Much Better Now

I am feeling much better now. Sorry for the downer posts. It's just hard with Michael being away and knowing that he will be gone for so long doesn't make it any easier. But I did find a gym about 25 minutes away that has child care. Bingo!

I use to work out and I have forgotten over the course of getting married and having kids how much I truly enjoy working out. I've also forgotten how much better it makes me feel to work out. Tuesday I joined. Wednesday I tried the Centergy class, which is a yoga/pilates class. Then on Thursday I tried the Active class, which is a step/ weight class. Both were fun and I think I will make it every week to those. I already have my work out schedule figured out. I am so looking forward to every week now. Here are my before pictures. In a few weeks I will post an after picture.



















John woke up Friday morning with a fever and vomiting. So needless to say he did not go to school that morning. But he is feeling much better now. Cute thing was: he was talking to Joseph telling him about his morning. It went a little like this: Bubba, Bubba. Listen Bubba. I threw up this morning. I threw up on the sofa. I threw up on the floor. I threw up on the stairs. I so sick. Bubba, I threw up this morning. One, him having an entire conversation like that and continuing; awesome. He is delaying in speech so that was just great. Then the topic of conversation... to dang funny.

Joseph and Belle don't seem to mind going to the gym with me. The play room that the child care is kept in isn't the greatest, but it's good enough. The girl that sits with the kids, seems nice enough. Experience, not so sure of, but she at least changed their diapers the last time they were in the room with her. And they are alive when I pick them up. I think I am going to work something out with my mom so that 2-3 days a week they can stay with her and the other days, they can go to the gym child care.

I actually talked to Michael for an hour last night. He listened and talked in return. You have no idea how nice that was. Michael just doesn't talk really so for him to have some input it awesome!

Belle and Joseph did not take a nap on Thursday. Ugh! I put them in their room, in their beds like I normally do. 40 minutes later they still weren't asleep. I could hear them jumping in their beds and talking and laughing. Not a big deal, but they need their sleep. I'll explain why later. Anyways, I decide to go in there and tell them to lay down, yada yada. Well, when I walked in I got there just in time to see Joseph standing in the middle of the room, no pants, no diaper, hand on penis half way through peeing on the floor. I take a look at Belle and she is naked from the waist down as well. So, I clean up, replace diapers and pants, put them back in bed, tell them to go to sleep and walk out. After a total of 1 hour 10 minutes of being in their room, they are still going full speed. So I figure they are just not going to nap that day. Well, that night (and I knew this was going to happen) they did not sleep well at all. I had to get up with them at least five times that night. I wasn't surprised. Then of course that next morning was the morning that John woke up sick. Ha ha, what a great start to Friday.

However; Friday did not end up being so bad. The twins slept well for their nap. Better than they had in weeks. My mom was keeping them so I could go to the gym. Aiden was feeling well enough too. I learned which machines to use and how to use them (reps and sets and such). Was weighed and measured by my personal trainer. Sounds way more high class than it is. Anyways, I was surprised to hear that my body fat percentage was only 20.8 and that put me in the Very Good column. To be in the excellent column I would only have to lose about 2 percent. What a self esteem booster. Not to mention Tressie, my trainer, continued to give me compliments the whole time. It was such a good decision to join this gym. It is going to make my wait for Michael to get home so much easier.

I'm hoping to get to the gym today. The child care is from 8:30 to 11:00. If I have to take the twins, then I will, but hopefully Mom is going to continue to be that great mom that she is and keep them for me. Here's to a great weekend!

Not a bad day today.

Today wasn't too bad. After yesterday's break down, anything would have been better; but today was actually pretty nice. I helped my dad take the chimney down out of the attic. Amazing that doing that was the highlight of my day. Pretty pathetic actually. But I enjoyed myself. I like physical exertion.

Took the twins outside this morning. Before I helped my dad. They had fun. Dug in the wet grass and such. When we came inside, I gave them lunch and then a bath. While they were in the bath, I worked on the kitchen a bit. Well, needless to say they got into something. Ha, the little turds grabbed my shampoo and made a very bubbly bubble bath. But it all worked out, I didn't need to use any soap or shampoo to get them clean. Just used the very soapy water to bathe them.

After school today, I picked up John and brought him to Dairy Queen, for a special "Mommy and Me" treat. He and I both enjoyed ourselves. It was nice.

Got home from our special treat and had to bring Belle to the doctor for her eczema . I just can't get a handle on it. Dr. prescribed Elidel for it. I hope it helps. The eczema doesn't seem to bother her, but I sure hate looking at it. It just looks uncomfortable. Keeping my fingers crossed.

This afternoon two guys show up at the front door selling shrimp. Oh, shrimp. The love of my life. Yummy! I had to buy some. So, they de-head them and bag them for the price per pound you pay. Not a bad deal. But what made it even better... I got to de-head them myself as well. Sounds crazy I know, but I haven't done anything "southern" like that in so long; I truly enjoyed myself. And on top of that, to make my day, the younger guy (who was 22) flirted with me so much. It felt good getting hit on by someone 6 almost 7 years younger. And let me tell you, he was not holding back, even after he found out I had a "big" husband. Michael isn't a small guy. I'm guessing my dad told him I was married. Haha, made me laugh.

Speaking of Michael... That big turd of mine has been gone a whole week and we have not had one real conversation yet. I know he isn't a big talker, but come on! Make an effort man! One of the problems, is that when I have a free moment to chat without the kids interrupting, he doesn't. Another problem is that the entire time we are on the phone, he is joking off with the guys he is sharing a room with. Please, could ya just please give me your entire attention for a few minutes?

Anyways, that was my very exciting day. I guess the best part, was that John actually behaved himself today. Well as much as a 3.5 year old behaves anyway. He did good. I was very proud of him. Hopefully the rest of my week will be this nice. Although, how many chimneys are in my attic that need taking down and how much shrimp can I buy and de-head in a weeks time?

Grumpy Me

So yeah life sucks. We all know this. The thing is there is always ups to balance the downs. The hard part is getting through the downs remembering there will be another up. All ways feels like the only way to go is down. I try talking to my mom, but she is always so negative anyways. There was a point where everything out of her mouth was negative. So here I am in a downer and she just adds to it. And I can tell she is getting frustrated listening to me. Well all I can say is, "Go home!"

I know that since Hurricane Katrina things have been hard. Hell, I'm living it too. Look at me. I use to be a fairly successful up and coming someone. Now, all I am is a cook, maid, babysitter and LOSER. I have 3 great kids, but they drive me up a stinking wall. I do love them, but it is so hard. And to top it off, I have no friends. Currently have no husband as he is 17 hours away trying to make money for us to catch up a bit. And here I am stuck in this God forsaken house with 3 little imps.

I can't vent to anyone. There is no one to vent to. I have no friends to go spend the day with. And even if I did, its not like I could go. Try bringing 3 kids that don't listen to a damn thing you say anywhere. It's impossible. I am just so done.

Micheal being gone is really showing me how much I depend on him to keep my sanity. But he doesn't see it, because he has a gym membership there now and can go to the gym after work everyday that he is there. Nothing keeping him glued to the house. Oh and did I mention he gets to hang out with guys that he works with too. Yeah, sort of like being a single bachelor. I'm not bitter though, not at all.

What is wrong with me that I don't want to be here with my kids. I would love to go away for a month. I wouldn't miss anything here one second. There is seriously something wrong with me. But it's only for about 4-6 more weeks then he'll be home. And I will be my happy self again. Hopefully...

It's been awhile, but nothing's changed

It's been a while since I have posted anything, but not much has changed. The gate in the kitchen has been doubled and covered. That's right, there is another gate exactly like the one before, on top of the original and we have covered the entire thing with a curtain. That was because the two boys could climb over both gates and still get into the kitchen. So we covered it with a curtain to prevent them from getting a foot hold on the gates. That did the trick. Now they just push and pull the thing until it pops open. Relentless those boys are.

John is now in Head Start. I get a little break during the day now with him being in school. He does great. He really likes it and the twins get some alone time with mommy now. He is still a little terror though. I can not get a handle on his throwing, hitting, kicking and pushing. He doesn't do any of this at school, mind you. Just at home. Last night, I had enough. I told him if he threw that toy, I was going to throw it out the front door into the road. He threw it. I picked it up and tossed it out the house into the road. Oh boy! He didn't like that. It made him angry so, he threw another toy. That toy, too, went into the road. I told him that the cars were going to run them over and that he wasn't getting them back. So after a few toys, he got "smart" and threw his pj shirt. Hmmmph, I got one of his toys out of his room and threw that out the door. OOOhhh, did that make him angry.

Nearly 15 toys later, that means me getting kicked and hit and toys being thrown 15 times, he decided he would quit. But what was so funny, was he kept looking through the door at the street (the door is basically all glass) every time a car would pass. He'd freak out then when the toys would be untouched by car tires, he'd giggle up a storm. So relieved that they didn't' get run over. He'd laugh so hard, he had me laughing. But maybe I got through to him. Oh, and I would tell him to say good bye to the toy as I passed him going to the door and he would say bye bye in the most pitiful teary voice he had. Too cute.

Belle is talking up a storm now. She loves Dora the Explorer so she knows a bit of Spanish now. She'll tell me gracias when I hand her things. And is constantly telling me, "Bubba did it!", "Bubba hit me!" and "John did it!" and "John hit me." She's even been known to tell her Maw Maw that "Mama hit me!" When all I did was tell her not to get up there. She's funny as hell.

Joseph is following in his big brother's footsteps. Doing all the "bad" things John does. But he has the cutest face. It is probably his saving grace. I think I would have put him in the trash can by now if he wasn't so cute.

Michael is working in Illinois again this year. He went last year for a month and so when the opportunity arose again this year he took it. He has been gone less than one week and I am ready to run away. I think it may be a bit harder this year than it was last year. I really thought it would be easier. It's possible that the job this year will be a longer one too. I don't know what kind of home he is going to come home to, but if the three little ones keep up at this pace, he may only have a wife left. Or three kids and a mummy. Who knows?

I'm really needing some vent time lately so I will probably, hopefully, post more in the coming weeks. I should really try to keep up with it. It is definitely a good outlet. And no one needs an outlet more than me, that's for sure.

Creative Us

Over this past weekend, Michael (my husband) and I have been quite the creative pair. I don't know that anything tops the velcroed sofa.

One of my creative ideas, wasn't exactly mine, but I am still proud of it all the same. We've been preparing for the arrival of my brother-in-law and since he will be here within the week, we've really been knocking out some tasks. In the process of cleaning out and purging, we've acquired extra boxes, mostly diaper boxes (can't figure out how we ended up with extra diaper boxes, can you?) I bought a roll of duck tape last night and combined that with the 5 extra boxes to get a castle of the finest materials.


As you probably already know, I have very mischievious toddlers. Joseph is now one to be reckoned with. He climbs just as well as his older brother. So, not only do we have to keep an eye on John at the kitchen gate but now also Joseph. Joseph is 18 months old and this gate is close to 36 inches high... As you can see Belle is feeling quite left out of the climbing business. Maybe soon, they will start helping each other out, God forbid.

So after the gate climbing started Micheal thought of a great idea. Pam: the great non-stick solution for pans and the great non-climbing solution for gates. It did work, truly, but didn't last long. I'm thinking we will try Crisco next?


This next great invention came to use a couple of weeks ago, but worked like a charm. We could not keep the kids from unplugging the TV. Since the plug cover that is made for this type of thing could not be found with out ordering it and still we weren't sure if it would work; we decided to make our own plug cover... No it's not pretty but it is perfect. If you can't see what it is. It is an outlet box. It is what is used inside the wall. Michael cut some tabs off the side and screwed the box to some boards he had place on either side of the outlet. We love it! We've not had a single problem with them pulling the plug on the TV since.

Oh, the joys of Motherhood

We've had a lot of changes around here lately. My brother-in-law is supposed to be moving in with us soon. So, to prepare for his arrival, we moved Belle into Joseph's room. The transition wasn't too horrible. Within a few days they were both sleeping as usual.

Then we had a dentist appoint for all three little ones the following week. Needless to say the appointment wasn't the best of appointments. John wasn't born with either a baby or a permanent top left lateral tooth. And Belle needs to come off of the pacifier. It is causing the left side of her top and bottom teeth not touch when she bites down.

On the ride home all I could think about was how it was my fault that Belle's teeth were getting messed up and how horrible it will be for John when he gets older and has a huge gap in the front of his teeth. I've calmed down about it now. These are things that happen and there wasn't nothing that I did wrong. Joseph, with his beautiful skin, curly hair, great laugh and pretty eyes, has perfect teeth. Not complaining, mind you!

So, here we are a week later and I have slowly cut the tips of the pacifiers in order to make them less desirable for the twins. Joseph doesn't much care for them any more, but Belle is still using them religiously. Hopefully by the end of the week, she will not want them any longer.

This past Sunday, Joseph woke up that morning and when I went to get him, he was walking around the room. Yup, he climbed out of his crib; with his sleep sack still on. Monkey! Come nap time, I put him down in the usual fashion: sleep sack on. Within a few minutes the monkey was playing with the blocks on the floor. I went back into the room, put him back in his crib and walked out. Again, a few minutes later he had unplugged the sound machine. I repeated the process one more time, putting him back in the crib. And again, the sound machine was cut off. he did not take a nap that day.

That night I converted their cribs to toddler beds. I figured might as well do both cribs at the same time and get what ever crisis it would cause over with. Surprisingly, the night wasn't too bad. After 30 minutes they were both asleep. Belle in Josephs bed and Joseph in Belle's bed. Three nights and two days later, they are doing great. No problems in the sleeping department. However, I did walk into a surprise this morning. Joseph and Belle were both awake and walking around. What caught my attention was the fact that Joseph was naked from the waist down. Thankfully, he hadn't relieved himself in any way before I got to him. Good Morning Mama!

Oh and last night I forgot to put a diaper on John before bed. He is fully potty trained during the day, but wakes up wet every morning. At 1:45 am he climbed into my bed, soaking wet. I felt so horrible. I got him and his bed cleaned up, put him back in his bed and he slept the rest of the night.

This morning, the three of them were in the living room playing. I heard John say, "Aw! Bubba! Mama get mad!" I called back to John, "What did he do?" His reply. "He poo poo!" Again I walk into the room to see my son naked from the waist down. This time, I wasn't so lucky. There was Belle, squatted like babies and toddlers do looking down at a few terds on the floor. Thankfully, no one had decided to play with them. I got that messed cleaned up and thought, "This is my life and I do love it." No, really I do.

Why I am Blogging.

A friend of mine, told me I needed to start a blog because my life is too comical, not to. So here I am, my first post on my blog. I am not sure yet what I will say, but here it goes:

Last night I moved Belle back into the same room with Joseph. I had separated them a couple of months ago, hoping to get them sleeping better. Now that I have to give Belle's room to my brother in law, I thought I would move her back before he moves in with us.

It wasn't all roses last night, that's for sure. Belle cried for just under an hour before I went to her. All she needed at that point was a pacifier and to be laid back down. But after that she slept the rest of the night. We shall see how the naps go today. That will be the icing.

My 17 month old twins and my 3 year old son love to move furniture. John, the 3 year old has been doing that since he was just over 1. The twins, especially Joseph, has picked up this little trait. One of their favorite pieces of furniture is the love seat in the living room.

In an attempt to prevent this, (because once the sofa is moved, it is then used to reach higher, more naughtier things) we, my husband and I, used this Velcro type stuff, to keep the sofa where it belongs. Yay, it worked! They hadn't moved the sofa all day. BUT, they have now started moving the "tower" to the entertainment center. This tower is at least 5 feet high and is fairly heavy. Weight does not stop them. Now I have to figure out how to keep them from moving that. I suppose Michael, my husband, and I will be velcroing the tower down tonight or in the near future.

I figured I can add a history lesson to some of my posts. The history lesson will be a little story, about my past. This post's history will be about the carton of eggs and juice can.

One day I was cleaning like a mad woman. I had scrubbed until my fingers were bleeding. I was working on putting clothes away, when I heard John, Belle and Joseph in the kitchen. I knew it couldn't be good. So to the kitchen I go, to check them out. John had opened the refrigerator and left it for the two little ones to play in. They had gotten a full can of Juicy Juice, that I had just opened, out and had it turned upside down on the floor. Needless to say I had scrubbed my floors just hours ago. There was sticky cherry juice everywhere.

So, I shoo them out of the kitchen, close the gate to keep them out and start cleaning up the juice. During this process, I notice how dirty the door to the refrigerator is and decide to clean it. That took about 4 minutes I suppose and while I was cleaning I realized that I hadn't seen John. Also, all three of them had been being very quiet...hmmm.

I leave my cleaning post to check the three of them out. I wasn't sure where they were, but I found them. Oh, did I find them. They were in John's room. Having a blast with the carton of eggs that John, stole from the refrigerator. Yup, they were having fun. All over the floor and across the room was broken, raw eggs.

Did you know egg shells are very much like glitter. Within minutes of finding the mess, I realized I had egg shells in the living room. How did they get there? Needless to say, cleaning raw eggs out of the carpet, off the window sill and off of toys was a whole lot of fun. Not to mention having to re-sweep my floors in the living room and hallway. There ya go, this is my life.