War Zone

Most mornings as I drag myself out of bed I can't help but feel that I am preparing for battle.  I wage a daily war against my two and a half year old and 2 twin boys who are almost 7 months now (STOP GROWING!!!)


I spend all day fighting to keep the house somewhat clean despite my two year old.  She is like a little Tasmanian Devil.  I feel like I just follow Liv around picking up everything she drops, cleaning dishes after she eats (breakfast, second breakfast, and snack, and lunch, and more snacks...you get the idea), changing her clothes eight times a day because they got wet or she spilled food or whatever other excuse she comes up with because she thinks it is fun to go through her entire wardrobe in a day.  Which reminds me of the war I am waging with my laundry.  The laundry is surely winning that one.  I can't keep up!

It's a constant battle to provide entertainment to these three.  Liv has gotten to the point now that almost as soon as she wakes up she asks where we are going for the day.  And, when the answer is no where like usual she then announces that she would like to go to a friend's house.  The boys have also grown up enough to need to be entertained while they are awake.  So I feel like I play with the boys when they are awake (the same toys and songs over and over and over) and with Liv when they are asleep.  I am constantly trying to dream up something fun for Liv to do at our house besides watch movies.  (Liv has learned how to use multiple remotes to turn on our Blue Ray player all by herself--it took me weeks to learn that!  So, when I say no to a movie she just waits till I sit down to feed the boys and starts one all by herself anyways and often times I give in especially towards the end of the day).

Lately, I think I am in a war with the spoon. I feel like I spend most of the day trying to sneak more food into my babies mouths than they spit back out at me.  From the looks of things, I guess I'm winning that war or at least I don't need to worry about it too much.

It's a constant struggle to keep everyone tear free around here.  People always ask me what I do when both boys are crying at the same time.  How about when both boys and Liv are all crying at the same time? That happens almost daily in the couple hours before daddy comes home.  The answer:  I have become very good at listening to babies cry.  It doesn't really faze me any more.

Because I feel like I am constantly combating the necessary, I have stopped fighting the unnecessary like trying to make Liv's clothes match, or do her hair cute, or keep her shoes on outside (if she stubs her toe or steps on a sticker maybe then she'll learn the reason for shoes all by herself).  I have given up on "baby toys" because the boys seem most happy with other not so baby friendly toys like pens and paper.
My motto for mothering is if it isn't hurting anyone and they are happy, then let it be.  It may be messy, it may not be ideal, but as long as there is no real danger I just let it slide.  Like the day Liv insisted painting her nails all by herself (I was actually surprised at how well she did).

Then, when the day is over and I am thoroughly exhausted, I spend my nights fighting to get some sleep between all 3 kids who like to take turns screaming through the night, or throwing up, or wetting the bed, or trying to climb in my bed.   (Well all except my angel Carter who never makes a peep or even moves in the night).  Then, I get to wake up and drag myself out of bed and prepare for battle all over again.  Thank goodness for little reminders all throughout the day that it's worth it.  Like this day when I was weeding and Liv asked me to stop because she needed help getting married to London!  So cute!
In other news:  
We took our first long road trip with all the kids and the dog. It wasn't even that long just felt that way at times.  We drove out to my Dad's ranch outside of Elko.  Liv was in heaven with a barn and river to explore.  We did a ton of hiking with Dad and I carrying the boys in front packs and Derek carrying Liv (she is getting heavy!) intermittently.  She actually did a lot of the hiking by herself. 

 We only ran into one rattlesnake!  I hate snakes!  It was enough to make me feel panicked the whole rest of the time especially with Liv running around.

We have gotten pretty good at the park.  It is one of few outings I feel fairly comfortable taking all 3 kids by myself.  The boys are usually happy to chill on a blanket with some toys or back to back in a swing.  And Liv is big enough to run around by herself.




I took all 3 kids to a neighborhood pool to swim one day.  While I admit that it was a little intimidating, with all 3 in some form of floatation device that time it went pretty well and I would consider doing it again.
Lastly, I am happy to report that as a necessary outlet.  I have gotten back into running.  Ran my first 1/2 marathon this morning in a long while.  I think I actually ran my personal record finishing in 1 hr 51 minutes.  Pretty sore today.