My First 'Life with Three Kids' Story

Here I am, feeling almost ready to start posting again. I don't think I can really keep putting it off though. I've just not really felt like sitting at the computer lately, so email, blogging, and keeping up with the news has slowed down quite a bit.

Life with three kids is very interesting. I only spent one night in the hospital because I just couldn't stand it any longer. We were very lucky that Emma was released as well. Since she weighed more than she should have for her gestational age, they wanted to keep her longer. But I was smart and asked the nurse to check with Emma's pediatrician to see if it would be ok if Emma was released with me. When the nurse returned she had a look of shock on her face as she told us Dr. McKenna released Emma. All they needed was one more test, and since the results were good, she was released.

So far we haven't had many outings, of course. We have gone to the grocery store (I put Megan and Jeremy in the main part of the cart and kept Emma in her car seat in the front of the cart, this keeps me from being able to see where I'm going since I'm so short) and to a few clothing stores. I was looking for nursing clothing (was unsuccessful) at every store in the valley. Those of you who have been here know that isn't many, but still, it was annoying and tiring. When Nathan got home that night I went back out shopping and still returned empty-handed. There is only one store in the valley that sells nursing clothes and they are ugly and expensive, so I didn't buy anything there. At all the other stores I just looked for clothes that could would as nursing, like button down shirts. The only thing I did find was a polo shirt at Old Navy- $10.

Going shopping with the three of them was difficult. I had Emma in the Snugli, Jeremy in the stroller, and tried to keep Megan within arm's distance. When I needed to try stuff on I had to maneuver all three of them into a small dressing room, take off the Snugli and keep Emma in it at the same time, try to keep Jeremy in the stroller, and Megan from opening the dressing room door while I change. At some point Jeremy threw two of their books he'd brought and I now have no idea where they are since I don't know which store he lost them in.

The day before the shopping extravaganza I was really tired and decided to take a nap with Emma. I figured Megan and Jeremy could play nicely for half and hour or so and asked them to be nice to each other and stay in their room. About an hour later I woke up and thought to myself, I should check on them. I went into the kitchen and saw Jeremy standing on his pot trying to reach something on the counter. He turned around and looked at me, asking for help. My eyes opened so wide I thought my contacts were going to pop out. His face was completely brown, his hands and arms brown, too.

My first thought was he'd gotten into the Sharpies. I thought I'd hidden them all well enough, but since I'm using them to write on the boxes as I pack them, I figured I must have missed one. Lucky for him, his sister's butt, and my sanity it was just craft paint. Craft paint washes off a lot easier than a Sharpie pen. Feeling a bit stressed (I still didn't actually know at this point it was paint) I grabbed his arm and dragged him to his room. There I found Megan sitting between their beds with a dish cloth on the floor in front of her. On the dish cloth was a baby bottle with brown paint in it, a small craft paint container, and a small paint brush. It must have taken her the entire time I was asleep to paint him. Her face also had paint in random places and a few spots on her arms.

I hoped it would be funny later, because I was really, really mad. I took the paint and brush away and began to lead them out of their room, checking the carpet for paint on the way out. Relieved at not seeing any, I looked up and saw their wall. Brown. It was just the small area between the door and the closet, but still, it was brown. I asked Megan if there was paint anywhere else and after promising me there wasn't, I washed them off in the bathroom. Of course the next day I overheard Megan telling Nathan that there was brown paint on her dresser, courtesy of Jeremy.

Tonight will be our first date in a while. We were going to go shooting in the mountains, but since it rained most of the day, and will therefore be nasty up there, we are going to go see Indiana Jones instead.