Mariana is the Dictator of my Life Quick Takes

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Today is the 2nd anniversary of the death of my Father in Law, Donn. Two years, as usual in grown-up time, seems like nothing until you consider what exactly has gone down in two years, which is a lot. It hurts that he wasn't there for those big moments.

Donn was a good man with a good heart. He was also sassy and no nonsense which made it easy for us to get along. He could say what was on his  mind to me and I could do the same. There are many things I could write about the man I knew for too little a time, but instead I  will just leave it at this; Donn was the man who raised my husband. And since Donn has passed into the eternal now, he knows exactly the depth of my appreciation and love for him.

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God has been good to me lately, in that "Wow, he's really listening and responding in obvious ways that make it clear He loves me." Once again we find ourselves in the "Just Keep Swimming" phase of life. Wednesday in particular was promising to be a nasty snarl of time management mission impossible. (Senseless sentence noted.) I had 5 total meetings that day, all important. It occurred to me more than once that I should panic about the situation, but instead I kept my head and repeated the thought that it was just one day of my life. Tuesday Charlotte got in the car at pick-up with a raging fever. I drove to the doctor-after a detour to our house because Paul didn't have shoes on- and she tested positive for strep.

Later that night I was waiting at the pharmacy for C's meds while entertaining Paul with Temple Run 2. I received a text cancelling my mid-day meeting out at the beach. After that our afternoon meeting with Mae's specialist was moved to 8:30. This made everything else fall into place for the rest of the day. Scott thought he'd be getting home late and I would have to miss my 6:30 pm meeting for the parish auction, but he came home on time.

Did God do these things? Probably not directly, but I do know all good things come from Him, so obviously He allowed me to see the gift each of these little scheduling hiccups were. Pretty awesome if you ask me .

I'm the guy on the right, fo sho!

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Earlier I was playing with Mae on the floor. I had my phone near by just in case the surgical scheduling coordinator called me back*. (I left a message a week ago, and again today. Can I get a Southern Style "Bless her heart!"?)Anyway, Mariana was intently focused on the thing, and since we were on the carpet, and she sees me with it all. the. time., I let her grab it. Of course, She Who Will Not Self-Feed Finger Food pulled that sucker right toward her drooling maw. "No, not in your mouth." I stated as I drew it away. She pulled it back. "No. Not in your mouth." I said again. This went on for a few rounds because repetition is how we roll. It's like a soundtrack of broken records up in here. Eventually I had to take the phone completely away since compliance was not on the to-do list. But she did not throw a fit, something she did on Tuesday with Mrs J. Said fit was a doozy, complete with back-arching and floor-kicking. I call this lack of fit throwing progress.

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There is still no crawling nor any teeth. I have to constantly remind myself that this is not the end of the world. I really would be okay with teeth and crawling though. Mostly because, teething man. Also, the therapy for crawling is really hard! My back doesn't really appreciate it.
Then again, it's Lent and all that.

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The baby is turning one. 1. Uno. In 12 days. That is unbelievable for many reasons, not least of which is, "Who ate my entire last year?"

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Oh, and I'm totally failing at Lent again! I had to miss mass last Sunday for unavoidable reasons - as in, it wasn't a sin for me to miss because of my reason. I even went to Confession on Saturday in preparation for the first Sunday of Lent. At said Confession, which took me all of 30 seconds because I had been recently, I received what I thought to be a hefty penance. But my friend J received the same penance and she's a way bigger sinner than I am, so it must be because of Lent. Oh shoot, I have to go back, don't I?

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For three weeks I have been trying to give up breastfeeding. If you are wondering why, and privately judging me for not being a good enough mother, keep it to yourself. I don't care about your breast feeding opinions. 

The reason I'm telling this on a quick take is that Mariana won't stop nursing. She lifts up or pulls down my shirt and latches on to any bare skin she can find, and then she looks at me expectantly as though I am failing at life. It is a sweet and irritating situation, but mostly sweet. Last night I found myself wrapped in a blanket on the couch with her nursing staring at me as though she could read my thoughts. Which is why I have come to the conclusion that my hope to make sure Mae is not the sun that my universe is centered upon is dashed for good. She is the Supreme Dictator. All Hail the Baby Mae.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

* Surgical coordinator called this afternoon. Surgery scheduled for late March, but they wait until the night before to call with the time--probably because parents everywhere have no intention of forcing their babies to fast until noon, if that is the given time, and thus will do all kinds of gymnastics to change the time. Mae being the youngest scheduled should get the 8:30 slot.  If not, I will go there when they open and let them listen to her demands for food.

Quick Takes from the Coolest News Week Ever

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Lent. I love it. I know, that is weird, but I do. To me Lent is like a lovely second honeymoon with God. You get to leave behind all your little distractions and reacquaint yourself with the one you fell in love with long ago. This lent is no T.V. and no Facebook for me because they are my two greatest distractions. But I like to say "no" to other distractions during the day and "yes" to loving a little better and listening to the nudging of the Holy Spirit a little more.

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The pope is abdicating, which sounds very dramatic and scary, unless you are me. I don't know what it is about me that gets excited about the pope throwing a curve ball. Some people are saying this is an end-times situation and that the next pope or the one after that is going to be the anti-pope. My brain can not go there. Pretty much if your soul is in good order, the end of time might be something you wanna look forward to. It's in the Apostles Creed, after all. "We look forward to the resurrection of the body." So, if the end-times freak you out, go to confession and receive the Eucharist more often.

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Then there are people who say that maybe the next pope will catch up with the culture. God, I hope not. I like timeless things, not trendiness. The problem with the wisdom of the day is that it changes with the next sunrise. While our church might be infested with terrible sinners, the doctrine has stood for 2000+ years. People keep rediscovering truths that the church has held for millenia.

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Mariana update: She will be getting the stents in her nasolacrimal ducts. We are in the process of scheduling the surgery, hopefully in March. She will keep the stents for 6 months, rather than the usual 3-4, just to give her extra time to grow. Before that, we'll need to put her on Axid to clear up her wet reflux cough because they will not put her under while she has a wet cough. I'm thrilled to have this plan of action, but I do not look forward to having my baby put under.

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Mariana update #2: She is NOT crawling. Mrs. J. has had her case evaluated by our case worker, and she has been approved for twice/week therapy. Navigating all of this is tough. One one hand,we want her to make progress quickly. On the other, if she does progress she could be dialed back to once a week even though it took twice a week to get the progress. They only evaluate progress and not potential, which means once she's off and running she'll be denied services, never mind what it took to get her to move forward! We also have to be careful not to make too big a deal of what progress she does make, which feels a lot like lying and thus cheating the system. I'm very careful not to lie, but it still feels quite crummy. The day that girl crawls I'm going to want to make t-shirts!!!

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We went to Ohio where Mariana proceeded to stare at family with deep suspicion. Except Uncle Joe. He's a faux-grump, which Mae found delightful. She was fabulous on the plane, made friends with all those seated next to us and received many many complements about her behavior. It helps to give her free reign of the pectoral buffet. She nursed for about 2/3 of every flight except the last one. That flight she just slept.

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I had some of my teeth fixed while I was in Ohio, by the world's greatest dentist. He numbed me up enough, and gave me nitric oxide. I wasn't nervous at all! But then he said my teeth look like I drink Mt. Dew, which is an affront to all I hold dear, but I did discover drinking undiluted apple cider vinegar is the the equivalent on the teeth as Mt. Dew.  Well played Dr. Rewwer. (BTW, the good Dr. is my brother-in-law. He doesn't accuse his patients of drinking Mountain Dew unless he is related to them...)

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!