Today is Janna’s second birthday! Two years ago I was eatin’ hospital food,
nursing my little 5 pound non-stop eater, and missing Jesse. The day was a decent one. And I will take decent, considering the week
was pretty awful.
As some of you may know, I pinched or pulled or SOMETHING my
back and neck quite viciously on Tuesday morning. It was at the point that I had to put my kids
in their cribs way early before nap time was due, and lay down totally still,
as any inch I moved caused the most excruciating pain jolting all down my neck
back and sides. I couldn’t even hold my
head up or breathe too deeply without setting off this intense pain. Dave came home from work and dealt with the
kids while we waited to get to the first available opening to my chiropractor.
Dr. Mike was able to get me on the table and do some very
light adjusting using the articulator and drop table which involved no movement
on my part. I had some significant immediate
relief and the mobility was restored to my neck enough for him to do some
manual adjusting. I left the office able
to move my head about 50 percent without the horrible stabs, but was still
incredibly sore and stiff. I was told to
do as little as possible over the next few days, and ice my rather swollen neck on and off.
I had a really depressing afternoon and evening watching
Dave tackle EVERYTHING by himself while I mostly sobbed in pain on the couch. I could hardly hold the baby to nurse her,
and when I did need to, I needed her propped up on a pillow and couldn’t look
down at her. The next day I was still
super sore and stiff, but with some pain killers, sent Dave back to work with
the hope of managing ok around the house.
My goal was just stay alive, and keep the kids alive. It was a long, painful, and depressing
day. But, we were all alive at the end
of the day, so goal accomplished.
I am slowly feeling better, and I have had some truly
amazing friends insist on helping me out this week. Meals have been bought or made for us, and
friends have been helping out with my kids, and one even came and power cleaned
my house for me. It’s been very
encouraging to feel the love and support of friends at such a discouraging time.
Perhaps if I had not just come out of
the “month of doom” in regards to sickness and being house hermits, I may have
dealt better emotionally. However- it’s
just been one thing after another that has attacked a sense of normal in my
life.
Anyways- yesterday I managed to get out of the house to take
Jesse to preschool. He is starting one
day per week back at a gym tale without mommy.
He was really looking forward to it, and so Katie watched the girls
while I drove him in (not too able to do side-checks...but I was very careful
in my driving and mirror watching and it was only in town driving I was super
familiar with). I then had to pick him
up around noon while carting the girls with me.
I managed just fine... although rather slow, and boy did I feel it
afterwards. I swear, car seats should
have some sort of lifting hazards on them.
It was really a bad week for Dave to have to pick up all my
slack. Exams were written this week, and
so he has POUNDS and POUNDS of paper stacks to finish through and exams to
mark, new units to get ready for a new semester, and report card grades and
comments all coming up. Yikes. So- today we decided he would put in the day
of marking upstairs and help me out when needed with the physical stuff.
Anyways, enough about me, back to Janna.... I really didn’t
have as much time or physical ability to plan or prepare much for her
birthday. We served her - her favorite
junk food for supper - KD and hot dogs, made her some cupcakes, and I had ,
luckily, previously bought a few gifts.
But since I didn’t have a party or anything, I wanted to do something a
little special for her. So- Dave and I
rearranged our kitchen a bit on Friday night, and set up a little art corner
for Janna. We had been given a children’s
table from a neighbor. So we went to
ikea and bought some chairs, a wall organizer stuffed with fresh art supplies, and
a few art smocks with little hooks to hang things up. Janna hates when I work in the kitchen without
her on my hip. And, it’s really hard to
do anything with a toddler on your hip.
She spends most of the time when I’m trying to work in the kitchen,
clawing at my legs crying, “mama mama mama, Up Up Up.” She, however, LOVES to do art. She is not interested in final products, but
loves smooshing things together and making a mess, really. SO, I
thought if I had a nice little area for her in the kitchen- maybe she would be
more content when I am trying to prepare meals and clean up.
So, last night Dave got stuff moved around, and I set up her
little nook. This morning, we brought
the kids downstairs to the table with some balloons on them. Janna immediately wanted to sit down on the
little chairs and put on the aprons.
After breakfast Dave got her painting, and she spent all day asking to
paint or color at her little table! She spent time there doing playdough and
coloring while I made lunch and supper- and it was nice being able to keep an
eye on her while I was doing my work.
Dave finished up his marking around 4, and we had our very
healthy meal of KD, hot dogs and cheesies followed by cupcakes. We then opened a few presents that were sent
from family. Janna was actually
interested in opening her gifts and ripping off the paper for the first
time. Jesse was SO excited and just
wanted her to plow through them. She,
however, wanted to explore each gift as it came. We picked up a bunch of clothes with money
that had been sent from her great grandparents, and she wanted each piece of
clothing on, along with some slippers and mittens. SO cute!
I am very thankful for my little Janna. At two years old she is an absolute
sweetheart! She is also very strong-willed
with no desire to people-please, and enjoys doing her own thing. She doesn’t say too much, but is a pretty
smart little girl and a deep thinker.
She entertains herself well, and loves to have fun. She is a total tease, and loves to wrestle,
get scared, and act silly. Her favorite pastime
with Jesse is to spin in circles and then run until she crashes into something
and falls over. The bigger the wipeout,
then bigger the squeals. As much as she loves to dress up in layers
upon layers and interesting combos of clothing and accessories, she also loves
to strip down! Ha Ha! As of recently, she has been taking of her clothing THEN her
diaper, and running to the toilet asking to pee or poo. If my hands are empty, I hoist her up, and
she pretends to grunt and grimace (learned from Jesse) and then hops down and
wants to try and wipe her own butt while bending over. It’s pretty funny. She is actually currently running around the
house pulling a bundle of helium balloons in the nude while chuckling. What a nut.
Anyways, on that note, I should be on my way and get this
cutie pie dressed before she actually pees on the floor. Thanks for reading! I’m out.
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