What do you do with 4 kids in the winter?

I took Meg to the grocery store yesterday and someone asked how old she was and I said-- oh 2 weeks but she will be 3 weeks this week. Um- wrong. I got an email today that was all about my 4 week old baby. Man, that was all a blur. I can't say that I feel overwhelmed because adjusting to 3 kids was so much harder, but I guess the day does get away from you.

I like to break it down this way.  When I wake up I need 2 cokes or the equivalent- I want the caffeine and sugar.

Then a couple hours later I realize I still have that headache I woke up with. That is when I drink my coffee.

Then I turn to my trusty gallon water jug. But after feeding the baby, carrying the baby, listening to Luke and Thomas all day, and Jack once he gets home from school I turn to my dear friend alcohol.

 

1-1.5 glasses gets me through dinner, homework, and bedtime rituals. Then I begin hitting the gallon water jug again. Sometimes the water jug comes upstairs with me at night- I go through a lot of water.

Some days I get dressed but most days I don't. This has more to do with the fact I can't wear my regular clothes yet, and I don't like to be reminded by having to wear maternity clothes. I have 20 lbs until pre-pregnancy weight. I think I have about 10 lbs until I can squeeze into some of my regular clothes. Today I did manage to get dressed and here you go-nothing fancy.

This month we had Luke's 4th birthday. Our super hero loving boy celebrated his birthday by going to Imagination Station, playing games at Chuck E Cheese, and eating spicy Chinese for dinner.

It is still the longest coldest winter ever so we pulled out toys we haven't seen in awhile like the Lite Brite Cube.

 We have also decided to take lots of pictures with the camera.

When regular pictures got boring we started using Photo Booth.

So there you go, if you were wondering what you do with 4 kids in the freezing cold winter after it has been winter forever. Oh, and we have given up on kids tv shows and now we watch Doctor Who as a family and rock out on Pandora to Black Sabbath (ok and the Frozen soundtrack).

Adjusting well

So right now it is nap time in this house-- but the only one sleeping is baby Meg. Luckily, my kids know even if they aren't asleep they don't get to leave their rooms for at least an hour during nap time. It is a rule I have drilled into all of them. Thomas still sleeps in a crib partially for this reason- I don't want him just walking around. No, not yet, let us get better adjusted to the baby before we tackle that issue.

So far the addition of Baby Meg has not been too stressful. I believe this is because she is what one would call an easy baby- I have never had an easy baby so I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. Luke was the closest and he was pretty good, but this baby is amazing. She just sleeps all the time. I mean so much that I went online to make sure it was ok. She never really cries unless she is hungry and I am not right there and then she settles down again almost immediately. I really don't know what to do with a baby that isn't constantly crying or constantly awake. The boys don't either- they keep asking if she is awake, when can they hold her, and why doesn't she do much?

Thomas loves her a lot and holds her the most. When she is in her vibrating chair he stands guard and when she kicks her blanket off he puts it back on. Luke is enamored as well, but when he holds her it is only for a second. Luke can smell and hear very well so he lets me know when she has pooped or if she is crying and I can't hear. They both pick out her clothes everyday and if I happen to do it when they aren't around they become quite upset with me.

Jack likes her and he comes in to talk to her when she is awake, but she is a bit too inactive to keep his attention. He mostly tries to come up with funny nicknames for her like- Princess Underpants. I don't think that is one we will stick with.

Since the weather has been brutally cold we stay upstairs most of the day. Our townhouse feels so much colder downstairs, this is probably due to drafts, but Baby Meg and I are not fans so we hangout upstairs in bed and under the covers as much as possible. Seriously. While fun to be so lazy at first and have an excuse, I am starting to get a bit stir crazy. I will be so happy when it warms up and not only can we go outside but we can go downstairs again for more than 10 minutes. I try to make the boys stay upstairs as much as I can, just so I can hear what they are up to, and often times our mornings involve me being under the cozy covers and the boys each taking their turn on the iPad.

We have started doing more things during the day like playing with play-dough, finger painting, coloring, building forts, and doing snap circuits. We are working our way back into 'normal' life again. Luke and Thomas keep asking to go on walks, but we have to keep saying no. Though I have heard by the end of the week we should be able to go outside once again without slipping and sliding all over the snow and ice.

I went out and got my haircut and colored for the first time in 9 months. I let my hair grow out and it was the longest it has been since I was in junior high, of course it was in a pony tail almost the entire time, and when it was down I hated it. I am just not a long hair kind of gal.  I chopped it all off. It felt so lovely to do it. I don't know if I love my hair cut but I do know that I love not having long hair.

Now, if only I could fit in my clothes then we would be making real progress. I guess one step at a time, right? It doesn't help that right now my body is at that in-between stage where the maternity clothes are too big and saggy, and the regular clothes I wore before I was pregnant are still too small for me to squeeze into. So I am wearing yoga pants and Pete's flannel shirts mostly.

In other news, Thomas is tired of wearing diapers but is not ready to use the potty yet, so the only way I have been able to change his diaper is by letting him sport undies over it. He thinks this makes him a big boy. He asked me to take his picture.

Next week is Luke's b-day and then Jack's right after, so we are looking forward to that and better weather.

Baby Meg

Hello, My name is Mom and I have 4 kids!! Whoa- that is too crazy.

Our daughter, also crazy saying that, was born January 30, 2014.  Her name is Margaret Elise. She beat all her brothers with the weight of 9 lbs. 3 oz.

I was scheduled to be induced on January 30th because of how big she might be. However, it turned out that while she was fine coming that day it would be on her own terms. I was supposed to show up at the hospital at 6:30am and I did. The contractions became more patterned and painful around 4:30am and by 6am when we were getting ready to leave they became 7 minutes apart. Once in the car they quickly became 4 or 5 minutes apart. I walked into the hospital and said- Hi I am here to be induced but I am already in labor. Turns out the welcome committee was confused by this statement and had me walk across the hospital to sign in, had me wait in the waiting area while they got my paperwork ready, had me walk to the sign in attendant, and she was about to have me walk to labor and delivery when my husband spoke up and said- Do you mind if I get her a wheelchair? I guess it didn't really sink in that I was actually in labor and not just there to be put into labor. Luckily, once upstairs the nurse noticed right away I was in labor and after checking things out agreed that I would not be induced because I was well on my way. I got my epidural soon after and the rest was easy peasy. I took a nap. I stalled at dilating around 7cm so I was turned on my side which apparently helped a ton because soon after this I began to feel some pressure but nothing urgent like I had with Thomas. After a bit I began to compare the pressure to the contractions on the monitor and realized that they coincided. I brought it up to Pete because it wasn't constant pressure but it did go along with the contractions so maybe that meant something. I called the nurse and she checked and said- Oh yeah, the baby is right there. We need to page the doctor and you need to keep your legs closed. (insert offensive jokes and thoughts here). They brought in the birthing posse and the good doctor rushed over and it took 1 push. For real- the easiest birth anyone anywhere has ever had. She was a 9 lb baby and in one push she was introduced to the world.

My daughter captured the heart of her father immediately. He was gushing over her the very moment he saw her. I have never seen anything like it in my life. He also put me in charge of disciplining her because he doesn't think he will ever be able to tell her no.

The flu season this year is horrible. I haven't been keeping up with the flu this season so I had no idea.  This meant a change in hospital visitors- no one under the age of 18. Period. End of discussion. My darling boys didn't get to meet their sister for a few days. So sad. However, when they did they were very excited.

I get constant updates on every noise she is making- they mimic every noise just so I know which one it is. They also run into the bedroom, just to check on her, all the time. I am amazed she has been able to sleep through this. The younger two boys want to constantly hold her and it turns out her sleeping schedule doesn't mesh well with their desire to touch her, see her, hold her, and talk to her. They are not big fans of how much sleep she needs.

We are all adjusting pretty well. I am still ever so tired. I am hoping that the whole numbness due to lack of sleep kicks in soon, either that or I get more sleep. Otherwise, we are getting by. The weather is too cold and snowy for me to have any desire to get out of the house so I am fine just having her sleep on my chest while I hang out in bed. Luke has decided that picnics in bed are super fun, so we now have snack time under the covers. The older kids probably continue to either watch too much tv or play too much on the iPad, but the weather is too bad for them to go outside so they would be doing the same thing new baby or not. There is only so much Memory and Yahtzee this old girl can take. Pete does take them sledding after every new snow, so they do get some exercise.

Well, they are staring at me and want some lunch so I better get out from under the warm covers and find them some food.