Our Day

So today was a day when we had nothing going on. Nothing planned, just a leisurely day. I feel like a slacker on days like this. But then I decided to write down everything I did today and I am not as surprised that I needed (wanted) that huge Diet Coke at lunch. All you moms out there can appreciate this:

5:00 a.m. Crying baby, already in bed with me since 3 a.m. I flip Zeke to the other side and nurse him back to sleep.

7:00 a.m. Eleanor climbs in bed with me, shoving my head over on the pillow, complaining, "There no room for me". After exactly 11 minutes of little elbows and knees jabbing into my side (along with the occasional headbutt) I give up. I leave Zeke in my bed and take Ellie downstairs. I turn on Playhouse Disney and give her a sippy cup and a Nutri-grain bar. She is whining because she is cold, but won't climb into a blanket. I finally pick her up, wrap her in a blanket and plop her on the couch. "There," I say, "Now you are warm, right?" She smiles up at me and nods her head yes. Her attention turns to the cartoon on TV and I stagger back to bed. I am so grateful it is Friday because Roxy has Fridays off from school. At least I don't have to get her ready right now.

7:25 a.m.
Back in bed with Zeke, doze off into sweet, blissful sleep

8:03
Bliss broken by shrill 2 year-old screams. Girl fight downstairs. Roxy has woken up. Eleanor does not appreciate the company. I tell Ellie to be nice to her sister. Zeke wakes up. I go back to my bed and nurse him and then put him in his swing. Then I go back to my bed hoping to catch a little nap.

9:18a.m
Wake up, check on kids, all is calm. Eleanor is reading a book about M&M's and Roxy is on www.playhousedisney.com, one of her sanctioned websites. Zeke is still asleep.
I take a shower, then I clean my shower, sinks, and bathtub in my bathroom. I empty my trash as well.

9:40 a.m.
I bathe Eleanor. Always an adventure. Although she has 25 toys in the bathtub, she insists that she needs her rubber ducky. She jumps out of the tub and runs bare-bottomed to her room, but then comes back disgruntled. "Where my rubber ducky?" I say, "I'm not sure, but would you rather have a Zeke in the tub with you?" Her face lights up and she answers, "Sure"--which sounds exactly like "Suh", because she can't make the sounds of "sh" or "r".

9:50
I bathe Zeke with Eleanor. I wash his hair with coconut mango kid shampoo. I have to use extra to get out all the hairgel that Roxy used to spike his hair last night.
Then kids out of the tub and time for drying and lotion. Zeke is a piece of cake. Eleanor, however hates lotion and I have to use every trick in the book. She has on Roxy's big, fluffy pink robe, which covers her head to toe. I goop lotion onto my hands discreetly and say nonchalantly to Roxy, "Eleanor lost her belly button. She doesn't have one anymore." Horrified, Eleanor rips open her robe, checks her tummy and declares, "Yes, I do!" I smile and say in a relieved tone, "Oh, there it is" as I slather her midsection with lotion. Then I sadly say, "Ellie has a bellybutton, but it's too bad she lost her knees." Ellie lifts the robe to reveal her chubby knees. Another quick slather. We go through the rest of her body parts until she is properly moisturized.

10:05
Do Roxy's hair. She wants "one ponytail". This turns into a discussion weighing the virtues of the side-parted low pony vs. the basic pony. She decides on the classic pony...good choice. She chooses a light pink, hot pink and white bow to go with her hot pink and light pink striped shirt. She tells me she is dressing "for Valentimes". No matter how many times I've told her it's "ValentiNes", it will always be Valentimes to her. Lucky her. She has her very own holiday.

10:30
All kids dressed, nurse Zeke. Make my bed, gather up wet towels, dirty laundry and take to laundry room. Straighten the rest of my room and Zeke's room. Read a book to Ellie, make sure Roxy has brushed her teeth. Brush my teeth, put on makeup, brush my own hair. Fold a little laundry and put it away. Do Eleanor's hair. Mani-pedi time. The girls had been begging me all morning to paint their nails. Ellie chooses a coral pink and Roxy goes with a sparkly red.

11:35
Head to McDonald's to meet my friend Laurel, and let all the kids run wild. Together we bring 7 kids to McDonald's. Many chicken nuggets, apple juices and fruit parfaits later kids are playing in the play area. All seems well and Laurel and I are discussing the floorplan of the new house they are building, and Zeke is nursing again. (He is a total snacker). Then assorted children in our group begin complaining about the slide being wet. EWWWWW....at least it wasn't one of our kids who peed (this time, anyway) in the playarea. Out come the wet wipes. Poor McDonald's worker has to clean out the maze/slide area. Kids back in the maze. Back to my Diet Coke.

1:15
Load my kids in the car along with Emma and Hailey, coming home with us for a teaparty. We rock out to Hannah Montana in the Volvo. Stop at the mailbox and get the mail. Get home and 4 little girls run upstairs and start playing dressups. I put Zeke on his playmat as I go through the mail. Then I go outside and put the trash can back at the side of the house. The recycling bin is still here, full! Why didn't they empty it? Haul that back up to the house unemptied. Move Zeke to his bouncer seat. Do a load of dishes.

1:45
Help little girls with a teaparty consisting of pretzels, water, teddy grahams and dry cereal.
1:55
Clean up spilled water, pretzels, teddy grahams and dry cereal.
Let the dog in the house. Take a call from my visiting teaching companion. Our 3:00 appointment was rescheduled for next week. Play with Zeke, get huge grins, change his diaper. Let the dog out to go potty.

2:20
Feed Zeke. Help little girls change out of dressups and into warm clothes because they want to go outside to play with Henry Bacon Murdock, our dog. Clean the kitchen. Mod-podge a photo frame for an enrichment activity example.
I listen to Roxy whine about the photo frame having a letter "E" for Eleanor instead of an "R" for Roxy.
"Can you do one for me?"
"Probably."
"Can you make it today?"
"Probably not."
"Why not?"
"I'm not sure I'll have time."
"Can you make me one today, puh-lease?"
"We'll see".
"Can you at least go buy a letter R for it today?"
"I doubt it. We'll see."
I hope she forgets.




3:40
Take out the trash. The garbage truck just came this morning and we're back to filling up the garbage can. Drive Emma home. Drive Hailey home. Visit with Dora, who just had surgery. Kids run wild at her house. Eleanor throws a fit because I take a bite of her oreo cookie. Wails, "You ruined my cookie". Dora is sweet and fixes it by giving her two intact oreos. Load 3 kids back into the car, head home.

4:35
Clean living room. Clean Roxy and Ellie's room, save for a small pile on Roxy's bed. Roxy is thrilled that she doesn't have to clean the whole thing, since it looked like a princess bomb went off in there after the playdate. Feed Zeke. Roxy asks again if I will make her a photo frame. She has even chosen out a pink and blue paisley she wants me to use. "Not right now, maybe later".

5:15
Have an internal debate about whether to make dinner (no groceries) or get sandwiches from Subway. I decide to wait to go grocery shopping tomorrow, when Jake is back in town from Phoenix. Subway it is. I am glad that I opted to go to Subway instead of the grocery store when Eleanor has a melt-down over wanting chocolate milk while waiting in line. Grocery store would have been a joke. Rush out of there with sandwiches.

5:40
Eat dinner. Clean up dinner mess. Have Roxy feed and water Henry. Break down and make a photo frame for Roxy. She is thrilled with the result and thanks me sweetly. I check a few emails. Convince Eleanor to eat her sandwich instead of the marshmallows she is begging for. Change a diaper. Sing a turtle song with Ellie. Roxy reads her National Geographic Kids magazine from Great-Grandma Nielson and tells us fun facts about dogs.

6:35
Talk to Jake. His flight will be in at 9:45. We are all so excited to see him. He has been at a two-week F-16 fighter jet training course, but gets to come home for 48hours. He has been gone exactly 6 days, 7 hours and 15 minutes....but who's counting, right? Nurse Zeke. Put him in swing to sleep.

7:15
Zeke awake and fussy, eats again. Let the dog in the house. Put Eleanor and Zeke in jammies. Roxy is excited she gets to stay up until Jake comes home. Put a load of dirty clothes in the washer. Do a gospel word-search with Roxy. Gather vaccination records, birth certificate, etc. for preschool registration in the morning. I'll be in line at 6:00 a.m. What's wrong with me? You'd think this was college prep, not a class to learn how to catch a virus and eat hard macaroni and dried glue off construction paper. Zeke plays on his playmat. He has learned to roll and roll for fun. He'll get clear across a room now. I hear him him fussing and find him stuck under a chair. The perils of rolling! I put him back on his playmat.

7:38
Attempt (for the fourth time this week) to sit down at the computer to learn the new Photoshop Elements I bought.
7:40
Crying baby. That's okay. I'd rather hold Zekey Boy than crop a picture of him on the computer. Help Roxy with her "Baptism Book". She is so excited to get baptized. Violin practice. Roxy works on "Lightly Row" the song she plans to play at her baptism. Zeke falls asleep.

8:15
Put a tired little Eleanor in bed. Read her a Halloween book she chooses because "I like scary books!" She insists on wearing her Spiderman shirt to bed. She remarks happily, "He is wearing pants!" (I've never noticed before, but I guess she is right. He is wearing pants...spandex pants, but I guess they qualify).

Then she has me tell her a story. This is actually her and Jake's nightly tradition, but I have to fill in. The story always has to have a princess and a dragon. My story went something like this,
"Once there was a little princess who had an elephant. This princess was very adventurous and loved to ride on the back of her elephant. The would go all over the world. Her favorite place to go with her elephant was to the beach. She and her elephant would play in the sand and watch the waves crash on the shore. One day a dragon came out of the water. The elephant was very brave and ran towards the dragon, shaking it's long nose. The scared dragon dove back into the ocean,down, down, down to the depths, never to be heard from again." (Until tomorrow, that is).
Eleanor seems somewhat satisfied with the story, but I know she will be happy when the true dragon/princess orator returns. Mom is just an imposter.

8:45
Zeke is awake again. I sit down at the computer to start to chronicle the day, one-hand typing, one hand holding a baby. Let the dog out.

9:20
Put Zeke in a snowsuit and load him into the car. Drag a still-sleeping Ellie to the car. Roxy hops happily in. Drive to the airport.

9:50
Pick up Jake from the airport. Eleanor, strapped in her carseat, wakes, rubs her eyes, smiles at Jake and says, "I have Spider Man on my shirt. He is wearing pants". Welcome home, Dad.
Roxy gives her parents a Valentine that she made with Eleanor during the day. She traced Ellie's hands and then wrote in the fingers. What good girls we have!

10:15
Home. Jake puts Ellie back to sleep with a proper story. Roxy puts on jammies and goes to bed. I nurse Zeke and he goes to sleep. Phew...the house is silent.

11:30
Jake and I hang out and talk. I lay out my mittens, hat, scarf, parka, boots for my early morning.

12:15
To bed. Hopefully I'll get almost 5 hours of sleep before I have to brave the preschool waiting line. It should be a toasty 20 degrees if I am lucky. I better get a slot for Eleanor in that germ factory.