My Yesterday

I'm still slightly traumatized from my yesterday, and to be honest, I really think you would have been too if you were in my shoes. I expect for the most part, some chaos in my day to day activities just from having kids. And even more so from having boys. But yesterday.... yesterday my E man decided to really pack on the chaos.

It all started with me innocently wanting to run to the grocery store during lunch to buy some food. Daddio was home, so I knew I could actually go by myself! Hallelujah! I made the boys some chicken noodle soup and ran to the store.

P.S Daddy was napping. First mistake on my part.

I came back within a half hour. For an average child this might be enough time to plot some sort of naughtiness and then begin to execute it, but for E, the master of disaster, that's all he needs to turn my kitchen into a horror scene.

I came home, brought in all the groceries in one round and walked into my kitchen to find noodles everywhere. On the floor. On the wall. On the table. On the curtains. On my cupboards. In my fruit bowl. And of course on BOTH my kids!! But you see.... he didn't just stop there. He poured out ALL the liquid from his soup as well. My cream tablecloth looked like a kid had peed all over it. Instead of a pretty cream color, I had a yellow sticky mess.

You're wondering if it actually stayed on the table. The answer to that is simple. It did not. All of my chairs were sticky, along with the floor and parts of the wall.

E at some point must have realized while I was gone the mess he made-- either that or A, his big brother told him he was making a mess-- and decided it was time to clean it up. He grabbed some of my paper towels and tried to soak up the of the liquid.

This is what I came home to him doing and naturally by this time I was home and trying not to lose it. However, as soon as he picked up those sopping wet paper towels from the table and began to swing them around like a cowboy rope, I had no choice but to try to run to my happy place in my head.

Let me repeat that. He actually picked up soaking wet paper towels and swung them ALL OVER.

I don't think I made it all the way to my happy place.

Instead....

I made a bee line toward E telling him to, "Stop this instant! You're making a bigger mess!"

Apparently he didn't hear me and swung his soaking towel a few more times for good measure, spraying my kitchen, part of my family room and myself.

Unfortunately for him, his actions earned him a timeout. Mostly for his own good. His chance of survival in the bathroom were much higher than out in the open where I was. In my mind, I wanted to carry him upstairs and chuck him out a window.

Of course though, in pure E fashion, leaving him in the bathroom was a stupid idea as well. We have our iron and iron board in there hanging from the back of the door on this nifty little hanger. E figured since he was bored and all, that he should kick the back of the door over and over until he kicked the iron board off the door and ripped the hanger off. Mind you, it was SCREWED into the door. Not hanging over it.

When I found him in there, lucky for him I'd made it to my happy place in my mind.... I'm thinking now that I may have actually gone beyond it and entered crazy town. I swiftly removed him from the bathroom after trying of course to open the door, which wouldn't, because the iron board was halfway open and blocking the door. I didn't, scratch that, couldn't talk to him; my brain was short circuiting by now.

I handed him a full bag of cheerios. This way A and E could share them while I made dinner, cleaned the noodle mess and fixed the bathroom door.

Halfway through making dinner, not wanting to be left out, my littlest boy A.M woke up and started to fuss. He was hungry. I ignored him, rushing to finish dinner. And then A walks into the kitchen to inform me, "Mom, E dumped out the whole bag of cheerios." Doesn't seem like a big deal right? It's just unfortunate that EVERYTHING else had already happened by now.

I honestly didn't believe A for a second. I mean really, how could ONE child be so incredibly destructive in only a 1 to 2 hour time period?? I went to inspect. And sure enough my carper was covered in an entire bag full of cheerios. By this point, I really should have just been impressed with his mad skills.... buut I wasn't. Not even a little bit. I was halfway through dinner with a hungry crying baby, a carpet full of cheerios, a kitchen still covered in chicken noodle soup, a broken bathroom door AND only a short time before people came over to carve pumpkins. Stress does not even begin to describe what I was feeling.

But it was all ok. Because I was already neck deep in the crazy town lake in my head and I knew I just had to keep telling myself that Daddy M was going to be home soon. He had managed to sneak out just after the noodle fiasco to go to school.

Any minute now.

He'll just walk through that door.

And rescue me.

Before I drown in crazy town lake.

Things you need for a new baby

Some of this stuff is probably pretty obvious. But I'm just adding the stuff that, for me, has been absolutely a must around here. Things I could NOT live without. Or at least that I've convinced myself I cannot live without.

• The correct season of clothing! Don't be buying short sleeve onesies in January for your newborn. Or if you know in 3 months it's going to be sweltering outside. A long sleeve onesie isn't going to cut it. You would be surprised at how many people do not grasp this.
• Newborn diapers- A.M went through I think we calculated, 80 in 2 weeks. And then we had size 1s --because honestly your little one doesn't need to be in newborns for very long-- but he's probably gone through about 60 of those in 2 weeks as well. 
• burp rags. TONS of them. If you think you have enough, you don't. Buy more. Burp rages in this house are just cloth diapers, and the occasional cute one that someone has made us.
• Desatin, or something similar. Once your little munchkin is born, starting putting that on his bum. They poo so much in the first few months of life that they get a pretty bad diaper rash pretty quick. So try and get a leg up on it.
• A nursing cover, with ribbing in it. They're amazing! I can actually nurse in public without the fear of exposing myself to the world and because of the ribbing, I can see my little man nurse. Also, they're lightweight so you're not going to sweat your baby out.
• A boppy. A nursing mom's best friend! Plus it becomes a nice little spot to let your little one lay propped up. 
• Depending on the season- baby socks are a must. They are great for their feet as well as their hands if you don't want to buy the infant mitten things (some newborns scratch the crud out of themselves, like my son E. So we stuffed socks on his hands to stop him.).
• breast pads. Leaking is embarrassing depending on where you're at. It's a major relief to know you have a  breast pad in there instead of pressing on your chest when your milk lets down so it doesn't start coming out.
• Wipes.... obviously.
• A baby carrier. I actually do my dishes now with A.M. attached to me. It's a front carrier. Not a wrap. I haven't had much success with the wraps I've tried, but I'm sure there's some out there that are great. My little man just hates not being right next to me and some times the only way to get things done is to just attach him to me and get to work.
• Breast pump! I have a pretty nice one, but it's lasted me through 3 kids so far. Mine is is a Medela double electric breast pump... or something like that. It is so nice to be able to pump when I'm extra full or want to keep my supply up to a certain level.
• Along with pumping, I love the Lansinoh breastmilk storage baggies. It's so nice to have a back up supply for when I'm not around or don't want to nurse.
• A plug-in bottle warmer! When your little one is screaming for some grub, the last thing you're going to want to do is heat up some water on the stove and stick the bottle in it and then guess as to when it will be warm enough for them. Save yourself from the stress and just buy a plug in bottle warmer.
• A bottle/binki/breast supply sterilizer. We just have one that goes in the microwave, but it really does give me some peace of mind knowing my stuff has been sanitized. It doesn't clean it for you- so you would still need to do that. Buy a separate baby scrub brush for their stuff. They actually sell them in the baby section that are designed to clean bottles and nipples.
• Portable bottle warmer. We have one by Dex that actually just requires you to snap a little metal circle and the bottle warmer instantly heats up and hardens around the bottle. Ours doesn't heat up large amounts though. 4 oz at best.
• Binki's. The one the hospital gives you is great. They also sell that brand at the store. Babies like to suck. So unless you want to be the binki.... I suggest you go buy some. All of my children have been fine using a binki. 
• Baby bath tub. Ours actually had this mesh that a newborn can lay in that keeps them suspended in the bathwater that, when they get older can be taken off so the tub can be used on a bigger infant. I really love having skin to skin in the shower, but it can be pretty difficult to get anything productive done if you don't have a place to put the baby.
• A gigantic diaper bag! And maybe this is a must for me because I have 2 other kids along with a baby. Honestly though, I would rather have too much space than not enough. Here's what goes into my bag right now. 4 burp rags, 5-6 diapers, wipes. diaper cream, formula (just in case), baby bottle with hot water in it (by the time you need it while you're out, it'll probably be warm or you can just add some cold water to it.), breastmilk with a little cooler for it, portable bottle warmer, 2-3 changes of baby clothes, hand sanitizer, breastfeeding cover, a baby blanket, 2-3 binkis, tiny toys to distract with, and snacks for my older children. So.... you see why having a big bag might be nice?? 
• And a nice diaper bag. I've purchased the one's for $19.99 to $29.99 at Wal-mart. I ended up going through about 3 diaper bags this way. So get a good quality one or at least buy a giant purse from Target. That works too.
• A lamp on your side of the bed, plus something to watch, play or read while you nurse in the middle of the night. It is SO hard for me to stay awake some night. Having a little lamp to turn on and then the iPod to watch Netflix or play Solitaire, helps me stay awake. I also have a water bottle on my nightstand that keeps me awake as well. Doesn't always work, but for my first I had nothing and I struggled so much more to stay conscious.
•  Start collecting plastic grocery bags, now, if you already don't. We use them like crazy to put dirty diapers in. For our first baby we had a Diaper Genie- it was nice to have initially, but in the end, it was a bigger hassle than it was worth. 
• Baby blanket. Thick, thin, big, little, fuzzy and not. Get a bunch of them. Baby is going to spit up on them and you'll use a bunch of them.
• Buy a ton of pads. Like for your period. TONS of them. Overnight ones as well. And try to see if the nurse's will give you some extras from the hospital too. 
• If your cute little one is a boy and you chose to circumcise him, buy some petroleum jelly for his little peeps. The doc should supply you with some 2x2 sterile pads. So then you just slap some jelly on the pads and cover his business with it to protect it while it heals!

I'm sure there's more that I'm forgetting. But hopefully whoever reads this will have some idea of some of the stuff they might like to use for their new baby! Or if not, it'll be a great reminder to me for the next kid of what I need to make sure I have... because I'm sure when we have another, I'll have forgotten most of this stuff.

Just Medium

As most of you probably know, or can surmise, based off the photo of my oldest son, A, he is in Kindergarten. He had a little experience a few weeks ago that he told me about that surprised me a little. And in all honesty, it shouldn't have. Like any other day, I drove up and collected him from school and proceeded to ask him about his day and what he learned. Usually he tells me something irritating like, "I jus' forgot Mom." But on this particular day he told me something that had bothered him.

A's class occasionally goes outside of his Kindergarten classroom to the school gym and I am assuming to other areas of his Elementary school. On this special day, they did just that, went to the gym. His teacher has them walk in a line passed the other students and classrooms, meaning, naturally they would pass other teachers and other students varying in age. It just so happened that one of these other students made a comment about A's class, "Awwww, they're just so cute! Look how little they are!" A, highly irritated by this, remembered the incident and then in the car told me this person was not being very nice, "I'm not a little person Mom. I'm jus' a medium one."

I agreed with him about being a medium a person, but tried to explain to him that the girl that said that about him was not trying to be mean. She just thought his class was cute. I don't think he really approved of my answer. He just kept reminding me that he was, "medium," not small.

SO, let this be a lesson to people who have children 4 and older-- they HEAR what you're saying and it DOES affect them. So please be careful of what you say because they are trying hard to fit in and figure out what they are. Yes, even 4 and 5 year olds have little emotional issues. But don't tell them their emotions are little. They're just medium.

Horrified

Once upon a time there was a cute little family full of boys. There was the oldest son, A, the middle son E, and the newest addition and, of course, littlest son A.M.

One day their mamma decided it was a nice day for visiting their papa's school before they picked him up. So off they went. But before they enjoyed their nice walk around campus, mamma had to feed and change A.M. He was very hungry and his diaper was very full.

A and E watched a movie while mamma fed A.M. A was mostly good at listening to mamma and stayed in the back row of the car. E had other plans and crawled all over the car, because he knew mamma couldn't physically stop him. And this is just where the fun was beginning. Maybe if mamma knew what was coming she would have just stayed in the car.

Sad for her though.... she had no idea what she was walking into.

All 3 boys got out of the car once A.M was fed and began to walk toward the main building at papa's school. A.M was of course in the stroller and biggest brother A was eager to help push him, so mamma let him. E was more interested in running ahead and smelling flowers/running along the edge of said flower beds at breakneck speed.

This cute little family full of boys finally made it to the main building so that A.M could be changed and they could proceed on their leisurely walk. They searched for a changing table. High and low. But it seemed that regular people were using the handicap stalls in many of the restrooms, preventing mamma from having a place to actually change littlest brother. Frustrated, mamma found a "private" corner where she could change A.M. She got all her stuff out, ready to change littlest brother, smiling politely at all the people looking at her as they passed by. E seeing that littlest brother was being changed, realized that he had to go potty too. Mamma told him to wait since the restroom was just a few steps away and changing A.M took less than a minute. She then went about her business. It was then that biggest brother A shouted to mamma, in the crowded pavilion area,

"MOM! E is going PEE!!!!" 

Mortified at what that could mean, mamma abandoned A.M who was safe in his stroller and rushed over to see E pulling his pants up, a puddle of urine on the floor, a few people stopped watching the horror as the carefree 3-year-old whizzed all over their precious campus floor. And now they stand, waiting to watch the rest of the scene unfold.

Mamma's insides wanted to do this to him. BUT....

....society has taught her she should react more like this in public. 

We'll just fast forward to the end where it turned out that E was allowed to live.  * Hurray!* (Although, he did sit a corner until mamma was ready to leave.) A helped clean up the mess by collecting a bunch of paper towels and A.M finally got his diaper changed. And mamma hurried out as fast a she could, praying that the janitorial service cleans behind random pillars back in corners of very busy buildings.

--yes people, my son did in fact pee INSIDE a public building. Not only were we inside a building, BUT the bathroom was only 10 feet away and I had just BARELY walked out of it trying to find a changing table.

What we Women do to Ourselves to Bring Little People to this Earth

Some fun facts about what your body does AFTER you've given birth. For some reason, I usually only remember a few of these things. And any first time pregnant Mom out there... these are just things I have gone through. Your experience might be altogether different.

• You may have just given birth, but you'll probably leave the hospital looking like you're still at least 4-5 months pregnant. Those poor muscles just don't like to go back as quick after baby #3 or 2.
• I had an episiotomy, so sitting on my butt.... did not feel so great. And honestly, being stuck in a bed due to sheer exhaustion doesn't help the toosh toosh either.
• Not only will you give birth and bleed then, you'll also have to endure the worlds longest period after your little angel is born. My record? I think like 2 weeks...
• If you have other children, they just might annoy the crud out of you. Maybe it's some carnal instinct to care for your newest addition and having other kids making demands on you is just not kosher in your crazy post partum brain.
• You will wake up, just to make sure your baby is still breathing. And it won't be a gentle awakening. It'll be a panicked one.
• If you're nursing, it's going to start to hurt after the first day. And it won't stop hurting for a while. Ask for some Lansinoh! 
• Also related to nursing, you'll probably go from an A to a C by just being pregnant, and then once your milk comes in and you're engorged- you'll jump to a DD until things start to level out, then you'll be like a D.
• And when your milk lets down, it'll do it when it wants to. So buy some breast pads to save yourself some grief. 
• Nursing bras suck. I'm thinking of buying a front snap sports bra--seriously! Maybe some of these are worth looking into:
  http://www.babycenter.com/101_the-best-nursing-bras_10369715.bc?scid=momsbaby_20121009:5&pe=MlVDOW9YdXwyMDEyMTAwOQ..
• Wearing normal clothes sounds daunting, you'll most likely end up in PJs or maternity clothes for the first few weeks after baby.
• You won't have the energy or desire to try too hard to make yourself look less like a zombie and more like a normal human. Unless of course you're forced to go outside for extended periods of time or you're having lots of visitors.
• Sleep when the baby sleeps. For real! SLEEP when they sleep!! Because at night, if your cute new addition is like mine, will sleep longer when they're on your chest, but you can't really do that ALL night. Apparently it's not safe or something like that. *shrug* SO.... this means they'll wake up every hour wanting food or your attention.
• Diaper rash.... is not exclusively for babies. Just sayin'
• Your bladder is going to struggle for power over your urge to pee. Luckily after time, this will become less of a problem. But for now.... just be sure you're wearing a pad, which you probably already are since you're on a marathon period at the moment.
• Constipation. It's a real problem. Take the dang colace the nurse wants to shove down your throat! You'll be thanking her later!

Am I missing anything mom's? I'm sure I am. Like I said, you might experience something completely different. Just remind yourself- which shouldn't be hard- that you have a new beautiful baby to make up for all this crap you're going through.

A Baby Story

I figured this would be an EXCELLENT way to open a new blog. My last one is no longer allowing me to add photos, so as M and I start this new chapter in our lives with a new little baby, we'll start a new blog.

And what better story than the story or little A.M's birth. I have to be honest, this one, even though it's my 3rd child, still got my nerves in a bit of a bunch. BUT here's my reason why. I was induced instead of coming into the hospital in labor. It was a whole new experience to drive to the hospital feeling no pain. They called us around 6:45am and told us they had our room available and to come in as soon as we could. Once there, we signed all our lovely papers and got settled. According to my nurse, I was in the Timpanogos Suite, named for the awesome view of the Timp mountain. I have to be honest that the view meant little to me when it came down to pushing time.

 Around 7:30am they started me on pitocin, which encourages labor, and things got under way. For those of you who actually know what I'm talking about, I came in dilated to a 3. My body was just really not interested in going into labor on it's own this time around. I made it to 40.0 weeks and can't say I was too happy about it.

After the pit was started my nurse would come in and check on me every 1/2 hour to every hour and each time she would ask me if I wanted my epidural. I appreciated her concern for my pain, but I have to admit, her persistence was a little annoying. After about the 4th time of having her come in and ask, I finally agreed to get it even though I really wasn't in enough pain to justify receiving my epidural. I think she was worried I would go fast since I told her with my second child I was in labor at the hospital for about 5-6 hours before E was born. I think that would put epidural placement, by a guy from India, around 10.

Since I wasn't in as much pain as I usually am while getting stabbed in the back with a giant needle, this one hurt a lot more than the others. But it was worth it! And he did an awesome job. I could actually still move my legs around after he numbed me up. The only place I really couldn't feel at all was my pelvis.

Anyway, after I was sufficiently numbed up, I tried to rest. They had to put me on oxygen a couple times since little bugger's heart rate was dropping, making my intention to rest fairly difficult. Over the next few hours I was rolled back and forth a few times to help with his heart rate as well.

Around 1pm, my nurse checked me and told me I was dilated to a 10 and ready to push. By this time, I was doing my usual dilated to a 10 routine. My whole body shaking. I was having trouble talking. And this time around I was actually feeling some pain on my left side every time I contracted. We waited for the doc. And waited. And waited some more. The nurse came in and told me that he wasn't coming because he had to rush to a surgery, so another doc was on his way. I knew both docs, so I was glad to have either one deliver for me.

Doc arrived and about 10 minutes later, at 1:35, my perfect little angel arrived. He did however have the umbilical cord wrapped so tight around his neck that I had to have an episiotomy. A.M came out blue. Plus I had a partial abruption. Basically meaning the placenta peels off the wall of the uterus before the baby is born and the baby can bleed out. Kinda freaked me out when he told me that. As a result, A.M swallowed some blood before he was delivered and had some trouble breathing.

 He weighed in at 8lbs even, 20inches long, apgars were 8,9--pretty good considering he was having trouble breathing. I got to hold him before they took him to the NICU.

Just after he was born. Waiting for them to clean him up a bit.

saying goodbye to him before he went off to the NICU

Daddy went with A.M. and made sure he was ok. He was only in the NICU for an hour and then he was brought back to us.

What an amazing experience with was for our family again. I loved every minute of it, once I knew everything was ok of course. I mean, look at the little angel I get to have in my life now!!

 

Am I lucky or what?