2004 In Review

December 2004

It’s that time of year again when I scratch my head and desperately try to find the unusual in our lives. A small change this year, Dave always complains that I write in the third person, “Only Leon the Budweiser commercial guy talks in the third person”, so I’ve now have done a global change of “Su” to “I” and “We” as Dave has taken to editing the letter (Please note – one page front and back; 10 point type). Enjoy!

December 2003/January 2004: - Since our last letter, Dave’s brother John married Sarah on December 27th in Ann Arbor, MI. In an attempt to make the wedding, see my parents in Seattle and get a few days of skiing in Whistler, we figured we were physically in 4 time zones in a period of 4 days. Our bodies are still recuperating from the jet lag. Dave skied for the first time (okay, I’m taking some liberties here, if he’s skied before, you wouldn’t have known….) and Delaney took her first ski lessons. The kid’s ski lessons were going well until Delaney led all the kids away from the teacher to do snow angels. I, being six month pregnant, was the only person in Whistler with child. Needless to say, I spent more time enjoying the use of Dave’s credit cards than watching Dave in his “Dumb and Dumber” gear make it down the mountain.

February - Seriously, nothing exciting happened this month. It’s pretty much a blur as I gestated, ate bon-bons, and opted to order room service for our romantic Valentine’s Day weekend which happened to be the day the Yankees “announced A-Rod”. Oh the romance.

March - About two weeks before my due date, I woke up in the middle of the night with rather strong Braxton Hicks contractions (you would think by the third child I would know the difference….) As opposed to waking up Dave immediately, I patiently counted the contractions until I felt fairly certain that I was in labor. Dave did his panicked Dick van Dyke, tripped over the ottoman and asked me where the bag was when I’m fairly certain I yelled something along the lines of “Bag? This baby isn’t due for two weeks!” Dave managed to pack some rather interesting items in the overnight bag (shirt, no pants, you get the idea). By the time we got to the hospital, child #3 out of 14 was born a mere 90 minutes later. I, having such terrific mother’s intuition, was convinced we were having a girl - imagine our surprise when the doc said, “It’s a boy…what are you naming him?” Needless to say, Baby Oliveira wasn’t named for a little bit. Maxwell Theodore Oliveira was born on March 13 and weighed in at 8 pounds 14 ounces, the runt of the litter. Why Max? Well, we loved the name although we were surprised to find it the most popular pet name. “Here Max Here Max” takes on a whole new meaning.

April - The highlight of the month had to be Delaney’s ballet recital. Our perfect angel dressed in her ballet finest to perform in front of all of the children and their parents. Little did we know that someone stole Delaney and replaced her with a three-headed ballet monster. The ballet instructor read the Toy Story and asked each girl to dance with the Woody Doll. I’m sure Delaney thought she said, “Don’t dance, stomp on Woody and have the other ballerinas look on in horror”. And to think this is captured in dozens of camcorders. Too bad – she looked so cute and could really do some actual ballet moves. On a side note, Jack officially enters his terrible two’s, I’m officially in my mid-thirties and Dave is stretching the definition of “early thirties” (yes, he constantly reminds me he is the younger one….)

May - May begins the month of checking things off of “There’s no way I would ever do that…” list. At the top of the list was the constant battle of we-have-three-kids-and-need-a-minivan. Frankly, I believe Dave wanted a minivan before he ever met me. So, after trying to squeeze three carseats in the Bavarian Bobsled, we thought it was time to get the car that drives through three zip codes at once. I swear I saw Dave dancing in the street….Dave’s brother John named his dog, Trot, after a Red Sox left fielder thankfully removing any chance of a future child of taking the name of “a fast walk yet not quite a run”.

June - I could write a novel on kindergarten admissions for Chicago – tougher than college! After securing a spot for Delaney at St. Andrews, we began to stress out about the commute and decided that perhaps the best place for Delaney was the public school she had attended for pre-school. We were informed that we were too late and lived outside of the attendance area. After utilizing some solid Chicago politics, Delaney found her way back at Blaine.

July - I thought I had outflown and outmaneuvered the dreaded Bermingham travel curse. After two TSA agents pulled two passengers off my Chicago-Philly flight, I should have realized this was going to be the trip from hell. I checked into my very nice hotel on Monday and was planning to depart on Wednesday. On Tuesday morning, I realized there was an outside chance I could make a flight back to Chicago if my meetings went well. I asked to split my reservation into two separate reservations so I could come back, if needed. “No problem, happy to help you” is what I believe the front desk clerk said as I left. As my day progressed, I realized there was no way I was making it back to Chicago, but that’s okay, I figured I had a nice room, what could be so bad? We worked late into the night, left Campbell’s out of the night entrance, had dinner with my client and finally, at 11:30 at night, headed back to my hotel. I suddenly remembered that, egads, I had left my overnight bag at Campbell’s at the main entrance. Ever try driving to Camden at 11:30 at night? From there it was on to the hotel. No reservations – sorry sold out. Ugh. My client, Erin, offered to put me up in her house. While I was happy to sleep on a bed, I especially enjoyed the touches of home, including the screaming baby and little sleep. The next day I was ready to get back to Chicago. All snug in my seat reading the latest People magazine, the gate agent comes on board to ask all of us to grab our belongings and exit immediately. Apparently, the entire Philadelphia airport had been evacuated and I was now one of about 3,000 people trying to figure out how to get home. Come to find out, it was a “fire/terror drill” and the FBI was never notified.

August - We decided to take a week’s vacation and take the kids up to Michigan to become one with nature, literally. I believe I woke up all of Union Pier with my blood curdling screams when a mouse (alright, in the middle of the night it looked like a rat) ran across the bedroom floor. At the end of the month, I took Delaney to Disneyland for her fifth birthday while Dave relaxed at home with the boys. The Great Flood of Chicago hit Kenmore street, again – so much for “less-than-a-year-old” carpeting in the basement. Dave enjoyed being Noah while I enjoyed the sunny, dry weather of California. Jack is now out of diapers leaving only one butt to wipe in the house.

September - Delaney started kindergarten in her blue and white finest – nothing is better than a uniform in the morning. Months of schmoozing with principals and Chicago politicking has finally culminated in homework every night and a super tired kid. In an effort to appear hip and happening, we decided to get a second car to compliment the mini-van. And what better compliment, a Mini Cooper Convertible, a car you can actually park inside the mini-van, thus making it the true urban assault vehicle.

October - Pigs fly! Hell is frozen over! Yes, the beloved Red Sox beat the Yankees and actually won the World Series. Thank goodness I wasn’t pregnant now, or I’m sure little Max would be named Johnny Damon. Dave made the trek to St. Louis for the Kodak moment of the first Red Sox victory in 86 years and fulfilled the dreams of all Oliveiras that have gone before him– too bad he left his camera in the hotel room. The kids were awoken to witness (with their eyes closed) the victory that has escaped many Red Sox fans over the years. Dave is convinced that Max is the “chosen one” and his birth reversed the curse. Needless to say Dave and the rest of the family is still walking on water.

November - Jack, loving fire trucks, decided it was time to have all of Chicago’s finest pay at visit to our humble abode. Jack managed to find the ADT remote, thinking he was turning on the TV, set the alarm to both the firehouse and the police station. Only 13 police officers and firemen arrived at our house to find our family on the front steps while Dave and Su blissfully toiled away at their jobs. Upon hearing the news, Su raced home to insure everyone that Jack only wanted a fire truck for Christmas and thought this was the best way to remind us.

December - Max has started the army crawl throughout the house – perfect to find all those things we lost under the beds. The beginning of December started pretty “calm” – hosting the Lakeview Pantry Toy Drive where we collected 700 gifts and then the following weekend hosting our annual Santa Party at our house. And I decided to leave the mayhem of Chicago for yet another trip to Philly…without my I.D. In case you are wondering, a Costco card with your picture works wonders!