3-Ring Circus

It has been difficult trying to find a time to update! I have so many things to write down, but I'm sure since I'm behind, I'll forget most of them! Since it's been a while since I've updated, this is a long one - potentially one of my longest - and Blogger doesn't want to cooperate and let me upload pictures tonight, so it is a picture-less update.

We have been busy - Justin often calls our life "the 3-ring circus" - and most days, that's a pretty fitting title!

We are now in full-swing of me being back to work and all three kids in daycare. Our routine (or lack thereof) is a bit crazy, and we feel like we never have a chance to rest. The kids and I leave the house at 6:40, so you can about imagine what we look like trying to get everyone dressed, fed, and out the door by 6:40!

I feel like the bag lady everyday when we leave for daycare/school. I have to be pretty organized to get everything to the van in the morning ... my purse, my lunch bag, my work bag, my pump bag, my workout clothes bag (some days), Jordyn's backpack and 2 blankets, Jordyn's lunch bag, Jayla's backpack and blanket, and Jaxon's diaper bag. By the time I have all the bags loaded in the van along with the kids, it is full!

We're still working on figuring out a good routine at home, but I often feel like we may never figure one out!

I try to get all of Jaxon's bottles and each of the kids' bags ready the night before, along with their clothes laid out. In the morning, I get up at 5:30 and get ready. We get the kids up at 6:00 and run around like mad for the next 40 minutes. The kids and I head to daycare/preschool/my school. I leave school at about 4:00 to pick up the kids. By the time I get Jordyn, then go get Jayla and Jaxon (remember Jordyn's preschool is now in a different building), and then get all 3 strapped into their car seats, it is 4:30, and we have a 12 minute drive home. By the time we unload from the van (maybe it should be a u-haul), the girls have a little snack (because they are always starving at that point even though they have an afternoon snack at school), and sometimes feed Jaxon (depending on when he last ate at daycare), it is time to attempt to make supper. I say attempt, because it usually ends up with 1, 2, or 3 children screaming for my attention. Supper is often a disaster - the girls don't want to eat what is on their plate (they would rather live off of string cheese and dry cereal) or we gave them the wrong sippy cup and they're mad about it. Jaxon often sits in his swing seat on our kitchen table because he fusses if he's not by us when he eats. It's so cute that he already knows he should be at the table with us. (Very soon he'll be sitting in the high chair with us - just a couple of week away.) We finish supper, clean up the table - forget sweeping/mopping the floor most nights - thank goodness for a dog. Ha! Then it's bath time, pj time, play time, and then bedtime, which takes about an hour with the girls. Jaxon is still doing his fussy time from about 8:00-11:00 at night, then he goes to bed, and then I need about an hour of quiet time to relax - I'm not one who can fall asleep fast. Midnight rolls around quickly - and so does 5:30! Oh, I think I forgot to mention that both Justin and I are up numerous times from midnight until 5:30 trying to calm one of the girls. Jaxon sleeps through the night - the girls, not so much. Deep breath.

Have I ever mentioned how many dishes I do? Jaxon's bottles all have 6 parts to them (including the lid). They are the same bottles the girls used - hoping to help with reflux. So each bottle is 6 pieces (x 6-7 bottles daily), my pump pieces which totals 20 pieces by the time I take them apart, along with all of the sippy cups and snack bowls the girls use, not to mention any dishes that I used to cook with or that we eat off. (Some can't go in the dishwasher.) I usually do dishes twice at night - once after supper and then before bed, since Jaxon will have used 2 bottles after dinner and the girls used cups. I won't even know what to do with my "free time" when I no longer wash sippy cups and bottles someday! Ha!

On a random note, I am still dealing with a UTI (25+ days now). I am seeing a urologist next week and hoping to get some answers. I have taken antibiotics for 18 days, had one shot, a lovely trip the ER, and the infection just won't leave. Due to the latest antibiotic that I was put on on Sunday morning, I had to stop nursing Jax. It was either stop or pump and dump for the next 10 days. I wasn't quite ready to be done nursing - and especially without the chance to wean him off, but I also need to be healthy and need this antibiotic ... and pumping/dumping and still feeding from the bottle is like doing a double feeding every single time Jaxon eats. We don't have the time to constantly be doing a "double feeding" and chasing around Jordyn and JaylaJaxon before he was 6 months old, but I've struggled with it to just stop without have time to really think about. I think I always feel bad for the baby when I stop. Jaxon was a bit fussy yesterday/this morning. He has taken formula once a day basically since he was born, but he just seemed upset yesterday.

We have been trying to get out of the house on weekends. Sometimes it's way easier to leave the house (besides getting everyone ready) than it is to stay home the entire day. The girls start to fight, the house is ripped apart like a tornado hit it, and it completely stresses me out.

This past weekend we took the kids to a basketball game on Saturday night and the Children's Museum of SD on Sunday. The kids did awesome at both things. We hadn't been to the museum for about a year. The girls had soooo much fun and were so well-behaved. Jaxon slept the whole way there, the whole time were there, and the whole way home (from about 11:00-3:30). We just kept him in his car seat/stroller the whole time. I have so many pictures from the museum, but they are still on the camera. Hopefully I'll get them uploaded soon.

As I'm typing, Jayla is currently upstairs crying. I guess that's my cue to sign off so that we can get her calmed down and back to sleep! Just another night at the Overmans ...