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Let’s face it, we all have them, those awkward years that start somewhere between ages 9 and 12 where one day we are just all sorts of not right. Bad haircut, poor clothing choices, with braces and/or glasses… whatever it is, there are just certain ages when no matter how cute we were at age 5, we end up just not so cute.

For your entertainment… let’s take a look and see how I went from the cute little buck-toothed cherub you see below…

To an awkward, badly-coiffed preteen with monster glasses (you can’t really tell but I’m wearing a Minnie Mouse sweatshirt that I got at a garage sale):

Yet another pair of awesome, gigantic glasses. I’m sad to say that I picked these out myself – but at least I was patriotic:

Did a blind person cut my hair? I believe I have a glorified mullet happening here and there was definitely no business or party happening anywhere near me. I do recall that I LOVED that pastel heart bracelet and that purple jacket.

Oh that hair. It was awesome. And pairing that shirt and those pants, genius.

Julie and I at Camp Roger, to think we were cool (or at least thought we were). Grown-out perm and large glasses: check, check. Also, striped sear-sucker Bermuda shorts.

Those glasses just kill me and with my plastic jewelry, sweatshirt cardigan and floral-print dress – I resemble a sister-wife. And I believe this visit to Texas was the time my mom asked my brother if he was dying his hair. [Happy 20th anniversary, yesterday, Lynn and Marty!]

Speaking of dying one’s hair (mom)… I believe I might have pinpointed the very beginning of the awkward years. Note how cute and adorable my nieces still look, Quinn is especially fetching with her curls and sly sideways look. Also note my lovely sweater, pastel button-down shirt and white tights – how I miss the 80s.

Let’s hope my kids take after their father, oh wait… (he’s the one giving the thumb’s up, but really, any of those kids were well into their awkward years). Nice shorts, honey.

If only my phone’s camera could actually capture how beautiful the sunset is, then my life would be [nearly] complete. But it sure was pretty – let’s all just pretend you think so, too.

• I have a sinus infection – again – apparently now that I no longer have tonsils or a gallbladder, my body has decided that its new favorite way to get sick is to contract a sinus infection. One can only hope this will lead to sinus surgery as that has been my track record, one part of my body rebels until I get rid of it. Not that one can get rid of sinuses, but I do believe there is a roto-rooter type surgery that can be recommended for chronic sinus infections sufferers. If this keeps happening, I might have to look into it because they make my teeth hurt and produce way too much snot. It amazes me how much snot a body can generate – they really should figure out how to harness that ability and apply it to other areas; if the body can limitless produce snot, why can’t we figure out a way to put a positive spin on that? [You are very welcome for that entire paragraph about sinus infections and snot – one of my finer moments.]
• Our kids are starting to anticipate our response to their needs and how to phrase their requests to circumvent our giving them an undesired response. For example, when bored, Liam will not just say, “I’m bored, what can I do?” but instead will say, “I don’t know what to do. I’ve already played with Jack and my Legos and don’t want to build anything or color or play with any of the toys in my room. What can I do? Like maybe play the Wii… I haven’t done that.” Or Jack will not just request something to eat, but instead say, “I’m hungry for a treat something, how about a jelly bean?”
• I expect in a couple more years, Spring Break will be a whole lot more interesting but right now it’s just a week off school for Liam and he could really go every day and be happy, I’m sure it’s a whole lot more fun for him to be there. Though he has had a day-long playdate followed by an evening playing with friends from our small group so at this point at least he doesn’t care that we haven’t left town.
• A friend of Liam’s asked Jack about his little hand last week and Jack said to him, “I just have one big hand and one little hand because I’m just little right now.” Which leads me to believe that he might think the little hand will grow to be like his other hand when he gets older. And while it will grow in size, it’s never going to grow fingers (though that would be pretty awesome). But I love how responded to the question, just so matter-of-fact, as we always are when he brings it up or we talk about it. It’s just the way it is, like any other thing about him or anyone else.
• Also, I’m confused as to why Sarah Palin was a guest-anchor on the Today Show this morning. Awkward all around, no matter what your political inclinations are, it was just not good. This seems like it would have been a fairly obvious outcome to anticipate and therefore avoid by NOT having her be on the show for an extended period of time. But what do I know.
• Though I know I should love it, I’m always a little disappointed when a rainy morning turns into a sunny afternoon. Apparently I like continuity with my weather. If it’s going to be a rainy, gloomy, stay-at-home day, then I wish it would stay that way all day. And vice versa, if it starts out sunny and bright, I want it to be that way all day. In general, I’m pretty go with the flow and can adapt when things unexpectedly change, but just not when it comes to the weather. Don’t know what this says about me, but there it is.

How’s that for a thrilling blog title up there? Tha-rilling.

You’ll have to forgive me but I got to work at 5 this morning so my day is a little skewed along with my brain. I picked up lunch on my way back from a meeting and couldn’t understand why the place wasn’t busier – um, because it was only 11 in the morning. I’m taking a mental break to write this blog post and then jumping back in.

In case you missed it, here’s a cute video of my cute kid saying cute things:

And for you enjoyment (and mine), spam comments I’ve received this week:

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Blogging is awesome because it gives back to much, without having a blog I never would have gotten to read those gems above and been able to share them with you. Plus spammers are so supportive and polite.

Tomorrow Liam has to have an ultrasound of his belly because he has a spot on his belly button that he has had since he was born that NEVER heals, as in, if he rubs it on something, he gets blood on that something (usually a t-shirt). We’ve had it chemically cauterized multiple times and it never fully heals so our pediatrician finally referred us to a dermatologist who instead referred us to a pediatric surgeon (because Liam clearly wasn’t going to sit still long enough for stitches in the office, which the doctor nicely put as, “He’s five, he’s not supposed to be able to sit still for that.”) The pediatric surgeon explained that Liam’s spot wasn’t an umbilical granulanoma as the dermatologist had thought but instead is something from his umbilical cord that got stuck on the outside rather than the inside. He asked me multiple times if urine ever came out of it, which I thought was odd, but can apparently happen as the feed to the bladder can get caught on the outside (the thought of pee coming out of Liam’s belly button actually makes me giggle and also I’m sure I would have had it taken care of much sooner if that were the case. The doctor thinks it’s a blood vessel but it could also be something attached to a cyst (hence the ultrasound). If something different were seeping out, it could be coming from the bowels and while he didn’t specifically say this, I don’t need a medical degree to assume it would be excrement-like. Thank goodness that was not the case. The human body is marvelous.

So, tomorrow we have the ultrasound to make sure there is no cyst and to determine the exact surgical course. Either way, surgery is scheduled for April 27 at the Children’s Hospital as Liam will have to be sedated. The doctor was explaining to me the process for outpatient surgery and I got to tell him it was familiar to me because my other son had a bone from his foot moved to his hand so we were old pros at outpatient surgery. I find it ridiculous that we have to go through the same procedures for Liam’s little open wound spot as we did for Jack’s hand but after watching Liam leaping from the exam table to the floor about five times during our visit, I totally agree that sedation is necessary. I wonder if will calm him down for the whole weekend? Here’s hoping. It is our anniversary that weekend, after all.

Spring Break is in full effect, though next week pretty much looks like any other week for me. Liam is thrilled though, about this magical thing called, Spring Break. I can only imagine the good things he thinks will happen.