6/26/2009
6:30 am- Decide to get up because Baby Boy is soaked from diaper and bring pillows out to front room intending to lay down once he is cleaned up. Do the morning email, Facebook, and Blogger checks and it is too early for anyone to be up for anything interesting to read.
6:35 am- Bruiser staggers out of her room and announces “poop poop” and I bring her over to lay next to Baby Boy to change her pull-up. Decide not to bother with the potty yet because a piece of it is missing and I don’t feel like trying to sift through house to locate it.
6:40 am- Turn on t.v. and find “My Friends Tigger and Pooh” for Bruiser to watch while she eats an apple and sit down to start recording day. Secretly wonder if my life is interesting to anyone besides self and decide it doesn’t matter so long as I am happy talking about it. Realize I am gross and head off to take shower while only half of kids are up and happy simultaneously.
7:00 am- Get up… check. Take shower… check. Brush teeth and hair… check. Step on scale and have lost another pound but am not happy for some reason… check. Spend ten minutes trying to find clothes that are now two sizes too big and finally get dressed… check.
7:05 am- Boo Bear comes to find me and remind me that I promised we would go to the park today before even saying good morning. I confirm I gave her that promise. Take look in mirror and realize I have more grey hair than most grandmothers and start thinking about how much it will cost to get hair colored and what color I want this time. Get frustrated and go to front room to write some more before starting the day.
7:14 am- Catch Bruiser in kitchen climbing onto “naughty chair” trying to get hands on goldfish crackers and threaten life. Bruiser cries really loud and wakes up Baby Girl.
7:17 am- Love on grumpy morning person Baby Girl and kiss her soft cheek. Notice Bruiser playing a dangerous game of peek-a-boo with Baby Boy and find it sweet and scary and tell her to stop.
7:20 am- Catch Bruiser ripping up “My Little Pony” book and get really mad. Send her to corner. Boo Bear complains about a “grumbling tummy” and Bruiser starts crying out “EAT EAT” from the corner to support Boo Bear.
7:25 am- Watch Baby Girl stagger around like a drunk because she has no balance from her middle ears being all messed up. Get angry that she won’t see ENT until late July and know there is nothing I can do about it.
8:00 am- Have fed older two cereal and Baby Girl some Lemon Pie yogurt. Notice she is eating a little less today but was able to get her to say “all done” when she wants down. Get all the cups and bottles set up for the day and Baby Boy starts to complain.
8:10 am- Have Baby Boy asleep in arms after tiny battle that I won.
8:40 am- Am sitting around because of sleeping baby and realize I need to: call WIC, call EFMP, visit Navy college, call in antibiotics refill and pick up, and pay Star Card, Time Warner, and Dentist House bills. Wow.
8:44 am- Watch as Bruiser does a “magic show” for Baby Girl that goes like this:
Bruiser puts weebles in weeble car and drops them to the floor with loud sound.
Baby Girl says “uh oh”.
Bruiser says “tah dah!”
Baby Girl claps.
Bruiser says “thank you, thank you” as she bows.
8:53 am- Baby Boy now awake. Find it noteworthy to mention both Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson are dead as of yesterday and think Farrah got screwed out of her time in the spotlight by Jackson.
9:15 am- Set out shrimp to thaw for dinner tonight (Curry-Dusted Shrimp with Mango-Ginger Sauce, rice, and vegetables out of the Weight Watchers cookbook Hubby bought me) and think I am awesome.
9:30 am- Daddy V arrives to drop off Scrapper and Baby V and announces he has forgotten diaper bag. I then inform that I have two diapers left myself and he runs to Wal-Mart asap.
10:00 am- Diapers are here and Daddy V has left so I am now running the ship of all six kids. It doesn’t take long for WWE to start up between the two year olds and I decide it is time to go to the park since there is a Relief Society play date now.
10:45 am- Have walked with all six kids to the park with
a) Baby Boy in front carrier on me
b) Baby V in back seat of stroller and Baby Girl in front seat
c) Scrapper and Bruiser holding on each side of stroller and walking
d) And Boo Bear walks freely as long as she listens well
11:00 am- Let kids run around park and end up not even getting to visit or get to know other moms because I am on kid patrol constantly doing head counts.
11:30 am- Am tired and all the other moms are leaving so I get the grumpy babies all set up in carrier and stroller, then bribe older three with a donut each for the walk home.
11:35 am- Just getting started on walk home and a mother and father are pushing their one child in a stroller toward us. Sidewalk is tiny and they pull off to the side to let us all pass. As we pass, woman says “Let me guess, you must be a child care provider.” To which I reply “Well, a couple of them aren’t mine, but four of them are.” And she says “Oh, I’m sorry.” and walks off with husband who then starts in on her that he “wants one more child still” and I pick up the pace to get away from them. C R E E P Y and rude.
11:45 am- Realize I need to get creative and make walk interesting for kids so have them count every road we have to cross and name off colors of cars we pass. Surprisingly have a much more fun walk on way back then way to park because of games.
12:00 pm- Am finally home with all six kids in tact and not run over by any vehicles and Mommy V arrives. So I get lunch made and served while she loves Baby V and Scrapper.
1:00ish pm- Have put down Bruiser, Baby Girl, and Baby V while Boo Bear and Scrapper play and Baby Boy sleeps on my arms. Decide to watch pre-recorded shows of “Mystery Diagnosis” with Mommy V and marvel at stories while Mommy V gets bored.
3:00ish pm- Scrapper is down for nap now and Baby Boy is STILL asleep so I continue to watch “Mystery Diagnosis” as Daddy V comes and goes and Hubby arrives just to take off with Daddy V to go to the store. AM ANNOYED AT HUBBY.
4:30 pm- Time to start dinner now and am excited to see how it tastes when it is complete and V Family leaves for their home.
5:00 pm- Hubby announces he wants to get me a present and thinks after the week (and especially day since it was supposed to be a day off) that he wants to go get it now. I permit it since he promises to pay back credit card on the first and he takes three oldest kids with him.
5:30 pm- Have served up everyone’s plates so I set up Baby Boy in highchair and have a quiet dinner by myself and share mango sauce with him, which he LOVES. Have officially given Baby Boy homemade baby food for first time by letting him taste little bits off of my finger.
5:45 pm- Family returns from store and I sit kids down to eat and Hubby unleashes AWESOME and expensive gifts…
5:50 pm- Am looking over the PS3 “Legend of Spyro Dawn of the Dragons” and BlackJack II phone (pretty much a blackberry!) that Hubby got me just because he loves me and wanted to thank me for all the hard work I put in around here. Love Hubby soooo much!
7:00 pm- Kids are in bath and Hubby is taking care of things while I get to write and look over new toys. Hubby tells me that for someone who couldn’t cook anything but Hamburger Helper when we got married, I have turned into an awesome cook and feel loved and accomplished.
7:10 pm- Am exhausted and so looking forward to weekend off work.
7:30 pm- Squeal like giddy little school girl when I open the box and take out my new phone. Help get Baby Girl diapered and dressed for bed after bath lay her down. Wait a few minutes for her fall asleep before running her feeding pump and hooking her up.
7:45 pm- Am at computer and Hubby is playing a new game on PS3 while Boo Bear sits on couch to watch. Hubby dies in game and M goes “oh crap” and Hubby and I’s mouths hit the floor. We then explain to her that that word is only for mommies and daddies and that she can say “oh poop” and she says “OK, I will try that now!”
7:50 pm- M yells out “oh poop!” and we laugh.
8:00 pm- Hook up Baby Girl to pump and decide it is time to talk to mom on phone.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
A Day in the Life of a Nae
So I LOVED what a friend of mine did yesterday. She posted what she did throughout her day and I have decided it might be interesting to share with others what a day in my life is really like. I mean, how often do you get to glance into a mom's day with four children ages four and under and then two more added in that she babysits that are also two and under? So, just for the fun of it... here is my day(warning, will be crazy long, but totally worth the five or so minutes to read through):
8:00 am- Chastise self for staying up until 11 pm the previous night and swear to do better tonight. Stop avoiding getting up and drag self out of bed to start checking on sleeping children. Find G is awake and watching cartoons (did Darryl leave the t.v. on for her this morning or did she actually learn to turn it on herself???) and has gotten herself an apple. Wonder how aforementioned apple was attained and find she dragged the "naughty chair" over to the counter to reach fruit bowl. Secretly compliment G in head for being resourceful as usual and wonder just how many apples she has eaten before I got up. hmmm...
8:10 am- Bring grumpy Z into front room and lay him on floor to stretch while I do the morning email, Facebook, and Blogger checks on computer. Hear E crying in crib (she is quite the grumpy morning person) and get off computer to go retrieve daughter. As I walk down hall with baby girl, M walks out of her bedroom door and we exchange "good morning" greetings. Z fusses some more.
8:30 am(ish)- Post on Facebook on intentions to be good and get housework caught up somewhat before friends bring over kids for me to babysit. Decide now is good time to take shower.
8:45 am- Shower and brush teeth... check! Get dressed... check! Tame unruly hair... check! Wonder when she will have a shower where kids are not trying to hold conversations during duration... shrug and go on with morning ritual.
9:00 am- Change three yucky diapers and think to self that G should be potty trained but dread the fight to keep her on potty while doing a million other things. Promise self that I will start the effort up again... later.
9:30 am- Have older two kids sitting at table eating breakfast while I feed E Boston Cream Pie yogurt and watch brain-numbing show "Imagination Movers". Love on baby girl and secretly rejoice that today is a good day for her because she is eating. Notice baby girl's sinus infection is coming back again and plan on refilling antibiotics for millionth time.
9:50 am- Sit down at computer to Facebook again and decide to do this blog. Z starts crying again so I try to comfort him.
10:20 am- Make bottle after failed attempt to comfort baby boy and start feeding him. Catch self thinking about all the things I could be getting done and realize baby boy is so sweet in arms as he falls asleep eating.
10:30 am- Am excited when "Phineas and Ferb" comes on t.v. because it is funny and the girls LOVE it. Watch baby girl try to feed herself remnants of G's yogurt cup with spoon turned upside down and laugh at the cuteness. Catch M jumping on bed and send her to corner.
10:34 am- M is surrounded by sisters who miss her during her looong four minute time out and go through the "why are you in time out" "because I (fill in the blank)..." then the "what will happen if you do it again?" "I will go back in time out" and finally the "that's right and now you have to apologize" routine.
10:47 am- Z asleep, M has said sorry and given hugs and kisses to G, am blogging again.
11:00 am- Put Z in bumbo since he has already woken back up and face chores. Turn off t.v. and realize I have pretty much accomplished nothing and other two kids will be here in one hour. Panic.
11:02 am- Scratch bumbo and try exersaucer instead. It works and he stops crying, yay hoo!
11:10 am- Make up bottles and sippy cups of the day for everyone. E's is her normal cocktail of Pediasure, 1 teaspoon Canola Oil, and 2 tablespoons rice cereal. Other two score milk since we bought more last night. Z's is already set up from earlier feeding. Okay, now let's start cleaning dishes.
11:28 am- Decide that the dishes and laundry have a master conspiracy plan against me to break my sanity and that it is working!
11:33 am- Z is fussing again. Scratch exersaucer and try swaddling and feeding again. Scratch swaddling and feeding and try putting him in highchair so he is able to look around better. Scratch that, give up and go out to get baby carrier out of van to put Z in.
11:45 am- Babysitting kids arrive and father realizes mother is off work and packs kids back up so I get an unplanned day off! Sadly, all my kids are heartbroken that other kids have to leave and I am kind of sad to not spend time with them also...
11:50 am- M asks to watch the "Jesus movie" from the Living Scriptures set we bought last night about Lazarus and Jesus. Am proud mother for a minute as I put the movie in.
12:00 pm- Alarm clock goes off reminding me to start lunch (a little trick I adopted after the third child was born when I could hardly remember what time it was for meals or naptimes) and I reset it for snack time at 3:00 pm. M informs me that she really wants chicken nuggets for lunch so I agree to that and set the oven.
12:02 pm- Feel guilty for feeding children food that is processed and high in saturated fats and promise self to add carrot sticks to lunch to feel a little bit better.
12:10 pm- Chicken in oven and now to dress the kids. Decide closet doors are in on conspiracy with dishes and laundry and want to cry some. Pull it together and dress all the kids.
12:15 pm- Discover laundry breeding grounds on bedroom floor and bathroom... cringe and start gathering. Chicken done and out of oven to cool down. Start dishwasher and think about how much I miss the one in our last place.
12:30 pm- Read "The Digging-est Dog" to M and think that the story is kind of sad.
12:50 pm- Feed kiddos lunch (chicken nuggets, string cheese, and fruit cup) and sit down to snack on turkey pepperoni because I hate eating real meals for some reason. Watch E love on Z and feel so blessed to have my kids.
12:59 pm- Z fussing again and I am suspicious he is in on conspiracy, then decide he wouldn't do such a thing... or would he?
1:06 pm- Z is asleep and the respite nurse is late to our appointment. G attempts to steal E's lunch and share her spoils with M. I put her in solitary confinement in her room and tell her to take a nap. She screams A LOT.
1:10 pm- Nurse Lady shows up for appointment and M goes off to play quietly in order to earn her "quiet time" sticker and popcorn for a reward snack (don't worry, it is fat free popcorn).
3:00 pm- Appointment done and night-time respite nursing is set up for E's night time feedings. We have had the worst time trying to get her feedings to work so this will be much needed respite. Notice G is STILL screaming. Decide to just give up on nap for the fifth day in a row and open door to TERRIBLE site...
3:05 pm- Am in bathroom where G is now in bathtub as I clean her diaper overload off of her and properly dispose of disaster site of pull-up. Notice that her poo poo is a mixture of dirt and crayons and wonder how a child is so willing to eat such things but is so disinterested in actual food when meal times come round. Believe G to be a weirdo and finish up cleaning her before sitting her down with M to have some (fat free) popcorn in a fresh pull-up and towel.
3:10 pm- FINALLY put E down for her nap 4 HOURS late because I forgot to during appointment. Feel like bad mom now.
3:25 pm- Z is fussing because I put him down to deal with the great pull-up disaster of 09'. Am annoyed and trying to think of ways to convince him I don't have to hold him since my lower back is making threats to spasm. Am nervous about back now.
3:30 pm- Time to put away clean dishes and load next set in dishwasher before it is time to start dinner. Am amazed at how little I can accomplished in an entire day and am annoyed at self. Then I realize Z is in on the conspiracy and decide it is his fault, but can't be upset because I love him...
3:35 pm- Pass by a mirror and think to self "for lossing 12 pounds, I sure still look pretty darn overweight" and promise that I will hit the gym to start back up on 5k training and do some serious crunches or something to deal with the post-pregnancy stomach issue. Feel disgusted.
3:40 pm- D calls to let me know he has Floam for the kids to play with when he gets home and that he is off work and on his way home. Am grumpy and tell him I don't want to talk right now so that I am not mean to him. He agrees to the plan and phone call ends. Decide to render children helpless by putting in "Wow Wow Wubzy" for them to watch and sit down to blog before attacking kitchen again.
3:54 pm- D calls back to inform me that there has been a motorcycle accident on the Coronado bridge and not to expect him for a long time. Figure that gives me that much longer to get somewhat caught up before starting dinner. yippy
3:55 pm- As I walk into the kitchen, cell phone rings and it is the speech and occupational therapy people calling to make E's evaluation appointments. Am ecstatic because she needs these therapies so much. Appointment is made for tomorrow at 1:30 pm.
4:15 pm- Off phone and D walks in door. Ask him if he was playing a trick with last call and he says he got faulty information. D takes older two kids outside to play with Floam and I am AGAIN going to attempt to go get dishes put away. How did I get this far into the day and get so little done?
4:30 pm- D sits down with Z to keep him quiet for the first time today and decides it is prime time for playing some Lego's Star Wars on the PS3. I talk at him as I do dishes at about a mile a minute. He even pretends to pay attention.
5:00 pm- Have noticed that girls have lost interest in making sea horses with Floam and are now doing bad things to it and call them in. Go outside to survey Floam massacre and do my best at recovering the casualties. Laugh to self on my morbid sense of humor.
5:15 pm- Rescue baby girl from crib prison and shower her with hugs and kisses as she recovers from her grumpy mood she has after naps. Have put a sizable dent in dishes and after baby girl cuddles are done will begin cooking up our tacos.
5:30 pm- Start dinner so that I can go back to finishing up evil dishes that are plotting my demise...
5:45 pm- Finally get dinner on the stove and cooking and look back on a day with hardly anything to congratulate self on. Smile because I can hear “Phineas and Ferb” on the t.v. and I know D was the one who turned it on for him to watch on the sly.
6:00 pm- Read “Hop on Pop” and “My Little Ponies” to M and G. Decide to face the last of the dishes and drag feet to kitchen.
6:30 pm- Am exhausted and sit down to eat dinner and watch a recording of “Mystery Diagnosis” and cry for sad stories. Find out that new ward Relief Society has a Lady’s Night Out and D INSISTS I go and start meeting people.
7:00 pm- Get brave and leave for R.S. night out…
11:00 pm- Sneak into house after an AWESOME night out meeting the women in my new ward. Have decided that I will never ever go to bed before 11 pm no matter how much I intend on it and don’t care because tonight was totally worth it! Wonder if I had too much word vomit and think I will obsess over it for a few minutes before surrendering to my exhaustion.
11:30 pm- Post this blog and drag self to comfy bed with sleeping husband and baby boy and call it a night after a “thank you” prayer. Send love and hugs to all my wonderful family and friends…
8:00 am- Chastise self for staying up until 11 pm the previous night and swear to do better tonight. Stop avoiding getting up and drag self out of bed to start checking on sleeping children. Find G is awake and watching cartoons (did Darryl leave the t.v. on for her this morning or did she actually learn to turn it on herself???) and has gotten herself an apple. Wonder how aforementioned apple was attained and find she dragged the "naughty chair" over to the counter to reach fruit bowl. Secretly compliment G in head for being resourceful as usual and wonder just how many apples she has eaten before I got up. hmmm...
8:10 am- Bring grumpy Z into front room and lay him on floor to stretch while I do the morning email, Facebook, and Blogger checks on computer. Hear E crying in crib (she is quite the grumpy morning person) and get off computer to go retrieve daughter. As I walk down hall with baby girl, M walks out of her bedroom door and we exchange "good morning" greetings. Z fusses some more.
8:30 am(ish)- Post on Facebook on intentions to be good and get housework caught up somewhat before friends bring over kids for me to babysit. Decide now is good time to take shower.
8:45 am- Shower and brush teeth... check! Get dressed... check! Tame unruly hair... check! Wonder when she will have a shower where kids are not trying to hold conversations during duration... shrug and go on with morning ritual.
9:00 am- Change three yucky diapers and think to self that G should be potty trained but dread the fight to keep her on potty while doing a million other things. Promise self that I will start the effort up again... later.
9:30 am- Have older two kids sitting at table eating breakfast while I feed E Boston Cream Pie yogurt and watch brain-numbing show "Imagination Movers". Love on baby girl and secretly rejoice that today is a good day for her because she is eating. Notice baby girl's sinus infection is coming back again and plan on refilling antibiotics for millionth time.
9:50 am- Sit down at computer to Facebook again and decide to do this blog. Z starts crying again so I try to comfort him.
10:20 am- Make bottle after failed attempt to comfort baby boy and start feeding him. Catch self thinking about all the things I could be getting done and realize baby boy is so sweet in arms as he falls asleep eating.
10:30 am- Am excited when "Phineas and Ferb" comes on t.v. because it is funny and the girls LOVE it. Watch baby girl try to feed herself remnants of G's yogurt cup with spoon turned upside down and laugh at the cuteness. Catch M jumping on bed and send her to corner.
10:34 am- M is surrounded by sisters who miss her during her looong four minute time out and go through the "why are you in time out" "because I (fill in the blank)..." then the "what will happen if you do it again?" "I will go back in time out" and finally the "that's right and now you have to apologize" routine.
10:47 am- Z asleep, M has said sorry and given hugs and kisses to G, am blogging again.
11:00 am- Put Z in bumbo since he has already woken back up and face chores. Turn off t.v. and realize I have pretty much accomplished nothing and other two kids will be here in one hour. Panic.
11:02 am- Scratch bumbo and try exersaucer instead. It works and he stops crying, yay hoo!
11:10 am- Make up bottles and sippy cups of the day for everyone. E's is her normal cocktail of Pediasure, 1 teaspoon Canola Oil, and 2 tablespoons rice cereal. Other two score milk since we bought more last night. Z's is already set up from earlier feeding. Okay, now let's start cleaning dishes.
11:28 am- Decide that the dishes and laundry have a master conspiracy plan against me to break my sanity and that it is working!
11:33 am- Z is fussing again. Scratch exersaucer and try swaddling and feeding again. Scratch swaddling and feeding and try putting him in highchair so he is able to look around better. Scratch that, give up and go out to get baby carrier out of van to put Z in.
11:45 am- Babysitting kids arrive and father realizes mother is off work and packs kids back up so I get an unplanned day off! Sadly, all my kids are heartbroken that other kids have to leave and I am kind of sad to not spend time with them also...
11:50 am- M asks to watch the "Jesus movie" from the Living Scriptures set we bought last night about Lazarus and Jesus. Am proud mother for a minute as I put the movie in.
12:00 pm- Alarm clock goes off reminding me to start lunch (a little trick I adopted after the third child was born when I could hardly remember what time it was for meals or naptimes) and I reset it for snack time at 3:00 pm. M informs me that she really wants chicken nuggets for lunch so I agree to that and set the oven.
12:02 pm- Feel guilty for feeding children food that is processed and high in saturated fats and promise self to add carrot sticks to lunch to feel a little bit better.
12:10 pm- Chicken in oven and now to dress the kids. Decide closet doors are in on conspiracy with dishes and laundry and want to cry some. Pull it together and dress all the kids.
12:15 pm- Discover laundry breeding grounds on bedroom floor and bathroom... cringe and start gathering. Chicken done and out of oven to cool down. Start dishwasher and think about how much I miss the one in our last place.
12:30 pm- Read "The Digging-est Dog" to M and think that the story is kind of sad.
12:50 pm- Feed kiddos lunch (chicken nuggets, string cheese, and fruit cup) and sit down to snack on turkey pepperoni because I hate eating real meals for some reason. Watch E love on Z and feel so blessed to have my kids.
12:59 pm- Z fussing again and I am suspicious he is in on conspiracy, then decide he wouldn't do such a thing... or would he?
1:06 pm- Z is asleep and the respite nurse is late to our appointment. G attempts to steal E's lunch and share her spoils with M. I put her in solitary confinement in her room and tell her to take a nap. She screams A LOT.
1:10 pm- Nurse Lady shows up for appointment and M goes off to play quietly in order to earn her "quiet time" sticker and popcorn for a reward snack (don't worry, it is fat free popcorn).
3:00 pm- Appointment done and night-time respite nursing is set up for E's night time feedings. We have had the worst time trying to get her feedings to work so this will be much needed respite. Notice G is STILL screaming. Decide to just give up on nap for the fifth day in a row and open door to TERRIBLE site...
3:05 pm- Am in bathroom where G is now in bathtub as I clean her diaper overload off of her and properly dispose of disaster site of pull-up. Notice that her poo poo is a mixture of dirt and crayons and wonder how a child is so willing to eat such things but is so disinterested in actual food when meal times come round. Believe G to be a weirdo and finish up cleaning her before sitting her down with M to have some (fat free) popcorn in a fresh pull-up and towel.
3:10 pm- FINALLY put E down for her nap 4 HOURS late because I forgot to during appointment. Feel like bad mom now.
3:25 pm- Z is fussing because I put him down to deal with the great pull-up disaster of 09'. Am annoyed and trying to think of ways to convince him I don't have to hold him since my lower back is making threats to spasm. Am nervous about back now.
3:30 pm- Time to put away clean dishes and load next set in dishwasher before it is time to start dinner. Am amazed at how little I can accomplished in an entire day and am annoyed at self. Then I realize Z is in on the conspiracy and decide it is his fault, but can't be upset because I love him...
3:35 pm- Pass by a mirror and think to self "for lossing 12 pounds, I sure still look pretty darn overweight" and promise that I will hit the gym to start back up on 5k training and do some serious crunches or something to deal with the post-pregnancy stomach issue. Feel disgusted.
3:40 pm- D calls to let me know he has Floam for the kids to play with when he gets home and that he is off work and on his way home. Am grumpy and tell him I don't want to talk right now so that I am not mean to him. He agrees to the plan and phone call ends. Decide to render children helpless by putting in "Wow Wow Wubzy" for them to watch and sit down to blog before attacking kitchen again.
3:54 pm- D calls back to inform me that there has been a motorcycle accident on the Coronado bridge and not to expect him for a long time. Figure that gives me that much longer to get somewhat caught up before starting dinner. yippy
3:55 pm- As I walk into the kitchen, cell phone rings and it is the speech and occupational therapy people calling to make E's evaluation appointments. Am ecstatic because she needs these therapies so much. Appointment is made for tomorrow at 1:30 pm.
4:15 pm- Off phone and D walks in door. Ask him if he was playing a trick with last call and he says he got faulty information. D takes older two kids outside to play with Floam and I am AGAIN going to attempt to go get dishes put away. How did I get this far into the day and get so little done?
4:30 pm- D sits down with Z to keep him quiet for the first time today and decides it is prime time for playing some Lego's Star Wars on the PS3. I talk at him as I do dishes at about a mile a minute. He even pretends to pay attention.
5:00 pm- Have noticed that girls have lost interest in making sea horses with Floam and are now doing bad things to it and call them in. Go outside to survey Floam massacre and do my best at recovering the casualties. Laugh to self on my morbid sense of humor.
5:15 pm- Rescue baby girl from crib prison and shower her with hugs and kisses as she recovers from her grumpy mood she has after naps. Have put a sizable dent in dishes and after baby girl cuddles are done will begin cooking up our tacos.
5:30 pm- Start dinner so that I can go back to finishing up evil dishes that are plotting my demise...
5:45 pm- Finally get dinner on the stove and cooking and look back on a day with hardly anything to congratulate self on. Smile because I can hear “Phineas and Ferb” on the t.v. and I know D was the one who turned it on for him to watch on the sly.
6:00 pm- Read “Hop on Pop” and “My Little Ponies” to M and G. Decide to face the last of the dishes and drag feet to kitchen.
6:30 pm- Am exhausted and sit down to eat dinner and watch a recording of “Mystery Diagnosis” and cry for sad stories. Find out that new ward Relief Society has a Lady’s Night Out and D INSISTS I go and start meeting people.
7:00 pm- Get brave and leave for R.S. night out…
11:00 pm- Sneak into house after an AWESOME night out meeting the women in my new ward. Have decided that I will never ever go to bed before 11 pm no matter how much I intend on it and don’t care because tonight was totally worth it! Wonder if I had too much word vomit and think I will obsess over it for a few minutes before surrendering to my exhaustion.
11:30 pm- Post this blog and drag self to comfy bed with sleeping husband and baby boy and call it a night after a “thank you” prayer. Send love and hugs to all my wonderful family and friends…
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Through the Eyes of a Desert Girl
Through these eyes, the ocean is an amazing, beautiful, and overwhelmingly scary thing. I have always taken in an ocean of brown dotted with sage brush and mountains peaked with white snow in July, but this is something my eyes are learning for the first time. And I am looking forward to it completely.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
And We're Off...
to San Diego in only two weeks time! We have been trying to get moved somewhere that has the level of medical care needed for Elizabeth and we recieved the phone call this morning. We are to check out of this command by the last day of May and are due to check in to our next one no later than June 26th. So, we are in for a whirlwind over the next two weeks getting our place packed and scrubbed and ready to leave. Wow. Here we go.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
"The Special Mother"
The Special Mother
by Erma Bombeck
Did you ever wonder how mothers of disabled children were chosen?
Somehow I visualize God hovering over the earth selecting his instruments of propagation with great care and deliberation. As He observes, He instructs His angels to make notes in a giant ledger.
"This one gets a daughter. The Patron saint will be Cecelia"
"This one gets twins. The Patron saint will be Matthew"
"This one gets a son. The Patron saint.....give her Gerard. He's used to profanity"
Finally He passes a name to an angel and smiles. "Give her a disabled child".
The angel is curious. "Why this one God? She's so happy"
"Exactly," smiles God. "Could I give a disabled child to a mother who does not know laughter? That would be cruel!"
"But has she patience?" asks the angel.
"I don't want her to have too much patience or she will drown in a sea of sorrow and despair. Once the shock and resentment wears off, she'll handle it. I watched her today, she has that feeling of self and independence that is so necessary in a mother. You see, the child I'm going to give her has his own world. She has to make him live in her world and that's not going to be easy."
"But Lord, I don't think she even believes in you"
God smiles, "No matter, I can fix that. This one is perfect - she has just enough selfishness"
The angel gasps - "Selfishness? is that a virtue?"
God nods. "If she can't separate herself from the child occasionally she won't survive. Yes here is a woman whom I will bless with a child less than perfect. She doesn't realize it yet, but she is to be envied. She will never take for granted a 'spoken word'. She will never consider any 'step' ordinary. When her child says "Momma" for the first time she will be present at a miracle and will know it. I will permit her to see clearly the things I see...ignorance, cruelty and prejudice...and allow her to rise above them. She will never be alone. I will be at her side every minute of every day of her life because she is doing my work as surely as if she is here by my side"
"And what about her Patron saint?" asks the angel, his pen poised in mid air.
God smiles "A mirror will suffice"
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Week 4 and some perspective
Well, week four is coming to a close and it has been a very inward-looking week for me. First off, I want to put down what this week's workout is and then go from there- jog 3 min., walk 1:30, jog 5, walk 2:30, jog 3, walk 1:30, jog 5
Okay, for some of you out there, this doesn't look too tough, but let me tell you something... IT IS HARD. When I first started this whole thing I thought the 1:30 minute jogging was tough and here I am jogging for 5 minutes straight! That is amazing to me and shows just how far you can come in a relatively short amount of time. But in order to do something like that, you have to be creative with what motivates you through it when you just want to collapse. I found some things that surprised me.
First on the list, I had to find music that would push and pull me through the tougher parts. After thinking back on my favorite kinds of music and what those songs made me feel, I realized that I needed to listen to Lincoln Park. Not some upbeat cardio-class music, but something a little more gritty and LOUD and emotional. It worked great and I was able to just go straight through that three and five and three and five minutes because of it. Then I had to think of something to get me through when I would feel tired or have a stitch in my side or ribs and I decided to do visualization. When I was begining to feel overwhelmed, I would just envision that I was actually in a pool swimming. I would move through the breast stroke and let myself feel the water and the rhythm of the stroke. I would envision the power and strength I feel when I am in that pool and then suddenly, I was feeling stronger and more able to get through that run. I was reading an article not long ago about the power of visualization and thought it was really a great idea. The writer explained that almost all Olympians use visualization before they compete. Sounded good to me and when I did it while I was running instead of before, it was very effective. Lastly, I really thought about why on earth this came to mind as something I want to do so badly. I thought about what makes me look forward to this every other day of the week that I do it and makes me want it enough to strength train in between those jogging days. Here is what I came up with:
I AM NOT PREGNANT ANYMORE. There. Okay, it is a little bit deeper, but not much. Over the last five years of my marriage (that is 65 months), I have been pregnant a total of 3 years, 2 months (or 38 months). To be more specific, I was pregnant the 9 1/2 months with M, when she was 13 months old I became pregnant with G. I did my 9 1/2 months with G and by the time she was 3 months old, I was unknowingly pregnant with E. I did my 9 1/2 months with E and she was born with a genetic condition that no one could figure out for a long time. When E was seven months old, I became pregnant with Z and did my 9 1/2 months with him while in the hospital with Elizabeth quite a few different times. So, tally it all up and you have the four months I was married that I wasn't pregnant yet, the 13 months between pregnancies with M and G, the three months between G and E, the seven months between E and Z, and the two months since Z was born that I WASN'T pregnant. Since I got married November 29th, 2003, I have been unpregnant a total of only 29 out of 65 months. That is A LOT of being pregnant for a five year old marriage and it also means that over the last five years, my body has belonged to my unborn children with everything I ate or did. Nothing I did was allowed to put strain of any kind without a feeling of "oh crap, what if that hurts the baby?", so I would just tell myself to wait it out until I wasn't pregnant anymore.
That time is NOW. I am not pregnant and for the first time in my life I won't be getting pregnant ever again. I can do things with my body for myself that are challenging and exciting without worrying about my baby's well being or getting it going just to have it undone once I am pregnant again. So, doesn't it make sense to start my unpregnant chapter with a BANG and run a 5k? It does to me. It makes A TON of sense to prove to myself that I can do something good without it involving being an incubator to a beautiful baby. I need to feel good about my body and be a good example to my babies on exercise and healthy eating. So here I am, finding anything motivational and exciting to push me through the tough spots because this means so much more to me than a run, it means the beginning of my belonging to me and me alone. A wife and friend, a mother of four of the most wonderful children in the world, and a LaNae that can do anything she sets her mind to. That is what a 5k means to me.
Friday, April 10, 2009
What I Have Been Up To...
I didn't want to post about this until I stuck with it long enough to convince myself I really was going to do it... I am training myself to run a 5k! I have always been a natural swimmer and after my last baby I did swimming and ballet and Weight Watchers and it worked amazingly. But circumstances change things and this time around, I don't have the money for the ballet and I don't feel like dealing with getting into my swim suit lol. So I had to think of something affordable (or completely free) that I could do to deal with my pregnancy weight and I decided it was time to do something I had always admired others for doing- marathons. I figured that weight loss would be a great side effect of the running but that my main focus would be on training for the run.
In order for me to do this, I had to find a program that was for someone starting from absolutely zero running and out-out-shapeness that could take me all the way to my first goal of a 5k (or 3 miles). So I went online and found this really great program called Couch to 5k (). It starts out so easy that even I can accomplish it lol. I also decided it was time to exercise with Darryl because I know how much he struggles with running and I really wanted a buddy in this process. And so I started two and a half weeks ago and I will finish my last run of week three today. I am actually up to just under a mile and a half in about 20 minutes so I am very proud of how far I have already come and that I haven't had to repeat a week yet. That is a prop to this program, it is for 9 weeks, but you can repeat weeks that challenge you too much until you feel ready to push forward.
I also decided that I really needed to get a handle on what I eat again. But just like the exercise issue of money, I couldn't afford to do Weight Watchers this time around that had worked sooo well for me before. That was when my mom turned me to Spark People. It is this completely free online weight and exercise tracking website. You can track everything you would with Weight Watchers but without spending a dime and I LOVE it. There is amazing support and it really has been working well for D and I over the last three weeks. It has been great for us to do and I have actually seen results even though my body is extremely stubborn right now since just having the baby when it comes to losing a single pound. But luckily I already decided that my main focus is on the running and not the weight because I would have given up already if it were about weight for sure. It took two whole weeks to see any progress AT ALL because I am only two months out from Z's birth and I breastfed until he was a month and a half old. So my body is very resistant to letting go of anything still. Oh well.
All in all, I have three goals with the training. My first goal that I am currently working on is to run a 5k in 30 minutes. My second will be to be able to run a half marathon. My third will be to start working on accomplishing a triathlon. That is my biggest goal and I am most excited about reaching this one because there is swimming involved. I love swimming so much that I actually take Saturdays off from the training to run or the strength training and I just swim. It is a very peaceful experience for me to swim and now I actually have a goal in the pool to reach 3 miles straight just like running. For those of you in the swimming world that is just under 1625 meters per mile (4825 for 3 miles!). My biggest challenge in the pool is that I have always done much better with breast stroke than free, so I will master in breast and then start working on free. All in all, I am working very hard toward something big and exciting that I never believed I could do before. Something in me wants to finally feel like I am the person I always knew I could be. I want to be in a body that is pregnancy free and able to do something else amazing.
Just to keep tabs on my progress, I will check in with what I have accomplished and what I am working on every week. So far I am doing week 3:
Jog 200 yards, walk 200 yards, jog 400 yards, walk 400 yards, and repeat once for a total of 1.36 miles or about 1 1/3 miles. This takes about 20 minutes. See, easy stuff (yeah right! lol). I will post next week on what I am doing. I am so excited! There is a 5k coming up here in Ridgecrest on May 2nd I am going to do no matter where I am in my training because it is a walk/run and I can finish it at a walk if needed.
In order for me to do this, I had to find a program that was for someone starting from absolutely zero running and out-out-shapeness that could take me all the way to my first goal of a 5k (or 3 miles). So I went online and found this really great program called Couch to 5k (). It starts out so easy that even I can accomplish it lol. I also decided it was time to exercise with Darryl because I know how much he struggles with running and I really wanted a buddy in this process. And so I started two and a half weeks ago and I will finish my last run of week three today. I am actually up to just under a mile and a half in about 20 minutes so I am very proud of how far I have already come and that I haven't had to repeat a week yet. That is a prop to this program, it is for 9 weeks, but you can repeat weeks that challenge you too much until you feel ready to push forward.
I also decided that I really needed to get a handle on what I eat again. But just like the exercise issue of money, I couldn't afford to do Weight Watchers this time around that had worked sooo well for me before. That was when my mom turned me to Spark People. It is this completely free online weight and exercise tracking website. You can track everything you would with Weight Watchers but without spending a dime and I LOVE it. There is amazing support and it really has been working well for D and I over the last three weeks. It has been great for us to do and I have actually seen results even though my body is extremely stubborn right now since just having the baby when it comes to losing a single pound. But luckily I already decided that my main focus is on the running and not the weight because I would have given up already if it were about weight for sure. It took two whole weeks to see any progress AT ALL because I am only two months out from Z's birth and I breastfed until he was a month and a half old. So my body is very resistant to letting go of anything still. Oh well.
All in all, I have three goals with the training. My first goal that I am currently working on is to run a 5k in 30 minutes. My second will be to be able to run a half marathon. My third will be to start working on accomplishing a triathlon. That is my biggest goal and I am most excited about reaching this one because there is swimming involved. I love swimming so much that I actually take Saturdays off from the training to run or the strength training and I just swim. It is a very peaceful experience for me to swim and now I actually have a goal in the pool to reach 3 miles straight just like running. For those of you in the swimming world that is just under 1625 meters per mile (4825 for 3 miles!). My biggest challenge in the pool is that I have always done much better with breast stroke than free, so I will master in breast and then start working on free. All in all, I am working very hard toward something big and exciting that I never believed I could do before. Something in me wants to finally feel like I am the person I always knew I could be. I want to be in a body that is pregnancy free and able to do something else amazing.
Just to keep tabs on my progress, I will check in with what I have accomplished and what I am working on every week. So far I am doing week 3:
Jog 200 yards, walk 200 yards, jog 400 yards, walk 400 yards, and repeat once for a total of 1.36 miles or about 1 1/3 miles. This takes about 20 minutes. See, easy stuff (yeah right! lol). I will post next week on what I am doing. I am so excited! There is a 5k coming up here in Ridgecrest on May 2nd I am going to do no matter where I am in my training because it is a walk/run and I can finish it at a walk if needed.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)