We have had a pretty big two weeks here.  Let me sum it up…


Scheduling– I got my two books that I was so excited about from The Maxwells (not John, but Steve & Teri).  Homeschooling with A Meek & Quiet Spirit and Managers of Their Homes.  WOW!  I highly recommend these books!  Especially if you are a stay at home mom!  Much of the info is geared toward homeschooling, but so much is useful even if you aren’t “schooling.”  They are very intent on creating a schedule for your home.  I’ve always been one to live by a schedule, but this is like schedule on steroids!  LOL!  Let me see if I can take a snapshot of my schedule…

Everybody who is home has a job/something they are supposed to be doing every hour of the day.  Yes it does seem kind of rigid, but it is completely a guide for what we are ‘supposed’ to be doing during that hour.  There are so many wonderful things to a schedule: DVD time (to cut down on TV watching), scheduled time that I am 100% with my kids nothing distracting me, and….What has brought the biggest change to our house is Alone Time.  As you know, if you’ve been reading my blog for sometime, dinner time is CRAZY for us!  No matter what I’ve done I always feel like someone is pulling at me or whining or it’s just not pleasant.  I’m frazzled when Chris walks in the door.  He completely understands, but I am not creating a welcoming environment for him (which is a true desire of my heart).  Here is the solution that we have found works for our family: individual play!  I separate them out – one is in a pack-n-play in my room, one in his crib, one in the playroom (babyproofed!), and Harper is in her room.  They get 1-2 toys or books in their crib/room (except the one in the playroom gets MANY toys to choose from), and complete silence.  I rotate what room they are in each day so it’s new.  They don’t have that any other time completely alone during the day.  And, guess what?!?  My house is *almost* as peaceful at dinner prep time as it is at naptime.  I serve dinner with a smile and greet Chris with a kiss!  Amazing!!!  There are also so many other incredible tips in there!  Completely worth the purchase!


We Dropped A Nap 
(Edited to add: I wrote this part during the boys *only 1 1/2 hour nap (they are used to sleep 4 hours during the day)….yeah, our day was terrible after they woke up, so we aren’t dropping a nap yet.  But I’m leaving this section in here for my sake b/c I know we are in transition to this!)

Well, this isn’t a done deal, but I think we are pretty close!  They boys were sleeping from 10-11:30 in the morning and then from 2-4.  I really needed the 2-4 hour to sleep or to do something that I can’t do with babies crawling around and needing me.  The last few days they have slept great at the 10am nap & terrible at the 2 nap.  So, I figured we would see how they would do today.  They melted down around 12:30, so I gave in and put them down at 12:45.  I would love to make it to 1, but I’m sure we will work our way there.  Hope they take a good loooooong nap today!  Harper went down early, too, but I still hear her stirring around up there.  It may take a few days to iron out the wrinkles, but I’m looking forward to have a good solid 2 hours back to myself again.
 One Less In Diapers
Harper is doing fantastic on potty training!  I feel like it is safe to say this b/c I’m almost done with the post on how we potty trained her.  I want to remember what i did to refer back to with the boys.  However, I’m sure that they will train completely different than her!  


Took the Kids to Target Like A Big Girl
I have been wanting to do this for a while, but I would always get so nervous!  My biggest fear was getting them in and out of the car.  I didn’t even care if they had meltdowns in the store… I figured people would pity me & just understand – lol.  I was scared of the lack of control/ attention I have when I am focusing on strapping one in & leaving the other 3 unattended.  It wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought.  They were right there with in arms reach & sat like perfect angels. 

I really wanted to get out of the hosue today.  After the last 2 Wednesdays – one you read about here and the other one last week consisted of begging a child to poop on the potty.  I couldn’t really handle the thought of another day inside for so long.  I figured today would be the day!  I got everybody dressed and in the car by 10:15.   I felt silly, but I prayed the Lord would go before us and cover our path at Target.  Do you know that he provided a parking space RIGHT beside a cart stall AND a baby buggy too waiting in that cart stall!?!  I unloaded all 4 babes.  (I had given Harper a good pep talk before we went).  We strolled in with smiles on our faces and went straight to get popcorn and water to keep Harper entertained.  The boys were sooo funny…completely mezmerized by all that was in Target.  Nobody really fussed until we stopped to look at hooks to hang on the bathroom wall for their towels – that was not entertaining at all!  Other than that little fussy, they were angels!  The funniest part was when we drove by all the TVs on the wall.  The boys just stopped and stared with their mouths hanging open.  It was hilarious!  Such boys.  Here is a picture of the gang:

Anyway, after we got home life was going great…I felt together, I had run by Sonic on the way home to get lunch (grilled cheese).  I popped in Yo Gabba Gabba for the kids to watch while I got everything ready.  Everyone ate very well.  I changed diapers & then they started melting down.  I tried to hold them off until 1, but we only made it until 12:40.  So down to sleep they went.  I put Harper down early too, but ya know, it just went too smooth.  Harper never even went to sleep.  She was yelling about 20 minutes into her nap.  Then, the boys woke up yelling at 2:15 – only 1 1/2 hours!  Sheesh!  I was exhausted thinking I couldn’t do this again.  We still had such a long afternoon.  They all played together in the playroom while I started going through toys trying to clean out and sort for about an hour.  I fed them dinner around 5 (leftover spaghetti & cut up apples – I have no idea why I’m telling all about the food we’ve eaten today, but oh well).  They were in major need of a bath, so we went upstairs.  This is where all He** broke loose!  Seriously. They were screaming and crying like people were poking needles in their eyes.  Poor guys were just so incredibly exhausted.  Warner ended up throwing up because he was crying so hard.  I had written this on my facebook wall, and look at all the amazing responses i got in return.  I know the Lord strengthened me tonight. I could NOT have done this without Him.  I was able to remain calm and to comfort each baby as I could get to him or her. 

After baths, I gave them bottles, Harper a snack (ice cream b/c she helped me calm down the boys!), and swept the kitchen.  Then, it was off to bed…they’ve been asleep since 7:30!  That means an early morning here, so I’m going off to bed too.  Harper has her first day of preschool (“pretty school” as she calls it) tomorrow!  She is ridiculously excited about it!  Oh, that reminds me, I must go pack her lunch! 

Thank you all for the prayers – they truly give me strength!!!

Love & goodnight~
ML

blogs can be deceiving.  I never want mine to be one of the deceiving ones.  It is so hard for me to pick out what I want to write down from our days.  Just like many of you, I choose the good memories or the funny memories to blog about because those are the ones i want to remember.  Sometimes I think I want to blog about the tough ones, but then i feel like I’m complaining.  Which, if I’m honest, sometimes I want to complain.

I write this because my heart is hurting for a friend who lost her life recently.  I went to high school with her and many rumors are flying all around about how she lost her life.  I have come to the conclusion that we probably won’t know the details this side of heaven.  And honestly, once we are in the presence of the Savior the whys won’t matter anymore.  He will be enough.  He is enough.  I am pretty sure she is there now – in His presence, and that gives me comfort.

I am writing this post because I hurt to think that my life on this blog hurt my friend’s life at all. The enemy so wants to use small ways to cut us down and hurt us…to make us doubt that we are worth nothing. One way I think he does that is by comparison.  Blogs lend themselves to that.  Most bloggers that I know are moms, and sometimes, i have to say, its hard for me not to compare  myself to them, to you.  I have to watch my train of thought and look at them as examples to follow, not to cut down on what I am or am not doing.

So, I just want to be real tonight.  I have had a stinking hard three days, and it all came unraveling this afternoon. We’ve been in the re-entry phase of travel.  If you have traveled with small children, you know this phase lasts just about as long as your trip did (2 1/2 weeks for us).   Also, let me add that it’s Wednesday, and Chris won’t be home until late due to back to school kickoff.  That already starts my day off peachy.  I try to stand tall through the day, but i start withering around 4 knowing backup aint coming through the door. Okay, the scene is set. 

So, back to the afternoon…Harps has wanted me to hold her ever since we got home from NC.   Like not put her down.  Ever.  She was very sick in NC & I did a lot of holding there, but her brothers are getting much more mobile, not to mention are almost as big as she is, so jealousy is there, too.

After telling her no i couldn’t hold her for the millionth time, she wouldn’t eat dinner because I was giving my attention to the boys to make sure they were eating dinner.  I decided to not fight this battle and take her out of her seat.    Why She could eat later…kids eat when their hungry.  After the boys ate they were covered head to toe in food, so I declared it bath time. Don’t get me wrong, I seem like I used great wisdom here, but I continued to feed the boys while giving Harper the cold shoulder.  Really?  Why am I acting like I am 14 to my 2 year old?!?

During bath time (which you know I despise), Harper had a complete tantrum like I have never seen in my life.  I put her in time out because I was so incredibly frustrated at her asking me if she could have toothpaste for her toothbrush (albeit, in a very whiny voice about 843 times).  Did i mention I was in the middle of giving the boys a bath?   They were at their peak of craziness and just about to drown each other.  Harper seriously was screaming, yelling, flailing, gnashing her teeth, and gagging.  I just had to let her have it out right there in the hall way while I took the boys out of the bath and set them in the playroom naked.  I diapered the boys while Harper was throwing her fit.  She was so worked up that even when I came out to try to be all “super nanny” mommy and talk with her she would have none of it.  I decided to do laundry & get the boys their pjs.  We did eventually talk & work things out; however, the story doesn’t end there…fast forward to about 45 minutes later.

The boys had their bottles, Harper finally ate dinner and she was eating milk & cookies.  I was cutting everyone’s fingernails & wasn’t paying attention.  Cutting fingernails is like wrestling a pig…my blood pressure is already high.  Harper was whining for me to hold her again because I had a baby in my lap & it wasn’t available for her to crawl in – whining has got to be the most irritating sound on the face of the earth.  How do you teach a child not to whine?!  Anyway, one of the boys pulled Harper’s milk off the table (no it was not in a sippy cup – you can’t dunk cookies into a sippy cup!) and it spilled all over him (fresh & clean baby!!) and all over the carpet.  I was at my breaking point and just SCREAMED AT THE TOP OF MY LUNGS for a good 7 seconds.  All of my children froze in fear and then all started crying.  Awesome.  I felt like scum for not being able to control my emotions & parent like a… eh…uh…. um...grown-up!!! Where is my self control?!  Anyway, I had to apologize and ask for my childrens’ forgiveness.  I put them down to bed upset at me because i seriously am out of stuff to give.  I love them, i do, but I am completely exhausted.  They are safe in their cribs and bed, and are now sleeping…but not without about 15 minutes of crying.  I seriously thought I might go crazy.

On nights like these I do cling to the fact that His Mercies are new every morning – Lamentations 3:22-23.  I take that verse to heart and I do NOT stay up late but RUN to the bed as soon as the house is somewhat put back together! (and after I vent to the blog world)

Who knows if anyone will read this…I really don’t know if this even portrays what a crazy day it was… Anyway, motherhood is not glamorous.  It is hard work.  Just thought you should know.  Thanks for listening/reading.

Love~
ML

Edited to Add:  As I was washing dishes, I started think and wanted to add that I am in no way comparing my life to someone who deals with depression.  I had a mild case of postpartum depression after the boys, but nothing severe.  I don’t even know if my friend was dealing with that, but I just wanted to be real and let others know that sometimes life is hard and its okay.  Everyones is as sometime.  We have to open up and lean on each other to get through the times. 

Our Trip with the Trips and Harper

You are the BEST Aunt Nancy!!!