Birthday the Fourth

[Fair warning: This is probably going to be a wordy one. Feel free to just scroll through the pictures and move on.]

Anda started her birthday this year as we all do.

She ate her pink pancakes with sprinkles.

Then she put on her witch dress from Halloween two years ago and watched "The Nightmare Before Christmas."

Her only requests for her birthday were a very specific cake (a Princess Aurora dress cake with candles that spell out "Happy Birthday") and some balloons. Easy peasy.

I thought I might try to make that cake, but since we moved into our new house on Monday and the birthday was on Wednesday, and the kitchen still looked like this on Tuesday:

...my mom ended up saving the day by ordering the cake at a Walmart nearby instead. 

We picked up the balloons at Walmart too, and I feel it worth noting that their balloon-buying procedure is as follows: Ask Customer Service if they do helium balloons; find out they do, but you need to purchase the balloons at the party section first; find out that they mean you need to buy a whole pack of balloons at the party section; go through checkout and purchase balloons (and ice cream, etc.); go back to the produce/bakery section and wait 20 minutes for someone to appear who can fill up six balloons for you; wait another 10 minutes for that person to tell you that actually, their shift just ended, so this other person will be filling up the balloons; wait another 15 minutes for that person to clock in at the other end of the store, which is located in Narnia; wait another 10 minutes for that person to chat it up with Mr. Tumnus or somebody as they mosey back to the produce section; wait another 10 minutes for them to actually fill the balloons; get told that you will now need to go through checkout again to pay $0.75 for the helium in each balloon; survey the four open check stands, each with twelve people in line, each with a full cart of groceries and their checkbooks in hand; screw that and walk out the door, after exchanging the ice cream soup for a fresh one. 

In total, about an hour and a half to fill up six balloons and get some ice cream. Not bad!

I then "ran" into Sam's Club (while my parents waited in the car with the kids) to pick up some cupcakes for later that night, where I had to wait another 20 minutes because they had to renew my membership which I had opened four days earlier, and which had mysteriously expired already. 

Ugh, could this day get any worse?! Amiright?

Fortunately, next on the docket was our first visit to the local zoo, which turned out to be awesome. It's not so big that it's exhausting, but it has all the animal highlights you'd expect: Lions, penguins, giraffes, etc. We had a great time!

There were plenty of animal statue photo ops. 

And Anda even got to hold a bird.

The zoo closes at 5:00, so we had to go without Dan, but this meant that we would be back in plenty of time to do pizza, cake, ice cream, and presents before bed. Someone's gotta earn that money, and also provide health insurance, which just happened to begin covering us (after Dan's first 30 days of employment) on Anda's birthday. What a mundane and not at all foreboding coincidence!

Toward the end of our visit, we decided to visit the Aquarium real quick before riding the little train and calling it a day. Lilah had finally started walking a little, so I let her get down and watched her closely. 

At one point, I glanced up and saw that Anda was climbing on one of the railings at the top of the step-seating in front of the big tank, so like every other doting, vigilant, conscientious mom in the world, I told her to "be careful," then went back to not paying any attention, certain that she would be heed my words.

As soon as my head was turned, I heard, "Ah...ah...AHHHHH!!!!" as she tumbled over the railing and down a couple of carpeted steps. I made sure my parents were running over to where I left Lilah, then sprinted to the crumpled, sobbing heap that was Anda.

Anda has a tendency to be dramatic about injuries, and milk the crying much longer than is actually necessary, so I sat and tried to soothe her for a minute. The screams didn't subside, so I picked her up and rushed her outside, where we sat down on a bench. She kept up the hysterics, but kept insisting that nothing hurt--it had just scared her when she fell. Honestly, it wasn't that far of a fall, so at first I took her at her word.

However, even Anda usually gets tired of screaming and wants to move on with her day, so after 10 minutes of relentless wailing and refusal to get down or even readjust so I could check her out, I got a little concerned. I let my mom take her and walk around a little to try to get her calm, and so that I could maybe get a look at her. Nothing changed.

Eventually we got her to sit in Lilah's stroller with the promise that we'd take her to the train. She was very eager to go to the train, but still screaming ferociously as we walked in that direction. Now that she was sitting in the stroller, I could see that she wasn't moving her right arm at all, so I called Dan and told him to look up an in-network urgent care facility, and told my parents we were changing direction and taking her to a doctor NOW.

As we turned around, she kept screaming, "I'll stop crying! I want to go on the train! I'll stop! I'll stop!" It broke my heart. We reassured her that we weren't leaving because we wanted her to stop crying--we were leaving because she was hurt and needed help, but we could come back and ride the train later.

We gingerly put her in the car and took off for the address Dan had texted to me. She screamed in agony the whole way, particularly when we went over even the tiniest bump. "I don't want no bumps..." she would wail. And once, "I don't want cake. I don't want it." Did I say my heart was broken before? No--that was what did it. All she had wanted for her whole birthday was cake and now she just wanted everything to go away.

Dan met us at urgent care, where we were rushed back for an X-ray, while my parents took Lilah home. I had Dan take her to the X-ray room because by this time I was quietly sobbing uncontrollably every time I had to write the date on a form, which wouldn't have helped her at all. They immediately sent us over to the ER, which was 25 minutes back the way we had just come--right by the zoo.

I held Anda very still in the front seat this time, and she calmed down enough that she could talk a little about all the fun things we had done that day. Once we got her laid out very still on the hospital bed with some ice, she finally calmed down completely. She even got some birthday balloons.

She insisted the whole time that nothing hurt, it had just scared her. For over an hour and a half of hysterical screaming, she insisted on this. I don't know if she was in shock or what, but to wrap the story up, this is what had happened:

After about six hours in the hospital (five of which were just us sitting around and waiting for someone to show up), her bone was back where it was supposed to be, she was a little loopy from the sedation, and we were headed home. 

The rest of the festivities waited until the following evening, and Anda was a great sport doing everything left-handed. 

Although I have to admit, I hadn't anticipated the kaleidoscope being kind of a sad present when I was at the store buying it. 

When I hesitantly asked the next week if she wanted to go back to the zoo, she was thrilled. The first thing she said was that she wanted to go back so that I could "show [her] the place where it happened." The second thing she said was that she wanted to ride the train.

We did both.

Other than being itchy for the first couple of days, she never once complained about having a bulky cast or having to do everything one-handed. She even drew thank-you cards for birthday presents with her left hand and ate corn on the cob without batting an eye. 

She is now in just a brace and doing great. 

Happy birthday, Anda Chicken. Let's do it a little differently next year. 

Happy Birthday Lilah!

A couple of months ago, Lilah had her first birthday! We celebrated in Virginia and had a great time. 

I tried to get some good pictures of her ON her birthday, since we were waiting until the weekend to have her actual party.

They turned out pretty well...

Mostly...

We had the birthday party on Saturday at my parents' cabin. I didn't take many pictures, but it was low key and fun. Anda liked helping Lilah open her presents and Lilah liked when we sang her "Happy Birthday." 

  

I liked the cake. 

A good time was had by all. Let's do it again next year. 

Happy birthday, Lowly Worm!

Things Are Happening

So I haven't blogged in a while, and there are two reasons for that. The first is that not a lot happened for a while, and the second is that then suddenly very much a lot happened.

After not much happening for a while, Dan was playing around online one day and checking out the HGTV Dream Home Sweepstakes house in South Carolina. (Spoiler alert: We do not win this sweepstakes.) He decided, just for fun, to look at houses in South Carolina and then also, just for fun, to see what kinds of jobs were available there. He actually found a job that he qualified for, and since I've been dying to get back east, I told him to apply for it. Why not?

He did, and literally as he was talking to me about having just submitted his application, he got a phone call from a South Carolina area code. Two weeks later, we were on a house hunting trip.

It was pretty unreal how everything fell into place: The company paid for a staggering amount of the moving costs; we sold our house over one weekend at full list price; my uncle in DC happened to be interested in selling his Honda right then; I thought I lost my online job because I moved out of state, but they happened to have a full time person moving to South Carolina this summer also, so they will be able to do business from there now; my parents came down to help with the kids while we house-hunted, and were okay with me and the girls coming back with them instead of going back home for two weeks first (a decision we literally made at the airport); we found a house we loved on our very brief trip and are currently under contract...and many other little things along the way. We've been very surprised and (and I don't use this word casually) very blessed.

I was sad to not go back to Utah and say goodbye to a lot of friends and family there who we love, and especially sad that Anda didn't get to say goodbye to her friends and cousins, but it was the best option for us. There was a lot to do and not much time to do it, and I'm not sure how we would have managed with Dan working all day, me working all night, and everyone tripping all over each other in the meantime. It wasn't the happiest solution, but it was the right decision, and we plan on coming back to visit in the not too distant future.

For the time being, the girls and I are staying with my parents in Virginia while Dan packed up the house, drove through an ice storm to get here, and now is living in temporary housing and working at his new job. He has come up on the weekends, and we will join him there after this upcoming week, then close on the house and start this new life.

Things are happening.

Chickenpox

I had the chickenpox pretty bad when I was a kid, so I was really excited when I took Anda in for a doctor's appointment as a baby and found out that there is now a vaccine for that. Jenny McCarthy can shut her stupid mouth. The chickenpox suck. 

Apparently about 2% of vaccinated children will still get it, but it's usually a much milder form of the disease. Well God bless vaccinations, because apparently Lilah is in that 2%, and without the vaccine I know it would have been horrible. 

As it was, she was a little cranky and uncomfortable for a few days with a low fever, but I didn't even need to call the doctor. I've seen roseola too, but I was pretty sure I knew what this was. She pulled through like a champ and now we'll be on to the next illness that hits these poor girls--it's been nonstop since the end of November, why should it let up now? 

Still cute, though. Still cute. 

And a little goofy. 

Christmas Post

Once again, we kicked off the Christmas season right with the Carter Christmas party. 

Anda saw Santa no fewer than three times. Here she is giving him the picture she drew of the Merida doll she wanted. 

We got our first fake tree this year and I LOVE it. We even got Anda a tiny one to keep in her room for the season.  

My parents came out this year, which has been great. 

We all took the train up to Salt Lake the Saturday before Christmas to eat at the Red Iguana and see the lights. The Red Iguana was delicious, but outside it was freezing. We pulled Lilah backward to try to save her from the wind, and we all ended up purchasing warmer clothes by the end of the day. 

The lights at Temple Square were beautiful, of course, but everyone else in the state had the same idea, so we spent very little time looking at the lights and most of the time looking for each other. I still thought it was fun.

Getting back on the train was the scariest part. We got to the platform very early and froze our butts off because it was clearly going to be the train that everyone with little kids (ie, everyone in Utah) was going to try to catch, in order to get home before bed time. We were at the front of the line, and Dan, Amy, Hannah and I were relieved when we snagged the first group of seats we came to. However, when we turned around to usher Nana and Papa to the seats with the kids, they were nowhere to be seen. We had lost them in the stampede to get on the train, and I had some momentary panicked images flashing in my mind of the train taking off without them, or one of them having been injured in the rush. It turned out they had just run up the stairs as soon as they got on the train, and were safe and sound in some seats above us. We couldn't join them because of the crowd all the way back down the valley, but at least everyone was okay and in the same place.

The lights were pretty and all, but I think I might wait until after Christmas next year. 

Christmas Eve pajama time was all kinds of fun, of course. I especially liked Dan's addition of humming appropriate hymns during certain parts of the Christmas story in Luke. 

And Christmas morning was the gluttonous celebration of consumerism that every kid dreams of. 

It's always over too soon, but at least my parents will be here for a few more days, so we can squeeze out every last drop of family time they've got left in them before then. But who wouldn't want to spend as much time as possible with these adorable children? 

Merry Christmas to all. 

Anda Says

No introduction necessary anymore, I think. Here we go.

Anda: Mom, what does my belly say?

Me: I don't know. What does your belly say?

Anda: It says, "Oh, thank you for the treat."

Anda: Why we can't watch (here's the funny part) Lilah Paige NEMO! [parenthetical statement part of the original]

Anda: Is this the airplane port?

Me: Papa is going to put you to bed tonight.

Anda: I want you to!

Me: Papa is really good at putting people to bed.

Papa: I've been putting myself to bed for 54 years. Fifty-four years! Do you know how long that is?

Anda: Um...16?

Nana: How you doing over there Anda?

Anda: CHOCOLATE FROSTING!

Anda: Twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine, twenty-ten, twenty-eleven, twenty-twelve...

Anda: Mom, why's she a crying baby? 

Anda: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, ASTRONAUT

Anda: Monday, Tuesday,  Threesday, Foursday, Fivesday...

Anda: Why do you have a skeleton on your shirt?

Dan: I like skeletons.

Anda: I don't like skeletons. I like princesses. 

Anda: She can't go in her bed because she still has her "pet the pooch" hat on!

Me: What?!

Anda: That's from Belle. 

Anda: Mommy, why Cinderella doesn't brush her teeth? 

Dan: Anda, Mama needs your help in the kitchen. She's making a treat.

Anda: What kind of treat?

Dan: I don't know--muffins, I think.

Anda: That's a lot of sugar

Anda: Remember the other night when I eat chicken?

Me: Yes. I LOVED when you ate chicken.

Anda: But you don't love me when I don't eat chicken? 

Me: No! I love YOU all the time. I just really liked when you ate your chicken. [Thanks for backfiring, positive reinforcement] 

Anda: [praying]...Bless us to eat good food, and our neighbors...

Me: Oh, what did you draw in this picture?

Anda: It's a person doesn't have no friend and the sun. 

Me: You should draw them a friend.

[later]

Me: Who did you draw in the picture?

Anda: [pointing to the new person] That's me, and [pointing to the friendless one] that's you

Anda: [pointing to unicorn] And that's a horsecorn. 

Anda: I drew a picture!

Me: That's beautiful.

Anda: Can you put it on the frigerator and not put it in the garbage while I'm sleeping?

Anda: Am I going to have bad dreams?

Me: No, you'll have good dreams. What do you want to dream about?

Anda: Why not Dooley Dog playing at the river at Seven Peaks?

Me: Anda, what's an Indian?

Anda: They have food. We talked about that in my school. And he's very sad.

Me: Why is he very sad?

Anda: Because all his friends died. 

Anda: [pretending we are all dragons] Mom, if you are going to go outside to houses or church, you might want to fly your wings. 

[Anda is running laps around the kitchen, high-fiving Dan when she passes him]

Dan: Ok, this is the last one, so make it count.

Anda: [stops and points to each of his fingers] One, two, three, four, five, six...

Thanksgiving

We invited some friends over for Thanksgiving and had to make a last minute run to Walmart that morning. I decided to dress for the occasion.

I have only seen someone I know at Walmart literally  twice in the entire time I've lived here. Today, since I was looking awesome, we ran into someone we knew no fewer than four times. 

Anyway, we got home and began the preparations. Anda loved peeling the potatoes. After every single one she would ask, "Can I do another one?"

Everything was delicious and went off without a hitch. 

 Lilah particularly enjoyed the festivities.

Happy Thanksgiving.