On the mend

Anna Kathryn is feeling much better!  Thanks for all of your prayers and well-wishes.  They definitely helped, because she was well on the way to recovery by Saturday afternoon.  We decided that a quiet weekend at home was the best thing for her, so here are a few snapshots from the weekend.  

Of course, the fact that Anna Kathryn was roaming around the house gnawing on a cold pancake after a very short nap was not one of my finer parenting moments...

I did feed her a real lunch after this.  Note that jammies were the preferred outfit for much of the weekend!

Are we having fun yet??

Famous last words

 A couple of nights ago, Mark and I were chatting before bed and I casually mentioned that winter was practically over and weren't we lucky that Anna Kathryn had been so healthy this winter.

Clearly, the wrong thing to say.  

The flu germs hanging around our neck of the woods heard this comment and decided to show us who's boss. 

Poor Anna Kathryn is down with a bad case of the flu, a double ear infection, and really icky, gunky eyes.  Poor baby spent most of today in my lap running a big old fever, sucking on her towel, and dozing in my arms.  She even watched TV for a bit (I put in "Annie," a childhood favorite of mine. I figure this is a good time to watch it before AK catches on that it's a movie about orphans and asks questions I still need to figure out really good answers to.)  This is unprecedented behavior for her, since usually she is too busy to do a lot of cuddling.  Well, except at nap and bedtime.  She normally does want to sit in my lap and read books, but today had zero interest in her books.   It was all about Mama's lap!

I feel so bad for her, because she obviously felt so bad.  But the cuddling -- well, I'll take that any day!!  Please pray that Mark and I do not succumb to the Plague!  (I did get a flu shot but he didn't.)  And, that Anna Kathryn is on the mend soon.  

The Whirl of Gaiety

 Back in December when I went back to work, that first week I actually thought, "This working mom gig isn't so bad.  I can juggle it all-- no problem!"  I think that was on day three, which was the first day I didn't break down in tears at some point on the way to or from work.  (I may also have had a wee glass of wine, which is relaxing but apparently makes me overconfident.)  

So. Three months later and I am still juggling just as fast as I can.  Some weeks go better than others.  Sometimes my house is cleaner than others, and some weeks I make it through more of the to-do list than others.  I struggle with feeling a certain amount of performance pressure at work and many days wish I just didn't have to deal with it.  

If I could, I'd stay home full-time with AK in a split second.  I know I'm a good mom, and it's what I truly love to do.  I struggle with the fact that by the end of a long and busy workday, there's just not as much of me-- or the best of me-- left to give my family.  But it truly isn't possible for us right now (and given the state of the economy it might never happen) so I am trying hard to be content right where I am.  You know, that whole "attitude of gratitude."   So I'm:

• Thankful that AK has a good daycare to go to where she feels comfortable and happy.  
• Thankful that we have a home, and jobs, when so many have lost theirs.
• Thankful that I do work that is meaningful and that I have wanted to do since I was little. Although when I was little I thought librarians got to read books all day and that was their whole job.  
• Thankful that when I've had a tiring or icky day I get to go home to my husband and daughter.  There has not been a bad day that wasn't totally improved by seeing AK grin and giggle when she sees me. 
• Thankful that Mark shooed me out of the house for a few hours on Saturday for a mom's day out.  I treated myself to a pedicure, since we have had flip-flop weather all weekend, and  did some shopping at one of my favorite stores.  I took advantage of a deal they ran this past week (I donated 2 pairs of pants, which they will donate to Goodwill, and got $15 dollars off of each of 2 new pairs of pants), and a coupon I had and got some new things for spring and summer.  Mark had given me a gift certificate for Christmas so this was a chance to put it to good use.  I had sooooo much fun and came home feeing rejuvenated.  

So. I'm trying.  I know every mom feels stretched and I am one of many who work outside the home but still strive to be an effective and Godly homemaker, wife, mother as well.  

Our calendar continues to be busy.  In addition to a demanding workweek ahead for me, we just had our six-month post placement visit today.  

All went well, although I should remember by now that our homestudy agency always has us write a super-long report answering many questions about our lives, and then we will answer all of those same questions in person for the social worker.  The HS office never forwards our paperwork to her either, so I end up giving her a copy.  I am also never told in advance to have x number of copies of various documents and then spend a lot of the visit pawing through an expanding file looking for the one document that seems to have gone missing, and then find it tucked into one of our document booklets.  Sigh.

It was a good visit overall and I think our SW really enjoyed meeting AK in person after all these years of meeting with us throughout the adoption process.   I certainly talked my head off-- our SW is a truly sweet lady and my tendency to overshare goes into overdrive at these sorts of things.  I also did some extra housekeeping this weekend just in case although at this point we've adopted our child and surely a little extra dust won't change that.  I've been trying to whip our perpetually messy guest bedroom/office/scrapbook room (aka "The Pit of Despair") into shape and get to the bottom of a huge pile of filing so this gave me incentive to actually do this.  

We enjoyed the beautiful weather the past few days-- sunny, temps in the 70's-- and are bracing ourselves for the next little remnant of winter coming our way this weekend.  This weather pattern is exactly like it was in March of 2003 when we got married.  The weekend before the wedding was gorgeous, and then the day of it was 50 degrees and poured rain all day.  All that to say our 6th wedding anniversary is Sunday, six months anniversary of Gotcha Day is on Monday, and my mom, sister, and nieces are coming for an impromptu visit this weekend.  

Oh, and now that we are back on Daylight Savings Time I want to stay up til midnight and suddenly can't seem to get dinner on the table before 6:45, because it's so sunny outside.  

Whew!   I think this post may have ended up being a mini-therapy session.  I feel better now.