Oh. I suddenly noted that it was made out to my maiden name. And the memo line said "Merry Christmas!" And it was from my grandma, who stopped sending gifts when I became an "adult."(I put this in quotes because I believe I had just finished high school, and therefore still had QUITE a bit of growing up to do, though I didn't believe so at the time.)
Then I saw it.
The date read "December 14, 1997."
Think it's too late to cash it?
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We got bunk beds this weekend. Sam helped Daddy build it. He must have said "Wow. This is such a cool bed!" a dozen times. It was no problem at all getting him to give the toddler bed to Anna. His toughest decision now is whether to sleep on the top or bottom bunk.
Anna seems to be adjusting to her new sleeping arrangement OK. The first night she spent two hours screaming before she fell asleep. I think she was confused because she was physically able to get out of bed and we kept putting her back IN. Plus the bed was a different place in the room.
Last night she cried for about 20 minutes. Then she woke me up at 5am crying her eyes out. When I walked into the room, I could NOT find her. I was pretty disoriented from being awakened from a deep sleep, but still. She sounded like she was in bed with Sam, but I knew she wasn't quite able to climb up into the bed yet. Then it finally clicked. She was UNDER the bed... in fact, all the way on the other side! I extracted her, got her calmed down and back to sleep, and staggered back to bed. I think she slid off the bed, tried scooting around to find a comfortable position, somehow scooted under the bunk, and then tried to sit up or crawl out. I'm sure that's when the situation became desperate since she wouldn't have known where she was or how to get out. Poor girl.
Tonight she went right down without a fuss, though. Three days of a new thing seems to do the trick with our kids.
Naps have been tricky also, but I think today she wouldn't sleep because she napped in the van while I was running errands. She got just enough to feel rested but not enough to carry her through the evening.
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I have two more knitting projects. And the deadlines are fast approaching. I just got an invitation to a baby shower this Sunday. Looks like a pair of quick-knitting booties are in order!
Then the following Saturday we have another baby shower. I was planning to make a sweater for that one. Not so sure that's going to materialize in time. Maybe I can stall by putting an I.O.U. in a card stating that the sweater will be ready when the baby is born (due date is July 6 or something like that). It worked for the Yarn Harlot.
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I finished Sam's baby book this weekend! I didn't fit the entire first year in it, but that's ok. It's full and now I can move on to faster styles of albums. I just discovered the Creative Memories Picfolio. In one night, 2 1/2 hours in fact, I got fourteen pages done. That's right. FOURTEEN. Well, I do have to admit -- I didn't write the who/what/where/when/how stuff in yet. But that's the ONLY thing left. I LOVE it. That's the way it's going to have to be in order for me to get these photos safely stored in albums. Unfortunately, I still have to complete Anna's baby book and the one I've started for Elli after her baby book was complete. But once I get those done, it's full steam ahead, baby!
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Two more days til summer vacation. Elli is very excited. I'm still not sure what we're going to do this summer. I had everything all figured up nice and tidy. Then I found out that the plans I had made were based on faulty data. So now I have no idea what to do. I'm usually a decisive person, but this has me completely stymied. I have to decide by Friday.
Basically, it boils down to two things. Do I send Elli to aquatic therapy every other week or not at all? If not at all, I can't do the Bible study I've been attending on Friday mornings but we are more free to do fun things because our aide is working Fridays this summer. But I have to figure out things to do. If every other week, do I really want to attend the Bible study so sporadically? But I'd only have to be creative with activities for us every other Friday.
The other dilemma is, do I spend money on a pool pass for the family when I know full well that I cannot take all three kids all by myself? Will I be able to get the help needed, or go often enough with Scott, to justify the expense? Or should I just invest in another fun backyard water toy and stay cool here at home?
Oh yeah. One more. I want Sam to take swimming lessons so he'll be more independent in the water. But how can I possibly manage that with one child in a wheelchair and enrolled in a two-morning-a-week camp most of the summer (which rules out the every-morning-for-2-weeks lessons), and the other walking enough to be extremely dangerous near water?
I had no idea managing the needs, wants, and schedules of five people could be so complicated. And they aren't even that old. Yet.
