So here I am- having survived what I hope is the worst of us being sick, and the worst of grading essays at work, and the worst of dancing hard hard hard with a big belly at my other work, and the worst of winter. At least I hope survive can be a past-tense verb tonight. It's been a while since you've seen me probably- and now I know why! I'm positively HUGE and with 3 months to go. Plus my hair is seriously polyg long. No need to focus too long on that. Moving on. Here's the latest:
Annie and I were so sick for Q's B-day and I felt horrible that I could scarcely get myself out of bed to kiss him. Turns out that kissing was good to avoid since I had strep and gave it to Annie in the form of a severe strep diaper rash that she still has in an atrocious way, plus a full-body rash from her anti-biotic to kill the strep.
Will it ever end?! The worst part was having to work most of the week despite us being so sick. Aunt Michelle, GPo, and my mom took pity on Q and threw together a quick B-day dinner I would never make him because I can't stand sloppy joes. Q seemed fine especially since he loves a good S.J. and I promised him a postponed B-Day celebration.
Here is just one of the cakes I made him later to redeem myself!
A fabulous pumpkin applesauce cake. Hope I bookmarked that recipe somewhere.
Just before we got sick, Annie and I took a quick trip to SLC to see Meg pick out a wedding dress. My camera fogged up in the cold so this was the only photo I managed. 4 little girls all the same age- it was a dream come true for Annie.
And in bigger life-events, we are pinching and squeezing every penny in sight to get our front yard in. The first step was finally getting a landscape guy to fix and wire our valves, then we managed to get half our cement plans for the front yard in. I just have to stop thinking about how many papers I have to grade to get this yard and keep reminding myself that once it is in, it is in and we don't have to keep scrimping to pay for it. Oh- it will be fabulous when it is done. I love our yard... or at least its potential. Q promised a front yard this spring and we are hoping to plant grass in April. In the meantime, feast your eyes on our expensive day of cement!
If ever anyone took this gig of motherhood away from me, I am positive I would cease to exist. I may be some shadow shell of a person walking around like a zombie, but make no mistake- it would be simply that, because there can be no Nicole without Annie and Q. I count down the days until I can stay at home full time and do the thousand mom things I dream of when I am at work. We have decided that our yard is a need, not a want, for our kids and so to work I must go one more year. But I sit on the edge of my bed in those rare moments when Annie is sleeping and I am home, and I stare out our window at our gigantic back yard and I know that another year is going to be worth decades of memories with Q and our kids running through sprinklers or having backyard camp outs and baseball games. I am proud that we both work so hard for what we have and the life we are building. I love molding our house, however slow, into something unique with our touch in every space and corner. This is it really, what life is about. And we are tired and exhausted, and working much too much... but we are happy, and we have Annie, and, someday, we will have an acre of grass.
Annie's kisses are the best in the world!
Even when they are accompanied by a face full of whipped cream.
