I was hoping to do a picture post this week, but sickness has made that unlikely…here’s the scoop…

Alex’s new meds seem to be doing the trick for his ears, though I’m wondering if he’s starting to teethe again.

Erin was fine for a whole 4-5 days, and this morning, she has a runny nose again.  Great.

We found out on Tuesday/Wednesday that the families who were also at Monday’s picnic all had the stomach flu.  So I was just waiting for the babies to come down with it.  So far they haven’t.

But I did.

I started to feel yucky on Wednesday evening.  I woke up about 11:30 and, for the next hour, laid in bed wondering how much longer it would take for the end to come.  It did, at about 12:30, with my first session of vomiting since high school.  Boy have I not missed that activity.

I felt really crummy all day yesterday, mostly from lack of sleep, I think.  Thankfully, Eric was home all day (see next paragraph), so he helped some.  I got a 2-hour nap.  I felt better for a bit.  Started to feel worse in the evening again.  But no more throwing up.  And I got a really good night’s sleep last night.  So this morning, I’m doing much better.  Not normal, but better.

And finally, Eric.  He had been fighting a sinus-y headache that started last Saturday.  Then came home early on Tuesday (3:30).  Then he came home at lunch on Wednesday.  He didn’t go to work yesterday.  He intended to go in today, but woke up with what I had yesterday (no vomiting yet, though).  So he’s home again today. 

So that is our sick, sick household.

Thankfully, the babies haven’t been sick to their stomachs.  Praying that continues.  And now that I’m a little better, I can deal more effectively with everyone else not feeling well.  It’s really hard to take care of people when you feel like crap!

Anyway, hopefully, I’ll get a picture post done…maybe Monday.  Happy weekend to you all!

Like me!  (and my family can stop snickering now… )

The babies turned 9 months old yesterday.  We have our next well-visit next week.

Alex does still have a pretty bad ear infection.  The doctor prescribed him the next level of antibiotic.  Good side: it only has to be given once a day.   Bad side: He hates it as much as he did the pink stuff (and it stinks).   Odd side: it may turn his poop maroon. 

Erin is starting to push up into a bear-crawl position.  She doesn’t move yet, but it’s funny to see her standing there with her little butt in the air.

Alex is getting pretty good at rolling and spinning to get where he wants to go.  And I think he can crawl sideways a bit.  Or that might be an accident.  Who knows…

Erin dances to any music that is playing.  If she’s sitting on the floor, it looks like rocking.  If you’re holding her, she bounces.  It’s too cute!

I finally saw Alex take a toy back from Erin when she took it away.  Go Buddy!

We are trying to get back into eating with our fingers again (it was all I could do to get them to nurse and eat off the spoon while they were sick).  Alex loves his puffs.  Erin apparently prefers crackers that she can hold and nibble off of. 

Erin has the cutest new smile she’s started doing.  I think it has to do with teething.  I haven’t gotten a good picture of it yet, but I’ll post one when I do.

During a recent nap, I found Alex on his tummy with both the stuffed animals that are currently in his crib on top of him, like they had wrestled him to the ground and pinned him there.  I would have loved to see how that one happened…

I’ve been trying to upload some pics to Shutterfly, but it’s not working well.  I think it’s my husband’s Linux system that’s causing me issues, even though it should work just fine.  We really do need to get some pictures printed soon…

And that’s where we stand for this morning.  Happy Wednesday!

We’re now entering our third straight week of sickness.

And I think we’re headed back to the pediatrician’s office this morning.  After almost a week on antibiotics, Alex is not really better.  We’re still getting up at least 2 times a night, most nights, to a shrieking little boy.  The only thing that helps are the ear drops we got for Erin.  And they only last a couple of hours.  So when he starts to wake back up…more screaming. 

Someone told me last night that it could just be drainage from the ears which sometimes hurts worse than the actual infections.  And it could be that.  But I’m not sure enough to wait another day (and night) or two and see.  I think I’m going to make sure that things are getting better (or not), and that means another trip to the doctor.

In other news…

We had a very busy weekend, but it was pretty good.

• Saturday was a birthday party for my dad in C-ville.  Family gatherings with all the babies are getting very LOUD!
• Sunday was church, grilled chicken for dinner, a bridal shower for Kimberly, and a relaxed evening with Eric.
• Yesterday was spent making pies (apple and chocolate meringue) and then heading to a Labor Day party hosted by a friend from church.  We knew no one, other than the hosts, and it was actually really nice to meet new people and do something different for a change!

And I think that’s all I’ve got for this morning.  Happy Tuesday!

• Erin is feeling MUCH better.  She is almost entirely back to her normal jolly self.  I didn’t realize how low she was for a few days there.  So glad she’s on the upswing now…I missed her happiness!

• Alex doesn’t seem to like the taste of amoxicillan (sp?).  Can’t wait to wrestle that into him for the next 10 days.

• The day was pretty long yesterday.  The babies were okay, but I was just tired enough that I was mentally fogged-up.  At least some.  So it’s possible that at least one baby got a dose of medicine sooner than they should have, at least once yesterday.  Maybe that’s why they slept so well last night…

• We all slept pretty well last night.  Lovely.

• I have no plans for the day. Lovely.

• I am scheduled for a haircut tomorrow. Lovely.

• I spent much of yesterday working through the (almost 1,000) pictures we’d taken of the babies that had yet to be processed and posted.  I loved doing it, too (have I mentioned how cute my babies are!) Once they’re turned into jpeg format, I can post some.  And then I’m going to do a caption contest or something.  Some of the faces they make are just too funny…

• I still have to get my dad a b-day present for Saturday’s party (his actual birthday, too).  I’m sort of leaning towards framed pictures of the babies for his office.  Is that a copout?

• Okay, that’s all I can think of off the top of my head.  Happy Thursday!

Alex called a family meeting at midnight last night. 

Well, actually, he called for me (the acting chair-woman) at 11:30. 

I went in to get him since he was screaming and obviously having issues.  And, after all, the only appropriate thing to do is to rouse the family to discuss the situation.  I’m glad he’s figured this out so early.

I held him in the glider for about 20 minutes.  I saw a lamb waving about in Erin’s crib.  Alex had settled a bit, so I put him down and looked into Erin’s crib.  Yep.  She was up.  Happy, but wide awake.  She had, apparently, been asked to attend the meeting as secretary or something.

I went back to bed, hoping that both of them would settle on their own.  No such luck.  I let Alex cry for 10 minutes to see if he’d settle.  Nope.  Back to the meeting I went. 

I moved our meeting to the loft, hoping that a change of scenery might help.  It didn’t.  Alex would scream continuously (ie, in an unbroken stream) when laid down.  But only continually (ie, with breaks) when I was holding him (every 5 or 10 minutes, he’d start again).  And then he thrash around trying to find a comfortable, and new, position in my arms.  (clue #1)

It was like a weird game of Greco-Roman wrestling.  With an angry, miniature competitor.  Who refused to be pinned.

Finally, I carried him back to the nursery and sat with him for a while longer.  And then I gave up.  I asked Eric to please come help me.  Apparently, I was not a good enough acting-chairwoman.  Alex wanted the chairman himself.  And at 12:30, that’s what he got.

So, I picked up Erin, tried to settle her, laid her back down and went to lay down myself, trying for all I was worth to figure out what else I could do.

• Vaporizer is on (check)
• Baby Motrin (check…just passed the 4 hour mark, so no more for 2 hours)
• Vicks BabyRub (check)
• Comforting Parental Presence (check)

Finally, as a last resort, I got a sippy cup of water and the numbing ear drops the doctor prescribed for Erin’s double infections.  Think Orajel for the ears, I guess.  Anyway, I put a couple drops in each of his ears, which sent him back to screaming (clue #2) for a bit.  But then he settled.  And went to sleep.  I took Erin into our room to get her back to sleep (didn’t take long).  And I climbed back into bed a bit after 1:00 am.

Eric joined me about 1:30 a.m.  And thus ended our first family meeting.

(Oh, and my clues led me to the correct conclusion: Alex has an ear infection in the right ear. We went to the pediatrician this morning, thus my late post.  Hopefully, a day or two of amoxicillian will have him back to normal (and sleeping) again!)

Sometimes I feel (okay, I know) that I am far too judgmental.  I am critical of everything, which can sometimes be a good thing, but usually isn’t.  This is especially true when I’m being negative about people (which is a lot of the time). 

I mean, I do have an ability to critique ideas, stories, people, movies, you-name-it to see their good points, flaws, and how to make them stronger.  So sometimes, a critical eye can be positive.  But mostly…I’m just critical.

I’m super critical of myself, for starters.  I’m not good enough.  In my own mind, I’m not funny enough, popular enough, kind enough, godly enough, productive enough, good-mommy enough, good-wifey enough…in other words, I’m just not _______ enough, ever.  (You can fill in that blank with just about anything and it would probably be true.)

But even worse, I’m incredibly judgmental of others, too.  Though most of my criticism doesn’t leave my mouth (which is scary considering how much of it does leave my mouth!), I’m just far too easily annoyed by the “stupid” people out there and the “stupid” things they do.  And of course, this usually just means that they got in my way, messed up my schedule or my plans, aren’t making me #1 in their lives, or generally aren’t doing things the way I wanted them done. 

I’m definitely sensing the Spirit wanting to address my critical nature more these days.  Not just all the nastiness that comes out (ie, complaining about family members to other family members, whining to my sister about my husband, griping to my husband about church or moms groups or friends or life in general), but the heart issue that results in all the judgment and (negative) criticism.

And that heart issue, in case you were wondering, is a lack of love.  God’s kind of love.  The one that makes people whole and holy and able to see beyond themselves so that God’s love can flow through them into others.

This morning, I read, in a book by Madeleine L’Engle, a quote from Coleridge:

And she quotes a French priest:

Such a love is what I need.  I won’t go so far as to say that I want it yet.  Because, honestly, I really still want my way, my life to go easily, my self to be most important.  But that is the love that Jesus wants for me, in me, to send out to others through me.  And so that is the love that I want to want, that I hope to have, that I desperately need. 

Jesus, forgive my heart and critical heart.  Teach me to love as you love.