I'm a regular TV guide!

I think we just had a weekend, but it went by so quickly, I really can't be certain. Friday night was our usual; put the kids to bed and watch Lost. Brandon gets annoyed that I usually watch Lost on Thursday while recording it for him. He wants me to wait and watch it with him. I usually do, especially now that Friday Night Lights is out of new episodes. What he doesn’t realize is if I was watching for the first time, he would be peppered with questions. I watch it once, try to process what I saw, and then watch it again with Brandon, so I can completely confuse myself.

Saturday we had a busy day. The family had a birthday party to go to at noon. Our little friend Catey Campbell turned one, and Meredith was more than happy to help her celebrate. She was really excited that I let them wear their Easter outfits. Alex was invited to another party that started at 2:30, so after we watched Catey squish her cake, we had to scoot.

Alex wanted Brandon to take him to the party because it was once again at Bounce Planet. Aside from jumping houses, the place has ticket spitting carnival games. You know the kind. You wind up buying $20 worth of tokens so you can win a 27 cent inflatable sword. Alex learned quickly Mom will not buy extra tokens, and Dad will mortgage the house to win an alien.

For all my talk about the silliness of tokens, tickets, and trinkets, Alex came home with a pink sparkly ring just like he’d promised Meredith he would. She was thrilled and he was quick to tell her it had cost him 20 tickets!

Saturday night, my friend Jill hosted a Real Housewives of Orange County party. It was mainly an excuse to get together and drink wine and was just what we all needed. I paid for it Sunday, because I forgot I’d be losing an hour of sleep and I suspect I was over served.

After living in our house over a year, I decided we should probably put up some window covering aside from our visually stimulating white blinds. It’s always risky when Brandon and I do anything that involves putting holes into a wall. There’s nothing that causes our marriage more strain than trying to hang something level. My method tends to involve a hammer, a bunch of nails, and a lack of patience. I eyeball things, hammer in the nail, and hang whatever it is I’m hanging. Then I move it over, up, or down, making a series of holes in the wall until it looks just right. This is in direct contrast to Brandon’s method which involves a laser level, a tripod, and a willingness to spend a Sunday hanging curtains. I’m happy to report the curtains in two rooms are hung and we will still celebrate nine years of marriage in July.

A change of pace

I am not a landscape photographer, nor am I skilled enough to become a fine art photographer. I've been known to throw tantrums over pictures taken without people, or even animals in them.
I must have thrown a belt, because two days ago when we had an ice storm, I bundled up the kids and walked two lots away to take pictures of frozen trees. I thought the results were kind of fun and very different from what I normally shoot, so I wanted to share them with you. As if you weren't already cold enough.

Little People Evicted

After such a heavy subject yesterday, I thought we could all use a post of complete nonsense. These are just some funny things that I’ve been witness to this week alone. Here’s a fly’s view of life in our house, and in our second home…our van.

Alex mentioned the only princess costume Meredith is lacking is Ariel, aka The Little Mermaid, for those of you not yet indoctrinated. Meredith said that was fine, she thought it would be hard to walk with a mermaid fin, but she would very much like an Ariel swimming suit. To hear Meredith tell it, we passed up several opportunities to purchase one last time we were in WDW. Alex told her, that wasn’t a problem and he would buy her one during our next trip, “So long as it’s under $10!”

Before Meredith received several sets of miniature princesses for Christmas and her birthday, she was really into Little People. We have an extensive collection, and Alex never showed much of an interest. He just liked to collect the sets. He had a Little Town map and he was determined to have all the buildings pictured. Alex’s most dreaded words are, “Barn sold separately.”


Meredith uses the buildings and the people for their intended purpose. She creates scenarios and talks in a high pitched voice. Since the princesses came to town, we haven’t seen much of the short and squat Little People tribe. This week, Meredith got down all the buildings and was happily playing when I realized she didn’t have any people or animals. I asked her if she’d like me to get out the people who lived and worked in the buildings. Meredith declined, and when I took a closer look, I found Belle and Prince Charming welcoming their subjects to the “royal” barn. Alex had a friend, Brenton, over to play yesterday. I’m a little embarrassed to admit it, but this is the first time Alex has chosen a friend to come over. Normally, it’s some well orchestrated play date the other mom and I have arranged. I know the family, know the kid, and know he/she is unlikely to burn down our house.

This was uncharted territory for me, but I know Brenton from school and he’s a doll. Whip smart, and very polite. The three of us were having lunch and Brenton was wowing Alex and me with his amazing math skills. Mind you, I’m easily impressed when it comes to math, but then he moved on to tell me how much he loves to read. He read every thing with a word on it in our kitchen. I was sitting there thinking how glad I was that of all the kids in Alex’s class, this is the one who wanted to come over to play. I was beaming. Then, as I was clearing the dishes, the dream died.

Brenton told me Alex must be confused because he still believed in Santa Claus. Pardon me?! I immediately told him of course Alex believes in Santa because Santa is very real in our house; all the while surveying Alex’s face for any trace of doubt. Alex told Brenton Santa had to be real. “We host a Santa party every year, for crying out loud! He sits by our fire place with his wife.” I whisked Brenton off for a look see at the Webber Family Christmas albums, and sure enough, “You are right Mrs. Webber! That’s the same Santa each year! How do you know him?! My brothers are wrong!” No kidding.

A tiny request

Each day, I’m able to wake up with two beautiful, healthy, albeit challenging children. I’m able to have breakfast with them, help them brush their tiny little teeth, and slip their wiggling arms into coats. I have the privilege of carting them to and from school, lessons, activities, and play dates. I am beyond blessed to read them stories, tuck them into bed, and sneak back in to watch them sleep.

Not all moms are so lucky. Not all babies get the opportunity to grow into healthy, rambunctious pre-schoolers. I’m writing this post to give you an opportunity to help more babies and mothers experience what my children and I sometimes take for granted.

Several of you know my friends Robyn and Keith. For those of you whom do not, Robyn is part of my group of friends from childhood. She’s the voice of certainty and realism in our Olney Girls group. All of us have children, and last year Robyn became a mom too.

Shortly after Robyn made her joyful announcement that she and Keith were diving into parenthood, she gave us even bigger news… they were expecting twins! We were all thrilled for them, and some of us even snickered about what they were getting into with twins. Little did we know, they wouldn’t get to enjoy the trials of chasing four little pattering feet through the house, at least not for awhile.

Robyn’s babies were girls and they were identical MoMo twins, which means they were in the same amniotic sac with no membrane to separate them. There was a real danger of them getting tangled in each others umbilical cords. So, the girls made a very early entry into the world at 24 weeks gestation on July 21, 2007. Abigail Joye arrived first, followed by her sister Ameilia Mae. Both girls weighed just over a pound and were the length of a ruler.

The girls were tiny, but what they lacked in size, they more than made up for in spirit. They were active and had a zeal for life from the get go. At only two weeks of age, tiny Abigail had her first surgery to repair her heart. She made it through the operation, only to have a second surgery on her leg resulting from a surgical complication. But fight she did, and Abigail soon rejoined her sister in the NICU.

Just when it seemed Abigail was coming into her own, she developed NEC, a disease to which preemies are very susceptible. Abigail passed away at exactly 6 weeks old. The Olney Girls knew where we had to be and made the trip no one should ever make-- to help a friend say good bye to her daughter. While we were all overcome with grief, the shining spot in our trip was meeting Ameilia.

I can write more about Ameilia, because I was able to meet her. Aside from my own, never have I felt such instant love for a baby. She was so tiny and sweet, but so strong and mighty. I had to keep myself from reaching into her isolette to cradle her. Jennifer coined her “Ameilia the Beautiful,” and that she was. Precious doesn’t even come close to describing her. We were all gonners after one glance. We each took a tiny diaper home as a reminder to pray mightly for Ameilia’s growth and development.

Three short weeks later, we were devastated to hear Ameilia had also developed NEC and the news wasn’t good. Ameilia fought her hardest, but she too passed away.

Keith and Robyn didn’t have enough time with their girls. No one should have to become parents only to have their children sent back to God in such a short amount of time. So, Robyn and Keith have joined with the March of Dimes as Ambassadors for the Woodstock, Georgia Walk on April 26th. They will share their story and help kick off the March for Babies.

Through their walk team, The A Team, in honor of their girls, they hope to raise $4,000 to help fund the prevention of premature birth. It is my hope that you might consider contributing to this wonderful cause in honor of two precious little souls. If you would like to donate, you may follow this link and know you’re helping other babies to grow into the children they are destined to become.

Following are some pictures Keith and Robyn wanted to share.

Abigail with Mommy

Ameilia with Daddy

Surely, Spring will be here soon...

We were spoiled yesterday. The weather was warm. It wasn’t all that sunny, but it was warm enough to take a bike ride without your teeth chattering. To escape the house of illness, that’s exactly what the kids and I did. Of course, I had to get the bikes down, hook up the trailer, and air up the pancake tires. Then we had to dig out helmets and dust them off before anyone would agree to putting them on their heads. Even with all the “work” it was so nice to be able to get some fresh air.

The thing about living in the Midwest in the winter is it’s easy to forget you have neighbors until the first warm day. Then everyone comes filing out of their garages carrying out every ride on vehicle they own and buckets of sidewalk chalk. All this for 60 degrees, but hey, we’ll take it.

Naturally, it rained all day today and we’re supposed to get another wintry mix by tomorrow. I just got a message about the potential for a 2 hour school delay in the morning. The last time I checked, no one in our school lived on a gravel road. Pansies.

Meredith and I went to the library this morning for Toddler Tales. The leader went to the front of the room, gave her familiar “good morning” speech, and then started to tell the children about today’s theme. Meredith stood up, and announced, “I have a brudder named Alex. He’s five!!!! I’m three, but I used to be two…” I had to shut her down then. I have no idea what she would have disclosed next had I let her ramble on.

Alex went to the same story hour for two years, and said six words, and those were forced. He had a not-so-secret crush on Miss Jennifer, the leader and turned beet (or is it beat? That conjures a bad image, I’ll stick with beet) red anytime she so much as looked in his direction.

After that Meredith and I made a trip to the appliance repair store to pick up the part my ailing washer needs. It must happen often, because the parts guy knew exactly what I needed and where they were kept. Now, I just have to wait for Brandon to come home and put the washer back together on Friday. I think God is teaching me lessons in frugality, appreciation, and patience all in one act. It did occur to me I could use this as a golden excuse to shop.

The rest of the day was so gloomy, I told the kids we’d have a Movie Monday! Meaning, they could watch a movie and I’d sit next to them and read. If I make it sound like a party, by creating some nonsense theme, they are completely game for anything.

We’re off to ballet now, and I can’t think of anything better to brighten the day.

Our washer called in sick

Our family seems to suffer from weekend syndrome. Every time Saturday rolls around someone either “frows up,” has a violent cough, and/or runs a fever. When I was a kid, I was much smarter about illness and made every effort to plan my afflictions so they would occur during school hours.

Brandon and I went to a Leap Year party Friday night with our friends Scott and Jill and Stacey and Jeff. The party was fun and I’m glad we got out of the house when we did, because things went south from there.

I got an early start on laundry Saturday morning. I know it’s strange that I love to get up at an unholy hour and start household chores, but honestly I’m useless after 10:00 a.m. I was happily bringing down my second load, when my whites started to spin out of control. By the time I reached the laundry room, the machine had walked itself out of alignment with the dryer. I wasn’t washing bricks or anything particularly heavy, so I couldn’t just rearrange the load and slam the lid; which is my usually solution. I yelled for Brandon, who pulled the washer completely apart and promptly came down with the flu.

Brandon spent the rest of the day on the couch and I had to bribe the dog with peanut butter to get him to walk around the washing machine bone yard to get to the outside door.

I planned to make soup for dinner, and Brandon thought that sounded good. When it was time to eat, he didn’t want the soup, but did manage to choke down a Rice Krispie treat or two. During dinner, Meredith came down with a condition I hadn’t heard of before, “spicy foot.” Merdi refuses to sit in her booster seat and has to sit on her knees to reach the table. As we were finishing, she told me her foot hurt. Assuming her foot was asleep; I asked her if it felt tingly. She said, “No. It feels spicy.”

I hope everyone is on the mend soon, and that includes my washing machine.

Hooray for Mason!

Mason Burgin had a big weekend! He accomplished something our family seems to have irrational fears about. I was six before I learned, and Alex is on track to beat my record. Meredith won't even do it with the assistance of training wheels because she claims not to know how to "turn left." But not Mason...Hooray for our brave little friend!