The Coveted Alone Time....

Feels oddly loney. Chris is gone, fishing in Texas...Mia is long past in bed....and my dear sweet Ella, after nearly a year of scheduling snafus and untimely illnesses, is spending a few days with Nana and Papa. And me? I am so glad Chris gets to go fishing....he so deserves a vacation, some guy time, an opportunity to do what he loves. And I am so glad L is spending a few days in Lincoln, I am so excited to hear the stories, and I know she is going to have an exceptional time. But I miss her. I missed her before she was gone. But to my sweet peanut: Have a ball, mama will see you soon.

We met my mom at the mall in Des Moines today to find a dress for me to wear to Jaime and Trevor's wedidng (the most anticipated event of the spring of course!), and to make the "switch." Mia and I came back to our empty house, save the dog and cat, and played for a few hours before she drifte off to snooze city. I picked up the house, did some dishes, and am now doing this....and it isn't even eight o'clock! I should take advantage of my current state of lessened responsibilty to clean my house and iron the basketful of clothes in my bedroom, but I think tonight I will watch tv and eat greasy frozen food. How often do I get the chance to do that? :)

Since my last spotting here miss Ella developed a bladder infection. She's getting better. She's also battling a "fever" bug that's traversing our town....mostly it presents as a low grade fever and nothing else. So it was off to Lincoln with a bottle of Tylenol and a bottle of antibiotics. She would have it no other way. My tough toddler acts as if the fever is little more than a nusance and goes about her business, refusing to even acknoewledge the power of germs.

Mia is still not crawling. She's much more mobile though, and has a funny little "crawl-like" motion whereby she shoves one knee underneath her and puts her other foot down beside her, falls and sort of "rolls" forward. She's more interested, it would seem, in pulling herself up (not on high surfaces, but low thigns like my leg or the side of the tub), and attempting to "cruise" along the couch or coffee table. She doesn't gain much ground, nor is she very quick, but she eventually moves a few feet.

Hope you enjoyed the slideshow!