Who Are These People: Kate

It's been so long since I've given you the details on these people!!  While they change so quickly this will be untrue in about 4 seconds - here's Kate today.

Kate loves life.  She wakes up laughing most mornings.  She says "Good Morning!" to each member of our family, even if Jack is still sleeping or Dan is gone for work (very Walton-esque).

Her hair is straight out of control!!  It is curly and thick and unruly.  She refuses to leave bows, clips, or ponies in.  Wild, but oh, so fitting!

She flashes thumbs up like it's a gang sign.

She speaks pirate.  "Jack's a pullin' a me hair!"  "Momma, where's me shoes?"

I straightened her hair at Christmas time.  When we were at Meme's someone commented that it was harder to tell them apart when you couldn't count on Kate's curls.  THEN, sweet child attempted to 'run' across the living room to the front door...bounce, bounce, bounce, trip, slide, giggle, up, bounce, bounce, bounce.  I don't care if they look IDENTICAL, watch her move for 7 seconds and you can tell it's Kate.

They run circles around our living room often.  They always say, "Momma, I so fast!".  Without fail, Kate has to add, "I falled."

I already embarrass/irritate her (motherly duty, you know!)  I'll be singing along, or dancing, or trying to play with them...Kate sighs, says "No, Momma" eyebrows down, serious style.

She LOVES to sing.  She can sing all of the words (and pretty on pitch, I might add) to the A-B-C's, Jingle Bells, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Jesus Loves Me, Twinkle Little Star, and The Itsy-Bitsy Spider.

She's busted out a few 'Moms' lately.  I hate it.  I want to be 'Momma' even when she's 40.

She loves her sister BIG time.  Lauren was sick a few weeks ago.  She didn't eat dinner with Kate, instead let me rock her in the living room.  She was lethargic at bathtime, laid right down in her bed and closed her eyes.  I put Kate to bed too, then went in to the next room with Jack to nurse him down.  I could hear a little voice from their room.  I thought it was Lauren moaning or whining.  Not loud enough to be my Kate.  After I got Jack down, I went back into their room.  Lauren was asleep.  Kate was as close to Lauren as her crib would allow, arm stretched out in her direction, and was saying over and over, "Sissy, you ok?  Sissy, you ok?"  Sissy was fine, I walked out sobbing.

She loves to pray.  Any time of day, for lots of reasons.  We pray a lot while going to the bathroom.  I sit on the edge of the tub across from them and it's just a good place to chat!  While we were so worried about Pop, I may have passed some of my crazy on to Kate.  Still, to date, 24 days after we no longer pray for Pop's throat, Kate still starts every prayer with "Dear God, Help please Pop's throat." and then goes on to whatever else might be on her mind.

She is a BOSS.  First born, and maybe a little like her Momma, FOR SHIZZZZ.  "Warlen, come here."  "Warlen, sit down."  "Warlen, let's go!"  She has no regard to personal space while bossing either.  She gets up in 'Warlen's' face, about an inch and a half from her nose and delivers her directives.  I haven't told her yet that there's a chance that Lauren and Jack will be bigger than her someday and then...

She makes me laugh EVERYDAY.  And most of those laughs have to behind my hand or shirt or in another room because I'd hate to promote such behavior.  She hugs TIGHT.  She laughs with her head thrown back and so hard she always has to stop to come up for air.  When she cries in public it's so loud and emphatic that I'm certain someone reaches for their phone to call 9-1-1.  She is soft and uncoordinated and strong willed and has a sweet tooth.  I've said many times about lots of children that I could just eat them up.  But with Kate, I mean it.  If I wouldn't miss her SO much, I would eat her.  Delicious.

A friend said about her daughter on Facebook today, "If you don't know her, you totally should."  I couldn't agree more.  I hope you've had the pleasure.

Love,

Momma.

Annual Review

2012.

Farewell 2012.

Looking back, the word for 2012 was survival.

We survived a sudden death in the family.

We survived our house being on the market for what seemed like FOREVER to me at the time (pregnant, chasing 2 toddlers, and having to leave the house looking like only a single, home decorator lived there every time we ran to the grocery store.  Ugh.)

We survived moving, three times.  1) Half of our stuff into a storage shed.  2) Essentials into our Albuquerque rent house. 3) Everything to Edmond.

We survived losing a chunk of money on the sale of our home.

We survived (and loved) the birth of baby Jack.

We survived leaving our friends and patients in Albuquerque.

We survived opening a new practice in Edmond.

We survived the threat of a serious disease in our family.

I think if we did one of those stress quizzes, we might have topped out.

But we did survive.

Who wants to just survive, though?

Thrival

Thrival is the *made-up* word for 2013.

I don't want a marriage that just survives.

I don't want to raise kids who just survived.

I don't want to have a business that just survives.

Thrival.

That's not to say that there won't be stuff that comes up that we'll have to survive.  It'll come.

But, it's time for there to be some fun in The Prince House!

And that would be my only resolution for 2013!

Happy New Year!!!  (Seriously, so happy to see you, New Year!)

-Erin

The Remedy

There was a time, BC (before children), that I did not believe in the Germ Theory of Disease.  I believed that sickness happened when your body was unable to fight well, not when the germs were present.  Then, I had babies.  They are cesspools of cooties.  (I say most of this in jest, I really still think as I did BC - our bodies are just tired and therefore, truly, unable to fight well.)

We have all had a cold.  Well, all but Kate - she fights well.

Colds are really nothing more than a nuisance, right??  They don't hurt that bad, they usually don't last that long, but while you are in the thick of it - it is just no fun.

We try to just let sicknesses run their course.  We don't pop many pills here in the Prince House.  I have, however, tested and tried a few helpful things to speed the inconvenience along...

**The Neti Pot
I cannot tout it's praises loudly enough.  It's gross and weird and not talked about in polite conversation, but if you don't Neti, treat yourself.

**Homeopathics
Oscillococcinum by Boiron is the one of the only things in my medicine cabinet.  Works well and quickly and doesn't make you feel stoned.

**The Sweat Bath
My recipe is 1 cup Epsom salts, 1 cup baking soda, 10-20 drops essential oil (lavender is my favorite, but eucalyptus is super helpful for congestion.  We like Young Living oils) in a full, hot as you can stand it, bath.  The key is to sit there long enough to sweat and then to just keep sitting there and keep sweating.  I usually add hot water to the bath a few times and stay in about 30-45 minutes.  I take a glass of ice water with me and usually then yell for Dan to bring me more - parched.  It's gotta be good for you.

**Hydrate
I'm a water fan.  If it's cold out I try to have less coffee and down some hot tea.  Regardless, hydrate up.

**If-it's-not-the-holidays-and-you-are-smarter-than-me...Avoid Sugar
I hate this one.  For years I argued that this was a myth.  It's not.  You will feel better and your immune system will work better if you avoid refined, processed, sugary things.  Boo.

In health,
Erin

Lord, Have Mercy

I fear that if I were taking a seminary class and had to write out the definitions of 'mercy' and 'grace' I would have trouble.  I think I could make them sound very much the same...or maybe put the wrong definition on the wrong word...or something like that.

This week, though, I got to see one or the other or neither, I'm not quite sure.  Did the Lord have mercy on us and spare us?  Or did He give us grace and protect us?  Or was it just that He did one of those super cool compound karate moves where He allowed us to witness a miracle AND smack us (ok, maybe just me) upside the head with a little 'Are you listening, at all????'?

My dad doesn't have cancer.

Yip, that's how the story ends.

He did have a giant mass on his thyroid, though.
And he did answer all the questions incorrectly to calm any fears about it being a cootie.  (Does it hurt?  Were your thyroid levels affected?  Does it make you have a tickle in your throat?  Did it slowly show up or just appear one day?)  Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong answers.
I paid just enough attention in pathology class to be dangerous.  Well, that, and I have a neurosis called 'ImagineTheWorstScenarioAndThenMultiplyItBy49-itis'.

By all accounts, we should be making appointments with oncologists this week.  And learning details about a disease.  And preparing ourselves for a new normal of prescriptions and doctor's appointments and illness.  (And by we, I mean just him physically and the family at large in action and spirit.)

Even the surgeon was suffering from a case of 'ImagineTheWorstScenarioAndThenMultiplyItBy49-itis' and was blown away.

We witnessed a miracle.
And we were blessed beyond measure by that miracle.
And none of us did anything to deserve that blessing.

And I learned a big lesson.
You can deal with witnessing something like that one of two ways.

You can be of great faith, and say, 'Well, yes!, of course, God healed him!  That's exactly what we have been praying for!'.

Or you can be of lacking faith and witness the same miracle but instead answer, 'Are you sure?  Should you check again?  How can that be?  But I thought you said...'.

I want to be of great faith...and just like my daddy.

-sis