Crabby Mama

Now that both of my kids are so ridiculously verbal, I find myself wishing there was an off switch. Especially in the car. Don’t get me wrong, they say the funniest things and most of them I wouldn’t miss for anything. But the sheer VOLUME of conversation. I find myself saying, “Can you just please not talk to me until we get there?” I don’t mind hearing their voices as they babble or talk to each other. I just cannot be expected to respond to everything they say.

I just have to resign myself that things will not get done. I can get everyone where they need to be but I can’t also clean and cook and do laundry. So lots of fast food, maid service, and dirty clothes will be the norm for a while.

My next dr appt is Oct 9th and it will be the first of my weekly check-ups. At that time the dr will start checking for dilation. I will be almost 36 weeks by then. Holy cow!

A series of the most ridiculous things conspired together today. We were in the car and Erin was starting to look sleepy. I turned around to look at her and said, “I love you,” to which she responded with a kick in my face. Not painful, but shocking. And it causes me to break into sobs while driving. My compassionate little Leah immediately jumped in with, “I love you, Mom.” What a sweetheart! Erin was so tired she fell asleep before we got to Taco Bell, so I just went through the drive through and decided we would eat at home.

When we got home, I tried to transfer Erin up to bed and I almost had it but she woke up when I was taking her shoe off and started crying that she didn’t want to go to bed. I left her in her room and went down to get the food inside and turn the car off. I asked Leah if she was read to eat. She said, “No, I don’t want a taco.”

And I lost it.

I went upstairs to my bedroom and sobbed my heart out for like 10 minutes. None of these things were remotely a reason to cry, but for whatever reason my hormones must have been racing. When I came back downstairs I was still sniffling and tearing up a bit and sweet Leah kept asking me if I was okay and did my back hurt? (Since that is often a complaint nowadays.) I tried to explain to her that sometimes people cry for no reason. That concept is pretty foreign to a 4 yr old I think. Anyway, just wanted to share that with all of you ladies out there. I am sure all of you have been there once or twice…

Last night when Mike fell asleep before 9pm, I decided to cuddle up with Babywise for an evening of reminding myself how to deal with babies. After about 45 minutes, I was completely freaking out. I was thinking about how I tried the Babywise system with Erin and failed at it horribly. She ate SO fast (like 5-10 minutes at a session) that I don’t think she stayed full and needed to nurse more often which prevented good naps. We were SO miserable for a few months because she would NOT sleep for any predictable length of time and was super cranky as a result of it. I also think it was due to being on the go so much, she could never establish good sleeping habits.

And now, we are trying to keep up with two girls and their activities and will be adding a baby to the mix? I love their gymnastics, but I am SO nervous about having to be out and about so much and establishing a good routine for the baby. I know everyone says to just go with the flow, and I know you always do that to some extent. But I have seen the evidence from my two kids. Leah had a great schedule as a baby and as a result was ALWAYS a good sleeper, napping anywhere I put her and even being a little flexible as time went on. Erin, on the other hand, has never been a good sleeper and I attribute that at least in part to not establishing her nap habits early on.

Anyway, blah blah blah. I am stressed about it. I spent a lot of last night running through scenarios in my head about how to get everyone where they need to be and still be home enough in the first month to get a routine going. Just thought I would share.

I haven’t really talked about the girls’ school year so far. Leah is in a four day 4’s program and for the first time, I feel like she is REALLY getting a preschool curriculum. After the first week of school, they came home with several things to do over the weekend. Leah had to complete a page about herself, decorating with drawings, pictures, etc. I had to complete a page about why she was special. Then we had to find a word starting with L in our environment and cut it out. Every Monday they have to bring in an environmental word starting with their letter of the week and on Thursdays they have show and tell with that letter too. Every day when they arrive, Leah has to look for her name at one of the centers to know where to start the day. Yesterday they had Friendship Salad (fruit salad that each child contributed to) for snack. I just love it!

Erin’s class is obviously low-key. But her teacher really seems to be on the ball with really doing activities with the kids and not just babysitting them for 3 hours. Today they came home with bird feeders they made in class. The kids rolled a toilet paper roll in PB and then coated it with raw oatmeal. Erin was pretty smeared when I picked her up, but happy. The teachers tell me every morning when I drop Erin off that they just want to eat her up.

I like that we have been there long enough now that I know most of the teachers. They actually have very little turnover and all the teachers seem to know most of the kids from substituting in each other’s classrooms. It is very personal there and not at all institution-ish. Now that preschool is off to a great start, time to think about enrolling in kindergarten!