Define overdoing  it?  I was asked reprimanded for overdoing it by a friend (via email) today… My response was the afore written question.  Then I got to thinking about it… I have been exhausted, but I didn’t feel like I’d really over done it too much… until I wrote the following out for myself:

Ziva’s been out for 9 weeks now or 63 days

Of those 63 days we have had 29 days without overnight company.

Of those 29 days we’ve had “day company” for more than a meal or a few hours for at least 5 of those days…

So, of the 63 days I’ve had Ziva, I’ve had 24 days without “company” wow!!  (This does not count days where we had multiple visitors for less than an hour or two)

Two of those days I did have friends come over to hold the baby while I did some work around the house (THANK GOODNESS or this place would REALLY be a mess!!)

In that time frame I have gone with company to the following places:

Beach (Lincoln City, Look Out at Cape Fowl Weather, Dory Cove, Depoe Bay and Spirit Mountain)

Rose Garden

Pittock Mansion

Timberline Lodge

Multnomah Falls

Attempted to go to the beach but turned because of traffic, went swimming at my brothers instead

Had three family BBQ’s at my brother’s house

Two Family Birthday parties (dad and Vienna’s)

Ziva’s dedication and lunch after with the family

Silver Creek Falls

All Day at Ikea with Esther

OHSU/Dornbecker Children’s Hospital for Vienna’s kidney scan (without company)

Two visits to Silverton Hospital for blood draws (one for each child, but without company on one of them)

Two “Well Baby” visits (one for each child, and newborn visit for Ziva) (no company for one, but with company for the other)

AND I sorted through two sizes of baby clothes, swapped out Vienna’s closet once, swapped out my closet with regular vs. maternity clothes…

And I wonder why I feel like hiding in a cave at the moment…

Mothers everywhere I implore you.  Heed the toot! Don’t be lulled into a false sense of security by repeatedly unproductive toots.  If your child has not “deposited” in two days, yet has been tooting up a storm, do not assume that last toot you just heard was unproductive!  Children have a way of lulling us into a false sense of security by making major loud “uncle craig” style toots.  Then comes the moment, you’re having a lovely cuddle on the couch.  Baby is sleeping peacefully on your chest, full belly, quietly breathing, and suddenly… a slight movement… “toot” … not one of those big burley toots being ripped over the last few hours… but a nice, gentle lady like toot.  You sit for a moment and realize you’d best get your other child a drink of water (since she’s been begging you for the last three minutes from her high chair).  As you get up, you think you might feel a little moisture, but it’s been hot & muggy and you’ve been sweaty, so you go to lay the baby in the cradle.  As you are looking at that darling angelic face you see a bit curry colored substance on your arm and realize… yes, the baby has had a MAJOR blow out!  Not just a little blow out, or average blow out, not even a more than average blow out… but a blow out to beat all blow outs!  As you carry her to the kitchen (instead of the bathroom because there is less carpet between you and the kitchen than you and the bathroom, and closer to the baby bath tub) you begin to realize that there is blow out on your shirt, and your shorts and you scream to your husband for assistance.  As you try to extract your child from their clothing, without making it worse… you make it worse!  Not only does your baby get a “curry smear” all the way up their back, on the back of their arms but it even goes into their hair.  What you also at first fail to realize is that it has dribbled down your baby’s leg and at least a quarter of a cup of curry sauce has hit the floor!  Taking care to avoid the puddle, while laughing your head off in amazement, you order your husband to get the camera… no one will believe how bad it was!!!

(it’s unfortunate you can’t see it as well in the photo as it was in person!)
After tag team rinsing the baby off, and then giving a very thorough bath, your husband disinfects/sanitizes the kitchen counter, sink and floor while you lotion and redress your darling, once again lovely smelling, angel.  And so begins an evening of laundry!!!   One more round and I get to go to bed.  Night night all!!!

Sometimes it hits me… Hey, I’m the mom!
Vienna is a happy little girl, most of the time. She however doesn’t like to get dressed without playing the run away game.  On mornings I’m feeling tired, which basically is most mornings right now, this does not amuse me… then it hit me… hey, why do we have to get dressed anyway?  Her jammies are clean, she just slept in them, no accidents, no peanut butter sandwich down the front, or spilled milk like her clothes get during the day. Just sleep “dirt” which is what?  Not much in my estimation.  Therefore, I have declared it Jammie Day!  I mean, her jammies cover her just as well, if not better than her clothes.  So who cares?  Well, my mom, but her jurisdiction over me has gotten gray since I got married and had kids of my own.  YES! ***insert maniacal laughter*** The power is intoxicating… maybe we’ll have ice cream for lunch!

I’m really embarrassed at how much I’ve cried over the last two years.  Suddenly I tear up over just about anything that could be considered touching! I mean really, I cry at commercials, when I read scripture, when I just look at my rose garden and think oh isn’t that beautiful and tear up! It’s ridiculous! Something has happened to me now that i am a mom. Originally I blamed it on pregnancy hormones, but I didn’t get a break from it in between my girls, so, it just must be the new me!  But what I don’t understand is why more mom’s and dad’s don’t tear up dedicating their babies.  Think about it… it’s the first step in letting go of your kids, the first moment you say, Ok Lord this is out of my hands and fully in Yours.  Not that His hands aren’t the most trustworthy place in all existence for your babies to be, but still… the enormity of that statement to me is a huge deal.  I know that it may mean that some day he calls one of my girls to live over seas, far away from me, and as much as I don’t ever want to live far away from my girls, I do want them to follow Him. But since I have lived far from my family, and at present have family living over seas, I guess maybe I realize a bit more what it could mean in the future.  I try not to borrow tomorrows troubles but at moments like a Dedication it’s hard not to see what could come. 

Pastor Jerry is a family friend and he did Ziva’s dedication blessing, which was sooo nice, and we are so glad he was able to do it.  He’s also good at helping by cracking jokes!  He did however resist joking about Ziva’s dress   and what I like to refer to as her “Flying Nun Sleeves!” 

I found this dress in Good Will. It is sooo beautiful.  Someone went through a lot of work to make it and I just thought it was sooo very sweet.  (It doesn’t show up so very well in this photo, mabye I’ll have to take a photo of it on the hanger to show).  Then I found the white booties at Carter’s (the ones that were made with the dress were waaaayy too big for Ziva).  I did not try the dress on Ziva until the night before her dedication (as I was too busy adding bling/beads to it so that she could sparkle! I mean really, when you are being presented to a King you need to be beautiful and have some bling!!!) Anyway… I didn’t realize how HUGE the sleeves were going to look against her head ha ha ha… but I still loved the dress on her   Though it was a bit warm in church (usually the a/c keeps us all feeling mostly cold, not this last few weeks though!) so we had to take the dress off her rather early!

To add to my tearfulness I must confess that we had a rough morning.  Not only have I been a bit sleep deprived, but several things that were supposed to happen kinda fell apart… we were late which added to it all and … well, I’m not handling stress so very well… but hey, nothing  that huge or important (it just felt like it at the time!)  So just prior to service starting I had a bit of a major meltdown (hence no makeup left!)
 
Times like these it also hits me however, how blessed I truly am!  I waited many long years to find my Sam, and he is more wonderful than I could have possibly imagined!  And that we have such a fabulous live, and two beautiful daughters, well, that makes me cry too!!  So you see, I can’t win for loosing as far as the crying goes, but I figure hey… sometimes crying is a good thing!!

Stacks and piles.  Vienna hates them.  At least it feels that way.  I’ve been trying to clean all day long.  Four times now I have taken the living room blankets/pillows and stacked them nicely on the foot stool where they are usually kept. Not one minute later did she run over and start pulling them to the floor.  Now, she’ll do this when she’s ready for her nap, she’ll lay down on them and rest… but today she is bouncing off the walls, running all about and terrorizing the house!!  There’s not a cupboard that she is happy having closed, nor an item on a shelf that is safe!!!  Why don’t I have a soaking jacuzzi tub!?!?!?!??!

To make matters worse, I’m not feeling well at all today, and am a bit paranoid as well.  As my “luck” would have it, I haven’t bought those Totino’s Pizza’s since shortly after we got back to the states (you just gotta have some of those old childhood favorites).  As of late I’ve needed some ‘quick meal/snack’ options, so, since Safeway had them on sale for $1 each… I got five… and yes, all five were on the recall list… but since it was Tuesday and I was in a huge hurry to get through my day, I came right home and had one before finding out about the recall on Thursday!!!  I have had cramps since Tuesday, but I don’t think I’m going to get full on sick, we’ll see… I’ve got a few more days in the “incubation/danger zone” Time will tell…
Eleven days until our trip to Ohio… I hope I can hold it together!!

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