Just In Case You Need a Good Cry

This is a poem I received when I took a *gasp* parenting class!



Before I was a Mom......

I made and ate hot meals.
I had unstained clothing.
I had quiet conversations on the phone.

Before I was a Mom
I slept as late as I wanted
And never worried about how late I got into bed.
I brushed my hair and my teeth everyday.

Before I was Mom
I cleaned my house each day.
I never tripped over toys or forgot words to lullabies.

Before I was a Mom
I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom
I had never been puked on
Pooped on
Spit on
Chewed on
Peed on
Or pinched by tiny fingers

Before I was a Mom I had complete control of:
My thoughts
My body
And my mind.
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom
I never held down a screaming child
so that doctors could do tests or give shots.

I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom
I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put it down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom
I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.
I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond between a Mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so
important.

Before I was a Mom
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night
Every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay
I had never known the warmth
The joy
The love
The heartache
The wonder
Or the satisfaction of being a Mom.

I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much -
Before I was a Mom.

Anyone Seen My Vacuum Attachment?

I really could have used it to vacuum out the car this morning or the stairs last night! I'm also missing one of the extensions that goes with it. Let me know if you see it in the big black hole with my favorite lipstick. Maybe my Dad's hearing aid is there too?

Slacker Mom

So, we were supposed to go to Anika's preschool potluck at the park last night. The weather was perfect. I even had the store bought tray of cookies ready to go. Did I say they were decorated like lady bugs? Someone would have been impressed, thinking I decorated those beautiful cookies. After all, I do have three kids! Ha ha. I so could have scored some points with the other Mom's.

Gosh, come to think of it, I don't think there is anyone else at our preschool who has three kids.

Back on track. There really wasn't a reason NOT to go, except that Mark and I were both dog tired. How do you explain that to a kid, that you are too tired to do something? Kids will do anything no matter how bleary eyed or cranky they are feeling.



So, I bribed them.

Mom: "Mom is sooo tired, is there ANYTHING else you would like to do besides go the park?"

Blank stares. "No."

Mom: "There is nothing else you would like to do? How about Cold Stone Creamery?"

Kids: "Park!"

Mom: "OK, we'll go to the park."

Olivia: "How about we take a walk across the new bridge?"

Background info: There is a new path from our subdivision leading to a bridge which crosses over a canal. We drive by it everyday. Anika and I took Luke for a stroll last week and walked across the bridge and back so Olivia has been wanting to go ever since.

Mom: "Um, OK, if that is what you would like to do."

Kids: "Yeah, lets go for a walk across the bridge."

AND THEN WHAT HAPPENED?

I let them soak it in for about 10 minutes, went in to where they were at and announced "I'm in the mood for some tasty ice cream! Who wants to go to Cold Stone Creamery with me?"

"So we're not going for a walk? OK, we'll go to Cold Stone Creamery"

I'm such a slacker! My kids want to do something healthy and I feed them ice cream.

It's supposed to be 80 degrees here today. BSU is playing Southern Mississippi (Brett Favre's alma mater) at 5:30. Maybe we can walk during half time?

My New Title

It's still "a wonderful life" here, however, since writing about having three kids, I have been wanting to change my title.

The phrase, "And then what happened?" is actually a phrase that Mark has used since I can remember. It annoys me and he knows it annoys me and that is why he says it. Over and over. He even annoys the poor kids with it. It is those crazy, annoying quirks he has that I love about him.

I think having kids is like that: day to day annoyances that can really grind my nerves at times, but I wouldn't trade it for anything!


OK, maybe a margarita. Just to take the edge off.

Thoughts on Having Three Children

I always wanted three kids. Three kids never seemed like a lot of kids to me. When I took water aerobics while I was pregnant, I was the oldest one in my class. The next oldest person in my class was 25 or 26. Several were born in the early 80's. When the instructor asked me "is this your first?" and I replied, "No, this is my third" everyone said "WOW!" like I had a lot of kids. It was just something I didn't expect, the shock in people's voice when you say you are having your third child. Strange.

I asked a few people at work and one friend, all who have three kids, about what it was like. They all pretty much said the same thing: It's hard, but worth it. I just never put that much thought into it. I mean, both Mark and I were raised in a family of three, what's the big deal? We turned out all right.

I also googled "having three kids" while I was pregnant and, much to my surprise, found this great website: www.havingthreekids.com. It makes me laugh and I can appreciated more now that I actually have three kids.

So, it's been five weeks. I think because my kids are 4 (almost 5) and 6 years old, I have it easier than those who have three kids under 3 or 4 years old. So far, the hardest part has been making sure Olivia & Anika are getting enough positive attention. I find that really hard to do when I am sleep deprived. I also think we are extremely lucky that Luke is such a mellow baby. He has been fussier in the evenings the past week, but still, nothing compared to Olivia or Anika. He makes those cute little waking stretching noises when he wakes up at night and he might start to cry by the time I get his diaper changed, but as soon as he is plugged in to the milk machine, he's good. He nurses at night for about 15 minutes, sometimes 10, and then he is back to sleep (and so am I). He is waking up to eat nowdays about every three hours, HOWEVER, last night he slept for 6 1/2 hours straight giving me 5 hours of straight sleep. I'm still tired.

New pictures

One of Lukes' first smiles captured on camera! He's been smiling a bit more these days. It is one of the best feelings in the world when your baby smiles back at you!



Mark & Luke napping in the recliner. It must be nice to sleep all night and still get to take a nap in between football games! I love you, Mark!



Clearly, Luke does not want his picture taken! He is five weeks old tomorrow and still being smothered by his big sisters! We weighed him on our scale the other day and he is around 11 pounds and measuring 23.5 inches tall.



The girls were restless so we ventured out to Build-A-Bear (I hate that place). They had fun and they entertained themselves the rest of the day with their new bears. I did get Luke a teddy bear, he didn't have one yet. No outfits though, just a plain bear.



I spy a 90 pound dog under all those stuffed animals!



Here is Anika on her first day of preschool this year! She is so excited to be in the "older kid" class this year. She is mostly excited to get to take her own lunch once a week (just like Olivia)!

Update and some pictures

*So, I started this post awhile back, here it is finally!

Well, Luke was three weeks old as of yesterday! He is such a mellow baby, I still can't believe it. He really does not cry much at all, in fact, I thought there was something wrong with him the first week after he was born. He still eats ALL THE TIME and I am pretty tired ALL THE TIME, but I know it will pass. At his one week appointment (9 days, actually), he was 9 lb 2 oz. He is almost as long as the changing area in his play yard. I think he got the tall genes from both Mark's Mom's side and Dad's side of the family. He has started smiling the past two days, just a few times. It's not gas, either. He was wide awake each time. I will try to get a picture as soon as I can.



Olivia started First Grade last Monday. She is SOOOO excited. She is really tired and really hungry by the time she gets home though. I overheard her telling Anika that a boy at school was "in love" with her, but that she was not "in love" with him. She gave Anika very specific instructions NOT to tell Mom or Dad because she would be "so embarassed." She really likes her teacher and talks about her everyday. She has taken her own lunch everyday because she doesn't like the school food (thankfully). Her favorite lunch item this week was, interestingly, tomato soup.



Big Sisters can't get enough of their baby brother, even after three weeks!




Snuggle Time!




This one is my favorite so far! Luke loves to snuggle up on our chests.