I'm sitting here drinking iced tea through a straw on the left side of my mouth because I currently have no feeling in the right side due to having a cavity fixed less than an hour ago so I decided to take a break, let my 3 year old destroy my house, let Jack sleep in his swing, let my husband enjoy some time on his computer without giving him the stink eye, and write a blog. It's been a while.
Michael and I have officially dubbed this the 'summer of hell' because seriously if one more thing goes wrong one of us (probably me) is going to lose their sanity. Our current dramas have been having to replace a wheel bearing on our vehicle...which happens to be a Land Rover...don't hate, we got a great deal on it, and after dumping a lot of money and sending it to the Land Rover dealership for multiple issues we know realize why we got such a great deal...but I still LOVE that car and no matter how many times Michael threatens to buy a minivan if I don't let him trade the Land Rover in for some other SUV, I stomp my foot and insist I must keep it because it makes me happy. But since we own a British vehicle, repairs are ridiculously expensive. A wheel bearing would have cost $450...but my thrifty hubby consulted his dad and they decided they could repair it themselves. I told him if the wheel fell off while I was driving I would personally run him over for being so cheap. But with the help of his dad and the tire place down the road, they replaced the wheel bearing for about $115. So far the wheel has not fallen off, and the back of the Land Rover no longer roars like a lost dinosaur.
A week after fixing that problem...our A/C died. The repairmen were at our house for one other issue earlier in the summer ($280...) but yet here we go again with no air. After the kids and sweated it out all night (Michael was working night shift) the repairmen showed up, looked for leaks, found none, refilled the freon and recharged the unit, charged $300 and left....12 hours later our air wasn't working...and it was Saturday, meaning it would have cost $120 for the service call or we could wait until Monday for no charge. So we waited until Monday....only to find out there IS indeed a leak after all and the part has to be ordered....now it's Wednesday...and we are still running fans and sweating like beasts of burden. I hate being hot. It makes me sweat and swear. And there's something about having a hot sticky house that makes it seem even dirtier and smellier than it actually is and my cleaning OCD has been in overdrive...'must...clean...sticky...kitchen...floor...' (with baby wipes under my feet by the way...it works!)
How's baby Jack you ask? He's doing GREAT! He had his 2 month checkup this past Monday and the little chunker is 14 pounds and 24 inches long. He was born tongue tied (meaning the flap of skin under the tongue was tighter than normal) and for some reason they didn't take care of it during his 25 day NICA stay...seriously, as we were signing release papers the doctor was like 'oh and by the way he's tongue tied, might want to get that taken care of...' REALLY?!! So on Monday he got his tongue clipped...I had been dreading it for weeks. Michael took Morgan (our 3 year old) out and the doctor asked if I wanted to stay or step out; I decided to step out....but as soon as the 3 of us stepped out of the room they began the procedure and we could hear Jack screaming and it was like a knife in my heart. My adrenaline kicked in and I swear I could have lifted a baby whale at that moment (just a baby...nothing bigger...) the doctor and intern that helped her brought Jack out to me....he was a livid shade of red and had tears in his eyes (for those of you that don't know, newborns don't cry tears...) and I got him calmed down just in time for his vaccinations, 3 shots in the leg. Once again the wailing commenced.
Jack and I both needed a shot of vodka that day.
But we survived.
Jack's blood pressure is great, his lungs have healed, it's amazing to think of how quickly his little body has recovered. Now he's an eating/pooping machine that occasionally gives us a gummy grin and sleeps a lot. He's been a really good baby compared to Morgan (who cried nonstop, hated everybody and everything, and threw up at least one feeding per day as if to say 'haha! take that! I wasted your money!')
Morgan still adores Jack. I'm amazed at how mothering she is. His carrier is in the middle of the backseat right next to her car seat and she will tell us 'he's spitting, I need a burpy cloth!' and she will clean him up! Whaaaa?? Is this the same kid that claims "I'm too tired, my legs are too tiny..." when asked to clean up the mound of Little People mess that I trip over while carrying a loaded laundry basket? I have been putting both kids in the bath together to save time (it takes 2 hours for bath and bedtime routine!) and the other evening Morgan was playing with something and not even looking at Jack...and he started peeing on her...a constant stream hitting her in side....so as any mother would do, I started laughing so hard I couldn't breathe....so Morgan asked 'what's so funny mommy?' and then looked down and saw that she was getting peed on and said 'OHHH JACK!!' but didn't flip out! I don't think I could have handled getting peed on as calmly as that. This morning she wanted to hold him, and as I was putting him on her lap, fat boy lost some of his breakfast on her legs and she didn't even squirm! She just calmly sat there while I cleaned her up, and then she still wanted to hold him! This is the same kid that flips out if she gets WATER on her! If her clothes she wet she ends up nakey. She's an amazingly weird kid.
Every night after both kids are bathed, in their pajamas, Morgan's teeth are brushed, I get my shower (which is tricky when Michael is working nights...I have to put Jack in his bouncer seat in the bathroom and pray that I can at least wash the shampoo out of my hair before he starts to cry), I get both kids to sleep, I pump one last time, and then I dump both kids in their beds (they usually fall asleep on the couch)....as I collapse in bed for a little reading (I'm currently reading the sequel to Pillars of the Earth...you know, Medieval England...historical fiction...it's what every cool person reads, right?) I realize that the sense of accomplishment I feel for surviving one more day in mommyland...feeding and watering the kids, keeping them entertained (and more importantly...alive), doing loads of laundry (it's amazing how much more laundry I have now with a 24 inch human in the house), keeping my house clean, working on my crochet orders, washing dishes (I don't have a dishwasher), trying to 'workout' (which for now is either a walk around the neighborhood pushing 54 pounds worth of kids in a double stroller until one of them starts to cry, or having a dance party in the living room until Jack covered my shirt in regurgitated breast milk from too much jiggling or Morgan runs head first into the coffee table)...the sense of accomplishment I feel for balancing all of that is more than I ever felt for any college degree...
and now Morgan is rolling in the floor claiming she needs to go to the teeth doctor...time to jump back into mommy duties.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
life with 2
WHEW it's hard to find time to write a blog when you've got a cranky newborn, a bored toddler, crochet orders, a dirty house, oh and the need to eat and shower every so often.
I LOVE having my baby boy home. The trips to the NICU every day were long and heartbreaking. Jack spent 25 days there and was such a good baby, I couldn't wait to get him home. He was on a schedule of eating every 4 hours, slept all the time...what a great baby!
Then we brought him home. He was up most of the night, bright eyed and bushy tailed. That whole idea of 'sleep when your baby sleeps' only applies when your baby actually SLEEPS...and when you don't have a toddler up all day. So that first night was rough and I spent the whole next day with one eye open and a little drool collected in the corner of my mouth.
I think it was just the excitement of being out of the NICU...new things to see and smell and hear at home; because the next night was much better, and the next day Michael made sure I had a large Red Bull waiting in the fridge.
Life with 2 kids is interesting....it's all about balance and multitasking and sharing the load. I have to balance my time and attention between 2 children now; Jack needs time and attention because...well...he's only 6 weeks old and is terrible at taking care of himself. Morgan needs attention because it's not fair she's stuck at home watching me take care of Jack all day every day. Michael is great help...when he's home. He holds Jack while watching a Reds game or watching the Olympics. That's a man's version of multitasking. My multitasking includes giving Jack a bottle while using the breast pump while reading The Hungry Caterpillar to Morgan while yelling at the cat not to stick his head in Morgan's potty that is still in the living room while using my iPhone to catch up on Facebook (a.k.a. life outside of Mommyland). And I'm learning to share the load with Michael. I'm a little OCD about how my house is cleaned and how my laundry is done...and I'm having to get over that in order to have help. I just can't do it all right now. Yes it makes my eye twitch a bit to watch Michael fold the towels different...but he can't help being left handed (he's seriously not amused when I tell him in the Dark Ages he would have been burned as a witch for being left handed AND for owning 2 black cats)....and those towels will be used and dirty in 2 days anyways. But I still do most of the cleaning myself. It's a matter of getting Morgan situated with Play Doh or crayons (with threat of death if she gets any on walls, carpet, clothing, cats, etc), sticking Jack under his 'floor gym' thingy that has music and animals sounds and a light show (it's like a Phish concert for newborns), chasing the cats out of the bathtub (seriously, the lazy jerks have fresh water in the basement to drink but they would rather do otter flips in my bathtub giving it a beard while lapping up whatever water is leftover from the last rinsing of Morgan's potty), busting out my cleaning supplies and getting as much done as possible before Jack starts to cry or Morgan ends up jumping on her bed throwing Play Doh balls.
Speaking of laundry...it's amazing how such a tiny human being can create SO MUCH LAUNDRY!!! I think it's his personal mission to see how many times I can yell 'JACK!!!' in a day from the amount of poops and spit ups and pees I have to clean up from Jack, me, the couch, etc. A favorite game of his is to snuggle down in my arms and just let loose with all bowel and bladder functions. When I feel the warmth on my shirt I just sigh, close my eyes, then check the color of the dampness. I've been lucky; I've only been peed on so far. Michael...not so lucky. Let's just say there's one outfit of Jack's that have been dubbed 'the poopin' pants' because Jack had a major blowout up the front of that cute little outfit...and on Michael. *snicker* And Jack is on a mission to be 20 pounds by 2 months. I've never seen such a hungry baby! Not that I've ever really paid attention to other newborns other than Morgan....and she hated everybody and everything, including breast milk and all formula which she only took 2 ounces of at a time then vomited up like a scene from a horror movie...but Jack was on 4 ounces by the time he came home at 3 weeks old. Sometimes he takes 5 ounces. And he's hungry ALL THE TIME. He will seriously eat until it spills out the top...and he does, and it does. He doesn't cut himself off. We have to do it for him, and it's terrible because he looks around for more as it's running back out of his mouth because his stomach can't hold one more drop. And once again I yell 'JACK!!' because I worked hard to make that milk (or 'baby sippy' as Morgan calls it) and 9 times out of 10 he's spitting up on my new couch. I put him on a burp cloth but he somehow ends up wiggling off of it just in time to make a nasty damp milk spot. Let me just take a moment to give kudos to the Members Mark brand of baby wipes from Sam's Club. They are better than Mr Clean magic eraser because you can use them on fabric!!! They get pizza sauce out of carpet, ketchup out of a shirt, and I wipe my couch down daily with one. But anyways, I go through a lot of laundry. Dirty burp cloths (I use cloth diapers for that purpose) and soiled clothing and blankets pile up quickly. So now I pretty much leave Morgan in her pajamas all day and Jack in a diaper and socks to help keep down the amount of laundry...sometimes I put clothes on them when we leave the house.
Having a baby boy is different. Morgan is fascinated by the 'boy junk' because she's never seen anything like it. During Jack's bath time she about trips over herself to get to the bathroom in time to see him pee during his bath. Most nights he obliges by peeing out of his little tub onto the bathtub wall then stares at us like 'ehh? what do you think of THAT trick?' and Morgan squeals and laughs and I would be a liar if I said I didn't squeal and laugh too...
Right now Jack is napping and Morgan is lounging in her nightgown with hair sticking straight up, I can't even remember the last time I brushed my own hair much less hers, watching nursery rhymes on her iPod...I hope...
I LOVE having my baby boy home. The trips to the NICU every day were long and heartbreaking. Jack spent 25 days there and was such a good baby, I couldn't wait to get him home. He was on a schedule of eating every 4 hours, slept all the time...what a great baby!
Then we brought him home. He was up most of the night, bright eyed and bushy tailed. That whole idea of 'sleep when your baby sleeps' only applies when your baby actually SLEEPS...and when you don't have a toddler up all day. So that first night was rough and I spent the whole next day with one eye open and a little drool collected in the corner of my mouth.
I think it was just the excitement of being out of the NICU...new things to see and smell and hear at home; because the next night was much better, and the next day Michael made sure I had a large Red Bull waiting in the fridge.
Life with 2 kids is interesting....it's all about balance and multitasking and sharing the load. I have to balance my time and attention between 2 children now; Jack needs time and attention because...well...he's only 6 weeks old and is terrible at taking care of himself. Morgan needs attention because it's not fair she's stuck at home watching me take care of Jack all day every day. Michael is great help...when he's home. He holds Jack while watching a Reds game or watching the Olympics. That's a man's version of multitasking. My multitasking includes giving Jack a bottle while using the breast pump while reading The Hungry Caterpillar to Morgan while yelling at the cat not to stick his head in Morgan's potty that is still in the living room while using my iPhone to catch up on Facebook (a.k.a. life outside of Mommyland). And I'm learning to share the load with Michael. I'm a little OCD about how my house is cleaned and how my laundry is done...and I'm having to get over that in order to have help. I just can't do it all right now. Yes it makes my eye twitch a bit to watch Michael fold the towels different...but he can't help being left handed (he's seriously not amused when I tell him in the Dark Ages he would have been burned as a witch for being left handed AND for owning 2 black cats)....and those towels will be used and dirty in 2 days anyways. But I still do most of the cleaning myself. It's a matter of getting Morgan situated with Play Doh or crayons (with threat of death if she gets any on walls, carpet, clothing, cats, etc), sticking Jack under his 'floor gym' thingy that has music and animals sounds and a light show (it's like a Phish concert for newborns), chasing the cats out of the bathtub (seriously, the lazy jerks have fresh water in the basement to drink but they would rather do otter flips in my bathtub giving it a beard while lapping up whatever water is leftover from the last rinsing of Morgan's potty), busting out my cleaning supplies and getting as much done as possible before Jack starts to cry or Morgan ends up jumping on her bed throwing Play Doh balls.
Speaking of laundry...it's amazing how such a tiny human being can create SO MUCH LAUNDRY!!! I think it's his personal mission to see how many times I can yell 'JACK!!!' in a day from the amount of poops and spit ups and pees I have to clean up from Jack, me, the couch, etc. A favorite game of his is to snuggle down in my arms and just let loose with all bowel and bladder functions. When I feel the warmth on my shirt I just sigh, close my eyes, then check the color of the dampness. I've been lucky; I've only been peed on so far. Michael...not so lucky. Let's just say there's one outfit of Jack's that have been dubbed 'the poopin' pants' because Jack had a major blowout up the front of that cute little outfit...and on Michael. *snicker* And Jack is on a mission to be 20 pounds by 2 months. I've never seen such a hungry baby! Not that I've ever really paid attention to other newborns other than Morgan....and she hated everybody and everything, including breast milk and all formula which she only took 2 ounces of at a time then vomited up like a scene from a horror movie...but Jack was on 4 ounces by the time he came home at 3 weeks old. Sometimes he takes 5 ounces. And he's hungry ALL THE TIME. He will seriously eat until it spills out the top...and he does, and it does. He doesn't cut himself off. We have to do it for him, and it's terrible because he looks around for more as it's running back out of his mouth because his stomach can't hold one more drop. And once again I yell 'JACK!!' because I worked hard to make that milk (or 'baby sippy' as Morgan calls it) and 9 times out of 10 he's spitting up on my new couch. I put him on a burp cloth but he somehow ends up wiggling off of it just in time to make a nasty damp milk spot. Let me just take a moment to give kudos to the Members Mark brand of baby wipes from Sam's Club. They are better than Mr Clean magic eraser because you can use them on fabric!!! They get pizza sauce out of carpet, ketchup out of a shirt, and I wipe my couch down daily with one. But anyways, I go through a lot of laundry. Dirty burp cloths (I use cloth diapers for that purpose) and soiled clothing and blankets pile up quickly. So now I pretty much leave Morgan in her pajamas all day and Jack in a diaper and socks to help keep down the amount of laundry...sometimes I put clothes on them when we leave the house.
Having a baby boy is different. Morgan is fascinated by the 'boy junk' because she's never seen anything like it. During Jack's bath time she about trips over herself to get to the bathroom in time to see him pee during his bath. Most nights he obliges by peeing out of his little tub onto the bathtub wall then stares at us like 'ehh? what do you think of THAT trick?' and Morgan squeals and laughs and I would be a liar if I said I didn't squeal and laugh too...
Right now Jack is napping and Morgan is lounging in her nightgown with hair sticking straight up, I can't even remember the last time I brushed my own hair much less hers, watching nursery rhymes on her iPod...I hope...
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