Baby #3: 17 weeks - How's it going?

Here we are, 17 weeks post baby #3 joining our world. And the question I most get from people who I haven't seen in a while is "How's it going?". Well, let me tell you....

First and foremost, "it" is complicated. Some days it goes really well.....other days it leaves much to be desired. The days that "it" goes well, I usually have 2-3 children who have slept entirely through the night, I am able to wake up and get ready without the "help" of my 2 yr old, and I manage to leave the house both on time and with each of the 14 bags I need to make it out the door with. (Ok, so maybe it's only like 5.....but it's still a very high bag to human ratio). When it goes well, I get all the kids into daycare and dropped off at their respective classrooms with little to no crying. I then am able to make it to work before 7:45. If it is going well, then I have also made it to work with my laptop and power cord, as well as my cell phone and lunch. There have been numerous days where on that front, "it" went very poorly. 

On days when it's going well, I workout on my lunch break, and still am able to leave work by 5 to make it to pick the kids back up from school. When "it" goes well, the kids get immediately into their carseats and the baby doesn't make a peep on the way home from school. I am able to get dinner on the table while the baby cat naps in his car seat, then get the girls into the bath while he plays and giggles. They don't fight me putting on their jammies and the baby doesnt have a breakdown immediately after I get him out of the bath. Once he's dressed, when it's going well, he takes a bottle, chills for a bit and goes to bed without so much as a peep, and remains ASLEEP until we get him up the next morning. After he goes down, Bella voluntarily goes into her room with me and she is out less than 10 minutes later. On nights where it's going really well, Mia entertains herself while I make dinner and goes to bed the first time I ask her to, without making 12 trips in and out of her room making random requests and driving me to the point of exacerbation. I am then able to enjoy a glass of wine, catch up with my hubs and get a full night of rest.

That's how it's going.....when "it" is good.

And then there are the other 5 days of the week.... ;)

1-3 of my children wake at random times, often ending up in our bed. Bella wakes crazy early and wants to be held or entertained while I get ready. She's busy squeezing all the toothpaste out or smashing crackers on the tile or soaking her sleeves with water in the sink, which I allow to happen so I can clothe myself and smear on some makeup to cover the bags under my eyes....The house looks like a tornado has hit it, but I dont have time to worry about it because I'm frantically running out the door because we're running late....again. I manage to get the kids loaded up and remember that I haven't made NIcky's bottles or packed my lunch. Dan entertains the girls in the car while I quickly fill bottles and try to throw together a salad. When I finally make it out of the garage, Mia immediately needs something....or so you would think from the 800 times she's already said "MOM!" When I finally acknowledge her, she is upset because she left her toy at home. It takes me the rest of the trip to daycare to calm her down and assure her, "we'll bring it tomorrow" and that the world is not, in fact, ending. I get the kids out of the car and the baby cries the second I put him down in his room, then Bella won't let go of me and I finally pry myself off her and leave the room with her hysterical. Mia won't let me leave her classroom without 10 hugs and kisses (which honestly I don't mind), but by the time I get out of the daycare and back to the car, I am right in the middle of rush hour traffic....and I remember that I've left my laptop at home.

I make the return trip home to get my laptop and am now late to work. I go to workout at lunch and have left my sports bra at home....again. I make a choice to move forward with my workout despite being ill-equipped because I'm not certain I'll make it back to the gym again that week. I get a project at 3:30 that is due before I leave resulting in me rushing out the door past 5 and pushing all the the evenings already tightly packed events back just a little further. I get the kids and the girls both want to put themselves into their car seats AND fasten their own seat belts. In case you were wondering, neither of them can accomplish this without my help....my help which they are refusing to accept. Fast forward  to 15 minutes later when we are backing out of the parking lot, all 3 children in full breakdown mode. We make it home and I get all the kids and my myriad of bags out of the car and into the house. Now, the dreaded dinner time....

I'll be honest, it doesn't matter what I make my kids for dinner, Bella won't sit long enough to eat it and Mia will slowly poke at it while singing songs and making silly faces which, while adorable at times, is rather annoying when bedtime hangs in the balance of my already thrown WAY off schedule. And let's be real, the dog is generally the recipient of the kids dinners so on nights when it's not going well, I pour a bowl of cereal and promise to myself "I'll do better tomorrow". 

We make it through dinner, the baby is now crying and Bella is usually crying and Mia is trying to convince me that it's a better idea to eat candy AND THEN take a bath. If I haven't given up on bath time by this point, I bathe the baby, then get the girls in the bathtub (usually forcefully and with threats to withhold sweets - bc I bribe my children when the situation calls for it). While they play/fight in the bathtub, I feed the baby while trying to shield him from the bath water flying out of the tub. Once he's done eating I chase Bella around trying to get her diaper and pjs on, and ask Mia 875 times to put hers on, then we make it to the playroom where I turn on a show for them, and go put the baby to bed. 

From here it's usually smooth sailing until it's Mias turn. When it's not going well, my requesting Mia to go brush her teeth results in a full meltdown as though I've asked her to remove all of her own teeth with pliers and bring them to me in a glass jar. When we survive that meltdown, and she realizes she can, in fact, keep her teeth.....she goes upstairs for a story and a snuggle. I pour myself a glass of wine and start dinner. 

I sit on the couch with my wine and my husband, and for whatever reason I tell myself.....it wasn't that bad ;)

So it's going.....good somedays and not so good others, but it's going. And for the adorable children who challenge me, and make me smile, and for my husband who supports me and doesn't judge me for drinking wine every night, I am thankful.