really, two weeks since i last posted? how in the world did that happen? oh yeah, i was living a hugely messy, beautiful summer life: hammocks, parks, fireworks, art, families, bbq's, cherries, pillowcases, barbies, gardens, books, popsicles, trampolines, long drives, strawberries, thining fruit trees, picnics, so you think you can dance, cucumbers, dirt, beauty, beauty, and more beauty.

and i had lasik.

lasik was incredible. after all the research i had done i was sick and dizzy with information. i've put it off for this many years... why not a few more? except, we had money saved in our flex spending plan that we would lose if i didn't do it. (it ended up being a smart thing to set myself up like that.) as i narrowed down the dr's i could go to i prayed simply that i would feel peace if it was right. and when i found my doctor's office i was completely overwhelmed with p e a c e. i had my evaluation on a tuesday to see if i was a candidate and the surgery was thursday. it was one of those moments when i knew that everything had come together perfectly and all would be well. trusting my eyesight with someone could have been a scary thing, but i felt total confidence and peace through my whole body. my entire procedure took 10 minutes and was completely painless. i remember bracing myself when they went to cut the cornea, waiting for the pain, and the next thing i heard was, "procedure complete." when they sat me up after the surgery i could already read across the room, albeit with a little haze involved. i was so giddy by this that i couldn't even sleep when i got home as per instructions to rest my eyes for 4 hours, so i layed there in bed with my eyes closed and called everyone i had numbers for. awesome, incredible, amazing.

pros of surgery: super fast, painless, and did i mention? i can see better than perfectly now: 20/15.

cons of surgery: being able to see the soapscum in my shower now, for years it's been invisible.

i can see.
i can see with perfect clarity.
i can drive at night.
i can see.
and it feels like a complete and total miracle.

i'm in love with my pediatrician. and my husband knows it. he wears a button up patterned shirt with a fleece vest and a bolo tie. his eyes crinkle into little half moons when he smiles. he ponders deeply before answering my questions and...he is the best doctor...ever. he respects me and the way that i do things and i honestly see him light up when he sees us. as i sat there waiting for him to come in i was fretting about all of the testing that i could foresee them doing on G. she's had the poop shoot riots for several weeks and i was just convinced that we were going to be doing blood tests, allergy testing, MRI's and other acronym's that i don't know the meaning of. but do you know what he said? *go down to the health food store and get some chewable acidophilus.* it was like magic to my ears. no expensive testing, no cumbersome hospital stays. just an all natural solution to the problem. YAY! when was the last time your regular doctor told you to go to the health food store???

G was a little nervous at first about him, but he used my other kids to get her to oblige to a check up. first he pulled out his little ear scope thingy and asked who had the reddest finger. he placed the little light under E's finger, and then F's finger, so G was happy to put her finger out. then he checked to see who could open their mouth the biggest. (e won that one!) then he checked who's ear had the most stuff in it. G wants to be a big girl more than anything and he knew it, so she played along perfectly with the check up. now all my kids love him as much as i do.

this weekend was pretty lazy as we were all still recovering. but i did catch these two morsels on our sunday night. the first is F's rendition of pat-a-cake with *harmbony* and the second starts like pat-a-cake (listen for the throw-up comment in the beginning!) but ends with their version of jesus wants me for a sunbeam with some stunt work. (my kids do all their own stunts).

my internet was down for a week and i really realized how dependant i had become on it. so i am back, but am hoping to be living my life a little more than typing it.

my MOM moments have taken a serious back burner lately because i've had relatives in town: my mother in law, my 2 sisters in law, and my neice (who is one well fed 8 week old). while they were here Anya started acting fussy again and her fever got pretty high. and now she's in the ICU at Prim@ry Children's Hospital. it's hard to see her chubby little body hooked up to SO many moniters. her whole system became septic after a UTI went untreated for 2 weeks...alison had taken her to the ER in Ely 2 weeks ago where they discovered the bacteria but did nothing for it. i'm just really glad that they came out here to buy a car in the BIG city, because it also meant that they were close to one of the greatest hospitals this side of the mississippi.

my kids have been on kamakazi missions all week long. today E tangled her hair and her skirt up in the rope swing; her hair was tangled up to her scalp. and of course she did this while i was in the shower. i am so glad that my mother in law was here to untangle her.

on Tuesday we went to the park which was definently my MOM moment for that day. all of my neighborhood friends come and i get to have some great adult conversation while our kids play. well at some point i lost track of G. my older kids had run off in the grass leaving G on her own in the playground. she probably would have toddled after the older kids except that our house is directly across the street from the park. so that is where my 18 month old baby decided to go, home. i got up to check on her and saw her about 10 steps from the road. so me and my big belly went running after her, about 50 yards. i was screaming her name and yelling for her to stop, but that apparently only encouraged her to go faster, the little stink. so by the time i caught her she was 1 step into the road with a HUGE smirk on her little face. all of the other mom's were upset with me for not getting one of them to run and catch her, but there really was NO time. i'm just grateful that i got up when i did go to and find her. i have been contracting, but nothing i feel that i should worry about. my body is used to laying around all day, not sprinting across a park!

then later in the day she was on our back porch and she climbed into her walker and ran straight for the stairs. again, the hubs caught her right before she launched herself off of the stairs. i swear, when that girl finally decided to walk she started with running. she's also climbing everything, so the butter dish is not safe on the dinner table any more. she eats at the table with us now and still hasn't figured out that we each have our own little space. so instead she eats off of everyone's plates and spends the majority of mealtime trying to climb onto the table.

in great news F is now pretty much Pee trained. the poop...still a problem. but i'm perfectly willing to accept one at a time. he's so darn proud of himself. sweet boy.

i'm trying to think of MOM moments over the past week:

my 17 month old (my BABY girl!) scoots into our bedroom with the three things that all babies REALLY need: a princess crown, a purse, and of course... a cell phone. she hands them all to me and then asks for her "hello." i'm still in shock over her choice of necessities but i hand it over. while chatting up a storm she manages to one-hand that crown right onto her head...i'm seriously not even that coordinated. and when she gets done chatting it up? oh yes, the phone goes into the purse so that she can get to it when her buddies call back.

do i have a girlie girl on my hands?

i'm truly not sure, because the very next moment she grabs freeman's army jeep and starts running it around the room making car sounds. and man, you should see this girl eat. if nutrients were absorbed by osmosis, i think she'd be the healthiest baby EVER, because i'm really not sure how much actually gets down to her tummy.

the girl seriously kills me though. one month ago she took her first 3 steps...towards the TV of course. and then nothing. weeks and weeks go by with barely a step. this weekend while at alison's hotel room, G stands up and walks the 30 or so steps into the other room. HUH? She can WALK??? when did this seriously happen? like she's been walking around in her closet while no one was looking. well, from now on girl, you're pulling your own weight!

I just want to make a shout-out to the hommie that invented twist-ties. of all of the so called "child-proof" devices, this one is unpenetrable by my little army. they just keep twisting the sucker round and round and can NEVER get it to open. and i just sit back watching, and laughing an evil little laugh.

In other news, ( AND PLEASE KEEP IN MIND, THESE ARE MY VIEWS ON THE SUBJECT) i got to go to my first c-section last week. while it was amazing to see western medicine in action, i truly hope that it's the last one i have to go to. i KNOW that this baby had to be born in this way...every braxton hicks contraction alison had caused anya's heart rate to drop to 60 bpm... but man, i can't stand hospitals. it's just such a foreign environment for me. those nurses just don't love babies the way that they need to be loved in those first few moments. i just wanted to cry. i've never seen a baby who wanted her momma more than anya did. she suckled in her very first few moments and then screamed for the next 90 minutes until they finally allowed me to take her to alison. now she's a perfectly content baby... as long as momma's got her. so sweet.

i am so grateful that i got to be there though. watching a baby literally ripped from the womb is a little tramatic, despite my NON-ookiness about blood and guts and stuff. but i found that as long as i kept my hands on her, she didn't really cry; she just needed a little bit of love to hold her off until momma could give her what she really wanted.

Anya Jai was born at 3:02 pm on March 20, 2007. she weighed in at 8 pounds 5 ounces and was 21 inches long. She's got honey colored hair and...eyes, we're really not sure what color, hazel maybe?

my kids adore her. bribes all week went something like this...if you eat all your dinner you can go hold baby anya...if you put clothes on you get to hold baby anya...if you stop jumping for 30 seconds, you can hold baby anya...