Peyton's Birthday Dinner

Another good day! Maya was up nursing early, but Micah stayed in bed until 8:30. We were downstairs waiting for the babysitter by 8:45. Micah was quite grumpy today...he started crying every time I made a move toward anything that looked remotely like an object I might need to prepare to leave (keys, my purse, shoes, etc.).

I was supposed to meet my father over at the new house so we could take some measurements. Unfortunately, we spent most of the morning searching for the keys to the new house. I am 100% certain about where I put them, and they are no longer there. I'm a creature of habit...I always put things in certain "designated" places. I do that (and refuse to let myself come up with new locations for things because I never remember those new and creative locations). So, important papers go in one spot, keys in another spot, etc. I do have 1 "dumping" ground...if something is "misplaced" it is always in my dumping ground. So, today I searched for the keys in my usual places - where I keep keys, my important papers pile and my dumping ground. Then I searched everywhere else. We took this house apart, and we cannot find the keys anywhere.

Since they are missing, it means one of several things happened. 1) DH took them and moved them (or thought he'd take them to the store to make copies and forgot that he stuffed them in something). 2) My father saw them and grabbed them and put them somewhere for "safe keeping" and now doesn't even remember that we ever told him the keys were here. (Definitely a plausible scenario, except my father has only been here once since the keys arrived, and I really don't remember showing him where they were). 3) Micah spotted them, grabbed them and started playing with them (he is obsessed with keys) and put them somewhere...possibly even the diaper pail, his new favorite toy. 4) Perhaps the landlady took them back. I noticed when cleaning that she took the wrong copy of the lease - it is possibly she snagged both my envelope and the keys at the same time. I am fairly certain I checked for the keys since she left (and saw them) but maybe I didn't.

After we gave up looking for the keys, we had a lot to do. I decorated a cake for Peyton's birthday, I straightened the house, I played with Micah, I nursed Maya...it was a bit crazy. The babysitter took Micah outside for a bit to play with bubbles, helped feed him lunch, and then we put him down for an early nap. She took care of Maya while I showered and dressed and got things ready for us to leave.

I heard that friends were visiting my mom today. I'm sorry I missed them! It was too hard for us to figure out how to get everyone up to the nursing home today early and make it through to dinner, so we just decided to drive up after Micah's nap.

Surprisingly, we made it out the door on time at 2:30. DH asked to detour by his office to pick up his new cell phone. I had no idea that the little detour would end up making our trip 1 1/2 hours long! We did not arrive at the nursing home until 4:00. I ran upstairs, helped my mom finish getting ready, and we headed out for dinner. We were downstairs loading her into the van around 4:20, and we arrived at the restaurant around 4:50.

We had to wait for a few minutes while they set up the tables, but we did finally get seated. SIL and the girls arrived right on time, and my brother arrived a short while later. Dinner was lovely! The kids, of course, ate nothing, and the adults ate way too much. Mom and I shared food...we had gnocchi and eggplant parmesan, and it was very good. Dad also had eggplant, DH had a delicious pasta with a tomato, garlic, artichoke, spinach and tomato sauce. SIL had a cheesesteak, and to be honest, I have no idea what my brother ordered. We ordered Micah spaghetti and meatballs...and he wouldn't even look at it. The girls had a little pasta, a little gnocchi, a little spaghetti...but mostly ate bread. Micah drank water, and then was throwing a fit. We ended up just playing some Elmo on DVD for him. I know - terrible habit. We cannot just use Elmo every time he misbehaves...but it was so much easier to keep him entertained than cut the dinner short and leave.

Around 6:15, we decided to serve the cake. Peyton had a huge grin on her face as she blew out her candle. I had made her an Ariel doll cake (with a real Ariel doll), and she was thrilled! Now, if I had only remembered to bring the doll's pants and accompanying play toys that I left in the box at home, that would have been a good thing.

Peyton opened her presents and then it was time to say goodbye. We loaded up the things first (leftover food, diaper bags, etc.) and then we took Mom outside. It was freezing!! It took us a few minutes to get her in the van and lock everything in place (including the children). My brother, SIL and the girls said their goodbyes, and Mom, Dad, me, DH, Micah and Maya headed back to the nursing home. I had DH just drop me, Mom and Dad at the front door and head home with the kids. Dad and I took Mom upstairs, got the nurse, and had them give Mom her medications and get her ready for bed.

Dad and I stayed with Mom for another 40 minutes. We took some time to do our "daily routine" - I get a washcloth and take some of Mom's Albolene (a cream cleanser) to rub all over her face and then wipe it off. I then take the cream they gave us at the hospital and rub it all over her face and head. Since we've been doing this routine, Mom has felt far less itchy and her skin is looking much better. I love our daily routine, and so does she. Every day, she tells me that she cannot wait until I get my hands on her.

Tonight, we talked about how this will be our new nightly routine when we go home. She said she looks forward to creating good happy routines for us to remember. I told her that I already had plenty of good happy memories of her, but that I was looking forward to creating many more.

I was impressed that Mom made it to 7:00 without so much as a yawn. I think she has been going to bed early out of boredom. Dad and I left together, and I drove him home to our house. He said he was tired and did not feel up to driving. I didn't mind at all, and we had a nice chat in the car. We got home to two screaming children!! I went upstairs to help DH, and brought Maya downstairs. While my father waited, I changed Maya into her pajamas and started to nurse her.

Dad waited for DH to come downstairs after putting Micah to bed, and he asked him a favor then left for the night. He told me he was tired and going home. No surprise, but Dad called a little while later to tell me that I forgot my phone in his car, and he was driving back down to give it to me. I told him not to bother, that I could wait until the morning to get my phone from him. I realized Dad was in the car, and asked him where he was. Much to my surprise, he told me that instead of driving straight home, he detoured to the post office out by the College. I could have strangled him!! He kept insisting that it was "on his way" home (yeah...about 10 minutes further north than he needed to go, and then another 15 minutes home). I was so angry that he did all that extra driving on a night when he told me he was too tired to be driving very far! There was just nothing so urgent at the post office that could not wait until the morning (and I know he told me he had stopped at the post office earlier in the day, too).

Right after I "yelled" at Dad, Mom called me to tell me she was having a good night so far. It was nice to hear from her. A few minutes later, she called back to tell me that the battery on her book had died. Naturally, I told on Dad, too, and Mom was not happy he had done extra driving either. So, I called Dad back to ask him to ask if he had any more batteries at home (ours are all rechargeable, so they just do not last as long). I also made sure he knew I tattled to Mom about his driving escapades...at which point he realized he shouldn't have been doing that driving. So, Dad, no more running stupid errands when you are exhausted!! Now, I've tattled to everyone, and he'll be very unhappy when he reads this :).

Mom just called...I had to race through the house to find a phone that was charged...no such luck. I called her back, and she is doing well - up for the day and getting ready. We'll head there around lunch time, and she has a few visitors planned.