Centennial Olympic fun

What a fun day. We have been having something I like to call spoiled-brat-boot-camp here all week. I am trying to figure out how to be able to do all the fun things I want to do with the kids this summer without turning them into spoiled brats. Evan, being the oldest, is bearing the brunt of boot camp. I think I set his expectations too high last summer with all the fun stuff we did, so we are working on adjusting the attitude of gimme, gimme, gimme, and trying to teach appreciation along with the lesson that if you whine and complain about the stuff that has to be done (e.g., the grocery store) or that someone else wants to do (e.g., the reading of the princess books), you don't get to do what you want to do (e.g., go to the pool). So, we have not been able to go to the pool the last 2 days because he is having a hard time with that lesson so far. (I know you'd like to think we didn't get to go to the pool because of all the rain, but hush! Let him think it was the other reason....because we wouldn't have gone even if it had been sunny.)

Yesterday, we went to the gym and got haircuts for the kids. We found out during haircuts that there are kid-friendly concerts on the square on Wednesdays from noon to one. I wish I had known earlier, because they are only during the month of May, so yesterday was the last one. Anyway, we wandered over to the square to check it out. It was very fun, or it would have been if Mr. Grumpus hadn't put such a damper on the whole thing. There was this Wiggles-like band set up in the gazebo playing silly songs about riding in the car with your window down and losing your shoes. Silly, but fun and dance-worthy. Lil P was all about it and I was glad to have stumbled onto something free and fun. Evan complained the whole time and sulked every time I tried to involve him in the fun, but Pressley managed to have a good time nonetheless. She is quite the twirler....

Today, we did get to go to the pool because Evan was on his best behavior long enough to make it happen. It was gorgeous today, despite the prediction of rain for the 40th day in a row. This afternoon was the real fun, though. My friend Shay works four days a week. She is off on Thursdays and has what she calls Special Thursdays with her daughter, Marie. This Thursday, she invited us to join them on a trek downtown to the playground at Centennial Olympic Park. We decided to add to the adventure by taking MARTA - and then topped it off with a visit to the fountains. The train ride was a success. The walk t0 the playground was longer than we anticipated and it was way hotter than I would have expected. The kids (mine at least) were grumpy and hot by the time we got there and Evan just flat-out refused to play at first. Exhibit A:

They all eventually explored the playground a little bit, but really just wanted to get to the fountains. That was definitely the highlight of the trip. My kids were cute and all - and they loved the fountains - but Marie wins the prize for cutest toddler ever. She was clearly the favorite of everyone out there. She made fast friend and experienced Just Pure JOY. She was not phased when the water came right up and hit her in the face. She just rolled with it. Cutest. Thing. Ever. I wish I had better pictures. I thought I had better pictures. But, alas, they are not great. It was just really hard to capture the delight...without getting all wet and ruining my camera, that is. Maybe Shay got some better ones. If she posts any, I'll link to them.

The only dark spot of the day (aside from Exhibit A, above) was that Pressley got a blister on her foot running around in the fountains with her crocs on. It really did look painful. Shay insisted that Pressley ride in Marie's stroller and she would carry Marie. As guilty as I felt about that scenario, I took her up on it since I could not see my way to carrying all 36 pounds of toddler all the way back to the MARTA. I felt even more guilty when Marie cried all the way back to the train..."Miiiiine"...as she pitifully pointed to her occupied stroller. Bless her heart. She's not even two. She can't be expected to grasp sharing yet and there was Pressley riding in her stroller.

Granny

As many of you are aware, my sweet Granny is in the hospital. Last Monday, she began experiencing such severe abdominal pain that the nurse at her retirement community called my mom to say she thought Granny should see a doctor. Mom took her first to urgent care, and then to the ER at DeKalb Medical Center. Tests revealed that she had an intestinal blockage. Her doctor/ surgeon ultimately determined that she would need surgery to remove the blockage after a couple days of failed attempts at non-surgical intervention. The doctor had wanted to avoid surgery because of Granny's age. This would be a major surgery and my Granny is 88. Nevertheless, the doctor determined last Wednesday that surgery was the only option, so at 7:30 last Thursday morning, Granny had surgery to remove the blockage. Surgery revealed a build-up of scar tissue (from prior surgeries) that had wrapped around the intestine over time, so the doctor removed the scar tissue to relieve the intrusion that was causing the pain and blockage.

After the surgery, Granny was placed in ICU to begin her recovery. For the first couple of days, she struggled mostly with hallucinations, confusion, and frustration, but very little pain or physical repercussions. Sunday, though, my mom noticed what she described as a gurgling sound in Granny's breathing that concerned her. The doctor assured my mom and Aunt Lynn that the breath sounds were normal and that blood oxygen levels were good and there was no cause for concern. So, we had been waiting patiently for Granny to be moved from ICU back to a regular room to complete her hospital stay before returning to her apartment.

However, this morning, my mom received a call from the ICU saying that Granny's condition had deteriorated overnight and asking mom's permission to place Granny on a ventilator. Mom told the nurse that Granny had a living will, but the nurse (or doctor - not sure which) assured mom that this was an interim measure toward recovery and was not a circumstance that would invoke the living will. So, mom agreed to have Granny placed on the vent and hurried to get to the hospital.

Granny has been mostly non-responsive today, but has been conscious at times. Mom has been able to ask her questions and get her to answer with a nod or shake of her head, though she can't talk due to the placement of the ventilator.

All that said, I would just ask you to pray for my Granny. She is a woman of strong faith and lots of spunk, so I trust that she is going to make it through this. And, I know God answers the prayers of His people, so my family would greatly appreciate your prayers.

Pray specifically:

1) That Granny will be as comfortable as possible while she is on the vent;

2) That the doctors will be able to get her strong enough that the vent may be removed;

3) That Granny will be restored to her former state of good health and nimble mind and social enjoyment;

4) That God would comfort my mom (Nancy) and her sister (Lynn) regarding the decisions they have made affecting Granny's care; and

5) That Granny and the rest of the family will feel the presence of God moving and working among us during this difficult time.

Happy Birthday Evan!

Today is my sweet first-born's birthday. As I noted in my last entry, it is his 5th! His FIFTH! Since the trip to the lake was cancelled due to my Granny's hospitalization, we have been able to just chill today. Which is awesome. This morning, we decided to take in a family movie, so we saw an 11 o'clock showing of Night at the Museum. We ate popcorn during the movie, and then promptly followed it up with lunch at Chick-fil-A afterwards. Lunch was Evan's pick and he wanted to go somewhere with a playground. After lunch (and a sufficient amount of time on the CFA playground), we came home for naps (Pressley's and mine).

Corin woke me up to tell me that he was thinking of taking Evan to the pool and asking if he should wake Pressley. Pressley has not been getting sufficient naps lately because of all the birthday festivities, so I advised against this and told him I would bring her to the pool when she woke up if she wanted to go. Apparently, Evan did not hear this conversation and came in 5 minutes later to wake her up. She was a grump, but eventually turned it around in time to have fun at the pool. I was more than happy to skip the pool today to go to the grocery store. It has been unseasonably cool here lately, and our pool was undergoing some repairs and had no water in it until this past Thursday. The combination of those circumstances told me that the water would be too cold for my enjoyment. I did make a brief cameo at the pool to deliver the camera and tell Pressley that it is not ok to dive into the baby pool, which is only one foot deep. That child!

We are planning to make rice crispy treats after we grill hamburgers and cook up some baked beans (another Evan fave) for dinner. Evan had a rice crisy treat at school a week or so ago and acted as if it was the most novel invention he'd ever seen. I asked with astonishment if I had never made them for him before and he said no (which is, of course, true because I try to keep our home free of sweets for my own good; when they are here, I have zero willpower to resist them and have been known to sneak candy from a pumpkin or an Easter basket after bed time on occasion; so it is best not to bring them into the house). Apparently, this has been weighing on him ever since and he has insisted that making rice crispy treats would make his birthday just perfect.

Splashing under the mushroom in the "baby pool"

Jumping off the diving board

Pressley playing with her buddy, Cary

Enjoying birthday rice crispy treats ("Mommy, when you cut them, can you cut them much bigger than the ones we get at school?"

More photos under the May 09 link.

My baby is growing up

Yesterday was Evan's FIFTH birthday party. Where does the time go? I have no idea. It seems like no time since 5 years ago today, we were at my Granny's house to celebrate my cousin Matt's birthday and I was in labor. Corin and I went to Longhorn for a quick dinner, where we timed contractions. When the waitress came to the table after we'd finished eating, she asked when I was due. Corin and I both looked at our watches. Apparently a disconcerting answer for waitress. She was back in a flash with our check. We went on to Granny's because the contractions were not all that close together or all that painful. But, that all changed while we were there. The contractions became more painful until I finally pulled Corin into the kitchen and told him that he needed to either take me to the hospital or take me home because I was done doing labor in front of people - even if those people were family. Anyhow, to make a long story short, we went to the hospital straight from Matt's birthday celebration and Evan was born at 6:19 the following morning.

Now he is practically grown! He is such a sweet and handsome young man. He had such a good time at his rock climbing party with his friends. It was a good day. There are many, many more pictures under the "Evan's birthday party" link.

How many posts have I titled "Another Busy Weekend" ?

This was another big weekend for us. First, Evan had his pre-k graduation on Friday afternoon. What a big boy. He and his classmates were so proud. We are amazed at all he has learned. He and his friends showed off several of their alphabet songs and a couple of poems; they spelled all the numbers - up to ten - and counted to thirty in English and French. He has one more week of school, but graduation was really a fun event.

Pretend you just heard his teacher call out "Evan McCarthy"

Saturday was the last soccer game of the season, so we had a nine a.m. game, followed by an end of the year party at Fellini's where the kids were awarded trophies for their participation. I don't know if Evan will want to play soccer again next season - he was losing a little interest as time went by this season - but we enjoyed participating and meeting a great group of kids this spring.

I wish I had a photo of him with his trophy, but I can't be the perfect photog mom all the time. Plus, his camera-happy Poppy wasn't able to make this game....

Saturday was also Pressley's friend Benjamin's birthday party. His party was at his grandparents' house and featured a Spiderman jumpy house. It was big fun as well. Helen's prayers for no rain were more-or-less answered. The kids got plenty of jumping time, they ate lunch, and had just finished cake and ice cream when the rain came. Russell had to deflate the bounce house when the rain started, and Pressley was most concerned and kept returning to the window over and over to ask: "What happened to the jumping bean, mommy? What happened to Spiderman?" (She called it the jumping bean, I guess because the 1st jumping place we frequented was called the Little Jumping Bean.)

Pressley and Benjamin inspecting the fallen bounce house through the window...

Finally, last night, the kids went off to GranNan and Poppy's and we hosted a shower for our good friends, Jim and Laurie, who are getting married next month in Highland, NC. We are very excited about their wedding and we were happy to have some close friends over to celebrate their happiness.

Whew!! Next stop... Evan's birthday weekend/ Memorial Day weekend. After that, I think I might hibernate.

No. I swim like this!

A brief update on swim lessons: Pressley is doing great.

Week 1: well... you heard about week 1.

Week 2: Pressley ran into the locker room as soon as we arrived, then had to be coaxed, bribed and threatened into the pool. Pitched short little fits, but eventually gave in and did fine once she was in the water.

Week 3: Pressley very calmly walks over to the pool, flicks her shoes off and waves/ yells to her instructor, who is already in the pool, "Hiiiiii Keithan! I not cry and fuss today." And then she runs over to the edge, flips onto her tummy and shimmies into the water. Completely different child. Oh, and before we went to swimming on Wednesday, we had lunch with GranNan. When we were in line to order our food, I noticed P had her arms straight out in front of her with one hand on top of the other. I asked if that is what she does with her hands when she swims. She quickly folded her hands behind her neck, threw her head back and said, "No. I swim like this!" I think she is referring to floating on her back. Whatever. I'll take it.

I am very grateful for this turn-around. There was so much potential for disaster early on. I'm now considering signing up for an additional 8 lessons over the first 2 weeks of June. I am now much more optimistic that she might actually be able to keep herself afloat this summer with a little additional instruction, and that would just make all the difference in my comfort level at the pool for the remainder of the summer. (Don't worry mom, I will not get too comfortable...I know I still have to watch them.) Problem is, we can request Mr. Keithan again, but there are no guarantees we would get him again. And who knows if a different instructor would yield an entirely different result.

(Footnote re Mr. Keithan: He is a very quiet and gentle young man who seems to be absolutely great with Pressley and Benjamin. I don't believe he has ever spoken a word to the mommies, but if he's that good with my kid....I'm ok with that. He's not rude. I think he's just very, very shy.)

Stay tuned. I may have two swimmers by the time we head off on vacation at the end of June. And that would be fantastic.

See, I don't just stand around baking cakes, y'all

My race was this morning. Shay picked me up at 7:45 and we drove to her office to park and walk over to Atlantic Station. I thought we had plenty of time, but we had underestimated the crowds. And, I registered too late to get my race number in the mail, so we had to go to the registration table to get my number. And then we had to stop at the porta-potties because we were both nervous what-with-all-the-hydrating. So, we ended up pretty far back from the starting line at the beginning of the race. In fact, I think they actually called the start of the race as we were going into the potties. Once we got to the official starting line (maybe 10 whole minutes after the clock started ticking), we started running. This was easier said than done. My mercy, there were a lot of people. Saunterers. It was not easy to pass the saunterers. They typically walked about 5 abreast.

If it were up to me, I might have thought, "Well, this was a nice little goal I set for myself, but I guess it was not meant to be today." But, Shay was a machine. A real "warrier in pink" so to speak. She was determined to help me meet my goal, so she kept finding little spots on the sidewalk or grass that we could use to scoot around people. Then she started just asking people (very politely) to let us through and she would bust a little hole out for us to run through. This is one of the reasons I knew ahead of time I needed a friend to run with me and keep me on task. She was awesome.

Long story short: I DID IT ! ! ! I ran the whole race. All 3.2 miles. There was a point, after we had run 17th street to Spring and up the giant (ok, maybe not giant) hill on Spring, down 14th to W. Peachtree, and had started back across the 17th Street bridge that we thought we were nearing the finish. I appeared that we just had to go a little further and turn into Atlantic Station. What we quickly realized that people were not turning right into Atlantic Station, they were going all the way up 17th Street to IKEA and then doubling back before turning left into Atlantic Station. All that may mean nothing to you, but the point is, we thought we were very near the finish, but we still had very nearly a mile to go as best I can figure looking back on it. At that point, I wanted to say I couldn't do it. At that point, I wanted to complain that the ball of my left foot was numb (OK, I did complain that the ball of my foot was numb). At that point, I just wanted to quit and walk the rest of the way. But my cheerleader said all the right things and the thing that is in me that made me want to do this in the first place said to me, "You are NOT going to report to all those people rooting for you that you almost did it or that you ran most of the way. Nope. You are going to do this." And I DID!

Thanks to all of you who were rooting for me, praying for me, thinking of me this morning. I know it was "only a 5k", but for me it was huge. My running future is still uncertain. I don't love it. But, I don't hate it as much as I always thought I did. So, we'll see. For now, I'll just bask in the contentment of having accomplished my goal. Yeah ME!

I promise I'll go back to writing about my kids soon. Later, when I'm less self-involved....

OK, I'm gonna let y'all in on it

I have not mentioned this in my blog before because I wasn't entirely convinced that I would (or could) do it. But here it is. I am "running" in the Susan Koman Race for the Cure on Saturday. I have been "training" since early February. I have trained almost exclusively on a treadmill at the gym. I have run on the street exactly 3 times. The first time, I went about .7 miles. The second time, I went about 1.2. And today, I ran about 2.1. Each of those times, my total distance was about 2-1/2 miles, but I'm only counting the distance I "ran" without stopping.

I'm letting you in on this now, because I figure it will give me an added layer of motivation to keep "running" if I know that the 4 of you who read this blog on a semi-regular basis will be wondering if I did it. So, now I've committed to reporting back to you after the "race." Also, if any of you are a praying people, I would appreciate a quick prayer on Saturday morning. I know God has more important things to do, but I have been taught that God cares about the small stuff too, so perhaps you'd just offer one up on my behalf.

(Note: you have seen/will see many quotation marks in this post. I am sorry if you find that annoying, but I have many friends who are real runners...They have run half marathons - or full ones; They can run fast enough to pass an old lady with a walker; They run many many miles every week... I don't want anyone to think that I am comparing what I am trying to do with what they do. Thus, the quotation marks.) All I'm trying to do is become a bit more fit and healthy, set a good example for my kids, prove to myself that I can do this if I set my mind to it, and maybe even lose few pounds along the way. I do not intend to ever become a "runner." And, while I entertained the notion very VERY early in my "training" for this "race", I do not ever intend to run a half marathon. God bless those of you who can!

Anyway, Saturday I will attempt to run 3.2 miles without stopping. One of my friends, Shay, has graciously agreed to run it with me. Shay is not a runner per se. Perhaps she once was, but now she only runs as part of her much larger exercise regime. She is uber-fit (despite what she thinks about the size of her back-side) and a bit of a fitness fanatic (and I mean that in the nicest was possible). I say all that to say, she could run this thing in about half the time it will take me - or less - with absolutely no additional training. So it is very kind of her to agree to run with me and be my cheerleader.

Now, in the same spirit as the open letter the Bush daughters wrote to the Obama daughters when Obama took office, I shall write an open letter to Shay in preparation for the "race" on Saturday.

Dear Shay:

Just a few disclaimers, provisos, and caveats as you prepare to "run" with me on Saturday.

1) You should not expect much from me in the way of conversation other than grunts, nods, and the occasional one-word answer. Therefore, you should feel free to bring your i-pod and just look over occasionally to shout things like "You got this!" or "Just a little farther up this hill!" or "No one has ever died running 3.2 miles before!" Now, whether that last one is true or not, I will likely need to hear it sometime after the 2 mile marker since that will be the point where I am in uncharted territory if I am indeed still chugging along.

2) You should not be alarmed by the color of my face during this "race." It gets that red every time I run. Really. Every time. Even my new rosacea medicine does nothing to help the situation. It is really quite embarrassing, but that is just one of my many blessings when it comes to exercise. Perhaps someday, when I am more fit, it will get better, but I am not holding my breath...I'm certain that would not help!

3) I have already mentioned this, but please recall that I am the slowest "runner" alive. I realize that you could walk faster than I run and/or you could literally run circles around me. It will not hurt my feelings if you should decide to run circles around me just so you feel like you are getting your work-out in for the day - I suspect you will be skipping some favorite class at the gym to do this with me (for me). Just don't forget to occasionally shout the encouraging phrases - especially if an old woman with a walker passes me!

4) If I do die (Sorry Mom. I know you don't think that is funny...), tell my kids I love them and I was trying to do a good thing for them.

Thanks again for agreeing to do this with me (for me). See you Saturday!

Amy

Flattery

I found out a while back that a friend that I used to work with at Powell Goldstein follows my blog. I was flattered. I am always flattered when I find out that someone uses a few minutes of their valuable time to read about little-ole-me and my family. Apparently, though, when said friend read my post about my Buzz cake and the Easter cake, she got an idea (maybe even - in the words of Sid the Science kid - a super dooper ooper schmooper big idea).

You see, she has this friend who is pregnant. Her friend is expecting a boy and is planning a Dr. Seuss-themed nursery (probably using the cute, cute new pottery barn kids line of Dr. Seuss linens). And thus, my friend was planning a Dr. Seuss-themed baby shower for her friend. Her problem: bakeries don't do Dr. Seuss cakes (probably for the same reason they don't do Buzz Lightyear cakes... simply not popular enough to warrant paying for the license...) So, she contacted me and asked if she could hire me to make the cake for the baby shower. I was SOOO flattered. You have no idea. So I agreed. I worried that I would disappoint her, but I agreed. In the end, I think the cake turned out pretty cute. I hope they were pleased with it. I sure did have fun making it. And, I think I am even becoming a bit more efficient.



As an aside, after my friend came to pick up the cake, Corin started doing some calculations in his head as to how many cakes I would have to make per year to replace the attorney salary I gave up a year and a half ago. I think you can guess that there are not enough weeks in the year for me to make that many cakes (though he had quite grandiose notions of my becoming quite the little cake factory). Luckily, in reality, my sweet hubby realizes that I have a much higher value to him as I stay home to raise our children (and run errands and generally make his life easier) than the value of the salary I gave up to do it. Right, honey? RIGHT??