Ste-fa-nie?

Michael, like his sister Ree before him, is amazingly able to stay dry all night without getting up to use the bathroom. (I was the kid who got up many times a night, and I am sure Leon and Natalia will pay me back. For now, I am enjoying the children who sleep.)

But, after staying dry all night, by morning the little guy REALLY needs to go. I've learned not to jump up as soon as he starts calling though. He has developed his own 3-point escalation plan. Michael starts by calling, "Mom, Mom? Mommy? Mom?"

If that goes on for a couple minutes and I don't respond, he moves on to, "Mom, I'm calling you! Mom, I'm calling you!"

I usually go get him at that point. If I don't, he then hits desperation level. That's when he starts pleading, "Stefanie? Ste-fa-nie? Stefanie? I HAVE TO GO POTTY!" When he uses my first name, I know we're all in trouble.

Spring Cleaning

In an attempt to add another project to the "finished" category, I cleaned out my pantry over the weekend. Although I am mostly reformed, I have a long history as a hoarder. I hate throwing away things of value, and I really despise throwing away food. There really aren't many "science experiments" in our fridge. Whether good or bad, we tend to eat everything in there before it gets too scary, but occasionally we do have to purge. Apparently, though, I have long avoided purging my pantry. Some of the gems I discovered while cleaning:

• Yeast that expired in 2010
• Chocolate eggs from Easter 2010
• Powdered milk purchased at Athens Kroger that expired in 2008
• Corn syrup that expired in 2006

However, the piece de resistance was scone mix given to me by a teacher at Chauncey my first year as the afterschool program coordinator. That was back in 2003. Oddly, it did still pain me to throw out the scone mix. I dutifully washed and kept the Mason jar it was in.

I must admit the project is not yet finished. This week I am going to tackle my spices. There are some in there from my first apartment in college. Considering they say herbs and spices lose their flavor after one year, it might be time to toss some of them before they hit the 15-year mark.

The Tree

I am always amazed with the things the kids find to fight over play with. Last night, in what Jeff describes as a truly impressive feat, Max managed to run into the base of a small tree so hard that the reverberations from the crash shook the tree until the trunk broke in the middle. As Jeff carried the tree to the compost pile, Leon spotted it. Leon then turned it upside down and spent quite awhile "mopping" the grass with it. After much crying from all, Ree finally got a turn. She twirled her "parasol." Michael, who cried the most and therefore got the last turn, used it to fan Ree.

Love for Working Mom

The kids all have different ways of dealing with me going to work. Back in January, Leon kept telling me we needed to go back to Disney World or have another baby. Interesting combination. I finally figured out that both were times when I didn't have work and got to stay with the family. I like his three-year-old logic. Last night Leon told me that he wanted Jeff to work and me to stay home. Leon is definitely my mama's boy.

Michael falls apart every Tuesday. EVERY TUESDAY. (I work from home on Mondays.)  He also has mini meltdowns on Sundays when Jeff heads out to watch sports. Michael just wants our whole family to be together. Michael's greatest joy is when we have a "family adventure" and all go somewhere together. It could be something as simple as going to the grocery store or gas station. If Michael had his way, we would both work from home, if at all.

Ree has always been pretty good at dealing with my work schedule, and she seems to enjoy time with both Jeff and me equally. Lately, however, she has been a little needier than usual. I have to watch it or she will completely wear me out on the weekends wanting to do "just one more" activity together. She doesn't want to go to a dance camp this summer because it meets on Monday and that is a "Mom Day." She has also been routinely asking me if I am pregnant in hopes that we will have another baby and I will "get to stay home for 60 days" again.

And then there is Natalia. Tank is so tough, yet so needy. She spent the weekend sleeping in her crib. Me likey. It is nice to be able to roll over in bed instead of sleeping in one position to make sure she is okay. But when she woke up yesterday morning, she looked at Jeff and asked for me. When he said I was at work, she was not a fan and immediately started crying. Although she went to bed in her crib last night, she was in our bed by midnight or one. And there she stayed, making herself cozy.

I am a little sore from our bed mate, and I am guessing Jeff is bruised, but at least I know I am loved by my children.

Easter

My house is the land of unfinished projects. I get so excited to start projects, and then I get...distracted. My Easter blog post has been an unfinished project too. I actually wrote most of this on Easter evening, I just wasn't happy with it, and I never went back and fixed it. So tonight I am giving myself five minutes to fix it, post it, and move on. It's good for me. And you know you want to see more random pics.

Jeff and I missed actually seeing the kids discover Easter baskets, but they didn't seem to mind in the least. The kids had been playing with empty plastic eggs since Thursday. It was amusing how quickly Natalia discovered these eggs had treasures inside.

For the second year running, we had to dye eggs before we could eat them for breakfast. There was no planning involved, and we ended up coloring them with plain ol' food coloring instead of fancy egg dying kits or lovely natural dyes. Still, I think the eggs turned out quite pretty in a simple way. Oh, and the kids were really into the color green. We had both teal and lime green going. Unlike last year, these actually dried which was nice. (Last year I was using the hair dryer to set the color on the eggs while Jeff cooked breakfast.) The only downside was we didn't buy eggs until Saturday, so they were too fresh and the peel stuck.

After breakfast we headed to the park. We arrived around 10:45, and the kids were able to enjoy 20 or 30 minutes without any other kids on the playground. They have gotten rather fearless, so time without other kids is good.

We ate way too much sugar, and I will hopefully remember to remedy that for next year, but some of it is too enjoyable to pass up. Like our cake. For years, my mom has made a bunny face cake. You know the one. It's the bunny wearing a bowtie. The kids and I have made it the past few years, and it's always lots of fun. But this year I got an email from Betty Crocker with a link to a Bunny Butt Cake, and I just couldn't resist. There's something so wrong, yet so irresistible about it! We attempted to make ears and decided to opt out. Ree liked the idea of our bunny's whole head, including ears, being buried in the grass while digging.

While dinner was in the oven, the kids finally got to have an egg hunt. We haven't mowed in the backyard yet this year, and it's a little scary in spots, but it makes for great egg hunting. (That's our story and we're sticking to it.)

I think the biggest reason I didn't post this was because I felt it didn't show the whole picture. There were as many downs as ups in the day. But that's a story for another time.

Second Sleep

Today I finally felt like I somewhat had it together. I even survived a solo outing with the kids. Twice a year, the local twin club hosts a large thrift sale. I take the kids with me, and this is an important event for them that they look forward to the way other kids look forward to vacation or Christmas. Ree gets to pick out her wardrobe of dresses for the upcoming season, and everyone gets to pick out a "new" toy. Plus I am a sucker for books and educational toys, so there are usually a few bonus mommy-picked items. Today we left with four dresses and a swimsuit for Ree, a Baby Gap outfit for Natalia, and a whole boatload of new toys for everyone.

Following that, we headed to Walmart. Yes, Walmart on Saturday. Need I say more? It actually wasn't all that bad. The Azalea Festival is going on here, the parade was this morning, and the weather was perfect, which meant no one wanted to be stuck shopping in a big box store. There was still ample parking at Walmart when we came out of the store at 11:30.

What's amazing is how I was able to pull myself back together (at least for one day!) while on little sleep. Last night Natalia was awake from 3 - 5am. The whole time she was awake, I kept her in our room, in the dark, and spoke little and only in whispers. I tried nursing her and singing to her. I tried letting her cry it out in her crib and tucking her in our bed. She was just awake. Finally, she asked to go to her crib, and she went right to sleep. I, on the other hand, was wide awake at that point. I read for a little bit, then I started folding laundry. Turns out laundry is about an effective of a stimulant as doing taxes, and in no time, I was getting drowsy.

It used to bother me when I woke up during the night and couldn't fall asleep. Then a couple of months ago I read a BBC article on The Myth of the Eight-Hour Sleep. Apparently, we are not biologically programmed to sleep through the night. Waking for an hour or two in the middle of the night is natural. When I read the article, I shared it with a few friends who I knew also struggled with night waking. Today I happened to get an email from a friend who was awake at the same time as me last night (if only we had known, we could've chatted without the kids!). She commented on how after reading the article, she is no longer stressed about being awake at night. I know what she means. Children aside, I go through periods when I wake up around 2:00 or 3:00. In the past, in addition to the worries that typically had me up in the middle of the night, there was always the pressure of having to fall back asleep. Since reading that article, I too relax knowing that it's perfectly normal to be awake then. Perhaps it's that relaxed attitude that I needed more than actual sleep.

Losing My Mind

I feel like every woman I know is overwhelmed these days. I sense it at work, at preschool, and with friends and family. This week has pointed out that I am not immune.

On Sunday or Monday night, I can't remember which, I realized we had forgotten to do laundry over the weekend. We normally wash 7 or 8 loads of laundry on the weekend, and it had not occurred to us to throw in a single load over the weekend. This left everyone a little short on underwear and p.j.s this week. It's been creative.

Wednesday night we discovered we were out of disposable diapers for Natalia. In addition to forgetting to do laundry, we also forgot to go shopping for anything other than essential groceries last weekend. We usually keep two diaper bags (one just for her, one for all the kids) stocked, and there is normally quite a stash of diapers in those. That search yielded one (rather sad looking) diaper. We also have cloth diapers, but since we had forgotten to do laundry, these were all dirty. I was too tired to make an emergency diaper run, so I got to work washing the cloth diapers (they require two long wash cycles), and I passed out as soon as I got the liners in the dryer.

Thursday morning I was up early assembling diapers before work. When I got to work, I realized I had forgotten to bring any pumping supplies for Natalia's milk. Going all day without pumping is not an option if I actually want to think, so I headed home to get everything I forgot. On the bright side, I was able to stop on my way home and buy more disposable diapers.

I am really hoping for a nice, calm weekend so I can pull myself back together.

I Decorated!

This year I made some New Year's resolutions. I didn't keep them, of course. (Isn't there some kind of rule that one is not actually allowed to keep New Year's resolutions? It's only the changes that occur during the year that count?) But they did allow me to pay more attention to my life. I had wanted to work on finally decorating and cleaning the house, and Jeff and I even came up with a plan to tackle a room a month. But real life kicked in, and in "failing" it forced me to realize how much time we spend just sustaining life. And I wanted to begin migrating to all natural skincare, hair care, and makeup. That has happened, I suppose. All I've purchased since then is makeup, and it's more natural than I bought before. And I haven't purchased anything else (even when it was on sale and I had coupons), so restraint in avoiding traditional products is good I guess.

The one thing I really wanted to do was to write every day, and I managed to do that for awhile. I didn't get around to it for a few days, and the time crept away from me. Then I read an article where a woman said each night she wrote one sentence in her journal about the day. That's it. One. So I adopted that strategy, although I quickly forgot to do that, too. But I did allow myself to do catch up, so sometimes I write three or more days at a time.

I figured I could take the same approach here. Maybe not a sentence at a time, but a five minute limit on writing. I've tried that before, and it's been successful. This has already taken seven minutes, so I am technically over my time, but one quick story.

On Tuesday when I got home from work, the first thing I heard was Jeff say, "Leon, what are you supposed to tell Mom?"

Then Leon proudly exclaimed, "I decorated!" and Jeff groaned. That was not exactly what Jeff had in mind. On Monday night Ree accidentally left her favorite ball point pen on the couch. She likes it because it writes well and always produces a thick, dark line. Leon had used it to make designs all over the back cushions on the couch. He COVERED them in designs. Jeff, my hero, then spent 2 1/2 hours on Tuesday night removing the designs with a Magic Eraser. (Not a remotely natural product, but it worked.)

My lesson in all this was perception on beauty. While Ree was taking her bath, she asked out of pure curiosity why we couldn't color on the couch. It was harder to answer than I thought. I initially said because couches cost a lot of money, but we both quickly realized that made no logical sense. Why would spending money prevent you from decorating? We spent a lot more on a house and immediately painted the rooms. So then I had to further explain that when you buy couches, it's because you like the way they look, and you want them to continue to look the way they did when you bought them. That answer made sense to her.

Catching Up

I can't believe I just went three weeks without posting anything. Usually, I start getting a little antsy if I even get close to the one week mark without writing, but this time those three weeks flew by.

I'd share what we did in that time, but I really don't remember. I will do my best to start catching up. (So you know I'll never catch up. Points for good intentions, right?)

Michael is now fully potty trained. I think the worst of the potty training drama was back in January and February, but I don't know if I ever wrote about it. The thing about potty training that kills me is the TIME. Holy cow. The hours we spent in the bathroom were unreal. When the boys were babies, I once sat down and quantified the amount of time we spent on baby-feeding tasks in a 24 hour period. (In case you are wondering, I spent about 10 hours of every 24 hour cycle feeding babies.) While potty training wasn't quite that bad, the hours still added up. The boys went one at a time, and each time one went, the other also had to try. Each round took about 15 minutes, and they were going about once per hour. They thankfully still nap, but they are still awake about 10 hours a day. That adds up to about 2 1/2 hours of sitting on the bathroom floor waiting for a little boy to tinkle.

Ree is now reading fluently. I have no clue when she started reading (it's been awhile), but last week she sat down and read the boys a real book before bed. And while she wasn't quite the children's librarian, she was definitely reading with emotion. Pretty good stuff. In other news, we found out today she was accepted into the public year-round elementary school in our neighborhood. Now we just have to decide if we are sending her there or a traditional elementary school. More on kindergarten (pseudo) drama to come!

Leon is also reading sight words, which is a bit surprising. Go PBS. I knew Michael could read. I suspected it for awhile, and one day last fall I finally ask him if he knew how to read. He nonchalantly replied,"Yeah," as though I had ask him if the sky was blue or if it was Tuesday. But one day, maybe back in January (?), Leon looked at the faucet in the bathtub and said, "O-N. On. Where's O-F-F 'Off'?" He's pointed out quite a few other words too. And for the record, he is not yet really potty trained. As with everything, he will potty train when HE decides to do it. It didn't help that we told him once he knew how to use the potty, he would get to preschool. So that day he went into the bathroom, peed in the toilet, and declared himself ready to go to preschool right then. He was a little disappointed when I apologized and told him I had been a bit unclear. Preschool doesn't start until September no matter how much he uses the potty. We'll get there.

Then there is Natalia. I don't even know where to start on that crazy girl. OH! Now I know where I have been for the past three weeks. With her. (I promise this isn't sarcasm. I truly didn't put it together til now. I have been out of town this week - WHOLE other story - and so much has gotten lost in the brain.) Anywho, so she spent several weeks being super needy. At the height of her neediness, she would only sleep cuddled up with me, clutching my pajama shirt with both hands. Those were some fun nights. The problem with her is when she's happy, she's so darn cute. It's impossible not to love her. She has no clue that she, Leon, and Michael are not triplets. Natalia fully believes she can do everything they can. She follows them around trying everything they do, and she demands to be treated exactly the same. This can be challenging when, say, they are having pizza and cookies for dinner, or some other insane concoction that we won't give her. But it's also quite helpful at times, like one day when I was putting sunscreen on the kids. The big kids decided to take turns sitting on the step stool in the bathroom while I slathered it on them. After the big three had their turns, Natalia sat down without me asking and she sat relatively still, even while I attacked her face with white goo. I am hoping that at least lasts.