Day 96

We bring in the new year with a snow storm! Welcome 2010!!!! Happy New Year to all!!!!

The girls are sleeping over Pete's parents tonight and Pete and I will be unavailable to the world as we'll be driving to an undisclosed location for the evening and having some much needed fun!!

Have a Happy and Safe New Year!

Day 95

Hannah & Hailey woke up around 2:00 this morning. Hannah pooped and needed to be changed so since they were both up - we just changed them both and put them back to bed. They went right back to sleep so it wasn't bad at all.

Uncle Joey watched them for a little while today and then Pete's mom came for the afternoon. They were fresh today - Hannah & Hailey started a food fight at breakfast time. As 'cute' as this sounds...it's not even close to being acceptable. They were both put in time outs and then had to clean up their mess (which they enjoyed doing of course...lol). Have I ever mentioned that my girls LOVE to clean? They ask for wipes so they can go clean things in the house. And if they see something that's dirty - they'll 'uh oh' it to death and find a way to clean it up. Not their toys though. Those can be all over the place. I guess toys don't count as being 'messy' when you're 2.

We fed the girls dinner then it was time for baths, brush teeth, read books (Uncle Joey read to them tonight) and in bed. They're sleeping and we will be too soon.

I can't believe tomorrow is the very last day of 2009. It was a great year. I hope next year is just as good as this year has been. ;-)

Day 94

Girls slept all night. They went to grandma's house and played. They came home and we all ate dinner, played for a bit and now they are sleeping. Now we will go to bed too.

Day 93

Girls slept all night again. Rejoice! We worked - the girls played all day. Donna and Pete's mom came this morning. The girls had a good day - and tomorrow is a new day! ;-)

Day 92

The girls slept 14.5 hours last night. Although when they went to bed Hannah put up a huge fuss (which she's been doing lately). What we didn't realize is that she threw up all over the place again. We didn't realize until they woke up this morning :-( Usually when she does this we can hear her over the monitor and she says 'uh oh' over and over again. But not this time. She did the same thing tonight - except this time we had the monitor right on her so we saw it (as well as heard it...ew!). We cleaned her up while Hailey got to get up and 'help' (Emily slept through it all). Then they both went right to sleep.

We got up this morning and had some breakfast and then headed to the grocery store. Went shopping, came home to have lunch and change and then off to another family xmas party. It was a blast and the girls had a really good time. They were extremely good considering they only slept for a little bit on the way there and considering the # of people that were there. It was a good day all around!

Monday tomorrow...but it's a short week - I only have 1/2 day on New Years Eve and then we're off on Friday! Yippie!

Day 91

The girls slept all night again last night. Today was a good day. We went and looked at more houses - 4 more actually. One of them was one we've already looked at but this time we went with our realtor. Little Brother came with us and the girls came along as well.

When we got home my friend Jenn (Emily's Godmother) came over with Carl (my Godson) and we hung out for a bit. Then it was time to eat dinner, take a bath and hit the cribs for an early bedtime since the girls only slept for 1/2 hour in the car today. I can't wait until they don't need naps anymore!!!! It will free up so much time in our day to do stuff together. Right now we have to make sure we plan for them to get a few hours of sleep in the middle of the day and if that doesn't happen they can get really cranky. Although even though they only slept for 1/2 hour today - they were amazingly good (until about an hour before we put them to bed...but that's the 'witching hour' anyway).

Pete and I had/have a lot to do in the house. These past few days have been hectic and now we're paying for it. I'm on my 4th...or 5th - can't remember - load of laundry tonight and the kitchen was a disaster so Pete took care of that. He also took down the xmas decorations including the tree. We need the space for more toys! LOL

Hopefully the dryer will be done soon so I can fold the clothes and go to bed. We're sleepy!

Day 90 - Christmas Day

The girls all slept through the night again. Michelle and I got the house in order and then went to sleep. In the morning the girls got up and hurried down the stairs to see what Santa left them. They were so excited to see all the gifts under the tree. Emily kept saying "wow". SO funny. The morning was super fun with Uncle Joey, Uncle Pete, Gammie, Papi, and Kristin. They all came over to open gifts and Grammie made fried dough. The girls loved the fried dough, who doesn't. The girls got so many cool toys. Did I mention I got an iPhone? Love it! We put the girls down for a nap at 11am so they could recharge before round two. When the girls woke up we feed them and put their pretty x-mas dresses on to go to my parents house. Oh the day wasn't all peaches 'n cream. While the girls were napping we cleaned up. I brought some boxes out to the dumpster. That is where I ran into one of our neighbors (we live in a condo complex) he started giving me shit for putting boxes in the dumpster, saying I need to recycle them. That they don't belong in the dumpster. He was very mean about it so I told him to go f* himself and to go tell on me. People put all kind of weird things in the dumpster that they shouldn't and he is going to give me a hard time over a couple boxes. I was so pissed. Anyway, we headed over to my parents house for x-mas #2. The girls were really good and we all had a great time. The girls ate so much while we were there. They opened the first couple gifts and then I think they were on x-mas over load. They all got a toy phone and after they opened them all they wanted to do is play with them and not open anymore gifts. Well I should say Hannah and Hailey lost interest. Emily was still into all the gifts. We were able to get the girls home and in bed by 7:30pm. Now its 10pm and time for Me to sleep.

Day 89 - Christmas Eve

Dear Santa,
Thank you SO much for bringing a gift early. The girls slept ALL NIGHT last night - and so did we. Maybe your little elves can find it in their little hearts to bring the gift of sleep again tonight?
Love,
Mommy & Daddy

Day 88

Hannah was up - and ended up in our bed...as well as Emily for a while. We. Need. Sleep. Pete brought the girls back to the doctor today for a recheck of their ears. Hannah & Hailey still have ear infections and Emily has a yeast infection from all the antibiotics. So the other two are on round 4 of medication and we now have cream for Emily (and refills in case the other two develop the same thing). I called and made an appt with an ENT doctor - the earliest they could get us in was Feb 3rd.

I worked today - Pete had the day off. He wishes he worked today though. The girls were in horrible moods and pretty much fought all day. But so goes life. I think we're both looking at things differently and more critically since we've had no sleep in almost 2 months now. Ok - more like 6 weeks...but who's counting right?

We both agreed that if Hannah wakes up tonight - she's going right in our bed so we can sleep. Right now sleep deprivation is taking over our life. It's not good. We have a lot going on in the next few days and if that means we sleep with a toddler between us - then so be it. At least we'll be sleeping.

Day 87

Well Hannah woke up last night at 10pm. She did not want to sleep in here crib at all. I went and got her, changed her diaper, and as soon as I got upstairs and in the hallway she said "no, no, no" and pointed to our bedroom. I told her that she needed to sleep in her crib and in her room with her sisters. Every time I motioned to her room she would say "no". I finally just put her back in her crib. She cried, well screamed for like 20 minutes. She is so head strong, doesn't back down for nothing. I had to go get her and let her sleep in our bed. At around 4am I was able to put her back in her crib. We were going to get up in a couple hours but I wanted her to wake up in her crib so she knows that is where she belongs. Not a peep from Hailey and Emily they slept all night.

This morning was good the girls woke up in great moods. We had to get them dressed and ready to go to grandma's house today. They played with Titi and had a great time over there. We let the girls open a present that my boss got them when they got home. They each got a puppet and they loved them. It was so funny to watch them use them. They knew to put their hand in them and everything.

We did the normal bed time routine but for some reason Hannah started crying as soon as we put her in bed. They all usually go right to sleep, only waking up around 10pm if at all. We let her go giving her time to settle down but then she through up. We turned the lights on, got the girls out of their cribs and cleaned up the mess. Then we calmed them down and put them back in their cribs. All of them fell asleep this time. Now I go clean up the kitchen and living room while Michelle hits the stores for some last minute x-mas shopping. It's now 9pm. I hope they all sleep tonight because we are so tired.

Day 86

The girls slept through the night last night. Finally! Although I'm not having high hopes for tonight - Emily is still coughing pretty bad. They all have an appt to see the doctor again on Wednesday morning for a recheck of their ears. These ear infections better be gone!

Donna came this morning - not only do the girls love seeing her but so do I! She's been coming since the girls were only a few months old. She even brought a 'trick' with her today in order to keep the girls still when she's changing them. She brought lotion! Haha...the girls love to put lotion on and rub it in. It's the simple things sometimes.

Pete and I looked at more houses online today...it's never ending. But we'll find one and we'll make it our home!

Going to sleep - still tired from not getting much sleep in the past few weeks.

Day 85

Road trip! We had FUN and it was much better than I anticipated. We decided to take the trip a day early so we didn't have to travel in the snow. The girls and I got up to MA around 3:00. The trip up wasn't too bad. The girls slept for some of the ride and when we got off the highway we ventured a ways to see if we could find a grocery store...lol. We were in the middle of nowhere and ended up at a hole in the wall place where we just bought some snacks. We really needed potato's and butter but oh well - Goldfish and Graham crackers work too.

Sleeping went ok. We had 3 pack n plays (since the trip to NJ went over so well we figured the pack n plays would be fine again), and the girls went down but not without a fuss. They finally fell asleep but woke up around 11 and all 3 ended up in bed with me. Thankfully it was a King size bed! But come 1:00 I still hadn't slept (have you tried to sleep with 3 toddlers at the same time????) so I put Hailey in her bed since she was sound asleep. Once I put her down - Hannah woke up and said 'Mine!' to which I replied 'You want to go in your crib?' (I mean...come on now - I know I'm sleep deprived but this was something I surely must be dreaming). She said 'Yeah' and I couldn't get her in that bed fast enough. She went right in and fell right to sleep! Then I put Emily back in hers. She fussed for a few minutes but not too long. We ALL slept until 7:00. But I tell ya - it was restless for me because Hannah talks, whines, plays, cries and giggles in her sleep. Now I remember why we don't sleep in the same room with them anymore! Haha.

Once we got up we just chilled in our jammies until after naptime (which Hannah skipped today -she helped out with making a big turkey dinner though). Pete came in around noon and he took over with the girls while I showered and dressed. The rest of the family showed up shortly after and we had a big fat xmas party! It was a blast.

My cousins were great - Daniel (who's 11) kept the girls busy playing with them and Christopher was so nice to share all of his 3 million toys without putting up a fuss. We can't wait to go back.

One thing this has made me realize though is that I can't help out when I go somewhere alone with the girls. They really still require 100% of my time to keep them going and the day moving smoothly. We'll get there though. They were so good with all of the people - I couldn't have asked for a better weekend with them. No melt downs, only one bloody lip (please see above when I say they need 100% of my attention...because this happened about 5 minutes after we walked through the door and I turned my back) and they didn't even mind the 30lb rabbit (don't think I'm joking...this thing is HUGE). ;-)

We'll be making more road trips - that much is for sure. Oh and Pete didn't sleep well last night. I guess being in a big empty house with no wife and babies isn't all it's cracked up to be. Poor guy...lol.

The trip home was fine too. The girls slept the whole way and once we got here they ate a little something and then went right down to bed. They're all sleeping - but I know better than to think they'll stay that way.

After the girls went to sleep - Pete unloaded the car, then we baked 9 dozen cookies (thank you very much Baby for signing up for a cookie swap at work), and then Pete put the girls Little People garage/playhouse thingie together so they can play with it in the morning.

Ugh...I'm not ready for Monday but here it comes.

Day 84

Let it snow, let it snow. Big storm coming in tonight.

Last night was good. Hannah and Hailey only woke up once and we only spent 30 minutes getting them back to sleep. This morning was a little busy because we got up at 6:45 and had to get the girls ready for MyGym at 9am. But we got it done and made it to MyGym on time. Grammie came with us to MyGym, the girls love playing with her. After the gym we kicked it into high gear to get everything packed so Michelle and the girls can head up to Auntie Jenn's before the snow starts. I will head up tomorrow weather permitting. Michelle recruited Lucy and Alex to come over and help us. While Michelle got packed up at home I hit the store for some necessities for this impromptu trip. After we all ate lunch and packed the van I kissed the girls and told them I'll see them tomorrow. Michelle and the girls got to Auntie Jenn's house safely and are having a good time. I have been cleaning, doing laundry and even went grocery shopping. Don't worry soon I'll be sitting on the couch chillin'. Did I mention I am home alone, can you say sleep at last.

Day 83

The girls were up from 12:30 - 2:30...all 3 of them. We're all tired. Hailey has croup now too. She's been sick - they've all been sick. But today her cough is worse than it has been the past couple of days. Ugh...we're sick of being sick. And it's really taking a toll on us. But we just keep moving.

Night is the worst. Pete and I can't just sleep during the day - and we can't go to bed when the girls go to bed. So by the time we get everything done and get to bed - it's usually around 10:00. Fall asleep maybe 1/2 hour later - and then the girls wake up shortly after that. For example: last night we went to sleep at 10:00. The girls woke up at 12:30 and didn't go back to sleep until 2:30 (after so much aggravation, changing of diapers, giving them juice.....) but we didn't get back to sleep until about 3:00. Then we have to get up at 6:00. That's 5 and 1/2 hours of interrupted sleep. This has been going on for weeks now. We thought we were done with this stage of parenthood...waking up every couple of hours is killing us. Nothing like some good sleep deprivation to break a family down piece by piece.

Today was Fun Friday with Uncle Joey. He took them out for a little bit because someone had come to look at the condo (it's for sale remember). Pete got home early because today was his xmas party. By the time I got home - he had cooked dinner and the girls were eating...they were hungry little babies tonight.

Then it was bath time (with new bath color tablets thanks to Uncle Joey...which the girls LOVED). Pj's, read books and in bed. They've already woken up once - Pete brought Hannah & Hailey down as I was writing this blog. He changed them and put them back to bed...they're sleeping again.

After they went to bed - the 1st time - we cleaned up and starting baking sugar cookies. Lovely mess we made ;-) But we got 3 dozen out of the 9 that needs to be made. Ok - maybe a little more but we might have eaten a few...lol.

I also had to rearrange some plans for tomorrow. Originally - we were planning on going to MyGym, then the girls to Pete's parents house for naps while Pete and I went to look at 4 more houses with the realtor. However; we're suppose to be getting hammered with a big snow storm tomorrow night into Sunday. That puts a damper on our Sunday plans of going up to MA to a family xmas party. So - we make changes. Being flexible is part of being parents. I cancelled the house hunting, called my cousin and left a message saying the girls and I were coming tomorrow night to sleep over, Pete will come on Sunday and Pete called his mom to say the girls wouldn't be over there tomorrow. This way we get to the xmas party (it's not even going to snow up there!), we get extra time with family and Pete gets a good nights sleep (at least if he's smart he will).

Going to bed now. It's 9:24 - I wanted to be in bed by 9:00...being flexible though right?

Day 82

The girls didn't sleep last night. Neither did we. We looked at more houses today - no go. Good night.

Day 81

Will the sickness ever end. We started November 11th with ear infections and head colds and we still are dealing with them. Hannah and Emily have croup. Still taking antibiotics for ear infections. We haven't had a good nights sleep in over a month. Last night was bad. Hannah kept waking up coughing, she ended up waking Hailey. Hailey ended up in our bed and Hannah ended up sleeping with Uncle Joey in the livingroom. I think I put Hailey back in her crib around 4am. We all woke up late this morning although it feels like we never slept. We had to hurry to get the girls fed, dressed, and out the door. The girls had a good day except for Emily biting Hannah. I don't know what I am going to do with her. Its like she gets frustrated and bites. Emily bit her in the leg and then in the arm. When they got home we fed them dinner and gave them a bath. Then it was time to brush teeth, read books, and bed time. After they went to bed we cleaned up... Hannah woke up coughing not 30 minutes later. Michelle took her out on the porch to let the cold air help her. Then we put her back in her crib. I then got online to pay some bills and Michelle wrapped some x-mas gifts. There isn't enough time in the day. Then, Emily woke up coughing, her cough then woke up Hannah and Hailey. We went in and held them for a few minutes and once they settled down we put them in their cribs. Now all 3 are sleeping and I hope they stay that way. So tired I can't have them wake up anymore tonight.

Day 80

Ugh - last night was long. Hannah was coughing soooo much. She ended up in our bed and she just couldn't get comfortable. At about 3:00 I took her out on the porch hoping that the cold air would help her to stop coughing and make her more comfortable. It worked and she finally went to sleep but none of us really got a good nights sleep last night. We'll try again tonight.

The girls had fun at Pete's moms today. Titi Rosemary was there so they got to spend time with her too.

Oh yeah...Pete got to come home from work early today because his office building caught fire! It's one of those things we all hope for but it never happens...but it did to Pete! LOL He got to work and apparently there was an electrical fire early in the morning and they needed to work on the building so they sent everyone home. Yay! He got to come home and clean! Haha. Lucky him. ;-)

Off to bed. We're tired and we need sleep.

Day 79

Hannah has croup - another doctor's visit. Seems like we were just there - oh wait - we were just there...on Friday. Pete took her to the doctor while I went to school to take a final exam. On his way home - she threw up in the car. I met him at home after my exam and we fed the girls, gave them a bath and did the usual night time thing. We were in a hurry because I had to go back to school to take another exam. Once the girls got in their cribs Hannah threw up again. So I cleaned her while Pete cleaned her crib and changed her sheet. The other two screamed wanting to be running around 1/2 naked like Hannah was for the moment. Eventually we got them back to bed and sleeping. I went back to school and took my exam. Now we need to get the house in order - the realtor is coming over this week to take pictures. I hope whoever walks through this place understands what it's like to have 3 toddlers...cuz it sure isn't sparkling clean. I think Pete and I are both done with the whole sick thing going on in this house. 3 colds, 11 ear infections, one bout of croup, one bout of 'unknown' cough that needed 'special' meds. Done done done. The stress level in this house is at maximum right now.

Day 78

We got up. We napped. We looked at and fell in love with a house. We ate. And now we're parting ways...Pete and I one way (out), Little Brother and the girls the other way (in). Good night. ;-)

Day 77

Hannah slept in our bed until 4:30. I'm not even going there right now.

Girls woke up and we had to be at Pete's work to have breakfast with Santa at 9:00. Little Brother came with us and we had a good time. I remember from last year that 'breakfast' meant lots of cookies and cupcakes...so Pete actually made the girls pancakes before we left and we took them with us so they could eat while were there. We still let them have a cookie...just not for breakfast. When Santa came in all 3 of them were a bit hesitant. Hailey sat unwillingly on Santa's lap but didn't really cry - Hannah & Emily just got their gift from a distance...lol.
As we were leaving they gave the each of the girls a goodie bag to take home. I just went through them and luckily I didn't let them go through them. There's so much candy in the bags that it looks like they went trick-or-treating! LOL

After breakfast we headed home and Little Brother put the girls down for a nap while Pete and I met the realtor to go look at a few houses. We also signed the paperwork to put the condo on the market so it's officially 'for sale' now. We walked through 2 of the houses and the last house wasn't even worth looking at. It didn't offer the yard that we thought it had and it just wasn't in a good location. So begins the house hunting. I was much more excited the 1st time we purchased...I think I'm not so excited now because it's going to be a lot of work. But we've outgrown this place and it's time to move on.

The girls are feeling better today so it seems. But that doesn't stop people from telling us that we shouldn't have them out. Of course - everyone else knows best - we're just the parents of the girls. We must not know anything. I'm not going to go off on a rant about it. I'm just sick of people. It's not even advice that is being offered which pisses me off even more. It's simply 'you're doing it wrong'. Yeah - we've considered moving to Kansas - because we don't know a single soul there!!!!!!!!!! Grrrrrrrrrr.

Pete had a xmas party to go to tonight at a friends house so he left when we got back from house hunting. Little Brother left shortly after. So the girls and I had some much needed 'girl' time. We hung out and played with stickers, we danced (please don't ask for a demonstration), we all went up to their room and put away ALL of their laundry (ok...I put it away while they read me books, handed me hangers and fought over the empty baskets) and we also spent a majority of the time 1/2 naked! Lol..ok - they did. We worked on potty training and they did great. Hailey pooped in the potty again. She actually said 'poo poo', sat on the potty and pooped! It was right before bedtime so I didn't really want to give her a pop pop so we just did lots and lots of verbal positive reinforcing. ;-)

Then it was upstairs to brush teeth, read books and fall sound asleep. I'm not sure Hannah will stay that way since she slept in our bed last night. But we can hope.

Day 76

Girls slept last night. Hannah woke up for about 10 minutes. I went in and held her for a few minutes but put her back in her crib. It didn't take too long for her to fall back to sleep. We got up and did the usual morning thing. It was Fun Friday with Uncle Joey today. Go here
http://luccogirls.blogspot.com/ to fill in the day.

Day 75

Hailey pooped in the potty!!!!!!!!!! Yeah that's right. The girls were at my moms today and Hailey said "poop", my mom checked her diaper but is was clean. So she brought her to the potty and she pooped in the potty. SO exciting! The girls all had a good day today. They were making x-mas ornaments with Rosemary. Tracing their hands on green paper and then coloring them. They love doing activities like this. I got a pizza for dinner and we all played a little after dinner instead of taking a bath. Tomorrow can be bath night, tonight we play. Uncle Joey was here and the girls were in really good moods. After we played it was time for pj's, brush teeth, read books, and bed time.

One down two to go. Michelle has been working really hard with this potty training. She bought 3 potty seats and 2 potty seats that go on the regular toilet. Its not easy potty training 3 at the same time. I give her alot of credit 'cause I just sit back and wait for it to happen.

Tomorrow is fun Friday!

Day 74

Big snow storm today (well - a few inches of snow during the morning commute anyway). The girls slept all night. Hannah woke up for a brief period of time but no interference was needed. She put herself back to sleep and finished sleeping the night away.

When we got up I decided it was too messy to tackle the commute with the trio so I called in late and waited until it warmed up and every other person got off the road. Pete went in on time. The girls and I played with their flashcards and then their fishing game and then we headed downstairs to wake up Uncle Joey to say we wanted him to make us a Fun Friday breakfast. Yes - it's only Wednesday - but we're rule breakers here. So we had a Fun Friday breakfast and then got dressed and I brought them to Pete's moms house.

Getting them to the car was a challenge today. But we did it. I carried them and off we went. Then I went to work.

Pete and I talked a lot over email today. We finally got the information back that we've been waiting on to buy a house. So added to our daily agenda will be house searches. We're going to look at some this weekend - and putting the condo on the market. Sell sell sell! And then buy buy buy!! Lol. No rush though - we looked at over 100 (yes we physically walked through more than 100) houses before finding our condo. So I'm sure this will be an even longer process.

After work I picked up the girls and brought them home. Little Brother was here to help out. Pete was not - he is at a focus group making more $ for a house! ;-)

The girls went down with no problem tonight. We played hard and long before bedtime - and they didn't get to bed until 7:00...so they were sleepy. Let's hope it stays that way.

Now - I'm off to house hunt online. Let the search begin........

Day 73

I'm sleepy so this will be short. Hannah woke up at 10pm last night and cryed for an hour. Michelle rubbed here back and as soon as she stopped Hannah would start crying. She wants to be in our bed. Not going to happend. Michelle brought Hannah into our room and we both calmed her down and kept telling her she needs to sleep in her crib like her sissters. Michelle put her back in her crib and after a few minutes she was asleep. This morning we got up late and we were bringing the girls to my mom's house so we had to hurry. I got the girls dressed while Michelle showered. Together we got out of the house and to work on time. Team work. The girls had a great time at my mom's playing, they got to see my sister, they like going over there. When they got home Uncle Joey was there so they were all happy and ran over to him. They played with him while we got dinner on the table. After dinner it was bath, brush teeth, read books, and to bed. They went to sleep at 7pm it is now 9:30pm and they are still sleeping. Lets hope they stay sleeping.

Day 72

Hannah slept through the night. So so did we. Today is Monday, back to work for us. My mom came to our house to watch the girls today. They had a good day playing with their dolls and putting puzzles together. I was very busy at work today, not going in on Friday really put me behind. Not much else to say it was a pretty uneventful day.

Day 71

Hannah was up from 11:00 - 1:00...screaming. I brought her downstairs once and so did Pete. She eventually fell asleep in her crib though. We're tired to say the least.

But the days must go on of course. And in the morning they are fine. We all got up at 7:00 this morning. After some milk and playing we decided to go out to eat at Denny's. The girls were fantastic as usual. We played with crayons and colored, stuck some stickers and said 'hello' to a few nice people. The girls ate and ate and ate...they eat so much it's unbelievable how tiny they are. The waitress was super as well. She kept commenting on how well behaved the girls were and how much patience we have. Lol...well she hasn't seen us in the middle of a nightly melt down but that's ok. When breakfast was over we were waiting for the check and it was taking longer than usual. We decided we'd put our jackets on and maybe that would get things moving. Then...

The manager comes out to say 'You're probably wondering where your check is. But I'm here to tell you that the couple sitting behind you took care of it before they left. Your meal was paid in full and we hope you enjoyed it.' OMG are you kidding me? That's amazing! If this couple only knew how much this meant to us. We've been in such a slump this past week and just not getting along and it really made our day to know that there really are nice people in the world. I did ask the waitress if she knew who the couple was but she said "No. They come in once a week and they pay for their own meal - and then they chose to pay for someone else's meal as well. Today they chose your family.' Well that's PERFECT! I said I would mail her a thank you card and she assured me it would get into the right hands. I still can't believe it.

After breakfast we headed over to Kohl's for some xmas shopping. I'm a good shopper and find some decent deals. But today was this years 'deal of the year'. I can't say what I bought - they were xmas presents and of course the people receiving these gifts read the blog. But I can tell you this...the total spent was $197. The total saved was $475. That's right...$475!!!! Xmas shopping was fun today ;-) The girls were great in the store (not something they are known for at Kohl's for some reason).

Then we headed home to take naps later than usual. I had a presentation to work on and Pete did some stuff around the house. When the girls all woke up we had lunch and just hung out at home for the rest of the day. It was a nice relaxing afternoon actually.

Then it was time for dinner, baths, pj's, read books (with Uncle Joey too tonight!) and in bed. They were a bit restless before going to sleep but at the moment - they are ALL sleeping. I don't even have hopes they'll stay that way because I know better. But I also know that I'm going to bed early to prepare myself for a long night before a Monday morning.

Today was a great day! (I'm excluding last night as part of 'today'). The girls were in amazing moods, we found out there really are nice people in the world still, we got a superb deal on some xmas gifts and the girls made me laugh so much today. I love that. I love them.

Day 70

Last night was far beyond bad. I jinxed it by saying that these nights haven't been the 'worst'. Thank you dear Lord for proving me wrong once again. Hannah screamed ie: screamed at the top of her lungs while throwing herself against her crib - that kind of scream...from 10:30 until 1:00 this morning. That's not a typo. That's 3 & 1/2 hours of listening to her scream. I went in several times, Pete went in several times. Each time she would calm down and want to be picked up. At one point I brought her downstairs and I layed on the couch while she screamed in the living room throwing her fit on the floor. The other two slept through it all luckily. I brought her back upstairs and she was nice and calm...until I put her back in her crib. The once again - the screaming began. At 1:00 I went and brought her back downstairs...and pretty much flipped out. How can ONE child scream FOR SO LONG? Reason was beyond me. Wouldn't she just get so tired she would fall asleep? You would think so - but nope. Won't she lose her voice from this? Apparently not. I had to make Pete come downstairs and deal with her. I was DONE. She got on my last nerve and I couldn't take it anymore. He slept on the couch with her until the other 2 woke up at 6:30.

So that's a whole 5 hours of sleep we got last night - again. We went to MyGym and came home. Once home it was time for naps. Yeah right. You guessed it - she screamed and screamed and screamed. I ended up going to get all 3 of them because she was keeping them all up. We get downstairs and Hannah's still screaming and crying. Done! I left and went to help my aunt move. She was moving to a new place and there was no way I was staying her for one more minute with this screaming kid.

I came back a few hours later and they were fine. Until bedtime. Once again - she's screaming and screaming and screaming. 1/2 hour it took her to fall asleep. And tonight - she can wake up the Pope for all I care. I'm not even going in her room. Oh - she also likes to smash her forehead against her crib in a fit of rage so she has a nice bruise dead center of her head now. I am considering sleeping the car tonight. But that's probably not legal to leave your kids in the house while you're in your car. Wish I had a garage...that would be legal I think.

I get so angry. I know that when she's having a meltdown I can easily redirect her to something else (during the day - not while she's suppose to be sleeping). But in order to take control of her I need to take control of my anger 1st. Because when I'm angry I don't care to redirect her. I just want her to find a way to console herself and get over her diva attitude. I know this post is harsh and I'm sure I'll delete it before they're old enough to read. I probably wouldn't want to read something like this from my past. But this is true life. This is what we go through and this what we're dealing with right now. Not the lollipops and giggles of toddler hood. And I'm sure like clockwork she's going to wake up between 10:00 and 10:30 tonight and we'll have yet another sleepless night. A night of yelling and screaming and blaming each other for who's fault it is that she's crying. Wondering if the neighbors have had enough (one mentioned to me yesterday that she can hear Hannah crying at night). One has already banged on the walls - I guess just to let us know she can hear us? Because she has to be smart enough to know that banging on the wall isn't going to calm the situation.

This phase needs to pass quickly.

Day 69

The night was long last night. Hannah spent about the whole night in our bed. It's hard not to just go in and get her and just let her sleep in our bed when that's all it takes to keep her from screaming. We're tired. Exhausted is more like it. I get it now - I understand why people let kids sleep in their beds. But I'm not caving that easily. Pete and I agreed after talking today - she'll cry all night long if that's what it takes tonight. I just don't want them getting use to sleeping our bed. We both stayed home today - and we both slept when they slept today. It will probably be a long night but she's staying in her own crib. As are the other two.

The medication that Emily started today didn't have the horrible side effects they warned us about. But it also didn't work to clear up her cough either. Ugh.

I have these moment during the day and I'm having them more and more often lately. I stop and look around as if I'm having an out of body experience. I wonder how we got here and I wonder how our parents did it. I wonder how any parents do it. Are we doing this right? Because this is it - one shot deal. No more tries after these 3 so if we mess up we don't get a 2nd chance at this. But then again - does anyone? Today - we were out and on the way home I must have heard a commercial about how heart disease is the #1 silent killer of women. No kidding! That's because we're mothers! And our kids give us so much to worry about! LOL

Today was ok. The girls all had some moments that drove Pete and I crazy but we agreed that it gets to us more because it's constant. When Emily was laughing and giggling - Hailey was crying and whining. When Hailey was finally laughing and giggling - Hannah was crying and whining. Some days it's non stop. We have 3 - so pretty much on the off days - there's always someone crying. And this is what gets to us. There's no break. No break from the whining, crying, screaming.......and it's hard to focus on the giggling and laughing when you've been worn down for so long. And we know these days also aren't going to last forever (please don't tell me not to wish away their lives because these are the 'best' times). All 3 are going through the same stages at the same time. That means we're having a hard time communicating with not one, not two - but three toddlers right now. They don't know how to tell us what they want, need or what's wrong. We don't know how to interpret their needs and desires as they become more complex. When we get one of them content - another one needs something. And so on.

I'm not complaining - just putting it out there that this isn't the easiest time of parenthood that we've had so far. It's also not the worst (go back to the girls blog and read the earlier days when I was breastfeeding...those days still take the cake!).

Day 68

The massage last night was wonderful. And that's where the wonderful night ended. The girls were up - Pete and I got about a total of 4 hours of sleep (and that wasn't all at once). I'm done. Done with the screaming, sick, inconsolable babies. We didn't sign up for this. Sleepless nights one after the other are not good for the mind/body/soul of parenthood. Hannah's persistence is something I'll admire one day - just not today.

Emily has to take a new medication for her cough. She's had a dry, nonproductive cough for a couple of weeks now. The doctor said if the antibiotic (that she's taking for her ear infections) didn't do anything for the cough then she would give her something else. So this new med will more likely than not: make her throw up, give her the jitters, shakes and make her restless. Sounds like fun huh? Because that's exactly what I was looking for after a week of no sleep. Funny - I don't see any regular criticisers here helping out. Oh that's right...they're all home snug in their beds. Hmmmm.

It's 10:20 and I'm not even upstairs getting ready for bed. Why? Because Hannah is up. Pete finally went up there to get her and I'm refusing to go up there and be in the same room with her. Yup. That's right - I put it in black and white. Call child services...go ahead. I dare you. Because I'll chew them up and spit them out faster than they can say 'You're doing a great job!'

I'll be home with the girls again tomorrow. The days seem to be better than the nights so I'm sure it won't be so bad in the morning. But getting from point A of the night to point B of the morning is going to be rough.

Day 67

Well all 3 have ear infections. Last night Hannah was up all night she just couldn't get comfortable. Michelle took all 3 to the doctor while I had to go to work. She brought Emily to ask about her persistent cough she has. The doctor says the antibiotic will get ride of it. Once we finish giving them the antibiotic we are bringing them back to the doctor to make sure the ear infections are gone. Even though the girls were not feeling good they had a good day. Michelle played with them, read them books and they had fun in CVS with all the x-mas stuff while waiting for the Rx. Hannah didn't take a nap today only slept in the car for like 15 minutes so she was a bit cranky at dinner time. She put up a fight not wanting to sit in her chair and eat. It took some coxing but we got her to eat. Then it was jammies, brush teeth, read books and bed time. Hope they sleep tonight I am so tired. Michelle had an opportunity to go get a free massage tonight from a massage school. A well deserved break. She does so much for all of us. She is the one that keeps this household together and she doesn't get a chance to take a break and do something for just herself so I'm sure she is loving the break tonight.

Day 66

Emily has an ear infection in both ears. She was up all night. Poor baby was burning up and couldn't get comfortable. I brought her to the doctor and they prescribed an antibiotic. Michelle brought Hailey and Hannah to my mom's and I stayed home with Emily. Emily was so whiny she didn't want to eat or anything. I got her to sleep for 2 hours after we got back from the doctors. From the doctors I went straight to CVS to get her Rx. They are doing constructor next to CVS and when I pulled in Emily started pointing and saying "big truck". There was a cement truck, she loves trucks. Michelle got home with Hailey and Hannah at 5:30, they were so happy to see Emily. We all ate dinner and then we gave the girls a bath. Emily didn't want anything to do with a bath tonight so Michelle washed her up quick and got her out of there while I washed Hannah and Hailey. Emily went right to sleep but Hailey and Hannah cried for an hour before falling asleep.