As if tax season wasn’t enough fun for me, I’m also in the middle of an MS relapse! So we are keeping our sense of humor about it. My legs, the left one in particular, has been so uncooperative that walking with a cane is even difficult. Walking had become such a frightful chore until my sister loaned me this gem:

It's a purse on wheels!

My neuro seems to think a round of steroids will help lower the swelling in my nerves and get me walking again, so I went in for my first infusion today. It’s 500 mg of Solumedrol, which is a very high dose. They tell me if I took that much orally it could kill me. This way is much safer (they assure me). It’s almost like being at the spa, the way they cater to me here. Free coffee, pleasant conversation. Forced relaxation isn’t so bad. And it’s basically free since I’ve already met my insurance deductible this year. I can take four more mornings like this, no problem!

Steroid Infusion Day 1

Read the shirt.

He’s not even Irish, but he gets geeked about St. Patrick’s Day for some reason. It must be the Shamrock Shakes.

And we bought the girl a new toy:

Needless to say, we’ve been having a lot of fun here at the Richmond house.

I’ve been pretty busy lately with work and tax season. When I’m home I pretty much crash so I have been neglecting to blog. But today I was at my nephew’s 2nd birthday party and when I came home my sister had already posted the pictures. There were some good pictures but the link she sent also gave me access to her photo album from her wedding five and a half years ago. I had a good time reminiscing through the photos and I had an especially good laugh when I came to one picture in particular. Bloggers, I give you “The Hug”:

The element of surprise is a big help, but it still gets a laugh every single time.

Mike rearranged the living room this week. And when I say “rearranged” I mean “moved the loveseat 7 inches to the right. It’s not a huge change, but the change is huge. It makes the living room feel more cozy and living room-ish. See, our living area blends in with our dining area, so it’s easy to lose it’s identity. See how it used to look?

Moving the loveseat gives the room more definition. I don’t have a picture of it now, so you’ll just have to imagine. I notice I’ve been feeling more inspired to blog lately. Maybe it’s the couch.

The Roomba – because a man can’t be bothered with vacuuming. All that pushing and pulling and those pesky electrical cords. Ugh! What a chore!

Mike beamed with excitement when he told me about the new addition to our family – The Roomba. Since he is in charge of keeping our floors clean, I didn’t object when he wanted to spend his Christmas money on the robot that vacuums. But when he went on (still beaming) about his grand Roomba plans I had to chuckle. Before he would run the vacuum in each of the rooms, he would need to clear the floors as much as possible, removing all the toys, chairs, etc. Since it runs on a battery, he would need to recharge it after just about every room. And then of course he would need to clean it after every third charge.

So my question to Mike was this: “How is this supposed to make your life easier?” He didn’t really have a good answer for that. But I will say, ever since the Roomba arrived, our floors have been consistently cleaner than they ever have been before. The reason? Because the Roomba is FUN. What can I say? The man likes his toys.

I haven’t blogged nearly enough about my daughter Natalie. You can’t blame me really, I’ve had a lot going on with my health that has really distracted me. Not from Natalie, but from being sure to write about her.

But today I had a moment that I want to remember. It was an ordinary moment, but memorable in a way. I was just sitting here on the couch feeding Natalie, staring at her as I usually do. But then I locked eyes with hers and I had a mental glimpse of what she might look like as an older girl. And in that moment I fell completely, head over heels in love with her. Better late than never, right? She’s two months old. I’m not saying I didn’t love her before, but I just hadn’t made that certain connection.

It’s the eyes. She smiles first with her eyes, and then her lips. She has such beautiful, big, blue eyes. Ironically, every time we try to catch those beautiful eyes on film, she gives us something like this:

Something tells me this girl is going to have a sense of humor. She’s gonna have to if she’s going to survive living in this family!

It’s the last day of the year and this is how I’m spending it:

Crocheting an afghan for my adorable son while my beautiful daughter snoozes on my lap. I’m surrounded by my family and I wouldn’t trade it for all the ice cream in the world. What a great way to ring in the new year. And now, if you don’t mind, I’ll be heading to bed an hour before the ball drops.

I’ve done enough reflecting on the past year. In 2009 I was introduced to MS but on the glorious flip side I was also introduced to my brand new baby girl. For now I’m just praying that 2010 brings nothing but blessings. Lord knows we’ve had enough excitement

Our food storage containers have been out of control for quite some time. I’m sure most everyone has been or is in the same predicament. Plastic containers and lids strewn about, mismatches galore. You can never find what you need when you need it and without a huge hassle. It’s frustrating, am I right? Well, we finally said enough is enough!

Out with the old

In with the new!

So easy a two-year old can do it

I’m not even the one who does most of the dishes around here but I’m stoked. I’m always the one who insists on saving leftover food and therefore get the chore of finding containers, so I’m sick with excitement. These are those Rubbermaid “Easy Find Lids”. The lids lock to the bases of the containers and they all match up and fit together. We bought the 40 piece set and I think it will be plenty sufficient for all our food storage needs. This is life-changing, people. Life-changing. You gotta try it. Well, I’ll let you know how it goes first. Then you gotta really try it.

I’m not real big on celebrations and decorating but since I want my kids to grow up with happy Christmas traditions like I did, I understand that might involve actually putting up a tree.

And some lights.

And ornaments, of course.

We were all having a really great time until someone (not naming names, but he/she is blonde, blue-eyed, and of very small stature) spilled over Momma’s beer.  Behind the couch. We’re not sure if said person actually drank any of it. If he/she did, it wasn’t much because he/she resumed hanging ornaments with no trouble at all. The same cannot be said of Momma. She had a little trouble maneuvering around the tree and had to “catch” her balance on several occasions (I swear it wasn’t the beer… the MS made me do it).

And then the finishing touch – the angel on the top!

Luke did a great job hanging ornaments but Natalie was no help at all, unless you count sitting around looking pretty. If that counts, she scored a perfect 10!