Frustrated...

You ever get so frustrated with someone who's supposed to be a friend? Ever have a "friend" who's completely clueless as to how to behave, either in public or in the privacy of you or their own home? Or maybe a fellow mom who has absolutely NO clue as to what to do/how to do it with her kid and calls all the time about how overwhelmed/stressed/ready to scream/ready to spaz that she is with her 1 child, whereas you are just fine with your 4 - plus extra kids some days!
Can you see where this post is going? Yeah, I have a "friend" like that. A "friend" that's driving me nuts. A "friend" that calls when she needs things, or a ride, or a sitter, but never returns my calls to hang out, or go to the park together with our kids, or any little things I might think to invite her to do. She does gladly come over for dinner, as they are usually short of money/groceries. She is more than happy to leave her kid with us, as she says it's "a safe place where he's always taken care of" and "he's treated like one of your own".

Don't get me wrong, I love the kid dearly, and I do treat him as one of my own. I've had him for weekends and overnights since he was born, and even for a week or more at a time when they were both working. That's not the problem, the problem here is, it's almost like I'm jealous that she can act the way she does with no consequences. It's like I'm jealous of her lack of parenting skills and lack of parenting period. Being jealous is new to me. I mean I've been jealous before, who hasn't, but not over stupid things like this. I actually envy her ability to just drop her kid with someone and trust that he'll be fine and taken care of whether she's there or not. Her ability to sleep all day if she wants to, and not worry about whether or not her kid is wreaking havoc on his room when he's in there supposed to be taking a nap or sleeping, or her room while she's sleeping.

Is it wrong of me? Probably. Am I also glad that she trusts me that much with her kid? Hell yes! I take great pride in the fact that my kids have NEVER had to worry about being fed, clothed, or left with someone just because I wanted ME time. The only time any of my kids have ever ever spent the night away from me, much less a weekend, was when I was in the hospital having a baby. Or on the rare occasions when we had them stay at grandma's for a night for our anniversary. Even when I had to work 3rd shift, they still had dad home, and I called to check on them while at work.

Honestly, I'm not sure if I'm mad that she's lacking in parenting skills, or mad that she gets to do what she wants and I don't.

Hubby is getting frustrated because they don't keep him on a decent sleep schedule, or feed him decent food (they mostly do microwave stuff and junk food). With him not being on a regular sleep schedule, he tends to not want to sleep at bedtime, and tries to take naps at weird times. He also has started throwing tantrums when he doesn't get his way, which we also feel is due to the level of supervision (or lack thereof) at home, and the fact that he can basically do what he wants. We don't mind keeping him for weekends, but what we mind is him screaming and throwing fits at bedtime, and climbing out of the playpen and getting into things like he does at home.

Add to that the fact that Gabe is really not handling him being over well, and that Gabe acts out more and tantrums when he's over, and you can see what some of the problems are. I'm just so frustrated and annoyed right now, and am feeling so used. I just feel like all she wants me around for is to watch her kid and drive her places. I'm sure some of that is also due to me feeling quite overwhelmed as of late with Gabe and homeschooling him in particular. And all the frustration with not being able to find a place to move, and the economy and all that. But that's another post for another day.

Now, I need to go get some kids ready for bed and then finish picking up the house before I go to bed.

So Much For That Idea...

Well, they came to deliver my washer and dryer on Tuesday, and it was going great until they went to measure the basement doorway to make sure that the dryer would fit without having to take the back panel off. Nope. Not gonna happen. And then the great news that even with the back panel off, it would still be 2 inches too big to fit. Crap.
So after taking several DEEP breaths, we talked about what we could do about it. We could either take it ALLLLLL the way apart, and reassemble it in the basement, hoping that they put it together correctly and that it would still work. Or we could have them take it back to the store, and I could come pick a different pair that WOULD fit. We opted for the latter.
And then when I was looking at the sets that they had, I decided that I only wanted to get a dryer, because the washer still works just fine.

So, they came Friday to drop it off, and got it to the kitchen, and guess what????? IT WAS TOO WIDE to fit!!! By like an inch. So, we took off the back panel, and unhooked some stuff, and Mike manhandled it all the way into the basement. I now have a dryer that works! And dries clothes!

Not much else going on here, except that I have Adrian and Austyn this weekend. 6 kids under 12 in the house, and its quieter now than with just my 4.

Wednesday, but feels like Monday...

Hubby went back to work today. That at least went well. Had my eye appointment yesterday, which did not go so well. My eyes are ok, need a different script for my glasses, that part was fine. He dilated my eyes, and told me that they should be back to normal in about 2 hours.
Yeah. Right. Not.
More like 12 hours at least. Got them dilated at 3:30, and by 11pm, they were still huge! I looked like I'd done some heavy duty stuff, if you know what I mean lol. Went to bed with a ginormous migraine, and woke up being able to see, but with the same headache. Not cool.
Of course, Wednesdays are guitar lesson days, and Adrian's mom also wanted to hang out. No problem, had another friend pick her up, and bring her down to meet me where the boys get their lessons. Things were busy, but it wasn't too bad. Took her and Adrian home with me, and hung out here for a while. Things are going well, Adrian's taking a nap now, and we're gonna keep him for a couple days (or more lol). I still have the headache from yesterday, but it's not quite as bad. Kids are being quiet, Hub's is playing on the net, and I'm thankfully able to post on here, as my net has been up and down since the crash.
I think I have the problem fixed though, downloaded some drivers and reset my modem, and it's been working for the last couple days just fine. Weather here is nice right now, it's about 40 degrees, and all the snow is melting into huge puddles that the kids of course cannot avoid. It even tried to rain for a few minutes this morning.
Have to wait a week for my glasses, but I will also have a back up pair, since we all know I can't help losing/mangling/destroying a pair. Not too bad, I got a full exam, and new bows and lenses for the original pair, plus my new frames and lenses for about $200. Thankfully I only have to do that every 2 years.
Hope everyone else is doing well, and the weather is fine other places too.

I'm A Glutton For Punishment

So tomorrow's going to be chaotic enough just with the kids, but I just can't leave well enough alone. The boys have their second guitar lesson, which means since I have to be there, so do all 4 (+1) kids. I also need to get a hold of the parts store and find out how much it's going to set me back to get my brakes and rotors for the van. Yeah, really fun.
Thursday is haircuts for the boys, going to the library, and picking up Skylar after he gets out of school. And of course even though he and Adrian are the same size (roughly, he just turned 3, but is small for his age, and Adrian will be 2, but is big for his age), they DO NOT get along. And Adrian is usually the ringleader in whatever trouble comes of the two of them being together. He likes to bite push and bully poor Sky, and Sky just sits there and takes it.
Friday's gonna be nuts too. We have all the regular school stuff, plus I have the cable guy coming (finally!) anytime after 3. Somehow in between all that in the next 3 days I need to rearrange the living room, get the new entertainment center (duh, I need to buy it first, lol) set up, get Caitlin's new shoes, set up the other playpen for Sky, do tons of laundry, plus wrangle 2 toddlers and 4 other kids. Not to mention all the other last minute things that always come up when you have your days packed with all kids of other things that MUST get done by XXXX date.
On the plus side, I can't take more than 2 extra kids at a time without another adult with a car and license, because this van's only a 7 seater and I need to have a seat for ME. I miss my old van, it was an 8 seater, so if I only had my kids, I could separate them, or I could pack in my 4 and 3 more and pack it to the gills with diaper bags and carseats.
I keep telling Mike that my next van needs to be one of those HUGE 15 passenger vans lol. He of course doesn't find it that funny. Hmmmm.
Anyway, Need to get some sleep before Adrian (or Gabe) wakes up and wants my full undivided attention. Btw, anyone want to buy a Dyson Slim, new in box? Cheap!!

The More The Merrier!

Picked up Adrian yesterday. Figured that was why his mom and dad were trying to get a hold of me. He does so well with my kids, and they were telling me that he looks for us when he comes home. He's over here quite a bit, and for a while (when they were both working) he was here all week and home on weekends. So really, it's no surprise that he's been calling Mike daddy and I mommy for some time now. He also calls them mommy and daddy, so I think that he just figures that we're all his mommy and daddy. He'll be 21 months on the 16th. Getting so big, talking more and more every day. It seems like every time he goes home, he comes back here with a new skill.
I thought when he was born it would be so hard to deal with him and my 4, but in reality it's easier dealing with 5 than it was going from 1-3, or 3-4. Really, going from 1-3 wasn't as hard for me as going from 3-4. Adding the twins when James was little was only really hard the first few weeks, when I was too sore to move much and sooooo sleep deprived that I wasn't always sure which kid I was trying to change and feed. Then, when I was able to get out of the house, since we lived about 5 blocks from great grandma and about 7-8 blocks from grandma, it got easier. We went to the park, we went for walks, we went to grandmas. Simple.
When the twins were almost 2, we had Gabe. Wow what a difference. We had moved, so we were about a MILE away from either grandma, and from great grandma. We were still close to a park, but it was such a hassle to get there. I still didn't have my license, so we had to walk everywhere. Caleb had just been diagnosed with autism the fall before (Gabe was born in March), so we were dealing with all that too. And on top of all that, Gabe never seemed to sleep. EVER. He nursed on demand it seemed like 24/7. He napped for about 20min at a time. He wasn't fooled by being stuck in a swing, or carseat. He wasn't having any part of grandma, grandpa, or daddy. It HAD to be mommy, all the time. He refused the bottle, sippy, pacifier. I'm sure that had a lot to do with it being harder adding him to the mix.
With Adrian, my kids were bigger. And while Gabe (and Caleb) are still quite a handful most days, they're easier now than they were then. Adrian was fine with the bottle, and does great with the sippy. He was and is fine with a pacifier. He sleeps, AND naps. Two things that Gabe didn't do. He's fine with crowds, which Gabe (and Caleb) was not.
Every child is different, and I suppose if Adrian was like Gabe or Caleb, then my life (and his parents') would be very different. It would probably be much harder.

The looks I get when I'm in public with my kids, and my "extras" are varied. Some people give me "the look". You know the look, the one that says, "WTH, don't you know how to stop at a couple" or worse. Of course, I give them looks back, lol, but most of mine are smiles. Looks that tell them that I know what causes it, and I LIKE IT! Picture this: Me and 7 kids. The oldest is 11, then twins @9, then 7, and almost 7, and 3 and almost 2. Wow. And then we met my sisters and their kids. 1 sis has 2 sons(7 and 8) and a stepson(8) that she had every other weekend. The other one has 2 a boy and a girl, Brianna is 2 and Christopher is 5. So the ages go: 11, 9, 9, 8, 8, 7, 7, 6, 5, 3, 2, 21mos. Can we say OMG!?!? Talk about getting stares! We can't get together much anymore, because my youngest sis moved to Missouri and my other sis works full time. But in the summer, its me and my 4, her and her 3, and at least 2 of the 3 extras.
I love my kids, and I love my "extras" as if they were my own. If I could, I'd have a few more. But I can't. So, I have my "extras", and my nephews and niece.
I'm sure this post is rambling, and probably blah, but I really just felt the need to babble for a while. It's been one of those days, and it was a long weekend as well.
Now I'm off to watch the President, he's on EVERY channel!

Wow long night...

So I got Gabe to sleep by 945, figuring that he'd be up early. Well he was by my side in bed by 2-ish, and at 330 this morning we got a very rude awakening. The police were at our door. No, none of the kids escaped, neither did the dog.
They were doing sweeps, going door to door looking for people with warrants. WTH? At 3 in the morning? So hubby answers the door, and they ask "does so and so live here?" "do you know so and so?" "is so and so your landlord?" "who IS your landlord?" etc. Omg, to say I was ticked was the understatement of the year. Couldn't fall back asleep till like 430-500, when he want to work. The dog wanted to eat the cop, that was the best part of the whole thing, he was sitting there growling deep enough to make the floor vibrate!

Fun fun fun!

So today I was a little sleep deprived, and of course the day wasn't going to wait for me to catch up. Cleaned house, did school with the kids, made lunch, and went to get Adrian. Who of course didn't have a nap today, and is currently (at 6pm) sleeping! All in all a long night and day. I'm tired just reading what I wrote lol.
On another note, Amy ( http://raising-arrows.blogspot.com/ ) had her baby!
Micah Emmanuel
Born New Year's Day 2009 @ 12:18 am
10# 6 oz
22.5 "
All I can say is better you than me at 10# and 22 inches long! That's a BIG baby! My biggest baby was James at 8# 10.5 oz and 20 inches. And I had c-sections with all 4 kids. Congrats on the baby Amy!

Today went sooooo slow

From the minute I got up this morning, I knew it was going to be one of those days. Caleb was being a spaz from the minute he got up, and of course since he was, so was Gabe. I had to keep pulling the 2 of them off of each other. Got most of the house work done, and finished the grocery shopping. Then I came home and rearranged the freezers and cabinets and shelves so everything would fit.
Went to the in-laws for dinner, and the kids got to see the deer that grandpa's gonna be cutting up. The boys thought it was cool, and Caitlin thought it was gross.
Yesterday and last night I rearranged the dining room and cleaned under everything. Moved the birds cage and cleaned it, moved the couch and the table. Freecycled the treadmill that no one uses (which I had to help carry out to the lady's van this morning).
Today I folded and put away 4 loads of laundry, did the shopping and put it away. Picked up my friend and her son (my godson), did some running with her. Came home and made lunch, and hung out. Hubby got home, and he headed over to mil's house, and I dropped her and the baby off, and headed over for dinner.
Now, I'm sitting here watching hubby and Gabe play Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer on the Wii. Makes me tired just watching them.

Almost 2009

I can't believe that the year is almost done! How did it go so fast would be the question of the day. This year has been a whole lot of firsts for us as a family, and starting over, trying to do things right this time.
1) We got foreclosed and moved twice
2) I had to sell my parrots (that I used to breed for extra money to pay bills)
3) Gabe got about 70% potty trained! (if I could just get him to wear undies 70% of the time...)
4) We started home schooling the kids. But this time we put thought into it and bought curriculum, and (gasp) we're sticking with our plan!
5) We learned to make due, when Tyson was closed for those 2 months or so, and learned what we can get by without.

I've been a godmom for 19mos. Adrian was born on May 16, 2006. I was there when he was born, and was the first to hold him and gave him his first bath. We have him most weekends, and sometimes during the week. He's walking and trying to talk some now. To him, I am Tee-Tee, and Mike is My-My. LOL. We picked him up earlier today, and will have him until whenever mom and dad want him back.
I'm also adopted auntie to Austyn (7, he's 8mos younger than Gabe, almost to the day), Lilly(4), and Skylar(3). In fact, we go pick up Austyn at 4 today, and he'll spend the rest of the week here more than likely.
And I have blood related nephews and a niece too. Austin is 8, Daniel is 8, David is 7, Christopher is almost 5, and Brianna just turned 2 back in October. Austin, Daniel and David are my sister Jaime's kids(Austin is her stepson), and Christopher and Brianna are my other sister's kids.
I'm trying to plan our New Years get together, it will be us and the kids, and the 2 extra kids, and maybe my adopted brother and his new "friend".