Friday, December 14, 2007

If You Can't Beat 'Em

If you can't beat 'em (as in "can't win")...bring 'em downstairs, give them cereal and some milk.

It is juuuust about midnight and me, Noah and Jack are hanging out. Noah had shots today - way too many freakin' shots for one little body in my humble opinion. (Five?!?!? Are you kidding me?!?!?!?). Jack has had an explosion of his eczema this week so after the realization that all the lotion in the world isn't cutting it I brought him downstairs. He can join me and Noah for some midnight fun. Fun being some soggie cereal and watching the weather channel. Woohoo!

One note before I return to my little guys - I got a cabinet!!! Yes, the craigslist is a good thing! Okay, baby crying...and a snow storm is on the way.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

My Most Favorite Hobby

A quick overview of my day before Noah wakes up -
Isaac woke me up soon after Brian left for work this morning to let me know that he wet the bed. Understatement. - To let me know that he created a small pond complete with a soft stuffed shark in his bed. Though he really needed a bath I opted for a super fast (and cold) wipe down with baby wipes from Noah's baby supplies. I tucked the nearly dry, semi-freezing Isaac in to Brian's side of the bed hoping I could get some sleep before sunrise. Enter Sophia. She heard the commotion, "Isaac be quiet, it isn't THAT cold..." and realizing Isaac was allowed the luxury of sleeping in Dada's spot she felt jolted. I explained that it wasn't a sleepover and that Isaac's bed was now a major fishing spot in the Midwest so he couldn't sleep there - he'd drown. Of course, that early in the AM all reasoning with a three year old is out the window (hmmm, can you EVER reason with a three year old???) - Sophia threw a fit, but she did return to her bed. She was juuuust loud enough to wake Jack. By that point the rays of sunlight were peaking in the window and Isaac was trying to play with the sleeping newborn Noah next to him in our bed. All attempts at gaining more sleep were lost. The day began against my will...and so it seems the entire day was against my will.
After a morning of temper tantrums from an overtired Sophia we ate lunch. I mean, I ate lunch. The kids mutilated their meal into a fine powder and managed to cover not only themselves but any and all nearby furniture and flooring. Yes, I was in the room. Yes, in horror, I watched and objected as the mess was created. How can three tiny people make such an expansive and difficult to clean up disaster from meat, cheese and sweetened bread?!?
Fast forward to the end of naptime...
Brian was on his way home from picking up our finally fixed minivan when I went up to get Sophia and Jack. I was on a good roll - dishes done, rooms cleaned up, clutter was minimal, dinner planned. I was planning on diving into a craft of some sort after dinner. Oh, to use my brain and complete a project! Then, I opened Jack's door and knew I had a change in plans. Picture a layer of large legos and Mr. Potato Head parts scattered across a small bedroom floor. No big deal - common in my house. Now add small bits of poop into the mix of toys. In fact, picture poop all over the baby crib and all over the toddler as well. No, I would not be crafting this evening. I freed my evening so I could deep clean Jack's entire bedroom. Deep clean, the scrubbing and cursing sort of cleaning.
I decided to break the task before me into two phases. Phase One was the child. Into the shower he went. Out came a clean and hungry Jack. Phase Two was accomplished in that little block of time after dinner and before bedtime - the bedroom, bed, bedding and tiny toys were scrubbed. I soaked the toys in the bathtub while I scrubbed the crib, mattress and floor. I finished just in time for Isaac to dive into the toilet. No joke.
Brian was helping Isaac along to bed and had to remind him to flush the toilet. Isaac somehow went from the stepstool in front of the bathroom sink to having one leg and one arm in the toilet that was full of pee. No, the toilet wasn't full for very long. That's right, it went all over the bathroom. Floor, tub, mirror - and formerly clean tiny toys that were in the bathtub. The toys got a second washing, the bathroom was cleaned up, and Isaac finally got the shower he needed first thing this morning. Then, since I have this thing about all my kids being equally clean I put Sophie through the shower as well. Bedtime ended with clean, dry bedding and clean, dry children after a short lesson with Isaac on why we don't smear boogers on the walls of our house.
What a day! If only I could convince myself that cleaning was my most favorite hobby in the world! If only...
I'm ending my day checking out the craigslist for a craft cabinet of some sort so I can move my supplies to the main level of the house. Then, when I'm not doing my most favorite hobby, CLEANING, I could do some less favorite things without a lot of fuss.
Noah is waking up and I need to eat a bedtime snack...and I need to get to bed anyway. Tomorrow I'm going on an adventure - the doctor's office with four kids ages four and under. Awe, our first outing in the fixed minivan with our newest little guy. It should be fun. In fact, I think going out with all the kids is my second most favorite hobby...!