A Sense Of Peace

     Yesterday we said goodbye to our nephew Cole. We had been interim parents to him and when we brought him into our house we didn't know exactly how long we would be in that role. Anytime anyone enters and lives in your home it is a huge adjustment for all. You each have to learn what each others "normals" are and create a new "normal" together. Having him here was a huge adjustment for me especially as I was already going through another major adjustment bringing a new baby home just four months previous. It stretched me. Kids are by nature selfish. They need to learn awareness of others and especially of those that take care of them. You can take it from a newborn. It's expected. Being thrown into being a parent of a nine year old who has not had the most stable home environment since birth is another thing entirely. Any break I might have had from taking care of my baby and my three year old was filled with a chatty nine year old. I need lots of quiet. I'm an introvert. He was/is an extreme extrovert and thrives off of interaction. It was a lot of laying down of self. It created dynamics that didn't previously exist in my home. Big Boy D was already processing a whole bunch of jealousy with a new baby in the house. He was massively jealous/crazy when Cole came. It was a constant battle of wills and patience trying to get him to understand that he was still special but the world didn't revolve around him. That is a lot for a three year old who has had Mom and Dad to himself for three years of existence to learn!

     That chapter is closed now and though I love him with my whole heart I feel a renewed sense of peace in my home. We can work on our normal again.

     This morning was spent moving bedroom furniture from Cole's room to Darrell's while making a Happy Birthday phone call to my Mom. I put baby girl down for a nap then prepared and cooked a whole chicken with roasted veggies. The house smells wonderful. When baby girl woke up we went outside and kicked a ball around with Big Boy then came back in. They both went down for another nap! I processed the chicken and started boiling the bones for some bone broth then started journaling.

     Big Boy woke up and Daddy and him are playing table hockey with a milk top. It's an exciting life we lead here ;)

Sick-O

A glimpse at my night last night:

10:30 - I put Big Boy D to bed by reading him 3 books and turning off the light.
11:15 - tried to sneak out of his bed without waking him up. He woke up peed his diaper and started crying. I changed it put him back in bed and kissed him goodnight. This time I left because I didn't want to go through that again.
12:15ish - I'm still tossing and turning wondering why I can't sleep. I open my eyes to a brighter than usual light coming from the hallway. I get up to investigate and Big Boy is in the middle of his bedroom floor hunched over a library book. I smile at the adorable/annoying-ness of the scene. I read him as many books as it will take to satisfy him and wait till the inevitable yawning starts. Once again I turn off the lamp and crawl in bed with him until he falls asleep. I stay awake cause I can't sleep in his bed. End up back in my room around 1:30
2:00am-ish - I hear muffled sobs in the hallway. I get up to investigate and find Big Boy in the hallway with his pants off, sobbing inaudible whiny words with big alligator tears pointing at his bed. There is a big pile of throw up on the bed...I knew something was off. I just turn off the lamp, shut the door and leave it till morning (sorry if that's TMI but I just couldn't deal at that point). I put him in bed with me after washing his arms and mouth off.
3:00 am - I get woken up again by big sobs. He peed out his diaper and now our bed is a mess. We change him pull the comforter off and find some other blankets.
4:00 am - get woken up again by coughing and whining.
5:00 am - Wubs gets up and takes medicine for a headache...waking me up again.
6:00 am - I give up. I'm awake and child is too. He wants my phone to watch videos on. I let him. He passes out doing so. Then baby girl wakes up.
I'm up.

     I get them all ready and out the door by 11:00 because I have to get the cupcakes we made yesterday to the school for Cole's going away/early B-day party. I didn't want to put Big Boy in the car but I did because I had to. Since I was already out I figured I would try and get the shopping done so I drove the 20 minutes to the nearest grocery store. Just as I'm getting close to it I hear noise in the back seat. Big Boy is tossing everything in his tummy all over his lap and car seat. I drive back home without the grocery shopping done leaving him to sit in it for the 20 minute ride home. Get him home, strip him in the driveway and throw him in the tub. The rest of the day was naps and baths. He loves baths and it's the only thing that stops the I'm stupid sick whining.

     My poor little sick-O. It's the saddest thing when you feel like you can't do anything but try and make them comfy.

     Two things I am extremely thankful for in all of it. Baby girl slept the entire night. Not waking once with all the racket and noise her brother was making being so sick. That is a small miracle being that just a few months ago she was still getting up at least once a night. I was relieved not have to juggle two fuss budgets. The second being my washer and drier. I cannot imagine what woman did back in the day when they had to do all of it by hand...big chunks of puke floating in the water...drain and rinse, drain and rinse. I had to pre-wash the puke stuff and it was a small work out. I was thanking God for the privilege of owning my own washer and drier and being able to just throw the endless piles in. I'm still doing it now. So so thankful for modern conveniences. Warm baths for Big Boy, lots of blankets to cycle through and most of all not having to do all the laundry by hand or haul it all back and forth to a laundry mat with two littles in tow.


FYI...my husband is more than willing to help he just sleeps through most everything and works very hard during the day so I don't like to wake him for help with the littles. Last night he did get woken up though!

Poor poor bunny :(

Goodbye Cole Birthday Cupcakes

     Today was spent baking cupcakes with my 3 year old. His cousin who has lived with us for about 6 months asked if he could celebrate his birthday with his class before he left this weekend to move back in with his mother. All my three year old heard was “cupcakes”. I have spent much of my week explaining to him that his cousin will be moving out and all I get in reply is “Are we gonna make cupcakes?” He is a typical one track minded 3 year old when it comes to sugar. He makes me laugh. I love him so. I feel mixed feelings about his cousin leaving but feel peaceful about the decision. I think it is the right decision for all but I know it will be a difficult transition for Cole.
       Big boy D ate three cupcakes that hadn't been iced yet because he couldn't wait that long. We made rainbow chip and chocolate. When the icing was completed he kept taking big finger fulls out of the bowl. I told him he had enough and was gonna get a tummy ache. There was SOOOO much excitement over the cupcakes. He is currently crashed on our bed upstairs after complaining to me that his throat hurt. I'm pretty sure he over did it on the sugar today.
      Baby girl has had a napping day which is not normal for her. I think I wore her out the past two days taking the kids out and about to get them out of the house. She didn't really have long naps and it has caught up with her. Momma is enjoying rare moment of both her littles napping. It rarely happens.
     I’ve been watching The Great British Baking Show on Netflix. I’m obsessed with this show. I want to try to make everything they make. It gives me great inspiration. I’m looking at homemade cracker recipes right now. I never thought of making my own crackers until this show! My goal is to try at least one new recipe a week. We’ll see how it goes.