The *mostly* perfect Mother's Day.

I am woken by Dani and Tori, stuffed animals in tow, asking to snuggle.  They climb into our bed around 7am, and hug, and hop, bounce around.  After a few minutes, I step into the bathroom to brush my teeth.  Tori sneaks in, "Happy Mother's Day!" she exclaims.  I come back into the bedroom and there are presents, lots of them, wrapped in Christmas wrap, which seems to be a trend in our house.  Dani has decorated a card, filled with pictures of people; when asked, she tells me, "This is you teaching me ballet, Mommy."

Daddy takes the trio downstairs, and I fall back to sleep.  I wake at 9:30--as a mother of toddlers, this is an all too rare luxury.  I head downstairs to check in--we all have some cereal, and I head to the shower.  We have plans.  Big plans. Stupidly risky plans.  We are taking three toddlers to a fancy restaurant for brunch.  We get dressed, do hair, Big Man sports a suit and tie.  He tells me I look pretty in my dress.

We arrive--head to our table.  I fix a pair of plates for the girls, while Big Man sits with Tommy.  As I head to fix my own, I look over at the table, all is well.  When I return, Dani says, "I don't like this, Momm-ARRRRRRGH" and she starts to puke.  Thankfully she had the linen napkin on her lap.  I catch most of it in my hands and the napkin, and a fair amount lands on her dress. No one seems to notice in those fleeting minutes. As the staff (and owner) notice I am cleaning, they ask if everything is okay.  Big Man assures them it's no reflection on the food, as I bring Dani to the Ladies room.  We rinse her dress off, wash up and are as good as new.  The table now has a pink cloth napkin at her place and all is well.  My plate of food is cold, but we're staying! 

Mother's Day Brunch, Take 2.

 

 Tommy masters the fork, and, thankfully, doesn't play the spoon/fork/plate banging game too loudly.

Tori sits like a little lady, drinking her orange juice from a tea cup.  Dani does the same.

 Tommy starts to get antsy so we head outside for some photos.  Tori is determined to clown around in every pic.

 When we could catch Tommy, he smiled and was a handsome little dude.

 Catching the three of them?  No way.  Between Tommy's need to move, and Tori's constipated face, we were doomed.

 They did slightly better when they posed with Daddy.

 This was us, headed back to the car.  Tommy was leading the charge.

 Daddy and Dani paused for a photo.

It really was a lovely day. 

 

And, I need to make a shout out to my mom.  I had a childhood full of love and creativity.  It was filled with playgrounds and beaches and adventures of all sorts.  Of songs, and stories, and unwavering love.  There were "tiger hunts" through the reeds at the beach (long before the universe was tick-paranoid) fresh air, and picnics, and just so much fun.  I am the mom that I am because of the mom that I had, and I very often think that I'm not doing it as well as she did.  Because she was awesome.  And now, she is showing that same love to my children--on the floor with them, bouncing on the beds, in the wagon to the park, and non-stop never-ending fun.  Love you Mom!

More Mother's Day pics.

I spent a lot of time taking Dani pics while Big Man slept.

Overall, Mother's Day............no big deal.

I'm pretty lucky every day.

Big Man is a loving husband and daddy.

He cooks dinner every night.

Loves me a bunch. Couldn't ask for more. Man, I took one awesome picture of Big Man holding Dani while she stares at his big arms, but, since you can see his face........can't post.....until I reload the "officer friendly" coverup..............until then, more video:

A Mother's Day thought

When I was pregnant, I used to joke that I wasn't worried if I'd be able to handle being a mom because crackheads and teenagers do it all the time and the kids turn out okay. Really, I wasn't worried because I had such a great example in my mom. (love you mom!)

Today, I learned that Dani is a fiend for prunes. Flailing her arms eating them as fast as I will give her spoonfuls. For her sake (and mine) I only gave her 1/2 jar in hopes of avoiding the great diaper blowout of 2009.

Two videos, here. Dani enjoying the heck out of her bouncy bounce:

And, Dani, getting ready for a nap today.

That's all. Off to eat some chocolate or something.

cool scars

Went to visit the folks in NC the week before my surgery, which was just a few days before my dad's birthday. A nice visit, and while I was there I got my blood work results, which led the doctor to think that the tumor would not be malignant. Went in for surgery on January 17. If you can ever avoid major abdominal surgery, try to do so. Went in to OR at about 1:15pm, and did not get out of recovery until 9pm. Poor hubby had to wait so long to hear any news, but my friend Debi kept him company. Debi is like my local mom, and she never had a daughter so I kind of fill that role for her. I had staples from one hip to the other, really staples. It looked like someone went crazy with a staple gun and just let loose on my belly. Surprisingly, I didn't enjoy the morphine, and first thing in the morning asked that I be taken off the IV, and given a different pain pill. That surprised me, as some moms I had spoken to had raved about it after having C-sections. Two days later, I head home. I have had a number of friends who have had a similar surgery (hysterectomy or other uterine surgery) and have to say that I think that I just had a great surgeon. Yes, I am sore and miserable, but some of my friends predicted that it would be a week before I could handle the stairs, etc. I'm no dynamo, but can move slowly and can handle stairs, etc.
It feels like hot pain in my belly and I have been sitting around reading and watching TV. Mom flew in the day I got home from the hospital. NO ONE can take care of you like your mom. I think that I instantly revert to a six-year old (aptly described by my hubby who reminded me that I was closer in age to thirty-six than six). It was just so nice to be able to be whiny and sore and to have mom there (and happy) to do everything for me from putting my socks on to foot rubs and bringing me coffee. Although she did tell nearly everyone who called me that the pain pills had made me constipated, and that I was miserable. This is something that only a mom would do as well...
She stayed for a week and it was great to spend so much time with her. Mom and dad are in NC and I don't see them enough. She has made great strides in her efforts to quit smoking, and dad has been working out etc., and looks great. He has also been cooking more, and experimenting in mom's absence, which is neat because for my lifetime he has been the grill man and the clean up guy. He has added grilling fish, steaming vegetables and making omelets to his skill list.
I am going to try to go back to work part time in a week. Don't know what I will be able to wear, but need to be doing something. And, with the office so close (3 blocks) I can come home if I am tired or in pain.
Went to get the staples out and learned that the pathology reports came back negative, and everything was benign. So, in a few months we will get the all clear to try to get me pregnant. Deliveries will be by c-section. Ugh! I guess there is no labor pain, etc., but the idea of getting cut open in the same spot (not as big or invasive though) is pretty scary. Worth it I suppose.
I've been reading 1-2 books/day. Starting tomorrow I will try to work in some legal CLE books to learn something work-related while I sit around.
So, that's the news for now.