So I'm feeling a bit trapped at the moment. The girl has a fever, the baby has colic, and when the man is at work, I'm stranded in the middle of the country without a car or a friend or a sister.

(sorry, tears came so I had to pause)

When the girl was fussy as a baby, I would just pile everyone into the Jeep and take them to Target, or go have lunch with my mom downtown. I'd visit my stepmom and nephews after school or take the kids to the park in the city that I loved so much. But here I can't do any of that. I just sit and wait and pray, hoping that eventually everyone will fall asleep and I can rest or cry, usually both.

Oh, but the big boy is brill. As long as I keep a steady stream of crisps and cartoons coming, he's happy as a clam.

So this is a joyful post. 9 more months and we go back to the States for home assignment. Is it wrong that I'm almost nearly counting down the days? Guess I'll just chalk it up to baby blues. It's normal, right?

Decisions, decisions...

I've been thinking about penises a lot lately. How's that for an opening line? Well, in actuality, I've really been thinking about the circumcision issue. Now that we've had a boy in a European country, we've come face-to-face with the controversy and confusion over why or why not to circumcise. I'm not going to list all the reasons to or to not circumcise - I'm sure we all have our own. But that having been the decision we made for our first son - and were on our way to making for our second son - we now find ourselves in a bit of a conundrum.

Originally, we were totally set on the matter: circumcision was the way to go for our boys. Being Americans, we viewed it as a cultural issue, as well as a health issue. However, now residing in Ireland, having your child circumcised is way easier said than done. Upon Asher's birth we were looked at with a bit of disdain by the attending pediatrician when we asked about our circumcision options. We were told that it would be at least 6 months before Asher could be circumcised, he would be put on a waiting list, and then when it was his turn, he would be put under general anesthesia for the "operation." This did not sound ideal to me. I thought briefly about obtaining the services of a Mohel and having a psuedo bris, but this didn't seem like a particularly honest or ethical option, either.

So, our names have been sent to the local pediatric surgeon, and I'm waiting to hear from him with lots of trepidation... needless to say, I'm extremely hesitant now about circumcising Asher. I'm just not sure, in the long run, if it's really worth it.

Having babies brings about writer's block

Since my brain is sleep deprived and incapable of putting more than a few words together, here instead are a few of my favourite pics of my burgeoning brood:

introducing Asher