Wednesday, August 11, 2010

A day in the life of Chrissy

We have been home one week now!
One. Whole. Week!

So far my days look like this:
5-5:30am - wake up call from down the hallway. "Mommmmmy! NAY!" (Nay = come)
5:30am - plop kids on the couch and go make coffee. Pray they are happy sitting there for 10 minutes while it brews. Give them cups of wutet (milk) while they wait.
5:45 - sit on the couch and turn on the news. What? They need to be up on their current world events, too.
6:30- (or whenever they can't take it anymore) I get up to make their breakfast. One tried and true option is oatmeal. We have this most mornings.
Circa 7:30 - Breakfast finished, Paul off to work, potty time done, diapers changed, kids (mostly) dressed... then the first-4 wake up. This is coming to an abrupt halt tomorrow since it's the first day of school!
8am - figure out what to feed the FF's. (First Four)
8:45 - clean up kitchen then begin cycle of keeping peace, return toys to rightful owners, assure small chocolate children that the Woo-shah does NOT think they are tasty, change diaper, take two girls to the potty, wipe noses, let dog out, let dog in, reassure children that woo-shah is not going to eat them, REPEAT.
11:30 - lunch. Figure out what they will eat that I am willing to make. Then figure out what to feed the FF's.
12:30 - clean up kitchen, get bottle for baby boy, begin nap time torture.
2pm - hopefully all three are sleeping FINALLY. Spend precious few moments with FF's, get some stuff done, reheat coffee from breakfast pot.
4pm - wake up sleeping children so that they will not sleep so long that they aren't tired at bedtime. Critically important to my evening routine.
4:15 - Reassure children that woo-shah isn't interested in snacking on their toes or fingers.
4:30 - play, potty, play, potty, diaper, play, potty.
6pm - So far, most dinners have been brought to us by kind friends and neighbors! So no cooking stress for me in the evening! Thank you Jesus!
6:30 - Eat dinner. Tag-Team style with hubby, shoveling bites into baby boy's mouth, reminding girls to chew with mouths closed, cleaning up spills, getting stuff someone forgot to get out, refilling drinks, remembering to eat.
7:30 - dinner done, dishes done, try to get kids wound down for bed time.  Good time for a bath if needed. Most days not.
8pm-8:45 - get ready for bed. Teeth, potty, pullups, lotion, pj's and then start the night time crying ritual.
Lay down with the boy, then with the girls, sing 15 rounds of Kumbayah intermingled with several "Tegna!" and "Lay down!" for good measure.
9pm (Lord willing) Get to tuck in the FF's and spend some time with hubby before crashing into bed.

I had forgotten how much WORK toddlers were!! Pretty sure I just "gave birth to" triplet toddlers and I was expecting who-knows-what!

So, NO... we have not found our new normal. This had BETTER not be it! ;)
I think if I can get a good sleep routine down I will feel much more human... but as of  now, we have 3 children with abandonment issues trying to learn that going to sleep does not equal waking up alone.

It's hard yet perspective-finding for me to be constantly reminded of the sadness, hardship and sheer loss my children have endured over the past year. It's hard to watch and I wish I could give them a magic pill to make it all go away. I love them incredibly much and it SO hurts me to know how their hearts must hurt.
On that note, I don't know how/when/where to introduce the photos of their birth father. From what I gather they have not seen him or a photo of him in a year. Not sure what the protocol for that is... but I feel like it will bring more confusion and/or sadness.

Adoption is HARD, but SO worth it.

3 comments:

  1. and in between all of that found time to blog??!! I'm amazed....hang in there, those first weeks are tough. (((BIG HUG)))

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  2. Sleep issues are the hardest!! But they do get better- I am impressed how together you are after just one week. Personally, I would maybe wait a little on the photo until they are little more stable

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  3. wow- i am impressed and amazewd...and still having anxiety issues about bringin honme one little boy, and i only have little boy in my house....so i will always come back to you posts and see that if you can make things work, certianly i can :)

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