40th bday & ER

 
January 20, 2010

2010 has dawned, and with it, Brian’s 40^th birthday!! When I realized 2 weeks before Christmas that this really was it, my mind wouldn’t slow down with ideas of how to celebrate.  Once I determined that a party WAS still an option this late in the game, I had all sorts of designs! For those of you who didn’t see the “evite,” I organized a “Maine Event” –since Brian served his mission in Maine, and there’s a lot of good food to go along with the theme.  I called Grandma Stewart (the only one I know with any childhood photographs of Bri) to send some old pictures I could copy, and got busy looking up recipes for New England Clam Chowder and Maine’s famous “Bean Hole Beans & Brown Bread.”  I’d only heard Brian talk about these bean dinners they always have up there, so I was a little deterred when I found that EVERY recipe called for digging a 2’ deep HOLE (hence the bean hole) to bury a kettle of beans in all day, after having burned coals there the day before!! Being pregnant, and in January, I was a bit dubious about my plans, but I grabbed the shovel, and found the ground was surprisingly soft, just near the deck! I dug for about a foot deep, enough to fit our dutch oven (though I was still trying to figure out how I’d get 3 to all cook!), then, realizing it was actually quite doable, covered the hole w/ a cooler, and hoped Brian never noticed it (he still hasn’t).

I sent out evites (and since I didn’t have emails for quite everyone on the list, mistakenly left out a few key people/neighbors—I wrote a list, and then emailed, but didn’t ever double check my written list w/ the emails!), made out a menu and lists, but when I went to figure out where to buy these beans, I was dismayed to find they were sold ONLY in Maine, and to boot!—they were currently out of stock!!! It was a blessing in disguise though, because the same website informed me that they couldn’t be bought dry, but COULD be found and shipped canned, as could the brown bread, which is cooked in a can (I was actually having a worse time figuring that one out than digging the hole!).  So, I ordered a case of each, pretty grateful I wouldn’t be dealing w/ a secret new firepit in my backyard. 

When we got home from CA, not only did Brian beat me to the mail, where he found the pictures Grandma sent (he thought they were sure fun to look at, but didn’t wonder past that!), but the UPS man came the EXACT moment he was leaving for work Monday morning, and instead of dropping it off at the far less conspicuous front porch, came trotting up to the garage, where he handed Brian a box w/ the VERY obtrusive label of Maine Goodies ALL OVER it! Trying to pass it off as one of Nick and Laurie’s wedding gifts (we received shipments for them) quickly became NOT an option. 

Poor Brian’s REAL birthday was Tuesday, and we were late at piano, and I made him his requested Cod Stew for a late 8PM dinner—w/ donuts for dessert, since I hadn’t even had a moment to make a cake (well, I did have a moment, but his office invited me at the last minute, to lunch w/ everyone for his big day, so that erased that one, but it WAS fun to do something nice w/ him!).  Not only that, but I was getting his copy of the Constitution (his D.C. souvenir) framed, and it wasn’t ready!! So, the kids bought Jenga for him, and I gave him 2 cans of Maine yellow beans w/ one can of brown bread—yippee! I told him the rest of his gift wasn’t here yet, but it was still a pretty pathetic red-letter day! He did tell me later that he was a little surprised (though, not overly disappointed), but he knew we’d just had the big trip, and I was pregnant, etc., so he didn’t think too much of that either. 

After cleaning and cooking all week (I did all the cooking the day before, and hid most of the food in the hibernating, and very cold minivan), and telling Brian every day that I had just “done stuff around the house,” Friday finally got here, and his parents blessedly came down to keep him distracted for a couple of hours while we set up, and got everyone here.  He couldn’t believe how long his Dad wanted to linger at the bookstore, but was otherwise planning on just going to dinner when they got back! As a special treat, I felt like his late Mom even got to join in, as I found a HUGE stack of photos—from EVERY year of his life piled behind the one framed picture of him we DID have!! I just thought the day before, that maybe his mom put some of his old pictures behind the current one like I did, and sure enough, there were MORE and huge pictures there than I’d EVER seen or knew existed! It was such a treasure to add to the ones I had from Grandma! I got pizza and a video to entertain the children (and any extras that came) in the basement, and though right at 7, only Nate and Stacey were here, by Brian’s arrival about 7:20, there were around 40 people here ready to yell surprise and sing! I was shaking for about 15 minutes w/ all the excitement (which was embarrassing as I poured water, and also explains why I did so poorly w/ picture taking!--the ones here were simulated the next day).  I meant to invite the children up for the big moment, but I couldn’t even get through the people to tell them, and it WAS so sudden (I should’ve station Maddie w/ the camera!).  The miracle though, was that he WAS surprised!!!! Granted, it was as he saw all the cars around the streets, not as he walked in the door, but to have made it that far and long!!!—I was astounded, as I was SURE he’d have some inkling by then!!! It just goes to show that his laidback observance not only comes in handy when I’ve had a bad hair or housekeeping day, but also in planning surprises! He said it was kind of embarrassing, since he doesn’t like being the center of attention (did anyone know that?), but that it was a lot of fun.  He was equally surprised w/ his framed (and treasured) Constitution.  I had thought he’d want to hang it up at work, but he won’t let it leave the house! He was even talking that night to some friends about that being the one souvenir he wanted from the capital, so I could say, “Hold it!—now it’s time to finally open your gift!” We had tons of clam chowder and bread bowls, veggie trays, one dutch oven of bean hole beans, a plate of brown bread, and 2 sheets of black forest cherry cake for dessert.  I was so thrilled with all of the support.  It was such a fun turnout, and a lot from the ward agreed we need to get together like that more.  G&G Duncan also came up w/ Uncle Brent and Aunt Raelene, so we had good family support as well.  It was really a lot of fun, and it was fun to secretly be thinking of him all this time instead of all this focus on myself and if there’s a contraction or not---like I told Mom and Dad—he even smells better to me lately! So, he made it to 40, and I don’t think he’s too much worse for the wear—Schwew!!

And on to more excitement!—(and sorry for those of you who saw the photo w/o any explanation!)—Anne got a visit to the ER last Monday night, when she bonked heads w/ Emily bouncing on the couch, and proceeded to go into a mild seizure! For parents though, the first time is anything but mild! Watching her go limp in my arms, and her eyes rolling back in her head left me unsure of how to answer as the kids called after us, “Is Anne going to be okay? Is she going to die?” on our mad dash to the hospital.  It makes me cry just to write it! Looking back, it was quite textbook for a seizure, but all I knew was that I didn’t know WHAT to do, my first aid training didn’t cover this severe worry, and I just wanted to make sure she stayed alive! I held her in the backseat, while Brian drived, and her twitching ended soon after we left, but she was SO lethargic and unresponsive, that I couldn’t stop worrying.  It’s amazing though, how backseat the emotions go when you’re just wanting to survive! I kept talking to her, and praying inside, and thinking about how heavy it was to be holding 2 little lives w/ me right then.  Brian called his brother to meet us there, and his family prayed hard as he left.  They took us immediately back, laid her on a bed, and by the time the Dr. (who was SO good and calm and compassionate) got there, she was “coming around” and was more herself again, crying and kicking, etc.  By that point, the prognosis was already looking good, but they did a CT scan to verify that there wasn’t any damage or swelling, etc. to be concerned with, and once that came back clean, and she could show (in her tired state) that she could still walk and be herself, we were free to go! The only explanation they had was that sometimes head injuries (even if NOT that hard) can trigger a seizure, and as long as there wasn’t a 2^nd one, there was no indication of a particular diagnosis.  She slept in our bed w/ us that night—very peacefully, thank goodness, (I felt like having ALL of the children sleep w/ us!) and the pediatrician added to the info the next day, (we took her in just to follow up), that it was more probably from holding (or losing) her breath, as children, esp. under 4, are apt to respond that way as well.  She said it was shown to be linked to anemia, so when they tested her iron, and it was a little on the low side, she had me get some iron drops to give her as a precaution.  So, while there were some scary moments in there, and I still kind of pause every time she gets hurt now, everything really went as well as could POSSIBLY be hoped for, and we are SO grateful!

The other pictures are of Nick and Laurie’s new apt!—we took one more batch of packages down, after saying goodbye to Aunt Karen and Uncle Martin, who’ve just left for their mission to Peru! Things are now fairly calm, and I’m busy trying to keep myself distracted w/ projects while we wait for our next excitement—hospital trip and birthday all wrapped up in one! Photo albums, the pantry, and eventually getting the baby things out and washed will keep me occupied for a while—3 weeks ‘til due date, and 4 ‘til Mom comes!

Here is poor Anne in the ER--I know she looks ragged at this point, but we were so glad to have all of her vigorous crying back! (We were out of the woods at this point, but she was mad, and Brian and Nate were trying to distract her by taking pictures w/ their phones.) She would get esp. angry whenever she looked at her bandaged hand (where they had taken blood and left an IV insert in).  Poor wreck, I would've done both of our hair had I known we'd be headed out that night!

 

This is the outside of Nick and Laurie's new abode--cozy bungalow style-huh?--their apt. is the bottom righthand side (in view)

Nick and Laurie in their spacious kitchen!

Laurie entertaining all of our children in her living room (I think she might be a hypnotist!)

This is just Anne playing the piano--her hair happened to be almost Beethoven that morning, so it was doubly inspiring.  She's a great little singer and musician though! We can regularly pick out the tune to "Twinkle Little Star" in her lalas :)