Time and a camera.

As I do not use a microwave anymore, I heat milk for the kids, yes both, yes even the almost 4 year old, on the stove.

On any other night, I would be upstairs with the kids and hubby would get the milk, but, as the baby is crying like a newborn, I needed some time away… Yes, I consider time alone in the kitchen ‘time away’!

So alone time in the kitchen and a camera in hand… (I was taking it upstairs with me to download the pics)

Things that should really never be shown, but is… because my brain is actually melting… I think…

Dude, the milk is ready!

Inside the ‘entertainment centre’ cupboard is a great place to store stuff for the kids. Books, crayons, markers, and even more pampers!

This is our dinning room floor… attractive isn’t it?

This is our dinning table. What can I say… I am not exactly domesticated!

WAY too much plastic dishes! My husband used to fill the role of dishwasher perfectly while I was pregnant, but now the belly is not stopping my hands from reaching those dishes… I guess he’s expecting me to do it. Well, I guess its only fair… as he IS working all day, and I, with the 3 kids, am at HOME all day!” />

We desperately need a dish-washer and we have WAY too much plastic dishes! My husband used to fill the role of dishwasher perfectly while I was pregnant, but now the belly is not stopping my hands from reaching those dishes… I guess he’s expecting me to do it. Well, I guess its only fair… as he IS working all day, and I, with the 3 kids, am at HOME all day!

Yes, we bought this at IKEA... its cheap & easy! We have a lot of glasses although we don’t drink… go figure! And notice that I have some cars and trucks on the second shelf… I didn’t know what else to do with it as I was frantically cleaning for the ‘in-laws’, I saw my mother in law looking at it on the shelf with that ‘what the hell did my son see in her’ kind of a look!

Hospital Bedrest.

When I was pregnant with my second kid, I spent 2 months in the hospital… yes, 2 MONTHS, not weeks, not days…

I had complete placenta previa and started to bleed on the first day of my early maternity leave at 7-ish months. An ambulance took me to the hospital, where I remained until I had the baby.

I was there for exactly 2 months, and I saw so many other women come and go with so many different pregnancy complications… that experience really makes me appreciate the relative “normal-ness” of my life.

Anyways, I kept a blog while I was there, and here is one of the posts from when I was there…

Saturday, May 01, 2004

My official name in the ward…”THE easiest patient”! The nurses tell me that I am the easiest patient on the floor…why…I get my own water, I have my own towels, I don’t complain to get my sheets changed, I take my tray back to the kitchen when I finish my food, AND I never ring that call bell!! Now they only do my vital checks twice a day, once in the morning and once before I go to bed, I don’t see my nurse very much, although a lot of them are coming over to check on my cross-stitch progress! What is it with nurses and cross-stitch?! I never even heard of cross-stitch before I came in the hospital.

So, in other news…roommate number 1 is back. This is her 4th time back since I have been here, and she’s been coming in since January! Nurses refer to patients like her as ‘frequent flyers’. This time she thinks that she is in pre-term labour…she thought the same thing the last time she came in too…

My present roommate, number 14, is extremely quiet…sometimes I forget she is there. She has been reading her religious book non-stop since she got in here…she has about 3 more weeks to go…she tells me that her plan is to read…

I said goodbye to roommate number 13 today, she gave me a gift…I feel so special! She was really nice, we got along great… She told me that her nurse was telling her that one of the moms fell asleep while holding her baby and the baby fell to the ground!

There is a symphony going on in the room next door…once one baby starts to bawl…they all start to bawl. The ring-leader is really screaming though, I have not heard a newborn cry this much before…wow, don’t know how much sleep we going to get tonight!??!? – posted by s @ 10:06 PM

Sorry, this article was removed.

The Nursing Bra Effect.

1. What once came in fun colors, is now black, white or beige and is about being practical and comfortable.
2. What once was spontaneous, frequent, and needed no justification, is now well planned out, few and far between, and usually ‘event-induced’.
3. What once was an exciting risk, now seems like needless danger.
4. What once was full of flavor, enjoyable, and satisfying, is now bland, nutritious, and often traumatic.
5. What once was relaxing and adventurous, is now exhausting but still adventurous.
6. What once had room for me, now has room for a family, toys, a theatre, a laundry, and has no space for me.
7. What once was full of cuddling, blankets, and sleep is now full of rude awakenings, feedings, and fighting for a piece of the blanket.
8. What once was quiet, peaceful and an escape from the world, is now loud, constantly in motion, and now requires an escape into the world.

What once was… 1. Obvious, 2. Going out (works for other things too), 3. Rollercoaster rides, 4. Dinner time, 5. Weekends, 6. My bedroom, 7. Night time, 8. Home.

Does everything go back to normal once the nursing bra gets thrown out? No, it seems that abnormal is the new normal, but it works, we’ll learn to grow with the kids, and eventually (I am told) they don’t wear diapers anymore, they don’t need bottles anymore, and they will actually not want to spend every waking (and sleeping) moment with us! Eventually. In the meantime, I’ll try to enjoy the new way of life.

Heck, Darn, and others.

One day I was talking to my husband and I said “what the…”, and stopped short realizing that the ‘almost 4’ year old was in the room, but my innocent son finished my sentence for me, “heck!”, he said proudly.

I am not one for swearing, I don’t swear as a part of everyday conversation and I never have, but the occasional (at least once a day) heck, damn, or ass does make it into my vocabulary. Seriously, any bad word that my kid learns is from me!

Today I was having a hard day… the baby seems to be teething (at least I hope that is why he is chewing on his hand!), and I am trying to clean up my living room (by moving all the furniture around by myself)... so when the ‘almost 4’ year old starts running around the couch (and over all the stuff on the floor), screaming and laughing, and waving a toy car in his hand, the only natural response is… “what the heck!!” Right?

Ok, so what I really said… to my husband… who was still in the middle of his dinner… “Can you finish eating and take that child outside so he can burn off some of that damn energy!!!” I mean, I already had a headache, and the toddler was not eating, and the baby was attached to me…

So then… both the toddler and the ‘almost 4’ year old start shouting “damn energy, damn energy, damn energy!”

When hubby looks at me with the ‘ha ha, you did something wrong’ look, I just ignored him and pretended I didn’t hear them! (I think it worked!)

The ‘almost 4’ year old is starting school in a month… I cringe thinking about having the parent-teacher meetings.

At least the baby can’t talk yet… you know what’s worse than 2 kids running around shouting “damn energy”... yeah… 3 kids running around shouting “damn energy”!!