The other day, after dinner, I was cleaning up the kitchen while Eric took the babies into the living room, shutting the gate behind them. He was on the phone with his mom, and the babies were just playing.

After he got off the phone, I heard him calling for Erin. No reply. He hunted for her in her “hiding” spots. No Erin. I came into the room just as he was looking behind the couch. Still no Erin.

The gate at the bottom of the stairs was shut, so she couldn’t be upstairs. Could she?

He raced up the stairs, calling Erin’s name. And before he reached the top, she poked her head around the banister, grinning happily.

It turns out that Erin now climbs up the first stair, pulls the gate shut behind her and then happily goes on up to explore the second floor unsupervised.

This morning, it happened again. I was in the kitchen cleaning while they played in the living room with both gates shut (I thought).

This time, I found her rocking happily in the little rocking chair in the loft.

I think my ilfe is going to get really exciting from here on…

The Recap

Friday – My MIL and Eric’s aunt came out in the morning and watched the babies while I went to the church’s moms group.  It made the time much more restful for me.  They stayed for lunch and then left when the babies went down for their afternoon nap, so I then got about 2 hours of quiet in the afternoon.  Nice!

Saturday – My parents came up in the afternoon to watch the twins while we went on a date.  Our first date since October, I think.  So nice of them!  So while we went out to a movie and dinner, they took care of afternoon nap, playtime, supper, playtime, bath time, and bedtime routine.  We got home about 8:00, just in time to actually put babies into bed.  Then we chatted with my parents some and sent them home.  Very nice!

Sunday – church and much relaxing. Eric spent a lot of time playing with babies, so I just goofed off. 

Today – Eric took the day off work so I could take Alex to a doctor’s appointment.  So we have another day of “help” at home today.  Super nice!

The Commentary

Moms Group – I’m pretty sure I won’t be doing the moms group next year.  It’s a good program, but it’s not really geared toward a (not-normal) chick like myself.  I’ve done it now for two years, but I’m seriously leaning towards not being part of it next year.

The  Movie – We saw Avatar in 3D because Eric’s coworkers had said he needed to see it.  It wasn’t as full of extreme environmentalism as I’d heard it was.  I mean it was certainly a nature-based group vs. the big-bad industrial white folks.  Though the real bad guy was the military dude.  So I’m sure that says something about where James Cameron stands.  But the story, while fairly predictable, was good and I liked the characters a lot.   But I will say that if you want to see it, you really won’t miss much in the non-3D version.  Being “in” the movie wasn’t a huge benefit for me.  But that’s probably just me.

Dinner – We went to Noodles & Co.  I really like that restaurant.  Of course it helps to enjoy the company, and we had a great talk while we ate our dinner.  But seriously, try Noodles…it’s yummy!

Alex’s Appointment – we are getting his teary eye checked today.  It has stopped gooping so badly that his eye is sealed shut in the mornings. But he still has a pool of tears in the corner of his eye almost all the time.  So we’re getting that looked at.  I don’t know if they’ll probe it to open it up today or not.  The biggest concern for me today is that the appointment (which was made for us) will overlap nap time, and it’s supposed to be 1.5-2 hours long.  I guess they do an entire eye exam, including dilation.  This could be a lot of “not-fun” for both of us.  And unfortunately, Eric wanted to stay home with Erin so he didn’t have to be the bad guy.  Lucky him. 

So that’s the update.  Happy MLK Day!

No, this is not a post about Eric. 

Actually, I had decided I was not going to do any more posts reviewing books.  I love getting the free books.  But I don’t so much love the subtle pressure I felt to be “nice” in my reviews even if I didn’t love the book.  So I was going to be done. 

And then, the day after I’d made this decision, I got another email about a book that really intrigued me.

The Male Factor (see above).  So even though I’m a SAHM these days and this book is actually about men in the work world, I decided to read it.  And it’s been very interesting, to say the least. 

Shaunti Feldhahn has written previously about the differences between men and women in For Women Only and For Men Only (written with her husband) and now she is addressing how those differences, and resulting (mis)perceptions, sometimes cause women to struggle in their outside-the-home interactions with men.  Her idea is that if women realize how the male brain works and what rules they “play” by, they will be better able to interact successfully and decide whether to challenge those rules (when necessary).  It is not a book about “how women need to be different at work” so much as “what women need to understand about men so they don’t shoot themselves in the foot” at work. 

Now, for the sake of full disclosure, I am not finished with the book yet.  I’m about halfway through.  But as I am not currently working outside the home, it hasn’t been a pressing read.  But the insights have been really intriguing, and I can easily see their application even on committees or at church or in any situation where men and women have to work together to accomplish a task.

So, I really have no qualms about recommending this book.  It’s worth a read if you work with men on a regular basis.  And it might just explain some things about those strange male creatures, whom we all know and love, that have been confusing us for a long time. 

Anyway, if you want more information about the book, check out the Multnomah website. 

And of course (per the FTC regulations), this book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

Okay, that wasn’t so bad, was it?  Maybe I’ll keep getting free books for review after all…

So I’ve whined a lot about Alex recently (who’s doing MUCH better), and I haven’t spent nearly enough time (as in none) telling you the fun things that have been going on. Most of which have to do with Erin. So here are some of her recent antics:

For months, Eric’s made them laugh with this over-the-top greeting. He waves his whole arm in a large arc and says “Hoooow-dy”. They giggle hysterically when he does it. But yesterday, Erin did it back to him. Out of the blue. Except hers came out as “Hoooow-by”. But still. She even waved her arm around. So cute! I’m hoping to get it on video soon.

And speaking of saying things, she is definitely calling Alex by name these days. Of course, it sounds more like “Ayee”, but it’s definitely him. And he even comes when she calls sometimes. He’ll learn not to do that soon enough, I’m sure.

As a point of order, Erin refuses to wear socks. Without shoes, she pulls socks off in seconds. But as she has warm feet, I never worry about it. Alex, however, tends to have cold feet. So on one of the really cold days last week, I put socks on him. And spent the day putting them on again and again because Eric kept stealing them right off his feet. One time, she took a sock and then crawled away with it giggling, hoping I would chase her down (I did). The stinker.

And finally, the same day of the sock escapades, I got a really fun picture of Erin.

I was upstairs for a few minutes after breakfast, but came back down a few minutes later to get my phone in case my sister called (though I later remembered she wouldn’t call because it was a snow day). Anyway, I stopped short, halfway down the stairs when I saw this:

That’s right. She was sitting on the end table, grinning like a cheshire cat, so proud of herself. I laughed outright, took this picture, and took her down and scolded her. Then I moved the push toy so she couldn’t climb back up there as soon as I turned my back.

That’s my girl…

for Mylicon. I am thanking God today for whoever invented infant gas drops.

Seriously…Alex was like a different little boy yesterday.

No, strike that, he was like himself yesterday. For the first time in 3+ weeks, he was happy and smiling and played with his sister. It was lovely!

We did have some early night-time fussiness, but from about midnight to 7 a.m., we were all asleep. That’s much better than in recent days! WooHoo!

Here’s looking forward to another day of happy little boy time.

Happy Tuesday.

I was hoping to have a great picture of Erin to show you today…but it’s still on the camera.

I was hoping that we would get a good night’s sleep last night…no such luck.

I was hoping that Alex’s massive blowout diaper yesterday evening (in the nursery…SO sorry to those ladies!) would make him feel better…apparently it didn’t.

I was hoping to be done with sickness by this week…there is always tomorrow, right?

I was hoping that Alex’s fever last week was roseola…but no major rash every showed up. I guess it was just a fever.

I am hoping to get some sleep again soon.

I am hoping that Erin doesn’t catch whatever is bothering Alex.

I am hoping that my children don’t get colds since we were back in the nursery yesterday for the first time in weeks.

I am hoping that all you other mothers whose kids are super-sick right now start to see an upswing quickly.

I am hoping to have a better attitude and less frustration.

I am hoping to keep up with the cleaning that happened at my house over the weekend.

After all, hope springs eternal…

Happy Monday!

I chatted with my mom yesterday morning, to tell her that I was planning to take Alex in to the doctor yesterday. He’d had a fever for 3-4 days straight, and I was getting tired of it.

Me: So I’d like him to check Alex’s ears, just to be sure it isn’t related to that, and then ask about the fever.
Mom: You know, there’s this virus called Roseola that Chris (my brother) used to get when he was about Alex’s age.
Me: Really?
Mom: Yeah. They get this fever for 4-5 days and then the fever breaks and they get a rash, but once the rash comes, the virus is basically done.
Me: Oh…maybe that’s what it is.

It was an interesting trek to the pediatrician’s office yesterday in the snow storm, and a pretty long wait in the waiting room (we’d arrived early because they said we could, but we didn’t actually get in any earlier. Oh well). But we did finally determine that Alex’s ears are totally clear again. Thankfully. We also asked him about the 4-day fever he’d had.

Me: So he’s had this fever, like 101 or 102, for 4 days. But no other symptoms.
Dr.: Nothing else at all?
Me: Nope.
Dr.: (after some other questions) Well, there is this thing called Roseola…

He then explained it, just like my mom had. I guess I should’ve paid my mom $20 for a co-pay instead of him!

Anyway, the fever seems to be gone today, though I haven’t seen the red bumps of Roseola yet. I’ll just be glad if my jolly guy is really back for a while now.

It started Wednesday, December 16 (I checked my FB status update to be sure of the date) at 11:00 at night. Alex had croup.

By the weekend, he had a cold.

By Monday, he had an ear infection. We survive Christmas weekend…things start to look better at least some of the time.

On the following Monday, he had a second ear infection (despite being on the pink stuff for the entire previous week).

We start the white stuff. Things improve slightly.

But Alex remains fussy and anti-sleeping. We determine that his stomach hurts. We blame the white stuff for messing up his good bacteria, too.

By Saturday, January 2, he seems himself again (after a ginormous diaper blowout) with only the occasional fussy spell. Over the next few days, he starts to sleep longer again. He still isn’t quite himself all the time, but it seems to be passing slowly away.

And then, yesterday, we start again.

Fever all day. 101.4 in the evening (between Motrin doses). Still warm this morning. No idea what this is.

So now I’m trying to decide if his ears are still not quite healed (today is his last dose of white stuff) or whether we are now getting a virus or if something else is heading our way. I think I’m going to wait a day or two more before heading to the doctor’s office (if it’s a virus, they can’t do anything anyway).

But still…I’m sick of sickness! And I want Alex to feel good again so he can be his jolly little self again. We miss our happy man! So hopefully, this will pass quickly. After 3 full weeks of various sicknesses, I’m ready for a reprieve!

So it’s 2010.  Or 0-10.  Or 2KX, as Eric said the other day (you know, 2+K (for a thousand)+X (the Roman numeral for 10). 

Of course, I’m 5 days late writing anything about the turn of the year, really, but my in-laws have dial-up, so blogging at their house isn’t really possible.  And yesterday I was finding my house again.  And well, it’s already the fifth of January.

Man, times flies these days.

Anyway, I’m not sure I have a lot to say on the subject of the new year.  2009 was a blur of sleepless nights and baby milestones.  But more than that, it was sort of a meandering year.  Unfocused.

Eric and I had a really good talk on New Year’s Eve (around 9 pm, shortly before we went to bed) about how it was a good year and all, but how we both feel sort of purposeless.   Not that I’m discounting my role as a mommy.  That’s not what I’m talking about.  Nor do I mean the somewhat mundane realities of being a SAHM: the laundry, cleaning, cooking, etc.

I really have just felt, for a long time, that I have no idea where I’m going anymore.  I’m not in academia anymore (and don’t really intend to go back), and that gave me something to work toward for a long time.  Eric felt the same way.  He doesn’t really have the drive and passion for his job that he once had.  Our church home hasn’t really felt like home for a while either.  But neither of us really have a sense for the direction God wants us to go or do or be. 

Of course, I’ve also been really lax on my bible reading and prayer time the last year.  And my normally type-A personality has not really returned since the babies were born.  So I’ve felt like I’m floundering a bit. 

And, even though I’m not one to make resolutions, I think I’ll just start at those two things.  Retrain myself to be diligent in my time with God and in taking care of my house and kids.  I’m working on creating a chore list for myself (daily, weekly, etc) since I tend to work best from lists (I love crossing things off!).  And I’m using a neat website I stumbled across the other day to help me take the time to read Scripture on a daily basis again. 

And hopefully, 2010 will the year where God opens up a new and wonderful direction for my family.  Happy Tuesday!

I think I’ll try doing a recap in short phrases since it’s been most of a week since I updated. Jess does 3 word updates, but I think I’ll need five for some of them. We’ll see how it goes…

From Thursday:
Grandpa doing well
Tried to clean
Alex still fussy
QT with Eric (Good talk)
Bed at 10:30
Ignored arrival of New Year

New Year’s Day:
Got up early
Got babies ready
Packed and cleaned
Drove to Farm
Time with family
Opened Christmas gifts
Erin dances to every song
Played the Wii
Alex still fussy
Decent night’s sleep

Saturday:
Grandma cuddles babies!
Great-grandparents came over.
More Christmas presents
Babies eat spaghetti
Two bowls total!
Plus other food.
Then Alex poops.
Alex requires bath.
Jolly Alex returns.
Longer naps return.
More playing the Wii
More family time.
One more fussy Alex spell
Good night sleep

Sunday:
Babies up early
Fall asleep again on people
Grandma skips Sunday School
Get to church
Potluck after church
Family stays for meetings
Head to farm to pack
Pack the Jeep
Drive home during nap time
Family time together
Twins to bed
Grown-ups to bed
Good night’s sleep

And now it is today! Happy “Back to Routine” day everyone!