Going Boinkers...

It's been a hard week. Today I was just plain sad. So I decided to try some hair therapy. I gave Lulu "boinkers"...
Maybe that's not their official name, but that's what I call them. I still prefer the bows of unusual size, but it was a fun change...
And a good diversion for me. Though I'm not too sure the Lulu liked it...
I guess misery loves company.

Why buy toys?

Lulu has two favorite play things. The first is never far from her. It's her tongue...
She can do this...

And this...

And this...
We call it her Lizard Tongue. The rest of us can't do it. We have fat tongues. Like this...

And this...

And this...
So we are very impressed with her mad Lizard Tongue skills...
As evidenced by the fact that I've taken a bajillion pictures of my daughter sticking out her tongue and just posted them as if everyone will hail the Lizard Tongue Genius that she is. Okay, just one more...
Her other favorite toy is never far from me. It's my JunkPosse Ethiopia necklace...
I love that what I wore to "hold her near my heart" while we waited is now something she daily holds in her hand, while I hold her in my arms...
Somebody pinch me.

We partied like it was 2002...

Have you ever received an invitation that felt too good to be true? Like Mr. Totally Rad invites you to the Prom (guess what decade I was in high school). Or you are invited to vacation with friends at their multi-million dollar beach home. I felt that kind of thrilled when our friends invited us to celebrate the Ethiopian New Year with them. I was so excited that I almost squirted a little in my pants.

Though Friday marked the Ethiopian New Year, we celebrated on Saturday at our friends home. The kids had to dress appropriately, of course...
There was an amazing spread of Ethiopian food. Betty had been cooking for days...
And of course, there was coffee...
Normally I drink my coffee with LOTS of creamer. Preferably Coconut Cream. But Ethiopian coffee is an exception. The flavor is so rich that with only sugar and no creamer whatsoever, I am totally smitten.

It's 2002 in Ethiopia now because they operate on a Julian calendar instead of a Gregorian one like we do. I really don't have any idea what that calendar stuff means. I'm just repeating what Sophia told me at the party. But I did sound really smart for a minute, didn't I? Amy, who was also at the party, loved this 2002 idea since she immediately became 7 years younger...kind of.

On the actual New Year's Day, we had another way to celebrate. We welcomed home this beautiful girl. What joy! Junie and Lulu were at Hannah's Hope together and now they are home in the same town. How sweet is that?

Also part of the welcoming committee at the airport was this little guy, Mussie (pronounced Moosie) who was also adopted from Ethiopia by friends...
Luci and Mussie sound pretty cute together, huh? I love the Ethiopian community that we are now a part of!

Melkam Enkutatesh! A Happy New Year indeed!

Not my finest moment

There are some nights when I hate that our work means Bill is gone a lot of evenings. Last night was definitely one of those nights. Tate had football practice, so I dragged the other three kids along.

It was Lulu's bedtime...
Emma did her homework...
I ate my dinner in the car...
Jack was, well, Jack...
When it started getting a little darker they moved into the van. Jack entertained himself by finding the nearest Chick-Fil-A on the GPS...
112 miles by the way. That's just wrong.

Luci woke up...
We were snapping pictures and I was planning the blog post. Not exactly cocooning, but not a bad night. That is, until we got home. It was 8:30pm and the older three still needed showers. The dog was barking. There was fighting. There was yelling...mine, unfortunately. And Lulu, though exhausted, was fighting sleep.

I was mad. Mad that Bill was gone. Mad at the dog for barking. Mad that everyone needed me (as if that's their fault?!) and there wasn't enough of me to go around. I was even mad at the baby for not going to sleep. And you know what makes me so sad? I think she knew it. My whole body was tense as I rocked her to sleep. I wasn't gentle or nurturing, but had a more commanding spirit. No wonder she didn't fall asleep! It was like trying to sleep on a cold, marble bed. Not surprisingly, when I confessed my anger that my life was not easy (as if that is my right?!) and my spirit softened, she fell right asleep. I'm sorry, baby.

I know some nights are just crazy. The thing is, even on crazy nights, I don't have to be crazy right? I don't expect that will be the last of such crazy nights. Or the last appearance of the crazy mom, unfortunately. But in the midst of the crazy...in my circumstances and in my person...I hope I can cling to this, "Let my soul be at rest again for the Lord has been good to me." (Psalm 116:7)

Lucky number 7

Look who's 7 months old...
There's a lot she can do now. She can sit up on her own...
Though we still have to watch her closely. Case in point: she fell and hit her head right after I took this picture. Good job, Mom.

She devours baby food...
She giggles...
And she makes a "Whatchu talkin' bout Willis?" face...

Just so you know that I do take pictures of my other 3 children still, here are a few from Labor Day at the lake...
The older three kids played so well together all weekend, which doesn't always happen...
Of course there had to be a little mischief...
Meet Fish Dog...
That's not our dog. He's a random dog that just comes to my mom's cabin. The kids adore him. We gave him this name because he catches fish with his bare paws. It is a sight to behold. If I had no moral compass, I think I'd just swipe him. I love to eat fish, but I hate fishing. With Fish Dog...problem solved!

I had planned on getting those cutie family pix of just our legs standing on the shore and our bare feet all together in the sand. We even trimmed everyone's toe nails which is saying a lot for this slacker mom. But some days you just have to live and not turn your life into a photo shoot. I mess that up a lot of times, but this was one of those days. So we just lived it.

Romance is in the air...or is it?

It's been two months since Bill and I had a date. But we finally had one last week. The kids were all in bed and we were in the living room. It involved lotion and a massage. But don't get the wrong idea...he was doing a lice treatment on me. Yes, you read correctly. Our "romantic evening" did involve lotion. And it did involve my husband running his hands through my hair for two hours. But it also involved nasty, God-forsaken bugs. While everyone else is worrying about H1N1, there is another bug that concerns me.

Though it's not sexy, there is a certain intimacy to having someone do something that you need, but you can't do for yourself. And the conversation was really sweet.The past month since we've been home has been very full and we haven't had a lot of time for deep conversation. He with the fine toothed comb and me with the scary head of hair...well, we were each others captive audience. Not that I'm recommending lice treatments to you and yours. I'm just saying we made lemonade with these lemons.

Please don't be misled by the above statement: I have NOT been handling the whole situation gracefully. It started with my child (who prefers anonymity in this) asking me, "Mom how's your stress level right now?". I answered, "I think it's fine. Why do you ask?"

"Because there's something I need to tell you."

"Go ahead, don't worry. I won't freak out." Famous last words.

When I heard the words "I think I might have lice" I started hyper-ventilating. And when I looked into the head of hair and saw it teeming with them, the tears started to flow. I think both of those things would qualify as freaking out. I never should have made the "I won't freak out" promise. I strongly believe the only sane response to a lice infestation is to freak out.

Bill found two on me and a handful of their eggs while doing the treatment. So mine is more of a visitation than an infestation. Not that that makes me okay with it. Visitations are nice when done by your pastor, not by creepy crawlers.

If you live near me, I understand if you avoid me like the plague. Though we are clear now, I do see how friendship with me could feel like a liability. And whether you live near me or not, I'm pretty sure you are starting to itch about now. I'm sorry for that.

I want to use this post let you know what I've learned about lice (in case you should need it someday) and what I've learned from lice. If you don't want to read on, that's okay. I'm not usually the girl who gives advice to others (because I usually have none) and I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I would suggest you bookmark this post just in case the wrath of lice ever comes knocking on your door like it did on mine.

First of all, everyone and their dog (they can't live off dogs, fyi) offers you various different remedies for fighting lice. Mayo (tried it), Olive oil (tried it), Listerine mixed with shampoo (tried it), etc. One thing you should know is that the common over-the-counter pesticides like Rid and Nix may not work very well. They are basically pesticides and the bugs are building up immunities to them. The products that dry on the hair and form a protective coat around it, suffocating the lice, seem to be the way to go. There's no immunity to suffocation. Lice Ice is one product. I think it's a good one, but the one I prefer is Nuvo Treatment for Head Lice. My doctor (who looks 16, but is very wise) recommended it and I am so thankful she did! The website was so informative and the treatment is the best I've found. I would recommend for it to be used in combination with the LiceMeister comb for getting out nits. I bought it on Amazon. Also helpful for removing nits is The Fairy Tales line Lice Good-Bye. It is all natural, as are the other three I mentioned, so you don't have to worry about putting insecticides on your kids heads. It dissolves the nit glue that sticks them to the hair, making them easier to remove. My sweet friend Emily researched all the products when we dealt with lice the first time this summer and found it for me on sale for one dollar! That is huge because having lice can be a very expensive venture. I could have flown to San Diego for with the money I've spent on lice treatments over the course of the two outbreaks. Anyway, The Lice Good-Bye marked the difference for us in losing the fight against lice to being able to get on top of it. And emotionally, I needed to feel like the lice weren't going to get the best of me.

For prevention (though I may not be the greatest one to talk on this subject since we've had a second infestation in our family) I would recommend shampoo with tea tree oil. Paul Mitchell has one and I think there are lots of others. I am enjoying the Tea Tree and mint one I found at Walmart. I am not holding it against the shampoo that I got lice on it's watch. You can only ask so much of a preventative shampoo when an infested child repetitively comes in to cuddle you in the morning and shares your pillow. Plus it smells really yummy, so I'm willing to be very forgiving. Also Lice Ice can be used as a gel or spray for prevention. And Fairy Tales Rosemary Repel Creme Conditioner is a leave-in conditioner that works as a repellent.

So we are pretty much back to normal life with a little extra vacuuming and laundry to be on the safe side. At the height of it, the laundry threatened to take over my very existence and succeeded at taking over my dining room...
In the midst of Round 2 with lice (are we the grossest people on the planet that this happened again?), I was nearing despair when I remembered...they are only bugs. I realize this shouldn't qualify as a major "aha" moment, but it was an important lesson for me. Sweet Christine referred me to Katie's blog which I have honestly been avoiding for months. Remember, I desperately want God to change me while fighting Him every step of the way. At the same time, friends are in the hospital with their sweet 6 week old baby fighting for her life. And a best friend is in the midst of chemo. I only have so much energy. I can spend it worrying about lice or I can spend it praying for these dear ones and living for what matters. I hope I make the right choice.

Just when you thought I was never going to blog about anything but Luci May again, I pull out another dreaded lice post. I'll leave you to go scratch your head with sympathy itching in peace and long for the days of the "feel good" Lulu posts. I assure you, they'll be back.

The anatomy of a smile...

Lulu style.

First you start with a serious face...
Then you break out into a slight grin. Bill calls this her "Harrison Ford smile"...

It's building...

Almost there...
And we've arrived at our destination: the total scrunched up smile, dimples and all...
Lulu, you make us smile too!