Sadist Sanitation

We're hanging in there. We had one of those days yesterday. It was just hectic and stuff kept going bad. The cable guy came right in the middle of the inauguration, so I missed it. The toilet overflowed and I didn't hear Charles call me, so he cleaned it up with my bath towels. Then he rinsed them out in the bathtub. So I got to clean the whole bathroom and do laundry. After carefully cleaning and sanitizing everything in the bathroom (during which I spilled bright blue bath stuff on the carpet), I went back downstairs to make lunch for everyone. That's when I heard the screaming. Charles went to use the bathroom and the floor was still slightly wet. His foot slipped out from under him and he fell and really hurt himself. I felt just awful. Laney was all in a panic about Daddy being hurt too. He seems ok now, but he banged it pretty bad.
Laney was a beast pretty much the whole day. She's really been acting out. All the kids cried continuously from about 4 to 7. I was pretty much out of juice by the time I got them all in bed. Then I worked on medical bills and tax stuff (what a mess). I had a glass of port and ice cream before bed and woke up with Kenna at 3 feeling super sick (surprise). I have to quit eating my stress I suppose.
This morning I went to get Laney and she had ripped up all of her new Tag books in her bed. She's been fine with them since she got them at Christmas and suddenly that's it. We all went to the park to get some fresh air and that was ok. Then we all went to Target together. I always feel like a circus act as I wheel my two carts through the store. I got a lot of stuff done during nap time and the house is getting a little more organized again. And hey! I went in to get Laney from her nap and lo and behold...no pullup on her. But the bed wasn't wet yet (and neither was the pullup) so we went in and used the potty. Good job Laney! My sorority gift this month was Portuguese wine and I'm very excited to try it. Maybe tomorrow night.
The babies have been quite fussy this week and I suspect that teething is imminent. We'll see though. Kenna can push herself up into a sit really well now and thinks she's super cool. Griffin is doing the all arm crawl. They are both Cheerio fiends now. I can't believe it. I think I'm going to start weaning them off the breast. A part of me kind of wants to continue through the first year, but then again it would be nice to be a little more flexible.
I'll post new pictures soon (after I take some I guess). Still haven't found the broken camera from Christmas. Mom: download the picts from your camera soon!

It's got a Purple Cast to It

We got in to the doctor finally on Thursday. They called at 10 and could fit us in at 1, so I did the super quick get everyone ready/find a babysitter fast thing. Thanks to my friend Kathy for helping us out. Laney was so excited to go to Kathy's (she's been there 1 time), isn't it strange how kids can remember certain people so well? Kathy babysits her granddaughter Alexis and Laney gets on fabulously with her (of course, who wouldn't? Alexis is extremely nice). Anyway, they cut off the temporary cast that had been chafing Charles, cut his sutures out, and gave him a brand new fiberglass cast in a nice royal purple. He chose purple because Laney would like it (and it does coordinate well with the stickers she's been putting on him lately). The casting part was really painful for C, since they had to force his foot back into a 90 degree angle and it's still swollen. We go back in 4 weeks to remove this cast and get a new, hopefully removable, walking cast. Then it will be 6 weeks in that cast and then physical therapy. So Charles will be home with us for the next 4 weeks and then should be able to fly again. Though he better fly somewhere with lots of taxis, since he won't be able to drive.
I started out the day feeling good today, like I was marginally getting control of everything, but by the end of the night felt defeated and overwhelmed (I felt like that while rocking both twins to sleep at the same time while Laney ran naked through the house unchecked). Tomorrow is another day though, and hopefully I'll get ahead of the curve soon and we'll get into the swing of things. I'm just not completely sure I can do it all on my own for months. Charles gets a little better each day, so hopefully we'll be able to work out ways that he can help me at the more critical periods of the day (bathtime).

Happy New Year

I'm back to the blog. It's been a while, I know, but circumstances have intervened in my ability to blog. Here's what's been happening:

It continued to snow and snow and snow the whole time we were in Idaho. The babies did not sleep well and so neither did I. Christmas was great though and it was good to be with my family again. This was the first Christmas that Laney really "got" the idea and it was fun to do stockings etc. After two weeks of no sleep and snow, I was ready to head home to sunny AZ BUT

The day we were supposed to leave, Charles (who turned into a snow removal obsessive compulsive while there) decided to give the driveway one last shoveling. I was starting to drink my first cup of coffee when I heard the screaming. He fell on the ice in the driveway and broke his ankle/leg in three places, dislocated it, spread the leg bones apart, and tore all the ligaments. We went to the ER in the ambulance, where he sort of quit breathing when they put him out to fix the dislocation. Then he waited all day for surgery. I went back and forth trying to nurse the babies and be at the hospital with him. Finally, he went in for surgery at 7:30 at night. After three days in the hospital, he was returned to me with a walker and instructions to elevate for the next two weeks. So, we spent an extra week in Idaho during which I ran around trying to sort out all the medical billing issues that arise from switching insurance plans on the 1st of the year and not having your new cards. Then my cousin Elizabeth flew home with us so that we had another baby holder. Basically, it is like having 4 kids now.
We finally did get back home and things are starting to get sorted out. I need to catch up on a bunch of things but it is still good to get back to our usual routine (and not sleep with my babies!! ). I do miss having all the extra hands with the kids though. I feel like I just run between things since I've been home. Last night after bath time all three kids were screaming. 1 mom divided by 3 babies equal unhappiness sometimes.
Charles is feeling a lot better, but now we are facing the hurtle of finding a doctor to take over his care. what joy.
Griffin is starting to do the pre crawl rock and Kenna is on the move. Laney is talking up a storm. She sat and told Charles an elaborate story tonight, which was just so cute. She was so happy to get home to her own stuff, it was sort of funny. We went back to play group today at the park and that was fun. I don't think I'll make it to sorority tomorrow night though.
I do have to add that we had one of those poop incidents that everyone talks about tonight. I will spare you the details, but suffise it to say that I was very glad to interrupt when I did. We need to start potty training soon. Gotta hit the sack, I'm beat. But I'll make an effort to get the blog out more regularly now.