Thursday, October 25, 2007 at 11:57 PM

Hannah is feeling better.  Thank you for all of your well wishes.  It is awful to see your children sick.  There comes a point when you would just rather trade places with them.  The other girls were a bit jealous with all the back rubbing, sitting beside, books read to, blankets piled on, forehead feeling that Hannah received in the last 48 hrs.  I really do dote when they are sick.  My mom did the same thing for me- but we had to be truly sick. A sore throat didn't get much sympathy. The only way we ever got to stay home from school was if we were throwing up (barfing :), or bleeding- otherwise we went (oh yeah and that one time in 6th grade when I got a really bad sunburn while skiing and my face was all swollen and then peeled like a baked potato- I stayed home a couple days then.) So, its back to same ol' same ol' for Hannah.  Her temp last night before bed was spot on.  She was really trying to milk it though.  Her tummy would suddenly start to hurt again at the strangest times...like when I asked her to pick up her wooden train set or clear her plate from the table. 

Amazingly, between loads of laundry and spraying everything with bleach, I got a tiny project done.  My dear friend Catherine has been such a help to me.  She watches Laurel one morning a week so that Hannah and I can take a little class together.  It is our "special time" or "date" together.   To thank her, I made her youngest daughter (18 mos) some bibs.

I found the instructions a long time ago in one of my Martha Stewart Baby magazines.  They are on her website here. I love them because they have great coverage- made from a hand towel.  Vintage towels usually look great on their own, but all I had were boring cream colored towels.  So, I added a bit of patchwork to them. 

Speaking of patchwork, my copy of this book arrived yesterday.  I cannot stop looking at it.   Working up the courage to try the color wheel quilt  (I have never made a quilt before!)

Other little tidbits: 

This is what the sky looked like night before last from our back deck.

Pretty no?

I watched a movie the other day starring Julianne Moore.  I have been thinking about red hair in this shade.  My brother was born with it....I am wondering if I could pull it off?  Opinions?

I cannot wait until October 31st comes and goes- Halloween is definitely not my favorite holiday.  We plan to turn off all of our lights, and watch movies downstairs. Thankfully it falls on a school night- there shouldn't be as much hub-bub.  So sorry if you live in my neighborhood.  We are a bit scroogy when it comes to Halloween.

I really must find/make time for exercise.  Anyone have any suggestions to squeezing it in?  I have totally lost my routine.

On the bright side, I got my cholesterol results back the other day.  Not bad, it was 156 (anything over 200 is too high)  Huh?  Wonder what I am doing right- other than just being young-ish.

And finally, Sophie has been sleeping on our bed at night.  She nestles in between our feet down at the bottom of the bed.  I pretend not to like it :)

Sick Day

You see that giant plastic bowl up there?  That is what we affectionately refer to as "The Barf Bowl".   Isn't barf a great word?  It has that "immature 6th grade boy" sound to it.  We prefer to say barf over vomiting, or throwing up, or even sick to my stomach.  Sometimes it is just the thing to make us giggle on days such as this.

At 4:00am Hannah came stumbling into my bedroom.  She actually went to Carl's side of the bed (probably because Laurel is often sleeping next to me) and said, "Daddy I barfed!"  She was quite upset and doing that post-puke shaking thing.  I jolted out of bed and found my way through the dark to hug her.  She had chunks all down the front of her shirt.  Lovely.  I threw her in the tub and quickly cleaned up myself.  And so it has gone for the last few hours.  I kept Emma home too with the hopes of giving her a day to rest up and NOT get sick.  She was thankful for the excuse to stay home and color.  She is quite the artist you know.  Check out her version of this made from paper that she cut and pieced together:

 

I have been doing a few bits of crocheting here and there.  I began making a scarf for my Grandma's birthday in September.  Unfortunately I ran out of yarn and couldn't find another skein anywhere. I could not bare to pull it all out so I made it into a neck cozy for Emma.

She is always very sweet about the things I make for her- so careful of my feelings :) 

And then there is this:

It is #1 of 25.  I am on my way to making my own version of this. The next few sick days should give me a good start.

I hope that none of you have an encounter with the barfs anytime soon. Stay well my friends, stay well.

changes

Well, we took a big step this weekend.  On Friday, Laurel climbed out of her crib.  I thought I was going insane when she suddenly appeared in the living room.  Didn't I just put her in her bed?  Was it just my imagination?  Her roommate (Hannah) ratted her out. She had escaped!

Saturday, I peeked through her door to see if she was awake or not.  I found her sitting up on the bookshelf at one end of her crib, teetering over the edge.  So, it was time....

(Laurel started crying 2 seconds after this picture was taken.  She was not pleased with Sophie's presence on her "new" bed.)

Carl took her crib down yesterday, and we set up the toddler bed for her.  She only got out 3 times last night.  Not too bad-- it is all a bit of a learning process to begin with.  The parts of the crib are disassembled in our hallway (it is a huge bed!)  Carl had the audacity to ask me if we could sell it.  He didn't want it taking up space in the garage.  I said, "what if we have another baby?"  He laughed. 

Even if we don't have another baby, there is something so special about the bed that my Sweet Ones slept in.  So many emotions are wrapped up in a simple piece of furniture.  Excitement as we set it up the first time when I was pregnant with Emma. Frustration when they would drop their dolls back between the railing and the wall.  Exhaustion when I would drape myself over the edge in the middle of the night wishing that they would just sleep. Silliness when we would play peek-a-boo between the bars. Tenderness when I would sing soft little songs to them and pat their backs over it's edge as they drifted off. Amazement as I would look at them sleeping in it- wondering "how did I deserve this little gift?" Joy as their smiling faces popped up from inside of it each morning. Ughh I am not good at letting go- but I will try to follow Laurel's lead.  She was ready.

In other news, our kitty has finally warmed up to us.  She came out of hiding just in time too- I was threatening to take her back.  I couldn't see the point of having a pet that lived behind the washing machine.  Her middle name has been changing.  At first it was Sophie Scared because she wouldn't come out to play.  Then, it was Sophie Sick because she had a cold. Next it was Sophie Snob because we all knew she was feeling a bit better but she still was content to hide away.  Now we are calling her Sophie Snuggles.  We all like Sophie Snuggles the best.  I hope she sticks around!