Why I'm Awake at 6:00 a.m.

The babies are all asleep, at least, now they are.  The dad is back to sleep.  I am still awake recovering from the shock of waking up to hear my baby bounce off the step I use to get into our bed (yes, it's that tall, or I'm that short) and roll onto the floor.  I heard a very small amount of crying, and I woke up like a madwoman yelling, "James, he fell out!".

I know.  Judge if you'd like, but we co-sleep with the babies.  No, not because of some crap I read in a book about co-sleeping and its supposed benefits but because I'm tired.  I started doing it with Jameson because I just couldn't keep waking up 3 or 4 times per night to nurse the kid after the first 5 or 6 weeks.  Jameson and I never had an incident; however, I do remember once waking up in the middle of the night to catch him before he rolled off the edge.  Unfortunately, I am sad to say that Truman broke our safety streak this morning.

At about 5:30 a.m., I heard a head conk against the wooden step we have laying next to my side of the bed.  I then hear a baby roll onto the floor, cry for about 3 seconds, then silence.  I dart out of bed scoop him up, and yell at James.  In my eternal clumsiness, I then rush toward the bathroom and trip on a chair on my way there.  Don't worry.  I caught myself on the loveseat before hitting the ground with my already injured baby.

I turn on the light, and there he is, just smiling back at me.  He has

 a red mark on the likely impact site, but he is totally alert and happy (no surprise there).  I apologize to him about 100 times, and James scolds me about letting them sleep in the bed.  I acknowledge my negligence, but I also inform him that I cannot get up 7 or 8 times per night to feed the twins and get them back to bed.  I promise not to let them sleep on the outer edge, and I will limit the sleeping capacity to 1 baby in the bed at any time.

Two hours later, I am awake and thankful that my baby is okay and back to sleep.  I am blessed a million times over, and we are all so lucky.

Hardest Job in the World

I am convinced that being a mom is the hardest, but most rewarding job in the world.  I am sure many would disagree with me.  You're entitled to your opinion, but read on if you want to get an idea what it's like to be a mom from my perspective.

You should consider that being a mom is not a full-time job.  I had one of those, and it's only about 40 hours.  Whatever I could not finish by Friday, I could leave for the following Monday, usually.  When you're a mom, the bedtime stories, dirty diapers, and hungry babies just can't wait until next week.  Sometimes, I wish they could, but as soon as I think about the alternative, I am always happy to get back to work.

Some days I feel like a successful mom, and other days I feel like a complete failure.  Lately, I have felt more like a failure than a success.  It's a daily struggle to make it through a day with a two-year old that likes to throw a lot of tantrums. "Don't do that!", "Stop it!", "I'm counting to 3", "Didn't I tell you . . . ", "Sit down!", "Be gentle with the babies", and "Cut it out!" seem to be all that comes out of my mouth some days.  At the end of the day, when I stare at a beautiful baby sleeping peacefully in bed, I beat myself up about my impatience.  I promise that tomorrow I will try to reason with him instead of being so hard on him.  He is, after all, just 2.

Sometimes everybody is hungry - all at once.  I try to determine who is hungriest based on the how loud his/she is crying or the how many times I'm asked for candy.  Bottle feeding the twins wouldn't seem so bad during these times, but I have picky eaters, of course.  My 2 year-old likes to think he's ordering a la carte at his favorite restaurant, making demands like, "I want pancakes, bacon, and juice."  I try to convince him that eggs, oatmeal, or cereal are a better alternative.  Sometimes he cooperates.  Sometimes I give in.  Usually, he nibbles at whatever I have served him, and I spend the next half hour convincing him to do a puzzle so I can get a decent amount of food into him.

Many days, I have help.  Thank God!  Some days I don't.  The days I don't someone usually throws up or comes down with the latest cold making its way around.  I make big plans for these days like 'I'm gonna get all the laundry done, and when the kids take a nap, I'll do all the filing.'.  I have yet to catch up on laundry, and my filing is still sitting in stacks on the desk.

I haven't slept through the night since March of 2007.  My tiny human alarm clocks don't skip meals, especially not at night.  I'm usually too tired to move them back to their beds, so most mornings I wake up with a baby on each side of me.   And . . . if I dare sleep past 8 a.m., Jameson is on the floor of my bedroom throwing a tantrum because "it's wake-up time", and he wants to go downstairs.

Showering alone has become a luxury.  By the time I get to shower, there's a baby due for a shower also.  Occasionally, there's 3 babies due for showers.  Baths are a rare occurrence here.  There simply isn't time every night for 3 baths.

I know.  I sound like an ingrate, but remember that I said 'hardest, but most rewarding'.  At the end of the day, it's all worth it to watch 3 beautiful babies sleeping peacefully, even if it means that I still need to do some laundry and wash dishes.

I know I'm late on this one, but do you really expect me to be on time?  If you're a mom and you can relate to my own experience, pat yourself on the back.  You're doing the best you can.  Happy Belated Mother's Day.

Do you Cook?

I rarely get to watch TV anymore, but American Idol is one of my guilty pleasures - apparently mine and millions of others'.  Anyway, I used to watch every episode, but that kind of time is hard to come by anymore.  I watched regularly at the beginning of the season, some in the middle, and started tuning in again recently.

If you follow it at all, it's David vs. David this finale.  David Cook was one of my favorites from the beginning, so I was glad to see him make it so far.  I am, of course, one of the "American Idle" as Simon calls us viewers that watch but never vote.  Anyway, I'm hoping Cook wins it all.  David Archuleta was the early favorite, and I thought I liked him too but his little annoying habits have started to wear on me.  He needs to open his eyes, and the over the top humility is somewhat unappealing now.

Well, if you follow the show, I'm sure you have your own opinions.  I'm sure no one cares (especially since I don't vote), but that's my two cents on the matter.