Blips from the last week

Walking through the Health and Beauty section of WalMart with all four kids - a woman dropped a box of condoms in my cart and kept on walking.

At the OB office for my post-partum check - the doctor was going over birth control options and he suggested a Vas.  I stage whispered to him that "I don't have a Penis, Doctor." , thinking I was being sly since the kids didn't hear me. 

The kids and I were walking through a store and Jacob suddenly hides behind me.  I asked him what was wrong - turns out we had passed a little girl.  He gestured to me to come down to him and he whispers "Mommy, do you know why I hid? I'm embarrassed.  That girl is pretty and I love her."

I mowed the grass and when I was fnished I took my clothes off in the laundry room so I could shower - between the laundry room and the shower, I decided to go outside and put birdseed out.  I got as far as my porch wearing just my bra.

Hopefully next week I will remember to put my brain in before leaving the house. 

 

 

Blue Friday

Just one of those days where I have tears in my eyes all day.  Sometimes, you just want to hug your mom.  Too bad my kids aren't having that kind of day.  I think I scare them sometimes.  Maybe it's all in my head.  Probably.  This parenting thing sure is tough.  My two year old has Hand Foot and Mouth Disease.  He is so miserable.  I've never really had to handle this particular virus.  I think the Dr.  told me it will stick around about a week?  Not sure? 

On the upside.  School physicals are taken care of.  The oldest two kids are still glaring at me since I made them get the shots.  That was heartbreaking.  I could never describe how I felt having to hold my screaming children down.  The accusing looks are like blades through my heart.  Unfortunately, I am just one of those people that believe in getting immunized.  Anywhos, I don't have to worry about that anymore.  On another upside, Robby slept in his crib last night.  :-)  After his 4 am feeding I put him in his bouncy so I could go to the bathroom, and he soothed himself to sleep, so I left him there.  But he did the majority of the night in his crib.  Go, little guy.

I think I'm going to scrub the bathroom now.  I hope to clean away my blues with all the germs.

Breaking in the "crib scene"

We finally found the last piece we were missing to our crib.  The crib has seen a lot of miles, and we thought we wouldn't need it anymore, so the parts were scattered.  Oops, lol.  Anywhos, Robby has been sleeping in his bouncy seat next to my bed.  We want to put him in his crib as soon as he starts sleeping through the night (in a few months time, hopefully!)  So, I have started putting him in the pack n play to get used to lying flat, yada yada yada.  He will only sleep for twenty minutes at a time, but it is a start!  Right now he is kind of chilling and cooing in there, so that means he is comfy and safe.  I guess we are on the right track.  I need to get him sleeping in the pack n play soon because he is starting to wiggle around a lot in the bouncy.  I can't believe time is going so fast...

What is up with this kid?

I mean, seriously.  I don't know what to do.  I have heard about acting out to get attention, but this is insane.  I just walked into Jacob's room and caught him peeing behind his door on the wall.  He knew he was so busted.  He immediately said "Oh, sorry."  My goodness.  I don't even know what to do.  He had JUST left the bathroom after going potty.  I mean, he walked from the bathroom, then went straight into his room and peed behind his door.  I know he went in the bathroom because he dropped his little rubber ball in the toilet and was complaining about it being in the pee.  Give me strength.  I know there are worse things, but what I am doing wrong?

Taking a breath

So yesterday, I was getting the kids a snack and drinks, then I was going to make dh a drink.  Well, I walked by a trash bag that I hadn't gotten a chance to take out yet.  There was a piece of broken plate pushing at the bag.  I managed to catch my small toe on it and sliced it pretty good.  Dh bandaged me up, no big deal.  

Well, then last night, my foot felt like it was on fire and my toe was throbbing.  I figured the bandage was too tight so I asked dh to take that one off and put on regular bandaids.  In typical man fashion, he pulls the end of the tape and just starts tugging it up to unroll it.  The more I winced and dug my nails into his leg, the harder he tugged and the more he snickered.  So he rips that dang bandage right off the wound and opens it back up.  Then he pushes hard and rubs on it to clean it up.  Still snickering!  He is like "For a woman who has had babies naturally, you sure are a wuss!"  YES, I AM!  And I wear that Wuss badge proudly!   Just because I have had babies doesn't mean I am not a wuss about pain!  He finally puts the bandaids on, pushing down on them.  Ouch, ouch, ouch.  Two Tyenols later, and I was fast asleep.  This morning, I changed my own bandaids.  I'm no dummy. 

So now I am trying to convince the kids that "Quiet time" does not mean stay in your room and pretend to be a Dinosour as loud as you can.  ::sigh::  I am off to go try to find my kitchen underneath all the stuff that is lying around.  Six week growth spurts stink...almost home free to having my life back. 

 

Growing up

Robby is going to be six weeks on Monday.  My gosh, time flies.  The first six weeks are the most difficult, and I am sad they are over.  He is getting so big already.  These pictures were taken in the past 5 days...at five weeks.

Boy, am I having fun now that I know how to download the pictures on my own.  I was trying to make something super easy difficult, lol. 

A little less shaggy

Dh took Jacob for a hair cut today.  Much better if I do say so myself.  Look at "Wood Sprite" for a before picture :-)

"The Boys"

Let's do a head count.  Hmmm.  Four boys and just two girls in this family.  I think Alexia and I may be in trouble.  Why?

I told Jacob he could play on the computer while I nursed Robby.  He was excited, and said ok.  I looked down, then I looked up again to see Jacob standing next to my dresser peeing.  Yes, peeing.  Just like he would at the toilet.  Not having an accident, but intentionally peeing on the side of my dresser.  Unfortunately, I was so shocked I reacted like a raging lunatic asking him what he thought he was doing.  I never in a million years expected to look up and see my five and a half year old peeing on my furniture like it was the normal thing to do.

Earlier in the day, I had fed the kids noodles with lunch.  When we were going to leave the house an hour later, my two year old reached into his pocket and pulled something out and ate it.  I asked him what it was.  Turns out he had a pocket full of noodles to snack on at his leisure.  I guess I should feed them more often, so they don't have to form their own stockpiles...

On the subject of boys...I had asked my husband to buy a loaf of bread earlier this week.  He told me no.  So I said, ok, Robby and I are going to walk over and get one.  He said fine.  I waved at him as I walked past the window and trotted off to get some bread.  That night, dh gets home from Martial Arts class and says "Your bread you asked for is on the table."  ::scratching head::  I am still trying to figure out that one.  He said he was just doing what I asked...not that I am not grateful.  Just confused.  :-)

Alexia and I either need to stick close together, or redefine our idea of normal.

Just odd

Yesterday was just odd all around.  While I was fixing the puppies, I forgot I was boiling our last four eggs.  Half an hour to 45 minutse later I remembered them.  Thank goodness there was still enough water that I saved my pot.  We ate the eggs anyway.  A little rubbery, they are still bouncing around in our tummies. 

I decided to go out and get gas drops for the baby.  That turned out to be a mistake.  I misjudged the distance between my vehicle and a brick post.  See this coming?  I dented the side all up.  The sad part is that I hit it, then stopped for a second, then kept on going, denting it further.  What the heck was I thinking?  "INVINCIBLE MOMMY!  I CAN GO THROUGH BRICKS!"  Yeah, right.  I might be invincible, but my vehicle isn't, much to dh's upset. 

The puppies got out again last night, and my lovely husband went out at midnight in the rain to put them back.  He also put them back twice this morning.  I was left doing it the third time.  Thankfully it all went smoothly this time.  Sorry, no slip and sliding. 

Today we went up the road for a minute.  Bugs were flying everywhere.  It was really weird.  And frankly, they looked like termites to me.  I don't want to make a fish story out of this, but they were so thick I had to swim through them and wipe my glasses off.  Ok, so I said I wasn't going to make a fish story of it.  There were always at least 3 on my windsheild at all times.  Better?  :-)  It was kinda creepy with all those bugs of the same kind flying around.  It is really muggy/damp, so they might very well have been termites.  I hope none hitched a ride on the way home.  I have already had this kind of termite eat one house of mine.  No more chomping, please.

 

Puppy Dilemmas

So, this morning I was sitting in the chair nursing Robby when I became aware of our two large dogs at our back door.  They were clawing up the frames and destroying the screen doors trying to get to the cats.  ::sigh::  You see, we have our backyard divided into two sections.  One for the dogs, one for the kids and us.  Everytime it rains for several days in a row, the fenceline becomes a bog of mud and the dogs dig under it.  ::sighs again:: So I head out, leashing the most problamatic "puppy."  She is over 100 pounds and really wants to sink her jaws around our two cats.  The cats, to help me out, were standing inbetween my legs when I opened the door.  I did manage to get out safely.   My darling two year old was standing just inside the door holding dishes of dog food to pass to me.  He was so good.  He usually opens the door wide and lets Sydney in.  Yeah...that's always fun...muddy dogs running through the house.  We let the dogs in the house, but under supervision, and when the cats are in our room with the door shut.

Anywhos, I leashed the cat eater and took the bowls of food from Aidan and the other dog followed eagerly.  I got them on their side of the gate where they gobbled up their food.  I retrieved extra wooden stakes and a mallet and worked hard to stake up the new hole they dug.  There.  Dogs properly penned.

I washed my muddy feet and legs off with the hose and went to go into the house.  My two year old had locked the door, and didn't know how to get it unlocked.  Ugh.  No big deal.  I learned a long time ago if I leave the house without the kids for even a mili-second...to have another entrance available to me.  So I had my car keys in my pocket.  I went through the dogs yard to get out by our driveway.  I wish it were that easy though...the sidewalk was covered in mud and I slid like it was my own personal slip and slide.  I look pretty right now with mud matted hair on one side of my head, not to mention the previously all white outfit I had on..  I am not sure if I look like a Hippo rising from the river or what.  I am going with the Hippo image.  Just so you can get a visual ;-)  I opened the garage door and trotted into the house.  And what did I see?  The dogs at the back door looking at me.  Mommy, in all her brilliance, hadn't latched the dogs gate when she went through their yard.  I guess I wanted my own verion of "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see?:"

So I gathered dog treats and slipped carefully out the door again.  Sydney (the larger dog) went gleefully into her yard to retrieve the little pseudo steaks.  Nika, the more docile puppy who is afraid of the cats, dug in.  She wouldn't budge.  I leashed her and tried to pull her in, tried to trick her with treats, nothing doing.  I tried to pick her up.  Yeah, she's 80 lbs and full of mud.  Not that mud bothered me at that point.  Nika is happily playing around the kids yard as I type.  Sydney is yapping miserably from the correct side of the yard.  I think the dogs won this one.  Mommy is headed to the shower.

Did I ever mention that Aidan is in a big boy bed?  I think I might have...here is the picture I promised :-)  He ditched the Binky a few days later.  I was thrilled.  He did it all on his own.

The Wood Sprite

This may seem a little odd, but what can I say.  I am a little odd!  I have been so desperate to find a little insight in child rearing that I checked out a book from the library.  I can't remember the name of it, and I turned it in already.  I didn't read the entire book.  I flitted here, and there, carrying little chunks of ideas to help me along the parenting journey.  I found two things very helpful.  First, the author grouped parents into several different groups.  I fit perfectly into the "Fault Finder" group.  I am very overprotective, and always assuming that my children will break something, hurt someone, get hurt, or worse...kidnapped, etc.  Paranoid to the max!  Having figured this out,  I can find ways to correct it on my own.  Another piece of information I have carried away is how to look at my Preschoolers in a more positive light.  Instead of looking at Jacob and thinking "He exhausts me.  He's always moving, always talking!", I can look at him and think "Wood Sprite.  Playful, whimsical, flitting here and there to learn new things."  Seems simple enough, but it has helped tremendously.

I have done one major thing with this new information.  I have gotten rid of the naughty stool and created "The Charts."  Everytime I see something that pleases me, I quietly count off star stickers and tell them that they earned a star, and why.  At the end of the day, I sit down with Jacob and Alexia, one at a time.  I have them choose which column they want to stick the stars they earned that day.  They can earn things like TV time, computer time, a candy treat, a small toy, etc.  The big thing Jacob is going for is earning his games back.  We took them away during his "Your're stupid!  You're Poopy!" phase.  I must say though, he rarely spouts off with those words anymore.  Anywhos, I am finding that emphasizing the positive is going much better than emphasizing the negative.  I also don't really mind that Jacob never sits still or stops talking.  I just think in my head "Wood Sprite!", and I smile and go on about my business.  I need to look that book up again to get the author and title to credit her.

 

 

Trying to keep ahead of them

Trying is the operative word.  I just can't seem to stay even one step ahead.  I am usually ten steps behind them.  I vacuumed the kitchen and was getting some milk for two of the kids before I mopped.  I heard a loud crash.  I turned around and Jacob had dropped a plate from the set my Mother had purchased for me (her first born daughter) back in the 1960's.  I used to save it for "special occasions," but then decided that every day we live is a special occasion. This attitude has earned me four less plates to the set.  And the handle off of the sugar bowl.  Somehow, it doesn't really bother me.  It's better to enjoy and then lose it, then to never enjoy at all.  Right?

However, I digress.  Alan woke up in such a bad mood this morning, that I wanted to surprise him with a clean house when he gets home.  Sadly, it would have been a huge surprise.  I just can't seem to do it.  My house always has that "tornado just went through" look.  Forget "lived in."  My house goes way past that.  I am just sitting here and pondering whether I should be bothered that I can't keep ahead of them, or if I should just enjoy them while the ride lasts.  Trust me, rearing these children is quite a ride.  It's always something.  Keeps me on my toes.

Finally

:-) 

I'm still here

Just aggrevated.  Annoyed with the world.  I think I might be suffering a little depression.  Hopefully being outdoors and being with my kids will help me shake this.  I don't like taking meds of any sort.  I'm still trying to get DH to get the pictures off the camera for me.  I'm going to have to sit on him or something until he does it this weekend.  Hope everyone had a great fourth of July.