Duncan woke up somewhere around 5 a.m. In my stupor, I led him out of my bed and told him to play quietly while I went back to sleep. Obviously I did go back to sleep because the next time I woke up, in one of those half-awake..half-dreaming kind of states, I could hear several crib aquariums blaring, laughter, squeaking of mattresses and "Mommy!". Not being awake enough to put it all together I got out of bed and found them all three in Finn and Claire's room. No one was in harm's way, gratefully. Finn was happily marching up and down in his crib with a bottle (did I bring that to him at some point? Or did Duncan? I still am not sure), and Duncan and Claire were in her crib. Along with every clean but not-yet-put-away piece of clothing and every baby blanket and sheet from the bottom shelf of the changing table. The only other evidence of mischief that was found was the Cool Whip tub on the kitchen counter.

In the Good News department, my Keurig seems to be working this morning and I have had two full cups of coffee, am about to have a third and become a functioning member of society.

We have no school today and my goal is to continue working to get the house ready for the parade of Realtors on Saturday. I've worked hard so far and have made some real progress. In the same vein, I have allowed most collections of Duncan's in the house but am drawing the line at his leaf and grass collection. We have had worm, hockey puck, rubber glove, rock, and moon (which was my personal favorite) collections.

We made a behavior chart this morning, for lack of a better term. Behavior signal? He has green, yellow and red circles, just like a traffic light, along with a wooden clothes pin with his name on it. I put the pin on the appropriate circle, according to his behavior. So far today, we have been in red one time and are currently on yellow...hoping to move back to green.

Rest of the day...blur...have vague recollections of short naps (oh, all too short), picking up raisins off of a rug, lots of diapers, a water hose...blur...time marches on...and then poof! I'm getting everyone ready for bed.

Then men are not doing too well tonight on Idol, by the way...I have fast-forwarded through just about all of them so far. Casey James was good, but Andrew Garcia is my pick. I pick him and the Bowersox chick. Okay, maybe not her...but she deserves it.

Oh, and those of you who commented after my Miracle posting (or emailed me) that my symptoms were exactly how you felt every time you were pregnant...you just need to behave.

Miracle on Saxon Street

Oh my, y'all. I consider it truly amazing that I am sitting here, watching my DVR'ed America's Test Kitchen and not on a slab or in the ER. Okay, perhaps a bit dramatic but stay with me.

Iain had to leave for California again today, so he stayed home from church this morning (with Claire and Finn) and I took Duncan to church. No morning drama or stress (for the most part). Got home from church, helped Iain pack, then said goodbye to Daddy. It was a balmy 65 degrees here in Dallas, and so far, so good. My mom and my sister were coming over this afternoon to see the kids and have dinner with us. They got here about 2:30 and all three kids were delighted to see them. We goofed off, read books, played, chatted and watched the olympics all afternoon. Mom suggested we order pizza for dinner, which we did. Becky made a salad. Delish. Got everyone fed, and thought that at about 5:00 it was a good time for Duncan to get in the bath. Oh, and a pretty strong cold front blew through. Foreshadowing. I started to have a stomach ache right about the time Duncan went to go get in the bath, but thought to myself, "I should not have had three cups of coffee" (or whatever...) and didn't think too much about it. Then I got on the floor to put Finn in his nighttime diaper and bam. All of a sudden I was overwhelmed with nausea, a headache and felt more dizzy that I can remember feeling ever. Like, in my life.

When you are the mother to three very young children, and you start to feel as if you cannot function, many thoughts to through your head. For me they were things like, "How many of them will my mother and sister take home?", "What agency will I call to come and care for them if my mother and sister cannot?", "How long can they go without diaper changes, food, and milk?" "Perhaps I can convince Mom and Becky to take all three of them and they can just leave me here to die."

Oh, yes, it was that bad. I finally went to my bathroom in case the unthinkable began. Feeling very dizzy, I laid down on the cold tile, on my side. I really, truly, and honestly repeated, "Jesus, please heal me". It was kind of my old-Southern-woman moment. Cuz it seemed like He was the only one who could do anything for me at this point. I thought about asking them to take me to the ER, but knew Jesus wasn't there and the idea of being in an ER bed and not my own wasn't too great. I also remember thinking, "if anyone comes in here they might think I'm dead." So I sat up. Just in case. My mom is not a young woman, y'all. It could have gotten worse.

I sat on the floor of my bathroom for about 15 minutes while my mom bathed Duncan and my sister put the babies to bed. Thank you God that they were here.

Then, all of a sudden I had a feeling that this was going to pass. I could get up without everything going white and got on the bed. I stayed there for about 5 minutes, then went into the living room and knew I was already on the mend. An hour later, I felt almost completely fine. What is up with THAT? I was the strangest health-related thingie I've ever been through. Have had my FB peeps suggest virus, low blood sugar, MSG, my heart. My heart?? Egad.

I think it was a virus. And I think it was Jesus. Cuz He knew how much my life would suck to leave me that way!

Lovely Cheerio Accents

We are getting ready to list our house for sale. We have been in this house for ten years, and have never sold a home. We have three children under five. I am nervous about how things will go, but will just power through when our Realtor calls me to say, "I want to show your house in 15 minutes!" and I'm right in the middle of feeding lunch to the babies and Duncan has made one of his forts, using every pillow and blanket to be found for miles.

Just as an aside, don't y'all think that Shaun White's mother is about to bust a gut? That is one likeable kid.

Okay, back on topic. So, I have this fantasy that they should just be very realistic when describing our home "home to three small children...Cheerios everywhere...likely to find a pair of underwear on the floor...teeth marks in window sill...towel bar in hall bath missing because it was used as a sword...etc." I read those descriptions and can so easily read between the lines "Waiting for your touch!" means it looks like crap, basically. If there is old, dark paneling and original shag carpeting...just tell me. Don't tell me that this one owner home is in pristine shape and has many vintage touches throughout.

Realtors coming in 9 days to chat. Any tips for me???

Random Thoughts from today

• No one in this house can breathe through their nose.
  
• When I told Duncan to get ready for his bath tonight, I did not really mean "Go put on all of your hockey gear."
  
• Moose Tracks ice cream is very tasty, but I will not eat any more of it.
  
• Ellen makes an excellent judge on American Idol.
• Four year old boys can be very, very stinky. And unbelievably funny. And emotional.
• I love cooking meals for other people and bringing said meal to their door. It is enjoyable for me and feels good.
  
• I wish I had thought of the Julia/Julia thing, except my name is not Julie so it wouldn't have been so catchy.
• It will be thrilling when all three of our children can walk from the car to the door.
• Duncan is a kid who can learn, but needs guidance and boundaries to do so. He also responds very well to rewarding good behavior.
• I am seriously considering putting light blocking shades on all of the kids' windows.

Hoping that cold medicine will get me some rest tonight.

~Christie

Milking it

This was the inside of our refrigerator yesterday. We go through about 1/2 gallon of whole milk a day. Maybe not quite that much, but close. Our children all seem to be big milk drinkers. Duncan has never been a juice drinker, and really, will drink ice water before almost anything...maybe even chocolate milk. And yes, it's cheaper by the gallon but the closest grocery store does not carry whole organic milk by the gallon, only by the half gallon. Tom Thumb, believe it or not, so far has it the cheapest but I heard recently that Whole Foods house brand is even cheaper. So, considering how much milk I buy maybe I should go to Whole Foods solely for milk.

Wasn't that interesting? Milk is a big topic with me. I get panicky when we run low.

Valentine's Day is Sunday...I'm just sayin'...honey.

I Can't Even Lift My Arm

Oh my heck. One would think, by now, I would know it the instant my kid is going to have a puking sickness. Perhaps I live in a state of denial...it's just allergies. So when, this afternoon, Duncan crawled up on my mom's couch and stayed there for a few hours, it should have probably clicked in my head. I kept asking, "is it your tummy?" And he kept saying "No, it's my throat" (then added, for dramatic effect..."see, I can't even lift my arm.") I noticed he was getting sleepy, and decided it was probably time to go.

Did I mention it was cold? And raining? And I had a van full of groceries? And Iain is in Southern California? Just wanted to make sure I threw all that in.

I walked over to my mom's couch because my sister had told me he was falling asleep when I saw him. And I knew. Then I heard it. The pre-puke gagging. He does it every time. We all (my mom, my sister, and me...Claire and Finn were not terribly helpful) flew into action but it wasn't fast enough. He threw up all over my mom's couch. Oreos. My mom has raised four kids, so she knows kid puke. And does not get all panicky. Duncan gets kind of scared when he's vomiting, so he's crying, but I get him into the bathroom while my mom and sister try to keep the babies from crawling through the trail (OMG!) while whisking the blanket he'd been laying on into the washing machine.

I had already decided not to go to church tonight for dinner, and my MOPS Steering Committee meeting (sadness...I love those women and even a committee meeting is fun with them), because it was cold and rainy and unloading sleepy babies in the cold rain is well...sucky. Packed up everyone, and started home. Everything was going pretty smoothly...until I heard it. Again. Just as we topped the crest of the very high overpass that always freaks me out no matter how many times I drive over it. I pulled over, just near the "Don't Stop...There is a Prison Around Here" sign, walk to the back of the van (while staying IN THE VAN...Point. Minivan.) and clean him up the best I can and on we go.

So, got them all home. All in bed. So far so good.