so this is "normal"

i'm finally beginning to get it.  if i spend my time hoping that this new, crazy 3-kid life will get easier....i'll literally be waiting years & miss this entirely amazing time of life.  so i better just get used to the new "normal".  normal now means....

* many, many diapers to change.  (we were doing 15-20 diapers changes a day back in november...b/w both babies.)

* the laundry will never end.  there are phrases like, "when it rains, it pours."  well, we all know that sometimes it really does sprinkle & that the sky isn't always POURING down rain every time precipitation happens.  i never knew that moms literally mean it when they say, "the laundry never ends."  now i know the truth.  i have graduated to the zone where the laundry literally never ends.

* my house is that dirty house that i always scoffed at.  i never understood why moms couldn't keep completely clean homes...back when i wasn't a mom myself.  even when i got up to two kids, i could kind of keep my house clean.  now i have moved into a huge house & have 3 kids.  the current status?  1-2 of my toilets are sitting uncleaned this week after my preschooler violated them...his attention span at the pot is about 0.2 seconds, which causes some major aiming issues. (the 3rd toilet is mine & it's untouched-- so i haven't been desperate enough to clean yet!)  my living room is littered with toys, all of the kids books are off the bookshelves (merian tosses all books off shelves on a daily basis), & dust bunnies are literally skipping about my house.  i honestly do clean...but somehow it seems to not make much of a dent. :)

* i am petrified to make a phone call.  i used to always love talking on the phone.  and i still do...but only in the rare moments that all the kids are calm.  they start off calm when i make my call. sometimes i am lucky enough to get out a "hello" before the craziness starts.  if the kids start yelling before the other person picks up, i have been known to chicken out & hang up.  if i do start a conversation, all eyes in the room are on me and one or two of the following things happen-- emmett is suddenly starving & screaming, merian is crawling all over me & crying for my attention, and/or henry starts up the dreaded chant, "MOM! MOM! MOM! MOM!"  sometime i find myself running away (yes, baby in tow...at least i can easily nurse while on the phone.  you don't think i would leave him alone, do you?!) to a secluded room & shutting the door.  for awhile the kids bang on the door, but then they run away.  which then leaves me chasing THEM to make sure henry isn't using the opportunity to physically oppress merian, & to keep her from crawling on top of tables & counter tops.  the whole process is so exhausting that by the time i get off the phone i'm ready to cash it all in and be a hermit.  that's right, a her-mit [hur-mit]- noun 1. any person living in seclusion; recluse.  wait...i am way closer to that freaky definition than i thought.  i better start getting the nerve to pick up that phone more often...
 

* wardrobe transformation.  it used to be that jeans were the norm & dresses & skirts were for dressing up.  now pajamas are the norm & getting dressed for the day is changing into sweatpants.  if i'm really going to get dolled up, i might just maybe pull out a pair of jeans.  maybe.  but usually it just means i'll pull out that nicer pair of sweatpants.

*i need time-outs, too.  sometimes it means getting out of the house to go run an errand alone.  sometimes it means getting together with a friend.  sometimes it literally means putting myself on a time-out while the kids & are at home.  when things are crazy enough that i'm sensing that i'm starting to get really frustrated, i'll say, "kids, your mom needs a time-out now."  that's my excuse to go off & get some God time & refocus for a few minutes...before i come back to roll up my sleeves & be a mom again.  and for the record, the corner is not a bad place to do it....it helps block out the rest of the world.

*  here's my favorite part of this stay-at-home mom life:  i'm the one that gets to be there for all of those "firsts".  this week it meant....
1. seeing merian grab her little bottom and exclaim "potty!" as she made a mad sprint to the bathroom.  we still have no physical results in the potty...but she's been having fun making the daily dash to the potty. :)
2. emmett discovered his hands this week.  i just love watching him hold up his hand in front of his face & move it all around...studying it like it just suddenly existed for the 1st time.  
3. henry is reading.  not just reading words he memorized, but is reading books to me & trying out new words.  he'll stumble through a new word in this sweet way as he's learning to pronounce it.  i love it!

* my kids are learning about God & i get to be a part of it.  henry's favorite book these days is what God has always wanted, an amazing book that goes through the Bible explaining all of the major events & the plan of the Gospel through it all.  his favorite page is the one on heaven.  one of our first times through the book he stared at all of the people in the picture of heaven & said, "i don't see sam. (a dear friend of ours that passed away last year.)  is that because sam wasn't in heaven yet when they made this book?"  merian's learning to pray these days.  she repeats after us & her prayers go like this, "Jeje (Jesus) tatoo (thank you). Lalalu. (I love you.) Amen!"

casey & i often talk about how we feel like this new version of life is harder than we even imagined, but yet so much better than we thought it would be as well.  henry's a sweet spark....more energy, spunk, & love crammed into a little person than i thought possible.  merian is a our little pixie who is keeping us busy these days as she tries out all the boundaries.  and emmett is the most smiley & easygoing baby we've had yet.  life is good.  in a really crazy way that often leaves me feeling incompetent on my own & on my knees praying for God's help more than ever before, life is good.