Like Sands through the Hourglass

With today being Mother's Day, I thought it only apropos to give you a little peek into the life of a stay-at-home-mom. Or at least the life of THIS stay-at-home-mom. So, here you go. Let me take you on a tour of just what it is that I do all day long every day...

Monday

• It's allergy season! And since the supermuppet's asthma tends to be allergy-induced, we started off the morning with a breathing treatment made possible thanks to my finally picking up her prescription last Saturday morning after WEEKS of being out of albuterol. She had been kind of wheezy for a week or so but it wasn't until last Sunday night that she started up with a pretty persistent cough that was still there in the morning.
• With Jane's morning nap over we headed over to the library where I had to limit the number of books the girls checked out to 10 apiece to make it easier on me to keep track of. The outing was so successful and the girls so abnormally well-behaved while looking for books that I rewarded them by checking out a new stack of DVDs to keep them entertained for the week. In retrospect they probably watch too much television. Don't judge.
• In the 20 or so minutes it took to drive home from the library, get lunch eaten, drop Grace off at preschool, and get back home, Sophie's cough went from bad to worse. In a literally non-stop coughing spurt that was not really abated with another breathing treatment, I gave the doctor's office a call to see what they suggested. Hearing Sophie's freaking out, coughing, and wheezing in the background the nurse told me I should probably get her to the emergency room.

• In short -- we spent the whole afternoon at the hospital where she got 2 more breathing treatments and a steroid dose; Jane missed her nap and struggled to get out of my arms to crawl around on the floor almost the whole time we were there; Scott left work early to pick up the kids from school for me; and finally we traded off kids so that I could get home and get dinner going while he stayed with Sophie until she was able to come home.
• Dinner never really happened because upon leaving the hospital I realized that we were below empty on the gas tank and I would have to fill up before going home. The slight detour took long enough that by the time I got home and realized I still needed to feed the baby, too, it was just easier to declare Monday cereal night much to Ethan's dismay.
• Scott got home, the kids got put in bed, and then I got to go and get my hair did. Hahaha. Seriously, though, I was very happy that Sophie's issues were under control in time for me to make it to my hair appointment. I was even happier after it was all over that for the first time probably EVER I am 100% happy with my hair -- 100% happy with the color, 100% happy with the cut (which I am still growing out, thank you Tami and Emily for your input :), and I am 100% happy that my hair works both curly and straight.

Tuesday

• Sophie's coughing is much better although still slightly present along with a little bit of wheezing, so the nebulizing must continue.
• I dropped the girls off at the sitter in the morning so that I could get to my chiropractor appointment across town. (Easily the most relaxing and enjoyable 30 minutes of my week! Not to mention my back has been feeling AWESOME since I started going a couple of weeks ago.)
• I managed to make it to the YMCA in the afternoon where the doctor gave the go-ahead for me to ease back into running this week. Of course, the irony was that although my back is feeling better, my foot and shins started hurting after just a few minutes of running. I guess I'll just need to ease a little bit more slowly.
• After school Ethan informed me that his "simple costume" for his class play is due next Wednesday for their dress rehearsal. A melt-down then ensued when I told him I had no idea what he was talking about after he insisted that he gave me the paper with the information on it. I'm sure another fit will occur when my definition of a simple costume does not meet his definition of a simple costume.
• His melt-down was temporarily halted when I agreed to a science experiment that Ethan has been begging to do for the last few days. I think they are doing something like this at school, but I don't think he has all the facts quite straight. According to Ethan putting an egg in vinegar for a week will turn it into a bouncy ball. Or hatch into a chicken. He's not quite sure. Hahahaha. I humored him and even stretched the experiment to include not just one type of vinegar, but three -- balsamic, white, and rice. I'll let you know what happens. Hahaha.

• Tuesday is Scout Night and Scott got home from work with barely enough time to eat dinner much less help me get the kids down, so that festivity was left to me.
• Sophie is continuing to have MAJOR bedtime/sleeping issues, and is awake till almost 11 o'clock almost every night regardless of how tired she is or whether or not she took a nap that day. This has put her in a permanently grumpy mood.

Wednesday

• Janie Boo started sporting a bit of a cold and decided to start waking up in the night again. She was up at 11:30 the night before, and then again at 4 AM and 6 AM for good. Not fun.
• Hit up the YMCA after school and still managed to whip up dinner when we got home. Not too shabby.
• Once the kiddies were in bed I decided that mopping the floor was WAY past due. I debated doing a before and after shot but decided against it because even I was embarrassed with how filthy it was. Even with the steam mop it took over an hour and I went through 3 different mopping pads.

Thursday

• Went to the Y in the morning.
• After dropping Grace off at school, I made Sophie take a nap because she was in such a terrible mood. Of course, she was still in a terrible mood when I woke her up to go pick up the kids so that kind of back-fired. She threw such a fit about coming down the stairs and eating a snack before we left that we were a good 10 minutes late picking up the kids which was more than a bit frustrating -- especially knowing that we only had so much time to get ready before it was time to take Grace to ballet.
• Both Grace and Ethan came home with Mother's Day creations. Grace looked so cute standing there holding her present when I went to pick her up outside her classroom. She was so excited and proud of her creation that it just made my heart melt. Ethan was so funny, too, when he was explaining what I could do with his present -- along with a little letter about all he's thankful for with regards to me, he also had a little paper teacup that contained a real tea packet that the teacher gave to each of the kids. The way he described it -- I think he said something along the lines of "you put it in a cup and add some hot water and then it's a delicious thing for you to enjoy" -- made me laugh so hard and I felt so bad when I had to inform him that we don't drink tea but thank you so much anyway.

Grace's present -- a flower to plant in our garden.

• We got home, ate snacks, got Grace changed, dropped Grace off at ballet, picked up her ballet teacher's 2 boys, and then went to the park where we enjoyed a beautiful afternoon outing while waiting for the lesson to be over.
• Sophie once again stayed up until almost 11.

Friday

• Another early morning for me as I was awoken at about 5 to the sound of Sophie's whimpering voice that she needed to go potty. In my blind and sleepy early morning stupor I stumbled into my bathroom past some shadows on the ground by the door which I thought was Sophie, and called for her to hurry up and get in there so I could help her. After a couple more seconds of me calling for her and wondering what the hold up was, I heard this pitiful, muffled little voice saying "open the door!" Apparently Scott had shut our bedroom door when he came up to bed the night before, and Sophie was stuck outside and not IN the bedroom like I thought. Hahahaha. One of these days I'm really going to get Lasik's.
• Thankfully Sophie went right back to sleep after that, but unfortunately for me, the Sugar Pop was up for good a little after 6.
• Ethan was also up bright and early to prep for his field trip that day. After checking the weather for him 500 times, I finally convinced him that it wasn't supposed to rain and he was able to dress appropriately. After packing his lunch all by himself -- with everything being "disposable" so that they could just chuck it at the farm -- he was almost ready to go. With it being the end of Teacher Appreciation Week, he had taken it upon himself to write his teacher a letter and I let him take a rose from our backyard to go along with it.

• After much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth from SOPHIE, the girls managed to get their room cleaned so that they'd be able to go to the barbecue that night and have their dates the next day.
• After another chiropractor appointment, I jetted over to the Target across the street to pick up some popsicles for the dessert I said we'd bring to the barbecue. Seeing as to how the temperature was 86 degrees that day I figured it was a pretty good choice!
• Some friends from BYU's MBA program invited us and a few other BYU P&G families over to a park near their house for a little BBQ and get together. There were 15 kids between the 4 families and my children were in HEAVEN. Hamburgers and hot dogs for dinner, popsicles for dessert, plenty of friends to play with, and PERFECT warm and breezy weather -- what more can you ask for? A fun time was had by all, and the only downfall was that we didn't get home until 9:30 and even though Sophie was tired -- you guessed it, she still wouldn't fall asleep till after 11!

Saturday

• Saturday was JAM-PACKED. Here we go. I went to the dentist to get a couple of crowns put on. And since this situation involves me and my teeth, OF COURSE nothing goes right. In what should have only taken 20 or 30 minutes, I ended up being there for an hour and in the end only got permanent crown attached because the other crown had some of the porcelain chip off in the process of seating it, so the temporary one went back on, and I get to go back next week for the new permanent one to be put on. Yippee!
• I managed to make it to my Weight Watchers meeting (although I was a little bit late thanks to the dentist) and I even lost some weight despite my barbecuing it up the night before. Go me.
• I convinced Scott that the best Mother's Day present he could give me would be to go with me to the Y and keep me company while I got my work out on. He gamely obliged and after checking the kiddies in to the child care, he accompanied me to the gym and jumped on the elliptical machine next to me and helped to make the 30 minutes go by MUCH faster than if I would have been there alone.
• After starting to eat a bagel for lunch I discovered that my temporary crown was loose. Me and my teeth, I tell ya. I called the dentist, jetted back over, and after several attempts to re-cement it, the assistant decided it would be better to just make a new one. Yep.
• The afternoon was taken up mostly by Ethan throwing a fit that we told him he couldn't go play Putt-Putt for his date. Apparently he couldn't think of anything else to do and nothing we suggested would suffice.

Sophie likes to throw fits, too.


And yes. This is what she picked out to wear. And what she wore out in public. And in case you're wondering that is not a dress but a shirt.

• Grace wanted ice cream from the Dairy Corner for her date, and even though the temperature had dropped 30 degrees overnight, Scott still obliged and took her out in her coat and hat (along with stowaway Sophie) and they ate their ice cream and slushies on the tables outside the joint in 5o degree weather. Hahahaha. He should have brought the camera.

• Ethan was finally appeased by a "date" with me making the pizza for dinner. What a kid. After dinner was over it was early bedtime for Saturday night, and I was out the door on my way to the mall to find something to wear to church for Mother's Day that would fit me. I was successful.

And Sunday

• Here we are at the end of the week. I'm pretty sure I've earned my tiara this week, what do you think? Hahaha. And even though the baby woke up at 7, Scott brought her to me to feed, and then took all the kids downstairs and I was able to go back to sleep. Now THAT'S a Mother's Day gift! I literally didn't step out of bed until 9 and it was sublime. :)
• The kids brought me breakfast in bed (my All-Bran cereal, in case you're wondering), and Grace handed me a little junk she had made into an ornament. After eating I took my time and spent a leisurely morning showering and getting ready for church.

Grace's present. (Side-note -- when the kids came in I asked Ethan how my hair looked, and without missing a beat he said "perfect.")


And here I am all cleaned up.

• I wish I could say that the kids behaved perfectly in church as part of their Mother's Day gift for me, but let's not get ahead of ourselves, here. They are just kids. Rather spirited kids. With poor volume control. Especially Sophie. Hahaha. Oh well, overall it was a lovely day and FATHOMS above last year's disaster.

Grace's Mother's Day gift she made in her primary class. Adorable right? Hahahaha.

• And for the record, Sophie was so over-tired tonight at bedtime that she fell asleep before 7 o'clock. Of course, I was sitting right on her bed with a bottle of sassy spray next to me, but hey -- desperate times call for desperate measures...

So, there you have it. Are you tired? I sure am. Hahahaha. I hope all the mothers out there get their due respect and recognition today, and to my own mama -- well, I love you and think you're the best! Being a mom is hard but oh-so-worth-it. When I look at their cute little sleeping selves every night before I go to bed I think I'm just about the luckiest person alive.

(Oh how I love this little face)

The End.