Motherhood: Not for the Faint of Heart

Motherhood is not for the faint of heart. Pictures like the one above may give pregnant women feelings of comfort and serenity but it's not realistic. Mothering small children has lots to do with waste management and little to do with pastel bedding.

Yesterday was one of those waste management days. Like I said, mothering is not for the faint of heart. It is also not for the weak of stomach. Elijah doesn't dirty his diaper on a regular basis. For several days he is so easy, just wetting his diaper. Other days he turns into the poop-o-matic. Oh yeah. Yesterday was a poop-o-matic day. You don't want all the details but I will tell you that I finally gave him a bath after lunch. Not because he had pooped again, but simply because his entire body stunk. He let up after his bath and hasn't dirtied his diaper (or his highchair, or his clothes, or his bed) since yesterday.

Every time Elijah does this I think, "Oh yeah. Several days of not pooping means one day of pooping like crazy." But I forget inbetween. If I had the presence of mind to remember, I would be sure to put him in tee shirts and not onesies and I would not pick him up without checking his back for excess poop from his diaper. Gross!!!

Fearful and Wonderful

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. -Psalm 139:13-16

We are happy to announce that God is knitting together our fourth baby. God's been working on the baby for about 12 weeks and we expect Him to be finished near the middle of May. We are grateful and humbled by God's tremendous blessings to our little family.

New Favorite Blog

I stumbled upon this blog and it's fabulous. I don't know these people and I'm sure that we will never meet in this lifetime. Still, I think I'm hooked on reading it. This family has 9 children under 9 years old. Check it out at http://www.hishandshisfeettoday.blogspot.com/. Happy reading.

Cranky Day

Elijah is no longer sick. I am so thankful. He ran a fever all weekend. I didn't take him to the doctor since he was sick over the weekend. He wasn't terribly sick: just feverish and congested. He's better today but he is cranky! He's driving me crazy. We had a lovely trip to the grocery store this morning. Well it was lovely if by lovely you mean loud with lots of crying and gnashing of teeth.

Oh well, the oldest and youngest children are now sleeping. Dinner is in the crockpot. The kitchen and living room is clean. Katie and I are going to wipe down the bathrooms and then fold some clothes. Sigh. Just another day in the life of a stay at home mom.

Sick Baby

Elijah is sick. He has been running a fever since 1:00pm today. He is so sad. He just nurses and sleeps. Poor baby. Right now he is asleep in the bed with Jesse so he will take a break from nursing. Earlier he threw up a little. I really think his tummy was just too full from nursing so much. Of course, I want him to nurse so that he will get all the fluids and antibodies that he needs. So that's the update. I don't have any cute pictures of my sick baby to post. He's too sick to photograph.

Days of the Week

Hannah and I have begun homeschooling. This year is a little more structured than last year because she is now preschool age. We are loosely following a preschool curriculum with the intent to prepare her for kindergarten material.

Today I went to the local teachers' store and picked up a wall calendar like you see in elementary schools around the country. I hung it in the dining room for us to review each morning. We will review the days of the week and the date. So, today is Tuesday. We discussed that tomorrow will be Wednesday. Hannah and I have discussed days of the week before so I asked her, "Today is Tuesday so tomorrow is?"

"Threes-day!"

"Threes-day? No, not Threesday."

"But Mama, it's Twos-Day, then Threes-day! Is there a Fours-day?"

At this point I feel like the conversation has digressed. "No, Hannah. After Tuesday is Wednesday."

"Then what?"

"After Wednesday is Thursday."

"Twos-Day, then Ones-day, then Threes-Day? That's crazy!"

"Umm, yeah. Okay. So, what is the date today?"

"Nine!!"

Okay. Sure. I'm going to be totally compentant at this. I can feel it.

Language Barrier

I tend to believe that most parents make certain assumptions regarding their children. We assume that they will eat if they are hungry and sleep if they are tired. We assume that when they are cold they will keep their clothes on. All of these assumptions have been proven false by my children. They often don't eat when hungry, especially if there is something more fun to do. They resist sleep or the same reason that they reject food. There is something more fun to do. Katie would prefer to sit on the bathroom stool in the dark then to lay in her soft bed and sleep. Then of course there is the issue of clothing and the weather. I'm hoping that my daughters will have grown in their thinking and will wear clothes this winter. Katie spent last winter in a windbreaker and tennis shoes and a diaper. That's all. Most of the people at the grocery store thought I was a bad mother but you can read all about that here.

So, although my children prove my assumptions wrong daily, I still make assumptions. I assume it is because I do not have enough brain power to consider all the possible scenarios. I just assume that I know what is likely to occur.

Tonight as we are leaving Perkins (Tuesday is kids eat free night), Hannah looks at me and asks, "What does yeah mean?" I stop, I look at Jesse with this incredulous look.
He asks her, "What does yeah mean? Is that what you said?"
"Uh, huh." She replies.
Surely she knows that yeah and yes are the same word with nearly the same usage, so I say, "You know what it means. You tell me." I say it in a playful tone but she really can't answer me. "Hmmm, I dont' know. What is yeah?"
"Hannah, yeah is yes."
"It is!? I never knew that before!"

Oh, dear. I sort of assumed that my child speaks English. I was wrong.

Actually, this is an interesting issue. Usually if Hannah asks to do an activity I respond in a variety of ways:

Yes (meaning yes and that it is fine)
Sure (yes, what a great idea)
Yeah (yes, but what a pain, I'm trying to do something else right now and this is very bad timing, why do you always what to water paint while I'm cooking dinner and the phone is ringing and your sister is pouring lotion in her hair and the baby has locked himself in the bedroom. Why are you hiding in the kitchen cupboard when you just asked to paint. ugh)

So, really it is no wonder that she doesn't know what yeah means. Yikes. I'll have to work on that.