If I can be totally honest, today was a solid mix of good and bad. I love it when a day feels like its all good, and I really dislike when the whole day goes awry. So I guess today was a healthy, happy medium.
Rowan slept awesome but his last stretch of sleep, usually from 5-8:00am-ish, was really choppy. I didn’t get a whole lot of sleep in there really. Rowan did, but he slept so lightly that I lived in fear of rolling over. Not ideal. He also ate very little. Ok, well, I’m pretty sure he’s eating more than lots of babies his age, but he has been growing like a weed over the last week or two, and he ate considerably less overnight and in the morning. So the feedings were frustrating as well, adjusting to yet another new feeding schedule he’s working us into.
When it came time for the other kids to get up, they were really excited to get dressed and eat, with the promise of grandmas house soon to come. They all looked adorable and were behaving well. The drive was smooth and when grandma ran out into the driveway to meet us, the fun began.
We had a nice hour and a half before my mom had to head off for a massage appointment. I fed the kids lunch, and it was right around then that they started to go haywire on me. Now, I’m aware that I have a good sized brood of young children, so haywire is nothing new to me. I can rock that. But there was SO much screaming, and fighting, and tears, and I was finally at the end of my rope. So it was time for their naps. Maybe twenty minutes earlier than usual, so not a big deal, but a very necessary one.
Rowan was so ready, and just lay in his bundle quietly until he fell asleep. Laela was tucked away in a playpen in my moms room, and Dekker in his room downstairs. (I know that sounds cruel! But when we spend the night, we sleep down there, and Dekker actually asks to nap down there. His choice!) After tucking everyone in, I hear Dekker talking, so I scolded him through the vent and he was quiet after that. I went to Laela and lay her back down only once before she stayed quiet too.
Two. Hours. It was sooo nice! My mom came home, and we had some lunch and a lovely visit before it was time to get the kids. Well, the big kids anyway. Rowan had lulled and was now sleeping in my arms. My mom went to get Dekker from downstairs and I went for Laela.
And my goodness, had she ever pooped. It was on my moms bed, on the sheet in the playpen, and all over my hands. Thankfully, my mom came to help me out. Poor Laela was stripped bare and wiped down with cold baby wipes. Lucky for us, I think she had just pooped, so there was no scrubbing involved, and she didn’t wreak from sitting in it for too long. She was unimpressed, but compliant. Because her clothes weren’t stinky, we were able to get her back into her stuff and go about the evening as normal. But MAN! That was a ton of poop.
When my dad and Brady arrived, we all had a delicious supper of chicken in a golden mushroom sauce, mashed potatoes, and cooked carrots. I ate two helpings. Delish. Then we all played a bit more and cleaned up a bit before leaving. Success!
The drive home was rough. I won’t go into it, but I’m so thrilled that they’re in bed. So much good and so much bad. I want to focus on the good, I really do! But upon arriving home, I see tire tracks THROUGH my yard. No joke, someone actually drove through my yard. People haven’t used our yard as a place to back into and turn around before, and it left enormous ruts in our grass. Thankfully, its not so soft anymore because I would have been more angry than I am now if there were huge rows of my yard ripped up. Its just already hard to be happy here when we’d so much rather be somewhere else, but this really doesn’t help me feel thankful for my home.
All of that considered, I’m happy to be in my bed, writing this out, and soon I’ll be happy to have a soak, a snack, and watch That 70s Show with my husband, while our three children (hopefully) sleep soundly. My life is a good life.