Items of Note

1. Yesterday for Jim's birthday, I fulfilled his wish for a Greek meal by buying and preparing lamb, vegetable skewers, couscous, pita bread and hummus and of course Greek salad. And when I say "prepare" lamb I mean marinade the meat, attempt to chop it up for shish kebabs, find meat to be both revolting and incredibly tough, give up, and declare that lamb is just as delectable on the bone as on a shish kebab. So we had lamb chops. Which in fact didn't even make it to the grill, as the grill ran out of propane almost as soon as it was fired up. My kitchen was a flurry of activity for awhile as my MIL quickly broiled the meat and roasted the veggie skewers in the oven instead, while the rest of us, weak with hunger, propped against counters and ate our weight in pita and hummus while we waited for the meal. I'm really glad someone took over, 'cause I had no idea what to do- my suggestion was going to be to cover everything with foil and head down to the nearest Pizza Hut instead. Anyhoo, it turned out deliciously, and I think it was another successful meal in the end. I continue to be on a cooking roll!

2. A few hours before Jim's birthday meal, Eli came sauntering down the hallway into the bathroom to inform me his diaper was falling off. It sure was- leaving poop remnants in his wake, all over his lower half, all over the inside of his shorts, and all over his feet, which had been making some firm contact with the floors and the bathroom rug. Addy was currently in the bathtub at the time, and began freaking out at the sight of him. As did I. I don't even want to relive to you the whole sequence of events involved in getting the floors and my child back to a sanitary state, but it was very not pretty, involved a lot of muttering and hissing and exaggerated sighing, and ended with Addy telling me plaintively that I was too grumpy and that she "was going to find somewhere else to live." And I was all, "Kiddo, if you find a place, take me too!"

3. Also yesterday afternoon, my mom was outside planting all the flowers and plants she got me for Mother's Day (I know, I know, she's MY mom, not the other way around. Don't ask- I continue to receive gifts, and I'm not going to start DEBATING whether or not it's strictly in keeping with the spirit of the holiday.) Part of the gift was the rearranging of what I previously had in my beds, almost all of which were not appropriate for the type of sun they were receiving, and as a result were barely clinging to life. So I'm super excited to see how my landscaping looks in a few weeks when everything takes off! Thanks Mom!

4. Ever since his swim class ended, Eli has been begging on a daily basis to go swimming again. Today, following a total stroke of genius, I took the kids "swimming" in my mom and dad's giant (heart-shaped!) jet tub. I just put them in their bathing suits, filled the tub extra full of lukewarm water, and announced that it was a swimming pool. They totally ate it up and played happily for over an hour.

5. I'm still debating about the progesterone injections. Turns out they're not nearly as expensive as I'd thought they were (try ten dollars per shot, not a hundred,) and while I had initially thought they were mainly useful in preventing PROM (premature rupture of membranes)- which I've never had a problem with- there are several differing studies and opinions on why exactly progesterone is useful. It is known that there is a significant drop in maternal progesterone immediately prior to the onset of labor, including premature labor contractions/dilation, but it's not yet known what triggers it. So I don't know... I still feel hesitant, since I've made it this far in the pregnancy without taking hormones, and since progesterone never seemed to help me before, but on the other hand, if it could keep me off bedrest and the baby in my tummy, it seems worth the expense (and residual hip bruising.) It's just such a new treatment, still, and not always effective. On the other hand, I was willing to take Zofran, which is also fairly new and not always effective. Arrgh. I don't know I don't know I don't know.