I am one of those moms..........

So it all started one day with a phone call from my DH asking me if Drew (DS) was going to wrestle. You mean like with his little brother and occasionally his sister. Well, sure boys will be boys and I am sure wrestling is just one of those things boys naturally do. That isn't what he meant. He meant was he going to "go out for wrestling" the sign up is today he informed me. He was calling mainly because his boss is the coach and to say he is enthusiastic about wrestling would be a gross understatement. I quickly and curtly responded with an a "absolutely not". What I wanted to say was do you mean am I going to send my sweet baby boy, whom I love so dearly, and can still see his sweet cuddly face when he was born weighting 9lb 2oz, to get beat-up???? The precious son who a month earlier we celebrated his 5th birthday. The skinny little blonde hair, blued eyed boy who barely weighs 40lb. Was I going to send him to wrestling (spoken with a snarl), where boys would try to attack my baby. Ahhhh no, I think not. Now I am not sure my DH was expecting me to have the melt down I had. I think he thought I would willingly go for it, since I myself had played many sports growing up. I think he thought I would say "yes that would be great experience and will teach him alot of valueable life lessons." Yeah, well I didn't. This wasn't a sport I had any interest in letting, or encouraging one of my children to participate in.

I had a great idea on how to get my DS out of having to take part in such a barbaric sport, I would ask him if he wanted to do it. I knew he would say NO. So I asked him and he was so cute standing in the kitchen and so small. He responded "sure, and if I can't get him tackled, I will just punch him!" Whoa, I'm sorry, what? I really thought my incredibly shy little boy would say "no", but istead he was trying to come up with other ways to hurt someone else.....ah where did I go wrong?

So it happened without being able to stop it, Drew is now a wrestler. (big sigh) Wow, I can honestly say I never dreamed of it. On top of it all he LOVES it. He is learning so much and comes home and talks a mile a minute about practice. My shy little boy. I feel my attitude start to shift on this whole new sport. I find myself not being able to wait to find out who he wrestled and if he pinned(wrestling lingo) anyone. He even practices some of his moves on me. He actually caught me off guard and dropped me to the ground. The best part is watching him step out of his sister's shadow and come out of his shell.

So, I decide I have to go to his first meet, I am dying to see him. Last night was the night of his first meet, and I was going to be there no matter what. Babies still weren't 100% but I knew they would be comfy in their stroller. So we went. Drew was very shy when we first got there I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to get him on the mat. Thankfully, Daddy got there and got Drew off to warm-ups. The other team arrives and the panic sets in. These aren't "little" boys, they looked like kids on steroids(maybe I exagerate a tiny bit, but they were bigger than Drew). Oh my goodness, what if he got hurt or worse yet just stood there and cried while some other child did a take down (more wrestling lingo) on my DS. I asked one of the other mother's if anyone ever gets hurt. She said "sometimes, but I can guarantee someone always cries." Oh great so reasurring thanks, I am glad I asked.

Out come our boys and they look so little. I finally see Drew, and he has the most somber look on his face. His expression is totally blank, as he watches the other matches intently. He never cracks a smile or speaks to anyone just sits quietly taking it all in. Now I was a big athlete all my life and even played some college ball. I have had some big games and nerves in my life, but this takes the cake. I am freaking out inside and about ready to throw-up. My sweet little boy looks so nervous and scared. I don't blame him, in a few minutes someone is going to try and take him down and pin him. All these moves I am seeing, I just know there is no way Drew knows how to do this. Well, too late because he is on deck. The coach has his arm around him and is talking to Drew. DS just nods and walks onto the mat. The ref has the boys shake hands and I am literally shaking(it is actually visibly on the video tape as I was filming him). The whistle blows and off they go tearing after eachother. Drew is first with his move and in the first 20 seconds Drew has this little boy on the ground! I am screaming so loud it is scarying Alice who is on my lap. Go Drew, come on Drew, you can do it!!!!! Then it hit me across the gym there was another mom cheering for her son to beat up my son! Wow, I am now one of those moms. I kept cheering though, in a packed gym I knew he could hear his mom and dad's voices. I could always pick my dad's voice out of a full gym:-) He did awesome the match lasted about a minute and my sweet, shy, son, did a take down and pinned that other little boy. Someone else's DS. I was so proud I even teared up. His facial expression still was emotionless. The ref brought them together to shake hands again and blew the whistle to signal the match was over. Drew thought that meant go and he started after the poor oponent again. The ref quickly grabbed Drew and said "No, buddy it is over, you already won!" It was the cutest thing. The ref grabbed Drew's hand and held his arm staraight in the air signifying winner. Drew's face never changed. Daddy quickly went over to congratulate him and he said to him "you know you won right, buddy?" Drew responded "well yeah of course, I pinned him." Ahhh he wasn't a scared little boy, he was focused. Maybe he isn't my little 5 year old after all, but my BIG 5 year old. It is offical I am a wrestling mom and happy to be.

Until next time......happy day.

I need go go gadget arms.........

So I was sitting in my favorite comfy glider rocking and nursing Jake. I was really enjoying the quailty time together. I know he is getting big and our days of nursing are most likely numbered. He was pretty fidgety and fussy, not realizing what was going on I kept rocking and feeding him. He then proceeded to throw-up all over me, my comfy glider, and himself. "Ewwww.....seriously this today?" So I quickly gave him a bath and got him all cleaned up and smelling like sweet cuddly baby again. He of course promptly threw-up again and now it was flowing freely out of both ends. (Sorry TMI) Poor baby, I couldn't lay him down he just wanted mommy. It is so hard when they are sick. You feel so helpless and just want to take any pain away.

My next thought was, lets keep this "thing" contained. Anyone who has more than one child knows this is a domino effect. I quickly started another (sigh) load of laundry....ugh stomach flu laundry the worst. That is the laundry that trumps all the other laundry. So begins the psycho cleaning of toys, highchairs, blankets, paci, spoons, sippy cups and.........anything in sight. I have to make sure that Alice doesn't get it too and everyone else. At all cost please not my DH (we all know they get it way worse than we do and can't keep quiet about it;-) and heaven forbid the mom get sick. Mom's should have a special immunity and never be able to be sick. (so far so good)

Well, I am sure you can guess all my special mom and cleaning powers were no match for the flu bug. Our sweet baby girl soon fell victim to the nasty stomach bug and of course got it even worse. Doing everything I could to comfort them both and care for everyone else was almost impossible. They really needed three of me or at least three more sets of arms. Having twins is challenging enough, but then you add on illness and three more children, it is an uphill battle the whole way. I almost felt helpless and defeated. Thankfully, there was a light at the end of the tunnel. My light was a man that walked in the door wearing a halo.....daddy! I don't think he was very excited to be there. Especially, when I quickly told them I was glad he was home and instantly began barking orders at him. Poor guy....he had been working all day too. I think he took one look at me, still in my workout gear from 6am and decided to keep his complaints to himself. Smart man.....very smart man. He held down the fort so I could hop in the shower to remove the sweat, grime, vomit, poop, and any other foreign substances. Refreshed and ready for round 15, poor sweet lil Alice threw-up all over her very tired momma. Seriously........

Well, today is a new day everyone is still not up to par but I believe on the mend. My older three kids have been so helpful during this lastest bout of illness, I decided to reward them with a sucker and a movie. Two things that don't happen very often. After I got the babies down for their naps, I went to check on my sweet angels. There they were sitting quietly watching the movie and swapping suckers. Fabulous!!!!!

They make me laugh and pull my hair out all in the same five minutes!

Until next time.........happy day!

Falling off the workout wagon

How did this happen?  How did I get so off course?  I need to do better.  This is the conversation I am having with myself over my morning coffee.  It is too late to go hop on the treadmill or pop in my favorite dvd, it is 7am.   I already have 4 little faces staring at me and they look hungry.  I am disappointed in myself, for getting off track in the first place.  But it happens.  For me, this time, it was a trip to California for my sisters wedding.  Ironic really, because that was my reason in the first place for climbing aboard the workout wagon.  It is funny how that happens.  I even packed my clothes thinking my DH and I would get up and go on a nice invigorating walk each morning before the days activites began.  Seriously what was I thinking????  Two parents minus five kids equals SLEEP.  Needless to say we didn't get out of our warm bed and our very quiet room.  I came home frustrated with myself as I unpacked the neatly folded workout clothes.  They hadn't been touched, just pushed to the side so I could grab my heels and my clutch.

I have been back over a week and have only managed to get in about 3 workouts.  How does the motivation leave me so soon?  When you are doing so great and then suddenly it is gone, and it is twice as hard to get it back.  Perphaps it is the 2 year old that has crawled into bed with me at 4am and is now snuggled in so close I am about to fall off the bed.  He is just too cute to move, plus the last thing I want is to wake him.  I better stay put, so I don't disturb this sleeping toddler that can easily turn into a crabby toddler.    Really I know I need to give myself a break and try to fit in something later in the day.........an almost impossible task but it has been done.

What I miss is my alone time.  It is the only chance I get all day for some peace.  I can actually hear my own thoughts before the house erupts with every noise on the planet.  My workout makes me feel great.  It gives me a sense of accomplishment.  It is only 6am and I already get to mark something off my list!  If I can remember to spend some time praying while I am pounding away that would be 2 checks (moms multitasking).  Ahhhh what a great feeling.  If anyone has ideas on how to sneak in burst of workouts on these days I fall off the workout wagon, I would love to hear them..  Until then I resolve to do better tomorrow for my own sanity and my kids too!

Until next time.........happy day!

Never let them see you FRAZZLED

The witching hours are famous in our house for being the craziest part of the day, usually between 4-6 pm.  It is really the time of day when everything you have worked so hard to keep together goes haywire!  Babies are crying in unison, the 2 year old is laying on the floor kicking his feet in protest of anything you might be suggesting, 5&6 years olds are complaining that they are starving to death, and the mom who actually looks like she has had a makeover performed by trained monkeys.  She is completely dishevelled with her hair in a semi ponytail that is now off to the side, her clothes are covered in dried who knows what, but now can only be described as "crud".  She has to pull it together because you can never let them see you frazzled or they will take over, during your moment of weakness.

I wonder is this only my house?  It has happened at every stage of my mommy life.....1 child, 2 children, 3 and now with 5 it can get very loud!  It happens even when daddy is home.  Just last night I was sitting at my computer working on my blog (quietly).  He had offered to make dinner so I thought I would take a few minutes for myself.  Well, my few minutes must have turned into 25 because the next thing I hear is "Don't you hear that?  Don't you need to do something?!  It is so loud in this house!"  Whoa what did I miss?  Is someone hurt, bleeding, dying?  Nope just the usual mass chaos has broken out and their leader (my dear sweet husband) is crumbling.  Poor guy.  In his defense he is a wonderful father and has so much patients but he usally doesn't get home until 7 long after these witching hours have taken place.  Usually 2 out of the 5 are already in bed and the other 3 are so excited to see him he doesn't mind the excitement. 

I really try to avoid these meltdowns at all costs by planning dinners early, making sure everyone has the proper amount of sleep, snacks at around 3:30, and perphaps a bath to help combat the crankiness.  Nothing really seems to stop this time from being crazy but some of it does help.  It gets really sticky in the nights we have dance, wrestling, awana, or any other function.  The end result is usually one or both babies screaming half way home only to fall asleep the moment my front tire hits the driveway.  Sigh..............

Tonight is actually easier believe it or not....why?  My DH called at 8am and told me he was going to be working very late.  I don't suppose things are going well for him if at 8am he already knows this!  For me this means there is no extravagant meal (that is a joke) I need to make.  The fact that I forgot to lay out any meat to prepare something yummy doesn't have to make my night any more chaotic.  It is the blue box for my kids, who by the way are overjoyed, and a lean cuisine for me.  

Will it get better the older they get?  When they are 5, 7, 9, &10 will I be able to get dinner pulled together in peace or will there still be tempers flaring?  Until then I will try not to let them know that I am struggling to keep it together too! 

Until next time.......Happy Days.

To Blog or Not To Blog

This has been a conversation I have been having with myself and my husband for the past 8-9 months.  Should I start a blog?  This is one more thing to add to my never ending to-do list.  On one hand it seemed like a good outlet for me to just get to sit down and write what is on my mind.  On the other hand the laundry has it's own zip code, dinners aren't going to make themselves, and these 5 kids keep demanding me to do things for them!  Well, I decided to go ahead with it when my dear sweet husband of almost 10 years says "will you just start the blog already."  So I did.....I am.  It will be a process I suppose, but one I hope I enjoy and that I can make time for.  With my days filled with chasing 9 mo twins(who are crawling and attempting to put every choking hazard into their mouths at the same time), a 2.5 year old (that is so mischievious he really needs 2 people watching him at all times), Lego obsessed 5 year old, and a 6.5 ballerina, I can find plenty to talk about!!!!!  This is a fun journey I am about to embark on and I hope my children will one day look at it and enjoy all the fun things they did or said.  I just told my DD who is 6 that I was going to do this and she said "is that one of those .com things."  So cute and innocent can I please keep her that way?  Well, I hope this blog entertains a few and maybe I can even give some insight on this thing called motherhood.   Until next time...... happy days