Kaos in the Kitchen

To say I don't cook much is an understatment. Heidi Anne has proven this time and time again. When she plays house with her friends, she "fires" the boys that play Daddy when they refuse to cook (That's my little Trump!). She is adamant that Daddy cooks and Mommy plays with the babies and helps clean.
I think I scared her to death when I did the cooking a few days ago. As I started to heat the chicken she came running into the kitchen and asked "Momma, does Daddy know you're in HIS kitchen? Does he know you're cooking??"  I said "Yes, he knows, Momma can cook, too." She didn't believe me, she ran up the stairs and told him in a worried voice "Momma's in the kitchen cooking!!" You could almost hear what she really meant "Momma's in the kitchen - STOP her!!"

He told her it was fine and that most mommy's cook and that I can cook as well. She didn't believe him. She came downstairs and watched me like a hawk as I was making dinner. When it was ready Char came down. The first thing she said to him in a very brokenhearted voice with a little pout on her face was "I'm sorry Daddy, Momma made dinner". You would think I had killed the chicken right in front of her with the way she looked.
Needless to say, she was very reluctant to eat what I had made. When she finally did, she loved it. She said, "Oh, I love the rice, and the chicken, and I LOVE the dip." I didn't have the heart to tell her that the beloved dip was store bought ranch. I want her to think I can at least make something she "LOVES".

"It's NOT a Bad Word"

Earlier this evening my sweet, little, 3 1/2 year old stubbed her toe and said "Oh HECK!!" We both turned around and looked at her. She put her arms to her sides and simply said "What? It's NOT a bad word, it's okay to say."

I then realized a few things:
1) I didn't know that she could be very logical about what she says or that she would be able to justifying what she says at such a young age and be so reasonable about it.
2) How to properly respond to a non-swear / swear.
3) Who on Earth taught her both the word "Heck", furthermore, who taught her and I quote "What? It's Not a Bad Word."


How did I respond? 
I told her, "Yes, you're right, that's not a bad word. Who taught you that?" She just shrugged her shoulders and said "I don't know..." It then lead to a discussion (some would call it a nice interrogation) about "Good" words and "Bad" words. So far, she doesn't know too many "Bad" words. Her definition of "Bad" contains words like, "Stupid", "Brat", then there are the kid "mean" words, such as "Poopy Head". Apparently "Heck" is on the Good List-Works for me. 

Looking Innocent

Valentine's Was Cancelled This Year ( 2-14-12 = 0 )

Char pointed that out to me a few days before Valentine's Day, that 2 minus 14 minus 12 = 0, ergo, No Valentine's this year. (Maybe the Mayans' were on to something with this whole End of the World in 2012...) As it turned out, his little joke almost turned out to be true for us. 

You've Got Mail!!

We will start with the fun things we did. A few days before Valentines I brought mini mail boxes for my team to decorate for Valentine's. We have some Very, Very crafty people on my team. It was a ton of fun.
Around this time my stomach started to hurt, alot. But I being me ignored it. The night before Valentines I was pretty sick and in even more pain. But I was determined to not let it get me down. I had work to do AND I really wanted to join in on the fun.

Cori's Surprise for Us

Valentine's Day-I wasn't feeling good at all. However, I told myself "If I can go through labor for 30 hours, I should be able to handle this." Off to work I went. I was so glad I went! My friend Cori made the cutest Valentine's Day gift I have ever seen! She made these out of baby food jars! 

Mine is the one with Three Flowers

 Inside they have Valentine's Kisses and M&Ms. It is so freaking cute. Whitney made some pretty sugar cookies as well, but I don't have pictures of them. According to Heidi Anne they were "Pretty AND Yummy!"

Around 9:30 I feel like I might pass out. I was short of breath and in horrible pain. I had eaten my first doughnut in months. BIG Mistake. I tried to fight it - but it was just to much. I called the doctor and he was worried it was my pancreatitis coming back. He sent me to the ER. At 11:30 we were on our way to the ER, I told Char "Guess Valentine's really is cancelled."



Thus we spent the next 5 hours at the ER. I nearly always allow students and interns to be in the room or do the procedures, my theory is they won't see another case like mine for years OR they have to practice on someone, why not someone who's been through this frequently that the procedure doesn't really worry me. As I had my ultrasound done by a 2 week into the program student - I regretted my decision for the first time ever as he JABBED the ultrasound repeatedly into my stomach, liver, ribs, kidney, back to the stomach. The nurse was super sweet and gave me some meds for my good sportsmanship and I soon forgot most of the experience.

Finally, all the tests came back and it turned out I was very dehydrated (no duh) and either had a horrible stomach flu, issues left over from the pneumonia, issues from all the bloody noses I've been having, ulcers, or D all of the above. The good news was my liver wasn't failing again AND I didn't have pancreatitis, which was the major concern. They are leaning towards ulcers and I am starting to agree.

It was roughly 4:30 when we left the ER. For a treat I got a milkshake, it supposed to help ulcers. Plus I was so medicated I was able to stomach food-ish items without problems.

On the other hand, Heidi Anne had a great Valentine's Day. She got so many treats and super cute cards. Whenever someone brought her a treat or a card to put in her box she would ask the teachers and the kid "Is this for me??" When they said "Yes." She would respond with "Ohhh, Thank-You!" then giggle. She came home happy as a clam.

I think Valentines is more fun when you're a kid or if you celebrate it with friends the way you did as a kid. Everyone gets a cute card, maybe a little treat, and everyone can show how crafty or creative they are.

New Year Goal Update

One of my goals for this year is to make at least 24 pillowcases for the 1 Million Pillowcase challange (see http://www.allpeoplequilt.com/millionpillowcases/ ) 

It's been fun doing this project, I've been getting to practice quilting techniques while doing service work. Below are cases 4 and 5. I made the other ones, but when you make somethings around a child-you have to take into account they may fall in love with your project. 

4) I call this one my LSU Pillowcase. It has the LSU Gold and Purple checked trim with a green body. It looked like a football end zone to me. I think the Superbowl may have inspired that idea.

5) Heidi Anne helped me pick this one. It's a basic pillowcase with pink and purple lepoard print. 

This is the one that Heidi Anne helped pick out and then fall in love with. It's a princess case, with rickrack and pink trim. Oh that pillow is dragged everywhere she goes now.

These ones I made for fun for Char. Pretty tie dye with French (hidden) seams. Translation- I tried a new technique and he got the practice work. Fortunately they turned out really cool.

If anyone knows where I can get more cheap (but nice) fabric or pillowcase ideas, let me know. :-)

 

See I can make some cute cases, even with bits of fabric....

I Can (Almost) See Again

After 3 weeks of waiting my glasses finally came in. Slight downside, I have TRI Folcals , Char was a sweetie he picked them up for me. the lenses are not sized or perfectly aligned with my eyes. I then suffered some vertigo, which then caused a nose bleed. There are times when I even amaze myself. Seriously, how did I pull that one off?

The shockers didn't end there. When we picked Heidi Anne from pre-school the first thing she said was "Momma, I like you new glasses. Where did the old ones go?" Wow, they look fairly similar to my old pair but she could see a difference right away. She has good eyes.

Ironically, my new glasses made her want a pair of her own glasses even more. She's wanted some for months now, ever since her "Best Friend" Kailah (her cousin) got a pair of glasses. This time she was very persuasive, she pointed out that Momma, Dadda, and her Kailah  all have pretty glasses. It was her lucky day, at the store they had some frames for sale for roughly a $1. She got a pair of purple / pink ones (almost like the ones her Kailah wears). Don't worry, we popped out the lenses so they won't hurt eyes. She LOVES them!

"Yippee" Dresses

The "Yippee!!" Dress

I made this little dress for Heidi Anne, I call it a Hippie Dress, as you can see the tie dye fabric and the cute little sleeves. She misheard me and started to call it her "Yippee!!" dress, because, and I quote "It makes me happy when I spin and I say Yippee!"
It was promptly followed by, "Momma, sew me another new something dress." She makes up names for the dresses I make for her. As long as one isn't named the "Ugly" dress, I'll keep it up. 
  That's not to say the only dresses she wares are Momma Made, she LOVES her Hello Kitty dress. She loves to make it poof when she twirls, the colors are all her favorites, and it has Hello Kitty on it complete with sparkles. Can you say little girls' dream come true?