Sigh.
First, I have to pack a lunch.
Then I have to pack up the diaper bag.
Then I have to wake Sofia up early from her nap.
Then I have to load up both girls in the car.
Soon after we get to the park, I will have to feed Sofia.
Then it will be time for lunch, and I’ll have a wiggly almost-3-year-old to convince it’s time to not play and eat, at least a little bit.
Then I will feed solids to Sofia.
She takes a long time.
She is extremely messy, so it will take some effort and a lot of wipes to clean us both up (yes, she’s that messy).
Soon after that, it will be time to pack up and head home.
The girls will fall asleep in their car seats.
I will have to carry two sleeping girls into the house.
The naps they have in the car will very likely spoil their real naps.
I will probably get nothing done in the afternoon that I have planned because they will be awake.
They will be grouchy all evening because they didn’t get good naps.
I might be grouchy.
This doesn’t even include all the unforeseen things that could happen.

Is it worth it?

Sunshine, friends, exercise…character building…

Why am I sitting here? I should be packing up for the park.

I have less than three weeks until my due date, friends!  I can hardly believe it’s almost time already.  We’re more or less ready…I’m feeling uncomfortable and fat.  But I’m not in any rush, either!  I mean, the closer we are to spring and warm weather when this baby’s here, the better.  It’s enough of a pain to bundle Mayah up and haul her around in the cold; never mind another small child on top of that.  And being pregnant is keeping me nice and warm this winter, which is great!  Also, we have some more rearranging to do in the bedroom and other things that need to be done before we’re really, really ready for her.  I’m really excited to meet her, though, and hang out with her and stuff.  I might as well be excited about hanging out, because that’s what’s happening for the next while!  You know, lots of breastfeeding and diaper changing and stuff like that.

On Sunday, when Mayah woke up from her nap, she was missing a barrette.  She had two ponytails and two barrettes, and when I went in her room, she had pulled everything out of her hair and was playing with it.  Usually we take her barrettes out for sleeping, but…someone forgot this time (I love you!).  I asked her where it was, and she said it was in her mouth.  So I asked her to show me, and she opened up her mouth to show me it was empty.  She insisted it was in her mouth, but she didn’t know where it was currently.  ”Did you swallow it?”  ”Yeah.”  ”Did you eat it?”  ”Yeah.”  So…is she just saying “yeah” because she feels like saying “yeah,” or does she understand my question?  The barrette is slightly longer than an inch, by the way, made of metal, the kind that snaps open and closed, and has a little flower on one end.  Since she was eating and drinking fine and it didn’t seem to affect her voice, we were advised to watch for it in her poop for the next 48 hours, and if it didn’t show up, to take her in to see if it’s really in there.  The 48 hours were ending today after her nap, and we had checked 3 times (GROSS!!!) and found nothing.  I was not looking forward to taking her in after her nap!  Thankfully, between lunch and her naptime…well, I found it.  There it was…like a…barrette in a pile of crap.  She actually swallowed it!!!  How she did not choke on it is beyond me, but I’m really thankful she didn’t.  And I’ve never been so glad to see such a gross sight as a barrette covered in poop.

I’m so stinking tired…I better go sleep while I can.

Tuesday nights always mean that Kirk leaves for his class at 5:30 pm, and I don’t see him until around 9 pm.  While he’s gone it’s just me and Mayah hanging out; sometimes at home, sometimes taking a trip to The Store to pass the time.  In other news, Kirk has been working like mad to get this huge project done that he had to turn in for his class last night.  I have been not bugging him with my many “What should we…”, “What do you think of…” and “What should we name…” kinds of questions for awhile now, knowing that when this project is over, we’re pretty much home-free as far as school stuff goes and we can discuss stuff then.  ANYWAY.  He came home from work around 3 pm, went up to our room and knocked that project out!!!  I was very excited about that and very excited as he submitted it online and then very confused when he asked me, “If we went on a date at 5:00, how long would it take you to get ready?”  Did I mention it was currently 4:30 pm?  An offer of a date is not something to take lightly, so I said “Ummm…15 minutes?”  I mean, for all I knew he was just really excited about finishing and we were spontaneously going to go to Chipotle or the Pita Hut or maybe McDonalds (I didn’t really think that.  But I would have been okay with it, since I wasn’t expecting to go out at all).  Since I thought he was coming up with this spontaneously, I asked who would take care of Mayah, etc.  At first he kind of acted like it was spontaneous, but then he let me know that his parents were coming to watch her for the evening, and that we should hurry and get ready.

Eventually we found ourselves at a Japanese steakhouse.  Sounds awesome, doesn’t it?  It wasn’t.  But we had fun and enjoyed the old, cheesy decor, the mediocre food, and the very overpricedness of it.  Let me mention that we even had a Groupon for it, and still felt a little cheated.  But, like I said, we had fun.  Then he said we were going to do something else, and could I guess what it was?  I guessed we were going to go look at Christmas lights, since I’ve been wanting to do that sometime soon.  He said we were, and we headed off to German Village to behold The Lights.  The lights weren’t very impressive, so we made a stop at Cup O Joe, a very nostalgic coffee shop for us, and shared a most delicious Irish cream latte.  I thought we had a great time, and that our date was ending, when he told me that we have something to go to at 8:00. !!! I guessed it was a movie, knowing we have a Groupon for that too. Then he pulled out some papers, and asked me if I wanted to know what it was, and I said I did.  I thought I already knew that it was movie tickets.  So, I opened them up, and, as I realized what they were, I was VERY surprised and…well, I may or may not have teared up at the sweetness of it all.

Next scene: Kirk and Karla sitting in the back row of the awesome Lincoln Theatre.  Karla, looking dazed, wondering how she got from “gearing up for another normal Tuesday night” to…”waiting for Over the Rhine to take the stage.”  Then, out pops Karen and Linford and the crew and suddenly I’m listening to Over the Rhine.  Did I mention they were right there?  Playing their music, and singing for my personal enjoyment?  Well, I did personally enjoy it, even if it wasn’t just for me.  So we had an excellently romantic and very fun evening, and I am convinced that no husband has pulled off a better surprise date in the history of the world.  Don’t try to tell me otherwise.  I was very, very impressed.

Okay, other reporting will have to happen later.  Right now it is time for lunch.

Well, my little baby Mayah turned a whopping 2 years old on the 28th!  I was surprised at the nostalgic feelings I had while putting her to bed the night before.  I kept hearing myself say things like “This is the last night you will be 1 year old…” the very thing my mom used to say before every birthday we had.  I always thought that was exciting, but now I think maybe she was lamenting.  I am so glad I have a two-year-old, but I just can’t believe how fast it all goes by!  Anyway, enough of my sentimentality.  Enough already.

We decided just to have family over for a birthday supper, but we accidentally invited Ian & Jubilee over for the same night, not thinking about what we had planned.  Of course, it was a good mistake, and when we realized it, we were glad to know they would get in on the party!  They used to be our housemates, btw, before they went off to lead a Reach team.  So I made pizza and we had good ol’ chips and carrot sticks and apple cider, and then The Monkey Cake and ice cream.  I was looking for an easy idea for a cake the day before (why did I put it off until then? I don’t know, but I didn’t learn my lesson.), and Mayah was looking with me.  When I found the monkey cake, she really liked it and I thought it looked like something even I could pull off.  So, the next day she was all psyched up for her party (“Noah?! ‘Keah?! ‘Vaye?! baby Meemiah?! Kintin?! Keesa?! Nana?! Buelo?! MONKEY CAKE?!?!” “Yes, and Ian & Jubilee (she hadn’t seen them for awhile) and pizza…!” “And monkey cake?!?!” “Yep.”) and the monkey cake, and I decorated it during her nap, and didn’t show her when she woke up.  Maybe I should have.  Anyway, Kirk brought out the cake after we ate pizza, and we all sang loudly to her; first in English, then in Spanish, and by the time we were done, she was a little overwhelmed.  And a little scared of the monkey cake.  Poor thing!  She didn’t eat one bite of it, and she did not want to sit there with it in front of her either.  I got her down, and she sat on Aunt Karissa’s lap while everyone else at monkey cake and ice cream.  We toned everything down for the unwrapping of presents, and that was not so overwhelming for her.  She got some new toys, books and clothes and seemed to have fun the rest of the time.  I think she would have stayed up all night playing with her new kitchen if we would have let her!  The next morning, when I went into her bedroom, she looked up at me and said, “Monkey cake?”  She has asked to see the leftover cake every day since then.  Still hasn’t tasted it.  Oh well, maybe next year she’ll be brave enough to eat her birthday cake!

I am so grateful for…well, several things.  First, that I had such an amazing grandpa!  He was one of those people that everyone loves, and I think every kid was drawn to him.  He spent a lot of time with his grandkids and I don’t think any of us had any doubt how much he loved us.  He was a pretty quiet guy, and he loved to read and garden and add his comments to conversations when he thought they were worth sharing.  I could go on and on about who he was and how important he was to me, but I think I won’t.  At least for now.  Oh yeah, the other things I am thankful for: I took Mayah and went out for Pappy and Granny’s 60th anniversary celebration in June, and I got to watch Mayah fall in love with my dear Pappy.  It was so fun to watch her interact with Pappy and Granny and get to know them.  Then, in July, we decided, sort of last minute, to go to my cousin Roxie’s wedding out in Kansas.  This time Kirk went along too, and we stayed with Pappy & Granny and got to spend some good time with them.  I am just so thankful that I got to be with them and got to watch Kirk and Mayah be with them and know and love them more.  So precious.  The hard part was that because of those trips, Mayah remembered Pappy and expected him to be with Granny when we saw her, and in his recliner at their house…it was sad.  And when his casket was being lowered into the ground, she surprised me a little (and made us all cry) by looking very concerned and saying “Where Pappy go?”

The last thing I was going to mention was that around lunchtime on Oct. 14, I was chatting with my dad about how Pappy was doing, when he typed something like, “We’re all here in the room, do you want to call?”  Meaning a video chat.  With my parents and my mom’s siblings and Granny…and Pappy (who was not responsive anymore).  I can’t explain the emotions that made me feel.  I actually started crying right away, just thinking about being in that room with them and seeing Pappy like he was.  I almost felt like I couldn’t do it, but then I decided that I couldn’t pass it up either.  I got to talk with Granny and see that she was doing okay, which was a huge relief.  I got to talk to my aunts and uncle and my parents, and then I got to see Pappy.  I cried a lot seeing him in the hospital bed, and really not looking like my Pappy very much.  And I told him I loved him and I was just going to leave it at that, but then I realized that this really was my last chance to talk to him.  So I asked my dad to take his laptop close to him and I asked my mom to give him a kiss for me, and then I told him what I thought of him.  I thanked him for being an incredible grandpa and for loving us.  I told him that I admire and love him so much and that we’re going to miss him a lot.  I cried like a baby.  I actually felt quite at peace after that.  A few hours later my mom called to tell me he had passed.  I have never been so thankful for a video chat.

Mostly I’ve been doing very well since he passed away, but every once in awhile I just feel this wave of sadness that he’s not around anymore.  It’s also hard knowing that my Granny doesn’t have her husband, who she obviously adored, around anymore after 60 years.  But she says not to worry about her and that she feels God’s grace.  Thanks for all your prayers for my family and for all your kind words during that whole time; we really appreciated it!

In other news, Kirk’s dad is out of the hospital today after having open heart surgery. He’s doing well, but will have a few months of recovery, including therapy. We’re very thankful, of course, that everything went well.

This morning we went out to the farmers’ market at the North Market. We’ve been to the NM lots of times, but, for some reason, never to the farmers’ market on Saturday mornings. We, of course, enjoyed being there, and even brought home a few things, including the unlucky eggplant who was then eaten, parmesan-style.

Did I mention that we made our first pumpkin pancakes of the season this morning? We did. Pumpkin pancake season is now open. You can find the recipe here.  And, while I’m at it, here’s a recipe for the best pumpkin muffins I’ve ever had.  Ever.

After that, we went and experienced the Somali Mall, which we’ve been curious about for awhile now but never went.  It’s a part of a strip mall that has been made into a separate mall area with all African stores and restaurants.  It was cool to see!  We were the only non-Africans in there.

Then we headed over to La Michoacana (Mexican grocery) to get a bottle of our beloved Salsa Lizano.  We just recently learned that it is one (or maybe the only) place in Columbus you can still find it.  Yum.  So, it turned into international family night, I guess.  Which was really fun, by the way.

I didn’t take any pictures.  Sorry.

Here’s a couple recent ones of Mayah Papaya.

She is such a little mother!

Multitasking.

Just reading, of course.  Notice the well-worn pictures of the Slaubaugh relatives.  It’s actually kept with her toys.

Coloring with Nana.

Then we went home and got ready for camping, which we sure did from Friday night to Sunday morning.  We went with Kenton and Karissa and family and we had a great time.  Friday night was yet another surprise for me.  Kirk had spent a good bit of the day working with Karissa on a birthday meal for me.  We were supposed to have hobo dinners for supper, but I was informed that we would have them the next day instead and not to worry about supper.  Also, my cousin Delores and family (minus one) joined us for our delicious meal, which was fun!  And what did we eat, you might ask.  Kirk made some delicious, hefty burgers, and then also made different toppings for them: sauteed mushrooms, caramelized onions, guacamole, and then cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and mayo/bbq sauce.  Wow, they were soooooo good!!!  We also had grilled sweet potato slabs.  And Kim had made a lemon cake before we left, which was very good as well.

Kim stayed until Tuesday morning, and we had a great time together, of course.  We had to visit Jeni’s to eat the best ice cream we’ve ever tasted, and other than that, we just played games (no wait, we only played one) and talked.  And Mayah got to spend some time with her Auntie Kim, so that was great.

I just want to say that, if it wasn’t obvious already, my husband did a fantastic job of celebrating my birthday this year, and I really appreciated all the effort and heart he put into it.  You are awesome, babe!  And Kim was such a good sport to just show up and hang out and sacrifice some time she could’ve spent with her husband instead…thanks again, Kimmie!  And I want to thank the Academy, and my three-legged dog, Rufus, and…

Okay, now I really need to do something productive-er.