Monday, April 25, 2011

Survival mode


Alright, I'll admit we haven't taken to 4 children as gracefully as I had hoped.  I have lots of friends with 4 kids and they don't all seem ready to lose it at any second.  I even had a night full of dreams of how out of control I am - forgetting the baby and leaving him at the mall, driving the kids around without car seats, forgetting to pick up Cash (he's in tears if I'm ever a minute late) and having him never talk to me again, and then waking up to find my husband had gone over the deep end and chopped up all the furniture in the house to make bunk beds for the kids and I had to just smile and say it looked great because I knew the stress of his life had finally made him go crazy.  :)

Currently we're all sick, I'm going in for another MRI this week, spinal injections again next week, and every night seems impossibly worse than the last.  The baby won't go to sleep before 12 or 1am (which means neither Ryan or I either), and then last night there were periods of time when something was happening every 20 minutes. The baby was miserable and crying (he's sick too), the twins were having nightmares, and then Ryan's pager (he's on call) was going off all the time until he finally got called in at 3am.  Phew.  And next week Ryan leaves for Ethiopia for two weeks. At least he'll get a vacation from the chaos.  Thankfully my mom is coming to the rescue again - I don't think I've had more than 5 hours of sleep a night since she's left. And my house hasn't been cleaned since my sister left 2 weeks after the baby was born.  :)


This isn't really a cry for help or anything, we're doing the best we can. I'm trying to at least find someone to come clean the house or something, and I'm trying to eliminate any non-necessities right now.  I guess I'm just writing to have something to look back at someday when my kids are old and I miss these days.  :)  And then remember that I might not miss everything about these days. 

But I will miss this cute face!.

Anyhow, here's when your brother's try to play with you (I walked in the room and panicked for a minute when I couldn't find the baby!):



 


At least some things are making it worth it all.



16 comments:

SuburbiaMom said...

He is so cute! You are doing great--most people who have 4 kids don't have them as close together as you did--and most of them don't have a set of twins!!! Hope you all feel well soon!

AnnaMarie said...

Well, ok. You're normal after all. :) Your first few posts post-Diesel made me think I had better have 2 more so life would be less crazy. Diesel is ADORABLE!

Anonymous said...

OH!!!! Diesel is so cute! Every picture I came to while reading your blog, I say outloud, "Oh!!!" Carter is trying to do his homework and getting frustrated with me but Diesel is just so, so cute! And I just want to hug and love that little guy! Oh he melts my heart!!!! This proud aunt is going to have to share these photos with my friends! Bragging right! :)


Julie

Anonymous said...

he is so absolutely adorable! His own little self. So precious.

I can hardly wait to see him.

I thought Ryan was going to Guatemala. Ethiopia! You've got to be kidding!

xoxoGrammy

Anonymous said...

I've got to hand it to you. I think the stories of how crazy every day life is for you tops most others I've heard. Potty training 3 at once (with sloshing bowls of pee being juggled around the house) comes to mind. I may have said this a couple years ago when you had the twins but, I really don't think your life will ever be any more intense than it is right now. That every-20-minutes night sounds BRUTAL.

Shannon said...

That is Ryan! Jenn I ache for you. I know where your are at. Except I was there with two. The feeling of cracking any second, and somehow you muddle through. You will make it. Love you.

Unknown said...

Oh, Jen! I feel ya! So worth it, but so crazy! Why is Ryan going to Ethiopia?

Anonymous said...

You are a marvelous mom! If I lived near you, I would come EVERY day and do laundry, clean bathrooms, and kitchen! I would dust and vacuum, too. You deserve this! There must be help of this sort in Miami!!!!

Anonymous said...

Even I don't do as much as your other anonymous reader suggests daily! But I do cook.

And with all those Cuban nannies and housemaids about, there truly must be some, but they have not been found yet.

xoxo Grammy

Spar-Mar Girl said...

Seriously-thank you for writing this post. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills the past few weeks. I don't even think I'm up to survival mode anymore. With your first few posts I was thinking I missed a memo somewhere! Sorry to hear you're having a tough time-supposedly it gets better. hehe

One thing I've learned to do-TAKE THE HELP any time someone suggests it. Even just having another adult body in the house can be helpful. I wish we lived closer and we could go through the madness together! Good luck!

kimber said...

Seriously that kid is amazingly cute. I really can't get over it. They should make baby dolls in his image.

It sounds rough (sick kids are the worst - I can't imagine having 4 sick kids)...wish I was close enough to swing by and add another crazy boy to the mix.

Mike & Britt said...

Love it Jen! The documenting that is. I hope you feel better so soon! Diesel is so adorable (: You are such an awesome mom! I still owe you dinner!!...pick a day, I'll call you (: and I know someone who might want to clean your house! (: (:

Laurie said...

I wish I could leave my family and come help you. I remember those trying days...they do end. Good Luck!
Love L

Tania said...

He is so cute - and looks so much like Cash!

I feel like I haven't taken to 4 kids as gracefully as I thought I would and it's been 5 years next month!

One thing that someone told me a long time ago was that they wished they had got some cleaning help when the kids ere little. Having someone come in (even twice a month) has been a huge help for me. Just mentaly knowing everything got thoroughly cleaned recently helps a ton!

And those days are so fleeting - they really are, It feels like it will never end when you are doing it - but my baby days are over now and it seems like they just flew past.

Melissa Bigelow said...

Okay, this sounds cheesy.....but those pictures just took my breath away! He's so cute!

We'll see how I handle 4 (but I'm will all be older probably making things a little bit easier, I hoping:))

Rachel said...

Jen, he is beautiful! The other day I was reading something to the children about a character in Church history who had had 16 kids. Ella exclaimed, "That is amazing! 16 kids?!!?? You can't even handle 3!" LOL!