Well, all the kids are sick with croup. I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that it was given to them by David Cook.

Congratulation to the Barnet family! Total awesomeness.

In other news, there was just a big(gish) earthquake. News services are reporting that it was a crackling 3.8. I thought the parking lot would open up and swallow my car, but fortunately that did not happen.

Chase has a cold. I'm not sure where he got it from, but he's been a little bit sick. We're anxiously awaiting the coming sickness of the babies - I'm sure it's only a matter of time.

Mason now has two teeth. Jaxon has none. Jaxon is starting to jabber but Mason does not. Both babies are extremely proficient at rolling around the floor and maneuvering. Both babies are on the cusp of crawling - they both do a kind of strange lunging, twisting motion in order to get something they want. They are also becoming fairly good at holding their bottles, which is very nice; however, they both are outgrowing the bottle and are wanting more and more food. Jaxon used to choke down Cheerios reluctantly, but now shoves them in his mouth as fast as possible as if it's the last time he'll ever eat.

Soooo, the family is doing well and we're all plugging along.

Now, on to American Idol. How awesome is this season? It's almost as if America is reading my mind and collectively working to make my dreams come true. I was really glad that Carly Smithson didn't go home last week. Last week was the first time she performed with a long-sleeved shirt. I was afraid that if she went home last week she would think it was because she didn't display that atrocious monstrosity on her arm while performing. In fact, covering that thing up was probably what kept her on for one more week. But now she's gone.

I really hope (and I think there's an excellent chance) that Jason Castro will go home next week. If it's not Jason then it will probably be Syesha Mercado. I think her time is just about up. From there I'm hoping for a Michael Johns-style shocker for David Cook.

I know they're eight months now, but here's their 6-month picture. New pictures forthcoming.

I realize that many of you have been visiting our page to get my analysis of American Idol news. Unfortunately for you there haven't been any updates here recently. Even worse, I'm not going to discuss that right now - you'll have to wait until after I cover baby updates and such.

Did you know that Chase still has a red mark of his forehead from his rug burn? Well, he does.

The most important bit of baby news is that both babies now sleep through the night. Basically. They get their last bottle at 7p and don't eat again until 7a. They get up fairly early still, but it's better than getting up early after getting up in the middle of the night. All it took to get Mason to sleep is one night of him screaming from dusk to dawn. It sounds harsh but it's not as bad as it sounds. We closed the doors so we couldn't really hear him. This occurred about two weeks ago and life's been good ever since.

More interesting, Mason and Jaxon have switched roles. Mason now goes to sleep on his own once we put him in bed. He's generally happy and pleasant. Jaxon, on the other hand, is just plain grumpy. They both have ther own special talents. Jaxon is very good at rolling around the house and maneuvering around. Mason is better at sitting up. Both of them are getting pretty good at self-feeding.

Emilie and I decided we would post several pictures, which we will put up separate from this post.

Now, on to American Idol. Lisa is foolish for paying money to download David Cook's music. We've seen some more phenomenal eliminations. Since my last entry we've lost Chikezie, Ramiele Malubay and Michael Johns. How awesome is that? Michael Johns' elimination was especially sweet for several reasons, but mostly because he acted so surprised. The fact that he thought he didn't deserve to go is proof that he was ripe for removal. Next to go will be Carly Smithson and Syesha Mercado. Strangely, I think at least one of those two will go before Kristy Lee Cook. In my dream world the eliminations will occur in the following order: Jason Castro, Carly Smithson, David Cook and Kristy Lee Cook. I have to say, David Cook has been less creepy lately, but he's still creepy.