mix up

The other day I asked my two year old to bring me the broom. He happily hops away and returns a few moments later with the toilet plunger.

Ewwwww

Guess we need to work on that vocabulary.

not such a rough day

Today hasn't been as tough as yesterday, thank goodness, but I haven't tried to do as much either. No laundry, no cooking, no much needed sweeping, nothing that really needed to get done.

I was chatting with my sister on the phone today and my home line phone completely died. I'm going to buy a new battery for it tomorrow. If it works with the new battery, great. If not, I guess I'll have to buy a new phone. It is amazing at all that this phone has lasted as long as it has. It went through the washing machine about a year and a half ago.

Peanut has been into eating foods lately. She grabs at the cup when I get a drink. She loves to drink from a cup. Over the weekend, Hubby gave her root beer. She loved it, but I couldn't believe he had done it. He also gave her ice cream. She loved that too. Still, no-fun-Mama is insisting that she eat baby foods like a baby should. I've given her sweet potatoes, which she really liked. Yesterday I gave her apple baby food. She didn't like that as much. Every spoonful I put into her mouth, she spit it out. Sometimes she would start spitting while the spoon was still in her mouth. I tried it again today. She is still spitting it out. I guess we'll try it again sometime this week and then move on to bananas next week. If she doesn't like those, I've got more sweet potatoes.

having a rough day

I'm having a rough day today. I need a hug. Hubby is out of town this week. That's ok with me. I'm quite independent and not afraid to be alone, if you can call being in a house with 5 kids alone. What has been hard is that my sweet baby is no longer sweet. When she turned 4 months old, she turned into something of a terror. She screams when I'm not holding her and sometimes gets so worked up that she screams when I do hold her. She doesn't like to be held while I'm sitting, either. That means when I sit down at the computer while holding her, she screams. When I sit down to watch a movie or read a book while I hold her, she screams. When I sit down to write in my journal or write the grocery list while I hold her she screams. And of course, if I put her down, she screams.

I do nothing for work or pleasure without hearing her scream. I'm frustrated at what I can't accomplish and frustrated that what I do accomplish is with a screaming soundtrack.

This evening, I got her to sleep and I was hoping to get a few things done to get the house and kids ready for bed. I had to run outside to get something that had been left. My two younger kids HAD to come with me. Because they were so slow, they let in a lot of bugs. When I got back in the house I was horrified to see my kitchen wall covered with bugs. I grabbed the fly swatter and started whacking away at the bugs. This woke up Peanut. After I finished with the bugs, I grabbed Peanut, 2 diapers and headed upstairs. My two younger kids peed in their beds last night. I had the sheets clean, but not back on the beds yet. I had to put Peanut down. She screamed non stop while I put on two sets of sheets and put some laundry away. I put diapers on the older two and as soon as I had, they both announced they needed to go potty. I took off the diapers and waited for them to pee. I got diapers back on them and headed to my room to change into PJs. Peanut screamed. All of this took about 20 minutes. I finally got Peanut to sleep and the phone rings. I go get it and it is my MIL asking what year I was born because they were inputting genealogy info into their computer. It is 9:50 at night and it woke up Peanut. That's all they wanted, my birth year and birth place. I've been married to this family for almost 12 years. You would think they would know those two things.

I got Peanut back to sleep after the phone call. I can't blame her entirely for her actions. She is teething and it hurts. She can never get in a good nap during the day. Instead of two good naps lasting several hours (like a 4 month old should have) she gets 10-15 cat naps a day, never lasting more than 15 minutes. This is thanks to loud siblings who show no respect for her or me when I ask them to please be quite. She also wakes up the moment I lay her down. It is all very frustrating to me.

Don't get me wrong, I love all my children, but I didn't plan on a fifth kid. My fourth was such a screaming terror that I knew I couldn't handle anymore. Well, Peanut decided to come along and we had a sweet first three months, but now she is following in her brother's foot steps and I'm tearing my hair out. I can't get work done around the house, I can't spend much time playing with the other kids, and I defiantly get no personal time. A friend of mine is trying desperately to get pregnant. Part of me hopes she can and a part of me that I feel really guilty about is thinking "why?" Why do you want to do this? Why do you want to be screamed at? Why do you want to never sleep? Why do you want to never have personal accomplishments again? Isn't that terrible? I'm such a horrible person for thinking that.

I know that eventually, the screaming will end. I know there is light at the end of the tunnel, because the other 4 kids reached it, but to endure this now and for the next year is so hard. I don't want to be screamed at anymore. How do I get though this next year? How can I get nothing done and feel good about it?

It is night and I'm so tired. My Peanut is sleeping in my arms while I type. Things always seem so hopeless at night. Tomorrow won't be much of a better day. I know Peanut is going to scream all day, but when the sun is out, I can handle it much better. I'm hoping the night goes smoothly and tomorrow morning comes quickly.

Poetic Thoughts

Three years ago this week, I was in Pisa, Italy. I was there for the ICOS conference (International Council for Onomasitc Studies). Onomastics is the study of names. I went alone to this conference, except for my seven month pregnant belly with kid #4. It was my second trip to Europe and there are some ways of life in Europe that I absolutely love. For one thing, you walk everywhere. I wished while I was there that I had my pedometer. I would have loved to know how many miles I walked while I was in Pisa. So, I walked back and forth to the conference several time everyday as well as all the sight seeing I did.

So, all this walking gave me much time for thought. I discovered that I had extremely poetic thoughts. My thoughts are very eloquent. I carried a journal everywhere I went. There was a lovely little park next to the building where the conference was held. It was a plaza with benches, trees, and a water fountain. On the hours they rang the bells, I could hear three to five different sets of bells ringing. It was a lovely place. So, during breaks in the conference, I would head out to the plaza, set myself on a bench under a tree and start writing. I discovered I couldn't write as poetically as I could think. I was disappointed.

I'm still that way. I think all day of great blog ideas and I think out the thought in a very elegant way. However, when I sit down to write, my time is limited by the kids. My oldest son was just in here telling me he would like a blog but doesn't know what he would put on it, but he kept talking about what he would say or wouldn't say. I finally told him to not talk to me at this moment. I can't listen and type at the same time. Then, I'm always holding Peanut (as I am now), she was asleep until this moment because Toddler decided to start throwing a loud tantrum. Well, just now all five were in here defending themselves as to why Toddler is crying. Guess what, Peanut is wide awake now and I'll never get to finish my thoughts now. I got really mad and yelled at them all to get out of this room and leave me alone.

Well, that's the end of this un-poetic thought. Ugg, I'm mad now.

laundry

You ask any stay at home mom and I'm guessing just about most any woman what is the number one thing to do on her TO DO list and the answer would be - Laundry.
Incredible isn't it?

As we are a family of seven, there is always plenty of laundry to be done. But what really amazes me is when I do mine and my husband's laundry. Hubby wears two sets of clothes a day, a suit and tie to work and then short or pants and t-shirts at home. I wear one set of clothes each day.

So, why in the world when I do our laundry is my pile twice as big as his? I don't get it.

My 4 year old always has the biggest pile. She loves to wear and change clothes and she dumps all the clothes she wears all over her floor. When I go to collect laundry from her room, I'm never sure if I'm getting dirty or clean clothes. In the end, it all gets washed and she has a pile that is bigger than anyone elses.

I'm not even going to into what odd little things I find in the laundry, like toys and rocks. And the missing socks.... well, I have a basket where I collect them and then after a while I'll go though the basket and match socks, but there are always a few with no match. Where did they go?

I think aliens are the cause of the laundry oddness.

1st tooth

Yesterday Peanut spent the day very upset. Now, she has the most wonderful personality and I know that when she acts that way, something is bothering her. With my 2 year old, he just cried all the time and I never knew why. So, this morning, she got me up very early (sigh) and she was chewing on my hand and she has a tooth! It has only just come in, but it is there. Her first tooth. I'm sure the one next to it is on it's way as well. She has been in a better mood today, but not her usual happy self so I believe the other tooth is making it's way in. I love toothless grins and I'm sad to see it end so soon, but I also love toothy grins.

Kilts and skirts

Back to some random thoughts!

Several weeks ago, I was out running an errand for Hubby and I was coming up to a red light. In the lane to my right, just in front of me we two men on motorcycles. One of them was wearing a kilt. It was black and I was very amused. Well, to tell the truth, my first thought was, how does he keep his kilt from flying up while he rides his motorcycle? But as I passed him, I saw he was sitting on it in the middle, holding it down. Smart. I'm not sure if kilts are becoming a fashionable thing to wear or not, but I could understand their appeal.

I prefer to wear a skirt. I wear them more days than not. I wear them with my T-shirt and tennis shoes. I mow in my skirts, I take walks in my skirts, I just prefer skirts right now. The ones I have a long, black, stretchy and comfy. I just am more comfortable in my skirts than pants right now. I could see why some me are wearing kilts more.

I read an article recently and I'm afraid I don't remember where it was from, but a man who works for the Postal Service is asking that a regulation kilt be added to the dress code. I have no preference to this. I wouldn't mind my postman wearing a kilt. But then, I am of Scottish heritage and the idea of kilts appeals to my Scottish side.

There is no point to this. I like skirts and I could see why men would be attracted to kilts. I wish my hubby liked them, but he is the last person in the world I could see in a kilt. Military men just aren't the kind who would wear kilts. True be told, I wish the style of clothes like the men wear in the Lord of the Rings movies were culturally acceptable. I really like the way men look in tunics. :)

the neglected blog

I have had lots of thoughts and no chance to write. Peanut doesn't let me do much. She is sleeping right now and as long as her siblings are respectful and don't wake her up, I am trying to do some things I've put off because they require two hands. If I try to type while holding her, she whacks my hands, or tries to squirm off my lap, requiring me to catch her with both hands. Typing with her is almost impossible.

Peanut is a sweet baby. I can't believe how good she is. The other four were never this good. She is ready to crawl. You can see it in her eyes. She wants so much to just crawl away. She'll lay on her tummy with her arms and legs just going, like she is swimming. Someday she'll figure it out. She is trying solid foods now, officially. (I won't go into what that means) She hates the rice cereal. Can you blame her? It tastes like cardboard. She loves the sweet potatoes.

Well, Princess just made Toddler scream like a banshee (she took a toy of his) and has now woken up Peanut. UGGG! I can never get a break.

The summer is going along nicely. Only two weeks left before school starts. We couldn't go anywhere for a summer vacation, but having a vehicle to just run errands or go to the park in has been great. I'm thinking of taking the kids to the beach next week. I really don't like going to the beach. I hate the sandy mess and I hate trying to keep an eye out for two great swimmers in the water, an eye on a four year old who is incredibly independent and just wants to do her own thing where ever she wants to do it, and keep an eye on a two year old who is doing his own thing. All this while trying my hardest to keep the sun off the 4 month old with no umbrella of any kind. It is way to stressful a trip for me, but the kids love it and we live just 5 miles away from the coast. It will be a much more fun trip to make when they are all a bit older.

I've had all sorts of random thoughts to write about, but Peanut is crying now and I can't write. Well, my time bomb has gone off and I must go.

Kids

As always, things here are busy. Summer is flying by quickly. We have 4 weeks left before school starts again. I wish I could have done more with the kids this summer, like swim lessons or something, but not having a vehicle made it impossible for me to do that when summer began. Now I do have a van to drive around in, but to conserve gas, we don't go anywhere unless we need to. So, home we stay and find plenty to do here.

The oldest two love to swim each day in our pool. Unfortunately, my 8 year old son developed an ear infection. I figured it was just swimmers ear. Well, I was surprised to find out that he has inner ear infections in both ears. Those don't seem to be bothering him, though, thank goodness. So, he has some meds. Mostly, he is just upset that he can't get his head underwater while swimming.

I'm trying to get my oldest son to write a couple of thank you letters and to write them in cursive. He is refusing to do them. He hardly knows how to write in cursive (and he is going into 5th grade) but his printing is SO sloppy, it is unreadable. I'm still amazed at what he was allowed to get away with last year. He is waiting for his class assignment for next year. He is really hoping to be in the same class as his two best friends, but I don't think he will be. His best friends are in the gifted class and getting all A's while he is in a regular class and barely pulling B's and C's. He could easily get A's in the gifted class if he would apply himself, but he hates to work and so he accepts his low grades. I have much to say on this, but Peanut is screaming in my arms and I will have to cut it short.

Peanut had her 4 month check up yesterday. She is 15 lbs, 1 oz now! She is 27 inches long. She is a big, healthy, little girl. She screams way to much, but she isn't as bad as Toddler was at her age. She sleeps through the night most nights too. She is my first to sleep through the night before they are two. Well, it is near impossible to write now because of her.

Later....