Saturday, February 18, 2012

I spoke to soon

I said January was the sick month? HA OMG. No.. omF'ing GOD. That about covers it. It's been another freakin miserable month. This time, RSV. Again. And I got so sick.. omg.. sick. These last 10 days have been a fog. Seriously. I have like no memory of them as I have one night with a stretch of 6 hours straight of sleep in the last 3 weeks. Maybe more.

No one tells you about these things before you have kids. No one talks about the fun it is when they get sick. I guess I'm glad about that cause I'm not sure if I would have wanted kids! LOL But I really have to say, I honestly believe I do have it worse than most people with kids. I know.. that's a bold statement, but I do and there's nothing anyone can change my mind about that right now.

Let me explain.

First.. sick kids suck. This IS a fact. Whether they are 3 months, 3 years or 13. I am sure they all suck. But 3 year olds suck big time. They are not quite.. they are o.. so close.. but not quite able to tell you exactly where it hurts. First.. I'll say.. does your ear hurt? Yes. Does your head hurt? Yes. Does your left toe hurt? Yes. Does your wee wee hurt? Yes. You get the drift. It ALL hurts.
So I still don't exactly know how sick they really are unless.. they get really fucking sick and it's obvious. Which.. they did. Nate narrowly escaped hospitalization on Monday night.

Second.. I have two kids who've been diagnosed with Asthma. So when they get a cold, they get it bad. Really bad. We've had fevers, ear infections, vommitting, and last but not least, that fucking nebulizer.. it's so loud.. but I don't even hear it anymore. It runs 24-7. In fact.. it started to conk out the other day until I threw it on the floor and it started working again. So guess what I'll be doing on Monday? Hauling my ass as fast I as I can go to the nearest DME vendor for another one. And we really need another one anyway. Do you know how much of your day is eaten up when you have 3 kids who need to be nebulized 4 times a day with one nebulizer?

Third... I have 3 kids who are the same age. No.. you two kids who are 1.5 years apart are not "almost twins" or your 3 kids under 3 are not "almost triplets". They're not. They have the same basic needs, but not the same needs. And even if you are reading this with triplets or quads.. you don't have the three head strong.. OCD.. sassying.. rough and tumble boys I have. They are I.N.S.A.N.E right now. I mean insane.

Fourth... I have 3 kids who are bad sleepers when they are not sick let alone when they are. I am lucky if I get one or two stretches of two consecutive hours of sleep. And this is how I live my days. with no more than 4 hours of sleep.

And this brings me to 5...

I have to go to work. So I'm gone 7am - 5:30pm. And I have to think while I'm there. A lot. It's hard.

And I'm tired.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

The sick month

I don't know what it is about January, but I'm starting to not like it. At all. Not a fan. Not at all.

When the boys were 10 weeks old, they were admitted on New Years Day 2009. All three with RSV and Pneumonia. After two weeks in the hospital for them, one tank of my nursing supply, one night in the ER for me on the verge of a nervous breakdown later... they came home and I basically had to start all over with three newborns again as any weight, feeding and sleeping progress was shot to shit. Not to mention the complete lock down we were on from visitors or me and my mom leaving the house.

January, 2010 was rather uneventful as we had a nanny and the boys never left the house! lol

However, January 2011.. a different story. It started first with the stomach flu that was caught from Jeff's brother and daughter on Christmas Eve. That went through all of us for the entire week between christmas and new years. Then, our nanny got called for Jury duty and I had to send the boys to daycare as a back up plan. Big mistake. Not only did our nanny get SELECTED for the jury.. we lost her for 3 weeks. The boys ended up with RSV and pneumonia again and we narrowly escaped hospitalization again for Ben and Alex. After that, our nanny came back and promptly gave us all the stomach flu again. Ahh yes.. good times were had by all.

Now.. here we are again. The fevers started on Christmas Eve and again, ran the entire week between Christmas and New Years. Then, the coughing started and ran through. We were healthy about a week and bang.. on Monday.. the 16th, it started again. And all this week, sick. Me included. No RSV this time so far, but Ben and Nate are on the nebulizer again and have had bought of vomiting.

It sucks no matter what to see your kids sick. And to be sick while trying to care for them. And then, get no sleep and get up and go to work in the morning and function at a high stress high profile job sucks even more. And it sucks even more to deal with the above alone when your husband is out of the country for work.

Is it Spring yet?

Monday, January 2, 2012

Hello 2012, Good Bye Carbs...

I am sitting at my computer doing two things:
1. stalling taking the decorations off the Christmas Trees. Yes.. plural. Trees.
2. Eating my last carbs for the forseeable future. Tortilla chips and dip.

Jeff and I started the no carb diet in the beginning of October and in 6 weeks, we had both lost over 10 pounds. Of course both of us were like... what in the sam hell were we thinking giving up carbs when it's our boys birthday, Halloween, Cider and donut season at the Cider mills in Michigan! Hello!!! Idiots!! But.. we did it anyway. We did, however, decide to stop it between Thanksgiving and the New Year. So tomorrow.. we're back. And today, I was back at the gym.

I'll be honest. I want to lose 25 more pounds. And when I do.. I'm doing it. Plastic surgery baby. Tummy tuck, here I come. It will either be this summer or next. Not sure yet. But I'm ready to get my body back. I am REALLY ready to feel good about myself again.

Carbs... I won't miss you. I really won't!

So we rang in the New Year at a wedding this year. Our former nanny got married. She was a great nanny and is clearly close with her new family, but I couldn't help but think, we had a great nanny in her, but we have a fan-fucking-tastic nanny in our new one.

We got home just at midnight to ring in the new year with my mom. We finally hit the sack at about 1ish. And then it started: Kids.. up.crying.all.fucking.night. I think Jeff and I may have slept two broken hours each. We were MISERABLE all day. And of course, we had big dinner party plans at his aunts house. We pulled it together and went and let the boys run wild.

The boys are awesome.

Alex has this new thing where he says he wants to read ME the good night story! He loves to read me the Grinch and Jingle Bells. Of course, it's really just telling me what is going on in the pictures, but it is the cutest damn thing and he's actually pretty good at it!

Nates latest cuteness started the night we went to the Toledo Zoo to see The Lights Before Christmas. It was gorgeous! Nater wasn't feeling the best that day but we decided to go. He was a little upset during our stay and cried a couple times. Each time he would cry, he would say "Mama.. please wipe my tears.. they're cold". Omg.. melt. And since then, he has kept asking me to wipe his tears when he cries. Of course my baby. I will ALWAYS wipe your tears!

Ben.. ahhhh Ben. My sweet Ben. He's well.. not so sweet right now. He's come into his 3's with a vengence these past couple of weeks. And he's sneaky about it too. I think since he's spent the least amount of time in time out, he thinks he's above it for some reason. I'll tell him to go and he'll say "no.. I don't need to". Mmmmkay. Thanks. Yes you do!

They're all stinkers.

Tomorrow school is back. Amen.
Tomorrow, work is back. Shit.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Resolutions

I am going to keep this blog up this year. It's going to be my diary. My way to track everything. And it should have been that way for the past 3 years, but really, I've been too busy. I know that sounds like a cop out but I really am that busy.

So it's 2012 and I have 3 year old triplets. 3 year old triplets who kept me up all.night.long. We were dumb enough to think we could go out last night so we did. We went to a wedding. it was gorgeous! loved the centerpieces and the great food. And we got home and hit the bed by 1am. Then it started up about 1;30. Ben was up and down all night. He'd been fighting a fever earlier in the week and yesterday, we spent our new years eve morning at Jungle Java, a local indoor play space and I seriously think he caught the plague.

Now.. I've been to Jungle Java with them a couple times before. The first time, I don't remember thinking bad things. The second time, I did think bad things but thought maybe it was an off day for them. This time.. nope. We will never go back there. IT'S FUCKING DISGUSTING. Like I want to call the health department disgusting. Like, I am calling the corporate office disgusting. Revolting. We walked in at 9:30. They opened at 9. On the floor was a nasty pile of dorito's and dirt. You can't tell me that one of the other 3 families in there fed their kids dorito's for breakfast and let them smash them all over the floor in less than 30 minutes.
Um yeah. And if they are not mopping the floor or vacuuming, then I can safely assume they are not climbing up in the play structures to wipe them down at night or throughout the day either.

My two friends and I who met there and account for 9 children between us were all grossed out. So.. stay tuned for that.

So 2012 is here and I am REALLY looking forward to the year for a few reasons:
1. My boys will continue to grow and learn. Hopefully this means a little less drama and fighting at home.
2. Our jobs are going great and hopefully that will also continue
3. We're doing a shit ton of work on our house and we are really looking forward to making it truly everything we want it to be.
4. Jeff and I both started dieting in October and had lost about 12-15 pounds before we took this last month off between the holidays. We are celebrating today with lasagna and garlic bread and on Tuesday, we are 1000% back on our diets with some very focused goals. I know we can do it and am totally looking forward to looking OUR very best in 2012!!

Monday, September 26, 2011

Crazy Good

Things are well.. crazy good! Where to even begin? It's been a month of firsts at our house!

The month started of September started off with a bang. The bang of the back door and watching Jeff go out of it! He was sent to London again for an ongoing work project and this time, for two weeks. I had known about the trip for about a month and when he told me, it didn't occur to me what that trip was coinciding with around the house: School starting. I had never had a child start school before, so it just didn't dawn on me till he was leaving.

I had two parent/teacher nights. Two meet the teacher days. Two first days of school. Followed up with Ben's surgical follow ups, my dental appointments... I was sure I was going to get fired for being a single parent! But we made it through and the boys are just thriving with their new routine. In fact...dare I even say it? They are sleeping through the night! sshhhhhhh!

Jeff was back two days and then we were off on our first trip together in 4.5 years. We spent 4 glorious nights in Las Vegas. It was heaven! Of course we missed our army of little men, but it was sooo nice to sleep, eat, drink, spa and do anything we wanted when we wanted for 4 days!

Now that we're back, things have not slowed down at all. We had company this past weekend and now I am in full on birthday party planning and mom to mom sale mode. Getting ready for both!

The boys? what can I say. Every day is something new.

Ben.. loves to tell us: Not yet! No! Not yet! When he hears "I got a feeling" by the black eye'd peas, he goes nuts! Always dancing lately. And when he wants to do something he knows he shouldn't.. he tell us to 'go away' or 'turn around'. lol you gotta love that! He came through surgery on both of his hands and hardly slowed down despite having both hands totally wrapped for over a week and then smaller wraps after for 2 more weeks. The only real issue he had was eating. We had to help with that!

Nate..his big thing these days is "do it myself" or to "go upside down". I must hear these two phrases a million times a day. he is so brave and so strong. nothing physical scares him, that's for sure.

Oh.. and nate and ben LOVE LOVE LOVE to go to school on the bus. They sing wheels on the bus ALL.THE.TIME.

Alex... he is so mindful of his surroundings and getting really in tune to people. Yesterday we were watching the first Shrek and when donkey discovers the fire breathing dragon is a girl and "likes" him, Alex, who was very seriously watching the movie turned around and said "momma!!! that dragon is happy!!!!" She sure is my little man! Alex is also potty trained going on 3 months now! Hope his brothers follow suit soon!

Lastly, I love that they all are in tune to each and know they are brothers. In the morning, no matter who I get out of bed first, he will say "mama.. where are my brothers? Can I go get my brothers?"

Sigh... love!!

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Best layed plans..

So much for my new years resolution to update the blog more often. Yes.. I suck. I really do *think* about updating the blog at least 2 or 3 times a week. That has to count for something, right? I have to laugh.. when I do think to update it, it's always at work when I should be... well.. working. I find my mind will wander and think.. gee.. I'd love to write about xyz on the blog! But alas... blogs are blocked at work. No go. Then I think.. yep.. tonight is the night! I am going to update the blog. And I forget... until I am at work again.

Things are crazy as usual. I have realized I no longer say "when things calm down" because I really don't see that they will in the near future. Our house is continuous chaos. Every week is a sprint to the weekend when hopefully I can slip a nap in somewhere or cross something off my to do list that usually involves the house.

The boys.. oh those boys. GOD they are changing! The language that is going on in my house is just pure amazing. Everyday... there is something new. Every time an airplane flies overhead, all three stop and yell "AIRPLANE!!!!". Jeff even has them going "da plane! da plane!" his very own little Tatoo's! When we ride down the road, there is "what's that?" "tree", "truck", "big truck" and on Sunday, we rode by a church and Alex said "look momma! A castle!" and then on our way to meet friends at a playground he said "look! A farm!" We just sit back and wonder.. where does he come up with this stuff?

And Ben? BEN... came up to me TWICE on Sunday and said "I pooped" OMG... love it.

Nate? He is in this phase where "it hurts", "mommy... help". I am happy to kiss any and all boo boos he has.

Today was monumental for another reason: For the first time, Alex asked to go potty on the potty chair with out being prompted! He did it! And then we turned around to see Nate pee'ing on the floor! oh well.. we can't win them all. But it's a start.

The boys continue to amaze me daily. Things are getting a bit easier. Taking them places is really getting to be fun. It helps that I have some amazing MoM friends to make it easier. We hang mostly with a couple sets of twins and another set of triplet boys. This weekend, we saw our other favorite set of triplets both Saturday and Sunday. And our twin friends on Sunday too! It helps that I love their mom's and the adults get to play while the kids play.

It's going to be a great summer!

Sunday, January 16, 2011

A new pledge

So here it is the 16th of January and I am just updating this. I don't expect anyone still checks this cause well... I suck at updating. This has been the longest stretch ever. But life really did get away from me.

To make a long story short, the fall of 2010 was beyond nuts. A couple main things contributed to this. First, I started a new job. And I started at the worst possible time of the year. 4th quarter. When EVERYTHING is happening and changing in my industry. To say I was thrown into the deep end of the pool and told to swim... SWIM FAST is an understatement. Still... it is THE job I've always wanted and I hope that this is where I am to stay for the rest of my working days. I'm giving it my all and then some. On the work note.. my husbands job has been just as nuts and not only do they keep sending him on these little jaunts to Toronto for 2-3 days every other week, but they've started adding London every couple months for a good 7-10 crack. Hello single parent hood.

Next, we moved my mom down to live by us. It's been a blessing and a.. well.. I don't think curse is the right word. But.. a challenge. I now feel responsible for her happiness since she doesn't know anyone here. She's been a HUGE help to us and the biggest thing is that she now gets to see the boys a good 4-5 times a week. And let's face it, if it weren't for her, Jeff and I would probably never have a home cooked meal these days.

Last but not least, the boys. Da Boyz. Ah... my little miracles have been a challenge. I thing I trace it back to this stomach bug they caught in August. It completely destroyed their sleeping habits. That on top of a constant parade of sinus infections, ear infections, blah blah.. their sleep.. well.. it was shot to shit. And thus.. so was mine. The first two weeks at my new job, I went to work on 2-3 broken hours of sleep both nights. Not good for anyone, and I have to be ON. My job is high profile, high pressure. That pattern pretty much continued on until last week, I started putting my foot down and we went to sleep re-training boot camp. Things have gotten a bit better and I'm hopeful they will continue to improve.

I also think some of this directly relates to the fact that... well... they are 2. And they're professionals at it! Tantrums, toy stealing, pushing your brother down, jumping on brother, stalking brother for toy, looking at brother the wrong way.. OMG. Jeff and I agree on one thing: we actually feel more challenged by them now than when they were newborns. That is one bold statement!

Anyway.. if for nothing else, I have decided.. promised myself.. I will update this blog if only if it's 2 lines at least 4 times a week. Every day there is a new word, a new sentence and something that makes us laugh. Here are todays:

Alex: Alex was playing his electric guitar today. Daddy was pretending to head bang. He taught Alex to say ROCK N ROLL!!!! Hilarious.
Nate: Heard the above.. also yelling ROCK N ROLL!!
Nate: I always call Nate.. Na Nate. I don't know why.. but I do. I say it in almost a singing voice. Today... I called him that and he answered back with.. Na Nate! (insert his singing voice!)
Nate: Sitting eating dinner and Ni Hao Ki Lan was on Nick Jr. Part of one of the songs she sings is "we'll figure out (pause) what to do!" Nate: Figure out... what to do!" Hysterical!
Ben: Do you want to eat Ben? Ben.. BEN EAT!!!

Other milestones today:
Nate and Ben: They went to church for the first time! We sat in the cry room. They were well... kinda awful. We'll try again. Want to thank my lovely Heather for the text after church that I provided her with all the entertainment she needed during church watching me from the outside as I ran around the cry room after the crazy twins. I laughed when I saw that for sure!

Alex: while we were at church, Alex and his daddy went on a date. Home Depot. Alex held tools! They were real men! Then.. what do real men do? They go to McDonald's for a burger!

All in all great Sunday for the boys!