And the lesson is...

Oh Madeline…sometimes you are so funny and some times you hit too close to home. Today has been a rough day with Madeline as has the last little bit. She is having quite a streak of hard times and I don’t get it. Apparently God thought it would be funny (or something) to give me a little one that is totally different than me- behavior wise. I was a goody-two-shoes to the nth degree. Not to say that I did not get in trouble or deserve to at times, but for the most part I wanted to please others, especially adults. I was crushed every time I made my mom or dad mad, much less (God forbid) teachers! I lived (and still do) in a state of perpetual guilt over anything I may do or have done that might possibly make anyone else upset. Well, except my siblings. Seriously, how much fun would that be? Okay, back to Madeline. I am sure she probably feels bad and all that, but she does not seem to have the teeniest tinniest desire to make adults or anyone else happy. This is infuriating to me, I truly don’t get it; my brain simply cannot wrap around the idea. I mean, your main goal in life is not to please everyone and be every person’s favorite person? How can that be? So, today, after getting super mad for the 19^th time about her doing random things or being rude or whatever (the final straw was when she got into our camping stuff in the garage and found the clothes line- it wasn’t pretty), I was done. I basically gave her an ultimatum that she better sit and watch a move while I went upstairs or she was going to go to bed for the rest of the day when I came back down. I may or may not have given her a good talking too as well. I sat her down to watch Annie and she said in a weepy voice, “Does this movie have a lesson?” I told her I didn’t really know (who can remember things when in a tizzy?). And she said, “I think it is that parents should not be rude to their children.” Cricket…cricket… Yikes, why me God?!

Whew...That Stinks!

I realized that it might be fun to tell stories from the past- there are so many I could not think where to begin. So, I went with the first one that popped into my head.

Not too long after we adopted Madeline and were living in Wisconsin I had quite a surprise one afternoon. Keep in mind that I was a new parent, not even 6 months behind my belt. Going straight to a 3 year old is mighty tough, especially when the 3 year old does not speak english and makes parenting triplets seem like a walk in the park- I am not joking! So, back to my surprise. I was enjoying a nice restful afternoon, Madeline was supposedly taking a nap. I was so thankful she was sleeping after an especially trying morning. I remember being SO ready for nap time, not unlike the present. So, I quietly went into her room, ready to wake up my little princess when, to my utter surprise, there was feces smeared ALL OVER THE PLACE! Sitting in the bed was an innocent, but guilty, little Russian. What did I do you ask? Well, my first instinct would have put me on the 10 most wanted- Abusive Parents addition. To prevent, this I took a deep breath (not through my nose), picked up Madeline, and set her on the stool (the kind that you use to sit on) next to her bed (I think she could tell by my shock that she needed to stay put if she knew what was good for her) and left the room. I took a few more deep breaths and called my sister. My recollection was that I was crying and just asking what I should do. I mean, when I read the manual on raising perfect children this was not in it! Did you see that section? I must have missed it or it was in a later edition- who knows. Surprisingly she did not have the answer. When I spoke with my wise father later that day he had an interesting opinion, "maybe she was just expressing her artistic side." That was a big load of... what she put on the walls! Well, after crying while cleaning, scrubbing and doing laundry I somehow managed to push through and am still alive today. What is really funny, in a sad kind of way, is that that would not be the only poo cleaning event of my life. In fact, I currently do it on a regular basis. Timothy, our little problem solver, has gone above and beyond to make that incident seem like a fairytale. His situation is a little different, nevertheless it is what it is. He is a master at escaping the confines of things like cribs, clothes, diapers- you get the point. Ahhh...livin' the dream!

This is definitely a blog-worthy day

To say that today was hard would be too easy. Today was a lot of things, exhausting, stressful, painful, happy, hopeful and sweet all at the same time. Let me just give you the run down. I woke up at 5am to exercise (yes, still doing that)- kickboxing. It was funny to see how terrible I am at it and exasperating to see how Josh looks like he does it everyday. He was tired too, but his form was crazy good. Then, it was off to get ready. As I am about to start eating my first appointment of the day (Madeline's teacher) calls. I take my tea and toast and go upstairs to chat with him for almost an hour. Yep, nothing like an hour long conversation about how Madeline is having a hard time at school to start off your day! Immediately after that, I say hello to Josh, Timothy and Sadie while I get out the door to go to a closing for a client. It was a pleasant signing especially since it was 2 weeks before schedule- crazy to have a house close, much less close early, in this market. From there, I ran to meet Ashley, Timothy and Sadie at OT (Occupational Therapy)- I was only 15 min late. While there Timothy did really well! His therapist was excited and we could not believe he was doing so great. We just started him on some meds to help calm his regulatory system down some so that he can be less activated- did that sound official? Well, it is starting to work! Next, we went straight to our behavioral pediatrician's appointment for Timothy. Well, he saw Timothy and then we talked a lot about Madeline. Apparently Timothy is starting on the right track, but we have derailed (to put it mildly) a bit with Madeline. We are having to make adjustments and it was simply difficult to talk about. I love our behavioral guy, he is becoming like one of the family- maybe because he knows so much about our family and still likes us (Wait! We pay him). From there, I went home and got the kids started on lunch- well, Josh studied at home this morning and made their lunches and one for me too. After Ashley had it all under control I went to my next meeting. On the way there, I called Madeline's neuropsychologist to see if we should even continue cogmed and the school psychologist at a local elementary school to make the first of many meeting appointments to get Timothy into kindergarten. The next meeting is an IFSP meeting for Timothy- that is the yearly meeting where you talk about your goals and the schools goals for Timothy to determine eligibility for services through the county. It is always good to be there, but for me, it is overwhelming and a stark reminder about how far we have to go. His teacher is really great, has such a good outlook and really does love Timothy. We were able to talk more about next year and what that may look like. After that 1 1/2 hour meeting I was on my way home when I realized that I should probably go get the prescription of Timothy's that had mysteriously been spilled by an imaginary person- we really do not know what happened, but are so thankful for insurance yet again. While at Target, I may or may not have stopped and gotten some brownies to make when I got home (I still have not made them though). Then I got home! Whew- what a day! Wait, there is more!!! I get home and talk to Ashley for a few minutes before she leaves and then Madeline comes right in. Madeline is acting a tad crazy (by a tad, I mean a ton) and I am being super nice patient mom for a bit. Then, I finally just ask if she took off her patch (meds), well, yes she did folks. That's right everybody! My daughter who is already wacked out on the wrong dose of one medication completely takes off the most important one. Well, I did the only thing I could think of- get her eating snacks that are not sugar coated cereal which was her find and then go upstairs where I sit on my bed and take big deep breaths. While taking those deep breaths though, I smell a Timothy diaper. I say a Timothy diaper because a dirty diaper does not convey the terror that a Timothy diaper does. Not only is it dirty, but we have to air out the upstairs after each one. To make matters worse, changing Timothy's diapers require scissors and tape. Well, I calmed down, got up Sadie and then went in for Timothy. Luckily he still had his clothes on and we took care of things. Okay, we are almost done, I promise. After I have all the kids downstairs I give them snacks and then we just play until Josh gets home. Oh, while I gave them snacks I had to actually do some work for clients and write funny emails to Madeline's teacher about needing to drink. We made it!!! After he got home I walked Madeline down to a birthday party (before you ask why I would do that to a poor unsuspecting family, I put a replacement patch on Madeline simply so she could go to the party). Then, I came home and stared off into space while Josh fed Sadie and Timothy. They are now in bed and I am doing this- therapy- until I have to go get Madeline which is now.

Can someone get me some meds?

Oh, what a great mom I am!

I have been lazying around today eating bonbons and thinking about what a terrific mom I am. I mean, I do so much for my 3 little blessings... Okay, enough of that. You see how I could not even go more than 2 sentences being cushy? Seriously though, I was talking to my sister today and glancing at my calendar when I realized how funny all of the random things I do for our crew that I really never thought I would do- I can truly say this is not what I expected my life to look like. Disclaimer- I really do love my life, this is just a matter of me making fun of the strangeness in which I exist. So, here is a bit of a run down of all the things I did just this week for our gaggle. This does not include the cooking, cleaning, errands, bath times, homework... you know the things that we just simply have to do when we give our staff the week off (by staff I mean my cook, 2 full-time maids, 2 full-time nannies and a personal assistant). Okay, here we go for real.

• Augmentative Communication Therapy
• A meeting to work on tweaking the parents concerns section of Timothy's upcoming IEP meetings (that is right plural, at least 3) to get into Kindergarten.
• Behavioral pediatrician for Timothy
• Occupational Therapy
• Refill a prescription that was just filled last week because it spilled somehow and we just simply have to have the meds.
• Worked on a schedule communication board.
• Mouth Time- another therapy for Timothy that we get to do at home.
• Communicated via email at least 8 times with a certain 2nd grader's teacher.
• Emailed the behavioral pediatrician twice
• Got a call from the behavioral pediatrician
• Did Cogmed (a five-week intensive computer course that is supposed to help with working memory- I can't remember what else) with Madeline for about an hour each day.
• Called a certain 2nd graders teacher
• Had a meeting with Timothy's teacher to work on his IFSP
• Helped in Madeline's Sunday school class- not normally special unless you consider I was really only there to keep her in line.

Well, that is all I can think of right now.

Two stories of the day-

Timothy- I walked in to get him up from his nap and saw that he is sleeping straight on the board of his bed, you know, below the mattress. This is not unusual for him, but then I looked over and the entire mattress was out of his bed! This is a new thing. The fun never ends!

Sadie- She heard about my post yesterday about Timothy's BFF and was jealous. She wanted a BFF too! Well, not to worry, she found her at last! She waved, blew kisses, smiled and laughed at her. Who is she you ask? Sadie- well, her reflection in the window. She also has a friend on the stove.

Timothy's BFF

Today was a good day. Nothing super great and nothing super bad. That is, unless you are Timothy Pond. Apparently the love of his life has returned! None of us really knew it had left, even Timothy had all but forgotten. Then it happened! While atop the climbing structure in our garage/playroom/not-a-place-for-a-car-so-it-makes-me-crazy, Timothy was happily tearing up the plastic cover to a mattress (one of those that you use to move a mattress in) when he spotted his long lost love- the wild animal fitted sheet!!!!! This sheet was not on the mattress of which he was tearing up the cover- oh no- it was on a previous mattress that he had destroyed which was also wrapped in plastic (for more info on the garage mattress situation please see below). He immediately used his prowess as a baby raccoon to claw his way over the large mattress. Well folks, this is where I come in. I hear Timothy screaming (not at all uncommon) his, "I am not mad or hurt, but I could use some help" scream. So, I walk over to find and rescue him from a precarious position and am not at all moved. Timothy is on a mission to save his BFF and does not let me get away so easily. Through his- amazing communication without speaking- ways mixed with my- I'm a mom, so I somehow know what my children need- ways the sheet was rescued! Hooray!!! Timothy was in a good mood for the rest of the day. He was seen hugging the sheet, cuddling with it, huddling underneath it... At one point I even saw him completely covered up under the sheet with one arm out trying to find and then throw a toy. It does not get much sweeter!

Garage Mattress Situation-

1. Madeline and Timothy now share a room, so that displaced a queen sized mattress that was formerly Madeline's bottom bunk. It was nicely stowed in the garage wrapped in thick covering awaiting its next mission until Madeline and then Timothy took care of that. Now, I guess I need to go find another cover...

2. Timothy went on a "Destroy All Mattresses!" campaign a little while back. Well, I tried to save one. I thought that maybe it was not too bad, so I have been thinking about how I can fix it. In the meantime I put the BFF fitted sheet on it to hold in the stuffing and wrapped it in the plastic cover that the newest mattress came in. Now that I engineered a cover for the current mattress that will hopefully last a little longer and can then be made again if necessary, I think I may go ahead and get rid of it.

Also, our garage has been turned into a playroom/therapy room for Timothy. Apparently he needs places that are okay to climb and swing in and really just destroy. While it goes against all I stand for to have a garage that has no cars in it, it sure is nice for Timothy to have a place to play and climb. Now, if we could just figure out what to do with the rest of the stuff.

One of "Those Days."

Well, today was not especially horrible, just a day that kept going and going and going... It all started at 2:45am- (teething and never have been a good sleeper) Sadie woke up and played for a bit until Josh gave her a bottle at around 3:15. Then, we woke up at 4:45am to exercise (oh, aren't we so good). While in the shower I realized that I had not taken Timothy to get some bloodwork done- woo hoo (that is said in a dull tone). So, I immediately got dressed and decent enough to leave the house where I was privileged enough to lay on a cot with Timothy basically barring him from all movement (me and two others)- it actually wasn't as bad as anticipated. Well, you get the point. So, right now it is 8:20ish and I am just now sitting down. I am tired to say the least.

Highlights of the day-

• I was changing Sadie's diaper and forgot in the middle if I had actually done it.
• I drove all the way to the grocery story (not a typo- Madeline) and realized that I had forgotten the list and my coupons- so, yes, I went back.
• I found out that I can have Timothy's diapers paid for by the state.
• I am now watching Big Love and about to have one of those Betty Crocker mini Warm Delights- if you have not tried them you should- they are scrumptious.

Finally, here is a list of my pocket contents at the end of the day :)- this does not include things that transferred in and out throughout the day-

1. A grocery list

2. A toilet paper roll with a bite out of it

3. A piece of gauze with tape on it

3. A pen

4. A single sock

5. A pair of socks

6. A piece of paper that I don't have any idea where it came from

7. A stick

8. A tourniquet- one of those things they tie around your arm when you have blood taken

Good-bye today, here I come Betty Crocker!

Try it again.

Okay, so I failed the first time, but I am going to try it again. Blogging that is. I have not quite figured out why or if people would actually read it. Worst case, it would be nice to try to remember my life in little snip-its. I have such a terrible memory, this may help.

Since I am not that creative I thought it would be easy to just write about my exciting life. I must warn you, it will be sarcastic, sometimes a little sad, but hopefully funny. I love my life and my family above all else. It just so happens that my life is insane. Things are terribly stressful at the moment and have been for a few years. In fact, I keep thinking surely it will get better, but not quite yet. Anyway, somehow I manage to laugh a lot and make fun of it all. That is called coping.

Today was quite nice. Nothing too crazy. Church in the morning where I helped in Madeline's class. For some reason she likes when I am there- I can't figure out why though. I feel like I am always on her case. I was not being super anal-retentive (oh yeah, I am just going to say what I like and not worry about language for now), but just stopped her from sucking her fingers, laying on the floor, things like that. Well, I guess there was the whole sitting beside her and snuggling during the story and watching her help sing up front. Cute.

After church, Madeline, Timothy and I stopped at Babies R Us to get a baby gate (one more way I can make my home feel more like a prison). This, of course, was the second try- the first one never works out. Then home, cogmed with Madeline, baby gate, lunch and a 45 minute nap (oh yeah, that's right, a nap). Finally there was a tad bit of work, home community where I made sweet potato chocolate chip waffles and now here we are. Josh and I just watched a terrible movie while I was working on this here blog. Nice day.

First- Sadie said "Uh oh!" when she dropped something. She is also becoming quite good at the itsy bitsy spider.