Bowden, 2002 - 2016

I wish I had enough words, or better words. I don't.

She was our first baby, the first thing we ever loved together.

She was snuggly and she was stinky and she was not interested in your shenanigans. A real old biddy. Our old biddy. She was bemused by Simon and tolerated the three human hoodlums we insisted on bringing home.

She slept between my knees. She could spritely jump up onto our tall bed, until her final weeks.

She loved popcorn and sitting on top of the couch. She hated grates and was terrified of drains in the road. She was a magnet for the sunny spot on the floor.

She was the one being on this planet who loved me above all the other beings. All of them. How did I deserve such love?

We buried her in the backyard, crying and sweating. We already miss her.

She was loved, and we are so sad.

Seven Quick Takes, Post-Date-Night Random Edition

1.) Mark and I went on a date tonight. It was stormy and it is Monday but neither of those things mean it shouldn't be date night, right? He's just a cool person to have dinnertime chatter with. Also, I had a very Erin order, off the menu: a fried green tomato BLT, except instead of the brie, I wanted the pimiento cheese. And instead of the herby mayo or whatever, I wanted the bacon balsamic jam. And instead of on toast, I wanted ciabatta. (All servers love me, I'm sure. But this is the kind of place where that's okay! Also it was delicious.) And Mark loves me anyway, and doesn't even bat an eye, because he is pretty spectacular. Also I had a beer at dinner and am now writing this with a glass of wine in hand. Hi! Random blog post ahead, I feel sure of it!

2.) I finished a delightful book yesterday. I was promised lovely things about AJ Fickry and it took me a while to find it as amazing as everyone else seemed to find it; the beginning was scattered and I couldn't quite stay on top of the timeline, but then it settled and was sweet and easy and full of cute quirky people dealing with real life problems in cute quirky ways, and anyway. Delightful. Recommend.

3.) Anneliese has had an odd rash, like bright red and swollen, and it was causing us some... concern. We called my mom and she said the only thing to watch for was a fever or fast spreading of the red area, and within a day Anneliese had both of those things, so we took her to be seen and yay! cellulitis! (Has nothing to do with cellulite. True story.) Which means an intensive few weeks of antibiotics (gross-tasting ones, for the record - it reduces her to tears every time but she is being a champ), but 90% of cases will respond to an antibiotic so there is no need to worry, yet, so we won't. Yay gross meds.

4.) Speaking of ailments, Bowden got into the trash while I was grocery shopping and I was annoyed in the moment, from cleaning it up, but then when we got home we realized she must have saved an open can from the mess and she had sliced her tongue open and her whole body was covered in blood and we were all, WHAAAAA??? but then after many wet towels, we figured out where the blood was coming from and what must have happened (and then I felt bad for being irritated about the trash mess, because injured pup is way worse! still her own fault though). Blood from her tongue, she licks her foot, blood on her foot, she licks that and drags blood to her chest, then licks that and blood gets on her other foot, etc etc etc BLOOD EVERYWHERE. I just told that story in a convoluted way but whatever. The end result is that she is wearing the cone of shame for a few days, to prevent her from further licking and aggravating her tongue and getting blood all over herself, and by herself I mean the furniture.

5.) We did another craft! That is two crafts mentioned in two blog posts (three for three, if you count the giant 3 cake, AND I DO) and I'm not statistician or sportsman but that's exactly what it means to be batting a thousand, right? Right? Yes. Okay. So. We painted cars. These were little kits from the Target one spot (which is now the Target one OR three spot, have y'all noticed that?) and you paint the pieces and then put them together, and you have racecars. It was cute. They made them into Friend Cars, with faces. I melted a little, because my love for the Friend Cars shall never fade.

6.) Another Nathan, up in tiny town Minnesota, the land of no-Starbucks-except-the-one-in-his-Target (he calls it his Tarbucks and I roll with it, which is a sign of how much I love him because no, that name is not super clever, yeah I said it), is in danger of losing his gold card status {INSERT ALARMED EYES HERE O_o}. So, being clever friends that we are, we devised a plan where I would use a new starbucks card which he had linked to his account, and so any coffees I buy will earn stars towards keeping his gold card status. Smart, right? I mean, I go often enough that my gold status is not in jeopardy (I think I'm good through 2016, y'all don't judge), and I'm glad to help a fella out. EXCEPT. It turns out every time I swipe that card, his phone app lights up with a reciept, so he knew exactly in the moment every time I'm standing in Starbucks. Which is... often. And I knew he would know, since he would see the stars adding up, but DANG I did not know he would know IN THE EXACT MOMENT, EVERY SINGLE TIME. Clearly I can have no shameful secrets anymore. I am sheepish. But on a mission. So.

7.) I came to the bonus room to switch the laundry earlier, and it turns out THIS is a thing that will scare the sh!t out of a person. HI THERE TERRIFYING *GIANT* OLAF EMERGING FROM MY BABY'S BEDROOM STAIRCASE.

This Week: Milkshakes, Frozen, Air Cello, Bowden

I am a lazy blogger this week (month?) and all I have are snippets of updates, no actual thoughts about anything, which would make me sad if I let myself think about it, so I'm not, I'm just offering a quick brisk clap and some more blogging miscellany.

******

We had a family date night to Steak 'n Shake (I just amused myself by looking up the correct way to write that, and then got promptly unamused because why is there only one apostrophe? You could use just a letter N and be "cute" (ugh) but if you're going to use one apostrophe to show a missing letter, why not both? Steak-n-shake. I don't know. Gross. I shall henceforth call it only Shake & Shake, which is what Anneliese calls it) and anyway we got this awesome M&M's milkshake, which was not only beautiful but delicious.

Want to know why? See why it looks extra beautiful? Can you imagine why it tasted extra great? No whipped cream. We are not a people of whipped cream. (Well, the kids are, but we won't disown them.) One of the many food things Mark and I can totally agree on: whipped cream never made any food better. Trust us.

******

We bought Frozen on Tuesday, like everyone else in America. Somewhere between cringing at the word princess when I first carried a girl in my womb five years ago, and this week when I purchased a princess movie on the day it came out, oh I don't know, I don't even know who I am anymore, but I am gladly on board the Disney train. They grabbed me at the Friend Cars (wait, was that even Disney? Pixar? Don't know, don't care, LICENSED CHARACTERS 4 LYFE) and Frozen just melted me (#seewhatIdidthere). This movie is danged delightful.

We had another snowless "snow day" that day (because, of course we did) (I totally understand why They cancel school when the roads are icy, even just a few roads; I know They hate to keep the kids away too, not just for learning purposes but for school lunch purposes and county productivity purposes, I know, I get it, I know I know -- and I rarely complain about school needing to be canceled, because I do understand why -- yet, also, I am over it. All of those truths exist simultaneously, okay? Okay.) so with no real structure to our day, we came right back from the grocery store and shamelessly watched our new movie. Charlotte was just adorable. She knows the whole soundtrack but had never seen the movie, and it blew her little snowman mind, I think.

(I was doing a whole lot of madding things involving warranty claims and changing internet providers and chasing my tail about summer camps, and y'all. I needed some singing snowmen and princesses in my week too.)

******

Nathan's children's choir sang for the midweek Lenten worship on Wednesday afternoon, which was sweet and lovely, but maybe my favorite part was on the way home when he spent the ride playing air cello along to the Happy song, which I didn't used to love but now I do, because air! cello! I hope Nathan never finds out what is cool and what isn't, because I really just like him a lot, exactly how he is now.

******

Unrelated to anything, except that I am blogging this from my bed (as one does when one is hiding from house chaos for a few moments), Bowden can no longer jump up on the bed by herself, and it makes me sort of sad. She either sleeps on the couch, or whimpers on the floor nearby til one of us picks her up and pulls her up with us. Over a decade of jumping up easily (from a sitting position! she is a tiny dog! her jumping is impressive!) she suddenly seems... old. We will be procuring some sort of bed-steps for her. Oh yes we will. I looked at a pet supply store this morning to no avail, but I have seen them in the skymall catalog so I know they exist.

******

Okay it is time for my gym classes. Barbell, then swimming, then a shower in peace, then Target or maybe some mall wandering, followed by dinner ON THE GRILL, and a Roku movie. My weekend starts... now.

Gotcha Day, Canine Version

Ten years ago January 3rd, when Mark and I had been living in Raleigh for exactly five days, we went to a PetSmart adopt-a-thon to meet some puppies. The puppies were no-shows, but there was a neurotic little red dog who sat in my lap and shivered in nervousness, and she wasn't what we thought we came for, this odd scared little adult dog, but somehow she was ours.

Bowden. She was my first (and for a while, only) friend in Raleigh. She rode with me in the car everywhere, followed me into any room, accompanied me to the office on worky weekends and snuck into the bed with me in the mornings when Mark showered. She has overcome her fears of the newborn cries, the vet, and staircases (yes really), but still not thunder or drain grates (yes really). Her muzzle and chest have gone from red to gray to white, but she still has the same joy-panic she's always had when you give her a piece of rawhide. She finds nothing not worth barking at, no one's lap not worth jumping into, gives even puppy breath a bad name, and doesn't like to... play. She lies on  my chest to watch tv, and still greets Mark after work with more obnoxious enthusiasm than he deserves (read: wants). She now has a permanent welcome spot on our bed.

Ten years, two houses, three human siblings, and a puppy sibling come and passed, she is still our first baby. Love you, B-diddy.

(Slightly related: ten years ago January FOURTH, Mark started work at his current job. Ten years he has been there! Also a major milestone. Suddenly it feels like it was a decade ago this week, without us even knowing of course, that our current life got planted. Congratulations and love you too, Marky.)

And Here's How the Rest of November Went

{1-3. Y'all. I somehow didn't get anything actually posted in the whole month of December. Despite having several things mostly written and waiting on pics. So. Let's play catchup, shall we?}

Okay so here is how our November rounded out:

-- We played outside because fall is lovely.

-- Bowden got fleas. Apparently there is an epidemic of med-resistant fleas in our part of the country, particularly in urban/suburban areas where the only fleas breeding with each other are fleas who somehow survived the meds everyone uses, creating some super-resistant class of fleas. Y'ALL. I CANNOT. SO GROSS. I will not detail all the pain of fighting this, because it is boring and complainy, but just picture me on hands and knees crying brushing borax into the carpet, and then covering everything with insecticide, then paying three million dollars to our vet for fancy meds, then scrubbing out our vacuum cleaner, and you'll have the idea. Oh, and then repeat that because those b!tches came back. AGAIN. SO GROSS.

-- Our vet recommended that we take Charlotte to the doctor about the fleas -- she is the one covered in bites, which is pretty typical considering she is our bug magnet in general, and also closest to the floor where they live etc (SO GROSS), and even though they don't like human hosts or transmit disease, I guess ingesting the bugs themselves (and more specifically their fecal matter) (HOW MANY TIMES CAN I SAY *SO GROSS*) can cause problems, and toddlers are the most apt to do that kind of thing, or something -- but it turns out our appointment was dumb because they don't actually DO anything for her unless she presents with symptoms of worms or whatever, which can take several weeks (someone remind me of this in a month if I mention she has a fever or won't eat). But. The children did play and read nicely on the floor for a solid ninety seconds in the doctor's office, so that happened.

(After that it was a sh!tshow, so I don't plan to take all three of them together again anytime soon.)

-- We watched Daniel with a LOT of babies in my lap.

-- Another Nathan lost his phone which shouldn't be particularly blogworthy except he also lost his wits about it (no judgement, if it's true that you don't know the measure of the man til he can't find his phone, then I don't want anyone to witness me having lost mine either) and after several hours of stress and withdrawal, I got reeeally lucky in between dishwasher white noise and kiddie chaos, and a second of silence happened right when I was walking by the couch, which was right when someone was texting him or something, and I heard a wee buzz.

I called it a thousand times and dug through the cushions and eventually realized it was IN THE LINING OF THE COUCH and short of unstapling the leather from the frame, I wasn't sure how to get it out. Turns out all I had to do was turn the couch upside down and climb under it.

Only one spatula and one coat hanger were casualties of the rescue effort. (My kids thought it was HI-larious. I'd do it again in a hot minute. Not just because I felt like macguyver. Hey I take my kicks where I can get em.)

-- Nathan wrote another book. A hymnal of sorts. Behold the inside, and try not to melt, because if there is anything more precious than children's handiwork, it's children's handiwork about Jesus, WITH MUSIC NOTES and also a page about dinosaurs because obviously.

-- Oh and we had a really lovely Thanksgiving. Mark had to work that night so he slept most of the day and Another Nathan helped me cook, and then we all ate together in the late afternoon. (Before a Friends thanksgiving-episode marathon, and combing through black friday ads, of course.)

We made a turkey in the crock pot which is apparently a thing you can do, and we had Mark's beloved cranberries, and pretzel chicken, and made a delicious peanut butter frosting for the traditional Thanksgiving dessert: birthday cake.

Ten Lighter Things

Well, here are some happy things from last week:

1.) Anneliese got a bracelet craft kit for her birthday (amongst other craft kits, including a picture frame kit, which she bejeweled and bedazzled and bestickered, then insisted on using to display the came-with-the-frame cat, of course) so now we are all proud owners of sticker-covered glitter bracelets. Nathan and Charlotte love wearing theirs. Anneliese loves that they love it. This totally seems like the kind of middle-kid thing Ashley would have done as a child too.

2.) Charlotte has perked up considerably.

3.) Yellow belt!

4.) Last week, Another Nathan was out of town so I snuck over to his house and took a real! live! bath! (oh how I miss the awesome bathtub in our old house) (I didn't sneak really, I had his full permission of course) and read my book and got a little drunk on the quiet. I took a picture but then decided it was maybe too intimate to post. Not because I have any issues with my bare toes in bubbly water, but because posting a pic from someone else's bathroom seems violating. Then everyone would know what kind of shampoo he uses! That ish is personal! (It's Dove for men.) Anyway it was lovely perfect indulgent alone time. You should all get friends with empty houses, and then get them to give you the keys. (And then blog about their shampoo.)

5.) Anneliese is now the proud owner of rainbow leg warmers, which she wears almost constantly, often taking off her pants to put them on. You know, to keep her legs warm. (She will not hear a word of actual reason about this. Whatever.)

6.) Nathan got off the bus today doing this:

(For you non-locals, that is the sign for NC State's Wolfpack, and also the sign that his Raleigh upbringing is catching up to his Clemson blood, something that Marky is not super thrilled about but I find a little amusing.) (And by amusing, I mean go, go Paladins!)

7.) Speaking of Clemson, or orange, or making their Daddy proud, or something -- I got Anneliese a new jacket, since the one I was planning for her to wear all winter is at least four inches too short in the sleeves (am a super smart mom over here), and she chose this orange color which it turns out I love almost as much as Mark does.

8.) The cooler weather means Bowden is super snuggly and I do not hate it at all.

9.) We went somewhere last week (flu shot? maybe? I can't remember) and somehow Charlotte ended up with armfuls of stuffed animals, mostly Nathan's (in case that isn't obvious), and she would not put them down. Carried them around for hours.

Waaaaaait this actually might have been the day before she got super sick. Should the sudden insatiable need for snuggles have been a clue? Hmmmmm.

10.) Nathan likes the leg warmers too. Although Anneliese will only ever let him borrow one at any given time. One. Seems reasonable.

(Bonus points for me, for a sleeping-Marky picture.)

And Now, September. Whoa September. Simmer Down.

Well, September came in like a lion yesterday.

It started out mostly normal. Nice, even. I went to church. I had a lovely easy coffee and lunch with a Montreat friend. I snuggled with Marky all afternoon. I caught up on blog stuff at Starbucks (America's Office™).

Wait I need to interject here: why don't I take my computer and type in coffee shops more? It is awesome! Another Nathan talked me into it (it was not a hard sell) and we walked through youth choir plans for the year, and he did some conference and worship planning (mostly it's just easier to work when he has the motivation of a new computer) (like anyone) (the computer's name is My Precious, if you're looking for a way to get him to roll his eyes at you #psa), and I returned emails and wrote a little and I felt so mom urban trendy! Typing in a Starbucks (America's Office™) is way better than typing at home. Not because I need to. Just because I can.

"Are we in New York right now?" -Another Nathan

(I'm doing it again today, writing this. Because I am coffeehouse-typey indulgent like that.)

Okay so anyway that's not the lion part.

So after our business/church meeting at Starbucks (America's Office™) we all decided we wanted to go to dinner and a movie. No work today! That means DO something last night! Mark has had a hankering for Chili's, which is not normally the Grownup Dinner Out we would use babysitting hours for, but whatevs, we all like it, so we went.

And. It was a rainy stormy floody windy disaster all over Raleigh, so we had to drive around our ass to get to our elbow, to avoid roads blocked by cars stuck in standing water, and avoid getting stuck ourselves, and then were drenched by the time we walked the six feet to the restaurant entrance, and then the power went out right after we ordered.

Being IN A BLACKOUT AT CHILI'S is what I'm guessing the beginning end of the world might feel like.

Well after devouring a bowl of (free) chips and salsa and downing two (not free!) (even in a blackout!) (they will hand write you a tab, yo!) beers, we decided to give up on the movie, to turn down our server's offer to "grab some food that's already made in the kitchen, not sure what it is and we can't guarantee it'll be warm, but..." (YUM), to ignore the melodramatic proclamations of a fellow diner insisting we were flooded on all sides and couldn't get out of the parking lot if we tried (shut up, we're on a hill), and headed back out into the mess towards...

Another Chili's.

Oh yes we did.

So we made it there, all in one car (we abandoned Another Nathan's at the first Chili's, as one does when one is foraging for food in an armageddon) and we drank more (not free) beer and finally finally (after the world's slowest service, which our server seemed to be proudly smug about somehow anyway) ate our Chili's dinner and I HOPE YOU LOVED EVERY BITE MARKY and I also hope that you love this story, which, let's face it, will now be re-told anytime we eat there. Be ready. (Not that we'll eat there again soon. Not for a while. I mean.)

And that should be enough for this blog post BUT OUR CLOWN-CRAY EVENING KEPT GOING.

So we got home and paid our (new) sitter and brought her home, AND THEN we couldn't find Bowden. Like, anywhere. We searched the whole house and we woke up all the kids and we went out back in the wet mess with a flashlight under the decks and we drove around the neighborhood. Which was sort of pointless because she could have been anywhere -- we didn't know how long she had been gone or when she could have even gotten out, or how spooked she might be from the storm (very) and, just... OH MAH GAH it felt awful. We looked for hours.

Eventually, through my tears, I filled out lost pet forms with the county SPCA, and put a note on craigslist, and some website helped me make a printable flyer, the sight of which almost made me throw up. (I was planning to post it here right now, but suddenly... no.) I was sobbing and felt sick.

We went to bed feeling so worried and upset and not knowing what to do, yet feeling like we needed to do something, but resigned to waiting til the light of day. We kept reminding ourselves of her tag, her microchip, her size, all optimistic factors in someone finding her and approaching her and getting in touch with us. But in the meantime, bedtime not knowing where our pup girl is? Barf.

A little after 2am when I still couldn't sleep, I drove around again, crying and yelling her name out of my window (stay classy, dog moms of Anderson Heights) which was of course fruitless. It ended with me sending panicked texts from our church parking lot, through tears, to people who could do nothing and weren't even awake (xoxo Mom Ashley Brad Dad Another Nathan). And then finally crawled back into bed and slept the kind of sleep that only comes after crying yourself to sleep. We have all been there, right? And yes it was that bad.

But in the wee hours in the morning, I heard Charlotte in her room (up much earlier than normal) saying  Bowden's name. Over and over. Like, with a purpose. So I went up there and listened and looked and finally found that sweet pup trapped in the back of a closet, stuck behind a dresser. (We recently filled Charlotte's closets to the brim with all her drawer-accessible furniture because HOLY TODDLER BED FREEDOM MESS, BATMAN.) I guess it's where she went to hide from the thunder, and somehow got shut in by our (new) sitter who wouldn't have known to watch for anything like that, because who would?

And suddenly Bowden was out and down the stairs and the big kids were wide awake and Mark was stumbling out of our room and Charlotte was clapping her hands gleefully.

I was so freaking relieved and so freaking exhausted.

Someday this will be funny, right? The night I went into a panic spiral about our missing dog, who was missing in our own house?

She is back* and we are glad.
(*always here. whatever. still glad.)

So, happy September?

On a less-lion note, yesterday also already brought an opportunity for a nap-creeping selfie, since it's Mark's everyone's favorite thing. I thought I got him good this time; he didn't know I did it til hours later. But then when I showed him he didn't mind it at all, because all he saw was how great his arms look and it made him feel hotter than he thinks he really is (pssssshhht).

The moral of the story is if you want to make your husband feel hott, take secret pictures while he is sleeping. And this advice comes from a sound well-rested person who has had the most normal weekend ever, so it's definitely probably advice worth taking. (Everyone! Send me your husband nap creeper pictures!)

Just Another Afternoon

This is the kind of excitement you get around here now that school is out for the summer. We sit around in the bonus room after Alone Time and play look at each other bicker "play."

Charlotte comes up to us a thousand times a day (actual reported figure) and says syoooo? syooooo? because she either wants them on or wants them off and then five minutes one minute forty seconds later has changed her mind about it.

Good thing she's cute.

Nathan climbs in my lap because he is very touchy and likes to be draped all over people who might or might not want to be all draped up on in any given moment.

Good thing he's cute too.

Anneliese snuggles with her animals. Well, she snuggles with whatever animals are nearby, and then Nathan comes and demands that she snuggle with HER animals, but he might take a picture of her first. (He is getting sort of ept with the "real" camera.)

And then he abandons his animals on the couch in the other room where Bowden is all, cool these are probably mine anyway, I was before all you other creatures, if you recall.

You know you want in on this thrilling summer afternoon action at my house.

Your Daily Bowden

Thing I assume Bowden is sometimes thinking: "So. This is my life now."

You've come a long way, sweet pup girl.

Tasty, Charlotte?

I don't think this is what they meant when they said keep her off baby food.

your daily Charlotte

(Somewhere off camera, Bowden is totally rolling her eyes.)

Yarfy Girl, Frog and Puppy: A Story in Texts

A story of a yarfy girl, frog and puppy, in texts sent from my phone:

10:13am Morning! My gym plans got derailed by Anneliese waking up covered in vomit and sobbing. I've finally got her bedding sorted and in the wash. Floor and bed frame scrubbed and clean. My own gagging and vomiting seem to have abated. Anneliese is in the tub. Whoa. Happy Saturday to me.

10:15am In related news, after this morning's cleanup, I don't think I'll be in the mood for Sonic again for a while.

10:16am Also Hattie is ready for her cycle in the washing machine but Jingle didn't fare so well either, and I don't know how to clean him. Going to try to take him apart so he's machine safe. Anneliese is very sad and concerned that he needs a bath too. Aw.

10:33am Ugh and OF COURSE the whole time I was doing that, Bowden was emptying the trash can in the kitchen and dragging sh!t* everywhere. There are now bits of cottage cheese and milkshake and yogurt paper all over the house OH MY GOD.

10:34am And Charlotte has been screaming the whole time and Anneliese is still in the bath waiting for me and it's prob cold now and okay I am starting to feel a bit panicky. It's too much! I can't do it all! I just need to cry. But I won't. Okay bathtime.

11:06am I've done what I can as far as starting laundry and cleaning and washing babies and such. Everyone is now dressed. It's mainly Charlotte's NONSTOP FOR HOURS screaming that's making me feel frazzled now so I'm going to use 'soothing car ride' as an excuse for Starbucks and fresh air.

11:21am Yeah I'm okay. Luckily I feel good** today. Sadly I don't think Jingle survived. He's soaking now so I'll check when we get back. But he got the worst of it and he can't go in the washer. :( N and A are all abuzz about how if he doesn't feel good he should go to the hospital.

11:22am I think I'm going to take that scenario and run with it. He's "at the hospital." Anneliese keeps saying he's crying. Sad.

11:23am I know she needs a new one but she can't KNOW it's a new one. I called around and no Hallmark stores in town have him anymore. But there are tons online. I can pass off a new one as the original, right?

11:24am Unrelated- god this coffee tastes like f&ck!ng heaven. What a morning. We're going to go buy A a new pillow and then I'll shower my grossness away. Come pick me up after 1?

11:37am Well we have more yarfing. In the car this time. Super. I just stopped to clean her up and didn't notice til I was done that where I had stopped was a maserati dealer. #ClassicErin?

11:51am Cut to Anneliese topless in Dillards.

12:05pm The other pillow was so gross it wasn't worth washing (the $8 replacement is money well spent) and ended up having to buy her a new shirt too.

12:15pm Aaaaaand she just did it AGAIN. Not sure what's wrong with her. We're on the way home now, I'm not going to let her eat anything for lunch. Poor baby.

12:58pm She's settled in bed with lots of towels. Getting her down to nap without Hattie and Jingle was not awesome, especially when she doesn't feel good. Hattie is in a pillowcase in the washer, and Jingle just had another round with the diaper sprayer. He officially he did not survive. Cause of death: asphyxiation by sonic vomit. #sadface

{Best friend collects me for a round of sunglasses shopping, and random but lovely vespers worship service*** at a church in Cary. Day is improved significantly.}

{And we probably didn't even get lost in Cary. Ahem. Anyway we both have cute new shades.****}

6:17pm Hattie is in the dryer. To me it looks like she's having some kind of medical scan. Why did she leave Jingle at the hospital?? A is mostly just concerned that she's naked. :)

{After no more vomit and another awesome night-night without her loveys, Anneliese and Hattie were reunited the next day. And we expect Jingle "home" from the "hospital" sometime next week.}

And that's the story of how we went to Dillards half naked, gave Hattie a dryer mri, and secretly laid Jingle to rest. All in one day. The end.

Oh except the part where the van windows were open to let the yarfyness air out but then it stormed and I woke up and panicked and went outside at 2:30am in a torrential downpour worried they would be open (not that it wouldn't have been too late at that point anyway) but they weren't because Mark had a rockstar moment in closing them before he left for work for the night because he pretty much always knows the weather forecast. Okay. Forrealthistime. The End.

*Yeah. I cuss when I'm stressed. You have been warned.
**In reply to a checkin about mental health status. A daily thing. At least.
***Things that happen when your best friend is Another Nathan.
****I'm convinced this is 90% of the reason he wanted to get contacts.

Bossy Resolutions

So January is almost up, and I still haven't made any legitimate resolutions. At this point, I think it's safe to say it's not going to happen. Ditto Christmas cards. *sigh*

But because I've been accused of you know what you should do? being my unintended catchphrase, and because it's always easier to make resolutions for other people than ourselves (you know I'm right), here are some things I think other people in my life should totally make happen in 2012.

Y'all ready?  Okay.

You know what you should do?...

Anneliese. Learn to say your name. Correctly. Ann-ees is cute, but Anneliese is oh so much prettier. Also please let's be done with diapers too.

Nathan. Wiping your own bum after you poop is totally the rage.  All the cool kids are doing it. Make it happen, kiddo.

Marky. Permanently delurk, please? Blog comments make me feel so loved. Shoot for like once a week or something. (This goes for any other chronic lurkers out there too. You know who you are.)

Mom. No broken bones. This year is the year of no fractures. Got it?

Ashley. Before the year is out, I'm totally going to convince you that you can (and will!) pick up that baby and be out and about pretty much however you want, without being intimidated by his pterodactyl screams or feeding schedule. You are mommy, hear you roar. (And manage.)

Liam. Seriously though, stop screaming like a pterodactyl.

Bowden. Learn to swim well enough to get yourself to the pool steps and climb out, should the need arise.

Another Nathan. Learn to swim well enough to do a mile race with me this summer. A mile is totally doable. Me and you and B-diddy can train together in the backyard, okay? I keep saying it, and you keep agreeing, but I'm not sure you know I'm dead serious. Let's do this.

Dad. Embrace the era of the smartphone. You're one of the tech-savviest grandpas I know; you can totally handle it. Jump on the bandwagon. You won't regret it. And you may never have to talk on the phone again! (That's a good thing.  I promise.)

Charlotte. Please, for the love, learn to sleep all night. Every night. This must happen, soonest.

Okay that's all I've got.  If y'all have you know what you should do?s for me, knock yourselves out! Especially if it means delurking. ;-)

The World Through Nathan's Lens

I went through the pics on the cameras last week and there were a ton taken by Nathan. I found lots of shots of his sisters, his toys, his clothes, and our house, all taken from his height.  It's actually kind of fascinating, the things he finds photo-worthy. 

(He might say the same about me.)

So here are a  few pics of the world according to Nathan... these made me smile:

the beloved orange shoelaces

classic Mommy

baby sister Charlotte

I promise my driving is better than this picture indicates

Bowden, from behind

smiley self-portrait

happy sister Anneliese

Mommy and Nathan

I love seeing the world through his eyes, a little bit. :)