Isn't It April Yet?

Anybody else impressed with the weather we're having today? (It's been snowing pretty heavily for 9 or 10 hours now.) It is March 31, right?

Sudden Ear Infection

Ellie has had a fever for most of the week, requiring her to miss all kinds of fun activities like preschool and dance class. It was gone by yesterday, however, except for a lingering cough, and today she even started eating normally again. I was relieved we were finally over it.

Today I threw a wedding shower for my friend Marlea, and Ellie was incredibly helpful all morning. She dusted, tidied, and cleaned with my for a solid two hours without losing interest. During the shower, she was very well-behaved, eating the lunch, sitting quietly next to me, and then disappearing into her bedroom to emerge in a tutu and dance for us.

One hour after everyone left, she suddenly started crying and complaining her ear hurt. (She is not a complainer, or a crier, so this was unusual). Within half an hour, she couldn't stop herself from crying, so I took her right to the doctor. Sure enough, she had a nasty ear infection.

What amazes Isaac and me is that she was absolutely fine until she suddenly couldn't handle the pain any more. We knew she had a ridiculously high pain tolerance, but still! Can any of you who were at the shower imagine her being diagnosed with a really bad infection just two hours after you left?

My Sweet Future Big Sister

As Ellie and I walked through Target the other day, I suggested that she could pick out a "DeeDee" (little blanket) for the new baby. She informed me that the baby wouldn't need a DeeDee because it could share Bear.

Also, she's been sick this week. Today she said, "I hope this goes away fast before the baby comes so the baby doesn't get sick."

I know it won't all be sweet and roses like this when the baby is really here, but it's at least encouraging. I'm nervous about having two because as an only child, I have no experience with how to handle sibling relationships. In almost everything else for parenting, I've been able to look at my own parents' example and follow what they did. For siblings, I feel like I'm kind of on my own. Isaac is the oldest of five, but other than his brother who is two years younger, his family is unconventional enough that the sibling stuff doesn't apply as much.

I don't know where to draw the lines for bickering and fighting and name-calling and wrestling. I'm awful at those. All my experience is as a teacher, where none if it is ever okay. But it sounds like in the real world of the family, it would be impossible (and possibly counterproductive?) to enforce those lines. I guess I'll be learning and growing a lot as a parent these next couple years (and decades).

Mmmm

I really like Cadbury's creme-filled eggs.

A Good Rant

If any of you enjoy a good rant, I suggest you read my friend Lynn's rant against e-mail forwards. The end had me laughing out loud.

http://www.familiasnyder.blogspot.com/

Happy Easter!

We woke up this morning and shouted, "He is risen!" Ellie, who didn't know the proper response, shouted back, "Yea!" (We thought that was actually pretty appropriate.)

We slipped and slid our way to the early service at church and worshipped together as a family, like usual. Then we all went downstairs and served in children's ministry for the next two services. It was pretty empty - not nearly the crowd we were expecting - so I think that most people wanted to worship as a family too. I'll be interested to hear how many attenders we had upstairs. The last service had so few kids that I pulled the "pregnancy card" and we left early, leaving the poor other volunteers working.

We drove home and watched March Madness as we worked together to finish a beautiful fruit tart to bring to Isaac's grandparents' house for Easter. As we finished, unfortunately, Ellie began to complain that she was cold and couldn't get warm. I took her temperature, and sure enough, she had a fever. (This makes her birthday last year, Thanksgiving, AND Easter, by the way.) So we couldn't infect Nana and Papa, so Ellie and I had to stay home, and we sent Isaac to see his family and eat nummy ham with the beautiful fruit tart.

Things weren't all bad, though, because my parents didn't have any Easter plans and they don't worry about getting sick. So Ellie and I crashed their Easter, and they made ham and Nancy' potatoes. I was so happy I didn't miss out. Plus, being with Grandma and Grandpa gives Ellie much more energy. She was happier there than she would have been at home.

When we got back home after dinner, Isaac had taken his little brother and sister (ages 14 and 17) home with him to spend the night and morning. Isaac and Nathaniel took our sick little girl outside to play in the snow, because why mope inside when you have a fever, right?

All in all, it was a good Easter, but how can Easter be anything but good when we think of what really happened today?

Daddy's Servant

We've always been very intentional about teaching Ellie about serving, showing God's love to others, and putting others' needs first. We've been talking about it again lately, and I pointed out something that Grandma did to be a servant to others. Ellie jumped in, "And you're a servant too!"

Before I could even enjoy the warm swell of pride that my daughter had noticed my example, she continued, "You're Daddy's servant!" From the mouths of babes!

In Isaac's defense, it's easiest to point out things that I do to serve Daddy since we obviously see him the most. Also, she followed it up with, "And Daddy is your servant!" Okay. Now I feel better. That's the way it's supposed to be.

Prayers Are Always Nice

We've had another mild setback in the pregnancy, so I'm taking it very easy again this weekend. I am now intimately familiar with my couch, books, laptop, and March Madness on TV as I work on getting enough energy and rest to handle Easter tomorrow. There's no alarm, but prayers are always nice.

Asparagus Follow-Up

Getting my family to eat the leftover asparagus was not as easy. My asparagus bliss has ended.

Asparagus

I'm not normally a huge fan of asparagus, and Isaac definitely is not. (He says he ate his lifetime share as a child between the ages of 2 and 10.) But at the grocery store today, I saw fresh asparagus for $1.38 a pound, which is practically unheard of, and I couldn't pass it up. I made it for dinner tonight with hollandaise sauce, and it was incredible! I ate three servings (also practically unheard of - then I didn't have room for my famous enchiladas). Ellie ate hers right up, and even Isaac didn't complain. I felt like a really good mother for getting my family to eat it, and I am pleased as punch!

The Joys of Pregnancy

This pregnancy has been a little bit more difficult than my last one. Everything is fine, but we'd still appreciate your prayers. I overdid things on Saturday and have been trying to take it easy since then. I struggle with the line between worrying and being wise. For example, they said that volleyball was little much for a while. Okay, that's understandable. But if volleyball is too much, how about taking Ellie to the zoo? How about shopping and cleaning and errands and all that good stuff? Plus, it's kind of hard not to think about it all the time. Luckily, I'm on spring break this week, so that's made it easier. So I guess I'm working on resting in God's hands now and trying to rely on His wisdom for how much to do and all that.

March Madness

The official brackets for the NCAA tournament came out this morning, and Isaac promptly bought a second newspaper so that we could have our annual contest. For those of you who care (and since this is my blog, you should all be on my side), this is a big year for us because it's Isaac's chance to finally catch up and tie me. If I win this year, I'll be 5-3, which is silently killing Isaac. Isaac wants to point out that even though I won the first four years, he's making "a valiant comeback." (I hope he doesn't.)

I've hung my hopes this year on Texas and Wisconsin, and Isaac's are on USC and Stanford. Those are where our major differences lie. I've picked Texas all the way to the final four over Memphis. Isaac wimped out this year and picked all 4 number-one seeds into the Final Four. He does point out, "Historically, this has never happened," and says that he's due.

It's a possibility this year, since the bracket is pretty top heavy. Overall, the top-seeded teams beat the bottom ones by a lot, and there's not much action at the bottom of the brackets this year. Most experts aren't picking any huge upsets. My worry is Duke. I only picked them to the Sweet Sixteen this year, but historically Duke has killed me no matter where I've put them.

So my overall picks? Texas, UNC, UCLA, and Kansas to the Final Four, with UCLA beating UNC in the championship. Any other bracket fans out there?

First Body Image Talk

As Ellie was eating lunch today, she asked, "Is my waist skinny or fat?" Isaac immediately assured her that she is beautiful exactly the way God made her. Ellie protested, "But people don't turn out the way God intended them to because of sin."

Wow. That's kind of deep. We decided that we need to insert some teaching moments into Little House as we read (Laura is now 15 and wearing corsets). I've always been very careful about what I say about my body or others' bodies in front of Ellie, and I never use the words "skinny" or "fat," so I guess she's starting to pick it up from the culture at age 3 1/2. Not cool.

Reading Together

This is what we do at home: read Little House. Those of you who have asked Ellie about it know how excited she gets to talk about it. We're planning a family vacation this summer to go to the site of On the Banks of Plum Creek (the fourth book) in Walnut Grove, MN. We'll attend the Laura Ingalls Wilder festival, camp on Plum Creek and Lake Laura, and go to the Wilder Museum. Ellie can barely contain herself!

Strange Activities

I just found these pictures on my camera. Isaac must have taken them recently. It took me a while to figure out why we had a picture of our laundry basket. Then I started noticing the strange items it contained: my yoga mat, an old afghan, Wolfie, a stuffed elephant, a ball, and a teddy bear, as well as Isaac's sandals. Finally, I noticed the shape under the afghan. Ah, yes, a three-year-old. That explains everything.

Government Rant

I have a HUGE issue with the free vouchers the government is giving out to help people convert their analog television to receive the digital transmissions. Seriously? The government needs to spend $40 to help people watch television? I don't care if some people can't afford to upgrade their set, subscribe to cable, or buy the converter box themselves. Shouldn't it be THEIR problem? I have a feeling they'll either figure out where to get the money or live without television for a while. I think they'll live.

This is NOT a good use of government money.

New Song Lyrics

Picture Ellie, painting at the dining room table, and singing, over and over: "You take us to Ka-Bam-ba-Boo."

I didn't get it until she finished, "And throw it in the water."

("You take a stick of bamboo...")

Omnipresence

Tonight as I put Ellie to bed, she prayed for Mary (from the Little House books) "that she would be able to go to the blind college because she is blind." Then she abruptly stopped and said, "Oh, I can't pray that because God isn't in that world! That was a long time ago."

That brought up lots of different confusing subjects: fiction/reality, present/past, and God's omnipresence. It was an interesting conversation, and I'm sure we'll have a lot more of them about this topic.

Official Announcement

It was kind of fun to announce our pregnancy on the last post, and then come to church this morning and find out who knew and who didn't. Some surprising people have read my blog! This was sure a great way to get comments, although someone this morning asked me if my last post was a joke.

Our second baby will arrive (hopefully) the end of September, which means I'm almost three months along right now. I had a few bleeding episodes, so we held off on telling as long as we could. However, if you look at me closely, it's becoming obvious, so we decided to let the cat out of the bag!

Ellie will be 4 years and 4 months older than her new sibling. When we told her, she wasn't surprised because she's pretty much always wanted and expected another baby. She took it very matter-of-factly, although she's starting to ask more questions now. (She's known for about 3 weeks). All year, she's been telling me, "Mama, if you just pray for another baby, God will answer your prayer and give you one." Now He has!

Tag

I'm learning that bloggers (do I really belong to that group?) play a game called "Meme" and tag people to write about themselves. I guess I'm it, so here goes:

Ten Years Ago:
I was a junior in high school. I was on the varsity volleyball team, an officer in Student Council, president of the National Honor Society, and co-editor of the yearbook. That all looked great on college applications, but it sounds a lot better if you don't know that there were only 32 people in my graduating class. I spent that summer (as well as the previous two) on a mission trip to Bolivia.

Things on My To-Do List Today:
Today was pretty easy. My evil to-do list days are usually Monday and Tuesday, when I have all my curriculum planning and prep, as well as children's ministry prep for the week and work for my dad to do. Since today was my birthday, I mostly took the day off to spend with Isaac. I woke up early, prepared my classroom, and taught this morning. That was pretty much all I did that was useful.

Three of My Bad Habits:
1. I am very lazy. Once I sit down on the couch, it's very hard to make me get up. Isaac and Ellie fetch me the phone, drinks, and whatever else I need.
2. I spend too much time on "me-time," reading, messing around on the computer, etc.
3. I wear pajamas whenever I'm at home. If I'm not going anywhere until afternoon, I don't get dressed until then.

If I Suddenly Become a Billionaire:
Isaac and I actually spend a lot of time talking about this, because he firmly believes that his job will eventually make us very prosperous. First, we would take care of the basics: tithing and paying off our mortgage. Next, we would upgrade to a bigger house and cars that don't have almost 200,000 miles each. Third, we would give generously. Isaac is incredibly generous. He wants to retire his mother, pay his grandparents' assisted living/nursing home expenses, and lots of other things. I would buy beautiful storage and organizing things for our new house and keep it beautifully with the help of a housecleaner!

Five Jobs I've Had:
1. Personal Care Assistant (PCA) for a fully dependent 14-year-old girl
2. Parks and Recreations Staff for the city of Brooklyn Park: this involved running day camps and coaching every PeeWee sport imaginable - basketball, soccer, golf, teeball, and "sports sampler"
3. Coaching JO (Junior Olympic) volleyball (a 14-and-under girls' team)
4. Writing Tutor for Hamline University
5. Preschool Teacher

Five Things People Don't Know About Me:
1. I love to pound on the piano and sing Phantom of the Opera at the top of my lungs
2. I have three brown freckles on my upper arm in the shape of a perfect equilateral triangle
3. I'm pregnant.
4. I was awarded Best Offensive Player in volleyball my junior year, which my dad calls "Most Offensive Player." I won MVP my senior year.
5. I like to gently bite Isaac's nose and ears during conversations with him (he does not like this as much as I do)

I'm going to "tag" my friend Lynn and my friend Jen Norman. Have fun, girls!

Happy Birthday to Me!

I'm the same age as Isaac again today (at least until August). After school, Isaac met me at church and we brought Ellie to my parents'. Then we had an afternoon date: we went to Applebees for lunch, and walked around Como and sat on a bench and talked. It was very relaxing and enjoyable. After a short time now at home, we'll go back to my parents and have a birthday dinner of French onion soup and Mom's homemade ice cream cake. We'll come back home, put Ellie to bed, and watch Lost. Nice, huh? A perfect birthday.

Beautiful Day at Work

Preschool lately has been fantastic. The kids have settled into the routine of class, they know how to behave and what to expect, and it seems that I come home every day amazed at how calm the day was and the lengthening focus. (It probably helps that I balanced my two classes out by moving a couple kids around, too! Wednesdays used to be wild and Fridays ideal; now they're both wonderful.)

They always say surprising things, too. Each day we talk about a new letter, and brainstorm a list of words that start with that letter. For "T" today, they came up with "teat" and "tonic," among many other things. (I didn't write "teat" down on the list that I show parents.)

Maddening Night Experience

Time: Last night, right as Isaac and I were falling asleep

Setting: Our dark bedroom, spooning, facing the wall on my side of the bed

Background: I occasionally have unbelievably realistic dreams in which I am absolutely positive that some animal is in our room. I swear I can see it, hear it, and feel it. Even when logically they make no sense (the monkey on the ceiling is a classic), I respond from sleep as if they were real and become furious with Isaac when he doesn't respond.

Event: I had another one of those dreams as I fell asleep last night. I saw a long, dark tunnel in my wall, and an animal came out of it and jumped onto our bed. I immediately ducked under the covers and started screaming for Isaac to tell me what kind of animal it was. He was frozen, tightly gripping me with his arm around me. I kept repeating myself: "Isaac! What is it? Tell me! You're terrifying me; you have to tell me! Isaac!" He remained silent, causing me to think this must be really bad. About four screams/begs later, he said groggily, "What?" HE WAS SLEEPING THROUGH MY SCREAMS!

Results: I was furious that he had scared me like that. If he had just said something right away, the fear wouldn't have lasted so long. (I know, in his defense, he was asleep.) The worst part was that he was not properly repentant; he never truly woke up so he never knew the extent of what happened.

Punishment: I got up to go to the bathroom and threw the covers off him dramatically. (Okay, it's not very mature. I'm vaguely sorry for that this morning, but it did make me feel better. I have completely forgiven him today, though.)

Easter Lyrics

Courtesy of Ellie: "Up from the gravy, a rose!" ("Up from the grave, He arose")