Seven Things I Did

Dear internetz, here are some of the things I did while I couldn't get it up for blogging in the past week or so.

1.) I went to see John Rutter (the John Rutter!) conduct in a concert at Duke Chapel. It's hella cool that I got the chance to see him in person in real life. He's British and not getting any younger, and he was here. So, yeah. We went.

Another Nathan instagrammed it before I could.

We had an almost-dinner fail that involved several sketchy parking lots in podunk Durham, and an almost-parking fail that involved a mad dash through the student center for cash, but we made it and we laughed a lot, and the music was really really lovely. John Rutter is always a win.

2.) I took care of Charlotte's toes. Because of the way she drags/pushes herself on the floor, her left foot is constantly blistered and sore. We're trying to keep socks and shoes on her, which is helping, but... still.  Poor baby.

You'd think this would be enough to convince her to crawl.
Or at least use her other foot some.
It isn't.

3.) We went to one of our favorite restaurants and had olympic-themed burgers. You know, like you do. #GoWorld right? The "American" was basically a hamburger with a hot dog on it. (And bacon and onion straws and barbecue sauce. Obvs.) It was more delicious than I should admit to the internet.

4.) I took the big kids for back-to-school haircuts. (Anneliese thought all these clips in her hair were bows, and loved every second.) They both look decidedly less unkempt now.

5.) We spent an extremely loud and chaotic weekend at Lake Wateree with Mark and his siblings/spouses/parentals. Eight grownups, four young children and four large dogs makes for not very much sleep. But it was good for us all to be together, because Mark's dad is turning sixty this month. Also because Charlotte hadn't spent much time with all those family members yet, and they had some sweet bonding moments. So happy birthday to Opa and Charlotte!

It's not of either birthday kid, but it's my favorite pic from the weekend.

6.) I tried to learn to deal without the infant bucket carseat, which we are still using for Charlotte. With both Nathan and Anneliese, I had abandoned it by this age. But now with three kids, to manage the older two I sometimes (often) need to be able to set the baby down (in stores, restaurants, etc), and the bucket seat makes that possible. I'm scared that going places with her in my arms instead of the seat will be infinitely more complicated (only one arm? to handle both other kids?) but she's getting ridiculously heavy in that thing. (Yay for a growing baby though!) So, knowing the bucket-seat end is near, I am trying to practice taking her without it occasionally. Moms of many! Help me learn how to do this!

Sitting in the cart like a big girl - for the first time!

7.) I got stung by a wasp (a bee? or something, I don't know, I hate all bugs equally. Well maybe not equally but I do hate them all and the point is I don't know exactly what it was, something smallish that hurt  like a mutha) for the first time the other night. Yep, 31 years old and never been stung.

And then several hours later, I was covered in hives. HIVES, PEOPLE.

Do you remember 2008? Those damn hives (and the hand/face swelling that followed) made my life miserable for the better part of that year. Since it finally cleared up (with birth control pills? by my pregnancy with Anneliese? who knows) I have been hesitant to even think the word HIVE for fear that the twitchy skin-crawly feeling will turn into actual hives. You think I'm kidding but I'm dead serious.

Anyway all that to say, being up in the middle of the night covered in hives was a horrible scary trip down memory lane. Made further frustrating by the fact that, for months-old complicated reasons, all our meds were hidden in the guest house (where Nick and Barbara were peacefully sleeping) so I had to drive all over town looking for a place to buy benadryl at 2am. (Not inside the beltline. In case you were curious. Raleigh fail. Fail so hard.) It was a crappy night and a crappy aftermath. But prednisone the next day, once I got to our meds bin, seems to have cleared it up.

It's too much of a coincidence to not be related to the sting, right? I want and need to believe it was just the sting. But since it was the first time I've ever been stung, I don't know. Can that happen on the first sting? Oh please please, this cannot be hormone related because that makes it much harder to figure out (and stop! and prevent!) so I am putting all my eggs in the sting basket and hoping that's all it was.

And that is what I did when y'all were missing me terribly because I wasn't blogging.

Kisses and rainbows and hiveless hugs,
Erin

Resolutions: One Month Later

How are you all doing with your resolutions? Still at it? Don't care as much anymore? Big plans for 2010? Don't worry, I'm not judging if that's the case.

How am I doing with my goals? Well, pretty ok, actually.

1.) Budget. The emergency fund is taking shape. We have had one major and several minor unbudgeted expenses, but that's what it's there for, right? Mark seems pretty confident that we are on track to meet our goal by the end of the year, despite the recent turn of events. Keep praying. :)

2.) Weight Loss. The prednisone (and I'll be honest -- baby) weight is starting to come off!! I have lost just over 10 lbs this month. Not a lot on my frame, but nothing to shake a stick at either. There is no way I will be continuing this progress, though. I will hang onto my healthy diet and stay active as long as possible, though, and only good things can come of it. Bonus - I have not had even one bit of fast food this month. Yay me.

3.) I have been a better wife (ahem) in some aspects. Some might say too good. (Me, for instance.) But not Mark. I think he will affirm this is one good thing you can't get too much of! The challenge is still going, and it's not too late to join!

The most important thing is that I am still totally hive-free. Which makes 2009 already seven times better than 2008. I'm anxious, nervous and excited to see if 2009 will continue to play out as well as it has so far.