How about a Drive thru for mom's with too many kids??

Seriously folks, with all the drive thru's we have, wouldn't it be nice if there was one available to the people who really needed it? Like me for instance.. 4 kids, 2 of whom are babies, and while they're walking at home, taking them to a grocery store and just plopping them out onto the pavement isn't an option yet. I'm just wishing that some really smart, innovative person would come with a drive thru grocery store.. just for small orders, like milk, or diapers.. Maybe you could order on line, or call it in. Then that way you wouldn't be forced to lug 2 babies into the store while trying to manage the other 2 (or even 1 if the older child is lucky enough to be of school age). And no, I didn't think of this before I accidentally got knocked up with the 3rd and 4th child. But c'mon.. I'm tired of running to the store, and then running in, and when I say running, pulease, a snail could do it quicker than me.. I'm just sayin'..
Man, do I need a nap!

My Weekend Reunion.. and this sucky cold!

I went to see my husbands band play this past weekend at a benefit show for a child with cystic fibrosis. They were really good, and I must say, the more I see them, the more I just love them. There were about 10 bands playing, and due to the "newness" of his band, they played 2nd (at about 5:30) Which makes for an early night (a benefit of having to get up in the morning with all your kids..)

My night at the bar was spent first listening to his band, and second by seeing someone that I knew from high school at every corner of the place. It was creepy, and fun at the same time. I saw a girl that I used to play soccer with, a cousin that I hadn't seen in years..who btw has 5 kids! Couldn't believe that, I thought I had the most in my family, but oh I was so wrong (yea! It felt good to see that someone else in my family might be viewed irresponsible, at least more so than me) Anyway, I also saw a former boyfriend of ctales, who claimed not to remember her at first (yea right..) I saw a guy I used to babysit for, dancing with a nurse who works at the same hospital I work at.. A brother of a guy that I graduated with, the lunch lady from my old high school (yes, it's getting worse) A husband of a girl that I also graduated with, and work with at the same hospital, who is in the middle of a divorce (surprise surprise) A former cheerleader from my high school.. Seriously, it was unreal..surreal, and just pretty fucked up. I felt like I had stepped back in time.. It's funny that I NEVER see these people around, and I only live 10 minutes up the road, in a different town, but a town that half of these people are from. Very weird.

So, I woke up the next morning with a hangover from hell, and the beginnings of "the cold" The stupid cold that has plagued my house now for about 2 weeks. I thought I was escaping it.. I thought that I was going to be one of the lucky ones. My husband is the only one who has not gotten it, and we are all praying he doesn't. There is nothing like a man with a cold! I could be dying, literally, and it wouldn't compare to the sore throat he's got, or the headache.. I believe it goes back to the old belief that women can handle pain, and men can't.. Like when my husband passed out getting a tattoo, just one more thing (like childbirth) that women can handle better than a man..

Kyle Chandler..Is He Yummy or What??

Is it me, or is this guy just about the cutest, yummiest thing on Friday nights? God I love this guy!

There's one or two douches on EBAY!!

Recently, I bought a couple of webkinz for my kids for Christmas.. on Ebay. I've always had good luck with Ebay, good honest people.. But this time.. hmm.. not so good.. I bought two highly sought after webkinz, for a bit more than I would have, and for a week now have patiently waited for them to come.. Well, the only thing that has come was in form of an email from ebay, saying the seller has logged an "unpaid dispute". Really??
I should have looked closer at this douche bags rating, as apparently he's not been the most honest of sellers, and from feedback that he has received, I guess some of his customers have said they never got what they paid for, or it took an eternity for them to get it.
So, right now, I risk getting negative feedback (which in the world of ebay is like the Scarlet letter) and of course not getting what I paid for the minute the auction ended (Oh, and btw, I totally have a receipt, and he's already collected his money..I'm not that naive!) Argh.. I can't tell you how this burns me.. Live and learn people.. Live and Learn! Fucker!

Spending money we don't have..

I love doing this! Especially when it ends up being spent on something that we really didn't need, that's just a kick in the face.. We took my son to the eye doctor today to make sure he wasn't going blind.. and of course he's not.. and of course we find out that 9 out of 10 screenings done in school are inaccurate, so the fact that his eyesight was supposedly deteriorating at an alarming rate, wasn't necessarily the case. AND, of course our insurance (like most insurances) only pays for one eye exam a year, even if you're married to a neurotic paranoid man like my husband.. yea, there's no co pay for that!
Basically, it cost us 95 big ones to find out that his eyes are fine, and there has been little change.. Which IS great, but damnh that's one expensive way to get my husband to relax..
Anyway, my husband and his band are playing out tonight, but I'll be home with my sick kids (btw, they are now ALL sick!) But my plan is to get some cleaning done while I enjoy a few drinks and maybe watch a movie, who am I kidding? There will most likely be no cleaning.. And then tomorrow we're going to have a bon fire to burn a tree that my husband cut down 2 years ago.. and I'm making a Halloween cake for my youngest son.. better late than never! ;) Have a great weekend!

Sweet, Sweet baby boys..

Four eyes?? How bout 6??

My oldest son, who has been wearing glasses since February had his vision screened again today at school. It was coincidental that I happened to be sitting outside of the nurses office today with the babies waiting for son # 2 to finish his speech therapy (don't we sound like one big labeled family full of issues??) Anyway, she saw me and told me that his vision had gone from 20/50 to 20/100. In only 9 months? Needless to say, I'm a bit concerned, although honestly, she didn't appear to be, so that made me feel a bit better. She was surprised that his vision with his glasses was still within the norm considering how much it's deteriorated. Of course this has sent my neurotic husband calling everyone he knows, including our pediatrician (who suggested we make another appointment with our opthamologist) and go on line trying to find out the worst case scenario (like if the kid is going blind.. or not) I on the other hand, am not worried (yet) what's the point? And in most cases, I don't get to worry because all the worrying is scooped up by my husband, and I am left to reassure him that it's going to be fine, and be the rock, and the glue that holds us all together.. a tiring, and surprisingly thankless position.

Anyway, he's fine.. he's going to be fine, he's just going to have to wear his glasses ALL the time. And someday, when he's older, and if he qualifies, we'll do the lasik thing, and that'll be that.

I can not wait to get to bed tonight.. My husband has started playing indoor soccer again- something I swore he'd be able to do again when the babies weren't quite so much work.. Alas here we are.. the babies are practically raising themselves at this point, much like the boys, so play on my love! Have fun.. I'll just be crying myself to sleep while you run around on fake grass and sweat stinky sweat.. oy vey!

Nothing like the love of a big brother..

How sweet is this??

Such a Drag..

My four year old gets the biggest kick out of wearing his sister's clothing.. I don't think it's a sign or anything, and if it is, so what.. but doesn't pink really bring out his beautiful hazel eyes?? ;)

Daylight Savings.. something else that can kiss my ass!!

Ugh..

Seriously, wtf?? I guess people without kids don't seem to notice, or care, but with the sun setting and rising at different times, it really fucks with naps and just bedtimes in general. And yes, the "extra" hour of sleep is nice, if in fact any of my kids wanted to "sleep in" But they're 7, 4, and 15 months x2, so NO, no one is taking advantage of the extra hour in the morning..

Anyway, time and sleep were the least of my concerns tonight.. My youngest twin burnt her little hand tonight.. on my convection toaster oven.. and why would she be anywhere near my convection oven?? Well, because her and her sister just LOVE to sit on my counter and hang out with me while I cook.. and while I always move my knife caddy, the dish soap and paper towels, the little stove tucked away in the corner of my counter is just not that movable.. And seriously, she only touched it for a split second, but that was all it took for a quarter sized burn to pop up, and cause her to cry for about an hour.. These are the times when I really want to pat myself on the back and high five my husband on my good parenting instincts. That maternal voice saying "Something bad is going to happen one of these days letting the babies up on the counter.." But I really thought it would have been one of the girls pushing off the other.. I'm not sure which is worse..

In other raising kids news.. My oldest son finally lost his 3rd tooth.. after it being loose for almost the entire summer (really, I'm not kidding) my husband talked him into letting us use dental floss and yanking it with the door.. however, at the last second, my husband just yanked the string without aid from the door, and it popped right out. Of course being a cashless household, and the tooth fairy not accepting debit, I had to run to the store and get a 5 spot (yes, for 1 tooth!) we are really setting the bar too high! But at least he didn't swallow the tooth like he did with the first.. do we remember what happened there??

Anyway, it must be midnight.. or at least that's what it feels like with this stupid ass time change.. so I'm off to bed.. Here's a pic of the babies having their last hoorah on the counter..

TGIF!!

I can't even begin to express how happy I am that today is Friday.. even though this week has literally flown by, I'm still happy that the weekend is upon us, and my dear husband will be home so that maybe at some point this weekend I can get a nap! It's all about the sleep people!
My youngest son is sick, or at least he was last night.. Burdened with a terrible cough, one of those coughs that sound like it just hurts to breath. I spent the first part of the night in his bed, facing the wall so that he wasn't coughing right in my face.. Then we spent the rest of the night on the couch, with his little frame propped up on pillows.. that seemed to help a bit. Miraculously, the babies slept 12 hours straight (well, minus 15 minutes that one of them spent crying..but then stopped and passed out after realizing that no one was coming for her..poor baby!) This would have been a great night sleep for me, but alas, with 4 kids there is no such thing right now.. someday when they are all older..and not ridden with colds, or scared to death by a bad dream, or an unfamiliar sound, then Man! I am going to get some really good sleep!! At least that's my plan.. You gotta have a plan with 4 kids..something to look forward to! Even if it's something you might not get for years, it's still something!

Baby B is home!

Both of my sisters babies are home. We are so thankful and grateful that they are doing well. She is elated to have her twins with her, and is doing wonderfully (as I knew she would!) She also seems to have a pair of really calm and content babies, which is going to make her life sooo much easier. My girls required LOTS and LOTS of holding, and did LOTS and LOTS of crying.. It would seem as though her boys are the polar opposites! Thank god for that! I'm waiting to see them again, so I can get some pics of them together..they are of course total cuties! ;) duh!

Halloweenie..

Halloween is upon us again, and the boys are having mixed feelings.. Well, at least my 4 year old is. He is refusing to come trick or treating with us because he's afraid he might see something, or someone that will scare him.. And despite telling him that he's not going to get much candy waiting at his Grammies, he still won't budge.. But I suppose it's for the best.. after all, he wasn't a lot of fun last year cowering in the wagon his dad pulled, and at least this way, I might get some sleep in the upcoming week if he's not totally freaked out by all the kids he might see dressed up scary. He's a wreck because his brother is dressing up like a vampire.. Although my oldest son has decided to tone it down a bit because blogless and her girls are coming with us, and he doesn't want to scare them... so sweet, but to be honest, he's getting a little nervous about being a vampire after all the freaking out his little brother has done, he would hate to be scared of himself!
The girls are going as a bumble bee and a lady bug.. If I can get them in their costumes.. My husband usually dresses up as Darth Maul, but I think it'll be too scary for the babies.. and he did get a long black wig to go as a mullet wearing dork, but they are scared of that too! Gee, maybe they should stay at their Gram's too!!
My husband and his band had another show this past weekend. It was an outside one, at a barn.. a really stinky barn, in the rain. But it was actually fun. It was a Halloween party (which I loath btw) Seriously, I hate dressing up in costumes.. but I stole a costume idea that blogless had used about 10 years ago and went as my husbands worst nightmare.. It was merely me with a pillow stuffed under my sweater.. Yes, a pregnant me. It would have been my worst nightmare too.. in fact, it was a nightmare for a few people who saw me drinking with a very real, quite large prego belly! haha.. "you're not really pregnant are you??" idiots!

Baby Update...

It's been a crazy week. My sister went home yesterday, with only one of her boys. The younger one was transported the day before to a neonatal intensive care unit in another town. He's doing ok, but he was having a hard time breathing on his own, due to his prematurity (they were a month early, just like my girls) It was a very scary time for everyone, especially my sister. It's hard enough recovering from a c-section, but to add a sick baby to it is devastating. She's been up to see him both days that she's been home, and today he was doing really well. The dr's were finally able to take him off of the oxygen, and he was doing great breathing on his own. He also started to nurse, which is a great sign. It can be a tricky thing to breath, and suck at the same time, so he's showing determination, and getting healthier and stronger with his mom's milk. The doctors have been totally optimistic about him being ok, but that's hard to hear when he's got tubes coming out everywhere, and when you can't take him home with you. They aren't sure when he'll be able to come home, it could be a couple of days, or a couple of weeks. My sister is just going to be busy making the 45 minute trek to see him everyday, and bring him pumped milk, and just try to bond with him. Her other baby is doing great, nursing like a pro, and thankfully keeping her busy enough to take her mind off her other baby, if only for a minute.
So, it's all going to be fine. He's going to be home at some point, and all the worrying that they have done this past week is going to be replaced with the chaos involved of having 2 babies at once. I can't wait for that! Neither can she!

The Boys are HERE!!!!

My sister had her babies today, they are beautiful! I was lucky enough to stand outside the O.R. and videotape the c-section.. it was amazing! Here are a couple pics of my new nephews.. oh, and the stats.. twin A weighed in at 5 lbs. 1 oz. and twin B was 6 lbs. 3 oz. Everyone is doing well!!

My Twin's Twin Update..

My sister is 35 weeks pregnant with her twins! I can't believe she's almost done growing those babies! I must say, I've been so impressed with how well she's handled the whole pregnancy, with much more patience, and grace than I ever did, that's for sure!
I delivered my girls at 36 weeks, she knows that she could too, and I think she hopes she does! I really can't wait to meet my nephews.. I know they are going to be adorable.. I keep feeling all nervous for her.. and I know I shouldn't even write about this, but man, her world is going to turn upside down for a while. If someone had told me how it was going to be at the beginning, I surely wouldn't have believed it. And she probably won't either. You don't really understand it, until you're in the middle of it. You only hope that the days of their infancy, go by as quickly as the days of their gestation. And they will. My girls are almost 15 months! It's absolutely flown by! And while every day is usually filled with lots to do, and several meltdowns, you are so happy that they are at least out of that infancy stage.. in my opinion, that is the hardest part. But my sister is a unique individual, filled with such patience, and a maternal knack that makes the rest of us look unfit! Seriously, she's going to do great.. Man, I can't wait!!!!!!

Life in the Fast Lane (or Lame Lane, I'm not quite sure which!)

It feels as though I have no time, and not much to blog about lately. But if I stop for a second, and try to think, I guess I have one or two items worth mentioning..
My youngest son's speech therapist has upped his therapy from once to twice a week, no big deal except that the only day I didn't have to drive him anywhere, I'm now driving him to the school, for 30 minutes of speech..which essentially means I can't do anything, not in that amount of time.. no trip to the store, not even a decent walk (if the weather permits). So, instead I sat in the office with the girls, and chat with random people walking through. It's fun.
My oldest son came home sick on Monday with a belly ache. Awhh.. poor little guy. I had just dropped off his brother at school, brought the babies back inside, when I got the call. So, back to school I went, gathered him up, went back home for about a half hour, then headed over the the little ones school to be there for the fireman that was coming for a visit. This fireman visit had caused quite a bit of grief over the weekend. He DID NOT want to see him, or his truck, or his stupid dog! end quote.
I talked to the school principal that morning, and she told me it was closer to the end of the day and that I could always come in for it. Great, seriously, that is SO what I did not want to do. But he's my son, and I love his little whining ass, so I brought the babies, the kid with the belly ache, and we sat through the fireman's movie and presentation.. My youngest didn't even notice we were there until the end, but I know it made his day. He sat clinging the fireman's teddy bear, on the lap of one of his teachers. It was cute.
So, that was Monday.. yesterday was the speech thing, and today was pretty mild.. except that I was supposed to meet Lnotes at the library for baby lap sit, and I knew the girls were just not going to go for that (another long night, with yet more teeth) And had to call her cell phone about 5 minutes before the thing started and bail (sorry lnotes, one of these days I'll make it!!!)
Tonight I made a fabulous, healthy dinner, and then watched all four of my kids cry when I put it in front of them. I love that! Soon I found myself telling them that people are starving in other countries, even in our country, and that there are mom's who don't even make their kids dinner! So shut the 'f up and EAT!!!!!
I love dinner time.. The boys hate eating at the kitchen table. They want to eat in the living room, so they can watch t.v. I allow that on Friday and Saturday nights, but during the week, we're at the table. It's like I am trying to torture them! If you came into my house during dinner, you would think that I was slowly pulling each hair out of their head, or poking them in the eyes.. I can't wait til they're older, and maybe they'll thank me for at least trying.. trying to be a family, trying to get some quality time together, trying to talk.. Someday.. maybe.

Another Open House..

My husband and I went to my son's preschool open house last night. I gotta say, I love that school. I love that we get to send him there for free (thanks to his IEP) I love that no one there knows that (I think..) and why would I care if they did? I don't.
We got to see a bunch of art work that the kids have done, mingle with some of the parents who I had never met (oh, and if you know me, you know I did NO mingling whatsoever, it was more like a rush for the door afterwards..) Anyway, all the kids made self portraits, and we were supposed to guess which self portrait was our child's. I couldn't wait to get to the wall and check it out. The teachers had written at the bottom of the page a sentence or two on how the kids described themselves. We had quite a hard time finding our kid. Turns out he was the one whose favorite color is orange, and he likes to ride his purple bike in the backyard. Cute. I knew the orange part.. but a purple bike?? I haven't seen the purple bike yet.. I suppose it's tucked away at his imaginary friends house!
So all in all it was good.. it lasted an hour, and when you have been to more than one open house, the hour usually drags by pretty good.. The teachers were very enthusiastic, they did an impromptu rendition of "Little Ms. Moffet" using a parent from the audience. I only found that mildly bizarre. But at the end of their presentation they read us a story, and actual LONG story. A story that I would love to read to my kids at bedtime.. I'm not sure that it wasn't lost on the grown ups.. but whatever..
Oh, and I got to meet Johnny Appleseed, who apologized profusely for scaring my son.. She happens to be the director (or principal) of the school! I didn't know that! Pretty funny.. I told her he was getting over it, and that I've only lost a few hours of sleep!
Well, I'm off to finish up my work, and get home to 2 really crabby babies! One would think that with all the sleep they aren't getting during the night lately due to teeth and yeast, that they would just be passing out in their tracks.. but it is so not the case..they have gotten pretty good at walking (at least one of them has) and man, do they follow me everywhere! And when I'm heading out to work for my 2 hours a night, they are frantically running after me, screaming all the way! It's a great send off!

Poor Baby..

I suspected a couple of days ago that one of the twins may have thrush (a lovely yeast infection in your mouth.. yum) I could see some white patches along the inside of her lips, but she was actually in a great mood, and I know that can make a baby really crabby (my youngest son had it at 6 weeks and he cried for days!)

Anyway, she woke up this morning, with her tiny lips baring resemblance to Angelina Jolie.. we knew something was up.. I made the call to the pediatrician (who I love by the way) and he called in a prescription! Thank you for not making me drag all my kids to the doctors office, and expose them to god knows what..

So, I've got the meds, it's called nystatin.. and I have to swab it on the inside of her mouth 3 times a day.. you can tell by this picture, that she just loves it!

Kiss my Ass Johnny Appleseed!

My poor 4 year old.. traumatized by a "visitor" to his school on Monday. They had a special Harvest Day.. which included going in early, packing a lunch (pretty big deal, except the kid won't eat bread, so all he got was some juice, a gogurt, and goldfish..whatever..) The day breezed by with all sorts of fun stuff, ie pumpkin bowling, painting pumpkins, stuffing scarecrows.. and a visit from Johnny Appleseed.. which was more than my son could take. She (yes, a female Johnny..) was dressed in overalls, with a pot on her head and dirt from her head to her bare feet. It sounds pretty harmless, but when I picked him up, one of his teachers told me he was "visibly shaken" by their visitor. Great.. If this kid is visibly shaken from anything, that means he's going to be calling me into his bedroom 25 times for the next 3 nights because he just can't get that image out of his head. Both my boys are like that.. it's been a real treat let me tell you!

So, as I suspected he slept like shit the past couple of nights, and today, when I mentioned school, he freaked out! He cried and cried and was refusing to go.. ugh.. Now this is where I ended up feeling bad, I probably should have made him go, explained to him that Johnny Appleseeds was long gone, but instead, I start thinking about not having to pack up the girls (who btw had a horrible night sleep as well, due to the 3 molars they are each getting-at ONCE!!) And thinking of not interrupting their nap time to bring him in.. you see where I'm going with this?? It would be a perfect time to get them to nap, and get a wee bit of sleep on the sofa at the same time (and who'll watch the 4 year old? that's what the t.v. is for! Duh!) So, that's what we opted on.. He's promised me that he'll go back on Friday.. however, he doesn't know that his big brother is off that day, and won't it suck not to get to stay home and play with him! Oh, but he'll go! That's for sure!