Just How Crazy Am I?!?

Very. We are travelling. Yes, loading up the 4 kids (one of which is a mere 5 weeks old!) and dog and taking an 8 hour road trip. I am completely nuts! But #1: I promised my mom we would visit after the baby was born. She came up to spend a couple of weeks with me while my husband was out of town for work before the baby was born. #2: A bunch of my friends who have met up on facebook are having a reunion this weekend.


I almost cancelled out a couple of times... but I know that #1: my mom will be really upset with me, and #2: I'll regret it if I don't go. Even though I look like hell and will impress no one... I am not quite yet back into my normal pre-pregnancy #3 clothes = I will *never* make it back into my pre-pregnancy #1 clothes = so I will be living in the one nursing shirt that's a little too tight in the middle, but still better than a maternity shirt (or regular xxl shirt) that will show off my bulging belly while nursing.. and can't decide whether I should wear my too tight regular shorts or the large maternity shorts that hopefully won't fall off while I'm chasing the toddlers around.

Anyway, back to the road trip part.

We actually took a 2 hour road trip on Sunday - pretty much just to get out of the house for a while. We even hooked up the dvd player (which worked some major magic on the 9 hour road trip we took quite a few months ago). The dvd player worked a little magic this time. But still in the 4 hour round trip... there were close to 10 meltdowns.... the problem now is that Little Man and Baby Girl are sitting too close to each other. They won't leave each other alone. Or I guess I should say that Baby Girl will not keep her mean little hands off of Little Man, who is the biggest drama queen ever!!

Our road trip was full of "waaaa, baby scratched me! waaaa, baby sister pulled my hair! WAAA, baby sister took my juice!"

I was beating my head on the dashboard.

My husband was totally losing his patience.

I was imagining 8 hours of this. And really thinking of cancelling the trip.

I totally need a minivan. But sadly we are stuck with our gas guzzling SUV, that just doesn't have enough room. We made a huge mistake in that purchase, and it's times like this that I absolutely regret that purchase. Well, I also regret it every time we go to the grocery store and have to squeeze all of the groceries in around all the kids...

I am seriously considering moving the car seats, but that would mean that either Little Man or Baby Girl would have to sit next to Lazy Baby, and I just don't trust either one of them to keep their hands off Lazy Baby. It won't work to put the car seats on the side seats because then we wouldn't be able to get to the car seat in the rear seat... grrr...

Anyway... I just hope the trip is worth it. I know it will be worth it to my family, as they are all very anxious to meet Lazy Baby.

Lazy Crazy Days

A couple of weeks ago I told my husband that I'd read in the latest Parent's magazine that women who had Gestational Diabetes are a certain percentage more prone to post-pardom depression. I said it was funny, because I definitely had it with my first two (while I did not have gestational diabetes), but this time I was feeling pretty good and at least content, and this time I did have gd. He laughed and said that I shouldn't have said anything because I'd end up going off the deep end...

Sometimes I really hate him ;) But seriously, a few days later, Lazy Baby decides he is a colicky baby! Every night for the past week and a half: scream city! And I know it's gas. He has all the signs. It's horrendous. I can't do a thing in the evenings except try to console my inconsolable baby. If you've had a baby with colic, you totally know how that is. I give him gas medice and it seems to help a little. But other than that I have tried everything. The best thing so far seems to be swaddling the heck out of him and walking up and down the porch for 30-45 minutes. But there's been a couple of nights that even that didn't work.

Some days, OK = most days he will be screamy in the morning too. I can't get anything done. My house is a wreck. I keep doing all this laundry, but just haven't had the chance to fold any of it or put it away. It's bad enough living out of clothes baskets with folded clothes in them...

My days start out like this:
















and very quickly end up like this:

All told, I'm not sure I'm having ppd, but I'm probably travelling a little down that path. It's times like this I really wish we lived closer to civilization.

Today I brought out my last torture device: the swing. He hates the bouncy chair. My other two loved it. Maybe it will grow on him. But for now, it doesn't work. The swing is my last resort to restore something resembling sanity to my house. I tried this afternoon, but he wasn't having it. I gave it another try a little later, and it's been working some magic for about 15minutes now... I just hope it lasts long enough to get some dishes done! (but of course you all see where I spent the first 15? what can I say, I need at least 15 minutes of me time!)

The Hazards of Co-Sleeping With a Poop-Machine

And no, of course I'm not talking about my husband ;)

Some newborn babies are poop-machines and some aren't. Lazy Baby is a total all out poop machine. I don't think I've ever gone through so many diapers. And the generic ones just don't seem to work with this boy. Generics worked fine on the other two - but this one somehow manages to pee right through them, right out the back. After a week of going through 5 or more outfits a day I broke down and shelled out the $ for name brand diapers.

And let's just say that I re-learned my lesson about changing babies on changing pads around day 3 or so... after going through all the clean bassinet sheets within a few hours...

Well, you would think that I would be a little more savvy about these things, this being my 3rd baby - all co-sleepers (thank God we got the 2 older ones into their own beds a few months ago, 'cause a King size still wouldn't have big enough for that kind of crowd!). But really, I should have thought about putting down a changing pad on the bed... of course that wouldn't have saved my arm or hand...but it would have saved my having to strip the bed and soak, then launder the sheets.

I will definitely be taking a changing pad to bed with us tonight!

Crazy-ness!!

Let's just say things have been a little crazy around here. A little crazier than normal.

I'm re-learning, yet again, how to do everything one handed.

Last week was my husband's first week back to work. I was home alone with 5 children. With 2 of them being 12 (we have my step-daughter for a couple of months in the summer), I did have some help looking after the 1 1/2 year old and the 3 1/2 year old, as well as having help with all those diaper changes.

But this week? The two 12-year olds went to camp, and I was all by myself with 3 kids under 4. Day one there were only a few chaotic moments. All told, it wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting. Amazingly, I think the two older girls' behavior affects the two toddlers. They had been behaving awful, fighting over everything and acting crazy... but things with them two were quite a bit calmer with the two older girls out of the house. (Tweenie and Step-Tweenie just do not get along, they fight over absolutely anything and everything, and are constantly bickering and doing stuff to each other).

Anyway, Day 2: I had scheduled for a tree service to come remove a rotten branch from our tree that was hanging right over the sandbox and swingset. I was a little anxious about having them come while I was home alone with 3 little ones - thinking about having to be outside for a few minutes or more... I figured I would take the baby with me and pop in a dvd for the other 2.

That morning my husband decided to call in to work. Thank God! What I had been anxious about would have been the least of my worries. One of the guys that came was a total creep!! I was so glad that my husband was home!! Not only that, but my husband had to move the sandbox and take the slide off the swingset and lower the flag pole to get it all out of the way... I wouldn't have been able to do any of that.

Then... creepy tree guy had to come in to use the bathroom. I was busy with the kids, but my husband said that the guy was checking everything out. I totally sanitized the bathroom. And with the guy scoping things out - my husband decided to take a few more vacation days, and we promoted the big dog that sleeps on the porch to the big dog that sleeps in the kitchen. And we are actually using our door alarms, and keeping the doors locked during the day...

Oh the questions they come up with!

Little Man has been so full of questions about his new baby brother! From the moment we got home it's been question after question... "Can baby brother talk? Can baby brother play cars with me? Can baby brother sleep in my bed?"

The first time he saw me nursing his new baby brother he asked, "What's that baby doing mom? Is he eating your tummy?"

For lack of wanting to explain to him (and have him repeat something having to do with boobies in public) I just said "yes." Though I probably should have just told him the truth.

Last night while I was feeding Lazy Baby, little man pulled up his shirt and asked "Can baby eat mine mommy?" when I told him no he asked if baby could eat Daddy's. Then I explained that only mommies made milk for babies.

He's been obsessed with counting Lazy Baby's fingers and toes. Making sure they have the same number as his. He has also renewed his questions about who does and doesn't have pee-pees. And is absolutely thrilled that baby brother has a pee-pee like him.

He says that Baby Sister is his baby and new baby brother is baby sister's baby. And Baby Sister will point to Lazy Baby and say "Baby mine."

Both Little Man and Baby Girl are totally sweet on Lazy Baby. They both constantly want to hug him, kiss him and rub his soft hair. I'm so glad. I thought that Little Man was going to take it hard and my husband thought Baby Girl was going to take it hard. And so far neither has had their feathers ruffled by Lazy Baby.

I think Baby Girl is probably going to be known as Baby Sister for a while ;)

The thing that amazes me most is how big Baby Girl got overnight. Before we brought home Lazy Baby, Baby Girl was just an itty bitty little girl. I remember the same thing when I brought home Baby Girl - how gigantic Little Man was in comparison, and up until that point he was still my little baby.

I've Really Lost It!!

Have you ever had something important just vanish into thin air??

Lazy baby's cord fell off on the 4th of July, sometime between his last diaper change in the middle of the night and the next morning. I know it was there at that last diaper change because I thought about dabbing it with alcohol, but decided against it, 'cause I figured it would make him cry and wake someone up... In the morning it was just gone. I had him in a nightgown (so much easier for diaper changes those first couple of weeks). Apparently it must have fallen out of his nightgown.

I looked through everything. I checked all the diapers 3 times! I checked and re-checked the two or three nightgowns he'd had on (even though I knew it came off in the one he had on)... I checked all the bassinette sheets, under the pad, all the blankets, etc... I swept the kitchen floor, I scoured the bed... I have periodically, continually and methodically checked absolutely everywhere that I can think of and then some!

My husband said that such a think could only happen to me. Which is probably true. But there was no warning - with the other two the cord started slipping away gradually. With Lazy Baby I think his nightgown or diaper must have snatched it off.

The thing about it is that our family is American Indian and it is tradition in my husband's tribe to make a beaded ornament with the umbilical cord. I saved Little Man's and Baby Girl's cords. (Also, I save everything anyway!). So Lazy Baby is going to be missing something important.

I think the only one that isn't missing something is Baby Girl. With Little Man, he is missing his commemorative footprints from the hospital (they were in a big hurry to get us out and forgot about it, and with all the rush I didn't think about it until the following day), and his birth announcement in the paper. And with him I never sent out birth announcements...

I guess Baby Girl is missing one thing - I never thought to have her birth announcement put in the tribal newspaper. I guess that will be the one thing that Lazy Baby has that neither of the other two had. But will it make up for the loss of his cord??

Just a quick note...

to say that I will be back to posting regularly soon...

We are all doing well, and everyone is adjusting to the new eddition swimmingly! ;) The two little ones are completely taken with their new baby brother. Little man is extra inquisitive. Baby girl has been really sweet.

I apologize for not getting back to all of you who have made comments, unfortunately due to the secret nature of this blog I haven't really had opportunity to be by myself... so I will be getting back to all of you wonderful people as soon as possible!

Thank you all so much for your congrats and well wishes, and I will be posting some good stuff in the near future.