Here are the BIG events that took place over the past 2 days.
1. Eva FINALLY decided to walk. She has had the ability to walk for a couple months now, but has been too stubborn to let us see her. She would cruise around with her little walker, taking a few steps now and then, with impeccable balance--but she wouldn't just walk. It got to the point where it became a power struggle between us. I knew she could do it and refused to carry her (plus my back is increasingly hurting as by belly increasingly grows), and she refused to do it and threw a screaming fit every time I set her down. Well, not anymore. Sunday afternoon after church, she started walking back and forth between Andrew and me. About 10 steps or so. Yesterday we went to the park about 7 blocks away. She pretty much walked the whole way there, did laps around it for 30 minutes, and walked home without falling more than once. Stubborn? Yes. Are we glad she finally gave in? HECK yes.
2. Eva peed on the potty this morning. She didn't really mean to and still doesn't know what she did, but we were ecstatic nonetheless. (And for any of you who have negative things to say about me introducing the potty to my one-year old, please keep them to yourself. My mom is negative enough about my "radical" parenting techniques for the rest of the world combined.) After just 3 days of trying out this Elimination Communication method**, I am feeling pretty good.
3. After my "cooking mood" came back in full swing and after begging Andrew for a couple days, I made these DELICIOUS apple dumplings from the Pioneer Woman's recipe. They were better than I could have hoped. Try them. Eat them. You will NOT be sorry.
4. My addiction to nosespray continues strong. I discovered this miracle drug while staying with Andrew's parents last week in Farmington, NM., a.k.a. Allergy Capital of the World. Especially for someone like me, who waking up in the morning is enough to bring on a snot attack, I was miserable. Until I tried nosespray. Literally the best $1.50 I ever spent. If you are suffering from allergies or are pregnant and have the constant stuffy nose, sniff it up, friends.
5. I am still plugging away working on my "90 Days of Dinner" project. I can't remember if I have mentioned this before--I got the genius idea from my good friend Leah. Being one who can't stand the thought of making the same meal more than once a month, this idea really resonated with me. I am collecting 90 of our favorite meals to be rotated 4 times a year. I'm working on compiling my favorites (using http://www.tastebook.com/) and it's been tons of fun. Of course, I like reading recipes more than most normal people, so it may just be fun for me. Unfortunately, I'm not one of those ambitious people who will post my weekly menu for others to benefit from--I just don't want to put in that much effort. But maybe if I'm feeling generous and hard-working, I will occasionally share a stupendous recipe I find. (See above link to apple dumplings. Side note: where did the term dumplings come from? Does it really mean "little dumps"? Hmm.)
6. I had a nightmare last night. Not your typical kind where someone is trying to kill me. It was worse. My baby was born, and I DIDN'T LIKE HIM. He was huge--like in the neighborhood of 25 pounds--and ugly and I didn't like him. The closer his birth gets, the more worried I get about mothering 2 children. Will I really like him as much as I like Eva? Is that even possible? Can he be even half as cute as she is? Will he be a good baby like she was? It isn't fair to bring him into the world with the expectation that he live up to his sister, I know that. But really, I can't help it. She is all I know in the parenting world, and the thought of throwing a curveball in that makes me shudder. I hate bad, weird dreams. To end the dream, I went to Papa Johns a few hours after getting birth to get Andrew a hot dog. The owner of the store was Dr. Pelegrino, our pediatrician here. He made me wait for hours and fill out all this paperwork to get the hotdog and I didn't mind because I didn't want to go back home to my huge, ugly baby boy. Oh man.
7. We rented the Bee Movie the other day, and it was way cute. If you haven't seen it, you should rent it. From Redbox, the best source for entertainment there is. Blockbuster is SO last year.
**Here is the link to the book that talks about this "potty training" method. Check it out if you're interested.