as if I need more cleaning products.

Preface: I have a Dyson. I love my Dyson. I also have a hand vacuum. I use my hand vacuum to clean my Dyson. It’s a sickness really.

Since life here in Family Jobin is insane (see below re: floods, MRI, baby who won’t sleep, two full-time working parents, etc.) we've been reevaluating our time and process improving our routines. We thought long and hard about a housekeeping service and decided in the end that it was just way too much money. But we are thinking about getting a little robot friend to help the Dyson out.

the roomba.

now, imagine me singing that in the same style as the simpsons intro... the roooombaaaaaaaaaaaaaa !

With a dog who sheds more than a small rodent daily and a baby who is currently rolling all over the floor and about to start crawling, we’re going to have to increase the frequency of our vacuuming or get someone else to do it. I vote the latter. So I’ve been doing some research.

I have never been more amused by consumer reviews:

· “Pros: Cleans Willingly.”

o That’s just a weird thing to say about a cleaning product

· “As for teasing Helen, it's tempting to rearrange the furniture or put obstacles in his path while he's working, just to see how he copes.”

o Okay, one, you name your vacuum. That’s weird, but I do it too so I guess I understand. Two, you’re taunting your vacuum. That’s weirder. And why is your male robot named Helen?

· “Robbie even cleans up peanuts that my bird throws on the floor. I turned Robbie loose in Storm's Room (My Parrot) with almost 3" high of bird seed and he cleaned it all up with me only having to empty the Dust Bin once between "Electric Broom Mode" and Vacuum mode.”

o Again, naming the vacuum. More importantly, who has THREE INCHES of bird seed on their floor?! Take out a ruler and look at the 3” mark! That guy also went on to explain that he’s taking Storm and his roomba with him on vacation in his RV.

· “It Cleans while we sleep”

o Somehow that creeps me out a little, especially since that’s the entire review. That’s all the person wrote!

I think I uncovered a weird cult of roomba enthusiasts. They all name their vacuums and embrace them as family members. Hmmm, isn’t that what robots want you to do so they can proceed to take over the world?

Eh, whatever. All I know is I want one.

8 Months.

I just realized that I never posted this letter. Oops. I blame it on sleep deprivation. Here it is!

Dear Carter,

Today you’re 8 months old and it feels like an accomplishment just that we’ve survived the last month. Something really weird happened a few weeks back. It rained, followed by a second storm. And then it rained some more. We got 7 inches of rain within a few days! This isn’t a lot for some places, places with actual weather, but we live in San Diego. 7 inches is a lot of rain for San Diego. The problem with all that rain is that it has nowhere to go so it just sits. In our case, it ran out of places to go and soaked into the house. So, for about a week we were the travelling gypsy family. We stayed with your grandparents, a few days with each. My goodness were you ever disrupted! I thought you would never get back to a normal schedule or sleep through the night ever again.

Shortly after we returned home, we threw in some more disruption to your life. You had to have an MRI at Children’s Hospital. That was not a fun day but it really could have been so much worse. You’re not yet at a stage where you could stay perfectly still for an hour while they scan your spine. You don’t even stay still when you’re asleep. So, they had to give you anesthesia and we couldn’t give you anything to eat or drink for 6 hours before. We were expecting meltdowns of monumental proportions, but you actually did really well. We walked around and played games and you chomped on toys. Toward the end you got a little fussy, but all in all it ended up okay. More importantly, the results all looked great. You are just so precious to us and we love you so, so much that the idea of having to go through surgery and all of that shook me. That was such a huge sigh of relief to hear that you were healthy.

We celebrated your first Valentine’s Day yesterday. It’s not a huge ordeal in our house, but we got to spend lots of time together as a family and that’s the best gift I could ask for.

You’re still just as loud this month as last month. You find so much joy in shrieking it’s hard not to laugh. I have to keep an eye on the windows and glasses when you really get going, just in case they all shatter.

You’ve got 4 impressive teeth now, two on the bottom and two on the top. The second top tooth just broke through yesterday. That’s kind of a crumby Valentine’s Day present if you ask me. But like always, you’re a champ. A little clingy and fussy and a lot less sleep, but we’re all surviving.

This month wore us out a little bit more than other months of our crazy life, but in a way that was a good message for us. It was a reminder to slow down and enjoy our time with you, enjoy every little thing we can. I'm trying to remember to enjoy every laugh, laugh at every shriek, and cherish every snuggle. Snuggles and quiet moments are harder to come by these days and I don't think I'll ever get enough of them!

Love,

Mama

And now we catch our breath.

It has been a crazy, crazy few weeks for us, but this morning I feel like I'm keeping up with the hamster wheel. We're back in our house, Carter's MRI is behind us (and went as well as we could have hoped, much thanks to those who prayed and encouraged us), and it's a new week. AND Carter slept well last night. I, on the other hand, could not get myself to settle down and sleep. Eh, all in all, this week is a breath of fresh air compared to the travelling circus that has been our life.

And on top of it all, we have to starve him.

When Carter was born, we, like all new parents, scoured every inch of him. And while he does have 10 fingers and 10 toes, he also has small shallow dimple at the base of his spine. At some point his pediatrician thought it might be good to check it out. Probably not a big deal, but better safe than sorry, so an ultrasound was ordered. Upon scheduling it, I was informed that Carter (who was 6 months old at the time) was too old. They only do ultrasounds for babies up to 3 months. Plus, you add all of Carter’s rolls and you get a wiggly baby and incomplete results. Back to the pediatrician we go. He still wasn’t terribly concerned, but thought it might be best to have a specialist look at it. Worst case scenario, Carter would need surgery so it’s really better just to rule that out. Plus, the alternative to the ultrasound is a sedated MRI and I was not thrilled about that option. Off to the pediatric neurosurgeon we went. To my disappointment, he recommended the MRI and it turns out the ultrasound may not have been too helpful anyway.

So, tomorrow morning Carter will asleep in an MRI machine. [excuse me while I breathe into a paper bag real quick like] Given the squirmy state of our son, this means my tiny baby (okay, really, he’s not tiny, but still!) needs an anesthesiologist. But even more terrifying, he can’t eat for at least 6 hours before. Um, I realize that someone went through many, many years of advanced specialized training to tell me this, but they clearly do not know Carter. The kid eats every 3 hours of his waking life. Our appointment is at 10am. We may or may not be able to buy ourselves some time in the car, but when we arrive at that hospital at 7:30am with a SCREAMING, ANGRY child I think someone may call CPS on us. And Carter takes anger up a notch, complete with clawing and slamming limbs. And I’ll probably be crying at that point too and more in need of sedation than Carter. And THEN he has to actually start the medical procedure. We really don’t think it’s anything to be concerned about, but we want to be sure of that. If it is something that requires surgery, it’s better to do it now.

So, if you could, please pray for us or keep us in your thoughts we would very much appreciate it.