"Chaos"

That is how I feel about my life at the moment. I love my kids and my husband and they make me so happy but I feel like it's me. I can't get anything done. My "to-do" list could now be classified as a novel. At the top of the list? Clean the kitchen and do the laundry. I can never get past those two because once I get those done over the course of the day (kids demanding things, baby to feed/hold/change/TRY to get to sleep) it is time for bed. Seriously. I vacuumed the other day and felt I had accomplished something huge!

I feel like I do the same thing day after day and can't move forward. Instead of cleaning the kitchen and washing/drying/folding/putting away mountains of laundry, I would love to be able to organize the office, clean out the garage, make photo albums, sort through the bags of baby clothes, clean my bathrooms, clean out my car...the list goes on.

My problem is that I can't seem to allow myself to do anything else when I know there are dirty dishes to be washed or a dishwasher to unload or counters to be wiped or 50 loads of laundry that need to be done. As I am doing these things I try to pick up toys along the way that have been abandoned. The kids will pick up (sometimes without a fight and sometimes with) but I can't stand walking past something on the floor that doesn't belong there and actually leave it there.

Somehow it never works out when we get home from taking Abby to school that both Lucy and Ruby take a nap at the same time. If one of them is up I can't put all of my focus into something because I can't ignore them. Ruby screams really loud and Lucy...well...let's just say it could be dangerous (and produce MUCH more work for me) to ignore her :)

I feel like I am just staying afloat right now and I don't like that feeling. How do I get it done?

The Brother I Always Wanted...Sort of...

I got a call from my mom yesterday.

She said, "You have a baby brother"!

I laughed because...

THIS...

...is my "brother" :)

This little teacup chihuahua is a very early anniversary present to my parents from my sisters and me. They will be celebrating their 40th anniversary this year and haven't had a dog of their own since sweet Kibbles passed away about 7 years ago.

My sisters and I were starting to discuss what we should do for mom and dad's 40th and whether or not we thought they would want a big party. My sister Shea hatched a brilliant scheme to convince them they needed a new dog. Surprisingly, it didn't take too much convincing...of course, Shea always could talk my parents into anything. On long car rides I used to make her ask my dad to stop for a bathroom break because all she would have to do was start crying that she "had to go" and he would stop...okay okay, I digress (no big sister issues here!)

Anyway, my mom seems almost giddy now that she has seen a picture of the little guy (my sisters got him in NC). She grew up with chihuahuas. My Grandpa liked to carry his dogs around (put them down in his shirt) and have them sit on his lap...kinda hard to do with a golden retreiver!

My dad seems pretty excited too. His only stipulation about a potential dog was that it had to be tiny (about the size of a hamster). Well, my sisters say he about the size of a squirrel so my dad says close enough :)

My sisters and nieces and nephew are playing stork this weekend and delivering the little bundle of joy to our parents :) Max, Abby, and Lucy are so excited to meet the new addition to the family. Yes, I'm excited too.

Isn't he the cutest thing? His sweater is actually a fuzzy sock that my sister cut holes in so it would fit him :) Creative don'tcha think?

So, to my yet to be named little "brother"...

...welcome to the family...

(also, sorry if the kids are too loud and fast and scary! )

Huh? What? Yeah I'm here...sorry ;(

Has it really been over a week since I posted? Sorry, I seriously believe my brain is scrambled! So if there is anyone out there who still reads this blog, here's a rundown of some things that have been going on around here since my last post...

Well, I turned 38 on the 6th. No biggie. I DID get my hair highlighted like I do for my birthday every year and then watched Max's basketball game. John took Max to a Citadel basketball game that night.

My "baby sister" turned 25 on Sunday the 7th. I'm sorry Mal that I didn't post a birthday wish on your actual birthday...you know I love ya :)

Abby had to have a tooth pulled. It's one of the teeth that she had a root canal on back in October. Apparently the tooth died and it had to go. They put in a spacer though to save room for her permanent molar.

Ruby had her 2 month checkup. She weighed in at 10 pounds 5 ounces and is 22 1/4 inches long. That is up 2 pound 7 ounces and 2 1/4 inches since birth. Dr. says she is growing beautifully...now if she could just kick this head cold she'd probably be a lot happier!

Our area has not seen snow for 10 years. So, what do you think happens on the day that we are driving up to Charlotte for a long weekend??? Yep, snow...LOTS of it (well, 3 inches IS a lot for us here at the beach in the south). We started driving about 10 minutes after the big fat flakes started falling and when it took us 4 hours to go slightly over 100 miles we knew we were done. So we crawled to a hotel for the night. Once we got to Charlotte the next day, John pointed out that a normal 3 1/2 hour trip took us 15 hours from start to finish...ugh.

The kids did have a great time playing in the snow in Charlotte. Max built 2 snowmen...1 with help and the second by himself. We had fun throwing snowballs at each other. This was Abby and Lucy's first chance to see REAL snow and get to play in it. They saw some last June in Breckenridge but it was on top of the mountains and the little bit we got to play in was filthy and in a little pile so it didn't really count. Ruby saw it when she went out to the car but didn't "play" because she has been sick. Oh yeah, and did I have my camera charged? NOPE...grrrrrrrrr!

We got home on Monday and thought we might have my car sold (we need a bigger vehicle) but it feel through...bummer.

Max was supposed to have his surgery yesterday to put his 5th set of tubes in his ears but we had to reschedule because we didn't have anyone to watch the 2 little ones.

Oh yeah, Ruby turned 2 months old on Saturday the 13th and we didn't do anything special for Valentine's Day...I'm a little bummed about that ;(

Now, here are some pictures of Ruby so you can get your baby fix...if you need one that is :)

Deep in thought...

I know the light is bright but I finally caught a little bit of her smiling :)

She was looking up at the mirror above her and "talking" to the baby in it.

"Mom? That baby up there is still looking at me!"

Lucy takes her big sister duties VERY seriously!

This is a video of me trying to catch Ruby "talking". If you listen closely you can hear her working on a little package for me :)

I'd Like to Thank the Academy...

Well, actually I'd like to thank KMama over at The Daily Dribbles. This wonderful Bloggy friend has bestowed upon me my very first bloggy award! WooHoo...Honestly, it was just an honor to be nominated (well, I wasn't actually nominated...she just picked me...anyway...)

She called the award "When Life Hands You Lemonade" (she received it from another blogger and passed it on so I am getting this info from her).

The rules for this award...

1. Thank the giver of the award and link to their blog. (Thanks again KMama!)
2. List 5 things about yourself.
3. Link 5 new recipients and notify them.

Okay, so 5 things about myself...hmmmmmm...

1. I grew up eating some strange things (and I still eat them)...well, strange according to John. One of the strange items is ketchup noodles. The recipe you ask? Cook desired pasta to desired tenderness (I like elbow macaroni a little al dente). Drain, put in bowl, and ketchup and mix well. Eat and enjoy :)

2. I do not like shopping for clothes for myself. I'd rather spend the money buying clothes for my kids and my husband. I will wear clothes and shoes until they fall off of me (I'm pretty sure my mom thinks I was switched at birth with her real daughter. My sisters enjoy their clothes and shoes as much as mom does). I was slightly depressed the other day though when I got a wild hair and took down all the maternity clothes hanging in my closet. Not depressed about getting rid of those but about the fact that I only have 5 shirts hanging now that are "real" clothes. My part of the closet looks pretty pathetic.

3. I enjoy cooking and trying new recipes. I was blessed with a husband and son who love to eat and enjoy what I make (my girls like to eat to but their appetites aren't as large. I also make my kids' birthday cakes myself (I'd love to meet Duff Goldman..the Ace of Cakes).

4. Between my first and second master's degrees I worked as a private investigator. I did insurance fraud investigation and spent hours a day sitting in my car video taping people who were scamming their employers for worker's comp. Think about that if you ever think you can get away with faking an injury and scamming an insurance company...somebody might be watching you! (Wow, that sounded kinda creepy didn't it? Sorry).

5. I have always struggled with my weight. After having my second child I joined Weight Watchers and lost 46 pounds to become a Lifetime member. Then I got pregnant again and gained it all back, went back to WW and lost all but 7 pounds...then got pregnant again! Now that I am done having babies I am reclaiming my body and have gone back to WW for the third time. In 4 weeks I have lost 11.6 pounds!!! I have 23 more pounds to go to reach my previous goal weight and I'd like to lose a few more beyond that (my 20 year HS reunion is coming up in November!)

Aren't you glad you know this about me now???

I am passing this award on to...

1. Shea at The Bradford Bunch
2. Lynn at My 3 Braybies
3. Whitney at The Williams
4. Jess at Keep it Together
5. the "ref" at The Team

Thanks again KMama !!! Have a great weekend everyone :)

At Peace

Very early this morning, at 4:20am, my sweet Aunt Mary Jo passed away. She was my dad's oldest sister and the oldest child of seven. She was also known as Sister Geraldine (she was a catholic nun).

She lost her battle with cancer.

She found out last June that it was in her lungs but it was secondary cancer. The doctors looked but couldn't find the primary cancer.

I wish they would have looked at her brain.

The tumor was discovered about 2 weeks ago. The doctors said she wasn't strong enough for radiation but she asked them to try anyway. She got one treatment last week and then her organs started to shut down.

The "sisters" took her home to the convent to take care of her and make her comfortable. The convent is a short couple of miles down the road in the same town as her first home...the farm where she and my dad and their other siblings were born and raised.

She went back to her childhood home to go to her forever home.

Aunt Mary Jo, Sister Geraldine, daughter, sister, dedicated to the Lord, aunt, teacher, musician, family geneaologist, the best salsa maker EVER, maker of beautiful afghans and Christmas ornaments and the family cookbook. She was all those things and more.

I love you so much Aunt Mary Jo and I will always remember your infectious laugh and your wonderful hugs.

You will be missed.

P.S. Give Grandma and Grandpa a great big hug and kiss for us. I know they were waiting for you.

Not Me Monday...Kid Edition...

Yes Ladies and Gents, it has been quite awhile since I sat down and confessed all my imperfections as a mom, wife, woman, human being...but I have been kind of busy creating a life and trying to keep that little life fed and clean and quiet (it's apparently asking to much for sleep) while also trying to keep the other small humans who live here...my sweet adorable other babies...from tearing the place down and eating every scrap of food in the house. So, please forgive my absence.


Not Me Monday was created by MckMama as a form of therapy for all of us who want to admit that we "DID NOT" do something that might be considered less than perfect...because don;t we all do everything right all the time? Anyway, this week I have decided that I would make this a kid edition...pretty much a Lucy edition, since this adorable 2 year old of mine has recently taken up the hobby of undoing, untying, unfolding, unpacking everything she can get her hands on.

Read on then head on over to MckMama's to catch some other great Not Me's!...


Recently~


~Lucy did not get a hold of a container of dental floss that she received from the dentist and unwind the entire container!


~She also does not get out of her bed several times every night before falling asleep. If she did get out of her bed she certainly would not sneak downstairs and hang out on the couch by herself, or run full throttle to her brother's room and sit in his closet while pulling his sleeping bag and tent out of the box and covering herself up with it, or going in my room and hiding behind my door and sitting quieter than she has ever been in her entire life! (That was NOT a nasty run-on sentence).


~I did not have to put Ruby's diapers on the top shelf of her closet because Lucy most certainly would never help herself to these tiny diapers and proceed to put one on EVERY DOLL IN THE HOUSE!!!


~I do not assume that when Lucy is quiet she is up to no good...I mean really, shouldn't a mother trust her child??? HA! When Lucy was too quiet (the term too quiet sounds ominous doesn't it?) the other day I found her in her new favorite spot to hang out...the tiny pantry (just a closet folks...not a walk-in). She was sitting on the floor and had helped herself to 2 fruit roll ups and had 3 more in her lap waiting to be eaten. I did not have to move the snack basket to the top shelf.


~She knows that when I am nursing Ruby that I will be occupied for a while so that is when she strikes the hardest.


~She does not go into the pantry and get a bag of chips out. When I tell her no she does not stare me down as she slowly unfolds the bag to get it open. As I continue to tell her no and ask/tell her to put the bag in the pantry she does not slowly put her hand down into the bag. When I make a move to get up to take it away from her she does not then quickly shove her hand into the bag and grab as many chips as she can (turning most of them to crumbs in the process) and shove them into her mouth before I can even get to her.

The pouty look...I feel sorry for the guy that falls for THAT one :)

~As I mentioned above, Lucy does not get out of her bed at night. Well, the past couple of nights she also has not taken her pull-up off then put her pajamas back on before bringing me the dry pull-up balled up into her hand. I did not have to put her pull-up back on her 3 times last night before she finally fell asleep (I was not having to do this while trying to calm a very cranky baby). About an hour later after Lucy had fallen asleep I did not hear John fussing. He did not come down and tell me that Lucy had taken her pull-up off again before falling asleep and had already wet the bed!

~Lucy does not enjoy swiping my purse off the counter when she knows I am not looking. She does not find a spot to hide in the dining room and definitely does not take everything out of my purse. She does not dig out the pack of sugarless gum and eat as many pieces as she can before I smell the gum and find her or Abby finds her. She did not chew and swallow 4 pieces of minty gum the other day.

~Lucy also does not give me near heart failure when she walks up to me as sweet as pie and opens her mouth to show me the latest toy/object she is holding in there. I have not found elastic hair ties, blocks, matchbox car tires, etc in there. I have not found strings from my couch pillows and a tiny red piece of Lego (about the size of a BB) in her poopy diapers. She thought the Lego was a Nerd (candy).

~ And finally (not because I have run out of material but because I have to go), just this morning she did not crush a handful of crackers and spread them all over the living room floor, she did not take my makeup sponge and tear it in half, and she did not sneak my contact case and hide behind my bedroom and dump the solution AND the contacts onto the carpet!

~ I have NOT been asking myself why we chose not to put this little darling into pre-school this year :)

I know this does not make me sound like a very attentive mother but I swear I am watching her. She waits until I have to give another child some attention to make her move. Now I know why she was such a patient and calm baby...she was casing the joint!

I mean really...would YOU trust this face :)

There's a lot of SNEAKY behind that cheesy grin!!!

...side note...can you believe my husband wants to get that beautiful blond hair cut off???? I've told him he better be ready for a fight of epic proportions if he does it too!!

P.S. Lucy really can be a very sweet little monkey and we love her dearly but she has just been very...well...ummmm...challenging lately!