I've Hit the Exhaustion Wall...And I Didn't Slide Off...I'm STUCK

So, been away from the good ole blog for a while now. I've got lots of catching up to do, from Bella Grace's birth to birthdays to first days of school to Halloween to Thanksgiving...you get the picture. But, I'm stuck. On the exhaustion wall. You know in cartoons when the guy runs into the wall and then slides down off of it??? Well, that's how I feel. Except for one thing- I hit the wall and got stuck! I haven't had the luxury of sliding down.

Let's go back to when I think it all started- late September. (What's that Green Day song??? Wake Me Up When September Ends?!? I agree with them!) The whole (first) run in with mastitis and dicloxicillin. I thought I made it through and we moved on to October, with pumpkin patches, leaves and Halloween! A good month. :) Then, I had a super fun girl trip to Atlanta the beginning of November. The next weekend Robert had his testosterone trip out to Kansas to hunt. Right after he returned my father came to visit (on like 4 hours notice!) Next thing I know it's the week of Thanksgiving. I get a little phone call from one of Robert's coworkers saying that they are taking Robert to the ER. Long story short, he had horrible kidney stones (yes, plural) and a bad UTI. Whoa! We get my dad off the next day only to turn around and get ready to travel for Thanksgiving. Yes, travel to Tennessee with Robert in a pain- antibiotic-infection induced state of misery. We survived our travels, enjoyed the holiday and made it back home. Holy moly!! It's December!! Gotta get the tree up and figure out the whole shopping thing. Yikes!! But wait, all six of us came down with this nasty cold/cough/fever nasty virus thing. Bleh...We survived and managed to get all of our holiday preparations taken care of just in time to travel back to Tennessee! We had a fabulous Christmas and I headed back the Monday after with all the kids in tow while Robert stayed and hunted for the week. We made it back to the 'Nati and I'm thinking SUCCESS!! I survived the holidays and now we have a week to get ready to be back in our normal routine. WRONG!! New Year's Day the nasty little thing called mastitis decided to make another appearance...and Robert was still gone...without his Blackberry...because he dropped it in the duck blind...awesome...not really. So, I get my lovely little antibiotics, Robert makes it home, I get some decent rest and YAY!! We're back to normal. Um...NOT SO LUCKY. The infection has caused tons of swelling and inflammation and lymph involvement in the affected side. My OB/GYN refers me to a breast specialist who does an ultrasound and determines that the infection is clearing up (slowly) but there are cysts that are aggravating the situation...Okay, making progress in the right direction! Ummm....WRONG. AGAIN. I wake up early on the morning of the 9th itching like mad and becoming increasingly covered in hives. What the heck?!? Total misery. Totally covered head (literally, I had them on my scalp!) to toe (yes, between my toes!) in hives. Long story short, I ended up in the ER (TWICE!) because my neck and lips and mouth were swelling, saw a specialist and am now totally messed up on steroids (and more steroids!) and antihistamines (like 3 different presctiptions!) and to top it all off, all the meds and stress on my body is making my milk supply drop. Not cool. Really not cool considering I have a 6 month old that has never taken bottles. So, we are up to date now!! Oh, wait. About six hours ago, just after midnight, we woke up to Graham vomiting all over his bed. Multiple times. I'm guessing he's sick, what do you think???

Needless to say, this is all why the blog has been somewhat neglected. Maybe I'll eventually get caught up on some posts, maybe not. But, quite frankly, it's pretty low in the to-do list. Hopefully I will become unstuck from the exhaustion wall very soon. Of course, that's doubtful. Robert has to work this weekend and I'm still whacked out on meds that make it impossible to get good sleep for another week or so. But, this too shall pass. And, life is still pretty good. And, my precious baby girl is curled up (literally in the fetal position) in my lap while I sit 'criss-cross-applesauce' style (had to say it, it's what the boys say!) typing this post. And, everyone else (excetp for steroid-antihistamine-crazy me) is sleeping and not vomiting. Oh, and I forgot to mention that I am that small percentage of people that have the opposite reaction to antihistamines- they DO NOT make me drowsy. :)

Santa!

We headed to Kenwood mall yesterday for our annual family photo with Santa. It's a family photo because none of our children will actually sit on Santa's lap! They want mommy and daddy to sit with Santa and they want to sit on our laps!! This year's photo sums up their personalities pretty well. Graham is a little dazed and confused by it all, Bella Grace is just going with the flow, Marshall is being silly as usual and Patrick is smiling only because he was bribed with enough fruit snacks and a cookie. Classic.

We also started the Elf on the Shelf tradition. And, I'll just say my children were not too impressed, as usual. The three boys named the elf 'Ella the Elf' and they constantly want her to go away and ask why she is here or there today. They don't want the elf to go back to the North Pole at night and give Santa a report on their behavior. So, we altered the idea a little bit! They must tell Ella each day what is on their wish list so that she can tell Santa. And, she does not just watch them each day and report on their behavior, that kind of freaked them out!

As far as wish lists go this year, Marshall always want a big truck or a big race car. Graham wants a big fire truck (because the half dozen or so we have just aren't the right one!) Patrick wants a Sonic Wii game and Marshall says that Bella Grace wants a dress and a Barbie. I love it!! So, we'll just have to wait and see what Santa has under our tree Christmas morning! :)

The Conversations That Consume My Day

Me: Graham, get out of the front seat and get in your seat.

Graham: I big boy, mommy!! I'm going to drive!

Me: Graham, I know you're a big boy. However, you may not drive!

Graham: I BIG BOY!!!

Me: You have to be as big as mommy and daddy to drive, son. Get in your carseat. NOW! (as I
must crawl through the car and physically put him in his carseat. A few people in the parking lot had even stopped to hear this conversation and were laughing. At least we provided a good show!)


Marshall: Momma, why are there spikey things on my penis???

Me: Uhhhh...spikey things?!? (as I think to myself this CANNOT be good)

Marshall: Yeah, spikey things under my penis. (as he proceeds to show me said spikey things)

Me: Well, Marshall, those aren't spikey things. You're just obviously a little cold.

Marshall: Why???? Why does cold make spikey things on my penis???

Me: Marshall, that is a VERY good question for daddy...

Patrick: What day is it???

Me: Tuesday (or whatever random day it is, being that we have this conversation multiple times per day)

Patrick: What day comes after Tuesday?

Me: Wednesday.

Patrick: What day comes after Wednesday?

Me: Thursday.

Patrick: What day comes after Thursday?

Me: Friday. Then Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

Patrick: No, what day comes after Friday?

I'm sure you can see where this conversation is going. I am not allowed to just say the days of the week. I must answer as he asks. Let me tell you, I get quite tired of having this conversation with Patrick. Hopefully soon he will learn the days of the week.

Any of the 3 boys riding in the car: My penis hurts!!!!!

Me: I'm sorry. Why does it hurt???

Boys: Because you're going to fast!! (Or slow, or stopped, etc...)

Me: I'm not going to fast. Scoot your bootie back in your carseat and see if that helps.

Boys: IT DOESN'T!!! Stop the car. My penis STILL hurts!!!

Me: I cannot stop on the interstate because your penis hurts. I'm sorry. It will be okay.

Boys: MY PENIS HURTS!!!!

This conversation is a vicious cycle. Once they are on the subject it just doesn't stop until we are out of the car. There are even these railroad tracks that we go over often and every time it's gets them fired up because it makes their boy parts hurt!! Only boys...

Boys: Someone pooped on the club house!!! (the bottom part of our outdoor playset)

Me: WHAT?!? Boys that not funny. Stop playing around.

Boys: But there's poop in there!!! It's doggy poop. No, it's Graham poop!

Graham: Not me!!! I didn't poop!!!

Me: Show me. DO NOT touch. Just point where it is. (sure enough there was human poop in the club house.)

Boys: EWWWWW!!!!!

Me: WHO POOPED IN THE CLUB HOUSE?!? TELL ME NOW!!!

Boys: Graham!! Patrick!! Marshall!! (the blame game)

Me: Everyone inside. I will find out who did it. I'm going to wipe your booties. Who ever has poop on their bootie obviously pooped in the club house.

Boys: Uhhhhh....(busted!!! lots of blank stares at this point.)

Me: Patrick you're clean. Graham you still have on your diaper. MARSHALL!!!! You are NOT clean. WHY did you do that?!? (goofy Marshy grin and I think I may have had scary red eyes at this point and fire coming out of my mouth!!) TIME OUT BUDDY! NOW!

Why is that that nearly ALL of the conversations at my house are centered around body parts and/or bodily function?!? I've been warned that boys will not outgrow this for quite some time, probably not until they're like 40. Nice...

Why I DID NOT Vote Yesterday and To Axxium or Not to Axxium

So, yeah, I'll admit it. I DID NOT vote yesterday in the 2010 midterm election. Shame on me. I chose not to vote. Why? Well, I did not take the time to research any candidates or issues that were on the ballot. Not one second. I would have walked in the booth and basically Christmas-treed the entire ballot. Not cool. Kind of takes you back to those college test days, huh?!? :) And, I feel that if I'm just going to do that then I am actually not doing anything good for any candidate or issue. So, my pledge? Well, in upcoming elections I am going to make myself spend the time to research who and what is on the ballot so that I can make an educated vote!! Now, if I can just stick to that little pledge....

But, what did I do yesterday instead of voting??? I got a much needed mani/pedi!!! Yay!! And, just for the record, when the little guy has to go in the back to get a better tool for your heels, you know it was time for that pedicure! I actually got the OPI Axxium 14 day manicure. We'll see how it holds up. I chose a super neutral color so that if doesn't last like it should, I won't be walking around with trashy looking nails. This Axxium stuff you have to go back and get taken off, plain old nail polish remover won't do the trick! Basically, from my research (because you know, it's so much more important to research the manicure you're about to get rather than the election!) it's an acrylic nail polish that they put on and use UV light to set and an acetone resistant top coat to ensure that it lasts. The best part? Your nails are totally dry when you leave, so no smudging and chipping on your way out the door! Day 1- holding up quite nicely. I'll keep ya posted! :)

There's a POTATO Coming!!!

Yesterday we had some pretty nasty weather, as in a wind advisory and a tornado warning. When I picked the boys up from school they had to do their special severe weather dismissal and actually put every child in their car with their parent. I asked the boys about the sirens and what they had to do and why they had to do it. They response I got? "There's a potato coming!" Yes, Marshall informed me that there was a potato coming. Patrick was very quick to correct him and inform him that it was, in fact, a tornado and not a potato. I did, however, get a good laugh! So, keep your eyes peeled for those potatoes!! I hear they can be pretty dangerous. :)

The Mad Skills Posessed by Yours Truly

Yes, I have mad skills. I am almost a super hero!! Who else can manage to cook dinner, empty the dishwasher AND nurse a 3 month old all at the very exact same time?!? Me!! Dinner's got to be made, the dishes must be put away and our princess decides she CANNOT wait to eat. What's a busy mother or four to do??? So, yes, I am tooting my own horn a bit. But, I figure in umpteen years I'll want to remember how I did it all. And, I'll be able to look back at our lovely little blog and remember these times.

"Honesty Appreciated :)"

So, this past Saturday was our street garage sale. I participated. Well, I tried to participate. Let's just say that I learned that I am NOT a garage sale kind of person! It sucks. This was my first and probably only garage sale. You want to know why? Because I just don't care. It's stuff that I'm planning to donate and I'm not one to keep a lot of crap in the first place. I regularly take random things (mostly clothes and toys) to Goodwill. I actually make the boys pack up things and take them with me as a way to talk about those that are less fortunate. But, I tried to be a good sport and put some things out. How did my portion of the garage sale end??? Well, I gave up after about 30 minutes. I left our few toys, bins of clothes and old Halloween costumes out and placed a little jar that said, "Honesty Appreciated," and called it a day. I did, however, manage to make about $15.* People were actually honest about what they purchased!! I loved it! Maybe I'll invent a new type of garage sale. I'll just place my stuff out with prices and a cute little jar and continue about my day...



*Well, I actually ended up in the hole $40 after buying Italian smocked dresses for Bella Grace and stocking up on Playmobil for the boys!