First things first, I uploaded some new stuff. Kylie’s 2009 folder has lacrosse and two proms. Mallory now has a 23 Months folder. I also created one for Barry’s birthday and one for Mother’s Day. Enjoy!
I got about a paragraph into this blog before I realized that it needed a little bit of set up. See, no one in my house, except for me, can seem to remember anything. Nothing. Zip. Nada. If you want to know what the Brandon family is doing on May 23rd, don’t ask Johnathan…or even Kylie (although that is the day that she will actually graduate from high school). You must ask me. My brain retains the catalog of events for the entire family. Call it a gift…or a curse. I call it “enabling”. Whatever you deem it to be, it is my burden. However, there are occasions where I feel a tremendous amount of pressure because of this. If something gets missed, whether it was my event or not, I feel responsible. It’s my job to remember these things. Some months ago, I was completely stressed out over this. I can’t exactly remember the details of the situation, but I was fed up. I accused my family of purposely being lazy and not even trying to keep up with dates and times and schedules because they knew I would do it (I’m still not convinced that this isn’t entirely true). I decided that I would create a calendar and post it on the refrigerator. Monthly, I update the calendar with the activities that I am aware of and stick it up there. If they don’t check, not my fault. I have at least transferred some of the responsibility. So far, it has worked pretty well…provided they actually add things to the calendar that I have not been told. (God did not grant me ESP.)
A couple of weeks ago, I started planning for Kylie’s graduation. I realized that I had thought about, even talked about, throwing a party…but I had done nothing to kick off the effort. (I’m using my standard excuse for now…I’m pregnant) During this process, I was trying to figure out where things would fit in, when family members were coming to town, etc. It was all very hard to keep straight in my mind, so I pulled out the Brandon Family Calendar for 2009. Imagine my surprise…no, that word doesn’t do it justice…umm…what’s a good word for “I totally freaked out”?…anyway, I found that between May 1 and May 27th, we only had 5 days that didn’t have something written in. I am not exaggerating. Then, when I put it on the fridge, Kylie pointed to something and said, “Oh, is that the senior banquet at church?” Oh, snap. NO!! It’s not. When is that? On one of our “free” nights? Great. Now, we’re down to four. Spectacular.
As of today, we have made it through our first two crazy weekends. This weekend alone we have had dinner with some friends at their house, a college graduation party about an hour away and Mother’s Day. Next weekend is Kylie’s party and her baccalaureate. Then, the next week is the fun one. Mallory gets new tubes put in and Johnathan has a board meeting on Monday. We have small group on Tuesday. Family starts arriving in town on Wednesday, and we have the senior banquet at church. On Thursday, we’re taking the entire group to dinner for Kylie’s graduation. On Friday, we will have a family gathering for Mallory’s birthday. Saturday, will be Kylie’s graduation and possibly attend a party for one of her friends. Then, it will be all tied up on Sunday with a wedding about 4 1/2 hours away. Good thing that is a long weekend (Memorial Day). We’ll need that day of rest. I am soooo looking forward to this month being over. Don’t get me wrong. I’m excited about all of the activities, and I wouldn’t miss any of them. I just wish we could spread them out more.
My Mother’s Day has been fabulous! We had coffee on the screened-in patio. With our new furniture, we can actually enjoy the great outdoors (that’s where we are right now). Johnathan fixed breakfast and cleaned the kitchen. It was great. I got an iTunes gift card (more 80’s music..woo hoo!), a half day at a spa that includes a one hour massage, manicure, pedicure and lunch, some candles, a beautiful necklace and Skittles. :) Of course, for Mother’s Day, there is sometimes a really sentimental gift. This year, it was a new bag to carry my bible and notebook to church. It was Donna’s idea (he did give his mother the credit). She searched for a scripture about hands and embroidered it on the front. Then, Johnathan helped Mallory put hand prints all over it. It’s adorable. There is a picture of it on the web album (Mother’s Day 2009).
As far as the pregnancy goes, I am feeling great! I love being out of the first trimester. I’m still tired, but that’s just due to activity overload and lack of sleep. I no longer have that “I’m so tired I hurt” feeling. AND no more nausea! Woo hoo! This pregnancy is very different from the last one. I crave salty not sweet. Vegetables not candy. And I haven’t found any aversions yet. I am still very much enjoying my coffee. :)
We did have a little scare the other day. Johnathan and I were in a rush to get out of the house to go to work. I had on heels (probably my first mistake). Johnathan took Mallory out and put her in the car. I set the alarm and headed down the garage stairs. You know, how things happen in slow motion sometimes? Well, I caught my heel on the first step, and it was all over. There are only about 6 steps, so I didn’t have far to go. All I could focus on was the garage floor that was coming toward me…while Johnathan was yelling, “Honey! Honey! Honey!” I hit my shin on the stairs before my knees hit the concrete. I got my right hand out in front of me, but with only one hand to break my fall, I was off balance when I landed, which made me fall to the side and hit my shoulder. The good news was that I didn’t hit my belly or my any part of my torso. And other than a scrape on my shin, some nice bruises, a very sore right arm and shoulder and some initial anxiety, I’m fine. More importantly, the baby is fine. I have even felt a couple of flutters since the fall.
Mallory has reached the two year old stage. Everything is “mine” and she is pushing the limit on what she can get away with. Sometimes she listens. Sometimes she doesn’t. We are trying our best to be consistent so learns where the line is. But she does step over it from time to time (she’s in time out right now). No major incidents yet. We’re surviving.
I can’t find that I blogged about our new baby monitor so I’ll briefly fill you in. We had a video monitor. Nothing fancy, but it served the purpose…until the people across the street got the same one. No big deal. We just changed the channel (only two were available, so you know). Then, they had another baby and added another camera…using the same channel that we did. Our reception became sporadic. To top it off, our neighbors got one too. That was the final straw that rendered ours absolutely useless. Finally, I had it and went out to buy a digital. It’s wonderful. I love it! And I can actually see my child again.
There is a minor debate in our house over whether or not we need to close Mallory’s door for her to go to sleep. I think she goes to sleep faster that way…but it’s only my opinion. One night last week, Johnathan had put her to bed. Thirty minutes later, she was still awake. When Kylie came home, Mallory heard noise downstairs. While I was watching the monitor, she stood up. Then, she started trying to throw her blankets overboard. Just for kicks, I decided to yell up at her to see what she would do. In a gruff voice, I said, “Mallory.” Her head popped up like, “Uh oh!”. I said, “You need to lay down and go to sleep.” Honestly, the child dove onto her belly and covered up with her blanket. Bwahahahah! Ah, the power. :)