my life - Dr. Pepper! (Sorry Paul) I thought it was time to get the sludge out and break my addiction to caffeine. I had also heard so many stories about people quitting the pop and losing 25 pounds so I thought I would give it a try. I have come to find out that is just an urban legend! Makes me wonder why I gave the stuff up. For the first two days I had a headache but after that I have been good to go. I think my addiction was mostly mental, more of a habit. I still REALLY want a Dr. Pepper now and then but I'm glad its no longer a physical road block for me. Paul has also quit the pop, and we are both on diets with a monetary bet on the line for the winner. We'll see how it goes.
Tuesday: Fed the missionaries. No big deal, our elders are great young men, but when you feed the missionaries you have a timeline so they can get to their next appointment. Darcy doesn't work well with timelines. When she wants mommy, she wants mommy. So I was making dinner with a teething, crying baby on my hip. We had a very nice dinner but the stress level was definitely high that night.
Wednesday: Webelos. Not too bad. We have been Webelos leaders for 3+ years now so its pretty automatic. We know exactly what we are doing each time, and we hold scouts at our home so Darcy is able to be in bed and the kids watching a show. This helps immensely.
Thursday: The Enrichment quarterly activity, which was the Pine Wood Derby and Relief Society Birthday dinner. Paul and I set up the track that morning at the church, with the kids in tow, and then he had to work late that night so I also got to tow the kids along with me to Enrichment that evening. Luckily we had childcare but I held on to Darcy since it was past her bedtime and she was not happy to be anywhere besides her bed. I was in charge of taking down the track too, after a quick tutorial by Paul that morning, but I think I must have looked a bit lost since a few of the great men in our ward jumped in and did it for me, before I stripped the wood removing the screws! It turns out that every other month, for only one day a month, Paul has to work late. And that day just happens to be on Enrichment night. This is not a hugely responsible church calling, but the circumstances it falls under for my family makes it incredibly stressful. I will admit, if I wasn't on the committee, I would not be at the activities. Also on Thursday Drew had T-ball practice which ended an hour before I was supposed to be at the church to help out. STRESS!
Friday: I actually had nothing going on this day except for Drew's preschool, and it was a rare occasion where we were all taking a nap at the same time. It was wonderful!
Saturday: Drew's practice again. Paul took her this time. Thanks! I won tickets to a children's theater production of "Honus and Me" in Portland, thanks to my vast knowledge of obscure 80's trivia, and Drew and I were supposed to be at the 2pm showing. Didn't happen. I just didn't have the energy or desire to go to Portland today. We actually all got naps again today! Woo Hoo! 2 days in a row!
Also this week, I decided to wean Darcy. We were down to only 2 feedings so I dropped her to 1, and tomorrow will be our last day. I'm sure I will be sad we are done, and Darcy is going to throw a fit Monday morning, but I need my body back, to myself. Pregnancy and nursing are not my favorite things, and I am surprised I lasted this long nursing Darcy. She has the record at 8 months. Mason wanted nothing to do with me anymore at 4 months, and Drew and I had problems from the start, so she had about 3 weeks of nursing. If I had planned things a bit better I probably wouldn't have weaned my baby the same week I quit the caffeine and she is teething, but it all had to happen sometime and I guess we made it through OK so far. I am really looking forward to an uneventful week coming up. There is nothing out of the ordinary on my calendar, so I'm sure something huge and unexpected will pop up to keep me on my toes!
NCAA Tournament time! For anyone who knows me, you know that I live for March Madness. I quit work 2 weeks early when I was due with Drew just so I could stay home to watch the opening rounds of the tournament. Its the time of year Paul becomes a basketball-widower. This tournament is my Super Bowl. And we are so lucky this year, the tourney has come to little ol' Portland! Last year when tickets were on sale Paul said I could get some, but stupid me, I decided not to. I am kicking myself now that the time has come! But as you can see by the pictures our family experienced a small taste of the madness. The Rose Garden was open for everyone to watch the 8 teams practice yesterday, free of charge, so we packed up the kids and hit the town. I must admit, it wasn't all that thrilling, exept for the fact that we were actually where all the real action will take place today. The kids were having a great time running up and down the stairs, until an usher started heading our way, and we decided it was time to leave. We saw Gonzaga and Illinios go through short practices which I enjoyed. There was a great NCAA basketball vinyl poster hanging up just behind us and we tried to figure out a way to get home with it, but I think the ushers had their eyes on us due to our rambunctious kids, so we left empty-handed. Afterwards we thought we would extend our social experiment by celebrating Paul's birthday a few weeks early at Red Robin. We were instantly reminded why we NEVER go out to sit-down restaurants! Drew and Mason actually did really well, thanks to the color crayons they provided, but Darcy was a mess. Paul wolfed down his hamburger while I was trying to console her, and then we tag-teamed it. I passed her off to Paul while I choked down my chicken sandwich and then we were out of there! 35 minutes from start to finish. Must be a record. Needless to say, we won't be trying that again in the near future.
