| Comments...and a smell |
Husbands have opinions about everything it seems. And I would prefer it this way to the alternative. When we were planning the suite at my parents house Lance even surprised himself that he had opinions - and strong ones at that - about linoleum! So the other day it wasn't the least bit surprising that he had an opinion and commented about my blog.
I mentioned in passing that I hadn't received many comments on my blog lately - which wasn't surprising to me since I don't think the posts have been that interesting, more updates, than things to converse about. He said something to the effect of, "Oh yeah, I'd been thinking we should make some changes/spruce up your blog a bit" I thought he was referring to the template - which I am getting tired of - but he meant the content. "Needs more photos... and more stories...maybe it's just cause I'm a guy..." I was catching his drift. Hummingbird has been boring as of late and needs a little umph. No problem. I've got a story - but it just so happens to be about my husband. I couldn't get a straight answer out of him if this was alright to post, and since he's not home right now, and since he thinks there needs to be more stories here...
We had just returned from the school's year end retreat. It was a good weekend, crazy snowy weather, no so great drive home - complete with Eva barfing all over herself and carseat - and now we were home... and hungry. I wanted Panago. Lance, uncharacteristically suggests we eat something we already have at home. I wait awhile longer and he concedes. So pizza is on order. Lance shovels the foot of snow off our sidewalk, comes inside and changes clothes. We're lounging in the living room and I smell something. A not really describable smell. Human... but gross. "Did someone poop?", I ask. Nope, all's clear. Hmmm. A couple minutes later comes another hesitant question, "Did you sweat a lot doing that shoveling?" (I mean, it was a huge job) "yeah, why? do I stink". And here is an important detail that you need to know - Lance does not stink. Hardly ever. It is a rare occasion when he does. I am more stinky than he is. No lie. So it was perplexing to me that this scent - this awful scent - could be coming from him. Then he reveals the source, "It could be my shorts..." a pair of innocent looking Nike basketball shorts... "they're not clean". And that statement needs to be unpacked - by "not clean" he means, these shorts have been worn for a whole tournament's worth of basketball games, stuffed into a duffel bag and finally emerged to sit on top of the laundry pile for a week. Oh gross! Shorts were changed, smell disappeared. "I guess I made a mistake" he said.
And of course, a photo for you all:
My dear husband being dorky when all I wanted was a decent photo of him. He looks like a really happy cheesy dad here.
And by way of updates -
I made a pie today. For me. I loved it. It just so happened we were having Jonnie (friend and Lance's intern) over for supper, so it did double duty and worked with ice cream as a good desert. But in all honesty it was a "kids-are-super-cranky-and-mama-needs-a-treat-and-if-there-was-a-cookie-in-the-house-she'd-eat-it-even-though-it'd-make-things-worse" kind of morning so I made myself a pie (delicious sugar-free apple pie, had a frozen crust so it was really easy, the filling was just apples, cinnamon and apple juice concentrate, made a crumble topping out of homemade sugar-free granola and butter)
Soon I will be having another slice as my evening snack. Yum.
Oh, and for supper to go with steak and salad I made garlic mashed potatoes. Lance gave them his hearty stamp of approval. Just potatoes, milk, BUTTER, garlic (powder), a few green herbs (just for the green flecks really), salt, pepper and parmesean cheese. We've got leftovers so I'm thinking of giving shepherds pie a try tomorrow.
bye for now.
Aimee |
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| catching up |
on down time. We are a worn out crew at the Odegard house. Our weekend was wildly full with wonderful events - grad banquet, ceremony, luncheon, church, baptism, baptism lunch, birthday supper... Today Lance had the day off and we laid low. Cancelled today's plans with Zipricks because the younger members of our family were especially feeling the over stimulation of the weekend. Eva was absolutely wild with frustration and intense restaurant filling screams last night at Gramp's birthday supper. Today I'm feeling yucky with a cold - that Lance and the kids are just getting over. I get sick so seldom that I don't do it very well.
But we have had a lovely day. It's finally warm here and our snow has (once again) disappeared. The backyard is dry enough to play in so we spent tonnes of time out there today. I'm sure I got new freckles! (my friend Pete, who is truly freckled disputes that I have freckles at all, but I do, they're just token summer ones and I like them). Lots of hockey. Racing. Car driving. Pine cone collecting. Snow stomping in the 2ft by 2ft section that we have left. And the highlight for the kids and I was finding ladybugs. The just loved watching them and I loved showing the kids them. Eva got to hold one and didn't even squish it. Later she found one all by herself and called us over to share in her discover. She says "ladybug" just perfectly, very cute. Lance barbequed burgers tonight (yes they were lentil/beef ones, half and half this time, consensus is that there were too many lentils, but still tasty) We ate our first meal of the season on the deck. It wasn't even chilly at all.
Now Lance has taken the kids to wash the car so I can have a little break before bedtime.
We have been gradually reclaiming the house after a LONG housecleaning hiatus. Walking in our living room with barefeet was getting yucky - and annoying, all those crums were just about enough to put me over the edge!
Speaking of the edge... I have been living there a lot lately. But am looking forward to little by little stepping further and further away from it. Having a husband who's home more now that school is done, and more rest, better health, realigned perspective, spring weather, getting outside, remember who has the whole world - including me, my worries, my family- in his hands, loosening my grip on the world (since he's got it anyway) will all help this moving in the right direction. I am hopeful. Today helped a lot.
Tomorrow I take Elijah up to Edmonton to have an after surgery check-up. He seems to be doing really well. No pain medication today or yesterday. He only complains during diaper changes or if he gets bumped in that sensitive area. Hoping that the doctor will say everything still looks good. It will be months before we really know.
Okay better wrap it up. One last thought - can you believe we have mosquitoes already!!!! Our snow just melted. Does that seem fair to you? We had our doors open a lot today, thinking that it was too early for bugs. We were wrong. I just killed one as I type. Jeepers (does anyone say that anymore?)
Hope you are well.
Aimee |
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| family |
This blog is seriously lacking pictures. Here is our family at the Lefse House (Lance's dad's scandinavian bakery/cafe). We head over there often for good company (Auntie Jane and Gramps are a huge hit with the twins). Mom took this photo when she and dad joined us there for lunch. You can see the new shirt Lance got me on his Minnesota trip and my newish haircut (well you can sort of see it, the back is quite sharply wedged) I love the haircut, but it can get a little annoying to have hair in my eyes when I'm crawling after toddlers and changing diapers as they roll and squirm.
Update on the day - we made it through to naptime!!! Glorious naps were had by all. Now it's lunch/snack time. And in the not too distant future - an hour and a half - Papa comes home to take us all to the year end BBQ at the school.
Well, that's probably the last blog entry for today.
Hope you are well.
aimee |
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| I'm Lovin' it |
After an early morning, no nap day including a cuddly post-surgery son and a cuddly post-only-child daughter (who, after Elijah arrived home, was very clear in her request that I put him away) Lance, having stepped out after the kids were in bed, returned with a gift. A big mac and a mcchicken - my favorites. He didn't know what I'd feel like eating, so I could have them both if I wanted. I cut them down the middle, poured a big glass of milk, sighed, and enjoyed the mayonaisey goodness of the McChicken, and the thousand islandy sloppyness of the Big Mac.
I know they're so bad... but they are so good too.
Elijah slept great but is feeling rougher today. The freezing and the big drugs have worn off. He often cries out "pokey, pokey" - which I interpret to mean he is in pain. He asks for smooches when I'm changing his diaper... I kiss his tummy, and hope that works. Generally he's himself, just more mellow, a little more whiny. I think Eva notices his special needs and the attention they get, and vies for her (more than) fair share more than usual. So that is rough. The day is sectioned off into chunks. We just had the Berenstein Bears chunk, now its the snack chunk...in the not too distant future is the nap chunk which I, more than usual am looking forward too.
I find I'm quite stressed about how Elijah will heal. I guess this makes sense since it didn't work last time. More specifically though I'm stressed about my role in the healing. How ridiculous is that? I don't heal. But perhaps I'm thinking that how I took care of him last time contributed to the failure. Maybe it did... They're not sure why it didn't work. I am determined to do my best (again) and trust that is good enough. Leave the healing to God and the body he designed to do that. So prayers about this would be appreciated too.
Thought I should send you over to Avey's blog to link to her photography blog (it's on her sidebar). She came over a couple of weeks ago and took photos of Elijah and Eva. They are incredible. Real treasures to have. Check them out. And if you're in the Camrose area be sure to hire her to capture the wonder and beauty of your kids!
Okay that's all for now.
aimee |
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| home |
he's home. safe and sound. cute as ever. Lance said Elijah was really upset when he woke up. Even his favorite animal didn't help. Even his Papa didn't help... still screamed and screamed - he is sometimes this way after naps too. But the orange popsicle that is still staining his cheeks did the trick. Lance said that was the first glimpse of the "real" Elijah, taste of popsicle...big smile.
so now we just wait and see how he heals up. we're grateful for your prayers.
aimee |
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| Funny Papa |
Lance took Elijah up to Edmonton at 5:30am. He called just after nine to say Elijah was in surgery. He also reported that Elijah was quite the character on the way into surgery. Lance had to wear a gown and hat and Elijah thought this was the silliest thing. Just laughing and laughing. All the nurses got quite the bang out of this. Lance talked to the doctor who assured him that they wouldn't quit until they were sure they got it perfect this time. We appreciate his determination.
I'm enjoying my time with Eva today.
Okay better go, she is a little wiggler and keyboard toucher in my lap.
aimee |
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| etc and surgery |
Hi folks. there has been much to blog about, but little time. We just got back from CLBI's yearend retreat and surprises of surprises, even with four of us in one room, it went really well. The kids, who haven't shared a room since they were 7 months, did great falling asleep with the other talking/fussing/crying. This is great news since when we move they will be sharing a room. It was nice to have this little preview to know that it will actually work and might not be a torturous process! I had lots of down time in the evenings after they went to sleep. Got to have some nice visits with Heidi (another staff wife) while our kids were sleeping. And got to read a lovely book Melanie sent, which arrived the day we were leaving. Perfect.
So now we're back and I must make mention of the weather. First, it was spring. It was 20 degrees celcius one day... all the snow was gone... now we have a foot and it is still coming down. It has been snowing and blowing all weekend. I think this is the biggest dump of snow we've had all winter. I'm hoping it will melt soon... They're predicting plus 4 degrees for Thursday. Well, that's heading in the right direction.
Elijah has surgery tomorrow. The same surgery he had last summer... It didn't work the first time. There was a five percent chance that it wouldn't work, and he fell into that five percent. Like before the surgery is quite simple, day surgery, on a sensitive area that won't be mentioned on the blog - for fear of his 15 year old wrath falling on me when he finds out I spelled out details of his privates on the world wide web!
I'm a little leery of travelling in this weather so we'll see how we work out the details of who accompanies Elijah. We'll keep you posted about how everything goes. Please pray for Elijah and the doctor tomorrow. The surgery is around 8 am. Thanks so much.
aimee |
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| Eva says |
Thought I'd share a few Eva tidbits.
The other day we needed an emergency pants change due to a fall in the mud on our way from the house to the van. I ran inside and grabbed the nearest pants. As I was putting them on Eva I said, "Okay let's put on your pants" and she corrected, "Actually Lijah's". Yes, they were actually Elijah's, I stand corrected.
The next day Eva and Lance were heading out to run errands. He was putting on her coat, saying, "Let's put on your coat", she looked up at him and said, "Actually sweater", yes, it was actually a sweater. She keeps us in line.
Recently she was talking about the weather. "Snow, " she said looking at the remaining snow in the backyard, "Snow raining down". She followed this immediately with, "Sun blowing on face". Pretty good substitutions I'd say.
Lance is away at a basketball tournament in Minnesota. Yeah, crazy. CLBI put a team together and I think they're going to have a blast. The left yesterday afternoon and drove through the night. They play tonight at 7:30 and then a couple more times tomorrow. We have special guests arriving tomorrow and the kids are going to be pretty excited when they see who's walking in the door!
Have a lovely day.
Aimee |
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| One |
We are delighted to announce that in late September - the 29th according to the ultrasound - we will be having ONE baby. Currently our baby is actually quite cute and was kicking it's long skinny legs and rolling around when we saw it today. Incredible to actually get to see our little one. We got a photo but it is soooo bad. You can see a head and a body - no face, no limbs, no fingers... so I won't bother posting it. You'll just have to take my word for it that what we saw on the screen actually was beautiful. Everything looked fine so that is wonderful too.
I better get to bed, but thought you'd like to know.
We are breathing a sigh of relief and looking forward to experiencing one baby at a time!
Aimee |
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| Funny Kids and Beef Lentil burgers |
I have been enjoying Eva and Elijah so much lately. They've been catching me off guard with their joy, creativity, wildness and beauty.
Today we had the wildest bath in the history of baths. There was water everywhere. Elijah kept yelling, " Wiiyyd Tom" which means - wild storm. Their favorite bible story is where Jesus calms the storm, the wild storm. So we renacted in the tub, but apparently - and this comes as no surprise to anyone - mama's powers are leave something to be desired, as the storm kept starting up again. We laughed and laughed.
The weather here has been lovely. As in, we don't need mittens to play outside but our hands do get cold if we stay out too long. We had lovely times outside yesterday and today. Got pretty muddy today. Elijah decided to tramp through the garden...not such a great idea. I hear him whining, "messy, messy", as I'm walking over to help him out of the garden he tries to move, gets his feet stuck in the thick gumbo and flops down in the mud. There was an inch of mud on the soles of his boots. We cleaned up a little and then stayed on the grass and rocks. Eva spent most of the time cooking rocks in a pot (funnel).
Had Odegards over for supper last night. I made burgers. Homemade burgers are pretty much my favorite food. But mine never turn out that great. I don't have a good handle on the seasoning to meat ratio. Well I was pretty sure last night was going to be a success since I was following Jena's way of making burgers - just add a pack of onion soup mix and voila. Her burgers are always mouth watering. So that's what I did. BUT... I added a variation. In an effort to me health and money concious I stretched the beef by adding lentils - two thirds beef one third lentils (red ones, well cooked and mashed). Along with a couple eggs. I waited till after the guests had eaten the burgers to unveil the mystery ingredient. Hooray no one could tell. Even Lance, who knew there were lentils and was trying his best to taste them - and he usually doesn't miss a thing - couldn't tell. So I call that a success and I will add lentils again - maybe half and half next time.
Okay better go. Need a snack. I am eating ALL the time these days, and if I don't I really start feeling the hypoglycemic symptoms - headache, grouchy, tired...
hope you are all well.
Aimee |
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| A few more details |
Approximate due date - Oct 3 (ultrasound will help to confirm, I'm not really sure of my dates)
I'm feeling better. Was sicker than with the twins. Not throwing up, just very sensitive to smells, major food aversions and an underlying feeling of nausea. That's over with now and I am starting to feel more normal - except for being more tired - but not as tired as in the beginning.
Hoping for two? .... we are really hoping for the chance to experience and enjoy just one baby this time around. And really, it probably is just one. But the chances of having twins once you've had fraternal twins is dramatically increased. So we're anxious for the ultrasound! (April 7)
Eva and Elijah know there is a baby in Mama's tummy, but apparently there are also babies in their tummies too. Eva's baby is often crying - so she says - and sometimes she feeds it.
I am eager to see the baby on the ultrasound and to eventually feel it kicking. It makes it seem more real. I also can't wait to get a belly. I really like that part of pregnancy!
Okay, my kids are napping and I need to nap too.
Thanks for all the congratulations.
Aimee
ps. Lance is now home. The last concert of the tour was last night. Now we are hopefully going to settle back in to normal life. Well as normal as finishing up the school year, showing and selling our house, packing for our move etc can be. I'm just glad to not be a single mom anymore. That is a hard job. I don't have the patience for it. |
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posted by Aimee at 