Puppy, Pancakes, Baptism

We picked up our puppy on January 19. I was terrified. What the heck do you do with a puppy? The first week or so, I was sure we had made a terrible mistake. Getting up with the dog in the middle of the night was not something I enjoyed. Puppies bite everything all the time, including hands, fingers, feet and toes. I didn't like that. For some reason, it didn't occur to me that I would be the one with this puppy 95% of the time. I don't know why that reality eluded me, but it did. Long story short, we've had the dog for nearly 6 weeks now, and she's still alive, I'm still alive, and I'm pretty sure we'll keep her. Her name is Pip. She stalks me. The kids love her to pieces, which I think is why she stalks me. I rescue her from choke-holds on a regular basis.

On Valentine's Eve, Anders said he thought I should get up and make everyone heart shaped pancakes for breakfast the next morning. I said, "Maybe YOU should get up and make ME heart shaped pancakes in the morning." (I'm so nice.) He did. Isn't that cute? He even colored them pink. Speaking of Valentine's Day, I have drawn a new conclusion about the day: if I want to have any sort of tender feelings for my children on Valentine's Night, I can't do school parties during the day. I did two parties back-to-back for Addie and Aani in their classes, and when I got home, I was totally wiped. Once again, I had hoped to have a love-filled dinner, but I was so tired! I did really well to get dinner on the table.

For the 100th day of school, the 2nd graders are encouraged to dress up like a 100-year old. I sprayed Addie's hair white and put it in a bun. She used a huge shoe horn for a cane, and wore some of Nils' old glasses. She was talking like a little old lady and cracking me up. Addie's always good for a laugh.

Addie was baptized this month. It was very sweet. She acted kind of unsure in the weeks leading up to her baptism, and when we finally got to the bottom of it, she was nervous about everyone looking at her. She did really well and was very happy on her baptism day. She's really a great girl. She's naturally conscientious and responsible. Of all our kids, she rarely has to be asked twice to do something. She hardly argues. It's weird and wonderful. She's a total goof-ball. We love our Addie Paige.