spirited…….

Last night, Olivia woke up in the night and wanted me to cuddle her.  I realized that as big as she seems sometimes that I often forget that she is still such a baby in so many ways…..

So, I just realized that my blogs are kind of depressing lately…..Well, last night, our AC went out.  Of course, it goes out the first week that it gets over 90 degrees and it is only going to get hotter.  My parents came over this morning and put a new perspective on things.  They are right, we have 2 healthy, beautiful, spunky, vibrant little girls who are thriving and loving and compassionate (as much as can be expected for their prospective age groups), a good marriage and we are lucky enough to have family close by who can help with the kids.  It doesn’t really matter that our house is a disaster due to unfinished remodeling projects, water in the ceiling, moldy sheetrock, and no functioning bathrooms; or the fact that my husband is working a job that pays less, we now have huge medical bills, and an airconditioner to buy; we have our health and each other.  he was right that these are all problems that we can fix.  If one of us should get deathly ill or a serious debilitating disease, that would be hard and not something that we could fix. 

It is amazing how you can wallow in your own self-pity and forget how truly bad things could be.  Look at the people in Greensburg.  We drove through there last Tuesday on our way to Jon’s appt. in Wichita.  they have nothing.  They literally have nothing.  They can’t work either because their places of employment no longer exist….They have no house, possibly someone they know was killed……

Anyway, there are lots of nice things about our new arrangement.  It is nice that Jon and I get to spend the mornings together and eat lunch together.  It is even kind of nice working together.  Olivia usually chooses to stay with my mom while Eve goes to work with me.  I think she really loves all the one on one attention that she gets.  They do lots of fun stuff together anyway.  Everyday, I expect her to say that she wants to go to work with me but she always says she wants to play with Nana.  They have tea parties and play in the pool and paint their toenails…..She doesn’t get that kind of attention otherwise because Eve is always around…..

Eve loves going to work with me too.  She is so happy out there.  There is so much space for her to toddle around, a constant supply of ice, and lots of things to explore and dogs to pet.  Everyone that comes through there, stops to coo at her and tell her how cute and adorable she is.  Yesterday, some marines flew in and she just followed them all over the place.  Apparently, she has got a thing for guys in a flight suit…..lol!

We do get to see more of my dad too.  Eve is really loving him up.  He holds her at least 2 or 3 times while I am out at work and she is really getting quite attached.  It is so cute to see the proud grandpa carry her around and out into the shop and stuff.  Yesterday, he came in to the office to ask me something and Eve got really mad because she wanted him to pick her up.  He couldn’t because his hands were all greasy from working on a plane.  She was quite offended!

It will be nice to have a new airconditioner too.  The old one was REALLY old.  Last summer, it ran constantly and couldn’t ever get the house colder than about 78 degrees.  They have new, energy efficient ones now that will get the house colder cheaper, so that will be nice.  this is always the way it has to be.  We never fix something until it breaks down on us and then we are so happy that it did:)  Maybe we will get one of those new thermostats that are programmable so that you can save money by turning down the heat at night (or AC) and while you are away……I am all about energy effieciency and making our bills cheaper!  It is so much cheaper to be "greaner"!

We just got one of those stackable high efficiency dryers. It is awesome.  When our washing machine breaks down (soon, I am sure) hopefully, we can get one of those energy efficient washing machines too and stack them so that we can save room.  Those washing machines are supposed to barely use any water and only a tablespoon of detergent, and spin the clothes so dry that you can dry them in 1/2 the time.  I know a couple of lucky mamas who already have one like that!  Someday!

I had to get a job.  Even with my income also, we will barely scrape by for these 6 months.  Jon is working the line at the airport too.  Of course, there is a huge difference between what he is getting paid doing that and what he was getting paid working at Madden Oil.  I am really sad.  My dad and uncle are nice enough to let me bring the girls with me and I work the same times as Jon does but it still kind of sucks.  no more family dinners or movies…….I have lots of mixed feelings.  I am trying not to be mad at Jon for doing this to us but I just can’t help it.  I would LOVE to go ride motorcycles.  Unfortunately, we have children and they can’t come riding with us…..So much for the pity party, I better write more when I am in a better mood.

We went to the orthopaedic surgeon in Wichita yesterday.  He specializes in rotator cuff operations.  They said that it would be at least 6 months before Jon could do any more heavy lifting.  So, he is going to tell his boss today.  We will see if he still HAS a job.  6 months is a long time to hold a job for someone…… 

Well, we are hanging in there.  The good thing about all of this is that I am getting an incredible amount of stuff done around the house.  I finally got the shower tiled…Well, I got it tiled and then we decided to add a border to it, which I am almost done with.  The hard stuff is done.

We are looking for a specialist in Wichita for Jon’s shoulder.  I am feeling stressed to the max.  So much so, that I have been skipping all interactions with people.  I guess I just can’t handle any more drama and I am just kind of staying home where I can control the stress levels:)  I also need to get some stuff done on the house so that I will feel less stressed.

Poor Jon is having kind of a crappy Father’s Day.  He really wanted to go golfing but with his bum arm, he kind of got stuck watching the kiddos while I worked on the bathroom and my mom worked on the kitchen island:(

Jon’s rotator cuff is officially torn.  That, of course, means surgery.  So, his dr. is going on vacation which means 1 week until he can do anything.  However, he doesn’t want to do anything for 2 weeks because of the fluid build up and then do surgery.  Jon will be out of commission for 6 weeks after that.  So, what are we going to do for money for the next 8 weeks not including this one?  Of course, if he has a job when he gets back…..

Add the fact that I am on the verge of a kidney infection and Eve has thrush and we still have no functioning bathroom in which we can take a bath/shower….so, it is a pretty crappy day.  I wish I could be nicer to Jon and just let him heal w/o bothering him with my worries about money……If we weren’t already stretching our money so thinly and we had some savings to fall back on, I am sure life would be alot less stressful.  I guess this is why they say to always have enough savings for 3 months!

Eve can now officially hoist herself outside of the bathtub and back in again.  It is really cute to watch.  She just kind of throws her leg over and hoists herself over.  Of course, it is absolutely terrifying at the same time.  I turned my back to get her a diaper and she was half-way in the tub already and the water hadn’t yet drained all the way out! 

Yesterday she ate a june bug.  Ah yes, the things the second one does that never would have happened with the first.  What does the next baby have in store?  That’s a frightening thought!

We are doing the summer reading program with Olivia so I have really had to make a concerted effort to read to her.  Before, we all go to bed together at the same time so by that time, everyone is exhausted and we just kind of collectively pass out.  I usually try to read to her during the day but I am sure that only adds up to about 10 or 15 minutes a day at most.  Now that I have been sitting down with her for at least 30 minutes a day, she loves it.  It is so sweet because it is some really good cuddle time together and she will sit there as long as you are willing to read.  It is so cute that she is learning to really love to read and frequently says "read to me mama!"……..

So, Jon has been teased mercilessly about being bucked off the motorbike.  I have made "Laura’s Law" that he can no longer ride without a helmet.  He also needs to buy his own bike (then I wouldn’t feel guilty when other people’s bikes get wrecked).  I guess I am also feeling better about it now that he has volunteered to do some "honey-do’s" around the house with his 1 arm in the 10 days that he is layed up.  I told him he could paint the house but I guess that was a bit ambitious.  He doesn’t seem to want to carry up the paint bucket 2 stories with a broken wing.  Baby……I nursed a baby through transition, try that one on for size! 

Anywho, it will be nice to have someone around the house to watch the girls full-time so I can get some stuff done.  Perhaps I can get the bathroom done.  I guess that is a little optomistic.  When he takes his pain pills he is kind of loopy until they start to wear off a few hours later but it will be helpful anyway.  At least, the company will be nice:)

You know that saying "sometimes you are the windshield and sometimes you are the bug"?  Well, yesterday, Jon was the bug.  He wrecked off of a bike.  Mostly, he escaped just bumped and bruised but we had to take him to the ER for a possible shoulder dislocation.  It isn’t dislocated, just possibly a torn rotator cuff.  He had an MRI today so we will see…..

So, he has been home all day all doped up.  He is feeling better now though so maybe it is just bruised and he won’t need surgery.  Still no bathroom for us and now, it kind of looks inevitable…..Oh well, maybe we will go out for Mexican tonight:)

Olivia taught Eve to walk.  It was so adorable.  Eve would pull herself up on Olivia and O would just take her little hands and walk her all around everywhere.  THATS why Eve is already walking all over the place at 10 1/2 months and starts when she was 9 1/2 months old!  ARGHHH…..The dangers of having an older child!  Anyway, Eve is teething and they both had colds so I am exhausted becasue that also means that she has not and isn’t sleeping.  The good news is that I have a mother’s helper coming tomorrow morning so I can get some stuff done on the house!  Maybe, I can tile the tub surround!!!!!  Yeehaw!!

another sad situation….today was O’s first swimming lesson.  It was another sad day for "unAP"ed children.  There were two children there whose parents were forcing them to swim and they were crying and really quite traumatized.  I was so glad that O cheerfully jumped right in and even went underwater (once…ha ha).  she did great.  even if she hadn’t though, i definitely wouldn’t have forced her to go in…it was really quite sad…

On a happy note, it felt really fantastic to be just with O again.  At first it felt kind of foreign and then all the feelings came back from when she was the only child and my baby and i wasn’t so irritated with her for (pushing her sister down) this or that.  I should scratch that last comment.  I mean, we all have our good and bad days and all in all, she is really quite a fantastic big sister!!

anyway, it felt awesome to be able to just hold her and play with her and have some QT time.  (on a side not, the pool was 5 feet deep and I am only 5′3 so mostly I was trying to stand on my tippy toes and keep our heads above water:))  I think she has gotten quite a lot out of it also because she hasn’t been clingy and whiney like she has lately.  She seems to be going through a phase where she really needs attention and is jealous of all the attention that Eve is getting so this seems to be coming at exactly the right time!

oh yeah, did i say that Eve is walking?  Yep, she is walking more than she is crawling now.  it is really cute.  she holds her little arms out to you whenever she walks anywhere and i say she looks like michael jackson on thriller or a little frankenstein.  she is also our little monkey.  yesterday she pushed up her riding toy to the little refrigerator and hoisted herself up (she has amazing upper-arm strength) until she was crawling across the stove.  It reminds me of Raven’s little boy and I am keeping my fingers crossed that I won’t find her on top of the refrigerator some day!