Nicknames

I am not fond of nicknames. I don't know why exactly. Possible nicknames are always in mind when I pick my children's names. We nixed so many names with the kids because of name shortening nicknames. Needless to say - hubs has already dubbed the baby with one that the other kids are picking up on - and I cringe when I hear it. I'll probably be using it by next week....or next month, tops.

That all said I've finally dubbed the children with nicknames (for the purpose of the blog only, mind you!!)

9 yr old daughter - Sha-Sha
7 yr old daughter - Ni-Ni
4 yr old son - THE Boy
5 wk old daughter - Gi-Gi

Now let me explain -

Sha Sha and Ni Ni were nicknames THE Boy gave the girls when he was learning to talk and they stuck (only within the family). Despite my loathing of nicknames - I still use Ni Ni's frequently as an endearment.

THE Boy is self explanatory.

Gigi was hubby's idea. 5 wk old is very gassy and he said it should be G&G for Gas and more Gas. I won't tell her how she got this nickname - as long as you don't.

Leakproof? Ha!!

What ever happened to the Luvs leakproof guarantee? They should test these things on my baby....She would give them a run for the money.

Camp jitters...

Not me mind you. Sha-Sha (9 yr old) is ready to go, third year and all. Ni-Ni (7 yr old) has talked about nothing else for 6 months. But last night on the eve of camp I think she started to get nervous. What was the first sign?

- "Mommy I don't want you to cry when I leave....maybe I shouldn't go...."

or could it be...

- "Mommy I don't want to stay in a cabin without a lock"....(you can tell we are city dwellers). When I explained all the reasons locks weren't necessary - her response was "what about bears coming in?" I calmly informed her that bears can't open doors as Sha-Sha says "yeah - the doors open out, not in!"


I exit room and laugh hysterically.

5 weeks..

The baby is 5 weeks old now. It seems to have flown by already. We are all rejoicing over the sweet expressions and coos...

When you become a parent of your first, everyone tells you to cherish it and that it all goes by so fast. You roll your eyes and think that the sleepless nights will never end.

By the time you get to your fourth (and hopefully final) you realize how right they all were. I look at my nine year old and realize it seems like just yesterday that hubs and I were ecstatic with her first smile....

Sniff! My babies are all growing up and I WILL enjoy them while I can.....

even if it means dirty dishes waiting for a while in the sink
even if it means a kitchen floor that needed to be mopped yesterday
even if it means I didn't get accomplished all I had planned today....

I am going to go peer at their angelic faces and rejoice in the wonderful gifts God has entrusted to us....

Talents and Wal-Mart with 4

Mine is definitely not blogging! I can't seem to find the time, much less to have anything interesting to say!!

Just call me crazy. I took all 4 to Wal-Mart yesterday. It was not a good idea. I wanted one thing and once I was there kept thinking of other things we needed. I didn't want to waste the trip....

Here's a lowdown of what happened....

Halfway thru the store, can't find the original item we were looking for....can't find anyone to help....

Baby has BLOWOUT diaper and starts to Scream. We head to bathroom for a change. Halfway thru change 4 yr old runs out bathroom door.....

Finish in bathroom and baby is now screaming because after a diaper change she is awake and is convinced I plan to starve her....

Walk now back to area where I think item I need is - whole time holding a screaming baby in one hand and trying to help the 9 year old steer the cart with the other because she can't see over the carseat. The 4 yr old is trying to help steer from the front, but only succeeds in getting the cart cockeyed and blocking every aisle. Meantime the 7 yr old wants to shop, after all she has brought her purse and has money to burn thru....

What was I thinking....

Busted!!

Conviction has come my directions from several sources in the last two days. God's word, pastor's sermon, and a link on a friend's blog. It couldn't be more obvious than a bolt of lightning......

Don't get me wrong - I don't feel dejected or bashed over the head, just gently corrected and steered away, like something you would do with your toddler when they become distracted from a task.... (That might not be the right analogy - comparing myself to a toddler....hmmmm...)

Anyway - with all the "venting" - my attitude has been a little lackluster....
Time for a I've been doing a lot more griping and a lot less rejoicing.....Do I feel like rejoicing? Not really, sleep deprived and grumpy I can do. Rejoicing takes effort. I don't have the energy...

The difference in ME when I begin to focus on the positives and not the negatives! When I focus on the beautiful healthy children God has given me, instead of the sleepless nights and trips to the doctor for a few things here and there. I think about the parents who have sleepless nights because of a critically ill child, or who spend life savings on doctors to receive the runaround about a diagnosis... God has blessed me tremendously!

I complain about my furniture store incident. I should be rejoicing that we have any furniture at all, and much less a house to put it in.

I could complain today about my lack of time to do things around the house today. But instead I am rejoicing that I had time to fold two loads of laundry.....

I could complain today about the $100 plus dollars we had to spend this morning to have a drain snaked at our house. But today, I am CHOOSING to rejoice in the fact that we have running water, that is safe to drink.

I could complain that it's hubby's first day back at work, and the baby wants to be held and anytime mom holds her she thinks she HAS to nurse....

But I am rejoicing in the fact that Dad will be home in approximately an hour and I will have a chance to shower......(okay that one is a little shallow - but completely honest.)

Customer is always right?

Remember the good ole days of customer service? Where the customer was right....and if the customer caught an error - the seller/company offered some kind of renumeration for their error.

Enter our day today - On the way to the furniture store that we had been trying to get to for 3 days we stop for takeout at a Wendy's. (They hate to see us coming with our huge order....) Anyway it took the cashier 3 times to get the order right and the window person 3 tries to get the order right when giving it to us. We waited in the drive thru 10 minutes! (We did get an additional free sandwich in our bag that the manager pointed out to us - although who was going to eat it on top of what we ordered?)

We finally make it to the furniture store (the security detail didn't stop us at the door) and find a floor sample sofa and chair that were being sold pretty inexpensively and we liked the comfort and color. We are told they are being sold as a set because they are floor samples and we agree to take them. Salesperson (very green from what we can tell) goes to ring them up and tells us that she can't sell us the chair because it isn't in the computer. Must have already been sold, she says! Hubby and I consider some other sets but aren't crazy about anything ( translate - everything is too expensive). We look at some bedroom furniture and come back and ask this salesperson to check with someone else about the sofa set - how can you not have the chair when it is sitting right here and says it is being sold WITH the sofa. Salesperson says "the chair is sold." Hubby and I leave a little dejected and discuss on the way home how to try and fix what we have....

On the way home we stop at Sonic and get drinks to cheer us up. First they try to give us someone else's order and then when the order is right - then try to charge us for someone else's food....(We are told it is her second day by the manager 5 or 6 minutes later - and she is working a busy drive-thru by herself on a Saturday?) No offer of a discount coupon here either....

When will employers learn that training your employees pays off in retention and customer satisfaction later?....

The kicker....when we get home there is a message on the answering machine from the furniture salesperson - she checked again and figured out the chair and sofa are available.....

The bright side - hubby and I did get to go out for the 15th anniversary last night. We went to a Japanese steak house and enjoyed the show and good food (and then rushed home to feed a hungry baby and change a diaper that exploded everywhere)......at least it wasn't Wendy's.....

Siblings...

We thought everyone was adjusting well to the newest addition. Sure we have had a couple of comments like "put the baby down" and "why do you get to touch her when she's sleeping?" We have also had a few more arguments between the middle two, and they have escalated quickly. I thought it was very revealing yesterday when we were preparing to leave the house on an outing together that dearest daughter #2 made the comment "Great! You know who will get all the attention!" Which is true? How many times today did someone stop and ask the older three anything except - are you the big brother/sister? (or some other question that relates to the baby). Everyone asked how old is the baby? Is it a boy or girl? (This question amazes me when the baby is dressed in pink stripes with a pink ruffle...) Was she born with that much hair? on and on the questions go....No wonder the older ones are a little upset....

Another day....

The baby had a rough night (translated: Mommy had a rough night). And of course son was still up with the sun at 6 am. Guess what - at 3 in the morning there is mostly Paid Programming on cable. I guess that is how they convince people to buy the contraptions or the music collections -- everything looks good at 3 am!! I finally settled for the O'Reilly Factor (is that the right name?) and after 1/2 an hour had a headache, with all that talking over each other....)

It must have been the VERY overripe banana that caused the son to get sick yesterday, because after the incident and a half hour or so of rest - he was his normal hyperactive self. I think he learned his lesson.

BTW - Have you noticed that the list of possible babysitters exponentially decreases with the increase in the number of children you have? Relatives even have to stop to think about it when you ask. I don't blame them! If you are not used to the chaos, it can take a lot out of you.

I guess we will try our plans from yesterday again today. Hopefully the furniture store parking lot cameras didn't record our escapade yesterday, and a security detail won't meet us today.....

Trying again!

Okay - I've tried this before and not been very good at keeping a blog updated. Right now I am feeling pretty isolated from the real world after having my 4th baby 4 weeks ago, a 7 yr old with a broken arm 3 weeks ago and a 4 yr old with a 102 degree fever for 7 days last week. Maybe this will be a good way to vent.....

Today was going to be the first major outing as a family in the last month. A trip to the furniture store, a few garage sales, maybe a stop at the park....

So what happens in the furniture store parking lot? 4 yr old throws up! At least it wasn't in the van or in the store.... Then I find out from hubby that 4 yr old son consumed half of a very overripe banana at 6 am before both hubby and I were out of bed..... I knew that I should have tossed those yesterday.....

So back in the van to the isolation tent......(insert tears and kleenex here). At least hubby has been off on "paternity" leave to share the joy!!

Hubs and I have scheduled a night out 3 times in the last 2 weeks to go out and celebrate our 15th anniversary and aforementioned issues have prevented it..... I guess 16 will be more memorable!


I am a little nervous to have hubs go back to work and leave me with all 4. The older ones are a little bored with the whole staying at home thing too!


Okay - we finally gave in and got cable last week and I have watched WAY too many home improvement shows!

It has motivated hubby to do several things on the honey-do list (although the list continues to grow with every show I watch!)

Just saw something else - where's my list?