Off I Go...

I wish, oh how I wish I was secretly going in for a tummy tuck or face lift but alas, it is not so. I am off to have my knee cut, sawed and screwed back together. I will be in pain tomorrow. Lots and lots of pain. These are the times I hate having a doctor for a husband because I get minimal sympathy and concern and told just how bad things are really going to be. I have a 1pm cut time tomorrow so if you happen to be available between now and then, a couple of shout outs to the big guy for me wouldn't be frowned upon. Thanks.

Regression is my new Obsession!!!

Sometimes life likes to take us and kick us hard in the shin. With steel toe boots. On a cold and rainy day. While the wind whips at our face. And though we limp away with a big bruise, we know there is no permanent damage. All we need is some time and the bruise and hurt will go away just in time for life to kick us in the teeth again. That is how I feel today. My kids are nervous about all the changes that turning 4, moving rooms, getting a different bed, my upcoming surgery that they don't understand, starting dance class and swim lessons and preschool coming to an end are bringing into their lives. All of a sudden I have a bed wetter, baby talk and girls who can not follow directions or listen or obey to save their lives. They aren't going to bed like they used to, they are questioning everything and whining all the time. Luckily, they are still kind and sweet to each other. It's just that they've ganged up on me and I'm rapidly loosing this battle of wills and even more rapidly loosing my ever lovin' mind.

Good night. I need to go tell girls who should be quiet and falling asleep to stop jumping on the bed and laughing.

And I know my problems are not even sort of bad compared to what some of our loved ones are going through. It's just been a long day.

Favorite Things...

Yes I know I'm not Oprah. But I would like to share some of my recent favorites none the less.

• Boulevard Bistro, Elk Grove, CA. If you live anywhere in Northern California you must go here. Tonight. Go now. Wait. You need reservations. And pants. So do that first. Then go. This is our favorite restaurant. I went there for lunch today with Mom and I was reminded of why I love it so. Imagine this. A perfectly cooked and seasoned salmon pinwheel stuffed with fresh herbs on a bed of fresh (not frozen or canned) peas with onion and bacon and cream. All of this along side potatoes that were sliced thinly and mixed with onion and cream and chives and perfect. And this is just what I had. I could not imagine anything better until I tried my Mom's. She got beef stroganoff with a perfectly cooked New York steak all crispy on the outside but velvety smooth. House made pasta and mushrooms alongside a light sauce with a hint of tang and tossed with the perfect amount of sauce vs. pasta which is so hard to do with stroganoff. We ended with Pots Au Creme. This is BOTH Mike and my favorite dessert. We have had it in NYC, DC, San Fran, Vegas and everywhere in between but this little Bistro in Elk Grove does it better than any place we have ever found. By a long shot. It's chocolate and creamy and so freakin good your head might explode from the goodness. Just trust me. Go there. You won't be sorry. And say hi to Debbie. She owns the joint with her Chef husband who creates these amazing yummy things for your mouth. For those of you that don't live here, aren't you sort of jealous right now?
• Rachel's yogurt - this should have reached your grocery stores by now. It's with the Yoplait in a black carton. It's the best yogurt in the world. And the flavors are so not your typical mixed berry. I had Acai Blueberry the other day. And I've tried Mango Passion fruit, Vanilla Chai, Lavender Honey, Pink Grapefruit Lychee. It's goes on and on. It's great. It's puts Yoplait to shame.
• The Sun - I know it's easy to take the sun for granted. It rises and sets the same each day. But just about this time of year I find myself extra thankful for it's warmth and power to cause flowers to bloom and beautify my world.
• Modern medicine - Had I lived long ago I would be sentenced to live the rest of my life with my knees in their current state. I would not be able to have surgery on Friday, nor would I be able to take the medicines needed to ease the pain. And pain is all around me. It engulfs my soul and causes me to wince with every step. I wish I didn't have to have surgery but I'm glad I can.
• Grey's Anatomy - I know people think this show is all about sex and totally unrealistic. If I wanted to watch a show that was realistic and did not contain sex I would just put a camera in my house and hit record. Just joking. I kid, I kid. But you know what they say...there is truth in jest. A whole lot of effing truth.
• Separate beds for children - Whoever talked me into the queen bed in the girls new big girl room did a swell job of trickery and deception. "We want to sleep together Mama. We will go right to sleep every time with NOOOOOOO talking because we will be big girls because we will be four. " At 11:00 p.m. last night I got them to sleep by threatening to tell the "no more monkeys jumping on the bed" story because Jessica hates it so much it makes her cry. She begged Katie to "stop talking Katie!!" while she was in tears. Yeah, I pretty much felt like the awesomest Mom in the world at that moment. Separate beds. Do not deviate from this plan. I'm stuck with the queen and all the new big girl bedding until hopefully the novelty wears off and they can fall asleep.
• Dates with your spouse. They say never to stop dating your spouse and I could not agree more. Set aside at least one Saturday night/month if you can to go on a date. Put on makeup. Take a shower. Talk to each other without the children present. It's a good thing. You'll be a better mother because of it. Experts say to go once/week but people have budgets and baby sitters are hard to come by sometimes. If you don't have a significant other, take yourself on a date. Treat yourself to a nice meal and take a good book. Linger over the meal and enjoy the peacefulness of it all. It's just a nice thing to do. You could go to the Boulevard Bistro.

I have come full circle, wasn't that nice?

Know anyone looking for a job?

Because I am having surgery I am in need of hiring a "Mothers Helper" for the months that I will need help taking care of the girls. I need someone who can fix simple meals, play with the girls and keep them safe and cared for while I am recovering from knee surgery. They will need to run basic errands (car will be supplied for work hours), do some light house keeping (I have a house cleaner that comes every week) and start simple dinners for our family. I will need them to start in May and work the few days that Mike is working. Then for June, July and August I need them three days/week from about 9:30 a.m. until about 3:30 p.m. They can pick the three days they work and will not have to work on the weekends. I just need them to be dependable and trust worthy. I have been calling around to places like The Gap, Target, restaurants and other places and they aren't hiring at all. I have averaged what they pay and am prepared to pay an hourly wage about the middle of the pay scale for these types of jobs. I will pay them every Friday. We had some girls in Omaha that worked for us when we lived there and I worked from home and it worked out great. We love these girls and they became part of our family. This would be perfect for someone home for the summer from college!

If you know of anyone who might be interested, please have them email me at amymeeker@yahoo.com. Thanks so much!

Did you miss me?

I know huh? Long timey no posty! I don't know what is wrong with me lately. Ever since I got into my funk about a month ago, I've been having writers block and felt totally un-post-worthy. Today I gave myself a pep talk. Want to know what I said?

"Amy! You need to post on your blog already dude. You didn't start your blog to be witty or funny or though provoking. You didn't start it to display cute pix of the girls or entertain yourself. You started it so you wouldn't have to keep a journal. You started it so you wouldn't have to for the love of all that is good and holy scrapbook. Ever. Again. You do stuff everyday that you will forget if you don't write it down. Like Katie peeing the bed last night. Do you really want to forget that? Don't walk away from me. Amy...AMY...come back..."

Obviously, my pep talk worked somewhat. Here I am, typing away. I posted pictures. But I read my last few posts and they sort of made me throw up a little bit in my mouth. They are way too skippity dippity if you know what I mean. I sound waaaayyyy too happy. Not that I am unhappy but for part of the day I am and I sound like one of those Mommy bloggers that you just want to slap across the face and tell to get real.

So here I am in my realness and here's what's going on in our lives.

Things have been good lately. I feel like it's the calm before the storm though. I haven't mentioned it but on Friday I am having major knee surgery. And I don't use the word "major" lightly. They are taking my knee cap, disconnecting it. sawing my shin bone and then building me a new place for my knee cap out of my existing bone then they will screw it all in place with a bunch of screws. It's a longer recovery than a knee replacement surgery. Six to Nine months. And I have to have the other knee done after this one. It's SO depressing. How do you have a six to nine month recovery with two 4 year olds and a husband who works 75 hours/week? How do you make that work? Then, do it all over again? The unimaginable pain I am in is now at an unbearable level. I can barely walk. I have let this go as long as possible. So Friday is surgery day. Also, this weekend my Grandma moves into her assisted living facility. And my mom and her sisters have to go through 89 years of possessions and have a big estate sale. My Grandma is not happy about this but she has Alzheimer's and we all feel this is going to be best for her. I love her so much I feel so badly that I am having surgery at this same time and can't help my family and can't help my Grams go through this transition. Also, Mike's awesome Aunt Jeanie is preparing to pass away from cancer. She has such a wonderful attitude and it is heartbreaking for her husband and for Marilyn and her sister Kathy and Mike and his cousins. I feel really badly for Marilyn because she lost her oldest sister in a sudden accident back in 1981. I feel really badly that I am having surgery right now and we can't do more for Aunt Jeanie and Mike's family and that he has to take all of his leave from work to stay home and take care of me and the girls. So all this is going on right now. I am sad about all of it but I still feel joy every day for my life and the blessings in it. I feel very thankful for Mike and the girls and that we are all together. The girls love their big girl room and their new wing of the house. They got a new playroom and new bathroom and a new bedroom. They call it their "wing". They are having trouble getting to bed on time because they are giggling and talking in their new bed. I think the novelty of it all will settle down in time but right now, they are 2 tired little chicks. I am trying to get us organized and ready for me to be out of commission. It's a tricky thing to navigate but we'll figure it out. I'm sure it will be crazy but six months will come and go whether I have surgery or not. And hopefully, I will have better knees after it's all said and done.

Mike and I got to go on our last date for a long time on Saturday night. We went to Tapa The World in Sacramento for Spanish Tapas. For those of you not familiar with tapas, it's Spanish for "small plates". You order several dishes for the table and eat them family style. There might be five or six bites per plate and they sell from anywhere between $2 and $15. Mike and I had grilled asparagus, empanadas, calamari with garlic aioli, rock shrimp in wine, butter and herbs, an olive oil dipping sauce for their anise bread and kobe beef with cabreleas cheese and onions. So good. And then we called our favorite Boulevard Bistro in Elk Grove to see if they had any pots de creme left and Debbie packaged up two of them to go along with a red rose and we came home and watched Mama Mia. Mike had never seen it. He loved it even though he had to qualify his enthusiasm with "even though I mean it's the ultimate chick flick and girls would like it WAY more". But I saw him bopping his head and his feet to Super Trouper. I mean, how can you not? Mike's cinema taste is surprisingly varied for a person of his background. He loves Braveheart (no surprise) but also loves Sense and Sensibility. He loves Top Gun (no surprise) and Lord of the Rings (no surprise) but also loves Shawshank Redemption and Memento and Moulin Rouge and Camelot and Sound of Music and Pretty Woman but hated Steel Magnolias and Born of the 4th of July. He's an oddity and I'm never sure whether I should suggest a movie to him or not. We hated Transformers.

I just watched W. with Josh Brolin made by Oliver Stone. Snoozer but totally well done. But the book American Wife which a fictional account of Laura Bush's life is waaaayyyy better.

Jessica and Katie are learning to read. We are starting with some "learn to read" books my Mom got and they are sight recognizing words right now but are getting really good at following along and recognizing words. They are starting to sound them out but it's still a ways off. I am hoping they are reading on their own by the time we start kindergarten in September of 2010.

Okay, I'm off, I'm even sick of me by now.

Some Recent Pix...

I have not been posting pictures as of late. Here's a few from our recent adventures...

(Below) Girls get ready to come down the slide. April 09

(Below) Katie hunting eggs in our backyard. She looks like she was really intense and into it but mostly she just liked following Jessica around and found the eggs we helped her find. I was just like that.(Below) My Easter table with my fresh tulips. I love tulips. We had our parents and grandparents for Easter dinner. It was really fun.
(Below) J & K hunt eggs again. I am really just including this pix to show their Easter dresses. I loved them because they were casual but cute still so they can actually wear them for more than just Easter.

(Below) Katie and Jessica with all of their living Grandmothers. Back Row- my Mom and Mike's Mom. Bottom Row - My maternal Grandma "Grammie Bea", Mike's paternal Grandma "Grandma Meeker" and my paternal Grandma "Grandma Houlie". Oh and the girls.

(Below) For the girls' birthday - we went and got their first pedicures and manicures. Here is Katie getting her pedicure.

(Below) Jessica Rose on the day she turned 4.

(Below) all polished and painted and ready for a big day of fun and night on the town.

(Below) That night, the girls had their first ballet/dance class.

(Below) Jessica is the tamberine queen!

(Below) Our 4th birthday cake. I forgot to take one of them blowing out candles.

(Below) Katie Meeker upon turning 4 and eating cake.

(Below) opening presents at the Japanese restaurant.

(Below) Jessica examines her fork to make sure she got ALL the frosting off.

(Below) Katie at the end of the night after opening presents and totally hopped up on sugar.(Below) The girls last night in their "toddler baby girl" beds and in their baby room. We moved them to their "big girl" room the next night. This is them in Katie's bed with ALL of their various babies.

(Below) Jessica and Katie buried under their many many many too many babies.

What do you do when you turn 4?

What does a great 4th birthday entail? I had one of those rock it out days with my girls today. Pictures will be posted tomorrow. I'm so exhausted that it's all I can do to just record a bulleted list of the stuff we did. I'll post pictures to go with each bullet so it makes more sense. But I didn't want to forget what we did today because it was so fabutasticly four!

• Mike and I snuck into their room late last night and filled it with eight big balloons (4 for each girl) and two mylar Happy Birthday banners.
• We decorated the door to our bedroom with more balloons and banners and Mike left the girls an extra special happy birthday note this morning. (He leaves them a note every morning so they know he's not gone back away for a long time)
• I let them have a cupcake along with their normal fruit and cereal for breakfast.
• They got to take a long bubble bath. We curled hair, did age appropriate makeup and got dressed up in skirts that twirled along with cute T-shirts that said "Birthday Girl" on them.
• They got to pick where they had lunch. They chose "The Hangabur King" (Burger King) They've never been there but we drive by it on the way to our parents houses and they see the big slide/ play area. They have wanted to go there forever. So today they got to go. They were allowed to order whatever they wanted which ended up being chicken tenders in the shape of crowns, apple "fries' which were just julienned sliced apples that go in a french fry box so they look like a bunch of french fries and a packet of fat free caramel that looks like it's in a ketchup packet. Super smart BK and a healthy choice. They normally are forced to drink milk or water but today they got to have an ICEE for the first time. Orange flavored and they loved it. Then they played and played in the play area for an hour.
• We then went to a nail salon (a nice one) and we all got manicures and pedicures. This was an overwhelmingly joyful experience for me. Your first manis and pedis are a right of passage so it was great to be able to start this tradition together. I held them up high so they could pick from the huge wall of polishes for their color. (Katie had her heart set on hot pink and I vetoed Jessica's starlet red choice so she settled for a lighter red shade with sliver glitter in it.) They got to sit in the big massage style chairs and put their nails under the fan and got to watch all the other ladies getting their nails done. They were so cute and so excited and thought they were so big.
• We then went to Nugget and they debated for twenty minutes over which cake they wanted for their party tonight. Yellow lemon cake, chocolate overload, sunflower cupcakes or pink frosted raspberry mousse with white butter cream roses? It was a very long and arduous decision. The pink and white cake won out in the end.
• Tonight would be their first ballet/dance class. My parents purchased them a series of 12 weeks of dance classes and our local ballet studio for their birthday. We needed all leather pink ballet shoes so we went and bought those. When they saw the pink Angelina Ballerina leotards and tutus they basically freaked out and lost their minds. Little did they know they would be getting one of those outfits later that night.
• I grabbed some beverages and fresh fruit and headed over to Papa and Grammie's so I could make them watch a couple of episodes of Dora and I could hurry up and wrap the last of the birthday presents.
• We rushed over to dance class and I laughed harder than I have laughed in a LONG time. It was cute, yet simultaneously embarrassing, yet simultaneously scary for 45 minutes. When the dance teacher asked the girls to flutter their hands and go around the circle and imagine what their fluttery butterfly fingers were painting in the air the other little girls gave answers like "pink glitter, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, purple hearts, rainbows." Not my kids. Katie said she was painting "a picture of my sissy" and then hugged Jessica's neck super hard. And Jessica announced she was "painting a duck". They galloped instead of skipped they looked like little freaks among the tutu, sparkly, princess loving other little girls. But they had fun and they are ready to go next week.
• We ended the night with their birthday party. When presented with the choice of where to have your 4th birthday party, most kids would choose a pizza place where there are games and rides and pizza right? In fact, I suggested just that to the girls. "Hey, you guys get to choose where to have your birthday party. Wouldn't it be fun to have a PIZZA PARTY? You know the place where they have the purple dinosaur you can ride? And games? Fun huh? A PIZZA PARTY!!! Yay!!!" Nope, not my kids. They wanted Miso Soup with extra tofu, edamame and teriyaki chicken. Oh and sushi. So we ended up at Osaka. I think it was the first 4 year old birthday in the history of Osaka Japanese Restaurant. What the freak kind of freako kids pick to have their birthday party at a Japanese joint? Steamed and salted soybeans over pizza??? Really?
• Grandparents came, pink cake was consumed along with the sushi and tofu and soybeans and a jackpot of presents were generously given. The girls will be moving to their big girl room and big girl bed this Saturday so they got new bedding from us along with some small toys and much needed shirts. They had no shirts! Gigantic strawberry shortcake type dolls from Grandma and Grandpa Meeker, the dance classes along with the missing pink Angelina Ballerina pink tutus and outfits from Grammie and Papa and cute little shorts from Grammie Bea even though we won't let her pay for them because hello? Assisted living costs a fortune!
• We came home and they requested the story of their birth for their bedtime story. Somehow, in my exhausted muddled brain, this ended up with me stuffing their new stuffed Easter Bunnies into my Tshirt and acting pregnant and waddling around their room and then tossing the pink "newborn Katie" bunny at Katie and the purple "newborn Jessica" bunny at Jessica in gleeful celebration of my c-section. And I wonder why my kids are weird? That apple didn't fall far from the freak tree people.

And so as they as in the movies..."Jessica and Katie Turn 4" is a rap. I will rest now. My awesome Mom points are up and I figure between today and Easter and giving them a new room on Saturday, I can milk this forever. At least until Halloween right?

Happy Birthday Cayden

Our favorite birthday boy Cayden Meeker turned a big 5 today. Cayden is basically our triplet brother just born exactly one year ahead of us. Our family adores Cayden, especially our girls who think he is their own personal super hero. Anything Cayden does my girls think is the funniest thing they have ever seen or heard. Even though he lives in another state and we don't get to see him often, they still quote his little sayings and do things all the time that they've seen him do. They still use him as the yard stick in which they measure the coolness of all other boys.

Cayden is a natural leader, a spunky, fun, brave (my heart stops sometimes when Amber tells me of his daredevil adventures), spiritual, smart, cute and wonderful boy. He is going to be such fun when they are all teenagers and he has cute friends and the girls have cute friends and they can go to summer camps and visit each other and talk on the phone. Cayden is one of those kids that is just cool and you know he will be super popular and never lack for friends. He is a friend magnet. You can't help but love him even if he is running away from you with his hair on fire.

We love you Cayden. Happy 5th birthday our birthday buddy!!! We love that our girls share your birthday with you.

A Letter To Jessica Rose On Her 4th Birthday...

Dear Jessica Rose,


You are my heart. You have it completely. I always knew I would have a child named Katie. Daddy and I agreed should we have a second daughter that Daddy would get to name her Jessica. Little did I know that you would come into my life and sweep me away into a love affair of epic proportions. You are one of the kindest and most gentle souls ever to be born. It is amazing that God has allowed me to be your Mom.

You are wierd about a lot of stuff. You have to follow the rules and order of games, you are bossy (but in a good way) and you spend a lot of time contemplating the universe and important issues like whether or not Santa dunks his cookies or do we think we could freeze the water in your bathtub and you could go ice skating on it. You have so much of your Daddy in you and I love you girls and him more than I love my own life. But you are also so much like me. And then, just when we think you are a mixture of both of us, you prove that you are neither…you are our Jessica Rose and you have earned the utter devotion of all three of us.

The love you have for me humbles me. Today you told me you’d rather have me as your Mom than even Cinderella or any other person. And when you say something you mean it. You and I have our own love language in which we express and communicate our love. I have never felt so overwhelmed as I feel when I gaze at you. You slay me daily. I would give you anything. My car? Take it if it will make you laugh. My life? I’d gladly give it if it bring about one of my special Jessica smiles that lights up a room. My soul? I’d trade it in a second to save yours. You came into this world a sleepy and tired baby that exuded the sort of gentleness and love that we could feel from your countenance.

The love you have for Daddy is the most special bond I have ever seen except for the bond you have with Katie. Your Daddy is a kindred spirit. You guys can sit next to each other and not do ANYTHING but just be and it makes you both blissfully peaceful and happy. You and your Dad don’t even have to talk about stuff; you guys just get each other. I don’t think Daddy has ever fallen in love with someone like he has fallen in love with you. And he continues to fall for you each day. You both are brilliant and stubborn and have the hearts of rebels who want to be left alone to do things your way. Equally, you both want to love someone deeply and be loved by them just as much. You are loyal to the greatest degree. You and your Dad…it’s an amazing thing to watch you guys. It brings me tears (happy ones) on a regular basis. When Dad is holding you and dancing to “This is Love” from Cinderella (you & Dad’s song) the smile on your face says that you are completely and utterly where you want to be loving and being loved by your second favorite person on this planet.

And that brings us to your favorite person. The devotion you have to your sister is the most amazing thing I have ever witnessed in my life. The kindness you show her, the way you give her all of your heart and everything she could ever want or dream of blows Dad and me away every single day. The way you treat Katie has set the tone for the friendship you have with each other. It is like no other relationship I’ve ever known or seen or even heard of. You won’t leave her side if she is sick or sad, you celebrate when she succeeds and you suffer if she is hurt. You worry for her and protect her and she does all of these exact things for you. But she does them because you did them first. You guys are Katie and Jessica because of both of you but it is so wonderfully peaceful and loving because of the tone you set for the two of you.

I am so proud of you for all you bring to your life. The way you study and question things makes me look at life in a whole different way. Things I would never notice or think of I find me doing so because I know you will ask me about it. You worry about things and for that my heart breaks for you. I am a worrier. Your dad was a worrier as a kid and is now a blocker outer. I hope that I can help you find a way to channel your worry into joy. But I think it’s just the way you are made. You focus on details and rules and you notice and hear everything. And in some ways, you worry so Katie doesn’t have to. Which she loves because she is so NOT a worrier.

But I don’t want anyone to think that just because you worry that you aren’t a joyful and happy soul. You feel and show joy in a way that makes even the most callous soul root for you. You cause people to sit up and take notice of you and once they do, they can’t help but do anything to keep you smiling and happy because you give back a thousand times more than anything anyone could ever give to you.

You are a blessing and a joy to have in my life. I feel like so much more than your Mother. I am your friend and your student and your biggest fan. I want so much for you in life. There is no one more deserving of love and happiness. As you turn four, I wish for so much more than sunshine and play dates and merry go round rides and cupcakes. Because you are so much more than a typical four year old. You are a precious daughter of God who I am lucky enough to have the honor of not only knowing but being intimately connected to. You bless my life in ways you won’t understand until we are in a place where are our hearts can talk to each other. But then again, I think maybe our hearts already do that. Because when we touch foreheads and look into each others eyes and I say “I love you my daughter” and you say “I love you my Mother” I feel like our hearts are speaking and not our mouths.

Happy 4 years old today my darling baby girl. Thank you for everything you have given me. Please don’t fall for a boy that treats you like crap. Because then I would have to hurt him and end up in jail and it would just create a whole big mess. Keep being exactly who you are. My Jess-eeee-ca Rose Meeker.

Love You So So So Much,
Mama

A Letter To Katie On Her 4th Birthday...

Dear Katie Kate,

I can’t believe they yanked you out of me four years ago today. I didn’t expect you to be born on April 15th. I expected you to arrive sometime in May. But you had a different idea about when you wanted to be born. It was you, and not your twin sister, best friend and partner in crime and fun who demanded to make their entrance on this day. Jessica wasn’t ready. But as with most things, you pulled her along as you plunged into life head first and at full speed. When you were an infant, we thought you’d never sleep. Most infants sleep about 20 hours per day. You were awake about that much time. I would rock you at night long after Jessica was peacefully slumbering in the crib you shared. I would pretend that I was sleeping, I would close my eyes as I held you and start to fake snore. I’d slyly open one eye half way to see if you were going to fall for my act. You never did. There you would be staring up at me with a happy little face, eyes WIDE open, boring a hole into my soul. You studied me as if to say “are you going to be financially solvent enough to buy me a tricycle when I turn three?” And “you know Mom, college is going to sneak up on you before you know it. And the prom. Oh the prom is going to cost you a bundle!” I felt nervous when I held you. Not that you would break but that I would not live up to the sort of mother you expected and deserved. Daddy dubbed you his “Jedi in training” because of your piercing eyes and alertness to everything around you. You are a natural comedian and have been keeping us laughing since we brought you home from the hospital and you would pretend to take your bottle and then smile like a doofus.

Funny is how most people would describe you. You love it when people think you are funny. You tell jokes, you goof around and you dance and twirl and perform at any time whether it has been requested or not. You love to come up to someone and ask “would you like to see my moves?” You then launch into some sort of spastic dance that involves tripping and falling and spinning around. Just when we think you have hurt yourself for sure you will exclaim “I am OOOOOHHHHHKAYYY” and then laugh some more. You do not have a shy bone in your body. You make friends easily and are friendly with everyone. My favorite thing about you is that express your love for others so freely and easily. You are always telling someone “I love you” and when anyone leaves your presence you cry sincere tears and tell them “I will miss you” as tears well up in your eyes. This wins you a special place in the heart of most people in your life because you make them feel so loved and wanted.

You are very dramatic. You have pretty animated parents so you come by in naturally. Whenever you are upset you announce to the room “good bye everyone! I am leaving now.” Then you go off to sulk. If no one comes after you, then you return in no time flat happy and cheerful as ever. What you really love is for someone to follow you after your dramatic exit and beg you to come back to the party. No matter whether you are happy or sad, you are either one or the other to the extreme. I don’t think you have a medium speed, just fast or slow. You are now an excellent sleeper and sleep many more hours than Jessica each night. You have flair and style and a charming laugh. Everyone around you loves you and loves being around you.

I always knew you would be my daughter. When I closed my eyes and imagined my little girl Katelyn who I knew would be called Katie, I pictured her with curly brown hair and bright green eyes. As I spent years wondering if I would ever be a mother, it is as if the Lord put a picture of you inside my mind to hold on to so I would keep going and trying to get past the next hurdle. I get you. I get you to a degree that I don't get anyone else. You and I are two peas in a pod. We like the same things and we love hanging out together. You are my friend and one of my favorite people to just hang around with, even if we are doing nothing but snuggling on the couch watching TV. (which we both love to do)

You are an amazing person Katie. I feel so lucky to be your Mom. Daddy and I amazed by the strength of spirit we feel when we look at you. You are smart and funny and cute and everything we could ever have hoped to have in a daughter and friend. Thank you for coming into my life and blessing it with your humor and love for life. Anyone who spends any time with you can’t help but be reminded of how great life is, how full of joy and wonder this world can be if we only have the right perspective. I hope you know how loved you are as a daughter, a sister, a granddaughter and friend. You make me want to try harder and be a better person. You have changed my life forever.

Happy birthday my spunky, funky, perky, quirky, amazingly wonderful four year old big girl.

Love Forever and Ever and Ever,
Mama

Book Reviews

I read a couple of good books lately and wanted to share.

• An American Wife - This is supposed to be based on Laura Bush. It is a wonderful, gripping and surprising story about a normal girl, from a small town who becomes First Lady of the United States. It's great, just great and I'm an Obama fan.
• The Host - This is by Stephanie Meyer who wrote the ever popular Twilight Saga. I loved the Twilight Saga even though I am not 14 years old. This book was intended for adults and is written at a more sophisticated level than Twilight. (Not much though) It is SO NOT MY NORMAL GENRE of Contemporary American Fiction. It is Science Fiction as in aliens coming to earth and taking over. (You find this out in the first page so I'm not giving anything away) However, even given the unappealing subject matter (to me), the book sucked me in due to a classic story of love, loss, friendship, war and the always engrossing love triangle. It is really good you guys. And I have no experience in even reading ANY scifi. You do not have to like Lord of the Rings, Heroes, Star Trek or any of that crap to like this book. But if you do like those things, you will LOVE LOVE LOVE this book.
• The Winner - David Balducci is one of my favorite authors. However, he came into my life when he wrote his first Camel Club novel (about 4 years ago) I've read all his new releases since. But now I am going back and reading his older stuff. The Winner was his first published novel. It's good but like John Grisham's A Time To Kill, it's an obvious first novel. It's a bit disjointed and sort of all over the place. But the story is compelling about a white trailer park trash single mom who is approached by a criminal that is able to fix the Lottery and she wins and ends up having it all fall apart all over the place.
• Sail- James Patterson. There's a reason Patterson is the Master of Suspense and Sail feels like vintage Patterson. It is non stop, can't put it down, read it until 2am literary candy. It's easy, unimportant and unbelievable in a sadistic fairytale sort of way.
• 19 Minutes- Jodi Piccoult USED to be one of my favorite authors. Plain Truth, Keeping Faith, The Pact...all great reads. Fabulous reads actually. However, her last novel (I forget the name but it was a parallel to Dante's Inferno) and this one...19 Minutes just got really preachy and boring. The characters are still totally compelling and she hooks you from page 1. But she's gotten too political for me. I think her earlier Songs From The Humback Whale is one of the most creative and greatest novels maybe ever written.
• Sundays At Tiffanys: Again, another James Patterson. But this time it's a sweet, romantic, idyllic story about a little girl's imaginary friend who is actually real and with whom she reunites with later in her life. It is sweet and fun and captures the special quality of having imaginary friends as a child. This book made me so happy.
• The Choice - Nicholas Sparks is one of my favorite authors. The Notebook might be my favorite book of all time. Forget the movie. I almost didn't go see it because the book was almost sacred to me. I read it first in hardcover, long before the hatchet job the screen play turned into. Mike and I read it out loud together on a move across the country. We took turns reading to each other from the passenger seat. We had to pull over somewhere in Tennessee for hours because we were crying so hard we couldn't see well enough to drive. We ended up getting a hotel because we were emotionally exhausted and slept, wrapped around each other for like 16 hours. The Choice isn't like The Notebook or like it's sequel The Wedding. But it's the best Nicholas Sparks since A Walk To Remember.

Okay, hope that gives you some books to go out and purchase. Any suggestions for my next read? Don't you just love books? I don't think I could continue to breathe if I had to give up reading. It's been like this since I was in 5th grade. My mom would catch me reading with a flash light and take it away. I'd grab another book and read by the light of my digital alarm clock for as long as I could keep my eyes open. Books and me...we're like BFFs.

Four Years Ago Tonight...

I was on bed rest. I got up about 8pm to go to the bathroom and I walked by Mike and he said "DAAAANG. YOU ARE HUUUUUUGE!!!!" And you know what Internet? He was right. I was 35 weeks and 4 days pregnant with twins and I had a wicked case of edema. I did not look good, not good at all. Little did I know, it was my last night as my former self. Because tomorrow, four years ago, my life changed in a way I could never have predicted. Big birthday posts and excitement coming tomorrow!!!

Growing Up Meeker...

Like all parents, Mike and I are trying to raise our kids right. We have taken the parts of each of our upbringings that we loved and implemented those things into our parenting as well as stuff we've seen our friends do and trying to leave out the stuff we think might increase the amount of therapy the girls will need as adults. Don't get us wrong, we'll still manage to screw them up. They'll still need therapy to get over their mother when they are adults, but we are trying to "minimize" the amount they might have to spend.

So in our house at least growing up Meeker means to mind your mom and dad, be kind to each family member, to listen and to try and become the best versions of yourself that you can. It's super important to us that they don't become "our" best versions of themselves but their own. As they rapidly approach turning four, we've been talking a lot about becoming more responsible, using good manners and learning how to be more independent.

Last night we had our version of "Friday Night Lights". It included a Maui Zowie pizza party in Mom and Dad's big bed with a movie of the girls choice. (Wall-E) The movie was set to run past the girls bed time. So the rule was that you had to be sitting on your bottom and not jumping on the bed in order for the movie to continue and get to stay up late to watch it. No big surprise here, jumping on the bed and loud laughing took place. Warnings were given. Jumping continued. The movie was paused.

Mike launched into a big "Dad" speech about why we were able to have a family pizza party and reviewing the rules and asking each girl why they thought the movie was on pause etc etc. Mike tends to get a bit long winded in his "Dad" speeches. About 3/4ths of the way through, Katie said "okay Dad. Can I just ask one question about all of this?" He said "sure". And she asked with all sincerity "Do you think my hair still looks pretty?" Needless to say, the "Dad" speech was over, the movie went back on and we gave up on parenting for the night.

And just when we thought their little bodies would always spaz out and they would never be able to wipe their own bottoms or learn to do my laundry and give me pedicures, they surprise us by doing a little something like this...

I asked them to go into their room and grab the white pajamas that have the purple and pink ribbons on them and bring them to me. This was so we could get them out of their grubby clothes and into clean PJs and to bed for the night. No sooner had I made this request, than they came running out into the family room DRESSED IN THE PAJAMAS!!! Their dirty clothes were in...wait for it...the hamper! Their pajamas were on the right way, not backwards. At 9pm this evening, had you been looking in our window you would have seen four people, deliriously jumping up and down shouting over and over again HOORAY HOORAY and doing a dance of ultimate joy.

It's been a big day in the "growing up Meeker" world. Emphasis is on growing UP.

Inspired

So the last night of Mike's conference was a big banquet in which all the Family Physicians from all the different branches of service (Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard) get together and end the conference with food, drink and fellowship in typical military style. Family members are included if they happen to come to the conference. So we arrived at the banquet late because Mike forced me by gun point to attend a "military finance" briefing which ran like forty minutes late. We found a table with two seats open. We made our way to the buffet of hotel food kept warm in chafing dishes, a roast beef carving station and no host cocktails. There was a Jimmy Buffet style band clad in Hawaiian shirts blaring out songs like Piano Man and Sweet Home Alabama at a tortuous loud volume. I wanted to stab myself in the eye with my fork just so I would have an excuse to leave the banquet. Then, I realized that even if my eye were squirting blood due to said stabbing, that I was in a room full of doctors, many of who had served on the battlefield and they would probably be overcome with glee to treat my bleeding eye. There was no way out. I ate my roll with frozen butter and drank my two dollar diet coke. I yelled occasional comments in Mike's ear because given the volume of music, it was all I could do to fill the time.

Finally, the Jimmy Buffet Hawaiian shirt guys stopped the singing and retired the stage. All of a sudden, an actual marching band of senior citizens came marching into the room playing "When the Saints Go Marching In" on trumpets, clarinets, drums and a Tuba. I'm not joking. The youngest in their band was maybe 75 years old and they were marching, slowly marching while playing marching band numbers. They made their way to the recently vacated stage. I knew at this point that I was most definitely stuck in hotel banquet hell, where the roast beef is cold and jiggly, I knew no one and a senior citizen marching band is preparing for their next number. OH. MY. HELL.

Just when I thought I would combust into vapor, something wonderful happened. The marching band began playing the Army theme song. "over hill, over dale as we hit the dusty trails and the caissons go rolling along..." As is military tradition, all Army members rose to their feet and began to sing loudly and clap their hands. And when the song ended, as is also military tradition, Anchors Away began and the Navy members rose to their feet and sang at the top of their lungs. I knew when the Navy sat down it would be our turn. Our table got to our feet and began to shout out "Off we go into the wild blue yonder, flying high into the sun...". Some of us stood on our chairs and spun our white cloth napkins over our heads as we clapped our hands enthusiastically. After we were done it was the Coast Guard's turn and as is the ultimate military tradition the Marines were saved for last. As our band of senior citizens began to play "From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli" with gusto, the Marines in the room stood and whooped it up like the rest of us. Except for this one guy. There was this one guy, some Marine that I don't know, who stood on his chair quietly. He stood at attention. His shoulders were back, arms locked at his side. His head was held high and straight and etched on his face was the fact that he had seen comrades fall in battle. You could just tell. It was written on his face as plainly as Mike's smile is written on his. This man stood on his chair, high above the heads of his fellow Marines and offered a silent tribute to his brothers in arms instead of whooping it up like the rest of us.

It immediately reminded me that we are still at war. We are losing people every day. Lives are being sacrificed. People we love are over there paying the ultimate price. How had I forgotten this so quickly? And as I gazed out on this group of military doctors, I felt so proud just to be in their company and so grateful for their willingness to serve our country. And all of a sudden, I was so glad I was there in that banquet room, marching band and all.

Heather Plether

Happy Birthday to my sister in law Heather. I LURVE Heather so much. When you marry into a family, you just don't know who you are going to get as in laws. It can go either way and often it goes both. But how I wish everyone could have a sister in law like Heather. She is awesome and is so much more than a sister in law it just is crazy. Most of all she's my friend. She is someone I go to for advice, sympathy, to share happy news, sad stories and to bounce stuff off of all the time. We share a unique bond in that our husbands are brothers but are also Air Force officers. This presents similar life experiences and trials as we face separation from our husbands due to TDYs and deployments as well as the challenge of moving to a new location every few years. And on top of this, her daughter Nora, my much loved niece was born just two months before my girls. So Heather was able to help me when I was pregnant and ever since then since she has gone through her motherhood experiences with Nora first, but recent enough that she gives me great help and advice. For example, Jessica thinks she is a cat and acts like a cat or a dog most of the time, especially when she doesn't like what we are saying. As I heard Nora "meow" the other day on the phone in the background as I talked to Heather, I was reminded again how grateful I am that I have her to commiserate with even if it's just about "what the freak is the deal with my kid thinking she is a cat all the time?"

I love you Heather. You are a great sister and friend. I hope you have the happiest of birthdays. I wish I could be there to celebrate with you. If I was there, at your house, today as we celebrate the day you came into this world, I would kick you out of your house, steal your house key so you couldn't get back in, make you go get a massage and a pedicure, make you go to a restaurant for lunch armed with a good book, make you sit there in peace and quiet and enjoy a meal, make you order chocolate cake, insist you bring me a piece back to the house, I would play with your kids and feed them while you were out so you wouldn't have to and then we would stay up and giggle until the wee hours of the night while I shared my piece of chocolate cake with you. Then I guess you could spend some time with Rick. I forgot about him for a sec. Maybe I'd have to kick you guys out a second time for dinner and a movie. So I wish I was there. Those are the things I would be doing if I was with you today. The thought counts right?

Happy Birthday Heather Plether...we love you tons!

Oh The Places We Go....

We just got back from Orlando for an entire six days with no kids in a nice hotel with a great pool, yummy food and friends who we love. Mike had his annual Uniformed Services Academy of Family Physicians conference. We get to see friends from Med School and Residency and now Mike gets to reunite with friends from Afghanistan as well. It was so much fun. Mike was able to complete most of his CME requirements for the year by going to the sessions during the day. I was able to sleep, read, hang out at the pool, shop at a cool outlet mall and chill out during the day and then go out with Mike Meeker at night. I actually had time to primp in front of the mirror, flat iron my hair properly, wear perfume and iron my clothes. To most people, these things are just a part of daily life but I haven't done them since our cruise in 2006. I think I had lipstick on the entire week even in my sleep. It was wonderful!!! Mike and I got to just hang out and even went to a MOVIE!!!! We have been to exactly four movies in the past four years where we used to go to a weekly dinner and movie date before kids. I ate my meals slowly. I cut no ones meat but my own. I went to restaurants that didn't have crayons. We stayed for dessert. There was no dropped food on the floor or in my hair. I had no ketchup smudges on my arm from little hands trying to get my attention. I stayed up late. I slept in. I was around a swimming pool without having an anxiety attack. I strolled when I walked and sipped when I drank. I didn't use sunscreen and I didn't pack a big bag of stuff before I left the hotel room. I carried an actual purse. Did I mention it was wonderful?

The girls went on vacation to Grammie and Papa's house, which is their favorite vacation spot. Do you know how wonderful it is to have parents not only willing but happy to keep your kids for six days and not have to worry for one single second about their safety or well being. To be able to leave and fly across the country knowing they will be better cared for than if they were with me. To arrive after six days away with presents in hand and to have your daughter actually cry on the way home because she will miss her Grammie and Papa. It's a gift that can NEVER be repaid no matter how many years I spend alive. The only way I can repay them is to do the same for Katie and Jessica when they need to have some time away with their husbands. My parents played and drew pictures and snuggled and tickled backs and cleaned up vomit and washed and brushed and hugged and kissed my babies while I visited with my bestest buddy Mike and discovered we REALLY needed some time together just to talk and laugh and slow down for a second and remember why we like each other. Thanks Mom and Dad. Massage Gift Certificates, a yummy Easter dinner and a night on the town for the two of you are forthcoming. And we will take extra super good care of you when you guys get old.

We missed our babies like crazy. We promised each other that we wouldn't talk about them too much, that we would talk about politics and ourselves and funny stuff. But we talked about them all the time because how can you talk about politics without talking about the world we are leaving to them and how can we talk about ourselves without talking about the people that makes up who we are and how can we talk about funny stuff without talking about the source of all of our laughter? We decided to give up trying not to talk about them and spent one night going over memories of their lives until 2am. It was the best night. We laughed so hard as we told stories of their birth to now. And when we finally were reunited with them, we came home and did the usual. We all cuddled up together in our big bed and fell fast asleep snuggled together for a long nap. It was so great to get to kiss those cheeks and smell those heads and feel the weight of their bodies in our laps. We had a great time, we really did. But it was also great to come home to our little family. It's nice to be happy in both places. I am feeling very blessed today. And very thankful for my parents and my kids and my husband and my life in general.

I guess my funk is gone. Who knew the way to rid yourself of a funk would be to go to Florida?