The Morning

People often tell me these are the best years of my life, that I need to enjoy this time because it goes by so quickly. In some ways, I agree. Princess is almost 8 and a half. To think I was pregnant with her 9 years ago, in my early twenties, makes me feel like the time has flown by. In other ways, I secretly hope these are not the best days of my life, as I seem to spend them wiping butts & noses, playing waitress to my kids' food demands, and doing laundry nonstop. (It's amazing how much laundry 7 people can go through in a day.) So, it might make me a bad parent, but yes, sometimes I hope these are not the best days of my life.

In talking about a day, I thought I'd share my morning so far today. It is Spring Break, so all 5 kids are home all day. Yesterday was the first day, and I must have heard "MOMMY!!!" 254,876 times. It got to the point where I did my best to tune it out. So here has been my day so far. And keep in mind it is only 10:20am.

Wake up at 3am to the baby making grunting noises. Pray he goes back to sleep or that hubby gets up with him. Fall back asleep. Wake up at 4am to crying baby. Get up to feed baby (still wishing DH would get him but knowing DH has to get up for work at 6 am). Feed baby, thankful for the iPad and the ability to play Words with Friends, browse Pinterest, and read Facebook posts in the middle of the night.

At 5am, put baby back to bed. Climb into my bed to find a 2 year old in my spot. Put him back in his bed. Go back to sleep.

Wake up at 6am to DH's alarm, fall back asleep.

Wake up at 7am to crying baby. Hold him in my bed to get a few extra minutes of sleep. Besides it's too soon for him to eat again.

Get up for good at 8ish. Check on oldest 3 kids, who had the good sense to go downstairs and watch tv. Get baby dressed, feed him his bottle.

Put baby in swing, go upstairs and get the one year old up. Get him dressed. Make mental note (that will surely be forgotten) that both babies are low on diapers. Bring him downstairs.

Play the role of short order cook to make breakfast for the 4 kids, as they seem to think my kitchen is a full service restaurant. Pop tart for Trouble, but it has to be blueberry or he throws a fit. Cereal for Princess & Pirate, although they both complain about it. (side note- the kids go through favorite food phases. When they eat a lot of something we get it at BJs. We bought bulk cereal, and they immediately did not want it anymore. We have a ton to go through, so today I made them eat it, hence the complaining). Pirate wants Cornflakes with milk. Princess wants Cheerios with milk & banana. By the time I get their cereal out, Trouble wants another pop tart. Then I mix up the baby's oatmeal, cut up his banana, and give him his cup of milk. The big three finish and go to play.

I feed Donkey his oatmeal, and tell him to stop throwing banana on the floor. Remind myself I need to clean the floor later.

Finally, I get to pour myself a cup of coffee and eat my breakfast. Make mental note that I need to start a store list and add coffee to it.

While eating and trying to enjoy my coffee, I get paged 17 times by the kids playing downstairs. They are mainly tattling on each other.

Finish breakfast, let Donkey out of high hair (making mental note of how gross the high chair is and how I wish the Easter bunny would bring us a new one) so he can walk around while I clean up.

Empty dishwasher & reload. Wipe up mess on counter, noting we need new sponges.

Take a break to free Donkey, who has wedged himself under the dining room chair, wearing the chair like a turtle shell. Notice he is eating something. He swallows before I can see what it is. Hope that it is just a Cheerio, but know it could be anything.

Realize that there is no more music coming from baby swing. Check and see that the swing has stopped. Luckily he's still sleeping. Mental note to change the batteries.

Have the following conversation in my head...Do we have batteries? I'll get some later when I go out. Wait, where am I going today? Right, my 6 week doctor appointment. I need to work in a shower today. Then Easter basket shopping. Crap, I should make a list of what to get. Where is the notebook? I'll make a list later, Donkey needs to take a nap. Shoot, I need to change his sheet. Oh right, there is still laundry in the dryer from last night.

I discontinue the conversation with myself so I can check my email for a coupon I got the other day. When I get online, I get sidetracked and check Facebook, Pinterest, WWF, then decide to blog about my morning. Now I need to go put Donkey down for his nap, get the kids dressed, and find that darn notebook so I can make all these lists!