Stressful New Mama

the boys like to sit together when watching tv....all snuggled up...
Army boys, "sir, yes sir!" Austin got out the matching PJ's from when he and Wes wore them.
Austin grabbed my camera one morning. He is very into lego's right now and very proud of them. If only younger brother Isaac wouldn't destroy them.
Naptime with papa.
Austin is very good at getting Levi to fall asleep. He is very gentle and loving.
Isaac's favorite shirt and book. My book! Superman!
First day of school. My two toothless boys. Grades 1 and 2.
Ms. Ashton Hall.
Mrs. Amie Lee.

Just gotta get some feelings out before I forget what my day was like yesterday:

I am doing ALL I possibly can to help out financially now that I am not working full time as a teacher. I promised Jared that I would do all I can to make it work since it's a huge sacrifice to be at home with my babies. This includes teaching piano and Spanish at night time, and now doing "Special Projects" for my admin. team at Arizona Charter Academy (where I worked last year).

The morning was crazy getting Wes and Austin out the door by 7:20am. This was after a long night of nursing every 2 hours. Depending on when Levi last nurses, I can either get out the door earlier (7:45am) or later (8:30). He is definitely NOT on any routine throughout the night, which makes it hard to plan!

I dropped off Levi and Isaac to the babysitter, which included potty training instructions and a bottle for Levi (which is also tricky b/c that meant that I would miss a feeding and need to pump to make up for it).

Raced off to meet my principal at 9am for our monthly meeting. She gave me lots of little projects, phone calls, emails and things to organize/print out. All good things! But, it was stressful throughout the day as I was trying to organize my thoughts and get the projects done amidst a fussy newborn and a toddler who refused to go potty when I needed him to! Isaac is obsessed with characters (Lightening McQueen, Buzz lightyear, Woody, etc)...and he refuses to wear undies if he already has a pull up on...but, then that conflicts with my potty training. See my stress?

Work steadily at the school for 2+ hours, until I was feeling super "full" and needed to get back. Trying to be professional as I walked around the school and got things done, and happy to NOT be back in the classroom! Happy to just DRIVE away!

Get the boys. Pump. Lunch with fishsticks and left over Olive Garden breadsticks. Feed Levi again. Get Isaac down for a nap (including a bedtime story, changing back into pj's and loves). Fall asleep for 20 min. holding Levi.

2:45pm, time to get the boys. Isaac is up and crying (which he does everyday). Wants me to put Levi down, but I am nursing him (again). Get our sweaty butts into the car, with Isaac screaming about wanting his shoes on and does NOT want to try to go potty.

3:15, drop off onery Isaac with Ms. Hall (Austin's 1st grade teacher), put Levi under the front office desk, and get back to work on the school computer. Race over to meet with the HR lady to talk about vendor relations, and then I am getting paged by my principal! She was babysitting my boys Isaac and Levi b/c everyone else had gone home. Embarrassing! Not professional.

4:30. Drop Wesley off for piano. Teach Piano. Marinate some chicken for baking dinner. Nurse a screaming Levi during lessons.

5:30 Dinner is on the table, Jared is out the door. Kids are crazy (when Jared is gone, they always are more wild and obnoxious). Eat. Monitor. Discipline. Eat. Clean up.

6:30. Kids are in full motion!!!!!!!!!!! Try to clean up dinner, find my sanity, change diapers. Checking backpacks for homework. Sweating in my warm kitchen.

7:00 Nurse Levi again. Read sight words out of a book with Austin. Wesley is finally in his room reading on his own (vs. doing karate with Austin). Isaac is melting down b/c he wants the books all for himself. Starts screaming, "NO!" and hitting.

7:15 In comes my Knight in Shining Armor. Papa! Back from his meeting. Gives Isaac a good swat on his bum for yelling at mama and corrects him. We finish reading, do an abreviated FHE that lasts 5 min. give kisses, and lights out...for now.

8:00 Finish up some ACA paperwork.

10:30 Nurse Levi. Watch him grunt his way to fall asleep.

Up. Every. Two. Hours. Nursing.

2am. Wesley has leg cramps; needs medicine, love and heating pads. I was up already with Levi, so it was not a problem.

Today. Same crazy routine....but, it included a NASTY poop accident at Chick Fil A. Details? Isaac pooped in his already-too-big-and-stretched-out-undies in the play land. We were enjoying a free breakfast with friends when this ODOR came out, following Isaac. Out plopped a ball of poop on the floor. Are you serious? I took him to the bathroom where I literally gave him a bath in the SINK of the restroom. Gross. I was embarrassed as the employees walked in and out and saw me bathing my naked son in THEIR sanitary station. Thank goodness I had someone to hold Levi (who was also poopy and needing to be nursed) and I had an extra size 5 diaper to help Isaac!

We loaded up into the car so I could nurse and change Levi. Hit up Sprouts on the way home. Gave Levi another bedtime snack so I could work on line for a few...and here we are now... Levi has only been asleep for 30 min...crying again...surely he can't be hungry??? Newborns are needy!


Time to go get boys from school.