Back in the Saddle

Anja seems to finally be back to her old cheery self! I am so thankful for that. It was a long week of carrying around a screaming baby. We knew last night that she must really be on the mend when we went to the grocery and she actually enjoyed herself. Then in the parking lot a big flock of birds flew by, and she loved them! Welcome back, the Anja we all know and love.

It's been a pretty packed day, although I feel like I haven't accomplished all that much. We all got up at the same time this morning, which always makes the mornings a little rough. Martin and Anja took their morning walk together and I was able to get completely ready before he left for work. Anja and I ate some breakfast, I got dinner in the crock pot (Irish Stew, which is a lot of chopping--another clue that Anja must be back to normal! She played happily the whole time!) then we threw some diapers in the stroller and set out for my mom's house to (finally) finish her Feast costume! She slept the whole way up there (a good morning nap) and was happy almost the whole time we spent there. I finished her cute green stripey skirt and it was absolutely adorable. I hemmed it once at the bottom knowing it would be extra long, intending to put another hem in so I could let it out and she could wear it again next year. However, I didn't realize HOW LONG I had made it... this skirt would've fit a four-year-old! But it turned out so cute, and I had worked hard on it, not just making it a square with an elastic waist, but giving it some shape and body and the stripes even looked good! This skirt is adorable. So I just didn't have the heart to cut half of it off and hem it shorter, but to hem it to fit her would put the hem seam right in the middle of the skirt. I started doing that and it looked terrible, so I ripped it out.

And then I found the scrap fabric and in about two and a half minutes made a very nice (though not quite as carefully made, nor as cutely shaped) Anja-sized skirt. It will work, and I'm pleased that I was able to fix my problem by just whipping up something else. Plus, I have her costume entirely finished! We will buy her a bonnet when we get there on Saturday morning.

My mom made us lunch, then we headed back home. Anja fell asleep right away, but it isn't too long of a walk, and she woke up right when we got home, which is NOT a good afternoon nap. She stayed up for awhile while I started making some Irish Wheaten Bread then eventually I took a walk with her and she fell asleep. Woke up when we got home, but I was able to get her back to sleep upstairs and she's still sleeping, which is good. She needed the nap. I finished my bread dough and now it's almost finished baking! I'm interested to see how it turns out. There's hardly anything in it, so I can't really imagine it tasting all that good, but dipped in stew it should at least be edible.

So now my kitchen is a disaster area, I have clean laundry scattered all over the house needing to be folded and put away, dirty laundry that needs to be washed, and a whole list of other household chores that haven't been done today. But I feel like I've been run ragged since this is my first chance to put my feet up and catch my breath all day!

I'm a little bit worried because I woke up with a sore throat this morning and it has stayed with me all day. Usually if I wake up with a sore throat it goes away within an hour. This one is different. I don't care about me, but I'll be so upset if Anja gets sick for this weekend. I'm really hoping she doesn't get this! The poor thing has been sick for two weeks in a row, surely she won't come down with this as well.