Author: Melissa

so. tired.

brain. will. not. engage.

this picture remarkably expresses exactly how i am feeling right now:

when colin sleeps, girls wake. when girls sleep, colin wakes.
only imagine that picture with the kids poking the peacefully sleeping mother yelling “MOM!!” loudly and asking for something totally unnecessary like lunch.

Ellie loves to sing. She loves my ipod, may it rest in peace. She would sit in a chair in front of the i-home player and sing along to her favorite songs at the top of her lungs. (She is almost as upset as me about this whole ipod-dying-thing.) She belts out the hymns in church. She insists on music playing in the car, so she can sing her way to school. If you ask her what she wants to do when she grows us, she will reply:

“I’m going to go to college to be a long-haired rock star.”  (Good. We have instilled the desire to go to college. And if you ask her where she is going to college, she says “PENN!” Also good. We haven’t told her that PENN does not have a “Rock Star” major 😉

Anyway, this weekend we were in the Disney Store. And what came up on the big screen, but Hannah Montana in concert. A young girl. With long hair. Who is a rock star.  Ellie watched this video practically without blinking and has been singing the song ever since! Are we  headed out of princess land and into Hannah Montana/High School Musical world. I have to say, I’m a little sad. She seems so big suddenly.

Also a sign of her sudden rocketing to adulthood, we were walking past Limited Too and she pointed out an outfit in the window and said: “Oh, Mom, that is so cute! Can we go look at it?”  What?  Now you’re interested in clothes? And “cute outfits”? In overly expensive, trendy stores for girls, not babies? When did she get too big to shop at Baby Gap? What am I doing in the “Girls” section with these huge, way-too-old-looking clothes? She can’t even wear the adorable Baby Gap pajamas I love anymore. She’s wearing pajama pants. And a camisole! That’s what I sleep in!

I need to go lay down. Life is moving too fast and it is making me dizzy.

• For that first morning feeding, you realize you are nursing the baby at your desk, while drinking coffee, eating breakfast, e-mailing and putting on your make-up while your other kids are watching tv nearby. Loudly. You are not sitting in a rocking chair in a softly lit, quiet room with no distractions.
• Your baby takes 3 of 5 naps in his car seat. Instead of you staying at home, refusing to disturb your little bundle’s naptime.
• You let your husband travel just 2 weeks after baby is born. Telling him, “I’m going to be tired anyway…” As opposed to freaking out when he is 10 minutes late coming home from work, because how will you cook dinner with a baby?
• You hear yourself say to your other kid “Yuck! Go wipe your nose and stop using the baby as a tissue!!” Instead of keeping him completely isolated from germs and going through a gallon of Purell a week.
• You are surviving on massive amounts of caffeine. Instead of still being on decaf, because you gave up coffee the minute you found out you were pregnant. (Snort! Novice.)
• You don’t rush to your baby’s side at the slightest noise. Instead you lay in bed arguing with your spouse over whose turn it is to go get him. As he screams his head off. (The baby. Not your spouse.)
• Because the baby is sleeping in his own room already. Instead of in a cradle, an arm’s length from your bed until he is 6 months old.

On the other hand, despite the craziness and the not sleeping, I wouldn’t trade any of it for the world. Because I’m not sure there is anything that could possibly be any sweeter than overhearing your older children sing “Baby Mine” to their baby brother. Just thinking about it makes my heart squeeze and tears come to my eyes.

click on this super short article: “Would you rather your children grow up in Uganda or America?”  

Read it. And think about it.

Have you seen this blog? She’s using her crockpot every day for a year. Impressive, no? Best part is she posts a new recipe every day with a review. Anywho, this week was a recipe for Korean Ribs that I am soooo trying. Our bestest buds are Korean and they feed us. So we harbor a deep, abiding love for Korean food. Especially ribs.

Beth’s post about the joys of Apple , her personal ipod saga, had me laughing sooooo hard. Even through my tears, at my own personal ipod being broken. She is convincing me to get a Nano, though…
And oh my WORD, this was a hilarious one too, over at These Are a Few of my Favorite Things!

And you should read this post. Because its partly about me. And has someone who is completely objective talking about how cute Colin is.

This was interesting too: the 20 Worst Foods in America. How many of your favorites are on the list? Like the personal pizza with 162 grams of fat?

that I can’t even write about it. Its just too sad.

My ipod just died.

After a bottle of water spilled in my diaper bag.

Hold me.

Getting a picture of your three kids.


Does the artsy-ness of the black and white make them less horrible?

Grace: “Oh, Mama. I like your tummy sooo much better now that you had the baby.”
Me: “Because there is room for you to snuggle in my lap?”
Grace: “No. Because now its soft and smushy like my pillow.”

You just had a baby two weeks ago.
Your husband is out of town.
Leaving you in charge of three children, aged 5 and under.
And you haven’t slept longer than 3 hours in over two weeks.
Which is starting to seriously mess with your brain.*
You have company coming this weekend.
And a long to-do list.
So what do you do?

Why you invite another 3-year-old over for a playdate, of course.
After running around all morning.
And you decide to bake cupcakes from scratch, of course.
And have a princess tea.
And pretty much the entire house needs cleaning after making cupcakes with two three-year-olds, of course.
And you have plans for later that night.
And your kids are now overtired, sugar-hyper and grumpy, of course.
And you have lots to do tomorrow.
So you’d better get some sleep!!
Oh wait. You have a two-week-old baby. Good luck with that.

Since staying at home and just letting your kids watch tv all day while you slept would have been too smart.

*Seriously. I said to Husband, “What? What did you say?” He said, “Who said what?” I said, “Didn’t you say that? Wasn’t it you?” Husband says, “Noooo… Maybe you should try to take a nap today.”