Pulling my hair out.

Breath in. Breath out. This to shall pass...

This is what I've been repeating in my head all day. Nothing terrible happened, it's just been a long day. It started out like any other day. The twins actually slept through the night, so I got a full nights sleep. We had lunch with my grandmother at a restaurant called Mamadou's in Glenpool. I was told they had great home cooked food, all fresh. If you call frozen chicken tenders thrown in a deep fryer, canned green beans cooked in diced ham and onions, and a loaded baked potato with artificial cheese fresh, then sure, it was fresh. After that meal, the day went down hill.

Gavin cried the whole way home. At first it was cute, he wanted to stay with his great grandmother....I figured he would stop eventually....he did when he finally passed out. I carried him in the house, trying not to wake him, but to no avail. He woke up and remembered he was upset. I put him in his room for his afternoon nap, but my stubborn two year old refused to go to sleep. He just laid in his bed playing. After an hour I let him up....mistake...for the rest of the day he was a tyrant. He thinks it's funny when the babies fall over from a sitting position. He's been pestering his older brother. (Standing in front of the TV, repeating everything he says...normal little brother)

And Zander...sigh...he's been extra annoying, talking loudly and he thinking he already knows everything. He 's been very argumentative today. I can only imagine what he's going to be like when he's a teenager!

Like I said, nothing "bad" happened today...in fact it was just an average day for this mother of four ages four and under (except for the nasty lunch I had, which I ate because I was starving).

A part of me wants to delete this post...because it's not funny, informative or cute...but it's real, so I'm not. I went into the laundry room today and just cried...I just feel overwhelmed. I put all the kids to bed early tonight (don't know what I'm going to do when they learn how to tell time). Ely (my husband) is hanging out with a buddy tonight. So the house is finally quiet and I'm enjoying a glass of my husbands home brewed beer. Life is good again...jk.

I love my children with all my heart. I would do anything and everything for them. It's just so hard right now. I am physically exhausted at the end of each day. I have 3 in diapers, twins that are crawling and into everything, the other a wild two year old who is REALLY into everything and acting out for attention. Then on top of that, a preschooler who is following me around all day talking my ear off. Today it was just to much. Looking back, I got frustrated to easily and didn't have enough patience. I found myself yelling more than talking. I think Gavin is immune to my yelling...because it totally doesn't phase him. I do not want to be a nagging mother who yells...I want to be a loving, nurturing gentle mother who has fun with her children. A mother that I never had. Thankfully children are very forgiving and tomorrow morning will be a brand new day.

Look at that sweet face! He used half the bottle of shampoo on his dry hair :)

Stay out of my room!

Gavin, my 2 year old, is always getting into trouble. He's just your normal nosy boy who gets into everything. Last night he came out of his room wearing only a diaper and covered in stickers. He said he was a superhero with tattoos.

The other day I was busy with the twins in the living room and assumed Gavin was in his room playing. Well, he wasn't. He got into our bedside table and got into some "personal lubricant." He had it everywhere: hands, face, table. When I saw him he said, "I need lotion mama."

The very same day, he comes walking into the living room with white stuff on the top of his foot. He proudly shows me saying, "Look mama, I need medicine for my boo boo."

I calmly take him by the hand, and lead him into my bathroom (their bathroom is totally kid proof). I asked him which medicine he used. I pointed to my moisturizer...no. Some lotion...no. He opened a drawer and got out a tube of Preparation H. LOL! (I considered not putting this in here because it screams to the world "I have hemorrhoids" but reality is, when I was pregnant with the twins...lots of pressure...to much information?) When I wiped it off his foot he cried hysterically, he was so proud that he doctored his own boo boo. I need a lock on my bedroom door.

Baby Sign Language

Eager & Ready to Learn

Recently I had a friend ask me about baby sign language. I taught both Zander and Gavin when they were between 6-9 months old. I'm currently teaching my 8 month old twins. I find it "tougher" to teach the twins because I have so much competition...their loud crazy brothers for one.

When you teach a baby sign language you start with one sign, such as "more" "milk" or "please." I'm starting with "more." You simply put your thumb and fingers together on both hands then touch fingertips together repetitively. When I sign to them I also vocalize the word I'm signing. When you teach your baby to sign you must have their full attention, TV off and not a lot of background noise. That's why it's good to start with food related signs...they're hungry and looking at you to feed them. Before I give them a bite I say their name, they look at me, I say "more" and give them the sign, then I give them a bite. Every few bites then I say "more" and physically make them sign. The babies usually get distracted halfway through their feeding...don't push them...just be consistent. You'll notice after a week or so they start to open their mouth when you give them the sign. At this age they are little sponges and can learn very fast, it just takes awhile for some babies to start "talking" back to you. It took my boys a couple of months before they finally signed back to me. After only one week of signing to my twin girls, Camille has sort of started signing back. She puts one hand in a fist and the other hand is open and she claps them together. I know Maya understands, she opens her mouth every time she sees the sign...even when she's not in her highchair! Does this mean girls are smarter then boys?! LOL.

Straight S's

Zander w/ Maya..such a good big brother!

Zander got his first "report card" today. He is only in the 4 year old program at our local public school...so I'm sure all the kids get all S's...but I'm still a proud mama. Here are his teacher's comments:

"Can you please clone Zander so we can have one every year? I wish you could see what a great job he does in our class. He is always happy, always listens and participates and does his best. We have no concerns at all about his academics, he is really hearing sounds. One of his fave things is when we do graphing for math- he is all over that skill. "

I really hope he stays on this path of doing well in school. (He better!) We'll have 4 at once in college so we're relying on scholarships!

"I know a lot about Buddha"

Today Zander wore his airwalk shirt w/ a skateboarding Buddha on the back. The first thing he said when he got in the van after school was, "I showed my teacher my Buddha shirt Momma." "That's cool...did she like it?" I asked. "Yeah, she said it was cool. I told her I knew a lot about Buddha. I told her my dad knows a lot about Buddha and we use to go to the temple every week."

"Really? What did she say?" I asked.

"She asked me if I knew about Jesus. I told her no."

Wow...no telling what his teacher thinks. Guess I need to expand his horizons, especially if we continue living in the bible belt. Just for the record we have had many conversations with him about Jesus, Buddha and God. Our family is spiritual, just not very religious.

People come from giraffes

Everyone that has met Zander knows that he isn't your average 4 year old boy. He has very deep and complex thoughts. He's very analytical and can even be manipulating. His latest obsession is the calender. He wants to know every holiday, every one's birthday, full moons, ash Wednesday...the entire calender. At first it was cute but now we're bordering on obsessive.

He is also very curious about death and God and where you are before you are born. Is this normal? Ely and I are very careful to answer any questions he may have...not wanting to force our opinions or theories on him...but give him information and let him come to his own conclusion. The other night at dinner (we were having breakfast burritos) he said, "Okay, I know eggs come from chickens and chickens come from eggs...hmmm...but what was first? Where did people come from mom? I mean the first people." WHAT!? He's 4! Like always, I stumble over my thoughts trying to come up with the best answer. (in my defense I wasn't expecting this discussion over breakfast burritos) I said, "Well a lot people have different theories. Some believe that God made man from the earth. Some say that we come from monkeys or tadpoles. Mommy really doesn't know for sure. I only have ideas."

He thought about this for a minute then said, "So everyone can think different things? Fine. I think people come from giraffes."

30 and Fabulous!

What more could I want for my birthday?

I am officially out of my twenties...kinda strange but I'm totally okay with it. Zander's preschool class called me today and sang my "Happy Birthday" on speaker phone! It was such a surprise. Ms. Ellett said that he has been talking about my birthday all week. Sweet boy.

Ely and I went on a "date" to Indian Palace. My dad watched the boys and Memaw watched the twins. We always have to separate the kids...I don't know any one person who can handle all 4! In May Ely turns 30 and the girls will be turning one (weening the twins, yeah!) We decided to celebrate out big year then. We want to take a weekend trip to Eureka Springs, just the two of us. I can't wait.

Teething x2

The girls are teething...no fun. Funny how a mother forgets the "bad" stuff with babies. We've got DOUBLE the drool, DOUBLE the crying, & DOUBLE the 'ria (as my sister calls it). Poor babies.

I've been considering putting the twins in separate cribs. They are 7 months now. They've been sleeping together since birth and I think they enjoy it, so I'd hate to separate them. But my concern is them both sleeping through the night. It hasn't happened yet. I nurse them about 7pm and put them to bed. They both wake up around midnight to nurse again, and then each wake at different hours in the early AM (between 3-5). They are usually up for the day around 6 or 7. Frankly, I'm ready for a full night of sleep! It's been about a year!!! (I know they are only 7 months but YOU try sleeping pregnant with twins! LOL) Anyway, back to my issue at hand.

With my singletons (before I had twins I thought it was such a funny word to refer to your child...but they really are a whole new ball game!) when I was ready for them to sleep through the night I let them cry and they would comfort themself and eventually put themselves back to sleep. It was a tough week, but that's all it took, a week. But with twins sleeping in the same crib...hmmm...that worries me. Crying doesn't wake the other twin up, but if they are upset and rolling around or kicking the other twin is bound to wake up. Sigh.

In full circle, the twins are teething. Maybe I should hold off a while longer before I do anything dramatic. Babies really should come with a manual.