Day In The Life - Winter 2016

I know it's been crickets around here again for far too long. If nothing else I will have these DITL snapshots to remind myself why I was always too tired at night to sit down and blog. A huge thank you to Julia for hosting these posts and for tagging me on IG so I wouldn't miss out!!

I decided that I would document a Tuesday again this time around thinking it would be fun to see how much (or how little) life has changed since the fall. To be honest...the day got off to an uncharacteristically rough start and I'm not even really sure why I continued to document it after 9:30am. Thankfully days like this are few and far between!

DITL - Winter 2016

Tuesday January 19th, 2016 

I am 34

Matt 33

Lily 5 

Ben 3

Hugh 18m

6:04am - I wake up to a familiar thumping sound. My children are stuffie addicts. For real, they all have a serious problem. There are no less than 40 stuffed animals in each of their beds every single night...no matter how many times I cull the heard! For reasons that are unclear to me, every single day each and every one of these little "friends" has to be moved from the bed to the floor. To accomplish this task Ben unceremoniously chucks them from the top bunk...where they land with a loud thump...and lay in a mangled pile until nap. *sigh*

6:10am - I can hear Lily and Ben arguing. I race out of bed to shush them before they wake up Hugh. I quietly help them move ALL of the stuffies to Lily's room so they can play without waking their brother. Currently all three kids are sleeping in the boys' room. Ben in the top bunk, Lily in the bottom, Youkie in the crib. Over Christmas we needed to move Hugh out of Lily's room so that my sister would have a place to sleep and we just never put the crib back after she left. For the most part it has worked out fine...except in the morning when Hugh needs more sleep and Ben is up before the sun.

6:20am - I crawl back into bed to "sleep" while the bigs play in Lily's room. 

7:10am - Lily comes in and announces that she is "starving" and Matt gets up to start breakfast. I somehow fall back to sleep because the next thing I know it is 7:40. 

7:41am - Hugh is SCREAMING from the crib. Matt is in the middle of making what I can only guess is breakfast round two and both of the bigs are whining at the table. This is my least favorite way to start the day. I can tell Matt isn't too thrilled either. I suggest that Lily and Ben come upstairs with me to help with Hugh and give daddy a few minutes alone. The bigs refuse to pose for a picture with Hugh. I peek in Lily's room to see, surprise surprise, stuffies everywhere. 

7:45am - After a diaper change for Youkie I bring all the kids back down stairs. Matt makes me a cup of coffee and I get the wood stove blazing. The house is cold and everyone is sort of cranky. I'm not exactly sure what has been going on up to this point with Matt and the big kids but whatever it was it wasn't eating breakfast. Tired, cold, and over-hungry...the toddler tantrum trifecta! 

To add to the discomfort the entire house smells like mouse pee. We had a mouse make a nest behind the oven shortly before Christmas and I just cannot get rid of the smell...every time we use the oven. It is so gross. I literally don't know if I will ever be able to not smell it. I have tried just about everything google recommends to no avail. Bonus, I broke a pie plate in the oven last night when the vinegar I was boiling evaporated. Super. I absolutely have to do something extreme (like take apart the oven) later on today. 

 

8:10am - Eveyone is at the table and breakfast has turned unto a marathon. Tuesday is my shopping day so we are out of a bunch of the staples. The kids have fried eggs, duck food (Chex) with blueberries. I have more coffee, in the best mug ever! They beg Matt to also make them oatmeal, which I think is ridiculous, but he obliges. I can just tell that we are going to be late so I leave the table to throw on some clothes and make myself presentable for school drop off. Normally I get the kids ready first but this is not happening today. 

8:25am - SO LATE and the kids are now nursing the bowls of oatmeal. I insist that breakfast is over and rush them upstairs to get ready. 

   

What happens next is ugly. I can't get either Lily or Ben to do anything that I am asking...and I totally lose it. Like, whoa! Not only do I yell but i start saying things I don't mean. Harsh things. I call Lily a "spoiled brat" and she starts to cry. Rather than say sorry I just go silent. It is a very low moment. 

Ben is now complying and being the sweetest version of himself. While I appreciate it...I am still mad that he couldn't just act that way in the first place. 

8:47am- Matt and I help the bigs into their snow clothes. I grab the backpacks, kiss both Matt and Hugh, and go out to the car without saying a word. In the car on the way to school Lily and Ben chat about the icicles on our neighbor's roof. Lily speculates that Elsa has left Disney World to bring winter to Maine. Ben seems skeptical and offers up his own theory which involves the Easter bunny. This makes all of us laugh and breaks the tension at least a little. 

8:59am - I drop Lily off and we hold hands as we cross the parking lot. I can tell that we are both feeling sorry but she is late so we do a quick kiss and hug, say "I love you",  and she walks into school. My heart is breaking knowing that I hurt her feelings and I instantly regret not taking the time to make up properly before we got out of the car. 

9:17am - Ben is ridiculously late for school. We hit every single traffic light on the way across town.  Once we are inside his teacher has to pry him off my leg. I watch him through the window for a split second to make sure he is settled and then I leave. 

I cry in the car on the way home. I come very close to heading back to Lily's school to pick her up. As I play through the various scenarios I decide she is better off distracted at school and we can talk when I pick her up in the afternoon. 

9:45am - I arrive back at home with about fifteen minutes to snuggle and play with Hugh before his nap. I text my girlfriends about the crap-tacular morning I am having. 

10:05am - Hugh is down for his nap and I head downstairs to gather my things so I can run errands before I pick Ben up at noon. 

10:30-11:45am - Like a sad robot (how's that for an oxymoron!) I get gas and grocery shop. It's fine. I like grocery shopping normally, I am just not feeling it today. I try and compensate for the sads by being extra helpful to strangers. I offer up my cart, I help a woman find the soup, I let a women with a newborn go ahead of me in line. Very small acts of kindness but each one does help my mood. 

Side note: For about a year I have been using the "Ibotta" app to get rebates on our groceries. It is seriously awesome. I have earned over 400 dollars since downloading the app! Occasionally I will admit to buying things that I wouldn't otherwise, but in some cases we have found new foods that we love as a result! You can use it at a ton of different stores and combine the rebates with manufacturer coupons!! Seriously awesome app. (If you are interested in signing up my referral code is mdbshqp...we both get a five dollar bonus!) 

Lily has been asking me for weeks to buy a pomegranate but of course Walmart doesn't have any. There is a fancier grocery store on the way to Ben's school and I have just enough time to strike out there too before heading to pick up. I do manage to buy 5 chocolate powdered doughnut holes...only 3 of which make it home. 

12:15pm - Ben and I arrive home and I make the boys some lunch. Hugh has a pouch, cheese stick, slice of peanut butter bread, and a few pretzels. Ben has a slice of leftover pizza, a few carrots, and pretzels. Hugh is very jealous of Ben's lunch and has an epic tantrum. 

Matt makes me an egg and cheese on an English muffin! 

12:50pm - The boys and I go upstairs to play before nap. We make a pretty killer train track but I must have accidentally deleted the picture, wah wah. 

1:50pm - After breaking up squabble after squabble I decide early naps are necessary today. Ben uses the potty and gathers up some of his stuffies to lay down in Lily's room. Hugh goes down in the crib without a fuss. 

Matt tells me that his mom has offered to pick up Lily and give her dinner. I reluctantly agree to the plan even though I am really looking forward to squeezing her and telling her how sorry I am. Not needing to go get Lily means I have the rest of the afternoon to tackle the oven. I consider myself pretty handy and I was a little excited to start taking the oven apart. I mean how hard could it be to put it back together?!?  

2:30pm - I finally get to the bottom of the smell...and then nearly die of disgust. I am simultaneously elated to have figured out the source of the smell and horrified by the image that is now burned into my brain. There had in fact been a small nest behind the oven that I removed and cleaned up weeks ago but there was also a mouse nest INSIDE THE OVEN INSULATION. You guys, I just dry heaved typing that. To be honest the site of the nest isn't that big of a deal...it is the thought of the mouse, living, peeing, pooping, hoarding dog food, in my oven that makes me want to take a match to this whole place.  

Once I have the insulation out of the oven I know I am going to have to have a professional put new insulation back in. A quick google search however informes me that, no the oven is now scrap metal. What?!?! No way. I call a local appliance repair company and they confirm that it is not a job worth doing and that it would be cheaper to replace the oven. Fan-freaking-tastic. 

3:30pm - After having a pity party while cleaning up the kitchen the best I can I decide we should definitely go out to dinner. My brother, who recently moved back to Maine with his fiance (into our house), took a job as a specialist in the garden center at Lowes. He is at work so I text to see if we can meet him to look at ovens and then treat him to dinner. 

3:40pm - Hugh is up from nap but Ben is still out cold. I get Hugh dressed and he toddles around downstairs being adorable. 

4:15pm - Matt wraps up work and jumps in the shower. I get Benji up from nap and tell him the plan. He is super excited because a.) he loves the giant truck shopping carts at Lowes and b). Red Robin...Yum! He is sweetly very sad that Lily is with Mimi and not coming with us. 

5:05pm - We meet up with my brother and pick out a new oven! 

5:30pm - Red Robin is understaffed and we have to wait about 15 minutes for a table. It is a long 15 minutes with two boys who are over hungry and running around like wild animals. (This is where I eat crow because I SWORE I would never be "those people" when I had kids...what a fool.) 

The boys are awesome at dinner. Both color, eat, and chat happily for the entire meal. Food is delish and I manage to eat my burger while it is still hot. 

6:50pm - So late! We go to Mimi's and pick up a very tired Lily. She is a little jealous that she missed out on Red Robin but Ben got her a balloon so all is forgiven. 

7:42pm - These children need to be in bed! Everything is taking a long time but unlike this morning I am vowing to keep my composure. I try desperately to get one good picture of all three kids. This totally sums up our day!
  

I pull Lily aside and we snuggle in her room for a few minutes while Matt helps the boys brush teeth. I tell her how sorry I am and that I should never have called her a brat. I ask her to apologize for her lack of listening and she gets a little teary. I take this as a "good" sign that she is genuinely sorry. We both agree that going to school mad was a terrible way to start the day and she seems to take a lot of comfort in our shared sentiments. With our hearts feeling lighter, Lily says she is looking forward to going to bed. Me too kid, me too!

We read a book. Matt (literally) tosses the kids into bed while counting to 15 in Spanish (no clue how this became a thing), we do the secret handshake, and close the door. 

8:00pm - Matt settles in to work, Josh reads, and I start working on this post. We all half watch sitcoms until about 9:30 when Josh calls it a night. Matt and I are not far behind but in typical fashion I manage to stay up for another half an hour. 

10:00pm - I am ready for bed. The kids are all tucked in. The wood stove is full. Our room is freezing! I toss and turn for the better part of thirty minutes about the oven. It is not like us to make such a big purchase so hastily. Dingle assures me that we made a good choice and confirms online that it will fit in our space (I measured twice). Our little chat does actually put my mind at ease and finally fall asleep shortly before 11. 

Day In The Life - Fall 2015

For the third consecutive season I have captured all of the pictures and taken all the notes in preparation for these especially detailed (and much loved) posts...only to have them sit on my computer for over a week. Unlike the previous two seasons I managed to get this one written up, double points for me! I used mostly my real camera but unfortunately forgot to check the settings and clicked away all day with less than ideal results. Ah well.

DILT - Fall 2015
Tuesday October 6th, 2015

I am 34
Matt 33 (finally!)
Lily 5.5
Ben 3.5
Hugh 14.5 months

5:50 - Thump, thump, thump...I hear Ben running around upstairs. It is still dark out. I hop out of bed and meet him on the stairs. We talk briefly about why the sun is still asleep and he agrees to go back to bed to play with his stuffies for "just a little bit".

6:10 - Lily and Ben are dancing around outside our bedroom door. I hear Lily trying to encourage Ben to be the one who comes in to ask for phone time, but he is clearly aware that it is too early. Ben comes over to my side of the bed and talks in a whisper with his lips up against my cheek. It is stupidly cute but also not going to work. I send the kids up to the playroom and remind them that Mommy and Daddy get to "sleep" until 7 :)

6:45 - Hugh is squawking. Why is everyone up so early?! I nudge Matt and bat my eyes for him to make coffee. I toss the kids a phone as I go upstairs to get Hugh. They are delighted and agree to snuggle while they watch. (I had no idea this was such a long standing part of our routine but past DITL posts don't lie)

Hugh is smiley and very happy when I open the door. Note the crib is 10 inches from the wall because I am sick and tired of moving it to retrieve pacis. 

7:15 - After a diaper change I bring Youkie downstairs for breakfast and start taking pictures of the sorry state of our house. I swear I don't save all of my housework for DITL posts! The laundry is just that relentless. 

7:30 - I join the family at the breakfast table and drink my coffee. The kids have cheerios with frozen blueberries followed by peanut butter toast cut into various shapes. Matt usually makes 100% of breakfast, today is no exception. We all chat about the day. Lily tells us about a dream she had...something about a toy she wants for Christmas. I'm pretty sure she is making the whole thing up as an excuse to talk about said toy. Ben then tells us his own tall tale. Just as I am about to call him out on the made-up-ness of his "dream" he bursts into laughter and says, "just kidding, that didn't happen." - HAHA. I love toddlers. 

8:00 - The kids are finished with breakfast and Lily wants to write in her "sketchpad". Matt helps her take notes and they play tic-tac-toe while the boys and I play with trucks on the couch.                                                                                                                                                                                                            8:10 - I take all three kids upstairs to get them ready for school while Matt cleans up the kitchen and gets himself ready to go. On Tuesdays and Thursdays Matt or I drive the kids to school. First Lily is dropped off as close to 8:50 as we can get it, then we race across town to drop Ben off at preschool. He is never there right at 9:00 but we do the best we can. Getting all three kids ready for the day is sort of a circus. Lily insists that she needs to take notes which, although adorable, prevents her from doing just about anything productive. I change Hugh's poopy diaper and get Ben dressed. He is being amazingly cooperative. 

8:30 - I finally have laid down the law with Lily and insist that she get dressed. She brushes her teeth and washes her own face. I brush her hair and whip it into her signature "top pony". She adds a headband for extra style points. 

8:40 - Matt and the bigs leave for school. Hugh and I bask for a moment in the glorious silence. Then we play trucks on the couch some more. I check my email, IG, and make a few notes for this post. I marvel at Hugh's baby hair. 

9:00 - I plop Hugh in the playroom and start to tackle the picking up. Matt gets back from dropping off the kids around 9:30 and starts to work at the kitchen counter. 

10:00 - I put Hugh down for his morning nap and go downstairs to pick up the kitchen. On my to do list today, mail the giant stack of thank you cards that Lily and I made for everyone who donated to our St Jude team. I find a medical bill on the counter that really needs to be addressed. Our former insurance company (Anthem - Blue Cross, ie the devil himself) is STILL fighting us over some of Hugh's medical bills...from when he was born! I refuse to pay them and slowly but surely they have reprocessed each and every claim, except this one. Matt and I have a brief discussion about how being a grownup is hard and he agrees to call the pediatrician's office to once again assure them we are working on it and ask that they not send the claim to collection. *sigh* 

11:30 - The laundry is put away and most of the house is finally picked up. I get myself looking at least half way presentable to go get Ben from school. He would prefer that Mimi pick him up and stuff him full of treats at the playground (not that I can blame him!) but today he gets boring old mommy. 

12:00 - My big boy greets me very enthusiastically! Their Monarch Butterfly is getting ready to hatch from its chrysalis and he is super excited to show me. The class named the caterpillar "Neb" (Ben spelled backwards) for reasons that are still unclear to me, but it is a detail that Ben is quite proud of. The kids made explorer hats in honor of Columbus Day and went on a leaf gathering expedition. I can't thank the teachers enough for sending my son home with a bag full of dry leaves ;) 

12:15 - Ben and I arrive home. I get Hugh up from his nap and I make everyone some lunch. Ben and Hugh each have some sliced ham, a cheese stick, and some pretzels. Hugh also has a yogurt pouch and some apple slices. Matt and I have grilled cheese. 

1:00 - I take the boys upstairs to play. It is approximately 90 degrees in the playroom. I LOVE this house but the heat rising into the loft can be a bit much. In any case it prompts me to finally change Hugh out of his pajamas. Ben does "tricks" off the balance beam while Hugh mashes the buttons on a toy laptop. 

1:30 - The boys play happily while I clean the upstairs bathroom. I sit down on the couch to make a few notes and scroll though my pictures. Immediately upon sitting down Ben asks me to help him with a toy. NO! No, no no. I know what he's going to hand me before I even turn around. This thing is the bane of my existence! Don't let its small size fool you. This thing will be the death of me. 

It is a transformer. At some point in time, like 1987, it easily held it's shape as a either a car or a robot. That time is no longer. This stupid, stupid, robot car is broken. It no longer wants to be a car...only a menacing robot. Ben does not want it to be a robot...ever. Always a car. BUT IT WILL NOT STAY. I have seriously tried to make this thing disappear, clearly it is possessed because no matter what, it finds its way back into the playroom. Curse you tiny robot! 

2:00 - Ben finally gives up on the demonic robot car and asks me to read him "a big stack of books". He gathers books and I read while he a Hugh pretend that I am a human jungle gym. 

2:30 - The boys go down for naps. Ben is terrible. Some days he lies right down and goes to sleep. This is not going to be one of those days. He gets out of bed repeatedly for 15 minutes and I threaten to take away everything that he has ever loved. Mother of the Year! It is maddening...and it is keeping Hugh up, which really makes me angry. I finally resign to sitting on the floor outside his room. I email some family to ask for donations and type up some of this post. 

2:50 - Matt leaves to go pick up Lily from school. I tell Ben, who is still getting out of bed once a minute, that if he stays in bed until Lily gets home then he can cut his "nap" short and get up. This finally works and he lays in bed quietly playing with his stuffies for about a half hour. 

3:30 - Lily is home! She tells me all about her day, who the star of the day was, what she did in gym, and how much of her lunch she ate. The big kids are bickering over my attention and I remind them that tonight is pajama-rama at the library, and if they want to go they had better find a way to get along. Cheering and hugging ensues! Matt comes in from the other room and informs us that no, pajama-rama has been canceled. Wah wah. Since I had already had my own heart set on pizza for dinner we decide to go out to our favorite place, which is a big treat because we normally just do pickup. 

Matt leaves for a run. Hugh gets up from nap. The kids and I play with some new learning puzzles that Mimi brought over a few days ago. The cat is very in to the puzzles for some reason! 

4:45 - Matt is back and while he showers I get the kids ready to go out to dinner and loaded into the car. The harsh reality that summer has officially ended hits us all the most when it is time to get in the car seats. The kids all sort of freak out and complain loudly that they are "so uncomfortable" with their coats on. Too bad, "buckle up for safety!" I say no less than a dozen times. 

5:00-6:00 - The kids are Aaaah-mazing at dinner. Hugh is a little bit of a handful, grabbing everything within reach and tossing it on the floor. If that is the worst of the behavior, then we have ourselves a win right there! 

The kids are asking for dessert. Matt spells s-w-e-e-t-f-r-o-g, but mean old Mommy says no. About two minutes later I reconsider and suggest it as if it were my idea! Matt totally calls me out, can't blame a mom for trying. We pack up our extra pizza and head out for fro-yo. This is completely crazy for us on a school night, but to be fair we are still going to be home before we would have if we had gone to pajama-rama. 

Again, we have amazing behavior and happy kids! 

7:00 - Arrive home just in time to start the bedtime routine. The kids had a bath last night so tonight should be relatively quick. Hugh is especially tired and within ten minutes he is in a fresh diaper, fuzzy jammies, and all tucked in with his blankie and three pacis. 

While I get Hugh ready Matt helps the bigs brush teeth and get ready for bed. I must have left my phone and camera downstairs because I don't have any pictures of the kids getting ready for bed or story time. It is Ben's turn to pick the book and he chooses Who Wants A Dragon? which is a very cute book that Lily checked out from her school library. It is neat to see what she chooses when left to her own devices. 

7:25 - Matt and I come downstairs to relax. We turn on Jeapordy and Matt gets out his laptop to do some work. I have a run scheduled for tomorrow so I turn down his offer to get me a beer. I already cheated and had one with dinner! We have been watching The Walking Dead from the beginning since I missed the first few seasons and the new season starts on Sunday. Before I know it we have watched three episodes and I have not written a single word of this post. Oh well. TV time is crucial to my sanity :) 

10:30 - I call it for the night. I head upstairs to check on the kids. Matt comes up and puts Ben on the potty. After everyone is tucked back in I get myself ready for bed. 

11:00 - I grumble because I can't believe that it is so late, where did the night go?! I flip through the channels on the TV in our bedroom to find something mindless to watch. Matt sits up with his computer clicking away next to me. Chopped starts and before they even start cooking the first basket I am sound asleep! 

Run for a Reason - my #1 girl!

This chick right here...

"...makes a dragon wanna retire, man."

Our very own Lily completed her first timed (1 mile) race a few weeks ago, and to say she killed it would be the understatement of the year! I ran along side her and it was all I could do to hold back those proud mama tears. She ran with determination and confidence for the entire race. Not once did she ask to stop or slow down...if anything I was putting the breaks on her!

Matt and I did not put any pressure on her to do the race, it was all her. But obviously it isn't all her, she wants to run because we do...and actually if you ask her she will tell you it is because I do. She is five, and she wants to be just like me. Sort of a scary mommy moment! Not a day goes by that I don't pray that I do right by these kiddos of mine, because they are taking it ALL in. It is in that spirit that we are raising money for the kids at St Jude. The best way to ensure that the kids have generous hearts is to show them mine.

This weekend we spent a few hours making thank you cards together for our generous donors. To say that I am proud to be her mom...now that is the real understatement of the year.

Please consider clicking HERE to support our fundraising goals which will benefit the children (and their proud mamas) at St Jude Children's Research Hospital. 

Run For A Reason...

The "year of running" started out as a fun challenge for me and Matt. When we first started committing to race after race we didn't really put a whole lot of thought into where our registration money was going, but more often than not a portion does go to charity. Over the past year we have had the pleasure to meet so many runners (and volunteers) who have turned their love of running into something more.

I can do more. I can run for a reason.

Three reasons, to be more precise.

Matt and I have are so blessed to have three healthy children. It is because they are healthy that we have the luxury to run in the first place. Not all parents are so lucky. Some parents are walking through my worst nightmare and they need all the help they can get. That's where St Jude Children's Research Hospital comes in.

In November Matt and I will be running the Walt Disney World Wine and Dine Half Marathon and I recently joined the St Jude fundraising team.

I talked it over with the kids, Hugh is a surprisingly good listener, and we all agreed that helping sick kids is something we can make a priority! We set a lofty goal, raise 1,500 dollars in 45 days! Here's the thing, fundraising is hard. I do not like asking people for money. But if there was ever a reason to step out of my comfort zone this is it! 

So, if you've made it this far take a minute to think about how truly grateful you are for the healthy kids in your life and once your heart is all big and bursty...please consider clicking HERE to donate to St Jude and support my fundraising efforts!!