It’s been a while in the making, but I finally had surgery today. It was an outpatient procedure, nothing too serious, but very draining. The husband was able to take the day off to go with me and the girls spent the day at daycare. The procedure went well and I should have results in 4 – 5 days. Unfortunately the recovery is about the same amount of time. It’s certainly  not easy to lay around and recooperate with two little monkeys who want to climb all over me. I’m very lucky to have a great husband and kind inlaws who are willing to pitch in and lend a helping hand.

Aunt Chriss and Jocelyn came over right after school and helped feed the girls dinner, give the girls baths, read books, and played. Aunt Chriss and B scolded me any time I tried to lift the girls, walk up the stairs or do anything too physical. They took care of everything which included exceptional care of me and the girls. I’m very, very lucky.

I was out of it from the anesthesia and extra medication so I was feeling pretty good until about 10:30 pm.  The meds started wearing off and I started feeling really lousy. I couldn’t get comfortable and couldn’t sleep. B had a pretty lousy night too as the Nuggets lost tonight’s game ending their playoff run. He was awfully grumpy, but I still think my night was a bit worse.

Tuesday is Open Family Jump Night at the Pump It Up by our house. There was a new gal working the door and her policy was 2 and under are free. Most of the time they charge us for 2 year olds, but this week our entire family was free. The girls bounced for an 1 1/2 hours and wore themselves out. You can’t beat that deal!

Gwyneth Grace loves to read. She can’t get enough! We have shelves and shelves of books and she’s read them all – many times! She loves to plop down on your lap and be read to. She’ll bring us book after book after book…  If we’re not reading to her she makes the stories up herself. She’s a sweet, smart, and quite clever little girl.

Um, G – your book is….oh, nevermind….

I’m so blessed to have a mom who is always willing to help me and spend time with her granddaughters. YaYa offered to fly out and stay with the girls so B and I could head down to Dallas for a quick trip. We were only gone for 2 days but we managed to squeeze in a lot of fun.

From the sound of it so did my mom and the girls! They went to a movie (Gwyneth’s 1st!), did lots of shopping, read every book in the house, did every puzzle, played with babies and blocks, went to Ryan’s birthday party, and even had dinner with my inlaws. That is one amazing YaYa and you have to applaud that level of energy! I’d like to think that’s where I get it from but even her weekend made me a bit tired just hearing about it.

We arrived in Dallas on Friday just in time to meet Jamie, Craig and Alicia for lunch at the Hacienda. We chowed down, had a few drinks, and lots of laugh. What fun! Jamie had to head to the airport to pick up her mom so the rest of us headed to a nearby patio to enjoy another cocktail and the sun. About that time it was snowing in Colorado making the outdoor patio even more lovely!

That evening we headed over to Hal and Ticey’s house and ordered in Hacienda for dinner. I was starting to get a bit nervous when Jamie told me her baby shower was going to be catered by the Hacienda – there are other restaurants in Dallas right? Of course she was just joking and it was just a coincidence we had all our meals there the first day. We were able to see Kennedy and Hudson and play with them before they headed off to bed. They are getting so big and are really fun. The Geyer’s have their hands full with twins! I’m glad we were able to visit with them even if it was just a quick trip.

Saturday morning we got up early and headed over to see my Uncle Ollie, Aunt Jenn, and cousin Zoie. I haven’t seen Zoie since she was about 6 months old and she’s going to be 5! Time sure does fly. She is a cutie and when Jenn explained to her that we were cousins she said “no, she’s too big!”. Her other cousins are 4 and 6 so being in my ummm-30’s does make me a bit big but cousins we are in deed. We grabbed BBQ’s tacos for brunch (gotta love Texas!) and spent a few hours playing rock band, memory games (which Zoie won!), and searching for toy bunnies she desperately wanted to show me. I can’t wait to bring my girls with us on our next trip. They’ll have so much fun with all the kiddos!

I must sadly report I have no pictures up until this point of my trip. So very unlike me. I finally pulled out my little camera for Jamie’s shower. Next time I’ll be better.

Yaya has arrived! I picked her up and off we went – running errands and having lunch at her favorite restaurant. We eat at Shlotsky’s everytime she visits. Sometimes more than once! No complaints here – we only seem to go there when she’s in town.

We picked the girls up from daycare – I didn’t keep them home with me because I had a lot of work calls this morning and knew they needed good naps for their visit with YaYa. They were so excited to see my mom! Annabelle showed her off to her friends at daycare and gladly walked out holding her hand. When I pick her up she runs around like a child gone mad – oh, behold the power of YaYa.

According to websters the definition of Irony is:

Poignantly contrary to what was expected or intended. example – madness, an ironic fate for such a clear thinker.

Someone at Websters must be following my blog to describe my current situation so pointedly. I got a healthy dose of irony thrown my way this week. I knew there was a big change a-comin’ and I was awaiting the big announcement. My company was bought, the merger approximately a year away, and the corporate headquarters will be located in Louisiana. The question has been looming in my head for months now – move or buy another couch? The irony here is thick. (Check back to my last post – oh, irony. How you taunt me!)

Louisiana will not be our family’s next adventure, but big changes are in store for us. I’ve been with my current company for over 9 years and all good things must come to an end. I say that with a bit of sarcasm, because I have endured many a stressful moment over the years and many of those years have not been good. I’ve been saying for the past 8 years “eventually someone is just going to buy us and I’ll get a package”. Well, it finally happened – I’m quite the visionary. Stick with me!

I know change is difficult for many people, but honestly it’s not so bad for me. I don’t like when things stay the same for too long. I thrive on the unknown, inconsistencies, adventure, challenges, etc. I can’t wait to see how things come together over the next year – B and I have BIG plans. Stay tuned….

We had originally planned to take the kiddos on a picnic at the park, but given the ever changing and always surprising Colorado weather we had to come up with a new plan. Jess, Andrew, and Hanna joined us for dinner and some play time back at our house because of the pesky rain. The big kids scarfed down lasagna and had a great time playing together. Lots of running, laughing, squeeling, and shrieking. Annabelle couldn’t get enough of baby Hanna and wanted to rub her back, tickle her feet, and made sure she had plenty of toys. Gwyneth was not quite as hospitable and although she was happy to rub Hanna’s back she wasn’t so sure about sharing. It seems our baby girl enjoys being the baby girl and has some work to do on sharing with little ones. I try to be compassionate though – she has always had toys snatched from her and seemed a little too excited to finally be the big girl who can do the snatching. We’ll be working on that! (I do let her steal toys from Annabelle on occassion just so she can feel the rush….shhhh….that’s our little secret! Don’t tell Annabelle!).

The big kids enjoying some berries and yogurt for dessert.

Miss Gwyneth had a rough night and was tugging at her ear. She even grabbed her ears in the morning and told us “Owwwie” so we wasted no time taking her to the doctor.  B picked her up early from daycare and ran her to the doctor’s office. I was worried she had an ear infection and with YaYa arriving on Thursday I didn’t want Gwyneth to be miserable or grouchy during her visit. She has inflamed ear drums, but not an ear infection…..yet. We were given a prescription for antibiotics and if she continues to tug on her ears we’ll need to get it filled. Poor girl. Inflamed ear drums do not sound any better than an ear infection.

When I arrived to pick Annabelle up from daycare she was MAD! She was on the playground and saw her Daddy picking up Gwyneth and was not happy that he didn’t take her home too. I tried to explain to her that Gwyneth was at the doctor and she said “I know, GG is sick in the ear!”.  I never thought to phrase it quite that way, but yes perhaps she is just a bit sick in the ear.

I am doing some major spring cleaning around my house. I get antsy ever few years and want to move. We’re going on 2 1/2 years in our house and I’m feeling the walls closing in on me. I guess I have some housing committment issues….  Since we’re settled in with a family now, there won’t be any big moving adventures any time soon (we’ve started looking for houses nearby because we do like our area, but no cross country moves for a while).

When I get antsy I start cleaning and organzing. I gutted the kitchen cabinets and shed some very old canned goods that were hidden way in the back (very old – I think some of those suckers have lived in 3 different states with us!). I rotated toys in the playroom – put away some neglected items and brought out some new toys that were saved from Christmas. I moved the baby dolls and most of the books to Annabelle’s room and moved the kitchen and some of the wood food to Gwyneth’s room. Hopefully these changes will keep them entertained for a while, at least until birthday’s arrive this summer. Hopefully seeing my perfectly organized cabinets and closets will keep me content for a while too. If not, I guess I’ll just have to get a new couch….that’s what B buys for me when I get too antsy. I should note, I have two brand new couches in my house right now so my moving anxiety has not gone unnoticed.