Less Mom is More

So what do you do when you and the kids have a trip to the library, a playdate at a friend's, and a quick trip to Giant Eagle planned all in one day?

You stay home and take no less than six baths and four naps!

Lots of snow + me pregnant= get nothing done.

Oh, who am I kidding. Me pregnant = get nothing done.

But I'm starting to think maybe that isn't such an awful thing! At least in some cases.

Every morning, the first thing I do is round up the three girls who just woke me up and plunk them in the tub. For some reason, there is always one bath toy prized above all others, and curiously, it is never the same toy the next day. I try to wash my entire face before the first argument breaks out and then sit on the toilet next to them to referee. At least two kids are always wailing, and from start to finish, bathtime is usually not as fun as it used to be.

Today, I had a chance to see what bathtime would be like without the ref. We forgot to drain the bathwater. After breakfast Mia went back upstairs and said she wanted to take another bath. The water was still warmish, so I added some hot water and in she went. The twins decided to get in, too. I was in the middle of nothing a project, and so I left them in there to play alone.

Not a whine.

Mia got out on her own, and then the twins continued to play quietly for a good half hour before I got them out for lunch.

They don't need me in there. Refereeing is one thing on my "to-do" list I think I will permanently cross off.

By the way- I wasn't exaggerating about the six baths. I noticed the water was still warm and hopped in while a couple of them were napping. Then Mia got in with me and stayed after so it didn't get drained again. I had added even more hot water before I left her in there, and so this evening while I was downstairs getting nothing done busily being pregnant, they snuck upstairs, announced they were climbing into a super-full, still warmish bath, and played happily for almost an hour before I got them out for bed. No, that's not gray Jell-O they're sitting in... it's sixth-bath water. Maybe tomorrow I'll be able to skip the soap and just use the film left on them from tonight.

Expensive Taste

My mom bought us some really yummy meat from Omaha Steaks. We cooked up our Top Sirloins, and Mia decided she wanted to try some of mine. I cut really thin strips against the grain and let her dip it in Teryaki A1. She decided she really liked it.

We had our well check-ups the last few days. The office we go to won't let us bring all three on the same day, so the twins were Friday and Mia was on Monday. The first thing they did was prick Bree's finger and collect her blood drops in vials. To keep the wound from clotting, the nurse rubbed her finger- hard. Bree was in a ton of pain, and I knew it wasn't just from the prick on her finger. The nurse actually rubbed the skin right off her knuckle. Duh! I'm sorry- but squeeze her freaking arm, rub further up her hand... it isn't like her heart is located in her knuckle. And since that was the very first thing they chose to do, both Bree and Anya were terrified the rest of the time, and needed a ton of coaxing (Mia had to demonstrate half the procedures for them before they would cooperate) even to stand on the scale. I think the second most annoying part about all of it is that the blood "draw" was totally pointless. They are going to test it to make sure they are as healthy as they look, not tell us the results, and nothing is any different except now Bree has a huge black scab on her knuckle and is terrified of the doctor. Anya keeps looking at her sister's finger and saying "Dockuh huht huh!" Which is Anya-ese for "Doctor hurt her!" The most annoying part is that I should have spoken up. Nurse or not- she doesn't care about my kid as much as I do, and I should have remembered that.

Monday we went back for Mia, the twins extremely reluctant to let go of my legs. Somehow the conversation I'd had with the nurse last time left me with the impression that Mia wouldn't be getting any shots. Wrong. I guess it was kind of merciful, because the five minutes she spent crying over the impending doom was probably much less torturous than an entire weekend would have been.

I felt so guilty, though, for having mislead her, I asked her what she would like for a special treat.

"Can I have more of that meat?"

I told her I'd get some at the store tomorrow just for her.

"Tomorrow" turned out to be a lot more hectic than I'd planned, and my back went out (again.) I figured there was no way she would remember. Wrong again. When she learned that I hadn't bought steak for dinner, enough tears were shed that I called Zach to see if he would pick some up on the way home.

So here I am typing instead of cooking. We'll be eating late. Us and the four-year-old steak-eater.

Time to think

The last couple of days I have been all caught up with my photography. Only one sitting on the books. No albums to work on, nothing to retouch. In other words- nothing nagging at the back of my mind when I'm putting the kids down... "hurry, hurry, you only have a few hours!"

Even when it was just Mia, I was doing albums and there was that nagging. I quit those when the twins were born, and then nursing and sleeping took over the nagging. There wasn't time to rock my babies to sleep at night.

And then, suddenly, there was no need. Don't get me wrong- I've always appreciated how well they've gone down without needing to be rocked. I guess that was really lucky.

But since their sleeping arrangements got all rearranged, they've needed some help getting down. At first, I had work to do and couldn't take the time they needed. Zach had to sit in their room and study, while we shushed them (sometimes in not so friendly tones)for a good hour while they whined and giggled and needed this or that.

I finished my work a few nights ago, and the last couple of nights have just stayed in their room. I've been rocking Mia to sleep, putting her in her bed, and then held Anya one night and Bree tonight. It's so blissful! Having nothing to worry about while I hold my babies. It's making me wonder about starting up photography again.

I'd feel... odd... refusing work when we literally have zero income. Being a Mormon family of five in med school is weird. Living off student loans is really weird. I guess six won't make it any more normal. That's all I have to say.

Little minds at work

October:

Mom trying to decide which farm to pick pumpkins at: "Hmm- that farm is an hour away- we're not going there." Mia pipes up, "How 'bout we take two cars to get there faster?"

"Hey mom- my shirt is giving me a hot body!"

"Please bless the food, and please bless my mom to have a baby. I want a baby brother or a baby sister."

November:

Anya comes to check out Bree's progress on the toilet. "How doin?" Bree replies, "Is big poop." Anya takes a peek, "Ooh- pretty!"

December:

The Christmas elf delivers the gifts from grandma's house to ours each morning, as long as you're on good behavior the day before. One morning, he left a present for mom and dad. "Mom- you got a present! That's because you didn't yell at me yesterday!" "Gee- that's uh... great..."

Anya asks to be carried down the stairs. "I can't sweetie, my back is hurting right now." Puzzled look from the two-year-old. "It's um... broken today." She races down the stairs chanting something like "teep! teep!" We reach the computer desk and I see what she's referring to. "Tape? You want tape?" That's what she wants. I give her a peice and she puts it on my back. "Deh- fix it. Ah bedduh? Fee bedduh now?"