So this has been a very adventurous week. The whole waking up once a night? Stopped as soon as I said anything. But for good reason. And I wonder if Baby N would be sleeping through the night if I didn't wake him up and feed him every time his brother woke up?
Anyway, the reason that we have been adventurous this week is that we woke up to a flood in our kids bathroom Monday morning. I had slept through my alarm clock (its becoming a regular thing these days) and the power had bumped so the kids alarm clock didn't go off (again, if its not the power its toddler E, and is becoming a regular thing) so we had about 5 minutes to get them off to school. Luckily they had woken up on their own and were dressed. We just had to rush through hair brushing, putting shoes on, getting lunches and backpacks, etc. As A was going to brush her hair she told me something was wrong in the bathroom, and that there was water everywhere.
Yes, there was a pool in the bathroom and the carpet was sopping wet in the hallway. I rushed the kids off to the bus and left the water. It was a little crazy, but I knew that if I didn't at least take care of feeding the babies, feeding myself and Toddler E and getting the day started, that all I would be doing was adding to the chaos.
So after about 15-20 minutes of those chores, I got to work. First on the list was unclogging the toilet that had caused the whole mess. Then I grabbed towels and began the process of clearing away the girls clothing and shoes from the floor that they had left from saturday night showers (yes they are supposed to clean that up after...) and began hauling to the washing machine, which had a very long day by the way.
I initially thought it was our kids fault. But after cleaning (and cleaning!) a bunch of the water up, I realized that it wasn't.
After I had cleaned up the water and tried to soak as much from the carpet as I could, I grabbed a bucket and a mop and a sponge and a ton of pinesol (read somewhere that its the most effective cleaner when it comes to killing germs) and got to work.
Somewhere in all of that I called my visiting teacher who luckily was on the list to come that morning and warned her about what was going on. She clued me in to the fact that with a spill like this, that I might want to call in some professionals, and perhaps call my insurance. I was iffey on this, but then she said something about how would I ever be able to clean it all up and the germs and possible mold in the carpet that this could all cause....
During all of this I pieced together what had happened. It looked like the toilet had clogged (C didn't realize this, she had put the lid down) and ran and ran. I don't know for how long, but it wasn't running when I found it the next morning.
Anyway, after my V.T. came over and helped hold babies and care for toddler E, I called my insurance, they said call Paul Davis Restoration, and we arranged for Paul's guys to be there by noon. Of course Hubby was at work during this and he received several phone calls, only one that was tear laden ( I was having a moment).
The restoration guys were there by about noon and after signing contract after contract (yes, I PROMISE I will pay you no matter what) they got started. They worked until later that night and for a few more hours the next day.
That was when the fans and dehumidifier started. So loud that having a conversation was yelling and the TV had to be turned up really REALLY loud to watch a show.
We've had the fans since Tuesday (I think) and it is now Saturday. We are down to 1 fan and the dehumidifier. Its not as loud, but its still annoying. a conversation is just in loud voices and I still can't get into the babies room while holding a baby.
The babies mattress is in the front room where the babies have been sleeping. Everything is in an uproar and that is why schedules are all over the place.
Thanksgiving dinner was loud, but yummy. This has definitely been a crazy holiday. Yes, we still did our black friday shopping.
The result of the flood is that insurance is going to cover about 9-10 k worth of damage/repair/replacement. We will be getting new carpet in the hallway and exercise room and possibly the babies room. The family room is getting new also since there is no 'natural break' such as a door. Linoleum will be replaced. I'm interested to hear what will happen with the vanity since it looked bad when I was in there cleaning. The backsplash tile will also need to be replaced since the guys doing the work broke nearly all of the tiles when they were removing them. That one actually makes me happy. Word to anyone out there building a house. don't choose a porous tile for a bathroom vanity. Or a kitchen cupboard for that matter. Have you ever tried to remove flour or toothpaste from porous tile?
Babies crying. got to go.
Edited to add how glad I am that we called insurance and Paul Davis Restoration. Initially I thought this was a small flood. After several days of fans and dehumidifier, and around 2 days of a fan directly on it, the subfloor behind the toilet (toilet is removed) is still not dry. I am very glad that this is being taken care of properly. And did I mention that several feet of venting under the house had to be removed because of 'black water' being in it?. Very VERY glad for insurance and companies that know how to fix this right.
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Good News Bad News
Good News - for the past 3 nights the boys have only woken up one time. Hooray!
Bad News - Last night baby Q decided that he didn't want to go back to bed and was up for about 1 hour and 45 min or so. Not like I was keeping track :)
Bad News - Last night baby Q decided that he didn't want to go back to bed and was up for about 1 hour and 45 min or so. Not like I was keeping track :)
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
A's baptism
I just realized that I've been so busy with the twins and E that I never posted about A's baptism!
A was baptized at a stake baptism. It was fun to have 2 of my sisters and 1 of hubby's sisters there with their families there supporting A.
The baptism started at 6 and A was supposed to be there at 5:30 with hubby to get clothes, etc. Unfortunately this was our first outing with the twins where we all had to be ready in church clothes. Understandably we were there about 5:45. Luckily we only held things up about 5 min.
All 3 boys were wearing matching outfits that Grandma W had supplied. It was very cute and we were able to get a picture with all of the kids that turned out very cute.
The baptism was a stake baptism and it was fun for both A and C to see kids that they knew from school. There were a couple of "I didn't know they were a member of our church Mom!" and waving at various schoolmates.
The meeting itself was a bit strange. For one thing instead of having family members speak in the program they had members of the stake primary presidency speak. And then after the baptisms we split into ward groups and we heard a talk about the Holy Ghost from a family member of one of the kids being baptized.
Due to a large group from our ward being baptized along with many other kids from the stake being baptized, we were there for over 2 hours. I'd never been to a stake baptism that was that long before, as far as I can remember.
Overall, it was a wonderful experience. The boys did well and I only had to sneak out to nurse 1 - who couldn't wait - at the very end. Since her baptism, (and since the beginning of the school year) I've noticed that A has begun to mature and take on more responsibility. I enjoy that she is able to carry babies safely (only makes me nervous every now and then) and seems to enjoy her brothers.
We love A very much and are very glad that she is a member of our family.
A was baptized at a stake baptism. It was fun to have 2 of my sisters and 1 of hubby's sisters there with their families there supporting A.
The baptism started at 6 and A was supposed to be there at 5:30 with hubby to get clothes, etc. Unfortunately this was our first outing with the twins where we all had to be ready in church clothes. Understandably we were there about 5:45. Luckily we only held things up about 5 min.
All 3 boys were wearing matching outfits that Grandma W had supplied. It was very cute and we were able to get a picture with all of the kids that turned out very cute.
The baptism was a stake baptism and it was fun for both A and C to see kids that they knew from school. There were a couple of "I didn't know they were a member of our church Mom!" and waving at various schoolmates.
The meeting itself was a bit strange. For one thing instead of having family members speak in the program they had members of the stake primary presidency speak. And then after the baptisms we split into ward groups and we heard a talk about the Holy Ghost from a family member of one of the kids being baptized.
Due to a large group from our ward being baptized along with many other kids from the stake being baptized, we were there for over 2 hours. I'd never been to a stake baptism that was that long before, as far as I can remember.
Overall, it was a wonderful experience. The boys did well and I only had to sneak out to nurse 1 - who couldn't wait - at the very end. Since her baptism, (and since the beginning of the school year) I've noticed that A has begun to mature and take on more responsibility. I enjoy that she is able to carry babies safely (only makes me nervous every now and then) and seems to enjoy her brothers.
We love A very much and are very glad that she is a member of our family.
Stupid daylight savings.
Last week the babies were starting to do wonderful things. Like sleep from around 9pm until 3 or so. It was wonderful.
Then daylight savings hit. And threw everything off. Now they sleep from 9 or 10 to around 1 or 2. I'm keeping the same schedule as before so here's hoping that things come back to what they were.
On another similar note, do you think that 8 weeks is to early for a nap schedule? Because I'm going crazy. The only calm time that Toddler E and I have is when the babies are napping together. So I'm going to start trying to swaddle them for daytime naps and I guess that means that we have to follow the twin mantra "one up, both up" for feeding. I'm not sure how that translates when one doesn't want to go to sleep. I guess that is where the schedule might kick in.
E is having a tough time these days. We had a primary presidency meeting today at my house and the poor kid had all sorts of trouble sharing (his only experience with that is in nursery. No one steal his toys here at home - yet) and throwing fits. And probably missing Grandma who went home yesterday. I ended up putting him in his room for a few minutes as a time out while we ended the meeting. He cried and cried and I felt like an awful mother. When I got him - a whole 3-4 min later - he was carrying a favorite crochet blanket (he's obsessed with them), had tears just running down his face and just wanted to cuddle. So I ended up with a baby and E on my lap cuddling. Only the baby wanted to eat. I was also a bit stressed from the meeting. Ugh. But I was able to make it work. I fed the baby, put it down and E and I cuddled and ate a cookie or 2 that a kind ward member had dropped off that morning. After a while he calmed down and after about an hour stopped being touchy.
It is a definite challenge being home with 2 babies and a toddler. Its easy to get down sometimes. But I've found when I start feeling overwhelmed I just need to grab my shoes and head down the lane to get the mail. E and I did this today while the babies were napping and I know it helped both of our moods. E always seems to find something to pick up and swing around and I was able to stare at the new pile of interesting things the neighbor has piled up in his side yard while walking by to the mailbox. The neighbor is renting an outbuilding to a family member who recently closed a Mexican butchery. They have the whole store broken down in the side yard as well as a very dilapidated taco truck parked there.
The girls are doing well as always. A keeps losing her lunch and as a result having to buy hot lunch at school. I always keep 5 lunches as an emergency in their accounts. Anyway, the first time she lost her lunch turns out she had left it on the counter. It was to much for me to pile 3 kids in the car to bring a lunch to school, so I saw that one coming (she really thought her lunch had been stolen). The second time, today, she was sure it had been stolen. But after a thorough search of her backpack it turned up. I'm still trying to decide if she honestly thought it was stolen, or if she just wanted to have hot lunch. :)
C is doing well at school, and is becoming quite the mature young lady at almost 10. On Sunday she bore her testimony. She came and sat next to me during testimony meeting and showed me that she had written her testimony in a notebook. I said that was great and that she could share it if she wanted. She said ok and stood up. I told her she had to wait until the lady talking was done. She waited and then without a prompting got up and shared her testimony. I was so proud and overcome with emotion. Since I personally have a hard time getting up in front of people and sharing my testimony, it was amazing for me to see.
Sunday was also blessing day. In this case daylight savings worked in our favor and we all were up an hour early. We got to church on time and everything went well. The babies were blessed by hubby and there wasn't any crying due to the quick feeding they had right before church. The boys looked so cute in their crocheted blessing outfits. I told hubby it looked like they were being eaten by crochet since they also were wrapped in crocheted blue blankets. They did look cute though. I wish they could have worn their outfits for a little while longer.. All that work and it was over in less than 2 hours.
Here is a link to my sister's photography blog.
http://www.pepperwoodphotography.blogspot.com/2012/10/twin-falls-newborn-photographer.html
She was kind enough to take pictures of the boys when they were less than1 week old. so cute!
Then daylight savings hit. And threw everything off. Now they sleep from 9 or 10 to around 1 or 2. I'm keeping the same schedule as before so here's hoping that things come back to what they were.
On another similar note, do you think that 8 weeks is to early for a nap schedule? Because I'm going crazy. The only calm time that Toddler E and I have is when the babies are napping together. So I'm going to start trying to swaddle them for daytime naps and I guess that means that we have to follow the twin mantra "one up, both up" for feeding. I'm not sure how that translates when one doesn't want to go to sleep. I guess that is where the schedule might kick in.
E is having a tough time these days. We had a primary presidency meeting today at my house and the poor kid had all sorts of trouble sharing (his only experience with that is in nursery. No one steal his toys here at home - yet) and throwing fits. And probably missing Grandma who went home yesterday. I ended up putting him in his room for a few minutes as a time out while we ended the meeting. He cried and cried and I felt like an awful mother. When I got him - a whole 3-4 min later - he was carrying a favorite crochet blanket (he's obsessed with them), had tears just running down his face and just wanted to cuddle. So I ended up with a baby and E on my lap cuddling. Only the baby wanted to eat. I was also a bit stressed from the meeting. Ugh. But I was able to make it work. I fed the baby, put it down and E and I cuddled and ate a cookie or 2 that a kind ward member had dropped off that morning. After a while he calmed down and after about an hour stopped being touchy.
It is a definite challenge being home with 2 babies and a toddler. Its easy to get down sometimes. But I've found when I start feeling overwhelmed I just need to grab my shoes and head down the lane to get the mail. E and I did this today while the babies were napping and I know it helped both of our moods. E always seems to find something to pick up and swing around and I was able to stare at the new pile of interesting things the neighbor has piled up in his side yard while walking by to the mailbox. The neighbor is renting an outbuilding to a family member who recently closed a Mexican butchery. They have the whole store broken down in the side yard as well as a very dilapidated taco truck parked there.
The girls are doing well as always. A keeps losing her lunch and as a result having to buy hot lunch at school. I always keep 5 lunches as an emergency in their accounts. Anyway, the first time she lost her lunch turns out she had left it on the counter. It was to much for me to pile 3 kids in the car to bring a lunch to school, so I saw that one coming (she really thought her lunch had been stolen). The second time, today, she was sure it had been stolen. But after a thorough search of her backpack it turned up. I'm still trying to decide if she honestly thought it was stolen, or if she just wanted to have hot lunch. :)
C is doing well at school, and is becoming quite the mature young lady at almost 10. On Sunday she bore her testimony. She came and sat next to me during testimony meeting and showed me that she had written her testimony in a notebook. I said that was great and that she could share it if she wanted. She said ok and stood up. I told her she had to wait until the lady talking was done. She waited and then without a prompting got up and shared her testimony. I was so proud and overcome with emotion. Since I personally have a hard time getting up in front of people and sharing my testimony, it was amazing for me to see.
Sunday was also blessing day. In this case daylight savings worked in our favor and we all were up an hour early. We got to church on time and everything went well. The babies were blessed by hubby and there wasn't any crying due to the quick feeding they had right before church. The boys looked so cute in their crocheted blessing outfits. I told hubby it looked like they were being eaten by crochet since they also were wrapped in crocheted blue blankets. They did look cute though. I wish they could have worn their outfits for a little while longer.. All that work and it was over in less than 2 hours.
Here is a link to my sister's photography blog.
http://www.pepperwoodphotography.blogspot.com/2012/10/twin-falls-newborn-photographer.html
She was kind enough to take pictures of the boys when they were less than1 week old. so cute!
Friday, October 26, 2012
sleep deprived
So last night I got up with the babies around 1 , got them back to bed and then tried to get back to sleep. It was going fine until hubby started moving his arms around. I didn't know what he was doing but I put my hand on his arm, he jumped a little, and then stopped.
the next day he told me I touched the wrong hand. His other hand was moving. Apparently his other hand was patting the pillow he was hugging, trying to put it to sleep.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Its a rollercoaster!
So after the my last post we went back to normal. If your definition of normal is up several times a night with twins (and that is normal to me :)
I think (cross fingers) our issue with E has been that he never knows where he is at night. He was having issues with staying in his toddler bed (kept coming out) and poor C was having to tuck him in many times and occasionally in the middle of the night. This wasn't fair to a 10 year old, so hubby and I were trying different things. One thing was putting him to bed in the crib and then transferring him to his toddler bed. Anyway, we gave up on that after the night where he kept waking up wailing. The new plan has been to put him in his toddler bed with a stern reminder that he needed to stay in the bed. Shutting the door with a stern reminder to his sisters that it was time for bed and not time for reading in bed (using the light from the hallway). this has worked for 2 nights so far. I hope it continues to work.
Its been a good reminder to me that toddlers require flexibility and trying different things.
In the meanwhile we have been very blessed. My Mother in law has gone home and then come back and is now out of town (across the US). We are hoping that she will come back to visit a couple times a month. She enjoyed herself enough that it seems possible at least for a few visits.
Our ward has really pulled together for us. One of my visiting teachers came to help Monday morning and was able to watch E while I took the twins to the pediatrician for a check on their circumcisions. It is always busy to take twins to the doc, so much nicer that I didn't have to try and take E and juggle him as well.
My V.T. also brought me a list of women from the ward who would come over 3 times a week for an hour or so to help with whatever I need help with. As a result my stress level has gone down and I feel much less crazy.
Its amazing what a list of names on the fridge can do for you. When I feel overwhelmed I just have to look on the list and say "so and so is coming over tomorrow am. I can make it until then." I haven't had to do that yet. Just knowing that help is there is enough.
I also had a kind offer from a retired neighbor (a street over) who said she was home most days and would come over. Just call. I have a wonderful ward.
To add to the great news (drumroll please!) the babies decided last night to sleep from about 10:30 to a little after 4am. We woke up several times wondering what was going on. But after gazing at the clock in wonder, went back to sleep. When they woke up at 4, only one was crying. The other started shortly thereafter. They ate and (another different thing) went back to sleep quickly. I was back to bed in under an hour. That has never happened before. I don't know what happened, and it probably won't happen again. But I'm very very thankful for it. It has added to the positive week we are having.
I desperately need to go shopping. The only veggies we have are a load of zucchini that we harvested before the freeze a few days ago, a couple of tomatoes that a neighbor brought over, and some celery. Along with a box of apples (honey crisp!) that we have been working our way through for the past 3 weeks.
I guess that is a lot of veggies, but I feel like I need to be getting so much more nutrition for nursing these twins!
Speaking of nutrition and twins and nursing, when we went to the doc, the babies weights were matching again. Last time we went their weights were both 5 lbs 12 oz. This time after about 10 days or so, we are at 6 lbs 10 oz. The doctor seemed very impressed. The walls in his office are paper thin and I heard him telling the nurse how impressive that was for breast fed twins.
Well, I hear a baby crying. I better get back out there. I may or may not go shopping tonight. but the good news is, if I don't get out tonight I can go tomorrow when another helpful ward member will be here!!!
(sorry about the run on sentences on my blog lately. Every time I use my kindle to write a post it changes my settings)
I think (cross fingers) our issue with E has been that he never knows where he is at night. He was having issues with staying in his toddler bed (kept coming out) and poor C was having to tuck him in many times and occasionally in the middle of the night. This wasn't fair to a 10 year old, so hubby and I were trying different things. One thing was putting him to bed in the crib and then transferring him to his toddler bed. Anyway, we gave up on that after the night where he kept waking up wailing. The new plan has been to put him in his toddler bed with a stern reminder that he needed to stay in the bed. Shutting the door with a stern reminder to his sisters that it was time for bed and not time for reading in bed (using the light from the hallway). this has worked for 2 nights so far. I hope it continues to work.
Its been a good reminder to me that toddlers require flexibility and trying different things.
In the meanwhile we have been very blessed. My Mother in law has gone home and then come back and is now out of town (across the US). We are hoping that she will come back to visit a couple times a month. She enjoyed herself enough that it seems possible at least for a few visits.
Our ward has really pulled together for us. One of my visiting teachers came to help Monday morning and was able to watch E while I took the twins to the pediatrician for a check on their circumcisions. It is always busy to take twins to the doc, so much nicer that I didn't have to try and take E and juggle him as well.
My V.T. also brought me a list of women from the ward who would come over 3 times a week for an hour or so to help with whatever I need help with. As a result my stress level has gone down and I feel much less crazy.
Its amazing what a list of names on the fridge can do for you. When I feel overwhelmed I just have to look on the list and say "so and so is coming over tomorrow am. I can make it until then." I haven't had to do that yet. Just knowing that help is there is enough.
I also had a kind offer from a retired neighbor (a street over) who said she was home most days and would come over. Just call. I have a wonderful ward.
To add to the great news (drumroll please!) the babies decided last night to sleep from about 10:30 to a little after 4am. We woke up several times wondering what was going on. But after gazing at the clock in wonder, went back to sleep. When they woke up at 4, only one was crying. The other started shortly thereafter. They ate and (another different thing) went back to sleep quickly. I was back to bed in under an hour. That has never happened before. I don't know what happened, and it probably won't happen again. But I'm very very thankful for it. It has added to the positive week we are having.
I desperately need to go shopping. The only veggies we have are a load of zucchini that we harvested before the freeze a few days ago, a couple of tomatoes that a neighbor brought over, and some celery. Along with a box of apples (honey crisp!) that we have been working our way through for the past 3 weeks.
I guess that is a lot of veggies, but I feel like I need to be getting so much more nutrition for nursing these twins!
Speaking of nutrition and twins and nursing, when we went to the doc, the babies weights were matching again. Last time we went their weights were both 5 lbs 12 oz. This time after about 10 days or so, we are at 6 lbs 10 oz. The doctor seemed very impressed. The walls in his office are paper thin and I heard him telling the nurse how impressive that was for breast fed twins.
Well, I hear a baby crying. I better get back out there. I may or may not go shopping tonight. but the good news is, if I don't get out tonight I can go tomorrow when another helpful ward member will be here!!!
(sorry about the run on sentences on my blog lately. Every time I use my kindle to write a post it changes my settings)
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Tired but here!
So last night we didn't get the twins to bed until around 11pm. I put one twin in the bassinet while I carried the other twin to their crib. Toddler E has been having sleep issues so he was in the crib in the babies room.
I was quiet but must have made some noise because a few minutes later while I was trying to settle the other twin into a deep sleep, toddler E started crying really loud. Hubby heard him and settled him into his toddler bed in A and C's room. We all go to sleep.
Fast forward an hour. One of the twins wakes up and I go and get them. Only while I am picking them up I hear Toddler E crying in his room. I had C bring him out to me and after putting the twin who was still asleep down, I walked E to a sleeping Daddy who I thought could help. Daddy hears crying E and comes out to help.
So here it is, after midnight. Daddy with toddler E on one couch, me on the recliner nursing the awake baby and trying to wake up the other baby who is very soundly asleep.
In the end, we got back to bed at some point. I have a vague recollection of Daddy having to sleep in the recliner with a twin, but frankly last night is a blur and I don't remember if that was last night or the night before :( I'm tired.
But it is general conference this weekend, so at least there are lots of naps and no church to try to go to. I'm really nervous about this new development with E. If it continues then we will really have a problem. A sleep problem.
Anyway, we are still here, plowing through.
Last night when I was the most tired, I started imagining hiring a night nurse. LOL.
The good news is that today the boys are 4 weeks old. We are one month closer to sleeping through the night. I may start begging my Mother in law to come and stay again. I'm really not sure how this is going to play out.
At least its Sunday and I can sleep all day if I need to. Hubby is currently sleeping on the recliner with both babies in his arms.
I was quiet but must have made some noise because a few minutes later while I was trying to settle the other twin into a deep sleep, toddler E started crying really loud. Hubby heard him and settled him into his toddler bed in A and C's room. We all go to sleep.
Fast forward an hour. One of the twins wakes up and I go and get them. Only while I am picking them up I hear Toddler E crying in his room. I had C bring him out to me and after putting the twin who was still asleep down, I walked E to a sleeping Daddy who I thought could help. Daddy hears crying E and comes out to help.
So here it is, after midnight. Daddy with toddler E on one couch, me on the recliner nursing the awake baby and trying to wake up the other baby who is very soundly asleep.
In the end, we got back to bed at some point. I have a vague recollection of Daddy having to sleep in the recliner with a twin, but frankly last night is a blur and I don't remember if that was last night or the night before :( I'm tired.
But it is general conference this weekend, so at least there are lots of naps and no church to try to go to. I'm really nervous about this new development with E. If it continues then we will really have a problem. A sleep problem.
Anyway, we are still here, plowing through.
Last night when I was the most tired, I started imagining hiring a night nurse. LOL.
The good news is that today the boys are 4 weeks old. We are one month closer to sleeping through the night. I may start begging my Mother in law to come and stay again. I'm really not sure how this is going to play out.
At least its Sunday and I can sleep all day if I need to. Hubby is currently sleeping on the recliner with both babies in his arms.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)