What a day…again.

Did I mention yet that I love having 3 kids? Especially ones that are as adorable and laugh as often as mine do? I mean, really.

Perhaps one of the best parts of my day (oddly enough) was getting word from my friend Jody that she will probably be traveling to Sierra Leone in just a few short weeks. They are so close we can all taste it and I’m so incredibly thrilled for her.

Trysten said to me today, “I didn’t really like having a brother at first but I love it now. His laugh is so great.”

That is a fact.

So todays pictures are brought to you by the only child of mine who will stay still for pictures these days. I tell you what. We call Dailah “The Dutchess”. My father-in-law named her that because he says my MIL is queen, my SIL is princess and Dailah….you get the rest. These pictures were too cute. In 20 minutes she fell and skinned her knee and then fell and bumped her lip. 🙂

But I think someone told her she was royalty. She really is so funny. She is all girl and I’m not sure how that happened with a mom like me. I wouldn’t know girly girl if it smacked me in the face…and that’s exactly what’s happened. I have a daughter who would rather paint her fingernails and sit on a chair singing and dancing than come join her brothers and mom in an intense game of soccer..Who does that?

If she starts reading trashy romance novels and hating when people ask her questions I’m going to start asking my sister lots of questions.

We made our first trip to the grocery store tonight. I told you I should be cloned. We bought way too much, it actually made me depressed. Unfortunately not depressed enough to not eat it or something like that.

So things are going better with the urine situation. Well, I don’t know if “better” is the word, perhaps just “different”. He doesn’t pee on the floor as much anymore (yippeee!) but he does pee all over the toilet seat as he just forgets to push that up as well (yuck). The cheerios hasn’t helped that situation. I’m hoping if I keep repeating to pull the seat up maybe it’ll just sink in. How soon is too soon to have the boys start cleaning their own toilet? Gag a maggot.

Had book club last night and actually stayed out until 10:30. Those things just don’t happen to me anymore. But it was great conversation with a great group of women, I am just so grateful for their wisdom and insight!

Thanks for your prayers for my grandpa! He is out of the hospital and they are trying to control his issues with medicine. Now we need prayers that he takes the medicine! If not, we gave my grandma permission to chop it up and put it in chocolate (grandpa is the person who passed on my absolute obsession for all things chocolate and good).

We have thick, green mucus and coughs at our house. Is anyone else really questioning this whole global warming thing with the weather being 30 degrees IN MAY!!!! My goodness, this is getting ridiculous.

I really don’t even have any funny antecdotes to share or pictures for that matter because all things considered, I’m quite lazy and don’t want to go look for the camera. So until I get some powerful motivation, you just have to settle with my mom-ish words and lack of humor.

Another blog about a conversation with a 5-year-old.

Trysten: Mom, Max and Quincy (Jody III’s boys, check sidebar) don’t have their brother and sister home yet (they’re adopting the twins from Sierra Leone) but we have Tariku.

Me: That’s right, who did you talk about that with?

Trysten: Quincy, he said he’s excited to get them home and play with them. He said he misses them like I missed Tariku before he came home. He said that we’re cool because we have brothers and a sister who are from Africa.

Me: Well he’s right about all of that!

Trysten: Mom, is Africa cooler than America?

Me: It’s just different. Cooler in some ways, not in others.

Trysten: I sure wish I was from Africa. Tariku talks cool and I like his skin because it’s my favorite color. Quincy and I wish we had black skin because that’s really cool.

Does he get any cuter? I mean, really.

Ok so I liked, no pictures this time but this was an unplanned post. I just have to post when my kids are cute, it’s like some motherly thing I think.

The kids are down (it’s 7:30) and I’ve heard 4 flushes of the toilet in 15 minutes. That means only 10 more and they should be down for the count. Boys crack me up.

It’s been a crazy weekend. We had some great friends over Friday night. I shared my enchiladas that Cassie made, which I now regret (I need the recipe, Cassie!). But they shared their beer so I think we’re somewhat even.

Yesterday we launched a new Bodypump release the kids and myself were at the Y until 2.

Zach has been at a training all weekend so we’ve not seen too much of him.

Today we went to church and are now taking naps, which I will surely partake in after this absolutely necessary blog.

My mom called today to tell me that my grandpa had fallen, a possible stroke. My typically optimistic mind is racing at breakneck speed to pessimism. I’m praying for him with all my might today.

My 3 names (first, middle, last) are constantly being misspelled. If I would’ve not been so head over heels for Zach, I maybe would’ve thought about keeping my easy-to-spell maiden name but I didn’t. Worst I got from a telemarketer was teshoshe klipesch. Today I looked in the mail and Zach has a piece of mail for him. If they didn’t have his first name, I wouldn’t be exactly sure who it was for as it was addressed to “Zach klit” and that’s no jokes. I think I’m going to keep it just because it’s hilarious.

You remember that book of 660 pages I was supposed to read half of by Monday? I finished it last night. 660 pages in approximately 2 days. I couldn’t stop, good stuff. The Other Boyeln Girl is what it is called. I love reading, absolutely love it.

The kids….are….great. Tariku is starting to get his wits about him and I must say I’m very proud to have another funny child join the family. Though his jokes are sometimes in Amharic, I completely get that he must’ve been the funniest 3-year-old in Ethiopia. He has started to go back and forth between wanting to forget about Ethiopia and wanting to show it off. I tried to give him some injera the other day and he told me he doesn’t like it. But in the bath last night he kept saying, “Tariku Ethiopia, mommy America, daddy America, TT America, Dailah America.” When I just put him down for his nap he was jokingly messing up who was who and then just laughing so hard…way to precious.

The pee thing is getting better. Everything still smells like urine but now it’s mostly because he forgets to flush, so that’s an improvement. As he runs to the bathroom he yells, “Pull pants all the way down!” “Shinte in the toilet, not on floor!” Who’s a proud mommy?

Trysten and Dailah are getting ever the more clever as well. I really think they’ve taken quite a liking to being a family of 5. I can’t remember if I’ve ever seen anything as cute as them all holding hands but if I have, it completely escapes me. Truth be told I’m enjoying myself too. Things haven’t really changed that much from 2-3 kids. I felt it big time only once that I can remember. Today on the way to church I was carrying Dailah as she was sleepy. Trysten was holding on to my hand and Tariku was holding on to his (remember Zach was working). So Trysten and Tariku start running and Tariku falls, skins up his knee. He wants carried, Dailah wants carried. I had my purse, diaper bag, water bottle, 60 lbs of kids in my arms and one tugging on my coat. I sure could’ve used an extra set of hands but my good church-going people obliged me and picked up Dailah. 🙂

Anyway this post was so random but I had a few things I wanted to remember before I forgot them…which could be anytime from 3 minutes or 2 hours, they will doubtfully last longer than that. Pictures next post, I promise!

Tariku is still feeling a bit under the weather. He’s very quiet for him, still limping. He even chose to take a nap instead of eat lunch…who is this kid?

I called the doctor…just to be sure this is normal. 🙂

Trysten is so funny. Yesterday we were watching Ellen (admit it, you were too) with the single reason being David Beckham was on. I’m a bit partial to him myself so I was excited. On the show they called him the greatest soccer player in the world. To which Trysten says, “Even better than uncle Marcus?” (My little bro plays soccer in college). “Yeah, even better than Marco.” “Oh, I don’t think so, mom, Marcus is way better.” Way to cute.

That’s all. 🙂

Whew…a few days out of the blog world and I feel like I’ve been out of touch, I started getting emails making sure I’m okay…I appreciate your concern. 🙂

So we’ve been good. I’ve been out of things to say, things are going so well I fear a jinx will surely happen should I blog about it. (By the way, i love writing “about it” because inevitably 2 out of 3 times I write it, it looks more like “abou tit” and that always makes me giggle.)

But today has been an interesting day. It started (kind of) with Tariku getting his vaccinations. I was never one of “those moms” that cried when my babies cried over vaccinations. They’re babies for God’s sake, they cry all the flippin time. I felt bad, sure, but they weren’t able to differentiate between a needle and 2 hours in between breastfeeding. Turns out it’s COMPLETELY different with a 3-year-old; even a 3-year-old who speaks limited english. He knew what was coming. He started screaming when he saw the needles then proceeded to let out a blood curdling scream that awoke the Ethiopians IN Ethiopia. It was horrific, I started crying, he kept crying. We were a blubbering mess. Then we went to McDonald’s and he forgot about his shots…

Until tonight. I noticed he was limping when we got home from the Y. Then I realized he had his first accident in his pants so I thought that was it. But then I changed him and he was still limping and very quiet for Tariku. When I kept asking him what was wrong (in English, then looked how to in Amharic) he pointed to his legs. Poor guy. Though it was the first time he let me just take care of him. He definitely has an independent streak a mile wide so he usually won’t accept help in dressing, brushing teeth, eating, etc. But tonight he was all about it (hee hee hee) so I splurged and carried him everywhere, etc. I kept repeating, “I’m your mommy, I’m going to take care of you.”

Then Trysten started coming up with things that hurt. I never realized that my hypocondriac (sp?) stage could’ve been so annoying to my parents (sorry about that ‘rents) or my siblings for that matter. He was complaining of a hangnail and I was like, “Trysten, your brother got 4 shots, let’s not go there.” Jeesch, I hate when things like that come full circle.

BUT, on a good note, in the car Tariku said his first full English sentence! Dailah likes dolls. So Dailah had a baby and Tariku says, “mommy baby is sleeping!” It was awesome. Not rocket science, but not Amharic so we’re getting there. Really the language issues hasn’t really been an issue but I’m on the edge of my seat wondering what this kid will be like when I know what he’s saying. He has such an awesome personality I don’t want to miss it anymore!

So on that note, I must go start my book club book. I have 400 pages to read in that and 10 songs to learn for BodyPump by Monday. Good thing I got an A+ in multi-tasking (though I wouldn’t check my references on that, I doubt many teachers would say the same thing).

Here are some pictures to make you smile. Dailah’s outfit is just ridiculously cute, I love having a girl. The boys fell asleep on the way home from Iowa City with their hands like that, try telling me that isn’t the cutest thing in the world. And do you see how Dailah is looking at her big brother? So much love, so much saying, “what the hizniz is that kid saying?”

Today was a looong day for some reason. Bodypump, bodystep, hang with the landers, head to Iowa City, visit with friends, visit with family, head home. Whew!

Did you know that it takes longer to get places with 3 kids? Did you know if you go to a hospital with one adult and 3 kids you are outnumbered and will never catch up/wait for all of them very well. Did you know it becomes not a big deal at all to realize you just spent an hour doing something but can’t really remember what it was or who you were talking to or what you were saying?

Yikes, spikes. This day went so quickly and I don’t remember a blink of it how does that even happen? And the kids are great. They are great. And I’m going to bed. That was a worthless post but I’m hoping I can refer back to it tomorrow to remember that this was, in fact, an entire day.

I made it. Not only did I make it with 3 kids and one grown human but I also cleaned the entire house. Like, I mopped, so I REALLY cleaned. It had very little to do with the fact that I found another piss puddle 2 cm from the toilet.

They should flippin’ clone me I’m that good.

That’s what my 5-year-old asked me a minute ago.

Yes, I respond, do you?

Yeah it means, “You’re pretty.”

How did you know that, Trysten?

Because Alvin said it on the Chipmunks.

Oh, well that’s weird.

Yeah, You’re hot, mom.

Thanks babe, that means a lot.

No, I was just saying that.

Oh ok, well thanks anyway.

What a bizzare question. Aren’t I too young to be fielding questions such as this from my baby boy? It only gets crazier, as Jody knows so well.

Zach goes back to work full time today. It’s my first day with 3 kids by myself. I suppose with kids this cute I shouldn’t complain.