THE MAN.........and the cold washcloth.

I dedicate this blog entry to my husband, John. He is THE MAN! What man would get up in the middle of the night just to hold a cold washcloth over his wife's face as she throws up?.....THE MAN! Of course, I had to scream his name several times before he actually woke up. But when he did, he stumbled into the bathroom, ran cold water on a cloth and held it to my face as I threw up. Then he walked me back to bed and put the cloth over my forehead. The reason he does this is because I did this for the kids when they were sick because my mom did it for me when I was sick. What is it about a cold washcloth over your face when you're vomiting your guts out that makes you feel better and is comforting? Anyway, after the third time throwing up and doubling over from abdominal pains, I said, "Take me to the ER." Now this conjures up bad pictures in John's and my minds of the recent past ER visits. Luckily, I was the only "customer" in the ER, in the early morning hours Sat. I answered all the questions, signed the papers and was put in a holding room in the ER. Who else would walk with me when I looked like death warmed over, holding me up and carrying my purse (which didn't match either mine or his "outfits.") .....THE MAN! John sat with me in this room and we reminisced about the other ER visits I've had in the past couple of years. Some quite humorous and some very serious. A nurse comes in to hook me up to an IV. In other words, JAB a needle in my vein , miss the first time, and do it again. I'm making faces at the nurse and she is giving me no sympathy as she continues to move the needle around in my vein. (Mental note to myself, ask Beth if she's nice when she's doing this to her patients.) John is sitting right there with me, reading the paper in an uncomfortable wooden chair, looking tired and waiting on the "hospitalist." (i.e., a doctor who only sees patients that are in the hospital, like Dr. Taylor Brownlee). I'm sure if there had been a washcloth around John would have run cold water on it and placed it on my head because .....he's THE MAN!

Let me give you a little background to this story. A few hours before I ended up in the ER, John had to attend a dinner without me. This wasn't just any dinner. It was the rehearsal dinner for Drennon Platt and Will McMurray at The University Club. What man would attend a rehearsal dinner without his wife unless he didn't know what he was doing or the person it was for meant a great deal to him? Not very many men would, but........THE MAN did! He even sat at a table where he didn't know a single person. Luckily, Beth and Ben's table had 1 empty seat and he moved there to finish out the dinner. A few hours later, we were in the ER. Back to the story, when I was moved to my room (on the 7th floor at St. Thomas) John went home, got some things for me and brought them back to the hospital. He stayed with me (helping me roll the IV stand back and forth the bathroom) until it was time for him to go home, take a shower and get to the wedding. What man, with his wife in the hospital, wouldn't use that as an excuse to get out of going to a wedding?......THE MAN! He went to Drennon's wedding, by himself and then to the reception, by himself. After he got home I asked him to call me and give a report of the evening because I was having to miss such a special occasion. Now, I love THE MAN but he's not into details, which is what I wanted. "How did everything look, how did Drennon look, how did Beth look, were the flowers pretty, how was the music?......these are a few of the details I wanted. THE MAN'S answers were the same, NICE! So much for details. Now when I asked him about the food, he could give me details of each piece he put in his mouth!! Thus the old saying, "A way to a man's heart is through his stomach!" At least at wedding receptions!

On Sunday a.m., I called John to wish him a happy father's day. He went to class, then church, then home to pick up the paper and bring it to me at the hospital. He stayed a few minutes, (helping me roll my IV stand back and forth to the bathroom) and then went to lunch at my sister's house to celebrate Father's Day. What man would go to lunch with his wife's family when the wife wasn't even there?.......THE MAN! (or anyone that wanted a free meal, including my kids!!) After I had a CT scan (twice) and they had taken half my blood volume out, I was told they couldn't find the exact cause for my abdominal pain and vomiting. With a CT scan you have to drink 2 water bottles full of water with "contrast"(weird tasting) in them. Then they put you through this round, open machine while pumping dye into your veins that makes you feel warm and fuzzy all over (until you realize if someone shined a black light on you you might actually glow green!!). I had this done twice in 2 days. If you see me out and I have that "glowing look", I am actually GLOWING from the radiation!!! Who would want to go to the hospital to pick up a person that has been radiated twice, lost half their blood volume, has had NO SLEEP, you could grease your car with her hair, smelled like hospital antiseptic, has black and blue marks on both arms and then bring her home with you?.......THE MAN! Because after all I've put him through the last few days, really the last few years, he still LOVES ME!!!! And I know he'll have that cold washcloth ready for my head the next time I get really sick...........who could ask for more!!!

Baby Shower Gifts and Things I Didn't Have

Lucy, Kristen, Claire, Rachel and Gale - Hostesses of Beth's friends baby shower

Janene, Nanny and Kim - Hostesses of the family baby shower

Little Elliotte isn't even here yet but she has had 2 parties so far to equip her with everything she'll need as a baby. She is fortunate to have a mom and dad with so many friends and family who want to show their love by the giving of gifts. There have been a wide range of gifts for Elliotte and her nursery. She is going to be the best dressed baby this side of the Mississippi!

Now, you usually expect to get some baby clothes, blankets, picture frames, books, etc. at these kind of showers. That's why you register at stores that carry baby stuff. This way if people don't know what to get for the baby, they can buy things on your registry and it takes stress out of finding a gift. Elliotte received some beautiful "keepsake" gifts at both showers. These are gifts that Elliotte will NEVER play with or even touch until she gets older and can appreciate the sentiment. Although, my mother reminds me of the time I took my sterling silver cup outside and proceeded to bang it on anything that would make noise, without her knowledge of course. I have my cup in my china cabinet now and it looks like someone took a hammer to it but you can still see my name engraved on it. At least I didn't leave it in the driveway and let the garbage man run over it like my sister did with her cup!! Here are a few of Elliotte's keepsake gifts.

handmade gown, handmade blanket & cap, monogrammed quilt

The pink handmade blanket and cap were made by Elliotte's great, great, great Aunt Sara. And believe me, at 86 she is a GREAT, funny lady!! I'm sure Elliotte will receive more beautiful "keepsake" gifts that she will someday put in her china cabinet or display in a shadowbox. Or leave outside for her daddy's truck to run over!

Now I want to talk about some new and different things for baby. 1. Pacifier Keeper, to keep the passie from getting lost or dirty until the next time. In my day it was hard enough to keep up with the pacifier, much less a pacifier keeper. If I can't find the pacifier, then I can't find the keeper it's in either! And forget about keeping it clean. As long as it hasn't been on the floor or in the dog's mouth for more than 5 seconds, wipe it off with your shirt and stick it in the baby's mouth. 2. Baby monitors with sound and a view of the baby. In my day, your ears and eyes were the monitor. If you wanted to make sure the baby was fine you just cracked the door a little and looked in. It also got you up off the couch or bed for some exercise to walk to the baby's room. If the baby saw you at the door and started crying, you called for the daddy. (who was usually sound asleep and heard NOTHING!) And what is with this 3. Wipe Warmer thing. Are we inventing stuff just to spend our money on? What's wrong with a wipe right out of the box? It may be a little on the cool side but they need to learn that's life! What's next, a baby bidet? 4. "Contour" pads for the changing table. I'll admit I have one on the changing table in my nursery. But my kids had a thin foam pad on their table which did the job. If I change Elliotte's diaper where I changed most of her mother's, it will be on the floor with the dog sniffing the diaper and her hiney. 5. Squirt baby food dispenser. You put the food in the squeeze handle of this spoon and squirt out a spoon full at the time. I don't really understand the concept here because the food ends up mostly on you or the baby instead of in the mouth. So what difference does it make if the food comes from a squirt dispenser or a regular spoon? 6. Jumperoo. This is a contraption that you put the baby in with all kinds things on it that makes sounds and lights up, plus they can jump around anywhere. We used to have jumpers that hooked on the top of the door frame. You put the baby in it and they jumped to their hearts content in one place. Unless you didn't screw it tight enough to the door frame, in which case, when the baby jumped, they landed on their behind and started crying (that's the sound that comes with the jumper!).

Well, I guess that's enough for this blog. Beth and Ben have a couple of more parties so I'm sure there will be more things to blog about! It's amazing how baby things have changed in 30 years. Some for the better, some I'm not so sure about. Until next time.........God bless!

Me, my girls and a dream suit

Last Sunday, Leslie and I drove to Destin to the condo for a few days of relaxation. Beth was already there having gone down with Drennon (her friend that's getting married very soon) for the Memorial holiday weekend. Drennon left on Sunday morning and we came in on Sunday night. The drive down was so great! I was able to talk and listen to my new daughter in law which was so wonderful. Needless to say, the trip seemed very short because we talked the entire way!! There is no doubt God's hand was in Clay and Leslie finding each other. She is so easy going, easy to talk to and never seems stressed about anything. Totally opposite of Clay! Leslie is a perfect fit for our family and it showed on this trip. It was so nice to be with "my girls." We sunned, ate, read, slept, sunned some more and ate some more. I would like to have some pictures to show you but Beth said, NO WAY! You see, we went without much makeup on or at times, any makeup on. I usually had just a little on because I would hate to scare someone into a heart attack! But when I was at the pool, I only wore sunscreen on my face. I did wear my BIG sunglasses and a large hat that mostly hid my face from view, which was a good thing for more reasons than one. Beth looked cute in her maternity bathing suit and Leslie looked great in her 2 piece. I did ask Leslie if she was really pregnant because I could see no signs of it in that 2 piece. If she wasn't my daughter in law, I think I would have to hate her! Too bad I couldn't find a bathing suit that would hide my entire body and still let me tan. I need to talk to the Spanx girl to see if it would be possible to make me a "sucker inner suit" that would give me a waist, hide my "thunder thighs", lift the lower and upper portion of my body, keep the arms from jiggling that I could still tan through. Hey, maybe I'll try to design one myself and make a billion dollars! I'm sure I would have a few takers. But I'm not sure they make industrial strength stretch fabric strong enough to hold all of me in. And would I be able to pull it up without help and still breathe? Of course, if it makes me look 50 lbs. lighter, I guess I could go without breathing for a while. Oh well, a girl can dream, can't she???
Anyway, the week was wonderful and I enjoyed being with Beth and Leslie. Girl time is something all us girls need every once in a while. Of course, Ben and Clay really missed their wives. Poor Clay (cry me a river!) was lost because he didn't have Leslie to make his lunches and fix his dinner. She even went to the grocery and bought him plenty of stuff to eat. The problem was he just didn't want to take the time to make his lunches or cook his dinner, even if it was in the microwave! I told Leslie she's already spoiled him too much. When Leslie talked with Clay one morning, he asked about the weather, which was a little overcast at the time. He wanted to know if we were coming home early because of the weather (can you say, "NO WAY JOSE!!"). It might take a few more trips to break him in. Beth has been on several trips without Ben since they married. He is a little more used to it now. But he doesn't like to be stuck with the 3 dogs for very long. After a few days (1 or 2) he's ready for Beth to come home and take care of them. If he thinks dogs are hard to care for, just wait until he has to keep Elliotte BY HIMSELF for the first time. Oh, I feel another blog coming from that experience! Before I forget, John did miss me too, but after almost 36 years of marriage he knows I need my time away to regain what little sanity I have left. I usually find my sanity when I'm on my girl trips, but by the time I get home, I've lost it again. Oh well, I guess that means I'll just have to take more trips with the girls. Do I have any takers??
God bless until next time.