The Best

So Fred and I are dorks. We have little code sayings and phrases that help us communicate. Some or them are obvious or silly and some are covert. A very common one "I'm the best wife/husband in the world". We use this phrase to communicate that we have gotten a lot done or we thought to do something without being asked. Some nights I tell Fred "I am not the best wife in the world" and this is my way of telling Fred my day has been a little rough and expect the house to be a wreck when he gets home. There are several reasons why I can have a tough night. A big one tonight Rayne...

We had a day full of things. So when we got home she was very tired and so was mommy. 45 minutes into Rayne's nap she started fussing. Needing to be held. I picked her up and we rocked. Next thing I knew Rayne was awake fussing again and it was 8pm. My foot was swollen from sleeping sitting up, Rayne was having a reflux attack and my contacts had dried out. We were in pretty sad shape.

The next three hours were filled with bottles, diapers, tears, medicine, cuddles, and Veggie Tales. The laundry is not done, dishes aren't put away, dirty dishes in the kitchen, and toys all over the living room. Most importantly Rayne was comfortably asleep. I am very still very sore and very tired, so the house work won't be getting done.

So tonight I am not "The best wife in the world." but I am "The best Mom in the world." I was there when my daughter needed me, and I'm going to go to bed so when she needs me tonight I'll be there for her then too. All in all life is really great :)

Blessing in the Banana Bread

I was making Banana Bread Muffins tonight. They are a donation for a bake sale at our local cloth diaper store- A Nurturing Moment. They are trying to raise money for and organization that helps support low income breastfeeding mothers. They are having a rummage sale as well. It should be a great event. And a chance to bless families with what they need. Anyway that is not the blessing that I am talking about.

What I am talking about is from dropping my Banana Bread Muffins. Yes dropping my muffins was a blessing. So here I was making these wonderful soy, nut, egg free banana bread. The color was perfect, texture to die for. These were the best banana bread I had ever made. I was so proud. It looked like I was going to get 36 muffins and 3 loafs of bread. The first 24 muffins came out just fine. I put in the next 12 and let them bake. As I was pulling them out of it oven it happened. My hand gave out. It does this from time to time. It's part of my chronic condition. I'll be holding something and then all of a sudden I won't be. So here were my wonderful muffins falling out of the pan and right back in to the oven. Most landed on the rack but a few made it to the coil down below and set fire. I turned off the oven grabbed the grill tongs and fished them all out. Almost in tears as I did this. It was so rare that my bread came out perfect, and here they were on fire.

I called Fred. I need someone to tell me that yes it stinks but it will be okay. I know that sounds kind of childish but it is really hard for me when this happens. Fred commented how lucky we were that my hands never gave out when I am holding Rayne. Before I could think I said, "It's not luck it's a blessing." Which it truly is. And after I hung up and regained a little more composure I realized that every time I drop something is a time I won't be dropping Rayne. I really am watched over and that if this frail body is going to give way Heavenly Father blesses me to have it happen with very minor things.

So there you have it the blessing in the Banana Bread.

And so it begins

I have started my countdown. 32 days...

32 days that I will try NOT to stress out about what I need to get done.

32 days that I will hopefully keep my focus

32 days to think about what is going to happen

32 days is so far yet so close

On October 17th I will be having surgery. Nothing overly major... I hope. Okay let me back track and try to make this a little clearer.

As everyone should know just over a year ago I gave birth to my wonderful baby girl. What you may not have heard or remember is that the actually birthing part was very tough on my body. I was in no serious danger but I can clearly remember the doctor telling the nurse, "I stopped counting after 50 (stitches)". Later when the doctor came to check on me she described my birth as a vaginal c-section. There was a lot of tearing, bleeding and damage.

Due to several things I did not heal very well. And now I need some repair work. Surgical repair work. We won't know exactly how extensive it will be until the day of. But what we do know it that I will be flat in bed for a good week and on restriction for at least a week after that. If not longer. Joy, oh joy.

Thankfully we have some wonderful mothers that are coming to help. The first week Fred's mom will be here and Fred will be off work. The second week my mom will be here, but Fred will be back at work. So hopefully I'll be a little more mobile so I can help watch Rayne. Maybe go do a couple of fun things too.

Overall recovery is going to be key. If I try to do too much I could pop stitches again, cause more damage and we might have to do this all over again. But if all goes well then I may fulfill my dream of a natural child birth. But will just have to see.

Well I hope that was the right balance of details for everyone. If you want more you can contact me directly. Then if I'm in a good mood I'll give you some ;)

All and all that is the news.... 32 days.

3 Big Ones

So Rayne had quite the adventure this week. As toddlers we should all know toddlers mange to get bumped, bruised, and just into all sorts of things. Well our dear little Rayne had three 'incidents' this week.

1) 12 Fire Ant Bites

2) Dropped a 12oz soup can on her big tow

3) A face plant into the edge of the dishwasher

Now think about these three injuries. If you had to choose which do you think caused a larger reaction at the time of injury? Which would make you scream the loudest and longest?? Do you have your answers good. Because now I'm going to tell you how you Rayne reacted.

In last place, as in the least reaction is 12 Fire Ant Bites. No joke. I was out grilling Burgers for lunch. Fred and Rayne were just out walking around. Rayne stepped off our patio onto the grass and fell. I knew that there were some ants around there so I went and stood Rayne up and dusted her off. She went on her merry way. It wasn't until about an hour later after lunch we were inside and Rayne began to fuss a little. She was taking the bottom of her foot to scratch her leg. I looked at her leg and saw a bunch of bites. A quick bath and some anti-itch cream later and everything was fine. The next day Rayne's bites had turned into little pustules. I scoured the web and looked at where Rayne fell down and it was concluded that it was Fire Ant bites. Then on Friday Rayne had a Doctor's appointment and although they were already starting to heal the doctor could deal they were Fire Ant bites. What a though little girl we have.

Did you guess a face plant into the side of the dishwasher?? Well you would be wrong. Sunday night Fred and I were cleaning up and Rayne was playing. She was getting a little excited, lost her balance and WHAM. Face met dishwasher. I picked Rayne up gave her a cuddle then looked her over. There was blood in her mouth. She had split her lip. I told Fred, he took Rayne out of my arms and I grabbed a cold bottle for Rayne. She happily took it and then stopped crying. We gave her a frozen teething ring after that. The rest of the night went just fine. No more blood, no swollen lip, no bruise. You would never know.

Anyone guess the soup can?? Wouldn't have been my guess either. But after dropping that soup can on her foot Rayne cried for a whole two minutes. Of course it was right at the base of the nail on her big toe. Been there done that and it hurts. It even bled a little, it was her first bleeding wound. That took place Sunday morning. Her foot hurt for most of the morning but by afternoon she didn't seem to notice the injury.

So our daughter may be little but she can sure take a hit. And it's natural. It's not like she has had to build defense against siblings. I have a feeling she just might be a handful.... ohhhh payback