Tidbits of News

Olivia's dolls all lined up. The line of dolls was so long, a couple of them didn't make the photo.

Let's see. What's been going on in our world this week. Olivia has become even more obsessed with her dolls, if that's possible. All week, she's had them lined up on the floor of her room. Many of them have their own personal blanket tucked underneath the big blanket and many of them are wearing doll cloth diapers. Some are tired, some are sick, some are potty trained, some just pooped in their diaper. She has each doll named. There's, Ellie, Katie, baby Sean, baby Paige, Jennifer's mom, Jae Rin, Jose, Maria, Ming Lee, Dora, Diego, Tyrone and a couple of other ones, who's names I forget. Louisa, our housekeeper, came today and cleaned up her room. Olivia begged me, when I put her down for a nap, to not let Louisa move her stuff any more. That includes dolls and her nightstand.

The girls share a laugh with Olivia's dolls before bed

BATHS

They've both become obsessed with taking baths. Lila just recently got over a fear of baths. So, this was a welcome surprise. However, I have to keep an ear out for running water. They appreciate a bath (or two or three) any time of the day. Lila now throws a tantrum if we don't put her in when she wants and if we take her out before she's ready.

BABYSITTER

I interviewed a babysitter today who I think will work out quite nicely. I'm finding myself at a breaking point. I will lose my sanity if I do not get a break a few hours a week. Day sitters are hard to come by. Our night sitter cleans during the day, every day (Except Sunday's, after church). I don't really want two different people watching my girls. But, what can I do! The girls took right to the woman I interviewed today, which eases my apprehension (She doesn't speak more than a few words of English. The girls didn't seem to mind and I can understand 60-70% of what she's saying). Matt will, hopefully, work out the new sitter's fees this afternoon and she'll start next Tuesday. I plan to use her one morning a week for running errands, doing groceries, going on some "tourist" tours and local artisan and pottery trips with the Spouses' Group here and so on.

CLEAN UP

On another note, I found a different hair stylist (number three since I arrived). He makes house calls. There's an upside and downside to this. The upsides are that he's cheap and I don't have to leave my house. No more text messages from Matt asking where I am and what's taking so long. The downside is that, unless I have him come during naps, I still hear the pitter patter of toddler's feet, sibling fights, and begging for snacks. He is less expensive than elsewhere. Since he did a good job the other day (he cut Liv's hair too), I'll have him come again. Next time for highlights. Every 8-12 weeks, I'm used to getting "cleaned up." Pedicure, lip and eye brow wax and hair (all at once). David doesn't do anything except hair. However, he did recommend a woman who makes house calls for pedicures, waxing and massage. I've left her a message and hope to book her during naps. Of course, I'll book her for a day that the girls won't end up napping well. I'm open to going back to an afternoon at the salon (possibly when our day sitter is here) if none of this works out well.

VACATION

We're planning a trip to Germany (Bavaria) next month. We've booked hourly care for the girls for three full days at the Army post there. We've booked our cabin. Matt's waiting on flight prices to go down before we buy airline tickets (like that will happen...more power to him). We're crazy to be doing this. I dislike traveling with kids. But, having the hourly care option sealed the deal. We'll see how it goes. They can be dropped off at 7:00am but have to be picked up by 5:00. That leaves Matt and I with limited options as to how far away we can venture without them. I think we can find three day trips. If not, we'll cancel a day or two and bring them with us. Why we continue to do this ourselves, is beyond me. It's not like the US dollar is gaining on the Euro (read: better incentive to travel). It'll be our last trip outside of Portugal for about a year (aside from a trip home in August - airline tickets courtesy the U.S. Military) because we're going to be in the poor house if we keep up the frequency of travel.

EXHAUSTION

Aside from all that, I'm exhausted. The girls both had strings of colds for weeks and Olivia is just starting to sleep through the night again. Lila, on the other hand, is up at least once, if not three times. For a few months, a while back, she slept 12-13 hours straight. I was the happiest mother in the world having birthed such wonderful sleepers. How I let Lila return to nursing three times a night is beyond me. It kind of slipped through the cracks. In my exhaustion and delirium of going from Olivia's to Lila's room, I just used my boobs to shut one up (Lila). Now, weeks (or months?) have passed and she's nursing at night like she hasn't since she was a few months old. Olivia was LONG since night weaned at this age (Lila is 17-months). I had a plan with Liv and I stuck to it. Since I know Lila is capable of sleeping through the night, I thought I would just wait it out until she started sleeping through again. Last week, I realized that I can't wait it out any longer. I'm going to have to put my foot down with her. But, that means that she will, in all likelihood, wake Olivia up in the process (read: screaming because she thinks she needs to nurse in order to get back to sleep). That's, at least, three nights (if not two weeks) of both girls being up half the night and only wanting mommy. I've asked Matt to get on board and help. Yeah right! Waking him up in the middle of the night is, well, let's just say, not so easy.

RANDOM

I've squandered a lot of time on the internet over the past couple of days. Mostly blogging and ignoring my kids. However, since I've been online so much, I noticed that, in Entertainment News, Sean Penn and his wife retracted their divorce papers. Good news, I suppose. Oh, and The Office starts up again this week! Once again I can take part in weekly therapy, in it's funniest form!

Okay, it's after five. I have to start dinner and I hear the girls starting the bath water. Here we go again....