The Good, the Bad, and the Funny

What a morning! This day has been...interesting...to say the least. It's times like these that a good sense of humor keeps me going, despite a less-than-desired amount of sleep last night. (Kenna nursed at 10:15, 1:15, 3:30, and woke again at 4:15 and 4:45 to fuss.)

Today's "Baby Blues" comic was so appropriate for my life these days. The mom says to herself, "Zoe and Hammie are playing with friends, and Wren [the baby] is napping. I might as well stop, relax (she sits, then lies down on the couch)...and rest up for the next fiasco!" This last part is said as Hammie tugs on her sleeve and announces, "I think Trent's pet snake just had babies under our stove!"

Thankfully, we don't have baby snakes running (oops, slithering) around our house, but resting up for the next fiasco is definitely a familar scenario around here. First of all, Kenna was fussy all morning. I think she maybe napped 20 minutes at a time. Second of all, Arden had diarrhea and went through 3 pairs of underwear before I even had a clue what was going on! I put him in pull-ups and he went through, I don't know, a lot of those before he finally started making it to the potty. Before this happened, though, he did manage to completely unload once on the floor right beside the potty. I'm sure I could have been extreme comedic fodder had anyone been watching me scurry from one end of the house to the other, trying to figure out how to balance a screaming baby, a poop-machine boy, breakfast, laundry, and home schooling all at once!!

We did make it through the morning. Charis was delighted with the new Flashmaster that I got for the kids to practice drilling math facts. It came with our Sonlight order, and I can tell it's going to be a hit with all of them. Tobin isn't ready for it yet, but once he sees it, I'm sure he'll be teaching himself some math facts just so he can have a chance to "play" it!

A friend came over after lunch to watch the older 3 kids while I took Kenna to base for my 6-week postpartum appointment. Had Kenna cooperated with the perfect schedule I had envisioned, she would have nursed right before we left, thereby giving me plenty of time to get to and from base before she would need me again. Obviously, given our less-than-perfect morning, this did not happen, and as I was sitting half naked in the exam room waiting for 20 minutes or so, I ended up with a definite first in my 6 1/2 years of motherhood: I endured a pap smear while nursing a baby. Hey, you gotta do what ya gotta do!

I did have a quiet afternoon as all the kids played in their own rooms--after running around outside together with their friend while I was gone, I think they were glad for some individual play time. The brief respite was most welcome, as Kenna began fussing again and made dinner preparations rather stressful.

NOTE TO SELF: Please stop eating queso dip! It didn't make for a happy baby 5 1/2 weeks ago when you tried it, and obviously it's not helping now, either!!!

I broke down and had some chips and queso dip last night. It was calling my name, and I thought perhaps the one bad night we had had the last time I ate it could have either been a fluke, or perhaps her system would better be able to take something a bit exotic. I haven't really had any other problems with foods I eat while nursing--none of the other kids had any noticeable reactions to anything I ate. So I thought it wouldn't hurt to try the dip again. Well...I don't think I'll be eating any of it for a long time now.

OK, I guess I've covered the "Bad" and the "Funny" so far, so I'll close with the "Good." Remember the "Mean Mommy" notation Charis wrote on her handwriting page yesterday? Last night she gave me an index card, turned lengthwise, with this precious message:

To Mommy,
from Charis.
You are the
best Momm-
y I do know.
You rerry
are. I Love
you so so mu-
ch. Yes I do.

Ah, sweet motherhood!