Let me start by saying, I have never had such an eventful 24 hours in my life.  It all centers around my mischievous little 20 month old.  I’ve never had to baby-proof before.  My kids just seemed to know better than to touch something like a glass vase or stick something in an open electrical socket.  I guess I had more time to show them right from wrong back when I only had two kids. 

Anyways, I had to stay home from church yesterday because Jesse was running a fever.  I really needed to spend some time on the house because we had a home-study scheduled with our foster agency at 3pm, so it worked out well for me to stay home.  Josh was getting Joshua ready to go to church with him when I realized that I hadn’t seen or heard Owen in a while.  You see, Owen has unfortunately mastered the art of opening doors, so no room is off limits anymore and we have to watch him like a hawk.  I ran to the hall bathroom expecting to find him swirling a toothbrush in the toilet or maybe playing with the water under the faucet.  What I found was infinitely worse!!!  Owen had some how gotten into my cosmetic wax.  You know, the kind that your hair stylist uses to wax your eyebrows??  It was stored (at room temperature) with the top on, but even when cool, it is sticky and soft.  It was all over him, from head to toe.  Not only that, it was all over the boys’ training potty, my tile floor, my beautiful black rug, and a brand new pair of jean that Jesse had left on the bathroom floor.  I was dumb-founded.  I hadn’t the first idea how in the HECK I was going to remove all of this wax, which has the consistency of rubber cement…but thicker.  Owen was literally stuck to the floor.  One of his hands was stuck in his hair and when I was finally able to pull his shirt off, I think I got a clump of his hair with it.  This stuff was such a sticky mess, even the bottom of my feet were now sticking to everything that I stepped on, so I could not leave the bathroom until I had cleaned my feet off too!  I immediately called one of my best friends, who also happens to be my hair stylist.  She said to use OIL!! Oil would break up the wax and allow me to clean up the disaster area.  The only oil I could think of was my cooking oil.  Josh brought me the large bottle of canola oil from the kitchen.  By this time I had placed Owen in the tub…and now he was stuck there.  I started with his hair and slowly worked my way down his body all the way to his sweet itty bitty toes.  Luckily he had a diaper on or we may have ended up in the ER! YIKES!    Owen was all greased up, and at this point, I was tempted to throw him in the frying pan!! LOL! It took quite a bit of Dawn dish soap to get all of that oil out of his hair.  I think my cuticles will be soft for the next six months!  Two and a half hours later, I had thrown several of our belongings in the trash and finally cleaned up the last of the wax.

Then I had to move on to the rest of the house before 3pm.  Three o’clock came and went and the lady never showed up for the home study…VERY FRUSTRATING!!  The rest of my Sunday was uneventful.

As many of you know, Mondays are one of my favorite days of the week.  Today I started my morning off with some coffee and packed the kids up so we could take my brother-in-law to school.  Right before I walked out the door, I started a load of laundry.  When I pulled back into my driveway about 30 minutes later, I knew something was terribly wrong.  My driveway has a dip in it before you pull up to the garage.  The dip was flooded and the water had SUDS!!!!!   Oh my Lord, the washer overflowed!!!  I don’t even remember getting any of the kids out of the car, yet somehow they all made it in safely…YES, I spent the next two hours emptying the garage and using a carpet cleaner to suck all the water off the floor. The washer and dryer are in the garage, in case you didn’t figure that out, and the garage floor has berber carpeting..we don’t actually park the car in it.  What a mess!  Luckily, only a small amount of water got into my kitchen; and luckily, it is sunny out and a little breezy today, so with the garage door and the back door both open, the cross draft should air the place out by the end of the day.  Seriously, what else could go wrong??  After emptying the water bin in the carpet cleaner for the hundreth time, Joshua poked his head into the garage and said, “OWEN DUMPED POWDER EVERYWHERE!”  What am I going to do with that kid???  I ran into the house thinking Owen had gotten the baby powder and dumped some on the carpet in the living room, which is where I keep the powder, wipes, and diapers.  Once again, I was wrong!  He had gotten into the pantry and vivaciously emptied an entire new box of corn starch and a bag of flour.  My kitchen looked like a winter wonderland.  At this point, I was laughing because I thought, “Seriously Lord??  What next??  Is this some kind of test or a sick joke??”  I was laughing because there were little footprints in the powder leading all over the house.  Then there were white handprints on the couch, carpet, and pillows.  And on the couch was my sweet, “innocent” toddler holding his tigger and his blanket, probably hoping that I would spare his life for the second time in 24 hours.  I picked him up and put him in his room, shutting the door behind me, I told him to STAY!  I cleaned up that mess too and now, every time I throw something in the trash, it is followed by a cloud of white dust as it hits the bottom of the can.  Some how after all of these misadventures, we’ve had a great Monday.  I’ve learned to take these events with a grain of salt (and preferrably a margarita!).  I certainly could have had a fit, yelled at Owen, and sat down in my floury mess and cried, but instead, I kept on truckin.  I fed the kids lunch, put Owen in bed for a nap, made a grocery list and menu for this week, and sat down to do school with the boys.  Now here I am, in desperate need of a shower, but I survived the first half of my day and now I’m taking the time to tell you about it with the hope that the next time you have “one of those days”, you’ll choose to laugh and let it roll off your back.  It could be a lot worse!    🙂

~audrey

Owen is my baby. He’s the youngest of my three boys and is 20 months old. He is babied by the bigger boys and probably by Josh and me as well. He loves to play outside and get dirty and sometimes he can be a real loner. Today, he went out back to play by himself. I was watching him from the kitchen window and saw him looking up with his jaw hanging open. Something had caused him to pause in awe. I grabbed my camera and went outside to share in his experience. His head was turning back and forth, left and right, up and down, as the birds and the squirrels played, jumped, and flew from one tree top to the next. Owen was enjoying the majesty of God’s creation, as if for the first time. It is such a joy to watch our children grow and explore and discover things for the first time. Things that we take for granted and no longer stop us in our tracks. Things that no longer make us weep before the Lord in thanksgiving and wonder. I’m enjoying my journey to having a heart more like Mary and less like Martha. I just put Owen down for a nap and the big boys are playing out front. I’m going to go walk on the treadmill in the garage and spend some time with Joshua and Jesse. It is an absolutely GORGEOUS day. Sunny and 70. 🙂 God is so good.

~audrey

Yesterday was BAD…to say the least.   My kids were CRAZY, nothing went as planned, I stressed all day about something that ended up getting rescheduled at the last minute, and I found out that I have to have a biopsy on my thyroid this morning!  It was NOT a good day.  Unfortunately, I feel like most of my days have been like that recently.  I have felt completely out of control and as a result, I have been stressed out and ‘on edge’ constantly.  My children have been the recipients of my anger lately and I hate that.  I have been yelling again and Jesse has gotten several spankings in the last week.  I had not spanked in a LONG time, but my change and lack of calmness has effected his behavior and as a result he has earned some pretty major punishment.  I do not like me like this.  I’ve actually been consciously doing all the right things to get myself together and calm down.  I don’t know what’s gotten into me!?  Is it this new birth control?  It’s suppose to have a VERY low dose of hormones that lasts for FIVE years; how could that have such a dramatic effect on my ‘mood’??  All I know is, something has to change!  I have absolutely no motivation to do anything around my house, I’ve lost all creativity with the kids, and everyday tasks just seem like a chore.  I was actually watching a commercial last night for Cymbalta ( a depression med.) and all the symptoms they listed were ones that I have had lately!!  But I don’t feel depressed.  It’s not like I feel sad or “down”.  I just don’t feel like myself and I’m going to fight like crazy to get back to the “old me” without medication.  Believe me, I’m not in denial.  I am being treated by my aunt with homeopathic remedies for a variety of things and usually my remedy balances my hormones as well.  I just hate the thought of having to go on some long term medication at my age.

Anyways!  Enough of the depressing stuff!  I am taking the right steps to regain my sanity and enjoy life to the fullest.  Thankfully, I have a new project underway.  I am organizing a large armoire for a friend.  She is consolidating her desk into this armoire and it is full of school supplies, crafts, books, bills, CDs, and all kinds of things that don’t belong in there but don’t have a home of their own.  I started on Monday and I hope to finish up today.  Organizing is definitely one area that makes me come alive.  I’m looking forward to the finished project and the satisfaction of knowing this will make their life easier and more pleasant.  To me, there is nothing better than always knowing where something is when you need it.  Some prime examples of things that often go missing in a home are:  scotch tape, scissors, keys, remote controls, and glasses.  If you create a specific ‘home’ for these items and get in the habit of returning the items to their proper home everytime you finish using them, you will never have to “look” for them again!

Choose joy today!  I am not going to raise my voice today…with the Lord’s help!

~audrey

Alright, I’ve had several friends ask me to email them a copy of my menu/grocery list. My old budget for groceries was $50/week. Lately it’s been more like $70, but that includes paper items, cleaning supplies, and snacks for my kids…if you don’t have children, you can save quite a bit by not buying snacks! 🙂
I start out by taking inventory of every food item in my house. I make as many meals from the food I already have and start my grocery list of the things I need. For example…I may have ten tortillas, shredded cheese, and spanish rice…so I’ll add ground beef (we actually use ground turkey, but I didn’t want to confuse anyone), lettuce, and sour cream to my list so we can have soft tacos/burritos one night.
Because I don’t like to spend two hours at the grocery store, I then catagorize my shopping list according the order of the aisles at Walmart…produce, breads, canned items, pasta, breakfast aisle…etc…that saves a lot of time and trips down the same aisle!
One of the keys to saving money on your groceries is to stick to your list and buy the cheapest brand whenever possible. I used to think “well, the generic brand is only .40 cents cheaper, I’m just going to buy the brand name.” BUT, if you save .40 cents on half the items in your cart, that is a HUGE savings…so I now buy as much generic as possible. Think in advance as much as possible. Plan for every breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, and dessert that you possibly can. This will keep you from making two and three trips back to the store later in the week/month. You also might want to check with your favorite grocery store and find out what days they restock. For me, it is Monday nights. It is best for me to do my shopping on Tuesdays when the aisles are clear and the shelves are full…and I always shop at night. I put the boys in bed and call my dear friend down the street, we pick up starbucks, and hit the grocery aisles. 🙂 Might as well make it a good experience!
I typically make breakfast and lunch very simple. The same two or three meals in rotation. For dinner, I try to rotate chicken, beef, fish, beans, soup, etc. I don’t like to have chicken four nights in a row. So here is a look at my menu for the next two weeks:

Breakfasts:
oatmeal (cheap and healthy)
yogurt and cereal
pancakes (I make a huge batch of the healthy kind once a month, and freeze the leftovers)
grits and eggs (another cheap one and they keep you good and full until lunch)
biscuits, gravy, and eggs (typically a Saturday morning breakfast)

Lunches:
pb&j
soup & salad
mac n cheese
egg salad
grilled cheese
leftovers

Snacks:
pears
applesauce and string cheese
popcorn
nuts
yogurt covered raisins
banana chips

Dinner:
Veggie Burgers, tater tots, and broccoli
Pork Chops, green bn. casserole, mashed potatoes
Spaghetti and garlic bread
Burritos/Soft Tacos
Broccoli, Ham, and Cheese Soup (this recipe is AMAZING, I’ll post the recipe later…and best of all, it’s in the crock pot, for your workin’ girls!)
Red Beans and Rice (we eat this at least once a week…we can feed our family three times on this $3 meal!)
15 bean soup with kielbasa sausage and cheddar biscuits (another cheap one…about $4 total, and you will definitely have leftovers)
Chicken Divan (a chicken casserole with saffron rice), broccoli
Potato Soup and salad
Ginger Glazed Salmon
Saucy Chipotle BBQ Pork (another crock pot recipe…this is a new one for me, I’ll let you know how it turns out)
Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole with green beans
Chili
Chicken Pot Pie

That is 14 dinners in all. For the recipes that are cheap and easy, double it and freeze one! Another KEY to saving money on food is eating your leftovers! I read that 40% of our groceries end up in the trash. That’s almost half!! Eat your leftovers and don’t let your meat or produce go bad in the fridge (I used to be horrible about that!). We don’t waste money on drinks. I make sweet tea once or twice a week, we don’t buy soda, and my kids only drink juice or milk at meal times…water in between. That can save a lot of money if you’re big soda drinkers. And finally, I am starting to make our own bread from freshly milled flour that I buy in bulk from a family business in Atlanta. It breaks down to about .70 cents a loaf and I also make our pancakes, biscuits, and homemade baked goods with that flour. Freshly milled flour is cheaper and the health benefits are endless. Here is their website if you want to read about it: www.breadbeckers.com

We don’t have dessert very often, but I try to keep some options on hand. This week our options are:

brownies
sugar cookies (from scratch are cheap and easy and you can let the kids decorate them)
pudding (a family favorite)
popcorn and m&ms (good for movie night)
cinnamon toast (MMMmmm…)

I hope that helped a little!? I’ve learned a lot over the years from my friends with large families and small budgets. 🙂 Desperate times call for desperate measures. You’re always a little more willing to make sacrifices when it’s necessary. I make sure I try a new recipe at least once a week. Make meal time special. Let the kids help you cook and especially let them help with the dishes. Use placemats and cloth napkins (that also saves money on paper napkins), set candles out at dinner. That will make the plainest meal a little more special. And always be thankful for what you have, no matter how little or boring.

Bon Apetite!

~audrey

As many of you know, everyone seems to have seen snow lately.  Whether you’re burried in 15 inches, or just praying for snow to fall from the sky for the first time in YEARS, we’ve all had a taste of it lately.  Yesterday happened to be our snow day.  It started snowing at 9am and it snowed rather heavily until about 3pm.  Unfortunately, not a single flake stuck!  However, it was WAY too cold to play outside for more than thirty minutes at a time, and in a house full of boys, that makes for a rather high energy day of playing indoors! 

After dinner, we all played games at the table, as a family.  It was a lot of fun and I know the boys enjoy because they are game FREAKS!  When we finished playing games, it was time for them to brush their teeth, have one story read, and off to bed…well, unfortunately, they were still WIRED!  I had gone into the bathroom to brush baby Owen’s teeth and this is what I found when I came out:

I always wondered why people would use the phrase, “my kids are climbing the walls!”…I guess there are some weird kids out there who take that phrase literally…and mine are some of them!  🙂

Thank goodness, today was a new day…no snow…and a little warmer. 

~audrey

As the holiday season comes to a close, it is often a time of evaluation. We evaluate everything in our lives from our finances, our home, our careers, our bodies (GULP!!), and without fail, we are once again faced with the fact that we’re all flawed human beings. There is always room for improvement.
For example, I love UN-decorating my house after Christmas. For me, in regards to my house, less is more. Sure, we have adequate furniture in every room, but I don’t need unnecessary baskets, vases, knick-knacks (I hate those!), and especially toys. In my house, toys belong in the toy box unless they are being played with. We don’t have a “playroom”, so when toys are not in use, they belong in their home… the toy box. When I decorate for Christmas every year, I put away much of my usual decor in order to make room for the holiday stuff. However, I often find at the end of December, when I’ve put all the decorations away, that I like some rooms better if I don’t put the old decor back where it was. I’ve had friends compliment my house for being uncluttered. That’s one of the best compliments I could receive for my home. I want my house and each room in it, to feel warm, inviting, and comfortable, without the existence of unnecessary “stuff”.
Another thing I love about the end of December is the anticipation of a brand new year. It’s a brand new semester, a new year, new calendars on the wall, new day planner in my purse. I reorganize my household notebook and take out things that I no longer need or no longer pertain to my family. It is a rejuvenating feeling. That is why I love Mondays as well. Every week we have the chance to start over, start fresh, do it better than last week. Are you starting to get me?
Starting January 1st, my best friend and I are going to keep a wellness journal everyday for the entire month. Come on, you can do anything for one month! Each week, we’re going to check in on one another and discuss the food choices we made that week, our attitudes and emotions (and how well we controlled them!), and probably even a little encouragement for our sex lives. The point is to set goals and work hard to achieve them. Don’t be unrealistic, but challenge yourself to push a little further than your usual routine. For me, getting healthier is my biggest goal. Eating better, making better choices for what I put in my mouth, drinking more water, etc.
Each week, I’ll post my progress and if you’d like to join in on the challenge, you can post comments under my weekly progress post. I look forward to hearing about your goals and your progress as we strive to better ourselves in 2009!
~audrey

It’s Friday night and I am finally winding down (now 10:45pm). My house has been quiet for almost three hours and I have enjoyed two hours of mindless TV and a little good reading as my babies are fast asleep and a nice quiet weekend awaits us with open arms.
A little while ago I put my book down and decided to do something constructive. I could feel a “second wind” coming on and I knew I should get some things accomplished around the house while I had the time and energy. One thing that needs to be done every single night is, what we affectionately call, “a whole house sweep”. That is when every room in the house is combed over for stray toys, laundry, and dirty dishes. Usually I don’t get to this task until the kids are in bed, so I have to make a little pile of toys somewhere in the living room, then I’m off to sort the dirty laundry and start the dishwasher.
Tonight, as I put a load of laundry in the dryer, cleaned up the kitchen and hand washed a few pots and pans, a sweet peace came over me. I stood at my sink with the kitchen window wide open. A cool breeze, with the light scent of clean laundry, blew through my hair as I closed my eyes and suddenly became overwhelmingly aware of how content I am with my life. I love where I am. I am enjoying my children more now than ever before. I am approaching my seventh wedding anniversary to the man of my dreams who still, after three children, five moves, and the stresses of everyday life, loves me unconditionally and treats me as his princess. I enjoy the little moments of quiet at night when I can sit on the couch with ‘My Love’ and catch up on a few loads of laundry, mop the kitchen floor, or fill three little sippie cups so they will be ready for the boys in the morning. By God’s grace, I never seem to grow weary of these little tasks that are really more a pleasure to me than work. I feel I am living the roll God created me to fill; to nurture, love, guide, and protect. To be an encouragement, help meet, and respectful admirer of my husband.
Yet in the midst of this bliss is an underlying excitement for the unknown of what lies ahead.
Just a few months from now, the dynamic in our house will completely change. We will be housing two little children who have been thrust from their own birth parents for whatever circumstances and we will choose to love and care for them until they can return to their home. I may have many sleepless nights ahead as someone else’s infant or toddler lie awake in a strange house with strange people, and only myself and my husband to comfort them. I will fight to remain balanced in the attention and love I give to my own children as we adjust to our new house guests. And I can’t help but think that we will likely have foster children in our home this time next year. Thanksgiving and Christmas will no longer be “just the family”. I can’t even imagine my children, being as young as they are, having to be away from everyone they know and love, especially at Christmas time. I am in almost constant prayer for the many children that the Lord already knows will come through our home over the next year. It is quite a task that lies ahead, but I feel it is my task for the taking. I will embrace my new roll as God continues to give me peace, wisdom, and inspiration in preparing my home and my family for what is to come.
Therefore, I will treasure these moments of quiet stillness. Change will soon be here.
~audrey

Dear Father,
I want to thank you for the three little coats that I re-hang in the closet several times a day. Thank you for the endless laundry that results from having a beautiful family of five. Thank you for the dirty dishes I have to wash after each meal because, as always, you provide food for us daily. Thank you that my husband leaves our home in the dark each morning to go to a job that you so graciously provided him with. Thank you for the stretch marks that remind me of the three beautiful gifts you’ve given me. Thank you for the wrinkles under my 26 year old eyes that are a result of laughing so hard I feared I’d wet my pants. Thank you for the friends and sisters in Christ that cause me to laugh that hard on a regular basis! Thank you for the four beds that must be changed weekly and for the many rooms of carpet that I vacuum almost daily. Thank you for the outragous cell phone bill (that Josh’s company pays!) every month because I have a mother who also happens to be my best friend and I have the priveledge to talk to her (on the phone) several times a day. 🙂 Thank you for the sandpaper that are my children, gently (and sometimes not so gently) sloughing away my faults and short comings to reveal the godly wife and mother that You created me to be. Thank you for busy days and crazy weekends that are full of family get togethers and church functions because you designed us to have fellowship with one another and to bring You glory through it all. Most of all, thank you for the cross and for the ultimate sacrifice of Your Son, that all might have the opportunity to know You and spend eternity with You.
May I never grow so weary in my every day routines that I forget all that You’ve blessed me with and all that I have to be thankful for.
~audrey
P.S. I highly recommend Kate Gosselin’s book, Multiple Blessings. I’ve cried through every chapter at God’s incredible miracles of life, love, provision, mercy, and grace. It will certainly cause you to watch their show in a different light and be thankful for all the little things in life that we likely take for granted. Read it!

Do you ever have those days, or events, when one rediculous thing happens after another? Last night was one of those times for me. As you know, if you’ve been reading the last few posts, I’ve had sick kids for going on two week now. My friend Kristen has been in the same boat, except her babies are newborn, one, and two! Wednesdays are usually my favorite weekday. Kristen, her sister Erin, and their four babies come to my house for lunch and a play date. It is so much fun. We take turns cooking, the kids play, and some weeks, it is the only adult conversation we’ve had ALL week! Due to Thanksgiving, sick kids, and being out of town, we haven’t had our Wednesday lunch in three weeks. I miss my girlfriends! So I called Kristen on Wednesday to make sure she was still alive and we both laughed about our weeks and how little adult conversation we’d had over the last two or three weeks. At that moment, we decided to meet for coffee (and laughs) Thursday night at 8pm.
I was rushing around my house to finish up dessert with the kids (we were decorating Christmas cookies) and trying to get out the door by 7:50. That did not happen. I left my house at 8:01pm to pick up Kristen. It had been pouring rain for 48 hours by now. There were flooded areas everywhere. Did I mention this was the first day since Sunday that I had actually dried my hair and put makeup on? On my way to her house, I spritzed a squirt of body spray in my car because I’m always paranoid that my car smells like dirty little boys and diapers. Well the smell was overwhelming at first, so without even thinking, I cracked both front windows to let in some fresh air. As the rain began to pour in, I immediately rolled them back up…except, the passenger window wouldn’t budge! Rain continued to pour in that window as I drove down the road trying not to plow into the car in front of me. I called Kristen, let her know what happened, and suggested she bring a trash bag that we could drape over that door so she wouldn’t get wet. Boy, did I feel stupid!
We arrived at Starbucks around 8:20pm. We ran through the rain soaked parking lot with my giant polka dotted umbrella and Kristens flip-flops sloshing through the puddles that seemed more like small bodies of water at this point. It was as if all eyes were on us as we entered the very crowded, very small Starbucks. We were laughing by the time we hit the door because my umbrella was not wanting to fold up and I was getting caught up in the door as rain poured down on us. We ordered our little cups of rest and relaxation and took the only two seats left in the building. We talked and laughed histerically for what seemed like only a few minutes, when in reality, we were there for an hour and a half. At one point, there was a sweet young couple, obviously dating, and they were exchanging gifts at the tabel beside us. Apparently they were wanting a sweet romantic moment and we were entirely too loud for that, so they got up and moved to a quiet corner table, away from the loud mouths (that would be US). We were actually laughing so hard at one point, Kristen, who is still breastfeeding her youngest baby, feared she was about to leak all over her shirt. That, of course, made us laugh even harder as we joked about running outside in the rain so the rest of her shirt would get wet too and no one would know exactly where the “leak” had sprung from. Finally, as the clock approached 10pm, for fear of turning into pumpkins, we packed up and ran back out to the car. As we jumped in and slammed the doors behind us, my van windows fogged up almost instantly. I couldn’t see out my windshield even a little bit. It’s okay, I thought, we’ll just sit here for a minute while the windshield defrosts. Well, what I didn’t take into account, was whether or not my defrost would choose to work that night! You see, my van, at the old age of SIX, tends to have a mind of it’s own. The automatic doors don’t work when it’s cold or raining, the heating and air only works half the time, and wouldn’t you know, this was one of the times it most certainly did NOT work. We sat in the parking lot of Starbucks for almost an hour as my windows slowly cleared up enough to see through. I still, however, thank God that I have a van that gets me from point A to point B, fits all my children and a few friends, and most of all, that I can now fill my gas tank up for a mere $28!!!! Thank you Lord, I can handle no air and manual sliding doors!
Although the night was histerically comical, it was much needed and we both went home refreshed and rejuvenated to finish out our week with the best jobs in the world. Sometimes you just have to have those moments with someone who understands exactly what you’re going through. Someone to laugh with you when you really feel like crying, someone to tell you they experienced the same thing the day before and no, you’re not crazy or a bad mom. God gives us different friends in different seasons of our lives. Some friends fade into the distance during some seasons of life, and in the right moment, they return as if no time had passed at all. Girlfriends are definitely a gift from God. I thank God that he’s given me a handful of precious sisters in Christ. We are there to carry each other through the hard times and laugh our way through life’s ups and downs. Laughter is definitely key. You can’t take yourself or life too seriously, it just wouldn’t be any fun.
~audrey
P.S. Kristen let me borrow her copy of “Multiple Blessings” by Kate Gosselin. That is the family from TLC and the show Jon and Kate plus Eight, in case you didn’t know. I haven’t been able to put the book down. I’m already looking forward to Owen taking a nap this afternoon so I can cuddle up in my bed and read some more. Thanks girl! Love you!

It is so wonderful to be home after a nice long weekend at my parents’ house. I had quite a few things planned for today. Mostly errands to run, a little house work, unpacking the suitcases, Joshua’s piano lessons…you get the picture. Instead however, this is what the first part of my day looked like…

…I slept like a baby last night (for the first time in almost a week!) and woke up around 8:15. I walked in the kitchen and prepared hot chocolate for Joshua and Jesse. Owen was still asleep. As they drank their hot cocoa and watched a cartoon, I sat down to check my email. Within a few minutes I heard Jesse yelling from the bathroom for me to come and “wipe his booty”. Well, I don’t wipe his butt anymore! He’s four and a half and he knows how to do it himself. Then I heard him add “I have diarrhea!” So I went in and helped him wipe clean (YUCK!).
While I was in the bathroom with Jesse, Joshua had heard Owen fussing from his room, so he went in to see him and say good morning. This is a sweet everday routine for the boys. They love to run in Owen’s room in the morning and entertain him and give him kisses through the crib until I get him out. Well this morning was a little different. As Joshua opened the door to Owen’s room, he was hit with the smell of puke and the site of Owen (and everything in his crib) covered in vomit. It wasn’t just any normal discolored vomit either. There were large chunks of hotdogs and boiled peanuts everywhere!!! I held my breath and ran to his room to strip him down, pull the sheets off the crib, throw everything into a pukey pile and swept Owen off to the bathroom where I put him in the tub. Within five minutes, I could hear Jesse crying from the living room. What I heard next set the mood for the rest of my day…yep, you guessed it, Jesse puked all over my couch and living room floor. While Owen was in the tub, I put his nasty laundry (including his pillow) in the wash and cleaned up Jesse and his mess from the living room. Okay, I thought, that was nasty, maybe that was the worst of it…yeah right! Dream on!
About thirty minutes went by with no drama. I unloaded the dishwasher, got Owen out of the tub and into some clean jammies, and put the laundry into the dryer now. Then I heard Jesse crying again. This time he had pooped in his underwear by accident (yep, more diarrhea). So I helped him from the couch (MY POOR COUCH!!) to the bathroom and I brought him a clean change of clothes. As I took his poopy underwear and pants to the laundry room, I heard him crying again and saying, “nnoooooo”. At this point, I was afraid to go back in there. What in the world will I see this time, I wondered??? I opened the door to see Jesse sitting on my nice, large, black rug, completely naked and covered in puke. It was on Jesse, all of the clean clothes I had just brought to him, the training potty, and my nice rug. LOVELY! More clothes went to the wash (including my rug…I hope it comes out okay) and Jesse reluctantly went into the tub. Thank the Lord, through all of this, Owen seemed to be over it. He hasn’t shown anymore signs of sickness.
Over an hour went by and Jesse hadn’t spewed anymore, so I decided to load the kids in the car to run a mile down the road to the bank…it’s Monday and I HAD to make a deposit. I was smart, however, and I brought Jesse’s little trash can, lined with five or six grocery bags…just in case! Sure enough, as soon as I pulled through the line, he started vomiting again. Unfortunately for Jesse, he is kind of a pro at puking, so he always makes it to the trash can if one is available. At this point, I figured, we’re already in the car and he’s puking anyways, so why not improve my day slightly by getting some Starbucks? At least then I’ll have lots of energy to keep up with all this cleaning, laundry, and puke! So I got my espresso fix for the day and we made it home in one piece. Once we were settled in, I got out my Little Green Machine (thank goodness for those miracle workers!) and steam cleaned my couch cushions and the living room floor where Jesse had exploded. I sat down in my room, with the door closed, and drank my coffee in peace. It is now 1pm. No one has puked in the last hour and a half and it’s almost nap time. Wish me luck with the second half of my day! 🙂 The good thing is, even with all that nastiness, I have laughed all day. I guess I’ve learned over the years, I might as well make light of all situations, as much as possible. Otherwise, I’ll go insane! I hope your day has been better than mine, with not as much laundry and bodily fluids.

🙂
~audrey