My Brain is Spinning with AG Doll Choices

See these 2 girls? You'd think picking a doll for each of them would be easy wouldn't you? That's whyI am SO disgusted with myself! DH & I had decided to get the 2 oldest DGDs American Girl dolls for Christmas. When I got out the catalog I saw a code in it that was good for free shipping 'til midnight last night. (Shipping is based on the amount spent, & with ordering 2 dolls it would've been $25., so it was definitely worth trying to beat that deadline.) As luck would have it, midnight was just a couple of hours away.

Based on the things the DGD's descriptions of which Just like You doll they wanted, I discovered that picking which dolls to order wasn't nearly as simple as it sounds.

Only 1 doll has the coloring & lack of bangs (they both specifically said "no bangs") that met their description. Even she had freckles which Ashley didn't want and her hair wasn't like either girl... plus, I really don't want to get them identical dolls (even though the 2 of them look so much alike)... so there was a quandry.

I thought about ordering Kit for Whitney (here is Kit) http://store.americangirl.com/agshop/static/kitdoll.jsf/title/Kit+&+Ruthie/saleGroupId/300/uniqueId/59/nodeId/11/webMenuId/5/LeftMenu/TRUEbecause she looks SO much like her (except that her hair is wrong color). However, she had said she didn't want Kit, she wanted a Just Like You doll... but to me Kit looks more like her than the other one did.

There is a Just Like You doll that looks SO much like Ashley except that it has brown eyes & Ash's are blue.

I went back & forth & back & forth until my head was spinning. Long story short, I ended up not ordering any. I am so disappointed in myself. DH reassuringly said it wasn't worth getting so stressed about, & that we'll just get them something else from their lists. I know how much Whitney wants one though, so I'm still not able to get it out of my mind.

Opinions? Suggestions? Reassurance that I'm not crazy for being so overwhelmed?

Two Weeks in Paradise

This morning when I woke up, the fact that my visit here is almost over hit me like a rock. Yesterday made 2 weeks that I've been here.. I have less than 48 hours left.

I have loved being here! I've enjoyed getting the kids up & talking with them while they eat breakfast & dress for school, driving them there, tidying the house, doing laundry (boy do 4 kids create a lot!), rocking the baby, talking with my daughter, making cookies, & doing all the day-to-day things that are part of a busy household.

I love seeing the girls' eyes light up when I walk into the gym in the afternoons to pick them up from school (did you know that all students must be signed out now when you pick them up from school? No more just ringing the bell & letting them all dash out of the building!) Driving home while they tell me about the school day is such a treat, and I even enjoy helping them with their homework in the evenings.

At bedtime the past 14 nights I've spent about half an hour telling them stories. Some nights they're tales of fairies, each one bearing a strong resemblance to one of the girls in the bed. The girls have always loved these, and during this visit a new character - Little Prince Artichoke - has joined the cast. Injust a year or two little Andy himself will be upstairs enjoying the stories along with his sisters!

When the girls get in bed late & there isn't time for a full fairy adventure, I share short stories about funny things some of the adults in the family when they were young. Particular favorites this visit included the story about G-mama and Papaw eloping on the train, and about the time Gran'ma wanted to have her hair short like the flappers (during the "roaring twenties) and her dad didn't want her to.

I love the giggles (and sometimes belly laughs) these stories generate. I know I'll be able to share bedtime stories with them again whenever I visit, but being here for an extended period has enabled us to have continuing sagas that just aren't possible during a weekend stay.

There are so many aspects of being here that I will miss. I'm not going to even begin writing about the baby - if I do I'll be sobbing in a puddle and that's really not the way I want to spend these last days here. Right now I hear him now making making little squeaky noises in his bassinet, so it won't be long 'til he's fully awake & ready for his mommy to feed him. Afterwards DD will give him to me to change & rock...

...I love that, the feel of his tiny, down covered head snuggled in the hollow of my neck, tiny bottom totally fitting in my palm, bitsy feet just reaching my chest. Hard to imagine that if he's like the other men in the family he'll someday be a six-footer!

Ok, gulping noises (he nurses like a champ!) are coming from the bedroom so I'm going to go get ready to enjoy another day of being a very present grandmother. I am so blessed to be able to be here for this experience, to have an employer who allowed me to be gone so long and a husband who understands (finally, after 4 grandchildren) just why I want to be here so badly!

Granted, I will soon be 400 miles away, but for now I'm right here & I will make the most of this chance to wallow in the joy of being a Nana!

Andrew Bryce has Arrived!

I have a grandson - my first! Andrew Bryce was born Friday morning, November 7, weighing in at 7 lbs. 11 oz. and 19 3/4" long. He is such a dollbaby! I got to be in the O.R. during the delivery which was an amazing experience. I'll write more about it later on, probably when I'm back home. Right now I'm enjoying snuggling Andy and playing with his 3 big sisters (aka my granddaughters Meanwhile here are a couple of pics of Andrew Bryce, AKA Andy!

Help! URL Contains Illegal Characters??

I wrote a blog over a week ago (when my new grandchild was born) & can't get it to publish. Whenever I try it says "URL contains illegal characters". The blog has 2 photos in it, so at first I thought maybe that was the problem, so I tried using a link to photobucket instead of uploading them directly from my computer but that didn't work, so I tried resizing them (smaller) but I STILL got that same message.

Anybody have any idea what I can do to get it to post? I haven't had much time to fiddle with it because I'm down here with my DD helping with the baby & girls.

(When I click 'preview' it shows the blog & photos just fine, it's not until I click 'publish' that I get the message "URL contains illegal characters". Help! Thanks!

Early Election Results

It's 9:30 here (6:30 on the west coast) and the tv announcers are already giving election results & predicting who will win. I don't think they should do this until everybody in the country has had a chance to vote. They started doing this before our polls even closed, and hours before the west coast ones did.

Just now FOX proclaimed a "winner" in a state which only has turned in 24% of its votes! How can you declare that somebody has won when barely 1/4 of the votes have been counted?!? It's ridiculous! I mean I'm as anxious as the next person to see who wins, but for heaven's sakes let's wait 'til we actually COUNT the votes before we start declaring winners!

It's Election Day! Go Vote - it's Not too Late!

Today is finally the election we've all been waiting for! I voted this afternoon at 1:30 and didn't have to wait in line at all! The pollsters said they'd been really busy earlier in the day & expected to be busy again whis afternoon/evening when people get off work.

This morning there were over 100 people waiting in line for them to open!! That was at 6am. They'll be open til 8 tonight which is a little later than usual.

Here in Michigan we still vote using paper & darkening in an oval (like the old achievement tests were done). When I moved here I was used to having voting machines where you just flip levers, so this took some getting used to. At first this didn't seem "official" enough - just paper and #2 pencil - but now I'm used to it.

Today I actually felt a bit of a thrill as I darkened in the ovals for President and for the yes/no question we had to answer regarding stem cell research. I felt so patriotic! I'm not sure why it hit me that way because I vote at every election so it wasn't anything new to me. Still, it was thrilling and I liked that! I felt like this year my vote really mattered!

I will be so interested in the election reports as they start coming in this evening! This is one election that IMHO hasn't been "cut and dried". I honestly don't know who will win. Very cool! :-)

This is the Week!!

(photo from ultrasound taken at about 30 weeks)
This is the week we've been waiting for! On Friday my daughter will give birth to her 4th child. I am SO excited (and of course a little worried too since it'll also be her 4th c-section which is more than they really like for a person to have). I will be SO relieved when we have that little baby safely here and can relax knowing that he and DD are both fine.

I'll be going down for the birth and staying 2 weeks. My boss is fine with that (not that he had much choice - my kids are the most important thing in the world to me & I'd quit before I'd miss this). (Yes, I know they're both in their 30's but they're still "my kids" LOL. I mean, really, it'd sound kind of wierd to call them "my adults"!!!)

I'm to leave here Thursday morning but I swear I'm dying to leave sooner - like maybe RIGHT THIS MINUTE!!! I know I'll stay here through Tuesday so I can VOTE, but on Wednesday it's going to be a real struggle to point that car towards work instead of towards Kentucky!!

DD is to be at the hospital at 6 a.m. on Friday, so if you'd like to send some prayers her way that'd be great! She is going/has gone through this whole pregnancy totally without the help of her DH. They were in the process of getting a divorce when she discovered that she was expecting. That brought the divorce to a screeching halt because in their state you can't get divorced while pregnant.

Her DH has been a real @#%#$ throughout the pregnancy... to be honest I don't know how she has maintained her sanity with all the stuff he has put her through. She is such a forgiving person though that if he happens to show up for the birth she is going to let him be in the delivery room when the baby is born. (If he doesn't show up I get to be in there!! That would be SO cool!) Anyway, no matter what her DH does or doesn't do, DD has a strong faith in God and knows she had the complete love and support of her brother & me, and we can get through anything!