Forutunate

For the past couple of months, just about every Wednesday morning, my mother in law comes and watches Peyton, Parker, and Piper while Paxton and I go out and run errands. It started out with me just going to the grocery store, but now I try to squeeze in as many errands as I can just so I can avoid the nightmare of taking all 4 kids!

Well, today was no exception and as Pax and I went from one errand to the next, ending in the grocery store, I run into a few women who are out shopping with their kids in tow. Even though I wouldn't wish badly behaved children on anyone, it gives me a little bit of pleasure, or maybe reassurance is a better word, watching someone else's kids do the same things that my kids do when I take them out by myself. I can smile to myself knowing that I'm not the only one with kids who are racing around the store, laying on the floor, putting holes in the eggs, touching everything they see, pulling candy off the shelf in the checkout aisle, having complete meltdowns as I continue to push the cart and walk away, or fighting, hitting, and/or yelling at each other (not that our children do this all the time - but at one time or another this has all happened to me or does so on a regular basis).

When I first get to the grocery store, I run into a woman (a rather outgoing, boistrous woman) with 2 kids (maybe 4 and 6) and she starts small talk with me and goes about her business. I then hear her yell at the kids and curse at them and although it catches my attention and my first reaction is "wow", I qucikly shut the judgment down and think about how many times I have slipped and said things to the kids that I never wanted to say to them or wish I could have taken back out of frustration and just as I'm thinking of this, she turns to me and says "Be glad he's still little" pointing to Pax. "Oh I have 4 kids, I know what its like." "Ugh, sometimes don't you just wish you could keep them that little forever?" she says. I laugh and agree.

I keep running into her throughout the store and she makes her little comments everytime I see her about whatever the kids are doing.  At one point she says to me "So how did you get out without all your other kids?" "My mother in law saved me!" and I laugh and she says "That's not fair. How lucky!" As I'm walking away I am thinking to myself  "You have no idea what I go through on a daily basis and how stressed out I am most of the time taking care of 4 small kids so close in age." I wouldn't say I'm lucky, but that I deserve the chance at not pulling my hair out, at not feeling like I'm tapped out and have nothing left in me to give but still needing to bleed just a little more, and my kids deserve a break from me and to be with someone who can see things with a fresh pair of eyes and have more patience for all that they will endure in just a few short hours because they aren't there dealing with it everyday, all day. Not to mention, I don't believe in luck either. I am very fortunate that my mother in law has the ability to take a few hours out of her day to help me out.

I know this woman had no idea that she would elicit such strong feelings in me with her comment, but I think what solidified it was her last comment to me, "How old are your kids?" "I have a 6 yr old, 3 yr old, 2 yr old, and an 11 month old".  To which she says, "What were you thinking?!?!" in a very loud and critical tone. I hate the judgments people make!!! I love my family and wouldn't change it for the world and for short of putting all my personal business out on the internet for everyone to read, we weren't planning on having Paxton, but God had other plans in mind and we wouldn't change that for the world!!! He is what completes our family of 6 and despite the hardships we might face, we would go through it all again and again!

Princess party

Just a snapshot of Piper's party - her cake was as pink as the tablecloths before sitting out in the heat!! :(

 She refused to blow out her candle, but here she is checking out the princesses!

 This is one way to do it! Apparently this is Parker's cupcake, not her own!!

 Showing Braycee her new baby!

As you will read in an earlier post, Paxton was very sick and ended up at Urgent Care and Piper ends up starting with a fever that night as well!!

It can't possibly be!

If you follow me on facebook you will have seen these recent posts where you will get to see how fantastic my week  has been!!

~Great wknd-Peyton ends up with strep n mono, Pax wakes up on the AM of Piper's bday party with croup and ends up at Urgent Care with a neb trtmnt and steriods, throws up on me 3 x's in CVS while waiting for his Rx, get home to a 2 n 3 yr old with fevers, spend the night going from kid to kid, to end it with Pax's ENT appt where we r reminded that his "minor" surgery involves sedation, breathing tube, n heart monitor!




~I have cleaned up and worn more throw up (with 3 kids with bad acid reflux - that worsens with sicknesses) in the last 3 years than most people do in a lifetime!!!

~As if cleaning up massive amounts of throw up from a 10 month old and taking care of 4 sicks kids who won't sleep wasn't enough - Piper decided to stick her hands in her poopy diaper and paint herself and her crib with it! AWESOME!

~Dropped Peyton off to his last day of Kindergarten and I cried. Time goes by too quickly! :(

I AM EXHAUSTED!  ENOUGH SAID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Side note- Parker started out with a fever on Sunday and is still fighting it and now Jeff is in Boston for 3 days - 4 till he is home with us again! AHHHHHH!!!!!!! And I am refusing to accept that my throat and glands really hurt!!  - trying to will the sickness away. :) Will let you know how that one goes.



Water fun

Today we went to the Water Spray park and had some fun with Aunt Emmy, Braycee, and Tilman.

Peyton turning the fountains on.

Piper taking a little break.

Braycee (right/top), Piper, and Parker (with his back towards the camera) running under the rainbow sprinkler.

Tilman (left), Braycee,and Piper under the rainbow.

We had a great time and it was a perfect way for the kids to cool off. 

Piper turns 2!

Happy 2nd Birthday to our beautiful princess! We love you more than words can describe and without you our family wouldn't be complete. Thank you for always keeping us on our toes, making us laugh with all your dance moves, making us smile with every cute word you utter, and for making our hearts melt with your beautiful blue eyes and smile.

This gift is beyond fitting for Piper - she can hold her own with the boys, but she LOVES her girly things and especially princesses!

A Barbie movie...

A Mermaid cake to celebrate - could her birthday get any more girly? :) (not to mention the princess placemat under the princess cake!)

We love you Piper Elizabeth!

Enjoying some cake...

Even Paxton liked a little taste...

Parker was licking his plate clean...

Despite have Strep throat and a fever of 104, Peyton enjoyed his cake too!

Look what I can do!!

Time flies, as we all know, which is why it usually seems like our kids grow 2 inches overnight, start with a full conversation of vocabulary within days...But I have to say Paxton truly does things practically overnight. One day he can't hold his bottle and then the very next day he just grabbed on and ta da!! Its not like he started showing signs of being ready, started holding here and there. No, he just grabbed it one day and said "I'm ready Mom, let go!"

(and yes those crazy 'Where's Waldo' pants are his PJs, not his clothes) :)

The same goes for sitting. He didn't go from putting him on the floor in a sitting position and occassionally toppling over. No, he decided to do it himself....he went from rolling over, to army crawling (which also happened overnight), to sitting up by himself.

 YAY!! I can sit!

Melt my heart

Moments like these just make me smile...

Ready for a walk...

This was the compromise - they both wanted to push Paxton but Piper quickly took to the idea of pushing her baby stroller! She loves her babies. 

Bike riding with the "babies"

I never get her to smile for pictures...

 Parker posing for the camera...

She insists on the hat being backwards!

Her Strawberry Shortcake bike

9 months and 25 pounds

The 9 month old weighs as much as the 2 year old!!! At Paxton's last checkup he weighed in at 25 pounds (weighing as much as Piper does) but is doing well. He is still on his reflux meds and is probably going to have his tongue tie cut soon. We are in the process of figuring all that out with the doctors and the insurance company. It is a full on tongue tie that is causing trouble with swallowing (often results in throwing up) and will most likely result in speech problems.

I just want to eat him up!! :)

Time... where does it go???

I wish I had time to post everyday, there is so much I would like to share with you all - but the best I can offer is catch up days with piles of posts!

I thought I didn't have any more race day photos, but here are some of the kids and their face paint as well as one of me running taken just before the finish line.

 Piper isn't much for having her picture taken these days...

 I'm in the pink shirt, behind the woman in the blue shirt and hat.

A day at the park

As of late we have been spending just about every day at the park. Its nice because 3 of the 4 can do so much by themselves and can have the freedom to run around and play. Pax loves to sit in the stroller and take it all in or go for a ride in the swing.

I soooo need to run!!!

Jeff went to Chicago for work this past week - he left the day after my race so it was a whirlwind of a weekend with a lot of time spent in the car back and forth to Philly and then he left the next day. So we were already starting the week off on a bad note with the kids just bouncing off the walls and exhausted all at the same time!

I decided not to ask anyone for help the first night, figuring I could handle it. I wasn't completely stressed and figured, how bad can it really be?? Well, grabbing them dinner, going to Target to pick up formula for Pax, going to the park, and then coming home for bed, turned into one of the most stressful nights I have had in such a long time. Between a diaper leakage, Parker having an "accident" at the the park which resulted in my throwing the underwear away and not having a spare outfit (yes, I was THAT mom at the park with her kid who had wet pants and was still playing!!), Piper climbing out of her crib for the first time (and not the last time!), and another "accident" on top of the normal routine of taking care of them, I ended my very first night of 4 by myself in tears!!

If only it ended there.... it was just nonstop craziness for the next 4 days. As mentioned before, Paxton has a tongue tie which often results in him throwing up his babyfood because he can't control the food going down as well. The reflux also doesn't help this issue either. It just makes him more prone to throwing up at the slightest gag. So as you can see, this was a good one. I kept Jeff up to date with many photos throughout the week. :) This being one of them.... This was also just as I was about to walk out the door for an appt for Parker (will go into detail about that later). Thankfully Denise (Jeff's mom) was able to come over that night and help me!

Our poor little 3 year old with the worst allergies!!!! He is on Allegra twice a day, Nasonex once a day, perscription eye drops, and then Visine throughout the day as needed to wash away allergens he has been exposed to in high doses. Its never ending and exhausting for him and for me!! This resulted from playing at the park, getting allergens on his hands, and then rubbing them into his eyes. They said this will keep happening and there is nothing that can be done about it - we just have to do our best to keep him from rubbing his eyes. Sure, you tell a 3 yr old not to blow dandelion seeds all over the place, rub flowers on his face, roll in the grass and dirt, keep his brother from blowing them all over him, and then as soon as his eyes start to itch - keep him from itching them!!! Yeah right!!!! It means a lot of hand washing the second we walk in the door, shoes off immediately, clothes changed before napping and then again when he goes out again, faced washed constantly... Its heartbreaking to see him like this and to hear him ask for eye drops so that his eyes aren't itchy!!

All of this happened by Tuesday. If only I could say the week got better.  Piper climbed out of her crib three times in one night until she finally hit her head on the floor - I say finally because now she's too scared to do it again! At least that's what I'm counting on.

Thanks to Denise and my parent's for all their help!

Thankfully Jeff is home and despite him having to work on Mother's Day, it turned out to be a pretty good day which ended with a glass of MUCH needed wine and some time to relax with him.

Very anxious to get back to running to relieve some stress. Be careful Jeff, I might not come back!! :)

Finished!

10 mile race - check. Haven't run in a week - check. Eating everything in sight and not running a single thing off - check!!

Well, I did it! I may not have been the fastest, my butt may have been dragging across that finish line, but I can proudly say that I ran the whole thing and am anxiously considering a half marathon in Philadelphia in September!

As many of you mom's know, life usually revolves around the kids and nothing else, especially if you don't work outside of the home and doing this race was "my thing". My connection to the real world. Often, people would ask what are your hobbies? What do you do? Sadly, I didn't really have an answer... I worked myself through college, got married, and then worked 60 hr weeks right out of college and didn't really pour myself into anything. Then I found running after having Peyton. It has become my outlet, my stress reliever, my hobby.  I was so grateful to be able to do this, something for me. I am so thankful to Jeff for all the support and encouragement throughout the whole process. I'm so glad I got to share this victory with you!

Unfortunately, I don't really have any photos of the race, except one pre-race and one post-race taken on a cell phone.
My race buddies - Sandie and Faith                                          Awful picture - but post race in the car

Go Phillies

He surprisingly leaves this one and doesn't even reach up to touch it! We'll see how long that lasts!

Piper's beard! :)

Gotta love Emeril's Spaghetti and Meatballs (its like Spaghettios sauce almost - is orange and stains EVERYTHING - hence the reason she is naked!)