What a Week

Well our visitors are gone and I have to say I was sad to see them go. I have really enjoyed watching Em with her grandparents. She was genuinely sad when they left today. I swear I actually see her experiencing new things everyday. I have a busy weekend ahead with a women's conference at church and a concert Sunday night but I am hoping to get back to my routine on Monday.

In other random news, I got my haircut last Friday and I hate it. For those of you who have known me for awhile you know I am very sensitive about my hair. I am much less high maintenance now that I used to be in my life but when I want to feel good I do my hair and put on a little make up and usually I feel a little less schlumpy then my standard house wife self. Well my hair is square. I am not even sure how she did it but it looks terrible and I was really sad. I am over it now but I am desperately taking my vitamins in the hopes it grows out or does something before Penny's wedding. UGH!!

Emelia had her first ice cream cone this past week and she LOVED it. I also let her eat a piece of chocolate cake by herself - YIKES!

Yummy!

The Beauty of Spring

Just a quick update so that my blog doesn't have poop as the first word anymore...

Our family visit has been good. The week is whizzing by. Emelia enjoys being with Grammy and Papa M. Everyone in the house is healthy but I have gotten in to some bad habits this week. I haven't been working out and I have been indulging in wine every night with our guests. I am sure I have gained five pounds. I will just have to catch up next week - I wonder what Mariah Carey did to get so skinny. Oh that's right she eats artichokes and squash and does water aerobics. (I am down with the water aerobics but I can't give up food.) Dang it, guess I will have to find another way!

Poop Glorious Poop

I have never been so happy to see a turd in my entire life. We are officially diarrhea free. Jeff apparently now has a different strain of cooties that leaves him with a nasty case of the chills and aches. I practically forced him to stay home today because if I worked at his office I would not want whatever he has.

So I found out yesterday that Jeff's parents are coming... on Monday. I was terrified, horrified and madified. (not really a word but you get the point.) When my FRIENDS from St. Louis came it took me a week to get the house the way I wanted it. With my mother-in-law coming I have one weekend. I was freaking out last night, then I prayed. I prayed that God would help me remember the value of family and not get caught up in my homemaker pride and today I feel better. Oh, I am still going to clean the house right good, but I am done freaking out.

I will keep you posted on how it goes.

By the way, I continue to be amazed at how God gives each person unique gifts and then fits them in to each other's lives to enrich them. My friend Thuy claims I am a really good host but she is a really good guest - she sent me a thank you card with delightful chocolate treats and really cute pictures of the babe this week. I was just struck by how we fit and by how good that chocolate covered marshmallow tasted after eating only toast and bananas for four days.

Cooties 2.0

I officially am titling yesterday the day of diarrhea. I think we changed Em's diaper 20 times. Once we changed her twice in 10 minutes. Bless her little heart, she was a disaster. I woke up feeling pretty grim and by my fourth trip to the bathroom in an hour realized I too had the cooties. Jeff worked from home in the afternoon so I could get some rest, God love him! We have been diarrhea free for 18 hours now so I am hoping we are on the road to recovery. I think Emelia is starting to get stir crazy, this morning she just walked around whining. Then she had a terrible melt down and went down for a nap at 9:45, two and a half hours after she got up. I can't figure it out. I am guessing she is still feeling yucky. I haven't been to the doctor because I am guessing there is not much they can do for her but if she has diarrhea again today we are calling for an appointment. I think we will try to go for a walk when she wakes up in an effort to get her outside without infecting anyone else. Man alive I am ready for everyone to be healthy for the rest of the year.

Gross

Emelia is sick, again. On Saturday we woke up to find her covered in vomit. It was pretty gross, poor thing who knows when she puked but she then must have rolled around in it all night. She was a noodle most of Saturday then perked up in the afternoon. We had people over for dinner, and I felt bad because they have kids. I told Jeff we should call and tell them Em is sick and give them the choice of coming or not but he thought it would be fine. It was fine... until she threw up all over the kitchen floor while everyone was there. Double yuck!

Sunday we moved on to diarrhea. Today we have had super soft poop and crabbiness. The thing that is worrying me the most is she is not really eating. She ate maybe 1/2 a cup of food yesterday and 1/4 cup so far today. She is drinking tons of milk though so I guess she is getting some nutrition that way. You know I am a freak about her eating anyway so this is a new challenge for me.

God bless Jeff though, he is the one who found her covered in vomit on Saturday morning because I was at the grocery store. He has a pretty weak stomach so I am proud of him for stripping her down and throwing her in the bath and not vomiting himself.

Maybe Em got sick to take my mind off the fact that it snowed here in April. Really, I mean really?!?!?!

Crazy Baby

Emelia has been doing so many funny things lately. One of her new favorite things is eating fruit but the trick is she wants to eat the whole thing. She doesn't want a slice of apple she wants to eat it off the core. It is so funny to watch. It is not so funny to clean up but oh well. She also discovered that the vacuum cleaner blows out air on top so she stands in front of the vacuum with the wind blowing through her hair posing like a super model. She is so funny. What is not so funny is that she is beginning to assert her independence and she wants what she wants when she wants it. I am not really sure what I should be doing about discipline at this age but I need to figure it out and quick!



Pears are super yummy!




Hard to see, but this is miss supermodel in front of the vacuum.


I heard about this pose on America's Next Top Model!

Burnin' Down the House

Women of Faith this weekend was great. Thuy and I had such a good time, so did the guys. Nothing says fun like watching baseball, going to Costco and babysitting. : )

Women of Faith was really different this time for me. Last time I went it was a few months after my mom had passed away and I was in such a fragile emotional place. This time I definitely felt less emotionally but I also felt more tested by some of the topics. The one thing that I keep reflecting on is a drama about the verse in James that talks about a tongue being like a flame. The dramatist showed how harsh words to your family members can set your house on fire and leave burn marks that never completely heal. The actual verse from the Bible is this.

James 3:4-6 "4 And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong. 5 In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches.

But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. 6 And the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself."

I was really convicted by the drama. When I am overwhelmed or frustrated, I say mean things. I know that is terrible and in this moment I can recognize that it is terrible but when the baby is crying and the dog is barking and the pasta water is boiling over, my tongue is scorching. I yell at whoever, the baby, the dog, my husband. I would be ashamed if any of my friends heard me - the mean hostile tone of my voice, the piercing words - yet I unleash them on the people I love most on this earth. Why is it that we are the meanest to the people we love the most? Is it because we know they will forgive us? I don't know what it is but I know that the things I say in the heat of that moment are still with Jeff and one day they will remain with Emelia as well. That is why I am really going to start praying that God helps me hold my tongue. I have been working on not getting hostile when something frustrating happens and I am getting better at letting go of things. But I will never completely be able to stay calm, so I need to react without the terrible tongue. I don't think we stop to think about how powerful our words are, I am trying to fully understand the weight of the words I choose and I am trying to choose words that don't burn down my house.