Day to Day 3

July 7
Yesterday we got hit by a crazy storm.  I knew I needed to get out of the house with the kids, so we set out for a play area 30 minutes north of our house.  Right before the freeway exit, I saw a warning sign that said, "Hail storm ahead, expect delays."  Immediately, my car started getting pummeled by hail.  I parked the car at the play place, and sat stunned, hoping my windshield didn't break.  I've never seen so much hail, and coming down so hard.  Instead of trying to wait it out, I decided to out run it by heading back south, where there were clear skies.  Within 10 minutes of driving home, the weather cleared.  I turned on the radio to see what was going on, and the center of the storm was at the exit I took.  Then they interrupted regular programming to give a tornado warning.  Back at home, it was sunny, again.  This is July, right?

Today we got a Blendtec!  For the last year or two, I've had a nicer blender on my short list of things to invest in.  I had an idea of what a good deal would be, and planned to get one for Christmas this coming year.  But, Amazon had them on sale for even cheaper than I'd hoped to find one.  So I clicked, "Add to cart" and haven't had buyers remorse so far.  So Merry Christmas to me, in July.  It will probably take quite some time to figure out all that it can do.  (My last blender was driving me crazy--even making smoothies I had to shake it back and forth.)

Also, this morning I wanted to get out of the house, so we went to a playground downtown.  When I showed up, around 9 am, there was a big crowd with rows of vendors.  I asked someone in the parking lot what was going on: Colorado Springs Pride Fest.  What luck.  So we braved it anyway at the playground for a while before heading home.

It makes me laugh how differently these shorts fit the girls.  Same size.  Different thighs.

July 10
Worst Sunday morning.  Ever.  At least that I recollect.

It's hard enough on a normal day to entertain the kids all morning, but take away the TV and the playground and Target, and it's a struggle.  Thank goodness for videos on the Mormon Channel, but those get old after a while.  (Or at least that's the opinion Tiago expresses.)

After listening to the girls whine for the three hours they were awake, I put them in their cribs for an early nap.  Usually they fall asleep at 11 am, but today they screamed in their cribs from 10:30 until 12.  I tried giving them a bottle to make them fall asleep, but instead they dumped the milk all over their cribs.  I eventually got Siena up because she was driving me crazy with all her yelling; then I closed myself in my room so no one could disturb me.  Of all days to skip naps, Sunday isn't the best.

Tonight I made them go to bed at 5:45 pm.  Early, but necessary.  And Tiago fell asleep downstairs while I was upstairs with the girls.  And then I think I heard a choir of angels singing...

July 27
Hyrum has been home the last few days, after being gone a few weeks.  On the one hand, I'm still home alone with the kids from when they wake up, until bedtime.  But on the other hand, he's here to put them in bed!  And on the weekend!  I stayed in bed til 8 am on Saturday and Sunday.  I woke up much earlier, but heard the kids yelling and crying downstairs and decided to drag out the luxury a bit longer.

I feel like I'm running out of things to do during the day.  It's too hot to go walking or to the park, unless it's done before 9:30 in the morning.  There's the library, Target, and an indoor play area... but some evenings I think, "What are we going to do tomorrow??"  When we hang around the house too long, Mila and Siena start whining and crawling all over me and vying for my attention.

Lately, Tiago likes playing with playdough.  He'll entertain himself for about an hour, which is a bit unheard of.  He finally is big enough to ride his balance bike, although he can't figure out the balance part.

And my accomplishment around the house today was cleaning the toilets.  *pat on the back*  I won't publicly admit to how infrequently that happens.

July 29
Thank goodness it's Friday!  My girls had colds earlier this week, and for a day or two Hyrum had a sore throat.  And yesterday I woke up feeling like death--sore throat, sore body, hot/cold flashes.  It's days like yesterday that make me so grateful for TV's.  And heating pads.  And nap time.  I don't feel awesome today, but at least my whole body stopped aching so I can move around alright.

We also had the craziest storm last night around 10.  Constant lightning/thunder and crazy winds.  There was one lightning bolt that felt like it hit our house.  Hyrum literally jumped out of bed and started pacing.  A few minutes later three fire trucks showed up at the house across the street.  So maybe they actually did get hit by lightning.  But they just walked around for a few minutes and left.

Day to Day 2

June 19th- A few kids in our ward had super contagious diseases (hand, foot, mouth!) and so I went to bed last night really paranoid.  I can't handle my kids getting sick right now.  The teething alone is making me crazy.  Mila woke up with a rash around her ears and I spent a while on Google making sure she's fine, and then when putting her in bed I saw a big blister on her toe.  Fingers crossed that she's 'normal' in the morning.

Tiago hasn't eaten a real meal for over 24 hours.  A few gold fish.  An otterpop.  A few sips of a smoothie.  I hate making food for him.  It just goes to waste (right now he has meat balls, a cupcake, and PB&J in front of him) but I feel bad not offering him anything.  How is it possible to not get hungry?

Church by myself was interesting. The girls weren't as wild as usual during sacrament meeting, then I took them outside during Sunday School to play in the grass (and eat. There's no eating allowed in the chapel because it's a military chapel and they have some difficult rules.)  During Relief Society I held both of them most of the time. Siena kept leaving, then dragging in clothes from the lost and found.  Mila didn't sleep at all this morning, and she was so tired by the end of the day.  But we survived, and Tiago had a blast in Nursery (as always.)  Good nursery leaders are the best thing ever.  Tiago is lucky.

It wasn't a day of rest for me, but I survived.  Is it bad that sometimes in my evening prayers I just say, "Thank you that this day is over!"

Siena with her two bottom teeth... more on the way!

Mila, who now has three teeth on the bottom

June 20th-  It was QUITE a day with Tiago.  We had two noteworthy episodes.
This morning I did a quick trip to the grocery store. All the kids were loaded into the cart.  I noticed Tiago brought a small car (Mater) in his hand, so I told him to keep track of it.  As we were walking back to the car, Tiago asked for a banana. I gave it to him, and he broke the top half off accidentally and threw a fit.  When we got to the car he asked for another one, and so I gave it to him.  He pushed off the top and then threw a fit, indicating that he wanted it to be attached.  He wanted another banana.  No way.  So I hurried and strapped the girls in, loaded all my groceries, and sat on him to buckle his carseat, all while hearing him scream at me. As soon as I pulled into the driveway, I realized we didn't get Mater out of the shopping cart.  And as small as it is, it's a $7 or $8 car. So I tried to be the hero and drove back to the grocery store hoping our cart was still there.  It was.  I retrieved the missing toy, and patted myself on the back.  I handed it to Tiago, he smiled, and asked for another banana.  I thought the storm had passed, so I gave him a banana.  You know the rest of the story, and yes, he screamed the whole way home.

Tonight's incident was slightly more innocent but frustrating all the same.  I had Tiago's bed nicely made, because earlier I washed all his bedding.  His blanket, pajamas, and books were all ready to go.  While I was getting the girls ready for bed, first, I put some tea tree oil on Mila's foot, where she has a huge blister.  It's supposed to be good for the skin.  Tiago saw the small bottle and said he wanted to put some on his leg, where he thought he was injured.  I told him to wait a minute til the girls were in bed and I'd help him.  I didn't think he could open the bottle himself, and finished getting the girls ready.  Two minutes later, I went in to read him books and he was sitting on his bed with a now-empty $20 bottle of oil, and his legs were quite glistening.  "Medicine, Mom."  I wiped him off, washed the bedspread, and he still wreaks of the oil.  I expect his legs to have magical properties now.

I'll balance that out by saying that he's cute when he prays.  He repeats what we tell him, but doesn't it in the quietest whisper.  I don't think anyone but God actually hears him, but I can see his lips moving.  He doesn't do much else quietly, but he's got reverence when he prays.

June 21
I finished season 6 (last season!) of Downton Abbey last night. I took a long hiatus after they killed off some key characters, and I was annoyed. But I've been catching up on Amazon over the last 6 months.  So sad it's over.  I never before thought I enjoyed British humor, but the Dowager is my favorite. They know how to do one-liners. Most of all, I'll miss the glimpse into completely different lives (wealthy, important) in a completely different era.  What would it be like to dress up for a dinner party every night?  (It actually sounds miserable to me, but I like watching other people do it!)  I'm thinking about going back and re-watching season 1, which I saw the first time over the span of 4 days when I was pregnant (and really sick!) with Tiago.  So long ago!

On another note, the kids were so much better today.  Not at 100% normal, but also not crazy lunatics making me a crazy lunatic. I'll take it.

June 23
Yesterday and today were feeling more normal.  My kids weren't screaming and crying all day long.  And right when I thought I was out of the woods, I went in to get the girls up from their nap and saw vomit everywhere... in both cribs and all over both girls.  We've since been doing a lot of laundry and sanitizing.  Fingers crossed it's a quick stomach bug, and that the rest of us stay healthy.

Day to Day

Things around here have been rough.  Which makes me not want to sit down and blog at the end of the day. I've been trying to at least cover the big stuff, but in doing so, I realized I'm missing so much of what life is like these days.  It's hard for me in this stage of life to get complete satisfaction with the big picture of what I'm doing (although in my head, I obviously know being a good mother is noble and praiseworthy), so I rely on small daily successes to feel a sense of accomplishment.

At the beginning of each day (or the night before) I write a list of "to-do's" on the calendar.  Then I can look back on my day knowing I've at least done something.  Ever have one of those days where your husband asks you "So what did you do today?" And you can't think of a single thing?  Now at least I can say, "I went to Target!  I picked up a prescription!  We filled up the baby pool!  I made an appointment!"  Someday I'm sure my life will be busy.  But it's not today.  I literally rack my brain every day trying to think of things to do, because when 3 pm rolls around and the kids are bored and there's a long time until bedtime, I go crazy.  That's a regular occurrence around here.

I'm going to try to write more at the end of each day, for my own record keeping.  I want to be able to look back and remember what this stage of life was like, and not just block the chaos from my memory all together.  (The past year is one big crazy blur in my mind.)

So... today, we went to Costco!  The shopping cart situation there is ideal: I can fit two kids in the front of the cart, and I put one kid in our "buggy bench" in the back of the cart, and there's still plenty of room for groceries (and toilet paper, and diapers, and paper towels, etc.)  Target has a double-cart, but it's about 50' long, so kind of ridiculous to push through the store.  Whenever we're at Costco, about a dozen people comment on our '3rd seat'.... about how neat it is, multiple people have said they wish they existed 20 years ago, etc. What can I say? It's great.

[This is our second seat in action, on a different occasion]

Tiago recently has discovered his imagination.  Today he was having a great time with a mini Buzz Lightyear figurine and his red London bus.  They ate lunch with him, and Buzz ended up covered in Nutella.  I think the only thing Tiago ate today was bread and Nutella.  He is always on one extreme end of the spectrum: so cute I can't handle it (hearing him repeat "buzz lightyear" while playing, or so frustrating I want to lock him in the bathroom (he never wants to leave the house, then never wants to return. Cue tantrums.)  One of my favorite things he does lately is say, "Thanks Mom!"  Or "Good job, Mom!  You did it!"  I get a big reaction by doing something small, like turning up the volume on the TV.  Sometimes toddlers make you feel like the best person in the world, and other times they make you feel like the worst parent ever.

And the girls look like little jack-o-lanterns.  They both have the bottom two teeth, and a top tooth (not center).  Mila has had two more teeth break through, and I see some more white under both of their gums.  That translates to miserable children.  I've gone through a whole bottle of tylenol in the last week.  Why can't they come in quicker??

One more accomplishment for the day: I mopped my floor.  That was a feat because there's no one around to even appreciate it.  Hyrum's at a training in California.  And my kids don't care. In fact, they seem to prefer messy floors if their meal-time behavior is any indication.  So I did my hair for me, and mopped for me, and even cooked a whole pork roast, just for me.

The end.