Reflections on the day...

What a day. I am inspired to document all that has happened today. It just doesn't seem possible that all forces of nature should combine and wreak havoc on one family in one day.


This was my favorite book when I was growing up. Today I feel some sympathy for Alexander.

I am tired. My sweet baby is 4 weeks old. I keep hoping that one of these nights he will magically sleep and I'll wake up the next morning refreshed from a full night's rest. Unfortunately for me, he continues to wake up like clockwork every three hours. It takes me almost an hour to feed, burp, diaper change and get him back to sleep, then I get about 2 hours of sleep before he wakes up again. I think I am functioning on 5 hours of interrupted sleep. My day began in earnest at 7:00am with Brityn telling me Ryder was awake, so I go to his room and get him out of his bed and put him on the potty. This kid is almost potty training himself at 22 months old--he is AWESOME! So I sit in the bathroom and read books and sing songs waiting for him to do his business. Steve is in the shower so I get the girls up and getting ready for school.

Burned toast is never a good sign in the morning, besides the fact that no one will eat it, it takes forever to clear the smell out of the house. I am so thankful my mom is here helping me survive these first few weeks of newborn-dom. She gets the girls breakfast so I can get ready. Sawyer has a doctor's appointment this morning so I need to drop Kendyl off at school before I take him to see the pediatrician.

Everyone is loaded in the car and I turn the key in the ignition only to find I have a dead battery. I unload the kids and run with Kendyl all the way to school so she won't be tardy. Thank goodness my mom is here or I'd have to run with all four kids to school! So I call roadside assistance and they come replace my battery an hour and a half later. Meanwhile I must cancel Sawyer's doctor appointment cause I've got no transportation.

Ryder has a runny nose. I thought maybe he had allergies yesterday because he was sneezing, but today it is worse and he is drooling. I think he is cutting his 2-year molars.

He is very unhappy with me for constantly wiping his nose all day.

Like I said, Ryder is practically potty training himself and with no pressure from us. Last week he started saying poop on the potty so we put him on and he went! And since he is telling us when he needs to go, we are trying to accommodate him by putting him on the potty. So, he is on the potty and somehow got his leg up and tried to push himself up and his leg slipped into the toilet bowl. Of course, he has just done his business so it is not pleasant. I clean him up and put him in the bath.

Now that the car has a new battery, I drive over to school to pick up Kendyl. It is only sprinkling, but as soon as the kids start coming out it starts to downpour and there is even hail! I have to get out of the car to stand by the gate to get Kendyl, of course I have no umbrella, and in those few minutes we are soaked!

Oh, did I mention that Brityn dripped chocolate ice cream on her shirt at lunch? My mom was kind enough to wash her clothes and then let her put them back on. After Kendyl and I get home, we change and make hot chocolate. Brityn manages to spill hot chocolate on the same shirt, same day, (apply shout, wash, repeat).

Now, even in my exhausted, sleep-deprived state, I am sitting at the computer wishing I was in bed, knowing I need to shower, knowing my baby will want to eat again in an hour, so I can remember this "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day." I think I need a vacation, but I'd settle for a good nights sleep. ;-) Tomorrow is going to be better.