Friday, January 20, 2012

Tales from Naptime - part 2

Back to back posts? Wow, I'm even impressed with myself! These two stories go together, and if I wait another 5 months to start blogging again, I'll surely forget the stories. Actually, since it's a Trouble story, I'll remember.
So, last Thursday was the diaper incident. Diapers everywhere. I felt so annoyed at Trouble and got all upset about how he makes everything harder on me that day. I had no idea that diapers were nothing compared to the following day's nap.
Friday went like Thursday, except I didn't have my nephew that afternoon. Lunch was normal, then I laid Trouble down for his nap. Dejavu, I heard Trouble on the monitor making noise, jumping, and opening drawers, while I was giving Donkey his bottle. Although that day I had wised up. I took the diaper stacker out of the bedroom, and for good measure took out the hamper too. So I figured he had just pooped again and I'd change him and get him to go to sleep. Thinking back on the incident, I'm picturing myself walking up the steps with that "Dun, Dun, Dun" music playing. What I walked into I was not expecting. I opened the door and smelled poop. Then I saw the box of wipes on the floor and one in Trouble's hand. He appeared to be wiping the floor. He looked at me and said, "I put the wipes back.", and began stuffing wipes back into the wipe box. He takes a nap with the curtains closed and a nightlight on, so I had to turn on the big light to see what was really happening. And then I saw it... lotion everywhere. Now, when I called my husband in a panic and freaking out, I used the word everywhere and was later told that was an exaggeration. So, I'll try not to exaggerate here. There was a whole lot of lotion in a whole lot of places around the room. It was on Trouble's bed (top sheet, bottom sheet, and comforter), and there were small splashes of lotion on each of his stuffed animals. It was on the floor (which apparently he was trying to clean up). It was on the front of the dresser, on the top of the dresser, the changing table pad cover, the wall, the nightlight, the corner shelf, the fan, Donkey's crib, the basket where said lotion was taken from, as well as on every single thing in that basket. This is a big wicker basket that we keep lots of stuff in - diapers, extra pacifiers, nail clippers, combs, toys, diaper cream, wipes... and lotion. I guess if there is a silver lining here it's that he opened the old bottle of cheaper lotion and not the brand new bottle of Aveeno. Apparently he climbed up the drawers of the dresser onto the changing table part and started going through the basket. The lotion must have struck his fancy and he just started squirting it all over. The bottle of lotion was completely empty when I threw it away in the evidence and destroyed stuff pile. I can't say for certain that he didn't put any lotion in his mouth. His face smelled like lotion, as did his hands, and he never got sick. But I think that question will just remain unanswered. Since he had pooped, I had to change him on the floor, which at this pregnant is pretty hard. I took him into my room for a second day in a row (after a lot of yelling... I'm not proud of it, but seriously, the lotion was all over!). Thankfully there wasn't a lot of lotion inside Donkey's crib, mostly on the outside bars. I was able to wipe that off so that he could take his nap. I left everything else until later.
After naps I wasn't quite as upset. My husband (lifesaver) was home early and helped clean up the mess. In the end, I was able to get a lot of junk out of that big basket. I guess it needed to be cleaned out before the new baby was born anyway. A lesson was also learned on my part... Don't underestimate Trouble. He can and will get into anything he finds. My husband reminds me that he is only 2 and that the other two did lots of bad things when they were 2 as well. However, I only remember a few things for each of them. Princess and Pirate combined do not equal the amount of horror stories that I have for Trouble. But I hope and pray that he gets out of this "stage" soon!
In the end, that was the last day Trouble had in his room with Donkey. Saturday my husband put together the bunk beds in the big kids' room, and Trouble moved in there. Stay tuned for more stories!

Tales from Naptime - part 1

I have a routine. I do my best to stick to it daily. You can't have four kids and not have a routine. Life would be complete chaos. And it already feels chaotic, so I can't imagine the chaos if there was no routine. I won't bore you with all the details, because as I sit and write out "instructions" on the kids for when I'm in the hospital for 2 days with Baby 5, our day does look pretty boring. Anyway, we have lunch around 12:30 so that naps can start around 1pm. Why naps at 1? Mainly because I wanted to be able to take a nap myself before Princess would get off the bus. Now, naptime at 1 doesn't mean everyone is asleep right at 1. It's a process. Since Trouble started climbing out of the crib, I had to put him down for his nap first to give him time to fall asleep. He had since moved into a toddler bed, but still got out all the time to bother Donkey. So, to stick to the routine, I lay Trouble down at 1, clean up from lunch, give Donkey a bottle, then lay him down. While I feed Donkey his bottle, I pray the whole time that Trouble actually went to sleep. For the most part, he fell asleep without a problem. Sometimes he would stay awake because he had pooped. This would push things back.
I recently started babysitting my nephew two afternoons a week. He is 3 months old and such a cutie! He's no problem at all, and still in that glorious stage where he'll sleep anywhere, no matter how noisy it is. Princess is at school, so it's only the 4 boys here when I have my nephew. Pirate can play on his own and doesn't nap anymore. I don't try to take naps when my nephew is here because I feel like it's irresponsible. Plus it never works out that all 3 little boys sleep at the same time.
Last week it was time for Trouble's nap. Trouble is now 2 and 7 months. I am in no way ready for him to give up his naps. Princess napped until she was 5. Seriously, I thought that was normal, but now I realize I was just lucky. Pirate gave his naps up last year when he was in the 3's in preschool. Trouble needs a nap. I need Trouble to take a nap! So, I put him in his bed around 1. I like to get Trouble and Donkey both to sleep before my nephew gets here at 1:30. That's the plan anyway. I went downstairs and started giving Donkey his bottle, and could hear Trouble on the monitor making noise. Then I heard jumping, then drawers slamming. When Donkey was done his bottle, I put him in the play yard and went up to see what Trouble was doing. I smelled the poop as soon as I got up the steps. I opened the door, and saw a mountain of diapers on his bed. I walked into the room, and saw more diapers in the hamper, and in the dresser drawers which were all pulled out, as well as in Donkey's crib and on the changing table. You might wonder how there were that many diapers. We had just bought a case of diapers at BJs that I had opened and filled the diaper stacker to the very top. Apparently Trouble didn't like the arrangement and flung them all over the room. I changed him, yelled at him, had him help me clean up the diapers, and I put him back in bed. I went downstairs because my brother in law was at the door with the baby. Just as I was getting ready to take Donkey up for his nap, I heard Trouble on the monitor again. I wasn't as patient this time. I took Donkey up, laid him down, and took Trouble in my room to take a nap. I left the diapers all over the room, just so Donkey could get to sleep. In the end, Trouble took a nap in my bed and Donkey had a decent nap because his big brother wasn't trying to climb in his crib with him. We cleaned up the diapers later that evening.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Trying to keep up

I think about blogging. I do definitely think about it. But I rarely get on the computer anymore. Any "free" time I have I try to rest. This pregnancy is wearing on me more than I ever thought it would. I have several stories to share from the past few months. I think this post is going to turn into more of a pregnancy complaint session though. I don't hate being pregnant. But I absolutely don't love it. I am so ready to not be pregnant anymore. I've been pregnant since June of 2010, with the exception of 10 weeks in 2011. That's close to 2 straight years of pregnancy. Being pregnant with a 10 month old and a 2 year old who is trouble, not to mention an 8 year old and a 4 year old... well you can see how it can be difficult. I know for sure (really for sure this time) that this is my last pregnancy. I thought last year was my last pregnancy. I thought Donkey was my last baby. But I was wrong, Baby5 is going to be the last one, for sure! I feel guilty sometimes, thinking I should be enjoying the wonders of pregnancy more than I actually am. I think I should be more excited about every kick and punch that I feel. Instead, I can't wait for the pregnancy to be over. I've never been a great pregnant person. I've never understood the famous people who love their pregnant bodies and everything that goes along with being pregnant. I think that the reason I'm feeling it more this time is because I've been pregnant for so long. My body didn't even get a chance to heal itself between these two babies. Donkey will only be 11 months old when this baby is born. So, here are a few things I won't miss when I'm not pregnant anymore, in no particular order... unless I go back and arrange them in order.
1. Maternity clothes - I've had most of the same ones for over 8 years. Not fashionable anymore.
2. Heartburn - it's worse than it's ever been this time. I wake up at night with acid in my throat and feel like I'm choking. I carry antacids everywhere.
3. Exhaustion - I know newborn exhaustion, and I won't love it. But I'm so mentally and physically tired these days that I need a change.
4. Back pain - the baby has a foot or something lodged in my back ribs and it hurts really badly.
5. Hip pain - I have sciatica which is a shooting pain from my right hip into my leg. But I also have constant hip pain.
6. Not sleeping through the night - again, I know that won't happen for a while with a newborn, but I wake up every 30-45 minutes to pee or rotate from one side to the other b/c my hips hurt. And rolling over is no small feat... It's like moving a whale.
7. Being out of breath - I walk up our small flight of stairs (7 steps) and feel like I climbed a mountain.
8. Headaches - I get them more this pregnancy than in the others.

Things I am looking forward to doing when I'm not pregnant anymore:
1. Painting my toenails
2. Running after the kids
3. Carrying the laundry up & down the steps without being out of breath
4. Picking up my 2 year old
5. Sitting on the floor without getting stuck
6. Wearing regular clothes
7. Running... not like a runner, but being able to run out to get the mail, not moving at a snail's pace
8. Sleeping on my stomach!
9. Eating without getting heartburn
10. Having a drink - beer, wine, etc. Not getting drunk, just having a drink

Don't get me wrong... I do think pregnancy is a miracle. It truly is. The fact that I am growing a person inside of me is pretty amazing. And I do love watching my belly twitch and move as he moves around. I look at my other 4 kids and remember when they were inside of me. It's amazing that is how they all started out. So, I do appreciate pregnancy. I am happy to be pregnant... I am just ready to no longer be pregnant!