a.rose

My niece Annibelle is going in to have heart surgery again tomorrow.  You may remember reading about her last heart surgery , in March.  She is just over a year old, and needs to have another surgery.  If you have any extra prayers or well wishes, please send them her way. I know I am, Annibelle. (And praying for you too, Pete and Mindee.) Love you guys. After her surgery in March.

Yes, it's happening.  It's official.  It's final.  Devin starts work sometime in the middle of March at the University of Nebraska.  They will pay to have us come out and look for a house, we get five days to do so.  We just realized that if Devin wants me to come with him, it had either be right away (I am not looking for a house with a toddler any closer to my due date than the next few weeks will afford), or it will have to be in, say, February, at which time we'll have to look for a house with a newborn and a toddler.  Not to mention the 8 hour drive with toddler and newborn.  Yippee!  So what this means is that I am getting a little stressed.  It'll be fine.  More updates later.

Hallie has started getting her second set of molars.  That means my "baby" only has three teeth left to go!  She ate carrots today.  And by "ate" I mean, she chewed and then actually swallowed.  Up until now, she has chewed, and then spit out.  It's funny because you can tell she really wanted to eat them, but for some reason she'd never swallow.  Today, she swallowed. We only have two days left to decide where we're going to move.  What if I just don't want to?  I keep telling Devin we should just write both places down and pull them out of a hat. 60 or so more days until baby Hanna comes. I've gained 20 pounds, and my back is grateful every day that Hallie only weighs 20 pounds, because she has started a lovely new habit of just plopping herself down when she doesn't want to walk anymore.  Say, the parking lot of the library. In a puddle, in the rain.  Usually screaming.  Yeah, that doesn't attract attention. I get to se...

We are so proud of Dr. Rose (that's Devin...) who has officially been offered a tenure track faculty position at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (that means he would be a professor).  It is a really good opportunity, he would have two labs, funding for the first two years to pay for his graduate students, and they would help him find the money for grants for his first few years.  Also, apparently, he'd have a large and fancy corner office. The other job, as some of you know, is in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  There he would be working in industry, for General Mills, researching how to increase the amount of fiber in their cereals without changing the flavor and texture.  General Mills has a goal to have "whole grain" as the first ingredient listed on their ingredient statement, which is a pretty neat goal, and the only cereal company that is working towards that (as of right now.) So, we feel a little bit stuck between a pillow and a soft place.  Devin's life...

Last night Hallie was in full on destruction mode.  Not unusual.  But I was tired of it.  Most of her toys were in time out, and I had to keep taking other things away that she somehow got into her little hands. So I said, rubbing my eyes, "Hallie, could you please not destroy something for the next two minutes?" She looked at me very solemnly and said, "Try." I guess that's all I can ask for.

"I think Annibelle is sad." - In unison "So, it's just us now guys. What should we do?"  - Baby Jill "Wait, Jill.  Annibelle is coming back." - Baby Emily "Don't worry, I'll hold onto Jill so she stays on the couch." - Hallie "Step off. I can take care of myself." - Baby Jill "Don't worry guys. I've still got her." - Hallie "I like yogurt.  Yum.  TASS - ee"  - Hallie **I know, I know -  our camera is struggling.  Does anyone have any recommendations for a good camera for people who just want to take a few pictures now and then?

Hallie's first ride on an elevator, at the Indianapolis Museum of Art.  I was impressed with this museum, not least of all because it was completely free. Hallie hanging out with her Pappy and GramB.  They are pretty much rock stars in her world. GramB with Baby Jill (Hallie's cousin) and Hallie.  You know GramB could not get enough of these kinds of snuggles. As evidenced by the picture of GramB with Hallie and Baby Emily. Me with baby Jill, and Mimi with Hallie. A little baby swap, if you  know what I mean. This is a classic of Uncle Pete and Baby Annibelle.  We all love those Stinky Feet!!! And last but certainly not least (because it is one of my favorite pictures of Hallie, to date.) Hallie hugs Baby Jill.

We have a really great landlord (seeing it written out like that makes the term seem kind of... outdated to say the least, doesn't it?) named Frank.  He's retired and he and his wife just take care of these properties to keep themselves busy and out of trouble.  I think he owns 5 duplexes on our street, and they're all really cute. Well, that's why I live in one of them.  He's a grandfather, and every time he comes over to do whatever I need him to do, we always talk about social issues, economic issues, political issues, religious issues, etc., and it's neat to have his insight and to hear his thoughts.  Oh, and Hallie absolutely adores him.  We saw him and his wife at the library one night, and while his wife was talking to Devin and I, Frank let Hallie pull him all over the library so she could show him things.  (When she gets excited, she just likes to find random things and point at them like she knows what they are... it's pretty cute.)  Now, eve...

I've had that phrase tumbling around in my brain ever since my senior year Etymology class.  I finally get to dust it off the shelf and use it.  And I'm mostly completely ignoring the fact that I might not be using it correctly, because I may never come this close again and maybe now it can relax and just be a forgotten tidbit I learned in high school long long ago. I finished the quilt!! Ha ha, yes, that's what this is about.  I finally finished that quilt that I started when I was pregnant with Hallie in the Netherlands to keep myself from going insane.  (I truly would have.  The place we lived in was smaller than the hotel room Devin and I stayed in last week. I am not exaggerating.  Add to that the forest, the lack of sunshine, the constant rain, the fact that I saw no one for eight hours every day and that the nearest town was a mile away... I'm not complaining, it was a lovely experience - but that's why I took up quilting.)  And of course, as ...

My sister just posted on her blog a list of things that she is afraid of, and I had been thinking of writing a post about Daylight Savings Time and how it ruins my life every six months, and then I realized that the turning of the clocks for Daylight Savings Time is one of those things I am afraid of.  I am afraid that I will turn the clock the wrong way and be late for everything for a day.  I am afraid that Hallie will never get back on to her sleep schedule and keep waking up at five every morning (every morning since Sunday morning when we made the switch... sigh.)  When I hear her little cry piercing through my sleep, my heart stops and my stomach sinks into the vicinity of my colon and I think "Why do we mess with time?" Why do we mess with time?  (I do actually know why we do it, I just mean, like the big WHY.  As in throwing my hands up, and my head back towards the heaven and shouting - WHY do we mess with time?  See how dramatic that is?) So ...