Us
Saturday, October 23, 2010
"Where Were You Mommy?"
Last Friday I was called by the DON (director of nursing) from the facility that I work at. There were so many call offs for the weekend that they were desperate for nurses. I agreed to work for four hours on Saturday (which of course turned into six). Either way Matthew was okay with the idea, and I thought that this would be a good transition into me working (instead of jumping right into a eight hour shift.). I cried when I left (or course), which was bad enough, but little did I know that the coming home would be worse. Matthew and Matthan greeted me at the door, and Matthan cried when he saw me. My heart about broke into two as he looked at me, and seemed to say "Where were you mommy?!" He then nursed for a very long time.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Calm, Cool and Collected
My dad is the most laid back person that you will ever meet- calm, cool and collected. He hardly ever gets mad, upset, or emotional. While growing up, I can only remember a few times that my dad ever became angry, and 90 percent of those times were at my mom, with the other ten percent directed at my brothers for leaving his tools out. Upset? Twice- when my grandfather died (his dad), and when my youngest brother literally had a whole in his face from a dog bite when he was only five. Excited- hardly ever.
When Matthew and I told my parents last Christmas that I was expecting a baby, my parents reacted in typical form. My mom freaked out (this is her usual self), and my dad just smiled- calm, cool, and collected, in typical dad form. As the months progressed, neither of my parents were excited about a grandchild being on the way- they still have three kids in the house- with the youngest only being 11. I think they thought it would be like having another child of their own. But the minute they laid eyes on Matthan- everything change. The grandparents who didn't want to become grandparents were now a very proud Omi and Pop. Amazing, what a small baby can do.
This past weekend we made the trek home to PA- a surprise visit for everyone, but we especially surprised my dad by stopping in at his work. Dad reacted in typical dad form- calm, cool, and collected. But when all Matthan would do was cry when my dad held him, I was amazed to see a teeny, tiny bit of emotion crack through the typical calm, cool, and collected dad. Nothing dramatic of course, but I didn't miss the hint of sadness pass through my dads eyes as Matthan cried in his arms. The weekend whizzed by and when it as time to say good bye, I watched my dad pause, hold Matthan for a second longer, give him a little extra squeeze, and then slowly hand him over to me. I couldn't help to notice once again, the sadness that crept into his eyes as he tried to remain his typical calm, cool, and collected self. Maybe, just maybe the calm, cool, and collected dad, wont be as a calm, cool, and collected grandfather.
When Matthew and I told my parents last Christmas that I was expecting a baby, my parents reacted in typical form. My mom freaked out (this is her usual self), and my dad just smiled- calm, cool, and collected, in typical dad form. As the months progressed, neither of my parents were excited about a grandchild being on the way- they still have three kids in the house- with the youngest only being 11. I think they thought it would be like having another child of their own. But the minute they laid eyes on Matthan- everything change. The grandparents who didn't want to become grandparents were now a very proud Omi and Pop. Amazing, what a small baby can do.
This past weekend we made the trek home to PA- a surprise visit for everyone, but we especially surprised my dad by stopping in at his work. Dad reacted in typical dad form- calm, cool, and collected. But when all Matthan would do was cry when my dad held him, I was amazed to see a teeny, tiny bit of emotion crack through the typical calm, cool, and collected dad. Nothing dramatic of course, but I didn't miss the hint of sadness pass through my dads eyes as Matthan cried in his arms. The weekend whizzed by and when it as time to say good bye, I watched my dad pause, hold Matthan for a second longer, give him a little extra squeeze, and then slowly hand him over to me. I couldn't help to notice once again, the sadness that crept into his eyes as he tried to remain his typical calm, cool, and collected self. Maybe, just maybe the calm, cool, and collected dad, wont be as a calm, cool, and collected grandfather.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Ready for Work?
This is my last week home as a "stay at home mom". I officially start work on the 17th, though I told them they could call me at anytime for a call off. I thought that I was ready to go to work, but after today, I am wondering. I felt a little weepy all day. I can't tell you how many times I teared up when the thought passed through my mind that I was actually going to be leaving my precious baby for eight plus hours. This afternoon when he took his nap, instead of putting him down in his bed, I held him, rocked him, kissed his perfect head, watched him take each breath, and treasured every minute. Will he know that I am gone? I worry that he will wake up in the middle of the night (while I am working), and will cry when I am not there to take care of him. What if he doesn't stop crying? What will happen when he can't be comforted? What if he refuses to take the bottle? (even though he does now). What if he eventually stops nursing, and only takes the bottle? He is so little. So innocent. So precious. Will I ever forgive myself for leaving him? Will he forgive me? My eyes are now red and puffy. Tears are streaming down my face, and I can barely read the computer screen. Will this ever be easy? Should it ever become easy?
Perfect Roast
So I must have really been in the cooking mood last week. On Wednesday I made a meal for my friend Sonia, and us (check out the blog before this one), and then on Thursday I made roast chicken with stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, and invited our neighbors from downstairs up. I love roast chicken- as long as it is supper moist, and was so proud of this beautiful chicken I had Matt take a picture so that I could post it to my blog! (vain, I am). So here it is:
Believe it or not, I have never made stuffing, and found a great recipe on pioneerwoman.com. It was so moist and yum, yum, yum! The link is: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/11/stuffing_dressing_my_favorite_thanksgiving_food/
Believe it or not, I have never made stuffing, and found a great recipe on pioneerwoman.com. It was so moist and yum, yum, yum! The link is: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/11/stuffing_dressing_my_favorite_thanksgiving_food/
This is for You Sonia
I work at a rehab/long term facility, so it is pretty small, about 60 beds, and since it is a rehab/long term, the facility doesn't need to staff many nurses, in fact, on 3-11, only three nurses are staffed for the entire building, and on 11-7, only two. Ridiculous, I know. (Remember these statistics if you ever have a love one who needs rehab or long term care). Anyway, unknown to my employer, I was about eight weeks pregnant when I was hired. Shortly after I started, I had to share with Sonia, the nurse who was training me (for safety reasons) that I was pregnant. She laughed, and was like, "yeah, I don't want any children for awhile." Eight weeks later, Sonia informed me that she too was pregnant. Maybe a month later, the DON (director or nursing) also announced that she was pregnant! The facility had to hire nurses just to cover maternity leave!
Anyway, last week, Matthew, Matthan and I went to see Sonia, Chris (her boyfriend), and little Camilia (Camilia and Matthan are seven weeks apart- to the day). And, being the nut that I am, I made dinner for everyone, and took it with us. Since Matthan and Chris are both pizons, I decided to stick with a somewhat Italian dinner, but I didn't want to go overboard with the "Italian", so I decided to make a new recipe- Italian Meatball Soup, caeser salad, and garlic bread. I had first heard about the Italian Meatball soup from my friend Shawna, who had found it on Pioneerwoman.com which is a blog. I had finished the soup, and sadly, wasn't impressed. It lacked something. So I added a little bit of this, and a little bit of that, and made another batch of meatballs, and walla- perfect! We all had a great time, the pizons hit it off perfectly (they had never met until this day), and the soup was a huge hit (specially with the pizons). By the way, I never did get the caeser salad made (which was probably the easiest part of this meal!). Sonia requested a copy of the recipe, and suggested that I post it to my blog! Great idea Sonia. So here is the link to the recipe- http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/01/italian-meatball-soup/ . So to make this recipe good- add two more cups of broth, double the meatballs, double the tomato paste, add a small can of diced tomatoes, about 1/2 a tsp red pepper, a tsp thyme, and 1-2 tps Italian seasoning, all equals delicious!
By the way, I have now bookmarked the pioneerwoman.com because she is just too funny in her blog- and she had great recipes!
Anyway, last week, Matthew, Matthan and I went to see Sonia, Chris (her boyfriend), and little Camilia (Camilia and Matthan are seven weeks apart- to the day). And, being the nut that I am, I made dinner for everyone, and took it with us. Since Matthan and Chris are both pizons, I decided to stick with a somewhat Italian dinner, but I didn't want to go overboard with the "Italian", so I decided to make a new recipe- Italian Meatball Soup, caeser salad, and garlic bread. I had first heard about the Italian Meatball soup from my friend Shawna, who had found it on Pioneerwoman.com which is a blog. I had finished the soup, and sadly, wasn't impressed. It lacked something. So I added a little bit of this, and a little bit of that, and made another batch of meatballs, and walla- perfect! We all had a great time, the pizons hit it off perfectly (they had never met until this day), and the soup was a huge hit (specially with the pizons). By the way, I never did get the caeser salad made (which was probably the easiest part of this meal!). Sonia requested a copy of the recipe, and suggested that I post it to my blog! Great idea Sonia. So here is the link to the recipe- http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/01/italian-meatball-soup/ . So to make this recipe good- add two more cups of broth, double the meatballs, double the tomato paste, add a small can of diced tomatoes, about 1/2 a tsp red pepper, a tsp thyme, and 1-2 tps Italian seasoning, all equals delicious!
By the way, I have now bookmarked the pioneerwoman.com because she is just too funny in her blog- and she had great recipes!
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Preload
Matthew has started a new shift. Preload. This is the early morning shift. The shift that nobody wants, because who wants to leave for work at 4 am? After some prayer, and talking, Matthew and I both decided that this shift would be better for our family, and this is the only shift that gives tuition reimbursement- $3000.00 in reimbursement a year! The first two nights/mornings went well. One down side to this is that not a lot of people work this shift, which is less people for Matthew to talk to, and we all know how much Matthew loves to talk. The upside? At 7 am, a "food cart" arrives with everything that you can imagine (as told by Matthew)- sausage and peppers, coffee, sodas, bagels, and sandwiches. The bad side- Matthew will spend the money he makes in a shift on food! One other problem. Matthew doesn't like to go to bed by himself. Tabitha doesn't like to go to bed at 9pm. Tonight (at 11:30 pm), Matthew is still up, because he "Can't sleep", and "Why wont you come to bed with me?" It is going to be an early morning, and a long day on those few hours.
Kitchen Aide Mixer
Thanks to my two wonderful friends Amanda and Shawna, I got a Kitchen Aide Mixer! A lady in our church was giving hers away, and asked both Amanda and Shawna if they knew anyone who would like a kitchen aide mixer, and they both suggested me! So on Saturday, I was hand delivered a big, beautiful kitchen aide mixer. It is old, but it works great (I made brownies tonight). Though my kitchen is small, and my counter tops even smaller, I made room for the beast and I am looking very forward to using it, and using it often!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)