Anna Catharine Ciarrocchi

Leanne and Dave welcomed Anna Catharine Ciarrocchi this morning at 5:19 AM. There were some complications, but mom and baby are both doing well now. The email we received this morning did not contain weight and length of the baby, but I will post that info when I know more.

Flu

Wednesday morning the children were acting more tired and edgy than usual. Sam and Isaac both had a hard time keeping up in gymnastics. Wednesday afternoon the kids all started not feeling well, but they didn't really seem sick. A couple of neighbor girls stopped by to use the computer, they let me know that a couple of the neighbors who had come over to play a few days before had been diagnosed with H1N1.

By Thursday afternoon I was running a fever (which I've kept under control, but has not gone away since). The children, except Isaac who has asthma, are pretty much well. Isaac has a wheezy cough still. I will call the doctor's office in the morning. It is really hard to get him to take the breathing treatments that he really needs.

I am feeling a good deal better than I was, but am still sick. Paul started feeling yucky yesterday. He isn't really sick yet, so I am hopeful he won't get very ill.

We've been drinking lots of orange juice and eating lots of chicken soup.

I am just thankful it did not hit us any worse.

So that's us anyway.

I am not Super Mom

God has to keep reminding me of this, lest I get too prideful.

This afternoon, I went to get some meat out of the deep freeze to thaw for dinner. I felt the meat. It clearly did not need to be thawed. In fact none of the meat was still frozen. Fortunately it was still good. It just needed to be cooked immediately to prevent spoilage.

So I started cooking. After cooking seven pot roasts (or at least getting them started), five meatloaves, and browning four pounds of ground beef, I realized I desperately needed help. So I called my parents over. After six hours of being on my feet cooking meat, I was too worn out. So Nana and Papa finished the job for me. I do not even know how many pounds of meat we cooked.

We only had a little (ten pounds or so) that had to be thrown out. All of the organ meat (heart/liver) had to be disposed of.

Anyway, if I didn't have such wonderful parents I could not possibly have managed.

I think I am done craving beef for now.

Hopefully we will not need a new deep freeze.

Yes, we're still here

As you know I've not posted much lately. Life has been interesting. A couple weeks ago I burned my hand (second degree). It's just getting to the point that it is fully functional again.

Kathy and Don stopped by for a couple of hours yesterday on their way back to Cleveland from Granger. It was good to see them. They seem to be doing well and adjusting to married life.

Saturday my mom and I, and the girls went to a baby shower in North Manchester for my cousin Kelli. She is expecting a little girl in just a few weeks.

A couple days ago, I was leaving the Walgreens parking lot at night and forgot to turn my headlights on. I was pulled over and received a warning. I think the officer felt badly for me since I was going to a drug store to by bandages for my burn. (And the store wasn't even open so I had to drive clear across town).

Sam's therapy has been going really well. He is making good progress. He has OT, PT and speech every Tuesday afternoon.

And for those who've been asking: I have not heard any news from the Ciarrocchis. I will post an announcement as soon as I hear.

Oh?

I look down the stairs and see Sammy coloring on the floor mats with chalk.

Me: Sammy, we don't color on things with chalk! You know better.

Sammy: What am I supposed to do with chalk then?

Me: You can color on the chalkboard with it.

Sammy: Oh! (Takes chalk and runs toward chalkboard as though he has made new discovery).

Over the River and Through the Woods…

… to Grandmother’s house we go.

The morning after the wedding, we had folks over after Mass for brunch. Then we got a ride to the airport and went to Quebec by way of Montreal.

We saw a lot of pretty churches on our trip, the most notable of which was St. Anne de Beaupre, in Beaupre Quebec. It is a basilica. And it is huge. It looks like something out of Europe. According to Tradition, St. Anne is the grandmother of Jesus, the mother of Mary. The week we were there happened to be the week leading up to her feast day so there were all sorts of novena events. It was amazing to go there every day for Mass and to look around.
We also did some hiking, and got to see some whales, or baleines, as the Quebecoise say. Most of the people there speak French (Quebec style) but between the French I remembered from high school and the English of the locals we were able to muddle our way through.


We returned to the States a week later. Back to house organizing, work, and dog ownership – plenty to keep busy!

Better Late than Never

I have been meaning to post something for awhile now. Almost 2 months in fact. Shae already posted the basics of the matter – that Don and I got married (and she included some very nice pictures). Overall things went very well that day. My dress turned out nicely. The dress originally had these long puffed sleeves that were very warm so I had them shortened to cap sleeves to be more comfortable in July (not to mention it looked much nicer that way…in retrospect I should’ve gotten a picture of before the sleeves got altered to show the difference). My goddaughter who was the flower girl walked down the aisle with my youngest sister and the ring bearer (one of Don’s godsons). I’m told they got an “aww” when they went down the aisle, but I was in the back and couldn’t really see the reaction at the time. It was a happy day. I have been kidded a little because every picture of me has me smiling.

We were blessed to have help from so many different people. As Shae already mentioned, she was my hair and makeup artist. She did a super job. We had to get over to the church early and they let us use one of the meeting rooms to get ready. It was peaceful – well, peaceful for me at least, I just had to sit there. Our expert photographer took pictures of the hair and makeup process. Then we kicked him out and he went to the church to take some shots of the men only before the wedding ceremony.

We had a child-friendly day, meaning that all my cousins’ children (and the children of our friends) were invited. It was neat to see the corner of children dancing at the reception. Some didn’t want to leave at the end of the night.

I could ramble some more about the day, but I think I’ll end this for now. Next post: Quebec.