A wonderful surprise

I had the best visit yesterday with my seester and her new husband, who drove up to Christmastown on a whim to see us!

I was in the midst of brooding over our recent rough time -- kids with rotavirus, a Thanksgiving day near-amputation of DH's thumb (maybe not quite as dramatic as that, lol, but still) and then, of course, the loss -- when I thought I heard the doorbell. I went upstairs to find the two of them on my front porch, bearing gifts of Dr. Pepper and chocolate.

It was so good to see them. I had the most wonderful time. It was exactly what I needed. :-)


~RCH~

Nevermind

Turns out the rumors of a July baby were unfounded. Well, founded originally but not so much anymore.... It came as a bit of a shock. I thought I was imperviously fertile. Guess not.

At least now we won't have to buy a minivan or some other behemoth vehichle to accommodate three carseats. I won't have to figure out how to hold more children than I have hands. I can worry about my waistline again -- figure out some exercise that I'll actually do -- rather than watch helplessly as it grows without my consent. We can take a summer vacation.

I had my blood drawn today to compare to hormone levels from a blood draw on Saturday; the hCG is supposed to decrease on its own, but if it doesn't, I'll have to go in for what sounds like a fairly unpleasant procedure. The nurse poked and wiggled the needle around in my arms and hand four times before she gave up and let DH try; he got it right in one go.

"I hope your blood will feel better," Uno told me as we drove home. I've tried to explain to her what's going on because, as a precocious almost-four-year-old, she knows that babies come in tummies. She would remember that we told her I had one in mine that would come out in the summer, and she'd be concerned if it never did. I'm sure Dos has long forgotten the "you're going to be a big sister!" conversation, but Uno keeps track of these things. So I told her that Daddy was going to check my blood at his office, and if it was bad then that meant the baby wasn't in my tummy anymore. That made enough sense to her that she offered condolence instead of more questions.

I'm not entirely sure how I'm supposed to feel about all this. I am disappointed, absolutely. And I can't let go of the need to blame myself: If I'd cut out the Diet Dr. Pepper habit; if I'd tried to eat more nutritiously; if I hadn't forgotten to take my prenatals so often; if I'd been a little more enthusiastic about the possibility of Numero Tres before the big pee stick reveal, could this have been avoided? But I don't feel like I'm mourning. Should I? Am I heartless if I don't? Will it come later?

I feel like I've lost something I never had. Which is its own kind of sadness, I guess.


~RCH~

The official wish list(s)

I so appreciate having other people's wish lists to work from when I'm trying to come up with a decent gift. For those of you who have Amazon wish lists, thank you! For those of you who have Amazon wish lists that haven't been updated in three years, add some kind of comment to your list to let people know you still want that stuff (or delete it if you don't and add new stuff). For those of you who have online wish lists somewhere else, make sure you let people know where!

The family person whose name we have has already given me a hand-written list (which I accidentally left at mom's, but I still remember the gist). Thank you. Still. It never hurts to have one online for future occasions.

In that spirit, you can find my wish lists either on Amazon.com or on ListIdeas.com using my email address. (If you don't know me well enough to have my email address, you shouldn't buy me any presents, lol.)

The lists are merely a guideline, of course; they're not a registry of Christmas Needs. The girls will be thrilled with anything that comes in a box with wrapping paper on it (or hey, even without!) and DH and I don't need anything at all. But if you wanted to be generous and wondered what sorts of toys or tchotchkes the girls are into these days, without having the benefit of listening to them sing the Dora the Explorer song all day every day, then this might point you in the right direction.

Thank you, and Ho-Ho-Ho! :-)


~RCH~

This one's good because it's bad for you

But it's oh-so tasty! Here's one of the recipes that we had for Thanksgiving dinner, courtesy of DH's uncle the gourmet (gourmand?).

Sweet Potato Soufflé

Ingredients:

• four sweet potatoes, peeled


• 3/4 cup white sugar


• 2 eggs


• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature


• 1 tsp vanilla


• 1/2 cup milk

Topping

• 1 cup brown sugar


• 1/3 cup flour


• 1/4 cup cold butter


• 1 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Boil peeled sweet potatoes until soft.


2. Beat together the sweet potatoes, white sugar, eggs, 1/2 cup butter, vanilla, and milk; pour into a buttered casserole dish (or spray it with non-stick spray if you're not loving all this butter -- but let's be serious, lol, that's what makes it good).


3. Mix topping ingredients -- brown sugar, flour, 1/4 cup cold butter, and pecans -- together and sprinkle on top of the sweet potato mixture.


4. Bake at 350F for 45 minutes.

Aaaaaaah! Delicious! :-)


~RCH~

The perks

Apparently one of the perks of being Christmastown celebrities is that our children get the star treatment by the local press. (Either that or the townspeople are tired of seeing them out and about with unkempt hair, and hoped to give me a reason to comb it.) We got a phone call from the town's only newspaper yesterday, asking if they could come over to our house and photograph the girls coloring pictures to announce the annual Christmas coloring contest sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce. I said sure; we are, after all, at the mercy of our adoring fans.

I won't see the newspaper photos until next week, but here are a couple shots I took: The first one shows Numero Uno coloring a page of mencrackers (she knows they're nutcrackers, but we both prefer Dos's version). The second one is of Numero Dos bursting into tears after I told her sharply to stop coloring on the window. Please note the nicely coiffed hair on both.





This is not, of course, the first perk we've had as The New Doctor's Family. (At the library: "Oh no, you don't need proof of address and a reference to get a library card! That's for the little people!" Writing a check at the grocery store: "Oh heavens, I don't need to see your I.D. -- I know exactly who you are!") It's not even the first time we've been in the paper. DH warned me that I wouldn't be able to remain anonymous in such a small town, and he's been right.

Still. Antisocial though I may be, I'm also a bit of an attention whore. So it all works out in the end. ;-)

~RCH~

Attention newlyweds!

My most recently married sisters, both of whom looooooove pink, need to scootch on down to Michael's craft store for one of these. Your holiday decor will simply not be complete without a lovely pink feather tree.




~RCH~

My daughter, the budding artist

Numero Uno, who will be 4 in January, has only begun drawing representational art in the last couple months. But she's brilliant at it, if I do say so my completely unbiased self! Here are a couple of her recent pieces for your viewing pleasure. The first one is entitled "My Friend Daddy." The second one (which you can tell is of me because of the long hair) is simply called "Mom." (Should I be hurt by that, lol?)

~RCH~