Life with three

Life with three kids is crazy.  With 2 kids I managed to keep our house all clean and mostly organized and did things like arts and crafts with my kids.  And I went to work.  Um, what?  Right now, post retirement, I feel like I sit never, clean never, do arts projects infrequently.  I feel like no one gets any attention.  I love all of you.  I can't wait on bed time.  When it gets to bed time I ache for you and lament everything I've done wrong that day and how I didn't hold you enough.  All of you.

Our house is messy.  We have piles of laundry which I swore I wouldn't have.  I stay until you are asleep.  I feed you quickly.  I let you get by with a lot of things.  Sometimes you learn how to sneak into our bed and I let you.  You are each growing and I hate it and I love it because I get to see the little people you are becoming.

I wonder if you could ever know the love I have for you.  Sometimes I wonder if you have lost your minds because you are screaming.  Sometimes I wonder if the world will learn to cherish you like I do.  Mostly, I know that the world won't and I hate to share you with the world.  I keep thinking that i need a night away or a full night of sleep, but when I think about leaving you I get sad.

I have great aspirations of making miracles for you, but right now, I feel like I'm failing at that.  But I love you.  a lot.  Even when you lose your minds and I know mine is already gone.

Don't change.  Keep changing.  Never settle for less than miracles.

HMB ALMOST 2.

Little Mey Mey.  Oh my little Mey Mey.  This is what we call you and what you call yourself.  "I too" or "DATS MEY MEY."  "I want Mey mey."  "I mey mey" are uttered a million times a day.  You are kind of adorable.  And a mess.  And you get by with it because you are adorable.  You laugh.  Lots.  You make hilarious faces.  You are still a biter.  You get mad and over it quickly.  You love to share.  You are typically a great eater.  Except when you don't eat.  Nightly, you run through the house naked before your bath saying, "DEADY, set, DOoooooooo."  You reference a lot of things by their sounds.  The Count, from Sesame Street is "Ah, Ah, Ah."  Curious George is "ooh ooh."  Cookie Monster is cookie eating sounds.  Makes me laugh.  You get mad at people or they hurt your feelings and you whine and say, "bubba.  Or DADDY."  You are a snuggle bug.  You love to be held.  YOu say "up up" a million times a second.  You want to wear shoes 24-7.  You also want me to wear shoes.  You do things you aren't supposed to and when you get in trouble you just answer with a "sorry.  Sorry."  You are my best sleeper which means I love you.  A lot.  Mostly, I love everything about that baby belly of yours and hope that you never ever grow up.  Yuu are in my very favorite stage and I hope that you never change.

Oliver Graham Black--4 months old

How did you turn into a 4 month old?  You are cute.  You laugh when I take off your clothes--what a boy.  You laugh when I tickle you.  You study us before you decide to smile.  You do not get bathed often enough.  You don't spit up like Meyer.  You sleep a tiny bit better than Griffin.  I cut out dairy for you for TWO WEEKS to see if it would help your reflux.  It didn't.  SCORE ONE FOR ME.  I also lost zero lbs during that two weeks.  Meaning, clearly, my body NEEDS dairy.  OH wait, this is about you.  You track us.  You take a ton of cat naps a day.  Not sure how to break you of that.  You have slept one night in your own room in your own crib.  This means you will quickly be kicked out of our bathroom.  Once you do it once... well... there ya go.  Except now.  because you are in our bathroom.  because you have a cough.  And a whole floor away is just too far.  I hold you a lot.  I also feel like I lay you down a lot.  I hate that.  I worry you will feel unloved.  Except that you get a lot of physical love from your brothers.  Who love you, physically, a lot.  Griffin calls you his favorite brother.  Meyer loves to call you "baby" and "pat" you and poke out your eyes.  You can roll from your tummy to your back... when you remember that you can do that.   have gone through your first Christmas.  Your first new years.  YOu are starting to grab for toys.  You haven't yet spoken your first word, but I'm sure baby, you are going to go far.
Your stats.

You are 12 lbs and 6 oz.  You are in the 5% for weight.  You are 23 inches and in the 1st % in height.  And a big ol 15% for your noggin at 40.5 inches.

The stay at home mom yoga pant sitch explained.

There she is... you judge her in her black yoga pants.  Life of luxury, really.  The stay at home mom.  I get it.  There are the ones who have the personal trainer, the nanny, the house cleaner, the lunches, the ones who go to the bathroom all alone.  I think they are probably few and far between, so the rest of us fall somewhere between there.  Recently I had a friend judge the SAHM crew when she, herself was at lunch mid-day.

1.  The ultimate--she worked out that morning and hasn't yet had time to shower and is therefore still in workout gear.  She is also conserving laundry so will just wear the same thing until that shower happens.

2.  The hopeful-she HOPES to workout and so is putting on her workout gear in hopes she will be motivated or have 5 minutes.  Granted, she may use those 5 minutes to poop.

3.  The work out clothes are made of elastic/spandex... which gives you extra time to pull up your pants really quickly when all of a sudden the rest of the house gets quiet or you hear a big crash and your 2 year old say, "uh-oh."  Who has time for buttons?

4.  Nothing fits after having these babies.  Black is slimming.  Black hides grubby finger prints.  Black spandex is mostly wipeable--even spit up.

5.  There hasn't been time to shower in the last few days so she appears to have sweaty work out hair, but realistically, it's just grease.  Go with it.  She deserves that starbucks drink.

6.  She is meeting her friends for lunch, because if she doesn't have a normal conversation soon she may forget that she actually knows how to talk, or hear about the world, or for someone else to know she exists.  So yes, it's a nice place to meet her friends, it may be quiet, she may be wearing yoga pants and jewelry because, well, this is as fancy as she is going to get for the next 6 months--might as well show off that stuff that you used to wear on all those nights out.  Bonus--no small child with you to casually yank on your earring and say "EAAWWING!"  Or pull on, and break, that necklace.

7.  Her mind is tired.  She actually forgot that she owns clothes are not made of elastic.  Someone called last minute and she had to get out of the house so she said, "yep, this looks decent enough--let me put on some jewelry in hopes that I'm both noticed and go unnoticed."

So there you have it.  The real life of the SAHM.  Don't judge--too much.  She appreciates you for what you do, so lets not judge her for what she does... or doesn't do... like laundry.  or wearing real pants.  SUCKAS

Reeses Spread

So first note, that I got a box from influenster for FREEE that contained a full sized jar of Reese's spread.  Now I love free things.  I especially love free things that are chocolatey and peanut buttery.  THis basically tastes like a mix of nutella and PB... so kind of like a spreadable fudge.  My kids are currently digging it on some cut up bananas and a waffle.

Have you signed up? also receved a couple of vox boxes all with awesome stuff.  The last time was VS sports bra and yoga pants!

Pitch Perfect.

Confession.  Not a confession.

I love a group dance.  And singing.  And desire to do both in my current life (hello, community theatre... except I'm like against conformity and am a total hermit--except running with people.  I really like that.)

But I just watched this movie and it is my inspiration.  It brings meaning to my life.  It's the inspiration.

How did I not know?

Meal Plan Monday or something

real life.

Hello internets.  I'm occasionally emerging from the fog that is being a mom to three small boys and never using a computer and being inept at typing more than instagram posts via my phone.

I like that I can re-look at things I wrote about our lives and family as the small amount of memory I have is now used learning things like parts of planes, all the new names for dinosaurs and making sure everyone is semi clean.  Noted--when changing tiny baby diaper in the night I was so annoyed that I picked up a messed up one that Pampers had put the tabs on backwards.  SO ANNOYING.  I beat the system by just twisting them so it was ok.  When he woke up later he was soaked.  Yah, sorry Pampers for the damning of you.  I had the diaper wrong side out.  Le sigh.

SO  I may have written about how we have been meal planning for what like 2 years now.  We were food wasters.  We would go to the grocery and buy things and then not have any idea what we were going to make and then eat out.  Waste.

I'm thinking that I can make myself get on the internet tubes at least once a week and figure out what the hell we are going to eat.  SO this week it is as follows.  I write it on all the chalk board wall in our kitchen because my useless brain needs constant reminders of what I'm doing when it comes 4:30 that does not involve "Pour a glass of wine."  Somehow that one sticks in my mind.   No notes required.  Also, we never waste wine.  In case anyone was wondering.  Dr. Ben often tells me when I consider not finishing my glass, "waste not.  want not.  That's what Jesus said."  Now I know that Jesus did not literally say this because it isn't written in red and that seminary degree and all.  Other points of note--I remember almost nothing from seminary.  You can call me Master anyway.

Sunday--Bang bang chicken pasta
Monday--Thai-Mex tacos with easy jasmine rice
Tuesday--Crockpot turkey, blackbean and zucchini chili
Wednesday--Coconut curry with easy jasmine rice (from Monday)
Thursday--Baked potatoes topped with chili from Tuesday
Friday--Thai peanut salad (made up)

Goals--eat what we buy. eat healthfully. have lunch leftovers. try new things. reuse ingredients.  make one crockpot meal (usually on tuesdays because G has gymnastics and it's a crazy day.)  make one meat free meal.

Staples--we buy meat, typically in bulk, divide into portions, vac seal and freeze.  we buy rice and pasta's in bulk also.  we keep staple canned goods--black beans, fire roasted tomatoes etc. (okay, back to using caps because my baby let me lay him down... for now)

The bangbang we probably would not make again.  If we do... I'd call it She Bangs Pasta and make up a new recipe.

The Thai-Mex tacos were a win.

We've made the chili before and the rest of the items on the list.  I love the Coco curry.  I hate coconut.  This is good.  We generally make versions of what the recipes are based on what we have--like for that one I don't have shrimp paste or ketchup (vomit) so I use most of the stuff and then use fire roasted tomatoes.  Chicken breast instead of thighs.  sweet potatoes.  and I buy the ginger paste in the fresh section.  easier.  Anyway, you get the gist.  Use what you have and what your family likes.

Holding baby again.  Gosh they are so needy.

Anyway.  how is THAT for a non baby related
real life post?