Superwoman

This week has left me very little time to do anything for "me", so to explain why I'm short on posts: I am attempting to portray Superwoman right now and I feel like I'm falling extremely short. I am back in steady part-time position with the college. In addition I hold a contract position and manage all of the household duties, including finances and with an infant that still has night-time nursing sessions I get by on very little sleep. Plus, I want to give each of my children quality time each day. My hubby helps out tremendously, but as we all know there are some things that only mommies can do.

I know I am doing what I need to for my family and I'm grateful that I don't have to put any of the kids in childcare. Still, is it selfish to feel so overwhelmed?!!? I've taken courses on time management, but sometimes there just isn't enough time to efficiently manage everything on my plate . . .

Sleep Deprivation

For a good 7 1/2 years I have been either pregnant and/or nursing a child which means I have not had a "good night's sleep" in that amount of time. I've learned to adapt to 4 hours or less of sleep a night, but for the past several weeks, my little one has not stay settled for longer than 30 minutes. Forget the wisdom of "sleep when your baby sleeps". When you have two other "babies" there is absolutely no down time. I can't even make up on sleep on the weekends b/c I work and/or we have family activities scheduled. I've done extremely well, if I do say so myself, on so very little sleep but it's finally starting to affect me. I've forgotten about bills until the last minute, phone calls aren't returned for several days, my house has become more than just a little cluttered and my intellect is not quite so sharp these days. Still, when anyone mentions letting her scream it out, I loudly protest. I do not complain during my nightly marathons - you can ask my husband whom I never wake up. My first two received my full attention during their night time battles and my third will as well. I remind myself in these wee hours of how grateful I am to hear that little cry and how blessed I am to be her mother. I mean I truly adore my kids and would sacrifice anything for them. I'm just hoping my baby girl figures out the whole sleep situation sooner than the boys did. I just got the 7 year old and the almost 4 year old to sleep through the night 2 weeks ago!

In Remembrance

Today, October 15, is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. Being a mother, I can think of no greater pain than losing a child. I am angered by individuals that don't look at life as starting until a child takes his/her first breath outside of the womb or make comments such as "it's better this way" to mothers who have suffered miscarriages or lost infant children. Our MOPS group listened to a Grief Counselor speak last week and she confirmed that people often just don't understand how hurtful their words can be to someone who is suffering.

I have been so blessed to have three pregnancies and three healthy children. However, during my first pregnancy I went in for the first ultrasound and they didn't see anything. They concluded that I had a blighted ovum and a fetus would never form. I was advised to go home for the weekend and stay off my feet and return to their office on Monday to discuss a D&C procedure to clean the walls of my uterus. My husband and I were devastated. I had to call friends and family and let them know that the happy news we had only recently shared might not come to be. I spent the weekend on the couch crying for the child I might never hold and prayed that God would make it all right. When Monday came, they checked my hormone levels and they had doubled - a sign of a successful pregnancy! They did another ultrasound and there, tiny as could be, was a tiny peanut shape, but a magnificent sight as it concluded our baby was indeed there and growing. They had merely miscalculated how far along I was.

From that experience, I may have moments of exhaustion with my children, but I NEVER fail to see how blessed I am to have each one of them and I value each one of them for the special individuals they are. A life is formed the moment sperm meets egg, a parent is present when he/she accepts responsibility for a life other than his/her own, a child is forever with us, even when we are not able to hold him/her. Remember families that have lost that most precious gift today, and always, as their pain never ends. For more information, visit http://www.october15th.com/

Trash to Treasure

We had our FIRST ever yard sale this past Saturday. It was an early morning, waking at 5:00 a.m. to get everything organized and accepting our first visitors at 7:00, but it was quite entertaining (especially since the boys decided to wake with us and were wide open the entire morning!). I'm sure we could have made double what we did, but my husband concluded that every person that came through didn't have much and so he would knock a good 50% off our already incredibly-low priced possessions. For example, an investment of collectible wrestling figures and accessories cost us over $500 and the entire lot was sold for $6! It was interesting to see the variety of people who came through and what they were interested in. One man came asking if we had guns or flea control medication for his dog! Two other men came with magnets and bought everything metal. One little proper lady bought a handful of paperbacks and a vampire cape and wig. People bought whole boxes of toys for less than $10. We spent a lot of time just talking to people, got to know our neighbors better and even met friends of past occupants of our house! We used our "profits" to buy halloween costumes for the kids and let the kids have money to buy a new toy - one that will probably end up in our next yard sale . . .

I like going to yard sales much better than hosting one though. It is a lot of work to clean up your own clutter. Plus, it really is sad to let go of items with attached memories - I ended up pulling several items before they could be purchased. There are so many great things that people get rid of in yard sale - one man's trash really is another's treasure. A few weeks ago I got 4 chairs for $5, painted them and they are our new dining room chairs. I also got a cute bookshelf for $10, cleaned it, sanded it, put a few new nails in, painted it and it is now an adorable addition to my daughter's nursery. Look at the pictures I've posted to see what you think.

Born to be Wild

I'd like to devote my first attempt at the blogging world to my two balls of energy, my boys. I've often heard people say that children take after their parents, especially the primary caregiver since they spend the most time with that parent. This being said, I can tell you that my boys, ages 7 years and 3 1/2 years, are not imitating me when they jump off the furniture, run screaming through the house, disrobe the minute they step foot inside (and often while outdoors even if the mood strikes), urinate outside despite the fact we have three working bathrooms, make bodily noises and insist on wrestling each other every other second. There has to be an inate drive for males to exhibit such "primitive" behavior. I try really hard to instill good manners in them, which is why they will at least say "excuse me" after belching or otherwise releasing gas (while laughing hysterically) or yell "watch out Mommy" as one hurdles the other one toward me at lightening speed. I try to engage them in calm activities like arts and crafts time, reading and nature walks, and while I have to say they enjoy these activities momentarily, the action always returns to some type of physical display of testosterone. Just yesterday, they made a wrestling ring out of their 8' x 8" bounce around that left our 3 1/2 year old with a nosebleed, a scraped back and a bump on his head. Oh, that's nothing - you should have seen our 7 year old!

We've made emergency trips to the doctor on more than one occasion, already had stitches and exhausted our supplies of band-aids. I have at least one first aid kit on each floor in the house, one in my purse and one in my car. My heart stops several hundred times a day as they test their physical limits. Short of restraining them in gurney jackets though, I have to just try to limit their outlandish antics and pray that their baby sister isn't getting any ideas from watching them as intently as she does.