Friday, March 20, 2009

exhaustion

I thought I knew how it felt to be exhausted. I'm the mother of three young children, all of whom tend to wake at night and crawl into bed with me.

Today I'm feeling the total exhaustion. Not just physically tired but mentally as well. I've been ready to drop since, hmm, this morning? The source of this I know - it's kids. And not just my kids. This week was the first week that I babysat both my nephew and his sister. While they are both very sweet kids, as are my own, the combination of all of them was trying. A lot of it has to do with figuring out a routine and sticking with it.

There are fights over everything - what to eat, what to watch, who gets to play with which baby or toy. Alexa is having to share a lot more than she's used to. Normally her room is off limits for the twins. I set this rule because she needs a space of her own to have her toys that aren't safe for kids under 3. But they were in there a lot as someone was always leaving the door open.

I'm tired of picking up toys, doing dishes, laundry, changing diapers, wiping butts (big and small), cooking food. I'm tired of being a referee and having to constantly stick someone in timeout because they are hitting again. This weekend I'm going to work up a dinner and snack menu. I'm going to come up with an activities list. And I'm going to put both feet down when it comes to quiet time. My friend is a daycare provider and we were lucky to have her watching Alexa for a little over 4 years. I now understand how she treasured her quiet afternoons, even if it was only for an hour. So much can be accomplished in an hour. Heck, just 5-10 minutes of doing nothing can rejuvenate you.

I plan on spending this weekend enjoying my three kids and resting for the week ahead. At least the weather is getting nicer, hopefully we'll be able to take full advantage of that!


Sunday, March 15, 2009

randomness

The first official day of spring must be right around the corner. The snowbanks are receding at a pretty rapid pace, the snowfort now a memory. The days have been a bit warmer while the nights still are pretty chilly. After the snow comes the mud, which should be interesting this year. I've yet to go invest in some muddin' boots for the kids and myself. I should probably think about moving it to the top of my agenda!

I've got another bloody cold coming on. So all day I have been suffering the tingle of a sneeze yet nothing happens. Personally I think that is the worst, it'd be so much better to just sneeze. Only one of the kids seems afflicted and unfortunately it's Jacob who handles colds the worst. Hopefully he'll make it through this one without any asthma issues. On top of that Alexa is sick again. The beginning of last week she ran a fever. I ended up calling the doctor to check in because I was concerned. Not only with the fever but how horrible her urine was smelling in the mornings (still in pullups for nighttime). I was told to give her lots of water to drink and call if it got worse.

It didn't get worse till late on Friday. We'd gone swimming at the pool and she'd been complaining about being cold ever since. I just assumed she'd overdone it. Once we got home I took her temperature and it was way up again. Later that night she started vomiting. Very fearful of a repeat of January I called the on-call doctor immediately and got in to see him an hour later. A physical exam and urine catch told us the culprit - the poor kid has a kidney infection. I'm sure I'll be talking to our regular pediatrician tomorrow and hopefully prevent this from happening again. She's a little better today but in my mind is how quickly she got dehydrated before so I'm hounding her about drinking a lot in small sips.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

busy, busy, busy

Here it is the middle of March (okay, not quite but almost!) and I have yet to do an update! There has just been so much going on and it can be hard to get to sit down at the computer for more than a few minutes, not to mention being able to think! In fact I can now hear someone crying courtesy of big sister screeching about the library.

February ended/started with Alexa being sick and then Jacob. Since then we've all been through a round of colds, got to love the germs! Everything could use a good disinfecting but I've yet to find the most effective way to do that to so many toys. Suggestions are welcome!

Alexa is busy with school three days a week. Kindergarten is not that far away and she's getting excited, or at least most days. I know she's looking forward to the bus. I'm just not sure how long that enjoyment will last. She's learning to spell and has gotten really good at telling the same bad jokes over and over again.

Elizabeth is working on building her vocabulary. I'm beginning to be able to understand a lot more of what she is saying. She can say everyone's name, one of her favorite things to do is run through the house yelling "Jakey!". At first we thought she was hollering "Daddy!" until the day she chased Jacob down to give him his drink. She's quite the little mother and does a good job of taking care of her baby doll. Her random clothing fetish continues - from head to toe, you can never be sure what you might find her in. On the other hand she likes to streak!

Jacob is more quiet but very loving. He's the one most likely to give you a big hug and snuggle. He's not quite as chatty as Elizabeth but he does understand the things you say to him. He has developed quite a love for his dump trucks and tractors. Of course he's usually playing with them wearing his beaded necklaces and may be pushing Barbie around in them.
We are all awaiting the arrival of spring. Today is a cold rainy day, so different from this weekend. We're trying to get out for walks when we can and soon the playground will be accessible again!

Jacob's milestones

  • weight/length @ 7: 55.6lbs, 48.75"
  • weight/length @ 5: 42lbs, 43.5"
  • weight/length @ 4: 36 lbs, 39+"
  • weight/length@ 3: 32lbs, 36.5 inches
  • weight/length @ 2 years: 26lbs, 33.5 inches
  • weight/length @ 1 year: 18lbs, 29 inches
  • walking: 11/17/08
  • standing: 3/31/08
  • crawling: army, 2/5/08
  • first time rolling: 9/30/07, belly to back
  • first smile: 9/7/07
  • birth date/time: 7/8/07, 12:49am
  • birth length: 19.5 inches
  • birth weight: 6lbs, 1oz

Elizabeth's milestones

  • weight/length @7: 53lbs, 47.75"
  • weight/length @ 5: 40 lbs, 42.25"
  • weight/length @ 4: 34lbs, 38"
  • weight/length 3 years: 28lbs, 35.5 inches
  • weight/length 2 years: 24lbs, 6oz 33 inches
  • weight/length 1 year: 18lbs, 1oz 27.5 inches
  • walking: 9/1/08
  • standing: 4/4/08
  • crawling: army 3/16/08
  • sitting alone: 2/29/08
  • first time rolling: 11/23/07, back to belly
  • first smile: 9/7/07
  • birth date/time: 7/8/07, 12:50am
  • birth length: 18.75 inches
  • birth weight: 5lbs, 8oz

Alexa's milestones

  • weight/height @ 10 (really 10.8): 186, 5'3"
  • weight/height @ 8.4 years: 113 lbs, 55.5 inches
  • weight/height @ 5 years: 61lbs, 4oz 45.25 inches
  • weight/length @ 4 years: 49lbs, 42 inches
  • weight/length @ 3 years: 38lbs, 38 inches
  • weight/length @ 2 years: 32lbs, 8oz 35.75 inches
  • weight/length @ 1 year: 22lbs, 3 oz 29.5 inches
  • 1st day of preschool: 9/3/08
  • solo somersault: 3/4/08
  • whistling: 3/2/08
  • potty training: 10/7/05
  • walking: 12/21/04
  • standing: 8/23/04
  • crawling: 8/21/04, only a week, then became a butt scoot
  • first wave: 7/27/04
  • rolling: 5/2/04, belly to back
  • sleeping thru the night: 3/1/04
  • first smile: 1/20/04
  • birth date/time: 12/4/03, 10:41pm
  • birth length: 20 inches
  • birth weight: 7lbs