Just Another Manic Monday (& Tuesday)

Enough craziness transpired yesterday morning alone to fill 3 or 4 posts. And then came the afternoon . . . and then the evening . . . and today . . .

Pretty much every game and toy involving numerous small parts has ended up scattered around the house in the last 24 hours.

Kari Bou decided her stuffed bear needed to take a bath . . . in the toilet.

While I was feeding Kai, Kari Bou discovered a way to get into the candy bags our neighbors brought over for the kids, and helped herself to half a dozen Milky Way bars, which she drooled all over her shirt, jeans, and the newly-cleaned carpet.

Still feeding Kai, I took off her shirt to stain treat it, at which time she proceeded to run outside half naked. Zekers ran after her, dragged her back to the porch and tried to give her a spanking for disobeying him when he told her to come back.

Another time while I fed Kai: see above picture.

I came upstairs, after tending to several loads of laundry (which, by the way, has been absolutely kicking my hiney), to find Zekers and Kari Bou in Kai's room, where I had left him peacefully sleeping. This is NEVER a good thing. They had actually buried him under a mountain of stuffed animals from the toy chest - in an effort to "help him sleep better." (the second time this has happened)

While cleaning up Karis after lunch (You've never seen a disaster like her face, hands, and the entire area surrounding her chair after a meal) I heard Kai crying in the living room, and then what sounded like muffled screams. I ran to him, in time to see Zekers pinching his lips together to keep him from crying.

Rachel would periodically holler ever-so-helpful things throughout the moring: "Mom, Kai is puking his guts up!" or "Mom! Karis looks like she has 2 slugs coming out her nose!" (we've been having snot issues for the last few days)

Speaking of snot issues, Karis alternated between sneezing directly into Kai's face, and sucking on his binky and then giving it back to him. (I can't figure out why he now has a cold)

Everyone who calls my cell phone hears at least 5 seconds of background bedlam before I have a chance to say anything.

The munchkins have finally found a system that works for them: Karis and Zekers fight, scream, and maul each other, and Rachel gives me a play-by-play of what's going on, as well as an op-ed on what their punishment should be.

Kai wailed pretty much all morning, most of the afternoon, and all evening.

Kai also decided it would be fun, while in his little bathtub, to pee in a perfect arc into his bathwater and then onto my leg. It was so much fun that he repeated himself this morning - but this time, it was all over Kari Bou and myself, forcing us both to change clothes as we got ready to leave for our Tuesday morning Bible study.

Karis decided to mash red play doh into her hair (and her mouth)

And after all this, my sweet little Rachel informed me that I'm "like the wicked stepmother" and she's like Cinderella, because she has to do everything for me. (This, after I had the audacity to ask her to pick up several dozen crayons she'd spilled on the dining room floor)

I discovered 3 gray hairs this afternoon, and I can't figure out where they came from!

Why I Haven't Written Much Lately

This pretty much sums it up! I'm hoping that soon little Kai (what I like to call him) will learn to eat in less than an hour. I'm all for breastfeeding, but with three other munchkins tugging at me, I don't know how much longer I can keep this up. At nighttime feedings, he eats for an hour and then hiccups for about half an hour. So sad . . .

I know it's not a good idea to use the TV as a babysitter, but today, I had about enough steam to flip on Barney before I crashed on the sofa for a 15-minute nap after lunch. I was awakened by Karis chucking legos at my head.











This weekend Danny married a young couple from our church - the last wedding of 6 he's done this year. It was a really beautiful outdoor ceremony at a park 45 minutes from here. Rachel and Kai went with us, and Zekers and Kari Bou went to a scarecrow convention at a different park with Grandma Miller. I don't know whether I should be concerned that my son was more excited about the mermaid scarecrow than about any of the others!

Sunday, we had a semi-surprise visit from my grandma and aunt who live over 3 hours away, and whom I haven't seen in 1 1/2 years. Grandma called Thursday to say they'd be here Sunday afternoon, and sure enough, when I got home from church, they were here waiting for us - with more homemade applesauce than I've ever seen in my life. They filled both our freezers with it, and stayed for most of the afternoon. The kiddos were particularly excited about the M&Ms and cheese puffs they brought with them.

And it's time for another feeding. . .

Pumpkins and Apples

Saturday, we took our annual family trip to a local pumpkin patch with the kids. The price seems to go up every year - this year it was $6 per person (over 4). But there's so much for kids to do! There's a zip-line swing, a huge tunnel slide that runs down the side of a steep hill, a small forest full of storybook characters (Peter Pan on a gigantic pirate ship, the castle from Beauty and the Beast, the cottage of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves), a corn maze, hay wagons, farm animals, a pumpkin patch, a "caterpillar wagon" ride, a corn crib and bales of hay to play in, and a play area with horses made out of tires and a "hay maze", among other things. Danny and I also love the little bakery where you can get fresh-baked cookies, fruit turnovers and apple fritters. Mmmmmm.

So here's some snapshots of our day:


The 3 Musketeers on top of a giant straw turkey


A highlight of Rachel's day was having her picture taken with one of her heroes.


Kari Bou, on the other hand, wasn't so sure about the giant cut-out character thing


The zip-line swing was a big hit!


"Monster Mountain" (which Zekers insists on calling "Monster Valley")


Most dreaded words to hear in the middle of a corn maze: "I have to go potty, Mommy!"


How Baby Malachi spent most of the day


The kiddos could have spent several hours just playing with dry corn. Turns out, we took many souveniers home with us, in their clothes, shoes and underwear.


The caterpillar ride

The most interesting segment of the afternoon was taking all three kiddos into the port-a-john with me! We'd taken a hayride from the corn maze to the front of the farm, and Danny came separately with Malachi. So, there was no help for it. It was a bit crowded, and the kids were a little freaked out ("It's not a real toilet, Mom!"). Kari Bou flatly refused to use it, but the others eventually worked up the courage.

Afterward, we came home, immediately bathed the kids, ate dinner and finished out the evening by watching Finding Nemo. Not a bad way to spend the day. Unfortunately, I realized I didn't get any "pumpkin pictures" with the kids. Oh well - maybe next year (if the price doesn't go up again!)

Family Week

I was convinced that after giving birth for the fourth time, I'd want nothing more than to jump back into my life as quickly as possible. I enjoy being active and there aren't too many days we just hang out at home.

Well . . . let me just say, I've never enjoyed spending a week doing absolutely nothing this much! Danny was able to take a week off from work, and we pretty much devoted the week to spending time with the kids and each other, and making sure Malachi got on a good eating/sleeping schedule. We're still working on that one, but we're off to a good start!

For the last 3 evenings before it got colder, we took a walk as a family, and twice went to a park near our house. I have the best memories from these times - watching Zekers tear up the pavement with his big wheel; laughing at the kids' hair as they came down the spiral slide; sitting with Malachi while Danny played basketball with the other 3 (it's easy to slam dunk when the hoop is about 3 feet high); staying up late with Danny, just talking (OK, and watching The Office). It has also been so cool to just spend time bonding with little Malachi, since he spends about 1/3 of each day just eating. Hopefully he'll get a little faster before too long.

It's not like everything's been perfect or completely stress-free. The kids have been a lot more emotional and quarrelsome with each other. Malachi refuses to sleep on his back. Rachel's been giving us the attitude of a 13-yr-old for the past few days. Karis has gotten more defiant (is that even possible?). And yes, we're all a little sleep-deprived.

But overall, it's been a good week. How could it not be, when we've had the most amazing meals and I didn't even have to cook them?? I also had to laugh when I realized that every single picture I have from the last week is of someone on the couch! More than anything, I've discovered all over again how much I love the family God has given me - how fortunate we are to have each other - and how happy I am to be able to stay home and care for them.

I'm a little nervous about how everything's going to be when I make that first trip to Wal-Mart with all 4 kids, or get all of them ready for church without Danny (he has to be there much earlier than we do!). I don't know how it's all going to work, but I'm sure it will provide plenty of material for future posts, at any rate!

My Malachi

It's official . . . I'm in love with three men.

Malachi Joel Wright made his big entrance at 11:42 pm on Wednesday, October 3rd. He weighed 8-12 and was 21.25 inches long.

I was just convinced that since Kari's birth was so fast, the doctor probably wouldn't even have time to get there for his. Haha! It barely took any pitocin before the contractions began, but 7 hours later, we were all wondering whether his birthday would be on the 3rd after all! And then he decided he was done fooling around, and came out with 1 1/2 pushes.


I didn't even notice until after he was born what an audience he had. It was a teaching hospital, so in addition to the nurses, there were several students/residents present, as well as my doctor and Danny, and my mom.

The student thing was OK, but it made me a little nervous to know that the nursing student who gave me my IV had never helped with a delivery before. Apparently, she'd never put in an IV before, either. It's a little unnerving to hear the attending nurse tell someone who's about to stick a big thick needle into your arm, "No-don't put it there!" and then proceed to give step-by-step instruction as the nursing student breaks into a sweat. She got it in after 2 tries, so I guess it could have been worse.


I realized that, no matter how many children you already have, each one brings just as much joy as the last, and is just as precious, and every bit as much of a miracle as the others. I am blown away, once again, by how much I love someone I just met. My Malachi.

OK, I'm also blown away by how good it feels to lose 2/3 of my stomach (and by how depressing it is to still look 6 months pregnant!) I freak out every time, but it always manages to go away . . . eventually.

The one thing I didn't understand was that the nurses kept telling me how much I needed rest, but for about 5 hours after Malachi's birth, a continual parade of hospital staff streamed into and out of my room, givng instructions, explaining the menu, etc. In spite of all my best efforts, I fell asleep as one of the last ones was talking. The really great thing was being able to feed him, and send him to the nursery so we could at least enjoy one last night of semi-sleep.


So here we are - just the 6 of us. Rachel, of course, is thrilled with her little bro. Zeke enjoys holding him, but gets very freaked out as soon as the little guys makes a noise. Kari Bou . . . well, she likes holding him, too, but doesn't quite understand why she can't just dump him on the floor when she's done!

I have to hand it to Danny's mom - she did an amazing job with the kids for the 2 days we were away, and it can't have been easy. She called while I was in the hospital and for the first time I heard what everyone else hears when they call our house - the total chaos in the background! But it sounded like the had a good time, and they even had a big welcome sign waiting when we came back.

One last thing. If you want to see additional pictures of our little man, by an actual photographer, you can find them here.

Neither Danny nor I nor Malachi got much sleep last night, but at least Malachi is getting caught up today! He had a good little personality so far, and I can't wait until more of it surfaces as he gets older. It's just so cool getting to hold him in my arms and let him sleep on my chest.

I love you, little Malachi!

Hurry up and Wait

I know I've slacked off on blogging; I've found it difficult to focus as of late. But the good news is, the garage is cleaned and organized, the van is set up for ALL 4 kids; every drawer and cabinet in the kitchen, as well as the fridge, has been cleaned and re-organized; the basement is actually clean; the entire house has been disinfected and baby-proofed; and the mouse enjoying free run of the house has just been caught (I mean, JUST - like, as I typed in the last sentence, I heard it! Ew!) My bag is packed, the camera, phone and camcorder fully charged and all the bills & paperwork are sent and filed away. And the most significant accomplishment of all . . . (drumroll, please) . . . I'm completely caught up on scrapbooking!! (for a few days, anyway)

OK, just writing all that out made me tired. But in my opinion, it's infinitely better to stay busy than to sit around waiting while time crawls by.



Here's what Danny's been doing while waiting for the arrival of #4! Actually, he has been wonderful - acquiescing to all my crazy whims and pretty much trying to stay out of my way - haha! About 10 days ago, around 1:30 in the morning, I woke up and realized our bedroom still needed to be painted. A couple of months ago, he had scraped and painted it, and we both realized we hated the color. NEVER pick out paint colors when you're pregnant. I had a sample of the new color I'd decided on (sand dune) and sent him to Lowe's to get it. Our room was painted 2 days later - he definitely gets Good Husband points for that one!

I had to laugh, because now that I've been sleeping in the living room for the past few weeks, Danny has let the kiddos take turns sleeping with him. As a resuly, he's gotten less sleep than I have! Zekers steals covers and thrashes around, Rachel kicks like the dickens, and Karis talks all night long - and makes about 4 trips to the potty. He actually ended up returning her to her bed around 2am, after her 37th attempt to start a conversation about her doll.

It may be a while before I have a chance to post again. We're leaving for the hospital around 1:30 tomorrow afternoon. I'm not necessarily looking forward to that, but I am looking forward to Thursday!! I know I have issues, but sometimes it creeps me out to know that a full-size baby is hanging, squished and upside-down, inside my body; not to mention, every time he moves, I feel it from my swollen chest down to my squishy thighs.

It's crazy how kids can sense that their lives are about to change forever. Both Zekers and Kari Bou have been pretending to be babies for the past several days. The best part is when Zekers is the baby, pretending that Kari Bou is his mom. She feeds him his bottle, and sings him songs. My favorite is when she sings "Jesus, Lamb of God, where is Your Name?" (instead of "worthy is Your Name"). Zekers has been really acting up lately - like, holding Kari's head under water in the bathtub, and winding a rope around Rachel's neck and then yanking on it, etc. He's gotten an average of 5 spankings per day for the past week. Maybe they're getting out all their aggression now, and they'll take it easy on Mommy when the baby comes. (I can dream, can't i?)

Hopefully the next time you hear from me, i'll have newborn pix to share!