Wow.

For some reason, I was reading back through old posts. Er, my old posts. Specificially, I found this one interesting. Out of the nine things I listed then as wanting to do before I die, I have done one of them (Lasik surgery), am close to another one (being ordained), and am actively working on two of them (a gazillion kids and going back to Wales - via Ireland). It's been a little more than two years since I wrote that list. I wonder what the status will be in another two years ...

Okay, now I'm really going to bed.

They are almost here!

In less than 12 hours, my in-laws will be here. Ryan's parents are coming to stay with us for a week (Gail's on Spring Break), my house is a mess, and what am I doing? That's right, I'm blogging! :)

The bug is still floating around in the Herbert household. Katrina is feeling MUCH better, but now Daddy and Mommy are getting sick. Ryan and I have both been exhausted for two days now. I slept approx. 12 hours last night and he's on track for that tonight. I'm planning on crashing in a few minutes.

Katrina's recent bouts with rotavirus have led to what we think is 'secondary temporary lactose intolerance' (according to the nurse at our pediatrician's office). Monday she threw up and had diarrhea within minutes of drinking milk. It continued Tuesday and Wednesday, along with general crabbiness. I called the nurse and she said it's fairly common for kids to develop an intolerance for milk as a beverage after rotavirus. She said cheese, yogurt and other dairy products are okay, and we can even try lower fat (like 2% or skim) milk to see if Katrina can stomach those, just not whole milk for about a week or so. Katrina did lose nearly four pounds, putting her back down to 20 lbs. She's back up to 22 lbs - I was wondering if we were going to have to turn around her carseat, but she stayed at 20 or above.

Speaking of being crabby, Katrina was not happy to leave Ms. Elaine's house today. Here was our conversation in the car on the way home:

Me: "Katrina, how was your day?"

K: (silence)

Me: "Katrina, did you have a good day today?"

K: "No."

Me: "You didn't have a good day today? Did you take a nap?" (I know she did.)

K: "No."

Me: "Did you play with Emmy?" (Another known fact.)

K: "No."

Me: "Did you eat lunch?"

K: "No."

Me: "Did you watch t.v.?"

K: "No."

Me: "Okay, then. Let's sing 'The Itsy, Bitsy Spider."

K: "No."

I sing anyway, and Katrina joins in with choruses of "Noooooooooooooooooooooo."

Praise the Lord the babysitter only lives two miles from us. I don't know how much longer I can take this "NO" stage, and she's not even two yet!

In all seriousness, I am absolutely amazed at how much I love this little girl. Earlier tonight I stumbled upon the blog of a friend from college. She posted almost exactly what Ryan and I feel ... we adore our daughter, are amazed by her every day, can't believe God trusts us to be her parents ... I tuck her into bed, glad for a few moments to myself, but then I find myself missing her and want to peek in on her. Tonight before we put her to bed, the three of us laid in our bed, just laughing and talking and tickling. We are blessed beyond belief.

One of these days I should figure out what I want to be when I grow up. :) I confuse myself sometimes, thinking I want nothing more than to stay at home with her ... or to have another baby ... then I go to work and think that what we have is great, too. I am taking a couple of days off while Ryan's parents are here. They have visited a few times before and it always seemed to fall during a big proposal for me. This time we are 'in the waiting' on a few procurements. Monday I have to travel to Virginia (to Ryan's worksite, actually) to give training on a new database we're using, Tuesday I'll be at the office, and Thursday I have an offsite meeting but it's in Frederick. So Wednesday and Friday I'll be off work (hopefully). One of those days we need to take Katrina for her very first haircut! The kid will be two in eight weeks, and her hair is just now long enough to need a trim. I should post a picture of her so you can see her blonde mop ...

Okay, enough. Time for bed. Good night, all!

Randomness

My life seems to be about randomness lately, if that is possible. Tonight was the night to see strange, random things on the highway. On the way to church, I saw an ambulance being pulled by a tow truck. Then, on the way home from church, I passed a flatbed truck with two Metro cars. For some reason these 'vehicles' struck me as odd.

The weather has also been odd. Wednesday was in the high 70s/low 80s; Thursday, rain and 60s; Friday brought rain, sleet, and 8" of snow. By the end of the day Friday I was wondering if the end of the world was near.

Work is ... eh. I'm in between proposals, which is good, but Katrina has been sick again lately (more on that topic later), so I've been juggling a full-time job, a full-time ministry, and a full-time family. Work is basically getting the least of my attention, and I'm annoyed/irritated/disgusted with a cow-orker, which doesn't really help.

This is pretty much a pointless post. I'll post more next week ... Ryan's parents will be in town, and I'm planning on taking a day or two off while they are here.