2. John Paul bursts into the room in the outfit he picked for the day: Soccer ball socks, airplane-embroidered corduroy pants, a double-layer "Big Brother" t-shirt and a red argyle vest. This kid KNOWS how to dress.
3. Cecilia climbs up onto the bed whining, "Help you with your Northwestern shirt?" Unfortunately I can't, because I'm still lying in bed with one arm trapped under me while nursing a sleeping baby (I'm pretty sure it was Elizabeth). So instead I help her with her wedgie, because that's always REALLY upsetting. Mary Claire starts crying and Andrew comes and gets her.
4. Elizabeth finishes nursing (it was definitely her) and goes back to sleep. I get out of bed to realize that my nursing tank that got puked on last night has dried, thanks to the prefold I shoved underneath it so I didn't have to get changed at 3 AM! And now there's only a crusty spot in the bed from spit-up, no wet spot!
5. Walk into the big kids' room to find Mary Claire lying naked on the floor with a prefold under her. Notice that she has started coughing, thus proving to the world that she poops when she coughs. Gross. Big kids think it is HILARIOUS.
6. Try to put Cecilia's Northwestern shirt on only to have her freak out after 1.5 seconds of trying to wrestle the neck over her huge head. Let Cecilia choose a new outfit (an owl shirt and John Paul's old overalls).
7. Elizabeth wakes up, Andrew retrieves her and lets her hang out naked on a diaper too. She cries the whole time.
8. Get both babies in diapers (all the covers are downstairs) and take babies, big kids, and Cecilia's clothes downstairs.
9. Andrew gets both babies dressed while I make breakfast for the big kids (pear, raisins, and milk/water). Sit down to nurse both babies on the giant twin nursing pillow while Andrew brings me a bowl of frosted flakes.
10. Finish my breakfast only to have both babies puke on my stomach as soon as I set the bowl down. Good thing I hadn't gotten dressed yet!
11. Send John Paul downstairs to get Aunt Sister and make sure she didn't oversleep.
12. Aunt Sister comes upstairs and gets Cecilia dressed and takes 3 of the 4 kids to Mass. I sigh a sigh of relief at our last remotely peaceful morning.
And all this before 8:30!
Now for some fun... Another Mary Claire vs. Cecilia post - think you know who's who?
I'm impressed with the detail you were able to get in here despite your busy morning. I'm can totally see this happening step by step. God bless you guys!
ReplyDeleteIn answer to your challenge, I guess that Cecilia is the top photos.
Is the reflux medicine helping at all with the little one (Mary Clare, right?)?
Mary Claire on top - I think Cecilia has those pouty lips that disappeared along the way, although that looks like the only obvious difference - same eyes, nose, face shape...
DeleteThe reflux meds are definitely helping Elizabeth, but we had to pay out of pocket at first, so we just got a couple of pills and are waiting for them to ship what they actually *will* cover so now we're out of meds and she's puking a lot again... But on the meds, her weight gain was good!
I hope you get the doctor and pharmacist to talk to the *^*&%$!!! insurance company. Sometimes, expensive drugs are necessary. If the insurance company wants to cover only the generic version, and you can't find it, then they should tell you where it is available.
DeleteIf only I'd known this kind of thing when I raised you kids . . . :-(
I'm guessing Cecilia is in the top photo, but I haven't seen them in so long that my chances are no better than 50-50. :-(
ReplyDeleteNo, wait, I meant the bottom. I did, really. I wrote it wrong. In other words, I disagree with Tina. (Hi, Tina!)
ReplyDeleteYour account sounds very similar to the family story about how all four of you were sick and then a couple of days later we were all at Mass. You know, the blue-haired old lady story. Treasure these days.
She did have a point. I see that now. But it is only too easy for some people to remember only the times when the children were adorable, sleeping, etc. I try not to wear such rose-colored glasses!
Wait wait wait your 3 year old knows the word argyle?!?! That is too much!!!! Hilarious!!!
ReplyDelete#4, my life every night :) well except a towel instead of the prefold which leads me to my next point - you cloth diaper twins while caring for a 2 and 3 year old??? Who are you, superwoman???? But seriously, I've been wanting to give this a go so maybe I could pick your brain on it some time...
And lastly, I have been wanting to go to daily Mass but assumed it could not be done by myself at this point in life...(your sister is clearly a saint by the way...) so what's the secret???? :)
I mean, with the amount of argyle in all of our wardrobes, it's a word he's been exposed to rather a lot :P
DeleteWe've always cloth diapered, so diapering the twins just means a few extra covers and wipes - when Cecilia was born, John Paul was still in diapers, so we got used to cloth diapering two at once. Thank goodness the big kids are both potty trained though! I don't think I could handle all that laundry... And some friends of ours gave us a diaper service for a few months, so that's helping a lot! Anytime you want to pick my brain, I'm happy to help! We've saved thousands of dollars cloth diapering, and I think it's definitely worth a try, particularly if you're going to use them for more than one kid!
My sister's secret is a 10-year-old homeschooled girl who helps with the kids during Mass! And the kids behave better for people who aren't their parents... But it's worth a try, especially because you might meet people there who want to hold babies while you actually pray! I will admit I'm not planning on trying it anytime soon with all 4 kids - it's hard enough wrangling them with 2 or 3 adults, on my own I'd be hopeless!