News with the Two's

I didn't realize it has been almost a month since I have posted. I can tell you why...it is because I have been kicking the Terrible Two's in the butt (not literally). Since my dear husband was basically gone most of November, I took that time to say, "Enough is Enough!". I decided to take the approach that you can cry all you want but this is the way it is and that's that. You know what? It worked! I can say I threw away about 4 cups, 3 puzzles, and a basket of McDonald's toys, plus about 4 pairs of socks. I was just tired of repeating myself and no one listening. I was also tired of the whole morning crying spell by our lovely 2 year old (see one of my previous post for the song and dance of the morning). It took about a month but now, if James or Sophia want something done a certain way, they are sure to tell me before it is too late. For instance, if they want to pour the milk, they better tell me before I do it. If they want the green cup today, they better tell me before I get out a different cup. Once I do it, it is done. Life has gotten better as a result. Praise God!

In other news, we had thought that James was colorblind. I was almost convinced that he was. He definitely knows blue, black, pink, and purple. He always confuses red and green. However, I had James match M&M's into color piles. I was told that if he was colorblind he would have a hard time doing this. Well, James did it perfectly and quickly. Guess his matching skills are good and he is apparently not colorblind. Now, if he would just get his colors!

Hey Look! Oprah's On

I have noticed that since my lovely second child goes through the 'terrible twos', I have become more snippy and impatient. I yell when I don't really need to yell, I sigh like my mother did when she was annoyed by us, and I find myself acting like my two year old. I mean, come on, anyone with more than one child will identify with me that going through the two's with the second child is much much worse than the first.

That being said, at times I like to pretend like I'm on Oprah. Kind of like a reality TV show of sorts or maybe she is doing a show on Real Life in the Midwest with a Typical Mom. Anyway, I started to think, "I would be totally embarrassed if my neighbors or friends saw me behave like this just to get my two year old to respond." I remember seeing my sister act like this with her children and I was embarrassed for her at the time and I told myself not to do the same thing when it was my turn. So I was surprised when I found myself getting angry at the same things she did. Then I thought, "Maybe I should just pretend like someone is watching, like on Oprah." I tried it and I have to say, it was actually fun. I had a little more boost in energy. I laughed at my kids more, counted to ten more, paused before I said something, and cleaned the kitchen a little faster so I can go play with the baby (instead of cleaning slowly just so I can have more 'me' time). I even thought at times, "I bet Oprah and Gayle would think this was funny." This may sound completely crazy to you. I realize this. But try it. Being on Oprah is a mental boost to your system. Come on, you know you would like to be featured on Oprah too.

Carry Out

I must confess that we often pick up drive thru for lunch because we are out and about and by the time we get home, everyone is starving and grumpy. It is so much easier to pick something up and go home and eat it. Now, if Jim is home we do not do this because then I have an extra hand to help keep things under control. This all being said, that means that McDonald's, Wendy's, and Steak-n-Shake are frequent stops. What I wish for is that Panera Bread, Paradise Bakery, etc. have a drive thru or at least something where you can call in your order and then someone can come out to deliver your items. They could even set it up so that you could text a message when you are out front. We would eat a lot healthier, better food and these other restaurants would benefit form the sales. Great idea? I think Genius!

Germs Germs, Go Away

Well we have been hit by viruses at our household. It started after Halloween. Sophia got it first with a fever and diarrhea. It didn't affect her too much though. Then James the germ. he got a fever and now diarrhea and to top it off, a lovely dose of vomiting. I caught it two days ago but it is more severe stomach cramps for me. Jacob so far has had one diarrhea spell so hopefully that was just a weird coincidence. Poor James, he is really been hit hard. The little guy is small enough, let alone add not wanting to eat, dehydration, and the poop germ and throw up germ. Yuk! It is times like this that I really wish he was potty trained because those diapers are DISGUSTING!! I feel bad for him. Hopefully tomorrow will be a cleaner day; either that or maybe my washer will go out from doing so much poop laundry that I can go out and buy a new one. :)

What No One Tells You

I have been given a lot of advise when it comes to having children. It seems everyone has something to say. I get it, I do. I mean, I have given my bit of advise to other mom's or soon-to-be- Moms too. However, not once did someone warn me about how LOUD you house becomes when you add a third child to the mix. We are talking hearing loss people. It is soooo loud at times that I swear OSHA would come knocking on our door with violations. There should be a sound ordinance in our own house. Some nights my ears are ringing from all of the sounds. It is crazy!

There are many other things that friends/family or expecting books don't tell you. They don't tell you because they don't want to scare the crap out of you for having children. I could write a book on things that no one will tell you. A sampling of items are:

1) When you are nursing, milk may and will shoot across the room and hit anyone in harms way. This means your baby could get squirted right in the eye or up his nose. When you take a shower, milk could squirt out and hit the shower walls. The pressure can be that powerful and there is nothing you can do about.

2) They say breastfeeding is not supposed to hurt but at some point it will....A LOT! My nipple bled and that was with my youngest. You can't tell me I didn't know how to nurse by then but sure enough, intense pain the first 5-10 seconds of every feeding from about 4 weeks of age to 7 weeks. OUCH!

3) There will come a point when you will get pooped on and you really won't care because you are too tired to care. You may not even wash it off because in about 30 minutes, you will probably get more poop on you.

4) You may go a whole day and not sit down once.

5) You will convince yourself that cereal for supper is a balanced meal.

6) Counting to 10 is more powerful than you might think. It calms you down and actually scares the kids into behaving.

7) You will do things that you said you never would. For instance, I said Sophia would not suck on a pacifier when she was born. That lasted 2 days. She then got the pacifier for the next year and I think I loved the pacifier more than she did. I also said I would not let them jump on the couch or climb on chairs. Unfortunately they do both at our house. I also said that they would not watch any TV or maybe just 30 minutes a day at the most. Well, guess what my kids are doing right now. (I needed a break. At least I am watching with them). There are many other things but this is just a sampling.

8) You may go several days without a shower. Stock up on perfume or baby powder for yourself.

9) Your hair may change colors. I was a light blond before kids and now I am a dark blond.

10) Sleep actually does sound better than sex. In fact, just sitting down and watching TV with real actors and not cartoons sounds better than sex.

11) You will memorize "Good Night Moon" and other children's books without even trying too.

Perfect Timing

Yesterday we all slept in until 8 (WOW!) and decided to go out to breakfast. This is a really big treat for me but everyone loves doing this. Jim and I got everyone dressed, the baby fed, diaper bag packed and we were gong out the door when I heard a strange sound. I turned around and James was vomiting. Out of the blue! That scratched the family breakfast treat dead in its tracks. Luckily he was only sick that morning and by late morning he was running around like his normal self. Maybe we will be able to try breakfast again in a couple weeks.

What a Morning!

This morning was loud, loUD, LOUD!! I don't know why but Sophia was not herself this morning. She is usually my reliable one. I tell her what needs to be done and she does it. This morning though, everything was dramatic! My little drama princess didn't want to go to the bathroom until it was almost too late and then she acted like the toilet lid was too heavy to lift. Then everything hurt...the door bumped her toe, she spontaneously fell, the chair touched her shoulder, the Velcro on her shoes hurt her finger...everything was painful to her. She kept going, "It hoots!" (That is how she says 'hurts'). When something hurt, she would cry very very loud! Then I made her oatmeal and after it was made, she started crying because she wanted to do it herself. COME ON!!! She was standing right beside me while I made it! Then she cried all through breakfast and James kept saying, "Hurts my ears". But then when James yelled once, Sophia started yelling that James hurt her ears. Crazy! I kept telling myself, "Only 50 minutes until school...only 30 minutes until school...etc". I think I am going to have early hearing loss. Seriously, I bet if OSHA came to my house, they would advise me to wear protective ear wear.

Thank goodness Jacob and James were awesome. In fact, James was cute this morning. He kept going around the house pretending he was the Big Bad Wolf and was blowing everything down. So cute! Jacob was just so easy going this morning too. What good boys!

Sophia finally calmed down when we got to school. I quietly mentioned to Sophia's teacher that she was having a rough morning and the teacher made her the 'special helper' of the day. I thought that was very kind of her teacher. I love their school!!

Cups and Chaos

Every morning the kids come downstairs and get a cup of milk. This sounds innocent enough, right? Wrong! For some reason James has big issues with this routine. It is not because he doesn't want milk. He drink about 1/2 gallon of milk a day. The problem is either I handed him the cup wrong, or Sophia chose before he did, or on that day he wanted to take the top off, or he wanted Daddy to do it and I did it, or I looked at him when I handed the cup. Most of the time, I DON'T KNOW WHAT I DID!!! He will just start throwing a fit! He will yell, "I do it" or "No Daddy do it", or any combination of words to make an issue out of a milk cup. Why is this? I want to say, "Just take the Damn cup!!!!" I don't though because I don't want to use bad words around the house. Noble, I know. This simple action of getting a cup in the morning can make or break the morning....and you never know what you are going to get when the children wake up.

The Birth of a New Blog

I am a mid-30s mother of three children. I actually have had four children but our third child, Christian, died in utero at 15 weeks. Now at home we have Sophia (age 3), James (age 2), and Jacob (age 4 months). Life with them is wonderful and insane all at the same time. I found myself going from a professional women to a busy mother at a neck braking speed...and my neck still hurts. I am still adjusting to this change. I have been searching for outlets to help me vent about my day so that I may feel human. What I found was that other people may feel like you do but they don't want to talk about it or hear about it. Most recently I discovered this. How you might ask? Well, it was my neighbor Tom.

Let me start by saying I love my neighborhood and, so far, everyone that I have met on my street. Everyone is kind and fun and it is a great place to live. We have lived here for a year now. Here is the story of Tom. Tom and his wife Jen were at a social event with my husband, Jim and I. Jim and I arrived late...because of the children. I needed a drink and fast. That was my mission when I arrived at the social event. "Get a drink and you will calm down.", was what was going through my head. Before I could get my drink I ran into our neighbors. Almost immediately I found myself venting to Jen. Tom came up and as he heard me talking I saw him give me a look that said, "Oh great, she is talking/complaining about her kids again." It even included a partial eye roll! It is with that look that I am starting this blog. I have realized that I am with my children all day long. They are stressful. They are fun. They are exhausting and frustrating. They are loving. There are so many things I feel in a day as a result of these children. To save my sanity I need to let it out! So...I found myself in social situations only talking about my children. I have completely forgotten how to engage in normal adult conversation. Not to mention, I now have poor grammar. When did that happen! I am a speech pathologist for crying out loud!!! I need to vent and share about my at home life. Clearly, thanks to Tom, I need to find another avenue of doing it. Hence, the birth of My Three Little Ducklings.

I named the blog this because I often call my children ducklings as we are out and I need them to come to me. It gathers them together and they follow me, like little ducks. I am their mama duck and they are my ducklings. And they are beautiful!