Catching up

Things have been awfully quiet around here, haven't they? I usually make a big effort to write at least 15 blog posts per month, so it seems strange to be facing such a lengthy hiatus. First I was busy preparing for the week-long trip to Boston to attend my brother's wedding, and then of course I was busy while we were there -- busier than I expected, in fact. But we're back at home now, and although I may not be able to catch up completely, at least I can make a start.

While I was busy I failed to blog about a lot of big changes. I wanted to write about how extensively I prepared for Laurel's first flight and our first flight as a family of four, and about how well it went. I wanted to write about my little brother's wedding, including how much I love his new wife, and also my struggles to find a cute breast-feeding-friendly dress. I wanted to write about Laurel's nine-month birthday, the turning point at which she has been out in the public world for as long as I had her privately in utero. I wanted to write about our explorations of Boston. And I had a few words to say about the chill I felt watching Isaac utterly mesmerized by the episodes of Bob the Builder I downloaded to my iPod, and the even greater chill I felt at my readiness to anesthetize him with it.

And I wanted to blog about how while we were still in Boston, two days after the wedding, I had an attack of appendicitis, which, when diagnosed about 48 hours later, required an emergency appendectomy. (The pain began a week ago tonight, just as I was finishing the blog post before this one!) I wanted to write about the 24 hours I spent in the hospital away from Laurel, and the 32 hours I couldn't nurse her due to the drugs. And I wanted to write about how utterly grateful I am that my brother and his new wife were willing to spend 24 hours, including their fifth night as newlyweds, in a rental house babysitting two stressed-out kids!

Thanks to my illness, surgery, and recovery, we spent an extra four and a half days in Boston. It will take me a while to get caught up on the blog, but I do have stories to tell, and I promise to give it my best shot.