a.rose

--------------------------------------------------------> Whenever I post a link to my blog on Facebook, it always wants me to use a thumbnail.  I finally got frustrated enough with that, and I decided to create my own thumbnail. Hence, the new sad little picture of a flower that you see off to the side there. I showed it to Hallie, and she wanted me to make a flower for her. Then she demanded more! and more! To keep myself interested I explored all the different brushes the extremely complex PAINT program has to offer.  I present to you, my masterwork. The brown one was first, and at that time I thought it would be the only one.  Then came the green, then the purple, red, orange, and last was blue.  I think it's pretty clear I came into my skills as the hour progressed, wouldn't you? Please direct yourself to the link below labeled "Post a Comment" to leave notices of interest for purchasing this item. Allow 6-8 weeks for delivery.  You

There are many upsides to having a surgery.  The first thing I noticed was: - A milkshake whenever I wanted one. Following along shortly thereafter I noted additional perks: - A nap whenever I wanted one. - A life of ease and luxury. - Getting to play Super Mario World on the Super Nintendo as much as I wanted. - Friends bringing brownies. - I haven't changed a single diaper in six full days. I figured out the downsides pretty quickly too, though. - It hurts. - You can't hold your babies - The pain meds make you take a nap whether you want one or not. - When you are on these kinds of meds and you get a migraine, you can't take anything else, and it still hurts. - Mario gets old after you die on the same level ten times in a row because you can't play right. - Your mother wasn't lying when she said too much ice cream and brownies will make you sick. - I would gladly change a diaper every hour as a trade off for my own bowel issues being solved.

At 9 pm on Thursday Devin's parents had arrived, hugged the girls, and helped us put them to bed.  Then we all sat at the kitchen table, and I looked over my selection of fingernail polishes. I let Devin's mom choose the color: plush plum it was called, or something sassy like that.  I typically reserve the bold colors for my toenails, and paint my fingernails only light pink or clear.  But I was having surgery in the morning and if the people working on me knew nothing about me, well by golly, they were at least going to know that I have nice fingernails. At 11 pm on Thursday I took my last drink of water that I was allowed to have, and went to bed.  That night I had nightmares about the i.v. and the surgeon not listening to me when I tried to tell him that it hurt so badly because my arm was falling off. Heather woke up three times that night, an unusually high number, possibly because she was starving. I woke up at 6:30 on Friday morning, took a quick shower, braide

The surgery is tomorrow morning.  I went in and out of anxiety attacks all day today: Devin's parents are coming, he's been out of town all week, the house wasn't as clean as I wanted it, I didn't have enough milk pumped for Heather, etc and so on and so forth. His parents will be here any minute now, and Devin is gone again, but at least he took Hallie and Hanna so right now it is quiet around here.  Heather just woke up from a cat nap and is laughing as she looks up at me from my lap.  I am calm and relaxed for the first time today, and I find myself mostly concerned with the fact that my fingernails need attention and what if I forget to do them before the surgery?  For some reason I want them to look nice.  There is probably some deep psychological explanation for that, but whatever the reason I know if I don't get them done before I go to sleep tonight that is what will keep me from falling asleep. And so in an effort to keep my mind off my fingernails and

Because Hallie deserves a post of her own.  This is the only picture I have of her from recently though. So, that's sad.  It is from when we went to Wisconsin with Devin for his food science club trip.

Why be still when you can moooooooooooooooooooooove? If she were an animal, I'm pretty sure she'd be a squirrel.

of Heather Rose:   Peeved  Puzzled Peaceful Pensive

Ah, the fruits of a day's work well done. Almost.

Do you speak French?  Me neither. BUT I'm pretty sure this means "Really Red". Remember this post?   THIS is what I have been "trying on". More about what I think of it, later.  Also, a real picture, later. For now: It has been so much fun.

When I am sitting in the dark holding my babies and rocking slowly back and forth, sometimes I have really deep thoughts.  Sometimes I don't.  Sometimes I think about this one Simpson's episode I watched once where something happens, and then something else happens after that, but the important thing is that because of those earlier things happening this one character who I think is the police officer says, "Make sure to get some shots from the can's angle."  And it is really really funny because You know when you are talking to someone, and you want to tell them something funny, and so you start to, but then you realize that for them to know how funny it is you have to give them all the background info, and you realize it is going to take ten minutes to get through the whole thing, but you forge on anyway because this is a really funny thing you have to tell your friend, but two minutes in you realize that you are as boring as droopy asparagus on a hot day.  Y

I met with the surgeon today. Good news all around, except for one small detail. I was hoping they could put my iv in after I was asleep, but no.  Apparently the iv is how they administer the sleepy juice, so I will have to be wide awake when they do that. I am banking on the fact that maybe I just have collapse-y veins when I am in labor, and that all will be fine for this. I think I might look up my friendly anesthesiologists ' name just in case though, maybe get to know him a little so that it won't seem weird when I ask him, as a personal favor, to come to my surgery and put in my iv for me. Other than that minor detail everything sounded good, and so we're all set for Friday, in a week and a half. If you find yourself with a spare moment on that day, could you send a little thought my way? I mean, I am not real worried or anything, this is a simple procedure, but you know... just maybe cross your fingers that his hand won't slip? Thanks.

I found a list I like of books children should read or have read to them before they go to kindergarten.  It is from education.com and I am posting it here mostly for my own purposes, so I can keep track easier of what we've read together. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Da y by Judith Viorst Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock by Eric Kimmel or Anansi the Spider by Gerald McDermott  Bark, George by Jules Feiffer  The Berenstain Bears series by Stan and Jan Berenstain Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss A Chair for My Mother by Vera B. Williams Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault  Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type by Doreen Cronin Clifford the Big Red Dog by Norman Bridwell  Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judy Barrett Curious George by H.A. Rey Danny and the Dinosaur by Syd Hoff Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! By Mo Willems Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown Frog and Toa

There's a post that I have been meaning to write since Tuesday, but Devin was out of town all week and I had no real access to a computer or the internet until he got back.  Now he is back, and I was about to start writing it, but it is all about things I've learned lately as a mother.  It occurred to me that Mother's Day is in a few days.  And I felt too uncomfortably cliche - like, who do I think I am to be writing about being a mother just before Mother's Day?  Shouldn't I at least wait until the day?  And then who is going to want to read one more post about mothers?  And then there is the voice that says "Who cares, this is your blog, write what you want to."  And then a voice responds and says, "Yeah, but maybe I am kind of tired of hearing about mothers too, what with that time magazine cover and the uproar all over facebook and everything.  Maybe I don't want to be just another voice in all the madness trying desperately to c

When I was pregnant with Hanna, I found out I had an umbilical hernia.   I met with a surgeon, and he recommended surgery when I was done having babies, because he said there was a risk of it re-opening during a subsequent pregnancy, if I were to have more babies. And indeed, I did have more baby.  Let's spare ourselves the details and just say that it was painful.  If you need more than that, just think that it was a lot more painful than a paper cut, and probably a little less painful than jumping into the Grand Canyon without a net.  So, pain. In fact, Devin and I decided that it had to stop, and so we were planning on full steam ahead on the surgery, and we would just figure it out if we do decide to have more baby.  (Who knows anymore)  With that in mind I went to talk to my doctor about referring me to a surgeon here in Lincoln. She was more than happy to do so, and even called and set up the appointment for me.  While I was still at the appointment with her she wanted

Most fitting rooms are easy to find, by looking for a doorway with the words "fitting room" labeled above.  At the JC Penney here at our mall, in the section for young females, the fitting room is labeled differently.  Above the doorway it boldly says "Try It On Girls".  I like that. I've been trying something new lately. One of the people who inspired me to try said that to be fair you had to wear it in public five times before deciding how you felt about the whole thing. Today was my fifth time wearing it in public, and I'm pretty sure I feel great about the whole thing. The following is a list of some of the comments I've received while trying out my little experiment. - You look like a clown. - You look like a fourteen year old girl who got into her mother's makeup. - You look great - You're finally wearing it! - I wish I were brave enough to try wearing that. It isn't something I will wear every day, but I am find that i