Amelia Bedelia Gets Lost

I wrote a long boring post telling all the reasons why I should have a cell phone. Luckily for you, I deleted it and now I offer a brief summary of my April. There are many details left out, so if you have any questions about any of the events or crises, feel free to ask.

Trip number one: Spring Break

Spring break began with me visiting the ER. Baby was fine (and oh so cute) on ultrasound so I went home happy in spite of the cramping. Later that day, I ran out of gas on the way to my daughter's appointment at the clinic. The lady who's driveway I blocked with my truck gave me a ride to the clinic (I should take her some cookies). This is the second time I have run out of gas since I got pregnant. I'm telling you, I can't think.

When the pediatrician came into the office and asked how we were doing, my three-year-old answered before I could: "We runned out of gas. Daddy's gonna be mad." After that, my patient husband rescued me from gaslessness while blushing as friends and neighbors drove by on the busy road. Somehow we got the car loaded with everything and everyone and began our more than six hour journey to be with family. We enjoyed every moment with our loved ones and the time disappeared too quickly.

Trip number two: My Sister's Wedding

The day before this trip, I tripped while helping my husband unload railroad ties from the truck. I fell while the tie fell on my thigh, badly bruising it on both sides. I knelt on the ground trying to decide if it was okay to cry like a little girl (because that was really what I wanted to do). As I limped around that evening, I wondered if I was going to have to ask the airport people for a wheelchair. By Monday, I could walk well enough to get where I needed to go, not that it was graceful or anything. I stood barefoot in the sand on a beach in Florida and watched my beautiful sister marry a wonderful man.

If only the trip home could have been so nice. The best way I can think to describe it is baseball. Picture me running the bases (pregnant and limping, no less), doing okay until third base where I head off in the wrong direction. Then I run around the perimeter of the outfield, slowing to walk through a snowstorm. Next, picture me stopping to call home four times from payphones around the outfield, never getting an answer. In between the payphone stops, I had to lay down for three naps before finally finding my way to home plate...it may sound bizarre, but that's about how it went. There wasn't any cheering when I finally made it home either, but there were some tears of relief.

Trip number three: Easter

This trip was supposed to be with my husband, but he forgot he had a job that weekend. I almost decided not to go, but I hated to change our plans for time with my foster family. Thankfully, my sister-in-law had washed all of the clothes I sent for my kids that she tended while I was in Florida (Who does that? Talk about nice!), which meant half of us were already packed.

Don't laugh, but I got lost again on the way there. Then I got stuck in rush hour construction traffic and finally gave up on finding my (foster) sister's house. She was going to watch my son while I took the girls to see the play "Beauty and the Beast." We headed to the play and made it there fifteen minutes late. You know how the beast turns into a prince at the end? That's how it went for my son only just the opposite: he was a prince through most of it, but turned into a beast at the end. At that point, I had to hold him standing in the back of the theater, and as I wrestled him I worried my pregnant hungry (the traffic jam we ate for dinner gave no sustenance) body might pass out. The play was great, though. My talented nieces and nephew were perfect.

We made it to my brother and sister's after the play, I munched on fresh vegetables and felt like my life had been saved. Sometime after midnight, the kids were finally asleep (those car naps really mess up a 7:30 bed time). The next day we had fun coloring and hunting eggs. My foster dad bought me a tracphone and I went home that night and got lost one more time, but only for a moment.

Easter Sunday was a peaceful ending to a long month of fun and folly. I sang with my husband and daughter in the church choir. The song reminded me of the great love my Savior has for me, even when I spend more time than I should being a lost sheep.

April Fools Rules

When I was pregnant with my first child after more than five years of longing for motherhood, I thought it would be clever to tell all my friends the news on April Fools' Day. In a very small community, it turned out to be difficult to keep my secret that long, so somewhere in the middle of March I decided it was time to spill it.

When I found out I was pregnant this time, with my fourth child, I realized I had a second chance to do the April 1st announcement when the due date calculator on the computer told me the due date...the exact day of my oldest daughter's seventh birthday this year.

So I announced it on Friday and it was fun.

And just so you know, I wasn't really lying when I said there are three...what I meant is there are three pictures (but they are all of the same baby).

I guess it's time to finish the nursery. This is my second chance for that as well, since my son is already a year and a half old and it still isn't done. Hopefully I'll be posting pictures of the finished room before Baby is here in six months.

That doesn't give me much time!

No Foolin'

It was not hard at all to pick the winner of my giveaway! Tami, you lucky duck you, I am happy to inform you that the calligraphy of your heart's desire is yours for the choosing. It couldn't have happened to a nicer commenter. We'll talk.

By way of other announcements, I had an ultrasound this morning and...

wait for it...

there were three.




Happy April Fools' Day!

One Hundred Posts

When I first began this space, I only had a few goals. I wanted to share recipes and my feelings about motherhood without ever using the word "poop," I wanted to write poetry and my favorite stories about my life.

I have written at least a little of all of this, even the P word (I guess it was inevitable), along with a few other things I never planned to write.

I have seen other bloggers (I still don't really think of myself as a blogger) do give-aways to celebrate milestone numbers, so I thought it might be fun to do that here, for my lovely little handful of friends who put up with my ramblings.

So, the give-away gift to you from me, should you be randomly chosen from the comment givers, will be a handwritten custom calligraphy. You get to choose the size, color, and content!

For fun, tell me one of your favorite sayings/quotes in your comment. The winner will be chosen on April Fools' Day. Really!

Daylight Losings

This is where I found my daughters yesterday at 5:00 in the evening.
If it weren't so hot in Arizona, I'd try to move there because I like how they just let time do its own thing.

Just Joking

I'm not one of those people who tells jokes, mostly because I can never remember any.

I could remedy that if I put some on my blog, so here are a couple of our favorites:

Why did the elephant paint his toenails red?
(So he could hide in the strawberry patch. )
Have you ever seen an elephant in a strawberry patch?
(It works, doesn't it?)

What did the judge say when the skunk walked into the courtroom?
("Odor in the court!")

A Short Story Cut Short

Continued from here

"Have you lost someone?" was all he could think to ask. The man began to sob quietly. A long, painful moment passed before he answered.

"I told her I loved her every day, but I wish I could have told her one more time. I wish I could have said good bye."

"I'm so sorry," Andrew said softly. It felt like no time had passed since his mother's death. She had told him every day as he left for school that she loved him, and he had always answered that he loved her too. Then one day she was just gone and he never had the chance to say good bye. Even though years had passed, his loss still hurt deeply.

He sat with the man for a few more minutes. Then he told him, "My wife had a baby girl last night."

For the first time, the man looked at him. With sincerity in his eyes he said, "Congratulations."

A small group of people hurried up the hallway. Andrew could tell this was the man's family, so he wished him well and got up to leave. The man stood, shook Andrew's hand and said, his voice cracking, "Cherish every day."

"I will," Andrew answered. The children and grandchildren began to hug the man and in spite of the sadness Andrew felt, he also felt an overwhelming love that made him smile for a moment as he walked back to his wife's room.

"Good morning, Sunshine," Andrew sang to his wife. "How are you feeling?" Her tired eyes twinkled as she let a crooked smile overcome her face. That was all the answer Andrew needed. "We get to take the baby home in a few hours. I got your clean clothes from the car."

"Thanks," was all she managed, but Andrew knew she was sincere. Andrew and Marie had been married for five years before they discovered they would be adding to their family. Excitement filled the months as they prepared the spare bedroom of their new home for their long-awaited child. Andrew was fascinated with the miracle growing inside the woman who was the center of his whole life. Sometimes he would wake at night with a smile after he felt the gentle kick of his child from Marie's warm abdomen. She took care of him as well as she ever had, though it took more effort than it had before. When Andrew came home from work to find his wife, eight months pregnant, scrubbing the floor on hands and knees, he was filled with a deep appreciation and admiration for her love and determination.

"Here's the little sweetie!" The nurse's loud, cheerful voice startled Andrew. The robust woman wheeled in the tiny glass-protected parcel and gently lifted the infant to her mother's arms. Marie's eyes again filled with tears as she traced the delicate lines of her daughter's tiny face. Andrew watched Marie and the baby. In his mind, he could picture the child growing over the years, sitting across from him at the dinner table.

After the nurse left, Marie looked up at him and said, "Here, hold her." He carefully took the baby from his wife's arms. In wonder, he looked at her peaceful face. They had decided on a name for her, and as he thought of this name, Marie said to him as if reading his mind, "I think we should name her Sarah."

Confused, he looked at Marie. "Are you sure?"

She nodded and said with a grin, "It fits her."

He looked at his daughter and said, "After Mother." The baby sighed, which made Andrew smile. "Thank you, Marie." He sat on the edge of the bed and took her hand in his. "I love you," he said.

As they left the hospital, Andrew walked proudly as he carried his lightweight daughter in her infant carrier. A nurse wheeled Marie in a wheelchair. Andrew felt liberated as he left the hospital. He had always felt that that place had taken his mother away. Today he left the building with a new person to treasure always.

The afternoon sun reflected from Marie's face as they made their way outside. Andrew couldn't help looking at her. As they walked down the sidewalk, he didn't notice the crocus buds reaching up through the thin layer of snow.