I survived!

Spring Break '08 is over! And I'm still alive! (I'm sure you were wondering.)

It actually went fairly well. The trick seemed to be to have something planned for each day -- even if it was just going to Target or the library. Friday was cleaning day, and believe it or not my messiest kid was my biggest help -- just don't go in his bedroom.

I think we're turning another corner with the 3 sibs. J seems to be playing more and pestering less. Or, at least, his pestering seems to be based more on just being a big brother than on disliking his little sister and brother and wanting to send them back. As for S and E, they are becoming more attached to J. They want to be with him, play with him, go to school with him, etc. The loudness of our house now seems to be more because of kids playing and goofing around than arguing, picking and fighting. Don't get me wrong -- they haven't turned into perfect angels who always listen to their mama, and I don't think they ever will. But they are making progress toward living together with a bit of harmony and the ability to occasionally have a good time.

Enjoyed the weekend with M's sister, her hubby and their baby, A.
J, S, and E LOVE their little cousin, and she seemed to enjoy their attention. I enjoyed some uninterrupted adult conversation with my seester-in-law. Just don't ask what we talked about. Heavy, deep stuff. It was great!! :)

On an end note, I would like to send out happy birthday wishes to our niece. Happy 14th Lindser-dinser!!

3 things

An admission.
I know I'm not supposed to think this is funny, but it really kind of is. You see, my oldest child taught my youngest child how to say "crybaby." So guess who E calls crybaby? Yep. His big sister, who, in fact, tends to be somewhat of a crybaby. (She adequately fits the definition of preschool girl with her tattletaling and boo-hooing.) So, something upsets her apple cart and she starts crying. E, with a little grin on his face, starts in with, " 'Rybebe. 'Rybebe." This, of course, makes S cry more and yell, "I not a crybaby. S no crybaby." I simply have to turn away and admonish little brother for calling his big sister names and try not to let them see the laughter being held in. Sounds so mean, but it really is funny. I've been trying to tell S that E (and J) will continue to do it as long as she reacts to it, and she's starting to catch on. Fortunately, my crybaby is also pretty darn smart.

An accomplishment.
My niece lives about an hour and a half away with her husband and 2 girls, ages 8 and 2. She emails me and says that they are planning on being at Cosi on Friday and did we want to meet up with them there? Sure! Sounds great! Well, it sounded great until E spent all day Thursday running a fever and needing me to hold him nonstop. I honestly didn't think we would be able to go on Friday morning, so I did nothing to prepare for the possibility of taking all 3 kids to Cosi the next day. By myself.
Well, wouldn't you know E wakes up cool as a cucumber and ready for adventure. Excellent. I managed to get all 3 kids fed, dressed, and brushed, as well as myself, and then threw together a diaper bag and a snack bag, grabbed our membership card, loaded the double stroller, got everyone buckled into the minivan, and off we went. Now, because we have a membership to Cosi and live here in Columbus, we make regular visits and usually stay for just a couple of hours. Since my niece was coming in from out of town, this particular trip became an all day affair. J and his cousin M had a blast together -- despite the fact that she is a girl -- and the little kids enjoyed all the cool stuff made just for them.
One funny story: We were up on the second floor near the suspended unicycle and I was shoveling a little bit of snack into the wee ones' mouths (as well as my own) when a bit of granola bar went flying over the barrier to the floor below. Totally my fault. As I tried to pretend it didn't happen, a dad stopped near us with a couple of kids as the mom continued to stroll by. She kept looking at us and then started urging the dad and kids to keep coming -- saying that it wasn't a good place to stop. I thought it was weird, but nothing more. She then came back to me looking a bit anxious and told me, "I'm so sorry. It's just that my kids have severe food allergies." Explains why she had been looking more at our food than at us, and it provided me with an interesting racial interaction. Strangely, it hadn't even crossed my mind that she was concerned about the color of my children. Does that make me naive? I don't know. But when she came back it was clear to me that she was worried that this is what I had thought of her, and she did not want that. She wanted me to know her true concern had nothing to do with us but with our scary granola. We did get some interesting looks that day -- mainly from people of color. Some smiled, some looked confused, but most paid us no mind. The stares usually come from children who are trying to figure us out. Good luck doing that!
So, other than having a stroller that proved to be both a help and a hinderance, I survived the whole freakin' day at Cosi with 3 kids. Pat me on the back and give me a cookie! It helped that the kids were totally awesome. They waited until we got home to turn back into little monstas. :)

A milestone.
Monday marks 4 months since we came home with the kiddos. It feels like it has been longer in the sense that I have reached the point of not being able to imagine life without them. They are finally becoming ingrained in our lives and our home, and I do feel a new normalcy kicking in. J still has his moments, but even he is making great progress toward the new norm. They are both so different than the little ones we brought home four months ago, and I can't wait to see what changes await us in the coming months.

one less equals bizarro

On Friday evening, I uttered these words: "It's weird to have only 2 kids."

That night we met up with our good friend Jen who lives in Cincy and sent her home with J for the weekend. She had fun things planned (like Harry Potter camp!) and J was looking forward to his one-on-one time with his Aunt Jen. After they left and M and I walked around the outlet mall with just S and E, it seemed so strange and we missed J immediately. I think it told us a lot about how our family has changed.

On Saturday, I left the munchkins with M and headed to Hilliard for what amounted to a huge garage sale by CMOTC -- an organization of mothers to multiples. Since S seemed to suddenly grow out of her clothes overnight, I was feeling a little desperate for some 4T duds. I missed the "power hour" from 8-9, which meant I missed all of the really good stuff. (I passed all the other shoppers walking out with it as I was walking in.) Still, for $50 I took home a huge bag filled with shirts, pants, dresses, jumpers, and pjs. S enjoyed trying on every single piece and modeling it all in front of the mirror -- oh, she is SUCH a girl!

After shopping, I went to the library BY MYSELF and then I got my hair cut. No. I got my hair chopped off. Aaaaahhhh! Free at last!

Then, that night we took them to a local Mexican restaurant, and it was . . . interesting. The kids LOVED the food, and E sucked down two cups of milk. Then threw up. On M. Lovely. We then went home, cleaned him up and put them both to bed. That gave mom and dad some time to themselves for a little rest, relaxation and . . . and . . .taxes. Nothing like a little Turbo Tax to fire up your Saturday night.

Sunday finally arrived and we traveled to pick up J. All the bickering, name-calling, and "stop copying off of me" returned, but that was ok because things no longer felt strange, like someone was missing. Weird, huh?
:)

"I Can't Put My Arms Down!"

BLIZZARD!! Yeah, sort of. We got a lot of snow, but I'm not sure I would really classify it as a blizzard. Would have been a great day to snuggle on the couch, watch a good movie and drink something hot. Did the Mumblerrr clan do that? Heck, no! When you have 3 kids and a ton of snow the last thing you do is snuggle on the couch.

We crammed each child into some long johns, snow pants, hats, gloves, and coats and tossed them in the nearest snow bank. Ok, not really. Actually, M went out and shoveled our deck in order to prevent a possible collapse -- just in case. In the process, he created Mt. Mumblerrr -- a snow-packed slope down the steps of the deck into the yard. In a word, it was awesome. When you live in the flatlands of central Ohio, any change in elevation is notable and appreciated. Using our cheap plastic orange sled with a rope that M and J bought on clearance when we lived in St. Louis, the kids went flying down our man-made hill with wreckless abandon. Yeah, mom and dad did, too. Not only did everyone have a blast in the blizzard, but we discovered that the way to get E to stop talking is to take him out in snow that is almost as high as he is tall. From the expression on his face, it looked like he was thinking, "Wow, this is soooo not Africa."

Of course, we did not stay outside all day. The rest of the day was essentially dedicated to two things: laundry and the discovery of J's room. Well, I guess it was more like discovering his floor, his table, his shelf, his bed. . . Everytime I walked in there, it looked like Legoland had exploded and a craft store had come to the rescue. Legos covered his floor and scraps of construction paper were everywhere. Markers, glue sticks, scissors, and other art supplies were crammed in with some toys under his computer table. We got to work by assigning ourselves one project at a time. He was amazed at some of the treasures we uncovered, and I was amazed at how much he let me throw away. I don't want to say J is a pack-rat, but J is a pack rat.
As for the laundry, well, that's a never-ending story, so I won't even start.

Sunday involved more sledding down Mt. Mumblerrr and a continuation of the laundry (yeah, it really never stops.) Have learned that school is closed on Monday for J, so say a few prayers for me as I play one-on-three defense while M is at work. Hey! Maybe we'll still have some of those snow banks! Let's put on those snowpants, kids. Good thing M brought home a box of brownies today.
:)

vote early, vote often (just kidding!)

Normally, I don't use the blog to post on things political, but I had an interesting experience on Saturday and I want to share it.

First, I should say that I am a proud liberal who tends to vote dem. Wasn't always that way. Used to be more moderate, independent, and voted for candidates on both sides of the aisle. That ended in 2000. Please don't assume that because I am a liberal dem that I do not love my country, that I am not patriotic, and that I am not a person of faith. The exact opposite is true. It is because I love this country that I will stand up and voice my dissent.

Back when the dem candidates numbered more than 2, I was impressed with the line up of players and kept an open mind about my choice -- any of them being a vast improvement over the current POTUS. My fav tended to be Bill Richardson, but I didn't really think he had a chance. I liked Hillary's message and aggressiveness, but I worried about the fact that half the country seems to hate her. (I am one of those rare individuals who is ambivelant toward her -- don't love her; don't hate her.) Loved Barack but didn't know if people would seriously give him a chance. I have watched the primaries whittle the contestants down to two and have found the tight race exciting. I continued to be impressed by Obama but didn't rule out a possible Hillary selection. I felt that whichever one became the nominee I would be comfortable voting for them in the general. For various reasons, my support for Obama became stronger, and I knew that he would be the one I would vote for if the primaries still mattered come March 4.

So, here I am in Ohio -- standard political battleground -- in Columbus and the bombardment begins: phone ringing off the hook (I turned it off again today so don't try to call us on our house phone) and flyers flooding the mailbox. Hillary robo-calls; Barack uses real live people. Hillary drowns us in negative ads; Barack sticks to promoting his own campaign. I get emails from the Obama campaign encouraging me to vote early and they tell me when and where I can do that. So, guess what I did? I voted early and I voted for Obama.

Drove downtown to the Franklin County Board of Elections on Broad Street in Columbus and watched as people walked carrying Obama signs. I found a place to park (in the BOE parking lot, no less!) and got in line OUTSIDE in the cold. There were various local campaign people hanging around, and the most interesting were all the Obama campaigners. They were thanking us for waiting in the long line and telling us that coffee was on the way. Sure enough, before I FINALLY made to the front door of the BOE, a young woman stood there pouring Starbucks coffee.

During my 2-hour wait in line, I did a lot of observing and noticed some interesting things. My pasty whiteness was in the obvious minority, young people stood in line with the elderly, and people of various cultures/ethnicities were taking part. I found myself talking with an African-American woman who was about my age. She was raised in California but had lived in Ohio for about 10 years now. With her degree in chemistry, she was once a high school teacher, but she is now a stay-at-home mom. We talked about our kids, education, and eventually the greatness and importance of diversity -- beyond black and white. I debated whether to reveal that my children are adopted and of color. That is always a gamble when you are talking with strangers. But then as our conversation moved to kids resembling parents and relatives, I shared with her that ours do not because they are internationally adopted. She asked where they were from and expressed how incredibly cool she thought it was. We had a great conversation as we waited, waited and waited for our turn to vote. Then, an elderly black woman who was standing behind me asked my new friend about her hair, and suddenly I was in the middle of a discussion about doing and caring for African hair. I actually knew what they were talking about! What was great was that SAHM chemistry teacher turned to me and asked, "What about your daughter?" I laughed and shared how I had had to research and learn how to do her hair.
So, other than the poll worker who tried to skip over me because she thought that I was also a poll worker, my early voting experience was fabulous. Everyone seemed excited to be there, and I enjoyed conversing with complete strangers. When I walked out of the BOE and headed to my car, it was about almost 12:00 -- the time when the polls were to close for the day. The line was longer than ever. How cool is that?
Barack the Vote, y'all.

mumblerrr observations

Ya know, sometimes you notice little things in life that you just feel the need to comment on. Here are some of mine:

1. Why do people troll the parking lot at the YMCA looking for a good parking place? Aren't you there to exercise?

2. In our previous life, we used to wash a load of whites, a load of darks, and a load of lights and jeans. We now have a whites, darks, grays, browns, girly pink-purple-aqua-fuschias and jeans. And it NEVER ends.

3. The more you want spring, the more it snows.

4. Just when the little one is falling asleep, the cat has to announce his presence with a big ol' MEOW!

5. The way to get someone to come for a visit is to turn the futon back into a couch.

6. Once you get attached to a product they discontinue it.

7. Minivans have a lot of compartments and gadgets. Some you don't discover until 3 months after you get it.

8. Don't answer the phone. It's just a politician you disagree with -- a recorded one at that.

9. It's amazing how much children always want something they cannot have. Hmm, I know adults who never outgrew that.

10. Finally, just wondering, are people actually going to vote for the next president based on lapel pins and middle names? Don't answer that. I'd rather keep drinking the kool-aid.

challenge #3: a little sleep here, please!

Those who know me know that I like my sleep. In college, my roommate and I were often ridiculed for choosing naps over typical tomfoolery often exhibited by those of that age. I am now an adult with 3 kids. Two of them are sometimes difficult to get into bed and asleep at nighttime, but generally they go willingly and without too much fussing. Then, they sleep soundly through the night and often struggle to face the morning. Let's just say, morning people, not so much!

Then, there is E. Our youngest at 19 months. We try to to head upstairs to read books and rock-a-bye baby by 7:30. He usually goes down fairly easily. It's the staying there that is the problem. E may wake up 1, 2 or even 3 times in a night. Wouldn't be so bad if he were the kind of kid that you could go in and pat his back and whisper words of love and have him go right back to dreamland. Uh, yeah, again, not so much. The child stands up in his crib and cries for one of us to rescue him. He then demands to be picked up, held, and rocked until he falls into a deep sleep. Don't try to put him back down! No, no, no! Oh, and don't be fooled by the dozing with closed eyes. Just move a tad and watch those peepers fly open. You know, it wouldn't be so bad if this process only took 10, 15 or even 20 minutes, but it often takes him an hour or longer to actually fall completely back to sleep. And then get this: He wakes up anywhere between 5 and 7 in the morning all happy and giggly and full of energy. Not like we could sleep in anyway -- got a 2nd grader who needs to be up and at the bus stop by 8. It would just be nice if he woke up kind of slowly and quietly. Instead, it's more like having a lovable puppy wake you up when all you want to do is sleep -- lot's of wet sloppy kisses, running around, and cries of "mama, mama, mama!"

When J was a baby and had sleep issues -- he HATED his crib -- we put him in bed with us. Worked fine. E, however, thinks it is play time if he comes in with us. I've tried laying down on the floor by his crib (oh, now that's comfortable) but that wasn't good enough. He shares a room with S, who is in a twin bed, and there is no room for a recliner or other piece of comfy furniture. Sharing a room also means that we need to reduce the amount of vocal expression so that he doesn't wake up his sister.

The ironic part of all this is that back before E became attached to us he didn't want our help going back to sleep. In fact, he used to scoot into the corner of his crib and pretend we didn't exist. (Hey, maybe if I don't look at them, they will go away!) Well, now he is very well-attached and can't seem to do without mama or daddy when attempting to snooze. So, this really is a good thing even though it is creating bags under my eyes and making me quite cranky.

The big question is: How do I make it better? Shorten nap time during the day? Wear him out more so that he is just dog-tired? Encourage self-soothing even though it may keep the house awake for hours but possibly work in the long run? Just wait it out and it will get better with time?

Ok, help me out here and give me your solutions. How can we (ok, me, M and E) sleep better without jeopardizing attachment? (In other words, don't suggest Ferberizing. Not gonna do it. Also, moving his crib to our room really won't work as M gets up in the middle of the night to get ready for work. Besides, I don't think that will solve the pick-me-up problem.) Come on my cyber friends, help me get some sleep!
:)