Just in case anyone wonders I have disappeared from Blog world, here's a day in the life of a mom of 3 young boys (oh-and BTW we adopted a 3rd son in September! He is now 6 months old :-)
1:20 AM-wake to the sound of 4 year old screaming bloody murder. Run up the stairs to see what is wrong only to discover that he is sound asleep. Hello, night terrors (again). Lay him back down, rub his back until he calms down, then head back downstairs
1:30 AM-just got laid back down when the baby starts crying-not just a little fuss, but an "I'm hungry right now" wail. Fix bottle, run back up stairs, change, feed, re-swaddle, and put baby back to bed.
2:15 AM-get back downstairs and attempt to sleep
3:40 AM-wake up to sound of baby fussing loudly, working towards a big cry. Bolt out of bed, run upstairs as quickly as possible, frantically search around crib for lost pacifier in the dark, find pacifier, give it to baby and gently rock him side to side in his crib for a few minutes to get him back to sleep.
3:55 AM-back downstairs attempting to sleep again.
4:30 AM-neighbor's car door slams, dogs go crazy barking, baby starts crying again. Run BACK upstairs, give baby pacifier back again
5:30 AM-hear 2 year old whisper "mama?" in a very confused voice. Tell him that it is ok and rub his back while he falls back to sleep.
6:30 AM-2 year old wakes up for the day, head downstairs. About the time first foot hits the bottom step, baby starts screaming. Run back upstairs to get baby in the hopes of keeping 4 year old (who needs a lot more sleep than the other two) from getting woken up early and therefore being a grouch.
6:40 AM-feed baby a bottle, get 2 year old a cup of chocolate milk, turn on a PBS cartoon in hopes of resting for just 15 more minutes while the baby plays and the 2 year old watches TV
7:00 AM-4 year old wakes for no apparent reason, arrives at bottom of stairs with a scowl and saying he is still tired.
7:15 AM-get yogurt, fruit, and cereal for the 2 and 4 year olds on the table, take baby into bathroom with me to attempt to brush teeth, comb hair, and get dressed.
7:30 AM-realize that I am not going to be able to spend much time getting ready as a screaming match has broken out in the kitchen over who is touching whose cereal bowl.
7:45 AM-get all 3 kids dressed (well, B wore his pajamas because it was pajama day at school, but since I didn't put him in the right pajamas the night before, he still had to change into the "cool" ones!)
8:15 AM-pack diaper bag, get coats together, find a clean spit up cloth for baby, referee at least 3 arguments, use the sentence "do not pull your brother around by his head", "we don't throw wet pull-ups" and "cereal does not belong on the floor" all in 20 minutes time, feed baby cereal and fruit
8:55 AM-mad dash to get everyone's shoes on and in the car
9:00 AM- leave to take 4 year old to preschool
9:10 AM-be reminded by my 4 year old that we need to pray before I drop him off at school, pray while driving
9:13 AM-pull in preschool parking lot, get 2 and 4 year olds out of carseats and into jackets and hats, get baby out of car and bundled under a blanket in his seat, realize I forgot my own jacket at home so get cold and wet in the snow. Also realize my jeans are too long for the shoes I wore and hem of jeans get totally soaked
9:15 AM-get B inside just as the teacher opens the door to let the kids in the classroom. Notice his shoes are untied and tie them. Have him hang up his back pack and get his folder. Kiss him goodbye while wondering what havoc 2 year old is reeking while I am paying attention to B.
9:20 AM-get 2 year old and baby back in car and head for the bank to make a deposit.
9:45 AM-Arrive at bank only to realize it is closed for Veteran's Day and I don't have an envelop to do an ATM deposit or night deposit. Drive away realizing I'll have to come back the next day with all 3 kids.
10:00 AM-arrive at grocery store. Get 2 year old out and in coat/hat, put him in the front of cart. Get baby seat out and put him in back of cart. Realize that while I was getting baby out of the car 2 year old has kicked his boots off into a giant puddle and they now have water in them. Put them back on him anyway and head into the store.
10:15 Baby demands a bottle in the middle of the store even though it is not close to time. While feeding baby, 2 year old announces he has pooped in his pull up to the entire store.
10:40 AM go to restroom in store and change both baby and 2 year old. Try to use the restroom myself while 2 year old opens door as I am sitting on the toilet.
10:50 AM-realize we have to rush to pick up the necessities and check out before we have to leave to pick 4 year old up at preschool.
11:00 AM-get in check out line hoping we have at least the bare essentials in there and not being at all sure since 2 year old was adding to and taking from cart every time I turned my back.
11:15 AM check out is done, go back to car, load up both kids (taking of coats, hats, and blankets), load up groceries (while still freezing and getting soaked due to forgetting my own coat)
11:25 AM-get in car and drive straight to preschool to pick up B.
11:43 AM-arrive at school with 2 minutes to spare, unload both baby and 2 year old again (coats, hats, etc) and rush inside. 2 year old jumps off sidewalk into mudpuddle on the way, of course.
11:45 AM: get 4 year old from teacher, get backpack, coat, and the Mystery Box (it's his turn to bring in a surprise that starts with the letter of the week for his classmates to guess). Get all 3 kids, backpack, mystery box, etc back to car and loaded up.
12:00 PM Arrive home, unpack all 3 kids, carry in all groceries, put away all groceries as 2 and 4 year old run around the house like wild men and baby starts fussing for nap time.
12:20 PM-Put baby down for nap, start making lunch, which is salami sandwhiches, carrots, and bananas today. Get lunch on table. 4 year old comes out of bathroom asking for a "butt check", I follow him back in the bathroom only to discover hte toilet is clogged because 2 year old put a shape sorter shape in there, then 4 year old pooped on top of it and attempted to flush. Get plastic bags around arm, dig in toilet for shape sorter shape, toss it in the trash, flush the toilet again, wipe 4 year old's bottom, wash hands and head back for lunch.
12:45 PM in middle of lunch 2 year old has typical reflux episode and pukes up half of his lunch all over himself and his plate. 4 year old starts grossing out and saying yuck, etc. Clean up 2 year old, who keeps telling me the vomit looks like applesauce, which by the way, it does NOT.
1:00 PM make 2 year old new sandwich
1:15 PM-clean up lunch trash and dishes, read a story to the boys, lay them both down for quiet time.
1:30 PM-baby wakes up (can't have all 3 asleep at once!) run upstairs and get him, play with him for an hour while boys rest and baby then decides to go back to sleep.
2:50 PM-7year old niece arrives home from school, big boys get up, baby is napping.
2:50-3:30-the most relaxing part of my day. The boys play with my niece while I check email, return a phone call, etc.
3:30 PM-sister arrives and picks up niece
4:00 PM-baby wakes up, make bottle, run upstairs to get him, nearly step in dog poop in front of his door, clean up the dog poop, get baby and feed him
4:30 PM- play in living room with the boys
5:00 PM-begin cooking dinner, all 3 boys coming in and out of kitchen the whole time, sort laundry while dinner is in the oven
6:00 PM-dinner on the table. Nobody besides me likes it. They eat only grapes and a crescent roll.
6:30 PM-give in and let hte boys watch a cartoon and play my kindle while I clean up from dinner-get about half cleaned up when baby starts crying for his dinner, feed baby veggies and a bottle. While doing this, 4 year old comes out of bathroom and walk through entire house carrying a dripping wet plastic grocery sack which came out of the toilet. clean up water from all over downstairs.
7:30 PM-get baby in sleeper, read him a bedtime story, swaddle him and put him to bed. Switch laundry, re-sort the piles the 2 year old mixed back together.508:15 PM get 2 and 4 year old in jammies, read story, brush teeth, put them to bed.
9:00 PM sit down to write blog post
9:30 PM baby wakes up screaming for no apparent reason, run upstairs and calm him back down
9:45 PM come back downstairs to work on blog post.
9:55 PM baby starts screaming again. Give up on blog post and admit that I don't have time to blog...
