We Kinda Ate Glass For Dinner, But What Matters Is We Ate Dinner

I'm juggling a lot these days and a lot of balls get dropped. A lot of stuff just can't get done (like putting away laundry), but a good control freak like me has to pick and choose battles. The battle I seem to have picked is dinner. I can control dinner. So, I make it every day. I try to meal plan each week and rarely order in. It's not easy. I often do it in steps throughout the day, starting with chopping in the morning, then perhaps sauteing around lunch, etc. etc. If I have help with the kids I might throw together soup and leave it on the burner for the rest of the day.

I've also gotten really creative, because sometimes I can't get to the grocery store for a couple of weeks. So, I have to make do with what we have on hand. As an excellent impulse buyer and a total sucker for a deal, we have plenty of goods and a freezer full of stuff. So, I'm always able to get by.

I threw together what I could find the other day... Chick peas, frozen butternut squash, sweet potatoes, fire roasted tomatoes, onions, garlic, celery, carrots, chicken broth... Flavored it with some cinnamon and curry and thyme. It was fast, a five minute stew I threw together while I had some help. It sat on the stove for the afternoon.

Later, during the 4:00 meltdown/introduction of tv time, I decided to quickly unload the dishwasher. While moving too fast, in too many directions, I somehow knocked a Pyrex bowl out of the cabinet. It hit our silestone counter top and shattered into about a million pieces. And when I say shattered I mean SHATTERED. I was covered in little glass pieces. It filled the dishwasher, was all over the ground. I screamed at the barefooted B who was just entering the kitchen asking for crackers. And then I spent 40 minutes cleaning. 40 MINUTES. Baby was crying, brothers were bickering and whining about needing snacks, little pieces of glass were stuck in my hands and feet. And I imagined missed little pieces that would no doubt find their way into little feet. It was hell. Seriously.

Once everything was as glass-free as I could get it, I realized that I had uncovered dinner for a quick taste test. I couldn't imagine that the glass made its way into the dutch oven, but couldn't guarantee it hadn't. I looked through it. I took a few bites. I couldn't bear to throw it away. So, I made the kids mac and cheese or something. They ate and I put a few spoonfuls in a bowl. I figured that if I found glass it would be a sign that Matt and I shouldn't eat it. The first bite... CRUNCH. Glass right away. So, I threw away my bowl, but still left the rest on the stove top. It actually pained me to imagine my time and efforts, not to mention delicious, healthy food just get thrown away. What a waste.

Matt came home, we agreed to throw it away and have cheese and crackers for dinner once the kids were sleeping. It was 8:30 by the time everyone was settled. We were hungry and Matt thought it smelled good, so he might as well take a taste. And then it tasted so good, he might as well eat some of it. And little by little we each carefully, slowly ate a bowl of glass-free stew. The rest went into the garbage.

But, seriously, that was some damn good stew...

I Am Almost Stopped Blogging, But Here's Why I Didn't

If you've been checking (if there is still anyone remotely interested in our antics) you've probably noticed that things haven't been updated around here for a while. It started before A was born. Little by little I started to lose my interest in blogging. It became another item on my never-ending to-do list. I stopped going to blogging events for a while, because working out childcare and spending more time away from the kids just didn't appeal to me. Suddenly this thing that I was doing for my kids, to celebrate being a mom, to find a community was taking my focus from my kids and - quite frankly - starting to stress me out. I cared less and less about readership and willingly turned down great opportunities, because I knew it was the right thing for me at the time.

A was born and the days and weeks became a blur and there was NO TIME. No time to do anything, especially anything on my computer. Opening my computer just leads B to bang on it and W to insist on playing video games and A just seems to have a sense that it's open and begins to cry. So, I could go weeks without working on my computer. Having three kids under the age of four doesn't leave much personal time to do just about anything.

And then I received an email from a really excited father expecting his second child. Let's call him John. With a wife only a few weeks along, John started googling stuff to get him ready to be the father of two. He found a post I wrote about preparing for #2 and was especially interested in my double stroller recommendation. He revealed that I was the first person he shared the news with and had some questions about a double stroller. So I wrote him back with advice and it felt good. I was reminded why I started this blog and realized I missed writing and connecting with other parents. I'm no expert, but apparently I do have something valuable to offer. I heard back from John and at the end of his email he wrote this: Anyway, thank you, again, for all the insight, and I look forward to continue reading your blog.

It feels good to be back. After all, if I'm not posting how will this man ever know how crazy it will be when he and his wife have #3?!?!

A Blip On The Radar

It's been a long time since I've posted. I don't know that I've ever gone this long since setting up this here blog, but I haven't had a second to post. I've been busy staring at this face:

Can you blame me?

I used to spend almost my entire day on the computer, but these days I'm hardly able to check my email. There never seems to be a time when my hands are free or someone won't attack an open keyboard (W and B charge every time I open the computer).

Here's the honest assessment of having three kids: Everyone who says that going from two kids to three kids is no big deal is LYING or has kids that are much more generously spaced. Seriously, we might as well have ten kids running around our house. It's nuts around here. NUTS. I pity people who try to actually have a phone conversation with me, because it mostly means they're listening to me talking to a toddler or trying to pacify a crying baby.

But, we're getting into the groove, which is why I'm posting tonight... Baby Girl is sleeping in her bassinet instead of cradled in my arms. Wow, right? I'm not even sure what to do with myself! So, I'm going to wrap this up, fold a load of laundry, throw in another load (cuz it NEVER ends), and then get some sleep.

Let's consider this a little blip on the radar... More activity will be coming soon.

Goal: Don't Let Baby Get Sick

Mission impossible: Keep this girl from catching our cold, respiratory infection, croup, etc.

Baby #3 came home to one brother with a fever and the other with a killer cold. Two weeks later the cold has been passed around the house and both boys have had ear infections, I have an upper respiratory infection, and just last night B woke up with the croup cough. Once you have a kid with croup you know exactly what it sounds like, the distinct seal barking noise kind of makes your heart sink. W's case of croup was nothing like B's was last night, but the second I heard that cough I knew we were in for a long night. Matt steamed him a few times, then brought him outside into the cool air, and then it was morning and the cough went away leaving with us with an overtired, terribly congested, runny nose, drooling toddler. And despite how crappy he must feel, he's just as rambunctious and mischievous as ever.

The main goal of having a newborn is to keep her from getting sick for the first couple of months. I didn't realize how important this is until I had B and we ended up in the hospital due to a fever. Before that I couldn't understand why the pediatrician was so crazy about keeping kids out of our house... then I learned. And now I'm crazy about keeping her healthy. This also means that Matt is handling the boys when they're sick and when the reach out to me for a hug I have to blow them a kiss and rub their head to keep myself as germ-free as possible for when I nurse the baby.

So far A has been OK. Yesterday her two week check up revealed thrush, which explains a lot of the fussiness we were dealing with overnight. But, she is otherwise a-ok. I just wonder how the heck you keep a baby from catching something during the peak of colds and flu -- with a kid going to preschool every day. If anyone has a bubble she and I can hang out in for the next week, I would gladly take it.