So far, we’ve determined that she has acid reflux and rotavirus.

What is rotavirus? I’m so glad you asked. According to cdc.gov…

Rotavirus is a virus that causes gastroenteritis (inflammation of the stomach and intestines). The rotavirus disease causes severe watery diarrhea, often with vomiting, fever, and abdominal pain. In babies and young children, it can lead to dehydration (loss of body fluids). Rotavirus is the leading cause of severe diarrhea in infants and young children worldwide. Globally, it causes more than a half a million deaths each year in children younger than 5 years of age.

Rotavirus was also the leading cause of severe diarrhea in U.S. infants and young children before rotavirus vaccine was introduced for U.S. infants in 2006. Prior to that, almost all children in the United States were infected with rotavirus before their 5th birthday. Each year in the United States in the pre-vaccine period, rotavirus was responsible for more than 400,000 doctor visits; more than 200,000 emergency room visits; 55,000 to 70,000 hospitalizations; and 20 to 60 deaths in children younger than 5 years of age.

So that’s exciting. Honestly, I was somewhat relieved by that finding, because it’s something that, while not pleasant, will eventually go away. My Google MD diagnosis had been a gluten sensitivity, which would have been much more complicated to deal with.

We are still waiting on results from a few tests, and because she had a combo of symptoms that is sometimes a red flag (waking up vomiting and right-side headaches), she is scheduled for an MRI on her brain. (Any Teen Mom 2 watchers out there? Every time I hear/say that phrase, I apply Leah’s accent.) Provided that doesn’t turn up anything exciting, that should be the end of it. And hopefully, with a daily regimen of Prilosec, we’ll be all done with the random puking.

Crossing my fingers.

Andy and Kate (and now Sam, although I question his decision-making ability) say yes… I say no.

Except now I’m wavering.

I’ve never had a pet. I don’t get the whole thing. I don’t know why people are obsessed with their dogs and I don’t know why anyone would get a cat, ever. I’m sure there’s something to it or 84% of the population wouldn’t have one, but I just don’t get it.

But Kate really loves dogs. She is so cute when she’s around other people’s dogs, and she really wants one of her own.

So then I start looking around Petfinder.com and see faces like this one…

And I think it really wouldn’t be so bad. But then I remember all the pain in the butt parts about having a dog and I don’t want to go through with it anymore.

So tell me, people – dog or no dog?

I’m not really going to off her, but my goodness there are times I’d like to wring her neck.

Like yesterday, for example.

We were visiting Sleeping Bear Dunes, which just this week was named “Most Beautiful Place in America” on GMA. It is stunning.

We visited last year and had a wonderful time and had been anxious to go again this year. However, as soon as we got there, it was clear that Kate was in one of her “I’m going to be a pain in the ass and there’s nothing you can do about it” moods. Yay!

Unfortunately those moods have been becoming more and more frequent. No matter what we do or where we go, it’s not good enough or we don’t stay long enough or SOMETHING makes her miserable. Which, in turn, makes us all miserable.

Jenny and I have actually both been struggling with this ungratefulness in our oldest children, and we’ve talked about it a lot.

However, we have no solutions.

So, readers, we turn to you. Have you dealt with this kind of thing? Did your kids grow out of it or did you beat it out of them? Or is there a more effective method to change their behavior?

Because seriously, if you can look at this view and STILL be in a terrible mood, I don’t know what to tell you.

The videos are hysterical – they are like iCarly meets the Blair Witch Project.

Because I am not talented enough to figure out how to post the videos, pictures will have to do. Here are a few of Kate’s self-portraits that I found.

The girl’s not short on personality. I loved finding Kate’s photos and videos not only for my own (and your) entertainment, but because they so perfectly capture who she is. They are so very Kate, and I’m glad to have that on record.

I love that girl!

For the third year in a row, Kate is a part of the Germantown Gators swim team. I just looked back at my very first post about swim team and had to laugh – we were such rookies! Now we are a full-fledged swim team family – we have a pop up shelter and everything. We’ve hit the big leagues!

She is having a great time, and so are we. The team is a fantastic group – and I don’t just mean the kids! The great (and sometimes overwhelming) thing about swim team is that it really does involve the entire family (and a lot of time), and as a result we’ve gotten to know the other families and made some really good friends. The parents and kids are all really supportive of each other, too, which is refreshing.

While I don’t think I’ll be sending Kate off to one of those Olympic training farms any time soon, she is becoming a stronger swimmer every day and I enjoy watching her confidence grow.

And the best part? She has a ton of fun.

Someone remind me how warm and fuzzy I feel about all of this during the 14-hour Championships day, ok?

I thought I’d make things simple and have a combined family birthday party for both of the kids.

That plan totally backfired.

Instead of having two birthdays, this has turned into a month-long celebration. First we had Sam’s birthday celebration at school. And then one on his actual birthday. Then we had their combined birthday party this Sunday. Friday is Kate’s actual birthday, when we’ll celebrate with her class at school and then go out to dinner and bowling. And then the week after that, we’ll have her “friend” birthday party at the skating rink (that is, if I ever get around to calling to schedule it. And then send invitations. So yeah, that’s questionable.). Not to mention, we’re like hemorrhaging money.

Shoot me.

Even though it stressed me out, their party turned out to be nice, and they had a ball. Here are some pictures, taken by my talented sister Anna.

Check out the cake. I made it myself!

Yeah right – we all know what happens when I bake a cake. Actually, I ordered it from our friend Cortney at Sweet Top Cakery!

Isn’t it cute?

And Luanne at Lulee’s Lollies outdid herself this time – the Star Wars characters she made were amazing!

I only have one birthday party tip, but it is a good one – scoop ice cream into muffin tins before the party to avoid craziness when it’s time to cut the cake!

Kate, aka Princess Leia.

Sam’s lightsaber collection was enough to keep all the kids (and some of the adults) occupied.

Kate and Joshua “fighting.”

Jenny’s husband Bobby is an excellent multitasker.

This is my niece Lily reenacting the scene where Vader gets his hand cut off.

Kate takes this all very seriously.

Cutiepie Jonah.

Kate and her Chewbacca lollie.

The birthday boy.

Looking back on it, I guess it wasn’t that bad. But May can’t get here soon enough!

At the time I was in high school and thought that was a classic case of “be careful what you wish for.” I mean, I was more than slightly nerdy. I was the president of the marching band, for the love of God.

Now, though, I have a different perspective and completely understand where they were coming from. Being popular or in the in-crowd is a pretty loaded proposition and comes with a lot of pressure. (Or so I’ve heard.)

Her words stuck with me and I now share that wish for my own kids. However, for the last few years I’ve had the nagging feeling that maybe the dorkiness thing wouldn’t work out for Kate. I worried that because she is so pretty, so smart, and so outgoing, that – despite family tradition and a strong genetic predisposition – she might not have any nerd in her.

I was wrong.

My first hint that things might be going my way happened the other night when I walked in her room to find her reading a bedtime story and marking typos with a red pen.

Tears of pride, people. Tears of pride.

But I have to tip my hat to my husband, who recently solidified her membership into the dork club for life.

He made her a Star Wars fan.

It all started about a month ago, when Andy was home with the kids on what seemed like an endless run of snow days. They were all bored, so he took the opportunity to introduce the kids to Star Wars movies, and when that went well he brought out the big guns – the boxes (and boxes and boxes) of Star Wars paraphernalia (1976-present) that had been living in our garage (and now live in our basement. yay.).

The kids are hooked.

Now I am constantly getting hit with light sabers and hearing fascinating conversations that start out “Daddy, who was See See Tin’s padawan?” It is seriously all I can do not to yell out “WHO CARES???”

My eyes are sore from all the rolling.

My worries about Kate not being dorky enough??

Gone.

Frankly, “band nerd” is the best-case scenario at this point.

It’s not about serious things… she doesn’t lie to try to get out of being in trouble (most of the time). Generally speaking, it’s stuff of zero consequence, and a lot of times it seems like she does it in an effort to justify her decisions or actions.

My initial reaction to this was to demand that she admit what she was saying wasn’t true, but as I continued to think about it, I wondered if it wasn’t some sort of developmental thing and maybe I was being too hard on her.

So, whaddya think? Are tall tales something to nip in the bud or are they a sign of budding creativity?

The view was amazing.

Kate loved to walk down the dock...

Jump off...

And run back.

They played in the sand for hours.

They had sand everywhere.

Sam made a baseball.

We ate lots of ice cream...

And made smores on the beach each night.

Evenings were our favorite.

Of course, we loved going out to eat for dinner!

My boys had fun.

A highlight of the trip was visiting Sleeping Bear Dunes.

Kate climbed, and climbed, and climbed.

While we were there, she practiced for her senior pictures.

So cute together... for the three minutes Sam stayed in their bed.

Ah, bliss.