how the weeks FLY !

It’s Thursday night, and the week has gone quite well with the kids!  I’ve had the 3 of them out here and there without any hitches, and our time around the house has been mostly happy and collected.  Janna is better from her cold, Jesse had a super day today, and Robyn is doing great eating and sleeping away.

We also have solved (fingers crossed) the issues we were having with Jesse and Janna fighting and yelling at each other for a good hour each night.  It was REALLY stressing me out each night to the point I just wanted to pack up the baby and leave the house to let poor Dave deal with it.    We decided to put Janna to bed half an hour after Jesse.  He is usually READY to pass right out at 7- and once he gets into a deep sleep he is out for good!  Janna is usually not ready for sleep until  7:30 or 8, so we thought maybe the extra time would make her tired enough to just go to sleep.  Well! The first night we did their separate routine (Dave doing Jesse earlier, and me hanging out with Janna then doing some reading and singing with her in my room later), I tried to explain to her that Jesse was sleeping in the room and she needed to be quiet when we went in.  She whispered OK and was super quiet when we went in.  She laid right down and I thought she MIGHT actually keep her mouth shut.  Well, two seconds after I closed the door she burst into a cheerful, “ HI JES!!!”  And then, “ Jes! Hi! Hi Hi Hi Hi. Jes! JESS”  She was happy and silly at first, and I sat there outside the door SO very angry that she might wake him up... but he slept through.  Then she started getting angry, “ mama!  MAMA! MAMAMAMAMMAMAM!!!!”  Then out came the wails and screams and shrieks that usually get Jesse uspet.  Well, Bless Jesse’s heart he slept through about 20 minutes of this, and Janna finally tired herself out and went to sleep.  We have had 3 successful nights of this, and I hope that Janna learns that Jesse is asleep and stops bothering to try!

Despite a good week, I must say though, I am tired!  Robyn has been getting up at 5:30 or 6 for a few hours each morning, and that has cut into my normal “charge up” time for myself.  My coffee, reading and ready time have been  juggled with nursing, changing and burping my little sweet girl.    Likewise, Robyn tends to have another longer wakeful period after Jesse and Janna go to bed.... so it just never feels like I get a break!  (Although- she is Asleep right now!)I have been aiming for an hour or so in the afternoon where the girls nap and Jesse has his quiet time... and that has been 50/50 in it’s success.   And the days that they are all quiet for that hour, I PASS out on the couch. 

Today, was a non successful nap time. Jesse spent the first half an hour popping in and out of his room telling me he needed to poo, then pee, then poo again.  Then Janna started wailing and I had to go and change her diaper, and then Robyn woke up.  So, I just took Jesse out of his quiet time and we all cuddled on the couch and watched Dora together.  I had a friend over to visit with her new little boy, Luke (2 days younger than Robyn) at around 2:00, and that was a highlight for the day.  I was carless today and so having some adult company is always EXTRA appreciated on days where I am on house arrest.  However- after she left, Robyn would not settle back to sleep.  For those of you who  do not have much baby experience, newborns can only be up for like an hour until they become overtired... and Robyn was going on two.  The kids were getting ancy, I needed to make dinner, and Robyn would not GO to sleep!  I dressed the kids up and had them waiting at the door for when Dave got home at 4:30.  I sent them outside to see if the lack of noise would help me get her settled, and it didn’t seem to make a difference.  Finally after supper around 5:30 I handed the baby to Dave and went to get the kids cleaned up from supper and into their PJ’s.  Well, the little stinker fell asleep for Dave in like 3 minutes! 

I really needed a break from being NEEDED and so superhero Dave sent me off to my chiropractor appointment at 6 all by myself tonight.  He got all 3 kids into bed and kept Robyn happy, and I felt SO FREE and wonderful for an hour!   It’s so nice to head out of the house without having to lug around a carseat while walking the pace of a toddler who does NOT want to hold your hand while listening to Jesse’s never ending dialogue that he requires constant responses to.... When I got to the doctor I parked a block away, and felt so free and light I wanted to just RUN all along the sidewalk! I may have skipped a bit!

It’s so funny.  When I first had Jesse, I didn’t leave him with anyone (Dave included)for months!  And then when I did leave him, I left a note 3 pages long with intense instructions about what to do.  Poor baby 3... I practically ran out the door with a chipper “Good luck! There is a tiny bottle of milk on the counter”  to Dave.

Well, that’s all for now.  I am very happy that tomorrow is Friday.  I don’t think I’ve ever been so in NEED or excited about the weekend as I have been the past few. It’s like this pot of gold under a bright rainbow that comes every 5 days!  Well, on that positive note, I will leave you a picture of a sleeping baby (yes- this is Dave today getting Robyn asleep in 3 minutes, when I tried for 3 hours!!! What?!?)  Thanks for reading. I’m out.