Wordless Wednesday (or whatever they call it)

Birthday Aftermath

I thought Gabriella was the highlight of Maryn's bday, until we got trumped by a present from one of her friends on Sat...read below.

I thought some of you may have been curious to know how a party with 9 little 6-7 year old girls would go...we're still alive...no injuries...but lots of screaming, running around, giggling, jibber-jabber about Troy and Sharpay, and of course some tears...was involved. All in all I think the party was fun for Maryn (and hopefully friends). She absolutely LOVED all the attention and having all of her very favorite friends gathered in one place. I guess that made the migraine afterwards worth it.

Party Theme: Pajama Party (compromise on the original sleepover on a Friday night idea for pizza and games on a Saturday in pj's).

Pizza with friends...Maryn at the far end leaning to the right and Avery is top right.

Party Games & Activities: decorating a pillowcase for Maryn, watching HS Musical 2 while intermittantly running wildly throughout the house, playing Twister, doing the limbo (what?!?), playing Telephone, playing ghosts & hunters (made up by Maryn involving the dark, blankets, and flashlights, and 1 crying friend), cake & ice-cream, and presents.

Can I see? Can I see?

Party Highlights: Maryn stealing the show and over-ruling my carefully thought out plan for games & activities, friend of Maryn's insisting on doing the limbo, asking the girls how much money they got from the tooth fairy and 1 yelling out "a fifty!", having the girls actually eat some of the veggie tray in addition to the pizza, and Maryn getting a "Pixel Chix" (of which she has now grafted to her body). It was an afternoon to remember...for all of us!!

What party isn't complete without some tears mingled with chocolate cake & ice cream??? Isn't that how the song goes?

7 Years Ago Today

I actually found myself giggling a little as I fell asleep last night thinking about what a day I had on December 14, 2000, the day that literally changed my life for good. I had gotten up for work…it was around 6:30 am. I remember rushing to the bathroom because it didn’t feel like I was going to make it in time and I didn’t. I thought I had wet my pants, but it was actually my water breaking. I remember sitting there (sorry, gross image) and the trickle not stopping. Hmmm…that’s strange. It’s still really early, I thought. I’m not due for another month practically. (Jan. 8 was my due date and it was Dec. 14th.) I told Mark about it and he mumbled something and rolled back over. I got in the shower. The trickle became a little stronger…with every movement. After I got out of the shower, I called my doctor. He said to go the hospital, that if it was my water breaking we’d have a baby by the end of the day and if not we’d go back home. I told Mark to get ready—grab my hospital bag and put the carseat in the car. He reluctantly agreed. He did not believe we’d have a baby by the end of the day, it was way too early. But I knew it was time…the contractions had started by this time and I was IN labor. We drove the 5 minutes to St. Luke’s and I checked in. It was thrilling, scary and intense all at the same time. I was pretty calm despite the fact that I knew that we were going to have a premature baby. I guess I didn’t understand what all of it would mean. After we got into the triage, the nurse checked to see if my water had broke and what had started as a slow leak was now in fact a waterfall. She basically finished the job and we were ready to go. Mark was in shock…he was both excited and a little overwhelmed at what we were embarking upon. We got a huge birthing room complete with a Jacuzzi, TV, birthing ball, etc. I tried out the Jacuzzi right away. It was nice and relaxing. I spent the next couple hours in and out of the tub. After that, I felt what it really meant to be in labor and breathed my way through another couple hours before I could get my epidural. Sweet epidural. After that I was happy as a clam. I laid in my bed, chatting with my nurse who was from Michigan, and Mark went off to eat lunch. When he got back I remember it was time to start pushing and he smelled like chocolate. I didn’t like him much at that moment. I hadn’t eaten since the night before and it was now around 2:30 pm. I pushed for 3 hours and nothing was happening. Finally the nurse figured it out and with a little adjusting and a vacuum suction cup placed on the baby’s head, out popped our little 5 lb. 12 ounce baby girl!! She started screaming bloody murder instantly and I remember seeing her beautiful rosebud lips curl into a sneer that made my heart sing and melt all at the same time. Even after they placed her on my chest, she screamed. It wasn’t until Mark started talking to her that she calmed down. She recognized his voice and quieted down for a moment and then continued on into her tirade. They cleaned her off, weighed her, and warmed her up. She was a preemie (born at 36 ½ weeks) and very small, but her apgar scores were great. She had strong lungs and good color. They let us keep her and she didn’t need to be whisked away to the NICU. I took a little time being stitched up (had to go back for surgery 3 mos. later anyway), and Mark got to talk some more with Maryn Elizabeth, now only a few minutes old. I held her as they wheeled us up to the recovery floor. We had a corner room and I remember not wanting to ever leave. The three of us there in that tiny little room felt like the most right thing I had ever done in my life. I had a baby by the end of that day, and began a life that I would never trade in a million years.

And as the years have past I have watched Maryn grow. She has always been such a cutie! She is curious and smart. She is affectionate and sensitive. She is social--friendly and warm. She is creative and constantly has marker-stained fingers from all her coloring and drawing. She has the funniest sense of humor and really gets a kick out of making us laugh (ask us about her "tooth" book sometime). She has always been a great big sister…from the time she wasn’t even two and we brought Avery home. She’s been a helper and a strong force for good in our family. She is learning so much this year and I am constantly surprised at how articulate and kind she is becoming. She is a sweetheart and I am thrilled to be celebrating #7 with her this year.

St. Mikolas Day

Check out this festive Czech Christmas tradition:

http://pragueblog77.blogspot.com/2007/12/mikolas-day.html

I meant to post this on Wednesday, as that is the official day they celebrate St. Mikolas Day in the CZ. I was explaining it to the girls and I'm not quite sure they could wrap their little minds around it. It seems pretty straight-forward, albeit completely bizarre, but in my own experience it would often vary (as traditions do) and was left pretty wide-open to interpretation.

First of all, we were instructed by our Mission President not to tract on the 5th of December. Mostly because St. Mikolas rings people's doorbells when he arrives (and so do unsuspecting missionaries) and we would probably cause an all-out wig-out for the kids of the home who would probably be a little disappointed we weren't dressed up in costumes offering candy, etc. "But we have something much better and fulfilling than candy..." Also, something I picked up pretty soon after arriving as a missionary, almost every holiday (and non-holiday) involves lots of alcohol and drunk Czech men and missionaries don't mix. We would see drunk Mikolas's in the town square chasing around the angels and devils (and other innocents bystanders), and our Mission President just didn't want to go there, so he quarantined us. Wise man. But that didn't mean we couldn't observe the crazy Christmas mayhem from our apartment window. (We had a great view of the town square.)

I found this blog entry from a girl's "Prague Blog" (clever, eh?) and it seemed to explain the tradition pretty well. I don't remember the potatoe thing, but I had a pretty limited experience with it as well. In my experience, the angel gave the kids lots of candy, but if the kids were bad, the devil took the candy away. (Insert Count Dracula cackle here...) It was a pretty intense experience for the little kiddos. Some were either left in a sugar-induced stupor or traumatized by visions of devils stealing their candy or giving them potatoes. What!?! (I know, it's not even as weird as their Easter. Remind me to post about that come April.) Anyway, that's St. Mikolas Day, and now it's on to the actual Christmas day (Vanoce) and its' own set of (wacky) traditions. (Because the Santa thing is pretty much over with St. Mikolas, they await their presents being delivered under the tree by Jezisek (yez-ee-shek), the baby Jesus. That's right the baby brings the presents. Hmmm...

Hope you're all having fun with your own holiday traditions!!