Friday, January 10, 2014

"It's about time he grew up."

Tues., February 4, 1992
     To finish up on Sunday, Ez. didn't fall asleep til we were on the way home from church. She did good in church that night. Tina had to work from 3-8 Sunday. So we never had a chance to play Shanghai Rummy. We left there a little after 10:00 Mon. morning. It only took us about an hour to get to Mt. Vernon. Ez. slept all the way because I sat in back with her & gave her a bottle til she fell asleep.
     It was so cold out there. It wasn't quite as much walking as I expected but what there was, was hard. Especially when I had to go check Ez's diaper. The restrooms were below the museum which meant I had to come back up the steps carrying her & the bag. I tapped on the door with my foot & the tour lady opened the door for me. I just barely had time to catch my breath before it was time to start the tour. We couldn't take the stroller inside so Guy carried Ez. & I carried the bag. The house was a lot smaller than I'd have imagined. There were a lot of bedrooms though. And the view from the back, looking over the Potomac was beautiful. They were working on the main staircase, reinforcing it underneath. We went up the back stairway. The whole house was very sparsely furnished. Most of it was original though. And he died there in bed. It's hard to comprehend sometimes, being in the same place where famous people from history were. To imagine what things were really like back then. I'd like to go back sometime when it's warmer and we can take our time to look over the whole estate. There are so many historical places around here it almost makes me sad that we won't be here when Ez. is old enough to appreciate them. Wouldn't it be nice if we could have a "beach house" to come back here to whenever we wanted a vacation - or to spend our summers at!? Then we could take our time & visit all these places and not have to worry about paying for a hotel room or putting anybody out by staying with them. Dreams!
     We stopped in Woodbridge to eat lunch at McDonald's. I had a chicken fajita which gave me diarrhea by last night. Ez. ate a good lunch. She even chewed on some french fries. Of course she spit them out when she bit pieces off.
     It was strange but very nice that she slept almost all the way home. She woke up a couple of times but took her pacifier & went back to sleep. I was in the front seat & got a few snoozes myself. We got home at 4:45. Guy went & got Chief after 7:00. I'd planned on making them (Krebsbachs) some Rice Krispie treats when we got home but there weren't enough marshmallows. Then I remembered there was banana bread mix in the pantry so I made that. Guy said they seemed to like that cause they started eating it as soon as he gave it to them.
     They said Chief was good except he'd eat Katy's food as well as his own. But they seemed to think that was funny. Hopefully we won't have to ask them to keep him again.
     I forgot to mention that Guy slipped when he was getting in the tub before we left yesterday morning. He caught himself so he didn't fall but he twisted his neck. It was really stiff & sore the rest of the day & when he got up this morning. It has gotten better but is still stiff. He can't turn all the way to the left. 
     When he went to get Ez. out of the crib this morning, she sat up as he was going in the door. She didn't do it again all day though so I haven't seen it. She seemed like she was happy to be home today, just rolling around in the floor and kicking & jabbering. All she did at Nick & Tina's was mostly just watch Evan. He had a habit of hollering a lot & sometimes Ez. would jump when he did so whatever noise it was that made her jump, he'd do it again, until she didn't jump any more. Usually that only took 2-3 times. She made a little bit of noise whenever he wasn't around but she wasn't her usual self. She really didn't have a chance cause Evan was constantly on the move & making noise. I was glad to get away from that myself. At least he did take good naps.
     We didn't do anything productive today except get the menus & grocery list done so we can go to the commissary tomorrow. Guy hooked the Atari up upstairs & we played a little bit. Ez. didn't know what to think of him hollering and carrying on.
     Chief hasn't been as much of a nuisance today. Guy said he seems to have mellowed out a little. Maybe he's afraid we're going to leave him again. Hopefully he'll behave himself better if he's growing up some. It's about time he grew up.

Thursday, January 9, 2014

"It was so embarrassing."

Monday, Feb. 3, 1992
     Yesterday was Ground Hog Day, but I don't know what his prediction was. Nick & Tina don't watch much TV. I didn't know they had rented two movies. We watched the second one last night - Stealing Home. It was pretty good. We didn't ever have time to teach them Shanghai Rummy. Tina had to work 3-8:30 last night.
     When we went to church yesterday morning, it was at the same place where we met with the board of directors from Rainbow Christian Services when we were appealing their decision to not let us adopt. The more I thought about it during class the more upset I got just remembering all the things that were said that day. Plus, they'd passed around a sympathy card in class for a couple who'd just lost their 10-wk-old baby to SIDS. I normally wouldn't participate in something like that when we're visiting but I felt like I had to say something. I wrote "we're very sorry to hear about your baby. Find a support group - it will help immensely."
     When we went to get Ez. after class she was sitting on one lady's lap in the rocker, fussing. Guy got her while I got her bag then said we needed to check her diaper. He laid her down & I checked her. She wasn't messy so I picked her up & she wouldn't stop crying. Guy said he's take her & I said that's ok & he went ahead & took her and she stopped crying. It was so embarrassing. Nobody said anything & probably didn't even notice but I felt awful, afraid that everyone would think I wasn't a good mother cause I couldn't get her to stop crying & he could. He said later he just wanted to get her calmed down before she got any worse. She was just so tired but she wouldn't go to sleep during church. Guy finally took her out to walk her but he said there were too many other babies out there to distract her.