Don't Wake the Baby!!

I was standing like a statue in a dark corner of my son's bedroom this afternoon contemplating my accomplishment. Before me was a pack n play containing the most active 11 month old child I ever met and she was sucking her tiny thumb while drifting back to sleep. This precious little angel can go hours on end without being still and never sleeps more than an hour and half at nap time. It has been 1 hour and 15 minutes since I first put her down to sleep. I am silently begging for another 45 minutes, please, please, please. My other two daycare babies will sleep endlessly. I am serious, they will sleep all day if I let them. But then the mommies would be up all night and I might actually find death threats in the mailbox, yikes!

However, today at the one hour mark I heard some fussing and went to see which child it was, although I already had a pretty good premonition it was the sweet angel baby. I went in the room where she sleeps (by herself so not to wake the others) and gently laid her back down and patted her tiny little back and by some miracle of GOD she didn't fight it. Then I slowly, ever so slowly, backed away from the playpen and waited to see if she would notice. Thank you Lord, she didn't move. After standing there in the dark for a good 3-5 minutes, I tip toed out the door, all the time waiting for the inevitable wailing to start. Nothing, pure silence, which in my house is rare. How wonderful.

I keep thinking about all the funny things we do to get our kids to sleep and the torture we put our own bodies through to sneak so stealthily out of their room. Sometimes we even crawl on our hands and knees so as not to be noticed. Just so to obtain a few more minutes of sweet, serene, silence.

Summer Has Arrived...

We ventured out to visit some friends at their lake house and check out the new boat this past weekend. Yes, I have lived in Texas my entire life and yes I know the sun can be brutal, especially on the lake during the hottest part of the day. That is exactly why the hubby and I stood at the sunscreen stand in the store for a good 5 minutes debating which brand and SPF we would purchase.

Everything started out great, a nice ride in the boat out to the island for a few adult beverages and mingling with other adults, sounds like fun, doesn't it? When we first got settled everyone pulled out the sunscreen and applied it liberally. I made sure to spray all exposed parts and didn't think twice about it. However, I guess I was more concerned about getting the residue on the new shiny boat than making sure it was getting on my skin. Now, see here in lies the problem, the wind was blowing pretty hard and we were using the spray on type of sunscreen. Can you see where this is going?

It was relaxing and fun, the perfect day! I took a short nap on the back of the boat, letting the warm sun soak into my extremely pale white skin. Although I did make sure to keep the towel securely around the bottom of my bikini since no one should have to see these baby birthing hips. Eventually I joined everyone on the beach and enjoyed yet more adult beverages and conversation.

After about 6 hours on the lake, it was time to head back to the house to clean up for dinner. It was only then, that started to realize the pain that was sinking into my skin. When I got back to the house to take a shower, I might as well have just ran into a cactus. The water was like a million needles being shot all over my body, well except the big hips, those had been covered. Then I gently dried off and put on my clothes looking myself in the mirror. I could see a patchwork of bright pink splotches. Nice. My forehead and nose looked like clown makeup gone wrong. Above all, the worst was the top of my feet. Not just pink, but almost a purple color. I think the adult beverages must have lessened the pain, because the next day I wanted to die.

Two days later I still can't put a shoe on either foot. My forehead is swollen with what appears to be a giant bright red goose egg. I am a hot mess, great! I hope everyone at the grocery store gets a good laugh.

Complete Inner Peace

This creature is so spoiled rotten it is ridiculous. Most days there is not a spot for any humans to sit on our couches because they have been overrun by our beloved Boxers. This one in particular is our almost 2yr old "baby boy" named AJ. If I could sleep like this with 3 toddlers running a muck, I would be a much more peaceful person. Everyday from 8am-3pm (ironically the same time my kids are at school) the dogs sleep and lounge on the sofa, then for the rest of the evening run wild. Honestly though, who could resist such a smoochie face? Not me!!

Organization...or the lack thereof....

Why is it that no matter how many items I stow away in their respective places each day, by bedtime my house looks like a tornado came through? I feel like all I do is walk around behind my kids and pick up after them all day. Oh wait, that is what I do all day, and here I thought I was being productive.

Maybe it's just me or possibly it is due to the home builder's disbelief in storage space, but there never seems to be enough places to put things. I am truly organizationally challenged. No matter how hard I try to put things in order, I always end up with a pile of "stuff" that doesn't have a home. My biggest problem right now is the ever increasing stack of paperwork and the mound of baby toys littering my living room floor.

What strikes me as odd is that when I worked in the corporate world, my entire office space was meticulously organized down to the paper clips and pens all facing the same direction. People actually laughed at me because I was so particular about my stuff. I guess the organization kept me sane, because now that I am home all day among the vast amount of disorder, I feel myself teetering on the brink of insanity daily.

To that end, I am going to go on a mission to find something that will get this house and all its contents in order so I can sit on the couch all day eating bon bons and watching my soaps.

Welcome to my Blog!

I am starting this blog as an outlet for my own thoughts, ideas and creations. Being home with 4-5 kids each day can be rather daunting and overwhelming at times, not to mention a little depressing. So this will be my way to collect all my "light bulb" ideas and probably vent a little. I love sharing the funny and unusual happenings that seem to occur daily in our home. With two of my own kids, two or three daycare kids and 2 large dogs, there is never a dull moment. My new found love of cooking and baking will be displayed with a compilation of all the recipes I love and of course documentation of any failures as well. My newest adventure will be to homeschool my 8yr old son starting next fall, so I will be sharing our triumphs/failures and all the great resources I come across. Advice and input is always welcome!