How to Clean a Kitchen

I am a big, beautiful mess right now.  Don't you just love that term?  It is the theme for my MOPS group this year, and so appropriate for my life currently.  Daily, I am graced with spit-up, a gazillion diaper changes, and a perfect little girl.  I haven't showered yet today, but I have big plans to do so as soon as I finish this quick post.

Baby girl is doing beautifully.  The boys are fighting colds, again.  My house is a disaster, as expected.  My husband carries me through when baby brain and exhaustion hit.  I can see my extraordinary blessings, even through the messiness.

Blogging had been pushed aside until I could get control of the dishes, and laundry, and cooking, and cleaning.  Now that I am coming to terms with the impossibility of that plan, I will once again blog to you from the comfort of my dish-cluttered kitchen, and my toy-defeated family room.

But not tonight, because I have a date with a shower :) 
I will share this picture, though:

This is what my dishwasher looks like after I tell my husband that we have unexpected company arriving in ten minutes and that he needs to tidy up the kitchen in 9 minutes. As Tommy would say, "Not good".

Patrick's First Day of Preschool

Last week P started 4's preschool at the same school he attended last year, the only difference being he will go 3 days in a row and will stay through late afternoon (last year he attended 3 days but only 9-12).  My bright boy will be packing a lunch for the first time, and in case you couldn't guess, he picked out a lunch box with daddy shaped like a fire truck. 

Tommy kept asking to go to school during P's first week, and I am hoping that will wear off because he is stuck with me and Kaya until next year when he will attend as a three-year-old.  One preschool kid at a time!  We certainly lucked out on an easy transition for Patrick this year.  He is in the same classroom as last year, and he had one of his two teachers last year as well.  Unfortunately, all but one of his classmates from last year are in a different classroom, but lots of opportunities for making new friends. 

Kaya's One Month Well Check

This past Thursday, Kaya had her one month well check (belated, of course) and weighed in at 10lbs, 14oz (79th %) with a height of 22.75" (95th %).  She is giving Tommy a run for his money - he was also in the 79th % at 11 lbs at  his 1 month mark. (Patrick was nearly one pound less at 9lbs, 15 oz.).

No cooing or babbling yet, but I recorded Labor Day weekend as her first smile (she had given us some before, but we wanted to be positive this wasn't gas).  Here she is grinning away...



She is the exact female version of Patrick.  In fact, here he is at 3 months:

Kaya has been stuffy for the past 4 weeks.  The doctor suspects she had a cold virus, then picked up the cold her brothers had two weeks ago.  The doctor is having me try nebulizer treatments on her twice a day to help with her lung congestion, and we are doing saline spray for her nose and a constantly running humidifier in her room to battle the stuffiness.  For the past three days, she has been very awake (and fussy) for hours on end, beginning around 2 or 3 and lasting until around 8:30 or 9.  Not sure what is going on, but this has meant zero naps for mom this week.  It is becoming very clear that this kid is not going to be a fan of the pacifier.  She will take it at times, but generally wants nothing to do with it.