"Ya'll gonna make me lose my mind, up in here...up in here"

Seriously I about lost my cool today.

The day started out early, but good. Kids were ready to go and we were out the door around 9:15. We had a million places to stop since they have been sick with influenza for the past week, I had to get out. The plan was to go to the tire place {whom for now shall remain nameless, if they don't right their wrong, I'll start naming names and warning people to avoid them like the plague}. After the tire place we needed to also stop at the insurance agent's office, the fabric store, the mattress store, and lastly go grocery shopping.

It was a lot but I was prepared; Sissy had been fed, the boys had sippy's in the car and I had snacks in my purse. Everyone was in a good mood. So off we went. First stop, the insurance office for a new copy of our insurance card. In and out, kids were fine. Next stop was the tire place.

On Saturday B took our swaggerwagon in for a set of new tires, an oil change and a state inspection. When he returned home after all of this {keep in mind, it obviously wasn't cheap} the 'low tire pressure' warning light was lit and it was chiming. We waited to see if it reset and it didn't. Long story short, apparently the "mechanic" said that the built in sensors on our tires needed replaced, that they were ''defective''. Said that they broke as soon as his guys attempted to add air. Well seeing how when he dropped the van off, the sensors were fine, I was quick to blame them. We have had this car since May and have NEVER had a problem with the sensors. The light wasn't on previously. They were not defective before you messed with them but now they are? Right... So the mechanic says that he's calling the dealership to get a price on the sensors and he'd be happy to let me knowhow much, and replace those for me...if I want.

Um no. You broke them. You will fix them. I don't care how much they cost because I won't be paying for it. I told him as much, firmly but nicely. He said that he would call around and call me back and we could "work it out then". Trust me I was ready to fly my "Bitch" flag at any second but luckily, when he called back he hesitantly said that they would go ahead and ''take care of that for me''. Um, damn right you will. Crisis adverted.

Next up was a quick drive through the Starbucks window, then on to the fabric store. We're walking around looking for a fabric to make bedding for Peanut's soon to be purchased, twin bed when Pooks announces {quite loudly} that his butt is wet. So I discreetly ask if he peed. "No, but I farted".

Right...you can use your imagination on what really happened.

We got him all cleaned up and he assured me that he was fine, his tummy didn't hurt, he didn't need to poop...he ''just had a accident Mom''. Okay well I was over walking around looking at fabric that could wait anyway so we promptly left.

Next stop was the Mattress store. I needed to see how much a twin mattress would run us, if they had it in stock and if B could pick it up with his truck. So we all go in and the sales guy very quickly shows us and let's me know all the details. I get his card so I can send B there after work. He even offered to give the boys each a huge memoryfoam pillow; they were the pillows that are displayed on the mattresses so they are the big body style, queen size pillows. They say ''Sealy Posterpedic" on them and look brand new. I said sure, knowing that they'd be perfect for movie nights, etc. So I'm carrying Peanut on my hip, Sissy in her carseat, Bubba and Pooks are walking out and the salesman is nicely carrying the pillows for me to toss in the van. Well as he's putting the pillows in the van, talking about how well behaved the boys are, all the sudden Pooks starts puking. Everywhere. Well, everywhere in my van. On the floor, the seat, his seat, on himself.

Awesome.

So we cancel the grocery store trip and come straight home. I get the door open to bring Sissy in, set her down, the boys are all in and taking their shoes off, Pooks in undressing completely. I go out to the van to get his carseat out (where the most vomit was) so I can clean it when one of the boys opens the front door. Out runs the dog.

UGH! By now I'm stifling a scream.

Get the dog back in the house. Bring in the damn pillows that the kids are screaming for out of the van and into the living room. Get the car-seat into the laundry room. At this point, Sissy wakes up SCREAMING. So I have to stop everything to nurse her. Nurse her, get the boys settled with some Netflix and take 15 minutes of my life taking off the cover to his seat and getting it in the washer. At this point I finally get Pooks dressed, finish nursing Sissy and by now it's an hour past lunchtime. Get them situated with apples, peanut butter, a cheese stick and pretzels. It's what they wanted and I wasn't about to argue. Not to mention, we had to bread as I never made it to the store.

Yes, all of this happened before lunchtime.

Seriously.

Naptime went off without a hitch. All four kids actually napped, allowing me to nap as well. I had mentally already said ''Screw it'' to dinner so I wasn't worried about that. I was tired. B came home from work at 5:15 but was right out the door again as he qualifed for chair in a poker tournament. With a prize of $500, heck ya his ass is playing.

Kids and I ended up ordering a pizza, not eating dinner til 7:30. After yet another round of vomiting from Pooks. I finally get the boys into bed by 8:30pm. I got Sissy cleaned up, in her pajamas and in her crib by 9. At 9:30 Bubba and Pooks both announce that they have to poop. Imagine that. Finally around 10, they were asleep. So here it is, 11:20pm and Peanut is still awake. The best part? He's not only awake but singing to himself and begging to watch Dora.

Dora may be the straw that breaks the camel's back folks. For his sake and mine, he better hope that Daddy comes home soon!

Apparently we brought the cold weather with us

In Kansas it's normal to have snow from November clear into March. Actually it's expected to get a good dose of snow, usually once the roads are already covered in ice. It's expected. Life doesn't stop because it snowed. You get out your snow shovel, some ice melt and you get where you need to go. Now if there is 8+ inches of snow over an inch of ice and the windchill is below zero, school will probably get canceled. But the city sure doesn't shut down. Walmart will be open, you can go catch a movie; places never shut down...they just deal with it.

Well apparently moving to Texas changes everyone's perspective on snow.

Apparently when it snows in South Texas, it's a HUGE deal. The weathermen have been talking all week about the possibility of snow on Thursday/Friday. They were using words like ''arctic blast'' and ''snowstorm''. They actually warned people to stock up on necessities and to stay off of the roads because of the snow. I ran to Target to some Motrin for the boys and the place was packed! People buying bread, eggs, water, movies, magazines...like they were preparing for a blizzard or something. So Thursday night B and I are watching the evening news and they are talking about the freezing rain that is coming down. Next thing I know they are saying how all bridges and overpasses have been shut down. By 1am on Thursday night they had actually SHUT DOWN the freeway.

Guys I can't even make this stuff up.

So we go to bed and wake to discover that yep, it snowed. Kids were outside playing in it, school was cancelled. Businesses were closed {Miss Sweetcheeks appointment was originally canceled but rescheduled for in the afternoon after "the weather cleared up"}. So you're expecting a ton of snow right?! I mean they shut down the freeway. Well, this is how much we got:

Yeah...

In the midwest, that's called a dust of snow. I mean, it didn't even stick to the grass. Needless to say, my boys were very disappointed. I think they had pictured something like this:

 

Well boys, we really aren't in Kansas anymore!

4 Months old!

Today Sissy is four months old. We snapped our bear pic first thing this morning and she wasn't really feeling it. This was the best it was gonna get but I like her sassy little smirk :)

Not only did she turn four months old today, she also had her four month well-baby check up today. We discovered that sissy is weighing in at 13lbs 4oz and measures 24.25 inches long. (That's a weight gain of almost 3 full pounds since her last check up on Dec 13!) She's right in the 50th percentile for both. Doctor thought she looked great. She does sounds congested so we are keeping her smothered in Baby Vicks and keeping the Vaporizer running day and night. She is right on track as far as her development and growth. Dr. E was floored that she is sleeping 12 hour stretches at night! I have to admit, it's a great trait :) Sissy also received her immunizations today and barely even fussed. I think she's going to be super tough {well she may have to be with these boys!}.

At four months old Sissy:
- is wearing 6mos or 6-9mos clothing. All of her 3 month clothing is too small :(
- moved up to size 3 diapers
- is sleeping 12 hours straight at night (falls asleep around 9pm and sleeps til 9 or 10 am)
- regularly giggling, laughing, and tracking with her eyes
- has found her feet! She loves to grab her feet and toes
- in now rolling over. So far only belly to back but she is so close rolling back to belly
- still will not drink from a bottle (expressed breastmilk or formula) but finally started taking a binky
- has a more distinct nap schedule, taking usually 3 a day  (10:30am-noon, 2pm-4:00ish and lastly from 5-7).

Sickness has invaded our home

For reals.

First, Peanut fractured his tibia. Monday marked one week in the cast and overall, it's going better than I expected. Okay, that's a lie. I wrote it, but it isn't true.

It's been hell.

Well, scratch that too.

During the daytime, it goes better than I thought it would. He drags and scoots everywhere with pretty much ease. He has figured out how to get up and down off of the couches, he can get his toys or make his brothers do it for him without much effort.

But bedtime, naptime...is horrible. He won't sleep in his toddler bed {really there is no space for him and his giant cast} so he's sharing a bed with me while B gets stuck on the couch. Oh how I envy B.

Peanut sleeps all.over.the.place. I mean he flips and flops, he turns completely upside down and sleeps with his head just inches from the foot-board. He has to sleep with no less than four of his "loveys", two of which sing. He has a mandatory pillow pet as well as a sippy of water.

Did I mention we only have a queen size bed!?

So it's him, his four friends, his pillow, his cup and then me. He wakes no less than once every two hours, usually only half awake screaming, hitting, kicking, and usually trying to pull the cast off. I know it's hard on him. I know it probably hurts. I give Tyleonl and/or Motrin like the doctor suggested but it doesn't begin to help with the night wakings. I try to calm him down and it's no use. These night tantrums last up to 10 minutes and there is no rhyme or reason as to why they suddenly stop. We can't prevent them, we can't control them. We tried moving him to his bed after he fell asleep but before tantrum...yeah he woke up, scooted all the way to the kitchen {with all the previously mentioned ''necessities'' and proceeded to scream for his mommy.

Naptimes are better because he is so tired he falls asleep instantly. The problem is he sleeps about an hour, wakes and is miserable. He's not getting enough sleep which is effecting all of us with his behavior. He's acting out, he's throwing tantrums, hitting and kicking his brothers, throwing toys, slapping me. It's like the terrible two's arrived at the exact wrong time.

I'll be honest, the first couple nights/days I felt horrible for him. By night five, I was starting to get irritated. Now after a full week, I'm about to lose my mind. I've averaging maybe five hours of sleep and it's not even continuous. I have an almost four month old who sleeps all night but yet I'm getting nada. Last night I gave up and made B sleep in the bed with him while I parked on the couch. I try to let him get the peaceful sleep, even if it is on his couch, because he has to go to work in the morning. Of course I have to get up with the kids but I can rock the sweatpant look all day. If I'm lucky, I can even take a nap. It doesn't usually happen but occasionally the moons align and I get to rest.

However if all of the above wasn't stressful enough, every.single.kiddo is now sick.

Bubba has a high fever, nasal congestion and general bodyaches/tiredness.

Pooks has a cough and nasal drainage that leads to him coughing so hard he throws up...anywhere and everywhere, that kid pukes.

Peanut of course has the cast; but on top of that he's had a cough with nasal congestion/drainage which leads to wheezing. I took him to urgent care and they think he has the influenza virus. Despite getting a flu shot, he got the flu. So he's on breathing treatments, Tylenol/Motrin and an oral steroid.

Sweetcheeks didn't get off to easy either. She is really congested so I'm having to suction her nose out several times a day, which of course she hates. The congestion is leading to drainage which is causing a cough. So we've got a vaporizer running, baby vicks slathered on her and we're keeping her as upright as possible.

Basically every kid feels like crap and is moody. No one is getting enough sleep and we're all on our last nerve. Not a good combination. To top things off, it's freakishly cold in Texas and snowing (!) which basically shuts the entire city down. So we can't really get out to change the pace or scenery. It's been a super long week and I don't see it changing anytime soon. 

There were four in the bed and the little one said

Since Peanut hurt his leg, he can't do all the things that super active two-year olds normally do. You know, like walk. So as a result we've kinda toned down all the family activities. Every morning this week I let the boys take turns choosing a DVD to watch in Mom & Dad's room. {Why this is so much cooler than watching in the living room, I don't know but to toddlers it is}. By keeping them in our room, the older non-injured boys aren't dragging out a million toys to tempt poor Peanut with. They love it!

 Of course, every single time Bubba gets to choose the movie, it's Scooby Doo!

 Pooks begged me to let Sissy sit next to him..he is such a good big brother!

 All my monkeys in the bed

are you noticing the hand holding between pooks and sweetcheeks? that kid...tests my patience one minute and does something to melt my heart the next!