Father/Daughter Dance

I'm just a little slow getting these up. Last Saturday Matthew got to take the both Rebecca and Kendall to the Father/ Daughter dance at the Elementary school. They got pictures taken at the dance but here are the ones from home. The theme was "A Night in Paris" which was easier to dress for than last year's Luau (on one of the coldest nights of the year). Rebecca asked me to French braid her hair to go along with the theme.

Kendall was very excited to be able to go after watching Rebecca get to go in past years. She was so excited that she fell running to get to the dance and skinned her knee and put a hole in her tights before she even got in the door. She had a great time except for that and getting separated from Daddy at the dance. Luckily our neighbor helped to reunite them. Matthew even seemed to survive the Hannah Montana and the Chicken dance. And Mommy survived bathing 3 little ones without the help of Daddy or even big sister helpers.

My Klepto Was at It Again (And It Landed Her a Night in Lockup).

Well it wasn't actually lockup but the ER, which is like jail with Barney.

Once a month my family get together for Family Home Evening. We take turns hosting and last night was our turn. We'd had a really nice time and most of the family had left. The few remaining adults were in the kitchen and the only kids left were my own and my nephew who was sleeping in his daddy's arms. I was enjoying the company and actually able to sit back and relax after a busy day. (As much as I would love Sundays to be quiet and reflective that is never the case when you have to get 5 kids ready for church).

Anyway Kendall comes is the kitchen to says, "Mom come here." I slowly follow her into the kitchen thinking she's built some Lego structure she wants to show off. What I find is Dakotta with the contents on my Sister-In-Law's bag thrown about. And the first thing I see is the bag full of bright red pills. I ask Dakotta if she ate any and she nods. I ask her how many and she says, "1-2-3-4." I'm impressed with her rote counting skills but not sure that the answer means anything. They were Tylenol which I had heard horror stories about so I called poison control. The guy on the line told me the magic number for her weight was 4 pills and since I wasn't sure how many she took Matthew headed to the ER.

The initial blood test didn't show any signs of Tylenol but they need to check again in 4 hours. They tried to get her to drink a cup of charcoal, but she was not having any of that and has the shirt to prove it. My Sister and her hubby were here so they stuck around while I got the kids to bed (all except a lonely Corinna) and then I relieved Matthew of his ER duties. He came home to hold down the fort and to get Corinna asleep while Dakotta and I killed time at the ER. For the most part Dakotta thought it was pretty cool because she got one on one time with both her parents, videos and people to bring her juice and crackers. She was not going to sleep, however. About the time I thought she might sleep they came in to get the 2nd blood work. She was a trooper and was very brave. The 2nd results came back that she didn't appear to have taken any. So an hour later after a brief lecture on medicine safety we headed home. By then it was after 1 AM and she was asleep before I pulled out of the parking lot.

When I had newborn twins I'd run into other parents of twins and they'd assure me it does get easier. What they've all neglected to tell me is: WHEN?!?

My Body is a Temple, Not an Amusement Park.

There's a Garth Brooks song titled Much Too Young (to Feel this *#$* Old) which is exactly how I feel most days. Instead of waking up feel rested; when I wake up my back hurts, my hips hurt, I'm covered in bruises and feel like a walking zombie. I keep thinking how nice it would be to feel normal, but I honestly can't remember what normal feels like. Then the part of my brain that likes numbers went into overdrive and I came up with a list of what my poor body has been through lately.

In the past 3 1/2 years I've had anywhere from 1 to 3 other people living off my body. That brakes down to approximately 23 month pregnant or nursing twins, 3 months nursing twins while pregnant and 16 months pregnant or nursing 1 baby.

In that time a typical nights sleep consists of about 6 hours of sleep with an average of 2 awakenings for any combination of taking care of kids or nursing a baby or bathroom breaks.

1 night a week I'll spend a good 30 minutes to an hour curled up on a toddler bed trying to get a toddler back to sleep. (sometimes more if I happen to fall asleep that way).

I've gained 40 lbs, lost 30, gained 40, lost 45 (and still have lots more to lose).

I've had 2 C-sections (in other words I've had 3 people pulled out of my uterus).

I spend a significant part of my day doing chores while carrying a baby/toddler on my hip.

I have probably climbed up and down the stairs 20+ times a day and at least half of those I'm carrying anywhere from 16 to 50 pounds of baby/toddler (not to mention the extra weight mentioned above) .

I spend about an hour a day wrestling or chasing kids that don't want to come inside, get their diapers changed, stay by the stroller/grocery cart. (Please tell me I can count this towards my aerobic weekly goal).

And last but not least an hour a day where I'm the human jungle gym (or furniture if there are sick kids in the house). If I get down on my hands and knees to clean up, someone is going to jump on my back. And if I sit down, someone will be climbing me.

Somehow after reviewing this list that tummy tuck and boob lift don't seem all that scary anymore.

More Doodlepad Art by Dakotta

Sponge Bob

A Self Portrait

The Bridge

Dakotta Plays Ball

Elliott is SO Big