Lather, Rinse, Repeat about a 100 times...

What's not to love?

I have impeccable timing. Impeccably horrible timing when it comes to changing sheets. I'll be the first one to admit that this isn't something that occurs on any regular basis, you know, like every Tuesday or something like that. Mostly it happens when I remember, have time, and think they might be getting dirty. It never fails, however, that when I choose to change them Cal will undoubtly wet the bed that night leading me to have to strip and wash AGAIN.

So early last week, I went through and did all the beds, the crib, the works! And what happens? You got it, illness strikes. Not ANY kind of illness, just the super crazy contagious kind, named conjunctivitis. Awesome. Now I had had this about 10 days before. Not so bad for me, since I could just wash my pillowcase and towels. For Cal though we had to wash all the sheets, his blankets, clothes, towels, EVERYTHING, each day for two days. Then after that's been done, I had given him some Dimetap to tame is wild coughing attacks at night. Too drowsy to fully wake up and go to the bathroom, I get called in at night, to Cal who's sobbing, "I'm all wet". Awesome. A couple days later, snot is oozing out of Ben's eye too. I had been trying to repeatedly wash everyone's hands and was confiscating toys (especially Seth's) any time I thought they might be compromised. To be honest, the only reason I think the baby didn't get it is because he doesn't touch his eyes. I've washed my own so many times that they look like the dry, cracked mitts of an 80-year-old woman. Great. Keep on washin'.

Anyway, laundry piled up again as I had to now wash all of Ben's stuff repeatedly as well. Fun times. The best though, were the eyedrops. My kids love medicine. They think it's candy and ask for it by color. Are we having the purple one tonight? How about the orange crunchy balls? Where's the white one that tastes like banana? Love it. But eyedrops are a whole different ball game. Cal got spared since his antibiotic for the double ear infection covered the eye goop. Ben, on the other hand, just had a cold so he didn't need any other meds. Nothing like trying to hold down a two year old, pry his eye open, and get the drop in all at the same time. Call me a superhero - I got the job done.

How are we faring in the sleep department? Well, let me tell you, sleep is for wimps. I've decided I no longer need to sleep....so HA! Take that all you sleep-deprived mothers. I'm truly in superhero mode now (hmmm maybe I've been reading too much Twilight). Anyway, I'm now used to routinely waking up FIVE times a night. That's right, five. On this particular night I felt like a ping pong ball being bounced from one bed to another. It went down like this...Seth woke up first for a nursing at 12:30am, then Cal woke up crying at 1:30 because he "couldn't sleep". After a brief lesson on counting sheep, I stumbled back to my own bed praying for a few hours rest. I didn't get woken until 4am with the baby hacking his little head off and crying. I got all the way to the door to the playroom only to realize he'd stopped crying and gone back to sleep. Back to my bed. Then I hear another "waaaaaaaaaaa, mommy, moooommyyyyyyyy!". It's almost 5am. I get out of bed fast this time, livid that Cal is actually calling for me again, only to realize as I reach the hall that it's Ben. Crap. I go in, rub his back, and tell him it's still nighttime, he needs to go back to sleep. This is usually all the reassurance he needs when he's sick. Just as I cozy down in my nice warm bed again, the monitor blips, and I hear Seth's cries. 5:15 - time to go feed him. That's just one night among the many over the past week or so. Keep in mind, I'm also sick, so it's been extra fun for me.

So again, to anyone out there who has 2 kids and is contemplating a third. Think about what happens when all 3 of them get sick. This is a first for us and let me tell you, NOT FUN.

Project Time!

Bunny making

Glueing beads on a shamrock

Let me just be clear on one thing I HATE spring. Yes, even more than winter. Spring makes me feel manic-depressive. It's the only season where you can have a day that is 55 and sunny and you are so happy you just want to cry. The trees look like they just might burst with buds, your walking in something other than boots, and you think those quacks might just have something with the whole "new life, rebirth" bullshit. And then BAM! the next day it's 35 and the trees are heavy with snow and you're in the DEAD of winter again. All your hopes smashed and you go running back inside, ready to crawl under the covers, mad that you actually let yourself believe it might be spring. I like consistency. I like to know what to expect. I don't like spring. There's nothing certain about it.

This isn't a new revelation for me. Spring has never been my favorite time of year for many reasons. Here in the Woodlands, we have the extra benefit of receiving very little sun, which means our neighborhood retains the lovely mud-stained snow for 6-8 weeks longer than anywhere else. Nothing is more depressing than driving back home to see brown and white - blah! No birds twittering or flowers sprouting here, folks!

Plus I'm bored. There I said it. I've been stuck in my house all winter long and I don't think "cabin fever" is quite the phase to describe it. That would be a gross understatement. The baby keeps us stowed away inside most of the day since he's napping or eating solids or nursing. The times I do leave the house it's out of sheer necessity. Someone's gotta pick up Cal from preschool right? And actually, I'm so happy that I DO have a reason to get out at 11am everyday so that I at least force myself to look presentable on a daily basis. This helps keep me sane.

You'd think my house would be spotless since I'm in it all the time. What else am I doing right? Not so. It makes it worse that we're here all time. The kids have started to become creative with their "play". Now I think it might be a game...like who can make the biggest mess the fastest. I've taken to "project time" to keep them and ME busy. The key is to have said project involve glue. It's the only way to keep little boys occupied with art for longer than 5 minutes. I stock up on glue of all kinds - glitter glue, glue sticks, Elmer's glue, whatever, they LOVE glue. If they empty half the bottle in one puddle on a piece of construction paper? Awesome. It took at least 10 mins to squeeze that much out. Most times I can convince them to then stick something in the glue so that might take another 5. Last week was shamrocks, this week is bunnies and eggs, and next week we're doing some Passover crafts. Lots O Fun.

So while spring might have sprung, let's just hope that like our projects it STICKS.

Isn't It Ironic?

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I'm finding it more than a little ironic that I called this baby "angelic" just a little over a week ago. I don't know, maybe I've lost a little perspective, but we had a hellatious couple days that seemed like FOREVER. I felt like he didn't sleep a wink during the day for an entire week but that can't possibly be true, can it??! I went from complaining at his 6 month checkup that he doesn't take long, consolidated naps to just wishing he'd stop crying and sleep for even 15 minutes!! I consulted my sleep book nightly, emailed detailed sleep logs to a friend who I'm sure is thinking "Calm down! He's fine!" and put in numerous calls to my neighbor who was probably thinking, "Listen up wuss! MY kid had some REAL colic for MONTHS so shut up!!" Again, I urge you to remember I was definitely losing perspective while this was occurring. My many hypotheses were teething (gasp!), immunizations (maybe), separation anxiety (not likely), and my personal favorite-he doesn't know how to self-soothe on account of I haven't seen him suck his thumb to fall asleep. I know, I was beginning to become delusional - what can I say?

It's Tuesday now and Seth seems to be rejoining the world of sleep and waking in a semi-normal cycle so I guess my best "excuse" is that his shots made him do it! Meanwhile at the homestead, I've also dealt with a bout of conjunctivitis for myself and Cal now has that cough that comes and lingers for a few weeks. He's been hacking away day and night spewing germs on everything in sight. Awesome. Can't wait for that to make its rounds.

Anyway, Seth is definitely the peanut of the family. He's weighing in a little less than 15 pounds. Ridiculous if you consider that both his brothers weighed a full 2.5 lbs more than that at the same age! Not that I'm complaining, my back could use the break.

Places everyone, PLACES!!

As you can see from the top two pics, Seth is not bearing much resemblance to Ben. Wow! and what a little chunker Ben was at 6 months!!

This wins for my favorite picture ever!! What an expression!! I thought the picture of Cal had a similar expression but it's not quite as funny.

Again, I have to give Kudos to Sears, even though the pics aren't perfect. I seem to never get a very good family pic. In this one it looks like Eric's chin is resting on my head. Seriously, could you just tell him to move a little?!?! But whatever, they're fast which is of the utmost importance when dealing with the kids. The boys have about 12 pics in them MAX so if I want multiple poses then we just have to shoot away and be done in 15 mins or less.

Who's Who?

If it weren't for the hair, you might think all these pics are of the same baby! Two are of Cal and two of Seth!!!

More 2-year-olds please!

What I wouldn't give to have all 2 year olds, ALL the time. Call me crazy, but this has decidedly been the best age for each of my kids so far. No terrible 2's here...but now that I've said it I'll probably eat my own words when Seth turns 2. So far 2 is equivalent with happy to please, very little back talk, and mostly just funny little kids. Plus they're still cute in that baby way but you don't have to wait on them and foot. Oh and once they hit 3, you send 'em off to preschool where they get corrupted! It's all over after that.

Ben had the most fun with the photo shoot. Tell him what to do and he'd do it. We took 2 cars to Sears so that Eric could skedaddle with the kids while I picked out photos after. On the way over I took the liberty of reminding Ben to stay where they put him and smile. A few minutes later he said to me, "Ok mommy, I smile, I promise!"

Continued...

Zoweeeeeeeeeeee

Yeah, I don't know what that (Zoweeeee) means either. I'm just amazed that it's been so long since my last post. Nothing IS new, although that's never stopped me before. I've been reading a lot of other blogs lately - they seem to be sprouting up faster than a tulip in spring - and thus have neglected my own. Oh and then there's that other little demon (no, not my kids) Facebook that's been knocking at my door every second it gets. I'll be really glad when the FB fad peters out. It's like an itch I can't scratch...even though it's annoying, it's always there and I keep going back to it. On to other things...


Here he is, the precious little angelic baby. Ok, that's going a tad too far but he does seem to be a rather contented baby with little or no effort on my part. Which is good, because as of late, I haven't had much energy! I guess old age is catching up with me. I knew 30 was going to be a killer :) Anyway, Seth's latest and greatest is that HE HAS A TOOTH! No shit, right? I almost dropped dead when I discovered it. For those of you that don't know we're what's known as "late erupters" in the dental world. Teeth come in late and are late to fall out too. Not a child of mine has had a single tooth before 9 months of age until now!! No wonder he's been biting me lately! Might explain a few fussy days as well.

At six months of age now (I know, time really is springing forward isn't it?), he's got a tooth and I have to start feeding solids. I only thought this was fun the first time around. By the time Ben came around I was over it and now I think I'm actually dreading the baby food phase. Just one more thing to add to schedule and that much more mess to clean up. Can't babies just nurse exclusively for the first year? Who needs to learn to eat - isn't America overfed anyways!!!!?!??

Did you notice Seth has the spoon in his left hand?? Is it possible, I ask, to have left-handedness so imbedded in your genes to have an entire FAMILY of left-handed people??? We've got 4 out of 5 so far...who wants to place a bet on Seth???!?

This kid is a total goofball. What can I say?