Lesson #6

Wear shoes while gardening.

We moved into a home where the lawn and landscaping had been ignored for the previous five months. The lawn was practically dead. The shrubs needed some serious pruning. And some nasty weeds had taken a firm hold. Our great friend Mary drove out from Houston our first weekend here to help us get settled in. After unpacking Edward's room and putting him down for a nap, she and I decided to tackle the shrubbery in the front of the house. We trimmed and pruned, reshaped and weeded. Then, just as I warned that I'd cut some stinging nettles, Mary stepped on one. She looked down and saw that her foot was already bleeding from something else. Poor Mary had walked out without her shoes. At least she had missed stepping in the poison ivy!

Lesson #5

Strawberry applesauce is not a good substitute for banana puree.

(This isn't a moving lesson, but it's funny.) A few days after unpacking our kitchen I decided to make us feel more at home with a little banana bread. For some reason I was using the food processor to puree the banana rather than mashing it with a fork. I picked it up and glanced at the bottom to check for chunks...and lost my grip.

After the mess, I wasn't willing to give up, but didn't have much in the house to substitute. I found some of Ethan's strawberry applesauce cups and decided to go for it. In the end, the bread was inedible and my clothes are stained. And we all got a good laugh out of it.

How to get AAA to come in 10 minutes or less!!

The magic words are "There are kids locked in the car!"

So, we've been having some car trouble. (It's all Grandma J's fault!) The battery had been dying, so we took it in to be replaced. (It's just too cold outside to do it ourselves.) Our shop is great and they checked the battery before pulling it out. It wasn't having any trouble holding a charge, so they did a little more investigating and found that the light-box, a ridiculously expensive bunch of relays, was constantly drawing power. It took a few days to get the new box, so I had to pull out a fuse every time the car was parked. Friday, it was replaced.

We didn't drive the car at all yesterday. When John got in to drive to church this morning, it was dead. Again. I was already gone, so our neighbor gave him a jump. Once John made it, I told him how to pull out the fuse.

Jump to after church. John loaded both kids into the car and started it to check the battery before replacing the fuse. It was fine, so John hopped out and popped the hood. Because it was cold, he closed the car door. Not a problem b/c the doors were all unlocked. EXCEPT that when the fuse is replaced, it locks the doors. Don't ask me why, it just does. And yes, we really should have a duplicate made of the key.

John tried to get Ethan to unbuckle himself and unlock the door, but he's never done it before and I'm not sure he has the hand strength yet. He did manage to wiggle his arms out and reach his lock, but he couldn't pull it up. Both John and I tried the unlock code on the door (it has those buttons above the handle), but that stopped working ages ago and we didn't really expect it to work. Edward, of course, started screaming only moments after we realized we couldn't get in.

AAA responds REALLY fast when kids are locked in cars. That was the first thing I said and the woman on the phone immediately asked for our location, had her supervisor start calling the closest place, and promised they'd be there in less than 10min before she even verified that we were members. It was pretty impressive.

The most amazing thing to me was that I wasn't even worried. I think John was much more worked up, and I knew that the appropriate reaction was freaking out, but it just didn't seem like that big of a deal. Edward would survive crying for a few minutes, Ethan would be a trouper, and we'd be able to comfort them both when we got in. Maybe I'm a little too laid back about my kids.

1 day away is weird (and me being stupid)

It's been so great to have Edward's delivery scheduled. We've been able to plan everything from babysitting for Ethan to the last big shopping trip. But today, it's weird. It would be a little less so if I was having a C-section, but knowing that tomorrow morning I'll go into labor is just strange. And instead of being surprised by this new little life who decided to join us, we're saying "Hey. It's time. Get out here and say hi." I'm still glad that we've been able to prepare so well (and that health-wise we're doing the best thing for both of us), but I'm missing the surprise. Just a little.
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And why I was stupid today. If you are fixing a dryer, be sure to unplug it before messing with the wiring. Especially if you're 9 months pregnant! I nearly electrocuted myself replacing a faulty switch, which turned out to not be the only problem. I think I'll leave the other work for my dad or his wife when they're out on Thurs.