Catching up

I hope everyone had a wonderful turkey day. I spent about six hours in the kitchen preparing the feast, but you know, it's honestly a nice alternative to chasing around a few kids. My SIL and BIL came over and we watched some football, drank some beer/wine and gorged ourselves on turkey, stuffing, sweet potato souffle, horseradish mashed potatoes, broccoli cheese casserole and cranberry chutney. No one had room for the streudal pumpkin pie until much much later, but damn, it was good.

Energized by much good food, I braved Black Friday. I only went to Tarjay, and not until 10am, so honestly, it wasn't too bad. I finished my Christmas shopping aside from a few stocking stuffers, another thing to cross off the list!

We assembled the boys bunk beds this weekend, I can't tell you how excited DB is. He's dying to sleep on the top bunk, I'm not so ready for that. For now, GB is still in the crib, not sure when we'll move him, but it won't be too long as Gert is going to outgrow the bassinet very soon.

As much as I would have like to decorate this weekend, it just wasn't in the cards. I think we'll get our tree next weekend so my BIL and SIL (who are staying here) can help pick it out. A nice family outing.

And last but not least, Gertie's not the only one looking to show off in Vegas, mommy..erm..I got my dress today and wow do I love it.



It was between this and a very nice (but plain) black dress that was flattering to my figure and really quite versatile. I tried each on multiple times, and though the black dress would have been the practical choice, dammit, I'm going to Vegas to stand up with my very best friend in the world on her wedding day, so screw practical, let's paint the town red.

I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to this trip. Even though we will be bringing the wee girl, the boys will be staying with their aunties, leaving us a bit more free to have some fun.

She Made me Do It!

I swear, it wasn't my fault, I had no control over it...the girl child MADE me spent and exorbitant amount of money on this outfit:




















from Gymboree. I swear, I never did that for the boys, I would walk into Gymboree, go straight back to the clearance rack, buy some cute pieces and walk out. And here I've gone and spent as much money on one outfit that I normal would on five (because I'm cheap like that). As a matter of fact, I took the kids to St. Louis Mills (a giant mall with lots of outlets) yesterday and spent just a little more money on 2 pairs of dress pants, 4 pairs of sweats, 3 pairs of shorts, 2 oxford shirts, one overall/shirt set, 5 turtlenecks, a girl collared shirt and two hats. But do I feel guilty enough to return it? Heck no. Little miss is going to look absolutely adorable at my friend's wedding. Now, just have to find my dress...

Karmic Retribution

OK, who in thee hell did I piss off in a past life? Because you know, 3 hrs after I wrote my last blog entry, the pediatrician's office called to tell me that one of Gert's blood cultures grew something. Um, grew what? A pretty flower? Yeah, not so much. So, depsite the fact that they were pretty sure it was just a skin contamination in the sample, back to the ER we had to go for follow up blood tests. Only this time, no husband to help, just me, Gert and GB. Thankfully, DB was in daycare and I didn't have to take three kids.

Poor girl had to be stuck again, after MUCH poking and prodding to find a workable vein. After what seemed like endless minutes of manipulating the needle, the nurse found the vein and blood starts flowing like mad, out of the tube, onto her arm, down to the bed. Please stop that right now thankyou. She's just a wee baby, how much blood can she lose?! OK, I'm being dramatic, but yuck.

So now comes the testing and waiting. Thankfully, I had the forsight to stop and pick up some toddler magic potion (McDonalds) on the way and GB was distracted the entire time they worked on Gertie. He had his moments during the hour we waited, but nothing unmanageble. And I will insert here that St. John's is fantastic, the staff is so incredibly nice and I had as good experience as one could have when they're using your infant as a pin cushion both time we went.

Turns out, she's FINE. Sigh, don't get me wrong, I'm relieved and thankful, but it's just so exhausting both mentally and emotionally to spend any time in the ER.

No Delineation Days

That's how life is with small children, one endless period of time with no start or stop point. It all just flows together into fleeting memories of dirty diapers, thrown together meals and midnight nursing sessions. Sometimes the only way I know what day it is, is if I see the garbage truck (well that narrows it to two days) or by what's on tv any particular evening. Occasionally, something will occur that makes the day stand out, like Monday.

Sunday night was one of those bad nights where very little sleep takes place. Miss Gert was restless and upset so we spent a lot of time nursing and rocking and little time sleeping. Poor girl was quite congested and having problems breathing through her nose. So I took her out to snot-suck her which really pisses her off. I noticed she was pretty hot when we were done and figured she just worked herself up screaming, but took her temp just to be safe. Well, she was 99.8 under her arm, so I made a mental note to call the pediatrician in the morning to bring her in. She was still warm when we woke up, so off we went with GB in tow. The ped checks her out and finds no redness in her ears, and no obvious signs of what could be causing the fever. So, I'm like good, well, I call if it gets worse... Yeah, no. Off to the ER to get bloodwork, urine and mucous to analyze because unexplained fevers in infants under 8 wks are nothing to mess with. Sigh. Poor Gertie was subjected to an IV in her foot, a major snot sucking and a catheter. Amazingly, I didn't cry, but only because I didn't have to watch them do a SPINAL TAP, which would have been the next step had any of her tests not come back clear.

Anyway, she's fine, but sure was a fun way to kill a morning. I called BWB and asked that he come out, because I knew there was no way that I was going to manage the wee girl and the golden boy AND keep my sanity. It was a good thing too, because GB was an uber crank butt because he was tired.

So, that was my adventure of the week. Hopefully, my next stand-out event will be something more fun, like the cookie exchange I'm going to Saturday and my friend's bridal shower on Sunday. Then cripes, it's a short week and we get to eat lots of superdelicious food.

Will the Whining Never End?

No, not the kids, mine. It seems I've developed mastitis, and just damn. It's bad when your kids are sick, but I definitely think it's harder to get through the day when you are sick and they are not. Hopefully, I can plow through this, just like I did with the 101 breastfeeding maladies I seemed to acquire with DB.

In my weakened state, my patience has worn thin. I actually pulled out the Santa card with the elder today. I told him that if wasn't a better listener that Santa would not be bringing him any toys, and he cried. Yup, I made the boy cry and told him it was all within his control if he wanted fun things for Christmas. Sigh. I need to get out of this slump soon. DB is really a great kid, funny, smart and so so sweet, but some days all I see are the extreme hyperactivity, inability to listen, and lack of focus. OK, he's not quite four, what should I expect?! I know it's stressful having a new baby, an ornery toddler and an overactive preschooler, but I'm feeling like I'm really not cut out for being a SAHM, or mabye just a SAHM of three kids. Gertie I can handle, she likes to eat often, but at least I don't have to actually make anything. GB works hard at pushing all my buttons, but I constantly remind myself that he's 18mos old and has little impulse control. DB is the one that frustrates me most, because I know he understands and is capable of doing what I ask him to, but just doesn't. Now, put them all together, and color me crazy.

I know I'm not the only SAHM who doubts herself and feels like she's doing a crap job. And maybe I'm not even doing that bad of a job, but the thought that scares me? What if I am? What if I'm permanently scarring my kids, DB particularly right now? What if I'm not even cut out to raise my own kids, and have no idea what else I want to do with my life. Sigh, this is where my mind goes when I'm feeling worn down. I need some serious sleep. :P

Ack! Where did the week go?

Sigh, I can't believe how lax I've become in keeping up the blog. Well, yes I can, since I barely have time to wipe my butt these days (but I do, I swear). Other than keeping up with the kiddos, here's what's been going on.

My other SIL came in town for the SIL who is living here already's birthday. We had a great time, got to actually go out and enjoy a totally kid free night thanks to my supercoolkickass husband (and my breastpump). We also watched a bunch of football and ate waaay too much.

I've gotten out the invitations for my best friend's wedding shower. (We're headed to Vegas in one month for her wedding) I now have to start searching for a bridesmaid dress that will fit over my enormous breasts, that oughta be fun. The shower is a week from Sunday, and thankfully her mom is having it catered at her house, so I don't have to add that to my list of things to get done.

I also managed to mail out my birth announcement, here's a copy of the cover:


Her full name appears across the top, but I whited it out for privacy purposes. Her stats are on the inside of the card.

I'm pretty proud of how it turned out, and yes *I* took the picture and then uploaded to shutterfly.com whom I also used for GB's announcement, they do a great job.

Speaking of Gert, she's already a month old and growing so so fast she doesn't even feel like a newborn anymore. She is still a great eater and actually had fat rolls! My first kid to have fat rolls, it's so cute. She sleeps pretty well at night, generally waking twice to eat. We're cosleeping, with which I have a total love/hate relationship. It's great to just whip out the boob and go back to sleep, but yet, I never really sleep well because I'm very aware of her presence AND? she's a total bedhog! Bottom line, she's wonderful and I simply adore having a girlchild.


Oh my BIL is living with us until he and my SIL find a house (she's moving here 12/1). He's been here for 3 weeks now, and can I just tell you, it's...awesome. Seriously, you wouldn't expect having long-term houseguests on top of three children to be a good thing, but he's really great. He helps with the boys and has no qualms about holding gertie when she's fussing. I was actually sad when he started work yesterday. :)

That's about it for now. I better go make sure the boys haven't emptied out every single toy bin down here and corral them upstairs for naptime.

Trick or Treat

Here are my little superheros...


Trick or treating kind of sucked because it was rainy and fifty degrees--pretty standard for Missouri. We got through our culdesac and the rest of our street before calling it a night. DB had a great time, not quite as sure about GB, he liked getting the candy, but then he wanted to invite himself into our neighbors houses and eat it all. Whenever we tried to leave for the next house he got really upset.

Fortunately on the candy front, the boys didn't get a ton (that I would have to "help" eat), but unfortunately, we didn't get a lot of kids because of the weather and have a LOT of leftover candy. Sigh. That will make it rather tough to shed these preggo pounds.