In the morning David took his Daddy skiing. (For thoughts on skiing in Wisconsin, go here. You can also see pictures of David's first time skiing.) David wanted to do a lesson. We didn't make it to Tyrol Basin last year (no snow!!), so it had been a while. David said it was a little hard at first, but by the end of the lesson he was really good. (Greg confirmed this.)
During the lesson, Greg got a gazillion runs in (they don't take long when the mountain is more of a short hill). Afterwards, they went down together a couple of times. Then they went to lunch together and came home. (It's nice that the skiing is close enough, small enough, and affordable enough that it doesn't have to take your whole day.) David came home excited to do more skiing. And Greg looks forward to returning too.
Meanwhile, Mary came with me to my last (LAST!!) doctor's appointment. We listened to the baby's heartbeat together. It was very sweet. She is very excited to have a baby sister.
Later that day, Mary baked a cake for her dad (almost all by herself!) and made chocolate buttercream frosting (almost all by herself!). As she reminded me again and again, she LOVES to bake. After I frosted the cake for her, she did the decorating one hundred percent by herself. She took it very seriously--and lovingly, as she knew this was something special for her dad.
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| The finished product! |
Happy Birthday, Daddy!
You know how you always try to blow out all your candles in as few breaths as possible? Well, this year Greg set a world record! He took zero breaths! Of course, he had a little help ...
Greg deserves the best birthday ever!! Unfortunately, he married me. I did not grow up with a grand tradition of elaborate celebrations for holidays and birthdays. But they are important to me! Especially Christmas. So I work hard against inertia to make Christmastime special for my family. Consequently, by December 28th, I'm kind of burnt out. Poor Greg gets kind of a bum deal. I was sort of hoping the baby would be born on his birthday--that would make it special, right?
Someday Greg might get that big, amazing, thoughtful, special birthday celebration he deserves. I hope. But, really, no celebration could be big enough, amazing enough, thoughtful enough, or special enough to match what he deserves. But it doesn't mean I won't try! Someday ...
P.S. Speaking of the baby's birthday. I think it will be January 4th, as scheduled. Yes, I am big. I am huge! I am short and there is just no where for this big baby to go. Sometimes I think I am going to burst open Alien style. But I still feel pretty good. I am not having a lot of those aches and pains in the back and hips and pelvis that you so often get at the end. According to the doctor, the baby is high--but to me she feels low because I can breath and eat. Yes, I've been to the doctor 3 times this week!!!--in part because of a terrible mysterious rash. (Bleh.) And, yes, having gestational diabetes at Christmastime sure stinks. BUT I feel very lucky (blessed--I can recognize this as a blessing from above) to feel as good as I do. In fact, I'll take it as a tender mercy of the Lord, who has been walking beside me this whole time. Anyway, so I'd like to be able to crank through a few more things on my to-do list before Baby has her birthday.
