Keep Your Distance

Sick Again. Blah.............

Everyone is sleeping but me.

Report Card Confusion

It's Report Card time. Just in time for a long weekend. I think that the teacher doesn't even know who Logan is. This is what she wrote. "He consistently has a wonderful attitude about everything and sets a positive example for others." Huh??? I think she got the wrong kid!

Other than that, no surprises.

4 1/2 Hours!

She slept for almost 4 1/2 hours! It was from 9am until 1:30 pm while sitting in the car seat, but still, it should count for something, right? No?

On that same note, since midnight not once have all of my children been asleep or awake at the same time. That makes it hard to go anywhere or for me to ever actually sleep. It is now 2 pm and I'm giving Avery 30 minutes before I wake her so we can buy some groceries.

Ah.......

The Normal Out-Laws

I have 8 sibling-in-laws. But I've really only thought of my partner's siblings/wives as in-laws. My siblings' spouses are, well, my sibling's spouses. So. The other day I was reading the blog of my brother's wife http://lambertfamily4.blogspot.com/ and she was blogging about her sister-in-law keeping track of the her day by the numbers. Wow! Just like I did. It took me a bit to realize it was me. After that slow-brain moment I was excited to realize someone thought we were normal. Woo Hoo! We'll skip over the fact she lives hundreds of miles away and really doesn't really know us.

See. Look how normal we are-

We play in the dishwasher,

and the fridge.
We wear silly hats.
And our babies only wear their superhero capes when there is a princess in distress somewhere.

Our family photos are taken in pajamas with the real baby in the doll stroller.
Our 8 month old enjoys plastic bags.
And we eat toilet paper together in the bathroom.

Sounds like a perfectly typical family to me. No?



Note-I was asked about the tri-mama wanna-be part of this whole thing. Still a wanna-be! I'll try to post what is going on, but sadly, it isn't much. It is too cold to put the babies in the jogger for too long so everything is based on Cathy being home to cover the homefront. Today is a 6 miler with an afternoon swim while Avery is at extended day. Tomorrow is a 6 am spin class with a bunch of 'real' trifolks. (2 pros, 1 really fit 50 year old guy, and a high schooler with two older sibs who are both pro-triathletes. Kid could whup all of us!) The 6am class sounded perfect, but it actually entails getting up before 5 to pump so the babes have something when they wake before I get home at 7:30. And it just reinforces how hard the past year has been on my body. First tri of the season is on Mother's Day and is a sprint sprint. 400y/9M/3.2M- odd distances, pool swim with 550 people, but fun to see everyone again after the winter.

5 Years Ago

Avery was born. She was tiny, ugly and quite content. Today she is still tiny, beautiful and strong willed. For the most part I think she is still pretty content. Here she is getting ready to blow out the candles on her cupcakes at school.

My Day, By the Numbers

This is a breakdown of a weekend day from 6 am until 9 pm. Just a typical day.



Diapers Changed- 23
Diapers worn by Meryl- 9
Times Meryl fought wearing the diaper- 9
Babies Nursed- 23 (Well, really it is just the same two babies multiple times.)

Nails Clipped- 88
Number of Nails Meryl fought to have clipped-10
Teeth Brushed- 169
Heads of Hair brushed or combed- 0 (Hey- It's saturday!)

Loads of Laundry- 3, plus a load of diapers that made it through the washing but not the drying part yet.
Times I said
"with hot soapy water."- 7, we only left the house once all day.
"Don't touch her head."-16, but it felt like more
"Latch the door closed, please."- 7

Cookies made-31
Cookies eaten- 27, 17 by me
Books read- 17 plus chapters 18 and 19 of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Logan finished the book today by listening to the rest on cd. I read 16 of the books, Logan read one to me. (Henry and Mudge)
Floors swept- 7, the dining room was swept 5 times.
Floors washed- 1, but it was half the living room and half the dining room
Flights of stairs I walked-26

Times I cursed- 1
Times Meryl would have cursed if she could- at least 12

Times I put someone in a highchair- 9
Times I cleaned someone up to take them out of the highchair- 7
(after dinner I just strip them and put them in the tub.)
Times I cleaned the floor under the highchairs- 4
Times I thought "There has got to be an easier way."- 4

Number of adults I spoke to in person- 1 (The librarian pointed to the restrooms for me.)
Seconds until I feel asleep- about 4

Now I'll do it again. And on Monday and Tuesday I will take full advantage of the fact that both Logan and Avery are in school for the same 5 hours!

Spring Thaw?

We can only hope this is the last snow fort of the season.

A Week Of Firsts

The first time they kept holding hands while watching the birds in the morning.

The first time Meryl brushed her teeth.

The first time any child chose to be Prof. McGonagall rather than a student at Hogwarts.

The first time for Strawberries.

Meryl wasn't so impressed.

The first time we needed a gate to separate the playing children.

The first time Finley has spent much time up on hands and knees.

Which is exhausting work.

And the floor comes both quickly and hard!

The first time the little girls have worn bathing suits. Just checking the sizes. They still wear swim diapers when we go to the pool. And in case you were wondering. Finley is wearing a 2T and Meryl is wearing a 4T. Think Old Navy has some trouble with their sizing?

And this afternoon Logan has a playdate with a kid whose phone number he got at Lazerzone. He even talked on the phone with this kid and came off with a joke and "yeah, were going to play at lazerzone ." Oh. When? "I don't know." Also Logan has just started to read books to Avery, which is a very sweet thing to listen to.