Bavaria

Have I mentioned enough times lately how much I hate winter? Let me tell you again. I FEEL LIKE A SLUG. Today when we woke up the sun was shining. I told the girls that we would hurry and clean up and ride our scooters to the library. Guess what, within an hour it was gray and huge drops of snow/rain were plopping down from the sky.

At least I have been able to spend the entire day scrubbing and vacuuming and doing dishes and laundry. I know you are all jealous. Actually Jess might be. You see our whole family has taken turns having a stomach virus this past weekend. It started with Ellyn on Wednesday. She threw up three times in the morning and then was totally normal without a fever. We thought it was a side effect from the new sleeping meds. our Dr. had started her on so after speaking to our pediatrician we took her off those for a week. Next, Sadie threw up early, early Saturday morning, again I didn't know for sure if it was from all the crap she ate with the babysitters the night before, sickness, or if she had suffered a mild concussion when she fell off the slide at the pool on Friday (trying to help Ellyn sit and yes I do feel like the worst mom on the planet because I was letting her do it) and landed on the back of her head on the tile floor. So when she was totally fine after she threw up twice I figured "No" to the sickness option. Then...we were going to our friends house for dinner and games and Jane said she was getting car sick because they lived down these twisty country roads (she's gotten car sick quite a bit since we moved here). At their house she laid on the couch after dinner and then became progressively more sick until we thought it best to leave. She threw up on the way home. As we were driving home Mike and I both mentioned that our stomachs were queasy.
Yup, we were both awake all night but mine was gone by morning- without any unpleasant experiences and Mike was still toast. So he stayed home with Jane and Ellyn- who was now dealing with the other end issues and Sadie and I went to church. Really, until Jane I didn't think we had a bug and then it rapidly became apparent that we did. Sadie and Ellyn managed to soil huge amounts of clothing, blankets, sleeping bags, rugs, etc... because they were caught by surprise. You can only imagine my laundry room and the scent therein since all of those items have to be washed one at a time. I also feel terrible because we unknowingly exposed several people to a potentially lovely experience. I just try to remember that this is our first year here and we haven't built up our immunities to all the yuckies yet. It's making for way too much winter fun.

I know you are so glad I shared that story with you. I didn't mean for it to be that long drawn out but now I'm not going to erase it.

Mindi, I share in your healthy eating issues. There are several things that I would be willing to eat but getting my meat and potatoes husband to eat it would be tricky. I'm sure you have the same issues with Ad. Not to mention the fact that to have enough flavor without the fat there are normally a million ingredients and time consuming preparation. Our dinner last night was a lovely Stouffer's lasagna.

Okay, as far as the house. We are, as you've read, having major sleeping issues with Ellyn. Part of the reason is because we live next to a main road with people driving by at all hours with stereos and loud engines etc...also the walking path is within ten feet of the side of our house and we are on a corner and every bedroom is exposed to the noise. It isn't bad for the rest of us until summer but for Ellyn, once she wakes up (which she does very easily) she is up for hours. Also, because we have such an open floor plan when she is screaming she keeps the whole family awake so we can't work on self soothing without waking everyone up in the middle of the night. Finally, probably the most important reason of all, our front door is very close to the road and she has already learned how to open the front door. It is a fairly busy road all day long and who knows when she is going to understand the danger of cars. I'm not so worried about it now but when summer comes and the girls are in and out all day and when we are here for three years and Ellyn becomes more independant I think it would be an unsafe situation. So I have almost all of the paperwork done. I just have to meet with the head of the health clinic tomorrow morning. Ellyn's pediatrician has already spoken with him. The trick is finding a house that will work. Everyone moved here at the same time so not many people are leaving (there are a few soldiers that were here earlier). There are several house plans that have a living room in the basement which is what I want because I can take Ellyn down when she's screaming and keep her from waking up the family. So that is the story.

Okay, I have taken my break and then some. Time to make dinner. I love you all. Mindi, the three kid thing does get easier, just in time for the fourth right?