Milestones Achieved

June 22, 2006.... What a day...

My husband and I were married ten years ago. Little did we know the trials and tribulations we would endure. Originally my husband wanted three kids and I wanted two at the most. We actually had some mild disagreements on this issue. Now we are thankful for the one we were finally blessed with.

Anastasia had her own celebration today. She rolled over for the first time, actually the first seven times. Our daughter was quite the roly poly today. She's been working on this skill for weeks now with sheer determination, and we knew she almost had it. ANN was immensely proud of herself, which we could see from her beaming face. That was the highlight of the day.

I decided I would treat myself to an at home facial to get the disgusting gunk of what felt like months of dead skin cells on my face. I picked Anastasia up while I had a green clay mask on my face, since I was waiting for it to dry. I worried that I would scare her, but I just needed to give my cutie a cuddle. Wow! Am I ever glad I picked her up, as it was one of the cutest moments ever. Anastasia put two fingers in my not quite dry mask. I could see a tinge of green on those tiny fingers, and feared that she was going to place them right in her mouth. I hope I never forget the moments that followed. She smiled sweetly at me, and I chuckled without moving my mouth. Then she giggled one one of her adorable giggles. Then I chuckled. Once again I heard, "Giggle, giggle, giggle." Apparently even a four month old recognizes that women look ridiculous with mud masks on their faces.

Overall I had a great day with Anastasia. Unfortunately, since my husband is away for at least eleven hours every weekday at work, I end up being exhausted before each day is over. I love my daughter, but typically I need relief sooner. I spend so much time holding her that I hardly remember to straighten my shoulders when I'm away from her. At this rate I'm well on the road to becoming a stump shouldered older lady in twenty to thirty years.

I wish the rest of the day had gone as well though. My husband left work early, so I thought he would be home early. No. You see, he had to leave work early in order to pick up a gift from me. He got two more Precious Moments figurines for the collection he started for me. A boy and a girl with rings on their fingers. The figurines are each called I still do. He told me our local Hallmark store is going out of business because the lease has gone up too much, so the store is having a going out of business sale. Apparently that's why my present wasn't gift wrapped, since I received it in the Hallmark bag. Hubby also picked up some half dead looking flowers from the grocery store.

I was a little disappointed. What I have really been wanting is an amethyst ring: Anastasia's birthstone. However, I have enough jewelry really. I don't really need another ring.

Our dinner was terrible. I suggested we go to a restaurant known for steaming royal red shrimp and snow crab clusters. When we got there the waitress tried to sit us, with Anastasia, at a table right beside a guitar player with an amp. I tried to tell my dh that we should leave. Apparently, he thought that just meant we needed a different table. I thought surely one guitar player wouldn't be that loud, so I kept my mouth shut. My mistake.

My husband ordered a glass of wine for each of us. Apparently then he decided we were committed to the restaurant. My attitude was we should have paid for the two glasses of wine and tried to go elsewhere to salvage the night. Anastasia's eyes welled up with tears. The guitar player, who must have been playing along with some recorded obnoxious music in the background, was making her miserable. Seeing her upset made me more miserable. (I now know what the trite phrase, "this is going to hurt me more than it hurts you" means.)

To top things off dh just ordered tuna. We could have gotten tuna at a half dozen other restaurants in town. Like a complete idiot I ordered the shrimp and crab clusters, knowing I'd be taking them home with me to eat. When dh finished his meal I begged him to go ahead and ask for the check. He decided that perhaps he could help me peel my meal so I could eat it faster. As a result, I ate my crab legs while hearing Anastasia wail. I snapped. I told dh he was going to ask for the check and I was going to go ahead and take our daughter outside.

Dh didn't even box up the crab clusters on my plate. So, three crab clusters went to waste. At least he did bring out the shrimp.

After that fiasco, he thought we'd go to the pier by the bay where he proposed to me. I asked him if he remembered that Anastasia hates the wind. We had made her miserable enough for one night. I just wanted to go home and eat, since I was hungry.

I cried and cried on the way home. I cried because another anniversary was ruined. I cried because our daughter had been miserable. I cried because it seems as though my husband doesn't know my daughter at all.

And I have learned in the future that I will be much more outspoken about what I want in restaurants. We spent a ton of money on misery.

Originally I had told myself our anniversary would be good as long as it was better than our 5th anniversary. On our 5th anniversary my parents house caught on fire when it was struck by lightening. I spent our 6th anniversary at the hospital with my Dad because he had a panic attack one year later.

Thank goodness though, this year we were able to celebrate having a daughter. We waited such a long time for her, and I love her dearly.