Good Night, Sleep Tight

It's that time again! My friends at Quirk Books are releasing their next masterpiece. This one, while written by a master of mash-ups, is far from the "Classics" I've reviewed before. Ben H. Winters is the author of my (to-date) favorite Quirk Classic- Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, but his latest novel takes a much different turn.

Bedbugs is Mr.Winters "chilling tail of life in the perfect New York abode gone horribly wrong..." -Booklist

When I got the email from Eric asking who'd like a copy to review, I was unsure. Bedbugs? Really? Who wants to read a novel about parasites that are crazy hard to get rid of & the mere mention of can make you itchy for hours (like head lice...now, tell me you're head didn't just get itchy)? And I wasn't so sure I'd enjoy a book full of "urban paranoia." I'm a country girl, remember? But I loved Ben Winter's previous Quirk Book, so I gave it a go.

Much to my surprise & delight, I loved this book! Like-read-it-twice-in-three-weeks loved it. Like sat-&-discussed-it-for-an-hour-with-A-Starry-Night loved it. Like told-everyone-I've-talked-to-lately-they-need-to-read-it loved it. Creeptacular is the word that comes to mind.

The story revolves around Susan Wendt-an NYC mother, wife & artist moving into the perfect brownstone with her perfect husband and their perfect daughter. Enter a slightly over involved elderly landlady, bedbugs that no one else seems to see, and a healthy dose of paranoia and you have a mix that will keep your skin crawling & your heart pounding.

Bedbugs hits shelves (and Amazon and e-readers) tomorrow. You might want to pick up a bottle of Caladryl too....just in case.

Because I obviously didn't have enough to deal with this week.....

BabyGirl has head lice.

I will now pause a moment for you to get fully creeped out & scratch your head a few times because your skin just started crawling.

Done?

OK. Last night she was digging at her scalp shortly before bed time. I called her in to the kitchen where the light is the best & flipped her hair back from her neck.

There are no words to describe the feeling you get when you see bugs crawling on your child's scalp. None.

BabyGirl finally went to bed at just before 2 am after 3 1/2 hours of shampooing & nit combing. I made it to bed around 3.

This is so not a battle I want to fight right now. Thank goodness for www.headlice.org and all the info they've gathered.

You scratch my back, I'll....be your slave for life.

If you peek in my windows and find me writhing on the living room floor, please do not dial 911 and demand an ambulance and an exorcist. I'm just trying to scratch my back.

Those five stitches I told you about are centered in that spot in the middle of my back that I cannot reach no matter how hard I try (so say the peas from Veggie Tales). And boy, oh boy do they itch!! In reality, I shouldn't scratch near them anyway because I might accidentally snag one and then....ouch, I don't even want to think about that.

I called Doc's office today because, in the midst of all the Novocaine, cutting, stitching, and bandaging, I forgot to ask a few questions....like, what was that you just cut off my back? and when do you think you'll get the results back from the lab? and can I bathe soon?

Luckily, Doc filled in a few blanks like "When I know what that was, I'll call and let you know what it was" and the nurse told me to wait to shower until the next day...but I still didn't think to ask about the time line. Late this week, early next.

Now to see if I can hook a few pipe cleaners together & use them to scratch around my incision.

NaBloPoMo Day Six & a great deal of randomness.

This NaBloPoMo thing is really kicking my butt. I mean, how am I supposed to come up with a post every single day! I'm beginning to doubt I have it in me.







OK, you can quit laughing now. Today is day six for the month. This will be post number eight for the month....unless you include my post on Mom's Marbles. Then it's post number nine.

This morning I woke up & went all International House of FarmWife on my children. A double batch of buttermilk pancakes & stewed apples to top them with. Yummy. The FarmHands were thrilled.

After getting the big kids bundled off to school, breakfast cleaned up, and the sheets going in the washer, B.B. & I sat down to a riveting game of Sorry (which he calls Sorry Sliders). We followed that up with a round of Chutes & Ladders & a dip into the candy jar.

Then B.B. & Husband started their early morning wrestling match (beating time) while I tucked into Lori's Drama 2B Mama & cried over her adoption stories. I wept out of joy for Lori & Rob & out of sadness & pride for their firstmothers. Adoption amazes me on all levels.

Then I laid on the floor with Bitsy & her Daddy while she pointed out our eyes, noses, mouths, and chins. You really have no idea how funny it is that my husband has eyes. Really, it's hysterical. Just ask Bitsy.

In other news, BabyGirl is having serious trouble paying attention & finishing her work at school. I am beginning to worry that ADD may be rearing it's ugly head in a child with enough issues already. We have a family history of it & her SPD means she's already predisposed. I'm going to pick up some flax seed oil for her this week. Omega-3 is supposed to help with attention issues.

As for the fleas, I'm thinking the one we found was a fluke. There's no where for them to hide on her & she's still itching. I bleached her bedding last night. Either the one she had irritated her skin horribly or she has skin allergies. I gave her a dose of Benadryl this morning & am going to look for a soothing spray for her tomorrow at the store. A good hard freeze would be welcome too...just in case.

Oh, and I'm making a concerned effort to limit our TV viewing. We're one of those families who leave it on all day even if we're not really watching it. Bad, I know. I'm trying to curb this....and I'm trying to stay off the computer when BabyGirl & #1 Son are home from school & awake. We'll see how this goes.

Next I have to get to work on those beds I stripped, fold some towels, & thaw out some chicken for lunch. What an exciting life I lead. Don't you wish you were me?

Happy Birthday, BabyGirl. You've got poison ivy!

Oh yeah. You read that right. The child has rung in her 7th birthday with a nice little case of poison ivy. I'm pretty sure (99.99%) she picked it up romping in the woods yesterday with the boys while their dad cut down two trees near the sheds. Doc looked at it & said, "Does it itch?" BabyGirl replied, "Not so much." Doc responded, "Don't worry. It will." Yippee. In the meantime she's on Prednisone and a steroid cream along with Benadryl for itching. She has a grandmother & a great-grandmother that react horribly to poison ivy, so Doc didn't want to risk her getting in VERY bad shape over the weekend. I have Skittles to bribe her with....and if all else fails, there's poison-ivy.org. They have a fabulous gallery of "see what can happen if you don't take your medicine" pictures. Not for the faint of heart.

We finally got in the house last night. It was 11 o'clock before I sat down. Groceries needed putting away, kids bathed, Bitsy medicated & soothed, dishes washed, laundry washed & folded, a cake baked, frosted, and sprinkled, the house picked up. I was half dead when I crawled into bed. Just so you know, there is now a spare key squirreled away just in case.

Bitsy slept better last night than she has in weeks. I'm wondering if allergies have been contributing to her bedtime issues. BabyGirl on the other hand, was in our room at 5:30 this morning. "It's my birthday! Will someone turn on the TV for me so I can wait for everyone else to get up?" Then 20 minutes later, "I found this present sitting on top of my cake. Can I open it now?" Then 30 minutes later, "#1 Son's up. Are you getting out of bed soon?" Then 15 minute later, "When are we having cake?" Then 20 minutes later (do you see the pattern here?) "IT'S LIGHT OUTSIDE! WHEN ARE YOU GETTING UP?! EVERYONE ELSE IS UP!!" In between, Husband had to get up once to break up a fight, then I got up at 7:30 to break up another.

BabyGirl sat in the floor & cried because it wasn't fair that she had to wait for her dad to get up. Then she cried because she only got one present. Then she cried because "this is the worstest birthday ever!" By the time everyone was up, I was ready to toss the cake out to the goats & take her gift back to the store for a refund.

She only had one present because she & I went shopping after we went to see Prince Caspian last Saturday & I let her pick out her gifts. I couldn't see wrapping up what she'd been packing around all week, so I got her two books yesterday so she'd have something to open. I also reminded her that #1 Son had nothing to open from us on his birthday. He picked out his presents in the Dinosaur World gift shop.

She's in a much better mood now (she was once she got to open her gift) and so far has not started the steroid craziness I'm fully expecting.

And I'm just feeling old. My BabyGirl is SEVEN!

Oh Bitsy, really?

Apparently Bitsy's jealous. She saw all the fuss we made over BabyGirl when she broke out in hives, so tonight she decided to follow suit.

After 15 minutes or so at the playground after school (it was 70!) it started sprinkling, so we headed to Busha's to visit for a short bit. We were there about 40 minutes, then headed home so I could tackle my too long put off chores. BabyGirl was doing her homework, the boys were in the bath, and I fed Bitsy her first jar of Gerber Mixed Vegetables. She made a bit of a mess, so I stripped her down for her bath. When I did, I noticed a red spot on her thigh. My first thought was bug bite, but it's the wrong time of year & I checked her pants for a spider.

After her bath I noticed a second spot on her other thigh & one on her belly. I started to get very worried, but decided to wait & see what they did. I finished everyone's baths while I loaded the dish washer. I would occasionally check to see if the spots were growing. The two on her legs grew, the one on her belly disappeared.

That pretty much sealed it for me. I called Busha to come set with the kids (they need a firm hand at bedtime), and finished making dinner.

At the ER, the doc said they were hives, but we're not sure what's caused them. My guess is the mixed veggies, but I don't think they had anything in them she hasn't had before. He told me to give her Benadryl every 4 hours & to watch her. She wasn't having any trouble breathing and nothing was swelling up, so he didn't want to put her on steroids (thank goodness).

I'd like to make it crystal clear: I do not like hives. To my children: Please stop breaking out in them. Thank you.

My BabyGirl

Thank you all for your advice about BabyGirl. And please do not be offended when I say we've tried everything. Laid out clothes the night before. Given her a choice between 2 or 3 outfits. Let her have free reign in her closet. Picked out clothes for her eliminating all decision making on her part. Gotten her up earlier. Put her to bed earlier. Washed the same outfit 3 days in a row for wearing. Punishments. Rewards. Blatant bribery. Distraction. Wrestling. Lotion (to stop the itching). A humidifier (to stop the itching). Water (again...the itching). And it's all been to no avail.

Now the issue has spread to bedtime. She "can't sleep because [she's] itchy." She's itchy because she's "hot." And this isn't a slight itch here & there. It's a full blown, writhing, clawing, screeching kind of itchy. She insisted on having her sheets changed Friday night. I told her they had nothing to do with her issues, but after 30 minutes of screaming, I changed them to prove my point. You guessed it, I was right.

This is not a new issue by a long shot. It's only escalated recently. BabyGirl has never liked to wear clothes, but the past year or so she's condescended to wearing giant T-shirts around the house. Since New Years she refuses to wear even that. I've told her if she feels the need to be naked, she must be in her room, alone, with the door shut. She's too old to run around the house in the buff. That has not gone over well the past week or two. She claims any clothing at all makes her too hot & if she's hot, she itches. It can be 30 degrees & the kid says she's hot.

The thing that is so odd to me is that her "itching" turns on and off like a light switch. The day we went to Dairy Queen she screamed (and I mean SCREAMED) the entire 15 miles to town. I had to re buckle her seat belt 3 times (another hard, fast rule for me). When we parked she had pulled her clothes half off. Husband redressed her & got her out of the van. It was in the mid 20's that day (I think) and she was wearing a sleeveless short dress & loafers (that are 2 full sizes too big, but the only shoes she will wear...yet another issue with clothing). No shirt under the dress. No tights or socks. Nothing on her legs. All because she was "too hot to wear clothes." As soon as her feet hit the pavement, she was calm. When we got in the store she ordered her ice cream, sat calmly, ate it, shared with the boys, and with in minutes was complaining she was cold.

As soon as she's in public it all stops. She almost always settles down if anyone that doesn't live with us is watching. Very, very rarely does this carry over into the public arena. When she gets home from school, she's happy & calm. She never says she had serious problems at school. She's said she still itched at school, but it's not the tantrum itching that takes place here.

I am at my whits end. I really do not know what to do any more. I told Busha yesterday that I'm resigned to wrestling her into her clothes every morning. That's becoming a normal part of our lives. It's not something I'm happy about.

I love this kid more than anything. She's bright. She's loving. She's kind (when she puts her mind to it). She's funny. She's imaginative. She's determined & persistent. She's very smart. If we could deal with this issue everything else would seem mild.

Thank you for your prayers.

Good Weekend

Lots of time outside. Lots of rides on the four wheeler (I even drove it twice with Husband's help). Lots of dandelions picked. Very little accomplished indoors (read: my chores). Cooked out Saturday night (garlic marinated pork steaks...yum!). Pulled weeds, fertilized the flowers, played with bottle calves, lawn mowed, dogs played with, cats chased, horse ridden (sort of & by BabyGirl & Big BIL's kids), time spent with Husband.

Last night he & I watched Night at the Museum (good movie). NM (Uncle E's oldest) gave me his entire DVD collection to check out this week while he packs up his apartment at school. And since he has a serious movie obsession, I have no less than 15 movies I want to watch this week...I may not get off the couch.

Oh, and they're calling for a 50% chance of rain on Wednesday...NO! PLEASE LORD!!! Wednesday is BabyGirl's field trip to the zoo!!! It CANNOT rain.

And itchy skin is back...I figured with the weather getting warmer I'd stop itching...but no. Break out the cocoa butter again.

OH, and we are now puppy free. The last little girl went home with a young multi-pierced couple last night. BabyGirl sobbed...her dad promised her a new pet of her choosing (!?!?!) and thankfully she is leaning twoards a dwarf bunny. She could have milked this and asked for a pony...don't think he thought of that. That's Daddy for you!

The Quest for Moisture

In the quest for skin that does not itch, I have gone on a lotion hunt. It hasn't been entirely fruitless. I just got the "Tummy Butter" yesterday and am fairly happy with it thus far. Not really believing it will help reverse stretch marks, but the itching has lessened. Inkling suggested Aquaphor by Eucerine...I may have to pick up a bottle of that as well. Both bottles of Johnson & Johnson's are nearly empty, as is the Gold Bond. I really liked the Gold Bond, but do not use it on a cold night. You will think you're freezing to death. The Vaseline Healthy Glow is left over from last summer. I broke it out last night to use on my legs and arms. Did is getting married in April, so I figure if I start using it now, by April I might not be quite as pasty as I am now. Then there are the hand creams...my hands routinely look like sand paper. I use creams, lotions, salves, you name it...I wear "moisture gloves"...I buy moisturizing soaps...it's all useless. So I set and itch and wait for spring.