HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Every night, this is my prayer:

"Dear God, thank you for this day together.

Thank you for baby Vanessa in our family.

Thank you for Daddy: I love being his wife.

Thank you for letting me be a Mama - I love being Mama to Vanessa.

And thank you for Milo, thank you for Max, and thank you for Chica."

That's how I start us off, then we fill in the rest.

Vanessa loves this prayer. When we ask her to pray, it is a spontaneous expression of, well, English, from our wee 2 year old. "Thank you for the doorknobs! The spiders! Mama's boob!"

Since my last post, we have had my sister's daughter, Abby, come visit. Nanners took a backseat whilst we rolled out the red carpet for Abs because it was her very first visit to our house in all of her seventeen years. Well, unless you count when she was a 3 month old fetus in her Mama's belly when we got married.



Abby arrived in San Francisco on her seventeenth birthday, so we - Van, Daddio and Granny Ernestine and I - met her at baggage claim, blended frozen coffee drink in hand, singing "Happy Birthday to you!" at the top of our lungs. Abby came off the escalator, glanced our way, turned, and launched off in the opposite direction. She later said she thought, "Wow, someone has the same birthday as me." Silly girl. She did not expect a grand entrance? She'll learn.

For her birthday meal, she selected the weirdest food possible at the San Francisco wharf, octopus. Many photos of said food were taken.

After carrying around the mass of tentacles for an hour, we made Abs ditch her leftovers so we could introduce her to Ghirardelli hot fudge sundaes.

We had a quick walk over the Golden Gate Bridge in a 90 degree heatwave, and a driving tour of the city, and then we felt Abby had done San Fran adequately for the afternoon.

When Auntie Anne is within a mile of Vanessa, she is laser focused on her. That's how I felt about Abby. Where ever we went, people assumed she was my daughter. (Ahem.) I loved that. Instead of being the haggard-looking, out of shape young mother of a toddler, I looked like the youthful, slightly with-it middle-aged woman that I more truthfully am. Hey, I'm closer to 60 than I am to 21.

Abby, you might gather from the pictures, is a bit of a hottie. She fit right in to the surf climate and culture. You would never guess she hails from rural Connecticut. Bless her heart.

Let's just say that this amateur and occasionally bossy photographer and this underphotographed teenager could have spent days on location together. She willingly did all I asked, in terms of posing, and she made every shot look great. So much easier than photographing a toddler.

When we weren't snapping pics, we spent our days getting our nails done, shopping, and sampling the local fare. We girled out, Big Time.

Daddio took her surfing. He surfed over her face her first day out. Doh! or Woot! as Abby would say.

Death-defying surfing lessons work up one's appetite... for ribs, apparently.

When it was time to go home, we drove up the coast through Big Sur on Route 1 - Abby drove, actually, all 225 miles and 6 hours of it. We stopped briefly to see the elephant seals and again to try to say hello to Steven the Beetle, but we couldn't find him. That's a lot of driving for a new driver, and it was an expert trail, no less. Abs was thrilled.

We sent Abigail MacGoo home with a French manicure, a new haircut, a fabulous tan, and a suitcase full of new surf-inspired duds, five new pairs of shoes, and a Pokeman comforter and sheet set (thrift store find) that was her catch of the week. She also had a hearty dose of western air in her lungs. Heck, she even got a new job and a boyfriend the week she was visiting - both back in Connecticut.

As soon as Abby departed, Jack, Van and I all got a virus I affectionately call the swine flu, which morphed into a sinus infection for both me and Jack. V-dog missed her second full week of preschool thanks to that. Even so, the weekend after Abby left, we drove to Santa Barbara on Saturday and Los Angeles on Sunday, for track meets. We got to see Rob, Manuela and Sophia in Santa Barbara, and "Auntie" Shea-Shea's parents Eugene and Yolanda in Los Angeles.

While in Santa Barbara, we got an unexpected call from our adoption agency that another birthmom is interested in us. After talking for an hour on Saturday, and discovering that she happens to live in L.A., we agreed to meet up on Sunday at a McDonald's. We all got along very well. This birthmom is adopted herself and is raising a 4 year old girl, so she is pretty clear about what she is looking for in parents for her child, due July 30th. Jack and I both felt an immediate connection with this mom. We're waiting to hear if she chooses us, so this past week has been full of anticipation for me.

In other news, Vanessa's Uncle Mike needs surgery to remove a world record sized kidney stone, Auntie Anne put her baby boy Andy on a plane to head back to the Navy base before he ships off to Afghanistan next week, and Auntie Judi's boy Daniel, an Iraqi War veteran, fell and broke his leg and perhaps his femur. Even our dear Maxy cat is in the hospital today, after a bad fight and an abscess on his ear bud that the doctor hopes isn't new cancer. So much to pray for.

As far as my mysterious breast lump goes, I have good news to report. It disappeared! Even so, I kept my biopsy appointment with the surgeon, who actually participated on my c-section when a loop of bowel was adhered to my abdominal wall, making it hard to make the incision. He was very nice. I had to disrobe and lie back on the examination table. While the doctor palpitated my right breast, Van seized the opportunity to man-handle my left breast, then tried to get her mouth on it for a quick snack. ("God bless Mama's boob!")

As an elderly stay-at-home mom with little left to prove in the way of ambition, organization, housekeeping or self grooming, I can spend luxurious amounts of time bonding with Vanessa, time my sister didn't have with her baby girl. I hope to someday be the slightly with-it mom of a seventeen year old VanNannerkins, but until that happens, I was delighted to capitalize on my opportunity to lavishly spend time with Abby.

"Thank you for letting me be a Mama - I love to be Mama to Vanessa."

"OH MY GOODNESS SAKES!"

I'm not sure where she got it, but Vanessa often exclaims, "Oh my goodness sakes!" with great gravity and concern. Today I post it in reference to how long it's taken me to publish a blog entry. Let's just say I am not lacking in the news or photography departments. (The above photo is of Van and her freshly-applied lip gloss.)

Let's review our weeks chronologically, shall we?

After big cousins Corey, Megan and Sarah left, Vanners approached every trio of happy young women saying, "Cousins!" only to be sorely disappointed. But soon after the cousins left their parents arrived. Yes, Uncle Mark and the Magic Aunt (Debbie) came a week later.


We picked up Uncle Mark at the aeropuerto and I said, "What twenty year olds go visit a toddler on their spring breaks on purpose? Your daughters, that's who. Not only did they not complain, they acted like they really, really enjoyed having a 2 year old around." We laughed about that, then Uncle Mark began his own version of Spring Break '09 with VH1, reminding us that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Uncle Mark arrived a couple days before the Magic Aunt. He wasted no time in bonding with his newest niece. She reciprocated in kind, perhaps a bit more enthusiastically, really, as we see her here, serving a proper tea.

We, VanNannerkins, Uncle Mark and I, went on a couple hikes. Vanny led. Uncle Mark spotted her on the dangerous bits. I stayed clear away and filmed.

Later, when the Magic Aunt (Debbie) arrived, Van could care less about the rest of us. We others took Van and the Magic Aunt to the Farmers' Market, then Big Sur, where we soaked up the sun and solitude, built some natural towers, and made a new friend, "Steven" the Darkling Beetle. Vanessa let Steven crawl all over her like a kitten, and has not stopped talking about him. He was very friendly.

Daddio was busy working, since his season is in full tilt, you might say. Somewhere in there V-dog got a call to audition for a GAP ad, so she and I roadtripped to L.A. and back. She was very cute (says the biased mama) but did not get the job.

Whilst we were gone, Uncle Mark and the Magic Aunt treated Daddio to a home made steak meal and a bottle of local vino. They sat at the kitchen table for hours, dining and discussing the meaning of life. When Nanners and I arrived home late that night, Daddio had a wide grin on his face and commented that it was pleasant to get to spend more than ten minutes eating a meal with no toddler around. Ah, yes, I dimly recall those types of meals. I don't know when Mark and Debbie have had Jack all to their selves, but I was greatly pleased it happened.

Nobody wanted to say goodbye at the aeropuerto. We look forward to seeing each other again in Rhode Island in September, at cousin Sarah and her fiance Katsu's wedding.

Somewhere in the middle of all this, I developed a remarkable breast infection that was not behaving like mastitis. It took a few weeks to progress and resolve, and it involved a few doctor's visits, some red streaks, many lumps, and considerable bruising, but no fever. The upshot is that I need it biopsied next week, although the lingering lump has pretty much disappeared.

Also, we nearly moved across town for a super cool house with a bigger kitchen, a play room off the living room, a giant jungle of a yard, and a 180 degree view of the Pacific Ocean from almost every room. In the end, we didn't move, and we feel great about staying in our beloved house with the kiddie back yard, but it was some excitement. Moving during track season would have been, um, crazy.

Let's see, what else? Well, Milo had his cast on for his broken toe this whole month, which made all of us crazy. You see, our athletic dog couldn't exercise for a month which meant he couldn't burn off his extra energy - it seemed to all come out of his mouth in incessant barking. He even tore up the carpet in the hallway, trying to dig under the bedroom doors. He absolutely lost his mind without exercise. Oy vey.

Then what?

Well, this month I got a few creepy calls from a guy who knew my first name. Our phone number is unlisted, so I filed a police report. The police patrol our street now in unmarked cars. That makes me feel so much better, especially since there is a precocious toddler in da house.

One night when Daddio was off on a track trip, I was getting Van ready for bed when I (ahem) sat down for a moment in the ladies room. One minute later, I hear her voice in the backyard! All the doors and windows were locked, so how could that be? She had wandered out to the kitchen to watch Max eat his cat food. Well, Max didn't want to be watched, so he flipped up his tail and ducked out the cat door. Van picked up his dish and ducked out the cat door after him, saying, "Here you go, Max. Here's your food, kitty." She followed him to the back gate in the pitch dark in her jammies. Again, we're talking two minutes here.

Then cousin Sarah's fiance, Katsu, came to visit for an afternoon. Katsu and Sarah live in Cleveland, but Katsu's best man lives about 40 minutes away. Unfortunately he and Daddio didn't get to meet over an evening surf - "next time" - but Nanners and I got to hang out with him for a whole afternoon. What fun! Let's just say Banana-kins fell in love with Katsu right away, and Katsu proved to be no stranger to rascal-wrangling.

We had Easter! Daddio and I put together a few Easter eggs and the Easter bunny hid them all over the yard. Vanners was totally into it. She also decorated all our eggs. They were gorgeous. We ate a lot of egg salad after that. Pass the lipitor, please.




In other news, Vanessa started going to daycare ("preschool") and it couldn't be more perfect. WOO HOO! Praise the Lord! Vanners just started going this week, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons. She's in with kids aged 3 to 5 and believes she's in charge.

Then on Saturday, friend Rob breezed through to purchase a new surf board and christen it in our little surf spot with Daddio's help.

That same afternoon Daddio, Vanners and I hopped in the car and headed off to see Granny in San Francisco. We went to San Francisco to retrieve cousin Abby from Connecticut. It was her 17th birthday and she is visiting us this week for her Spring Break '09. Wow. You'll have to wait to see all the pics we've been taking of cousin Abby. "Oh my goodness sakes!"