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.

Christmas Cabin Fever

Christmas break is a whole new kind of crazy when you have a kid that normally goes to school residing in your house. I am a stay at home mom, I have two kids that stay with me on a regular basis, and this oldest child of mine stayed with me all day only a couple years ago, so why is it so bloody hard dealing with him for 2 weeks?  I knew immediately that we would have to find ways to entertain him, get him out of the house, and get his energy out. But 1. This is winter in north central Indiana which = cold!!! 2. I am 8.5- 9 months pregnant. Neither of these things are optimal mom of the year motivators.

So here is what we did the first week and a half: went to Target to look at the toys, went to Chic-Fil-A so they could play in the indoor play area ( Pete and I sat there for 2 hours while they played), went to the park in 20 degree weather after it had rained and there was no shining sun anywhere. * going down wet twisty slides in snow pants = going super fast = boys loved it,  Pete took them to the tennis courts to throw balls, Pete took them to playground this time with the dog and in much nicer weather, went to the movies and out to dinner, painted pottery, and went to the mall so they could play in the indoor play area. So that is it, those were my ideas and it still wasn't enough.

Now we still have 3 days and Jack is saying he is so bored and just has to be crazy. On top of this we are supposed to get around 8 inches of snow by Monday, so does this mean extra days at home?! By the end of next week the highs are supposed to be in the negatives so will they cancel or delay school for this?!!  I enjoy having Jack around and it hasn't been all bad, it has mostly been a lot of fun, but children were not meant to be at home for long periods of time in the winter with nothing to do. I guarantee evolution frowns on this arrangement.

Huffing Puffing Mommy

I have gotten big. Large really, according to the What To Do or to be more exact the What Not To Do When Pregnant people. Ok let me get real here and give you actual numbers to go along with the previous statement. On the day I found out I was pregnant I weighed 115 lbs.  I am 5'2 so this was a lovely weight to be. Today I went to the doctor and stepped on the scale and weighed in at a sturdy 160 lbs. The average weight gain for the whole pregnancy is supposed to be 35 lbs. I leave all the math to my husband, but even I can tell you that with 9 weeks to go I have already gained more than 35 lbs., and if the last 2 1/2 months are any indication- I am no where near done. My last two pregnancies I gained 40-45 lbs total, so I clearly don't live and die by what these authorities tell me, but knowing I have 2 months left and perhaps 20 more lbs. in my future- I am not so sure I can handle it. I told my husband that I felt like one of those large women who only date skinny men- I am worried I might roll on top of him and crush him. He wasn't amused.

This additional weight comes with its own set of problems. My heart races when I do basically anything, I start huffing and puffing like I am about to blow someone's house down, walking actually requires effort, and I have swelling. My hands, fingers, feet, toes, ankles, and wrists will swell to the point I can't wear shoes, watches, my socks leave indentations on my legs, it hurts to bend my fingers, and my toes tingle. It is not constant though. I have days when I look normal then I have days when you can't tell that I have ankles. Returning home from our 5 hour car trip this past weekend was horrible. I could feel my body parts get bigger- it hurt. Standing up after was almost impossible and instead of sausage toes you could have said I had mini- calzone toes. It was truly ridiculous.

I brought it up to the doctor who said that with the weight gain in 2 weeks, the racing pulse, and the swelling it was worth doing blood work to see what he can see.  Now I don't really want anything to be wrong, but I would love a medical reason to be gaining so much weight instead of just being a puffy, swollen, heavy pregnant lady. It would help my self-esteem.

Also, the baby is measuring 34 weeks when I am only 31. This apparently doesn't have anything to do with my puffiness. So on top of swollen extremities I have a baby who, if things keep going like this, will be quite large.

Now while I would really love to show you a picture of me in this state - I am going to pass. I know you are all very sad. I will get around to a general side view of my belly this trimester but not just yet.

Some days are good and some are bad

I haven't written in a bit and there are lots of reasons I am sure, but if I keep putting it off then I will keep putting it off. So here is a bit of what life has been like here over the past month.

The boys got to pick taters with Granny

We went trick-or-treating. We got a last minute phone call Halloween night asking if Jack could trick-or-treat with a friend, so I said yes. We discovered that we missed Jack terribly and it turns out he missed us, so next year we told him he is trick-or-treating with us no matter what. He didn't seem upset about this.

There were a few days there when I wasn't feeling too hot so we didn't get out all that often. I think the boys got a bit sick of staying inside because Luke, my child that dislikes going walk, asked if we could please go on a walk at the bog. I had to say yes, and I think we all felt better for it.

Then, minus going to story time at the library, we didn't do much for awhile because I have felt quite overwhelmed and tired. Jack has always been energetic and we have always known that it would be an issue later. It turns out that later is perhaps now. His teacher lets us know how Jack is doing on a weekly basis. He never sits in his seat. He just walks around the room. He talks out of turn all the time. As he teacher said- he has so much to share but he needs to learn when to share it. He stuffed a girl's shoes full of tissue paper and when asked why he said- I don't know. He misses silly problems on his school work because he just isn't paying attention. He sometimes just forgets to do whole problems because he doesn't realize they are there. At home with the addition of homework to his daily schedule things have been quite difficult for us. He gets home around 3:30pm and usually has three things he has to get done. 1. On Monday they get 6 spelling words for a spelling test on Friday, so we practice everyday. 2. A math worksheet  3. He has to read 20 minutes a day. Since we have him in chess he does have a few pages of chess to do a week but this is not every day. This is all and none of it is too difficult for him. It takes him about 2 minutes to do a math worksheet front and back once he gets to it. His spelling words he usually knows by Tuesday but we still go over them to make sure. The reading is the hardest part because he has to sit still to read and he would rather jump around, fidget, make random noises in the middle of reading, or skip over words as he reads. So what should take maybe 45 minutes at the absolute most takes 4 or 5 hours and a lot of screaming and crying by both him and me. It was getting ridiculous. After one particularly hard evening and an afternoon talk with this teacher about how he was getting to be a bit much in class we decided to take him to the doctor. I just want some help, some tips, some advice, and guidance because I have no idea what to do and it isn't fun for him either. We, his parents and teacher, were given a questionnaire to fill out. It was absolutely amazing how that whole form seemed to be about him. You rate the questions and they were like: 1. Runs about or climbs when remaining seated is expected  2. Interrupts in on other's conversations or activities 3. Dislikes or does not want to start tasks that require ongoing mental effort 4. Does not seem to listen when spoken to directly.
 Apparently, there is a co-morbidity that goes along with it and for Jack it seems like anxiety is his. We haven't gone back to the doctor yet, but I am sure this is just the beginning. We don't want him on medicine, at least not right away. We would like to try other methods before we resort to medicine. We have started a new behavior chart that goes hand in hand with his daily behavior chart at school. It worked quite well
last week so hopefully it continues. Also, we have decided to try to take as much sugar out of his diet as possible and add more protein. So, it has been tough here lately, but we are trying to work it out.

Also, we have made more of an effort to get outside anytime the weather permits. So today we went to the park.

My parenting style--LAZY

My children are crazy. I just thought you should know. They wake up crazy, spend the day being crazy, and go to bed crazy. For the most part I don't fight it--why should I? They enjoy being crazy. They wake up and demand to wear super hero costumes, masks, and capes. Sometimes they ask to just hang out in their pj's all day. They rarely brush their hair and for 2 of the 3 this isn't a problem because we buzz their hair, but the middle one has longer hair that might do well with a comb going through it. Of course, there are days when the middle one is obsessive in his use of a comb and how his hair looks, so much so, that he will use half of daddy's hair gel on his head to make himself look handsome.

 They pick out their own clothes and put them on. I could say this is to foster creativity or individuality or a sense of independence but really I think I am just lazy. Once I see they can even half way get dressed alone or the first time they show interest in what shirt to wear well, now they get to do it every day. Honestly, most of the time they do a good job, but sometimes people comment on how their shoes are on the wrong feet, their shirt, or pants are backwards and then tell me like I don't have eyes and can't see for myself what my children look like. Yeah well, my just barely 2 -year-old picked out his whole outfit and put his shoes on by himself, I think that is pretty good-especially since I didn't have to do it- and if it doesn't bother him then it doesn't bother me. Of course, sometimes when they pick out their clothes they just make everyone's day. Like when they wore super hero outfits to church, Target, the store, the library, and to pick Jack up from school. I think they made 200 people smile just by being kids.

We went to a children's museum where you can draw on your face or have an adult do it for you. Again, my kids ran over there and just started coloring their face in like it was a blank sheet of paper. Other people were turning their kids into butterflies, lions, or something else very recognizable. Now if I could draw and if my kids were totally different people then this probably would have been us too, but like I said, I am a bit lazy, so I just watched from afar as they went at it.

My do it for yourself parenting has perks because we refuse- ok I refuse- to carry my kids around or push them in a stroller once they are fully capable of walking any distance at all. Yes, sometimes it is slower, but it pays off because my kids can walk and I don't have to do anything!! Occasionally, when Thomas was still 1 I pulled out the stroller because I thought we may need it, but it ended up getting in the way far more often than being useful. This mentality may come from the fact that I do actually carry my children in a baby bjorn from the day we leave the hospital until they are 1ish, so perhaps I feel like I have carried them enough. No matter the reason it makes our walks these days awesome! I will add as a disclaimer that Luke didn't walk any distance at all until he was around 2 and it should be noted that he continues to have the most difficult time walking. His little brother was passing him up big time on the trails. Poor guy.

So sometimes I think my 'lazy' method of parenting really pays off but not everyone thinks so. I get all kinds of looks because my kids aren't always in a cart, or because I let Jack run around the store picking out things on my shopping list, or because when I am checking out they might be off looking at Redbox or trying to get free money out of the ATM. They are loud, they do run around, and they talk pretty freely about things, but  my way is just different than yours. It isn't right and it isn't wrong. It works for us and that is what really matters. So if you are at the store and you see two or three loud boys don't worry I will be there in a second to make sure they aren't knocking people or things down.