Living this life with them....: December 2013

I decided to do another "day in the life" post because I want to be able to look back and remember these days forever; how crazy Harlow was, the things Hudson says, and the sweetness of Paxton. So here we go- a Saturday at home (daddy was gone hunting)......

Hudson is 5 1/2 years old. Paxton is almost 4 years old. Harlow is 19 months.

7:30- I woke up to Paxton cuddling me and kissing my face, my most favorite way to be woken up. He slept with me last night, Hudson chose to sleep in his own bed.
7:45- Hudsy snuck in bed with us and asked if he could go find the elf. I have a brief inner freak out trying to remember if I moved the elf after everyone fell asleep, thankfully I did. It's a stressful job! The boys head downstairs to search for Rein.
8:00- I get out of bed and take the sheets off all the beds to wash today.
8:15- I make coffee and ask the boys what they want for breakfast. They both pick cereal, Paxton wants it in a bowl with milk, Hudson wants dry. I hear sister talking upstairs and go get her.
8:30- Get Harlow dressed in a Christmas elf shirt and take her picture in front of the tree. She sits so nicely and poses on the chair. Her smile reminds me of myself at 1 year old so I text it to my mom. She texts back saying she does look just like me and that she can't believe I got her to sit still for me.

8:45- All three of the kids sit on the living room floor and play with the iPad. I decide to soak all of the sippy cups in bleach because they smell like old milk, gross!

9:00- Harlow has about a ten minute meltdown because she wants a specific sippy cup that's in the sink and she is not happy with the one I gave her. Hudsy tries to make her feel better but she's not having it.

9:15- Hudson picks out clothes for him and Paxton to wear for the day. No surprise, he picks the t-shirts they made at a friend's house weeks ago. He wants to wear it everyday of his life. Paxton would wear anything I put on him, but this shirt is a favorite of his as well.

9:30- Since Hudson has asked a million times already this morning, we decide it's time to decorate the gingerbread pals. Harlow sits in her high chair and I let her eat candy even though it's morning, but it gives me more time to finish washing the cups. I overhear Hudson say, "I'll cut the arms and legs off of mine for Harlow since St. Nick didn't bring her one." And then I hear Pax say, "And I'll share my frosting with you because you're my brother and sister and I like you." I continue to wash the cups and not paying attention, notice that Harlow is leaning from her high chair over to the table to get more candy. I put her back and continue with the dishes. Letting her eat candy and hang from the chair, I'm already not having great mommy moments this morning, so when Pax asks if he can dump his whole Nerds box of candy in his mouth I tell him sure. He looks surprised but dumps away. They drop lots of candy on the floor but proclaim that it's okay because Mommy will just sweep it up later. Gee thanks! Hudson gives Harlow a leg and she says "thank you", like she always does. They eat them, Hudsy says it's good and tastes like pumpkin pie, and Pax says it's gross but he'll lick his frosting off. Harlow will eat any kind of sweet so she's enjoying her leg from Hudsy.

10:30- As I'm cleaning up, the kids are in the toy room trying to have a puppet show but I hear Hudsy telling Harlow that she's making a mess and he yells for me to get her out because she ruins everything. Next I hear the door shut and I assume they've kicked her out and shut the door. Seconds later I hear her crying, she hates when they do that. Paxton must've felt bad so he opened the door and let her in, she says "thank you".

10:35- I'm still cleaning and Pax comes to ask me if I'll play catch with him when I'm done. He says he's Hunter and he needs to play basketball. I tell him I will, but seconds later I hear a crash from the living room, go to see that Pax threw the ball at the wall and hit and broke a picture frame. He's standing in the broken glass saying he'll fix it. I pick him up and he immediately starts crying because he feels bad. I tell him it was an accident and I'm not mad at him but he continues to cry. Hudsy feels sorry for him and goes to get him a present he's made and wrapped at school. Pax opens it and I think he's a little disappointed to find that it's a handmade paper Christmas tree but they go hang it on his bedroom wall anyway.

10:45- In the midst of all the chaos, Harlow made her way upstairs and found her hair ties in the bathroom drawer. She brings them down to me an shows me she has some in her mouth, obviously a choking hazard! Although I'm never too worried that she'll swallow something because she always shows me and wants it out of her mouth.

10:55- Cousin Hunter texts that she's staying over night tonight and she'll be home by curfew which is 12:30am. Ha!! I'll be fast asleep and I realize that I am not ready for staying up and waiting on teenagers to come home for curfew.

11:00- I switch a load of laundry. I'm using the Tide Pods for the first time and loving it. I splurged, been too cheap to buy them until now.

11:05- I make myself a third cup of coffee but in my defense I haven't been able to finish the first 2. I sit on the couch to enjoy it but it only lasts a minute before Hudsy comes and wants to play a concert for me, Pax reminds me that we haven't played basketball yet, and Harlow tells me she pooped. I listen to Hudsy play, throw the ball and wipe Harlow's butt all at the same time because that's what moms do.

11:15- I'm still playing catch with Paxton and Harlow begs for a turn so Pax gets her own ball so I play with both of them, all while Hudson is still playing loud music. What I haven't mentioned yet is the million times I have wiped Harlow's runny nose. Most annoying thing ever! And it will run from now until June!
11:30- Harlow is doing something in the kitchen so I yell asking her what she's doing. She runs into the living room growling like a monster to show me an oven mit on her hand. Hudson takes it from her and I yell a little more than I probably should have but Harlow was so proud of herself and he ruined her moment. I warn Hudsy that he's teetering dangerously close to getting into a naughty phase today as he's starting to talk back, taking toys, and acting wild. I ask him to take a break on the couch next to me. We take a picture together and I have that moment when you're looking at your phone and the reverse camera comes on and you see how terrible you look. I hate that! (so picture not included!)

11:40- The boys ask if they can watch a movie in the basement and Harlow follows them down there. They agree to watch Mickey Mouse so Harlow likes it too. Harlow turns the TV on and I'm always a little surprised by the things I don't realize she knows how to do. I do another load of laundry.
11:55- Harlow returns from the basement smelling of delicious cinnamon and caramel apples and I immediately know that its the fragrance from a candle. I look at her and see that she's been digging into the (unlit) candle and has wax on her hands, shirt, and hair. I just wipe her down knowing she'll have a bath later. I ask her to open her mouth so I can see if she's eaten any too. Cinnamon smelling breath so I have to assume she did. Wonderful.
12:00- I decide to feed her a quick lunch before the boys eat- crackers, cheese, lunch meat, carrots, and oranges. I haven't heard a peep from the boys yet.
12:05- Jamie calls from hunting and Harlow talks to him. She loves talking on the phone and it's so cute to hear her say "love you" and "bye".
12:15- I start a fire, something I'm very proud of since Jamie didn't leave me any kindling to work with. I hear crying from the basement. Pax comes up to say that he and Hudson were playing and he hit his head. He decides he'd rather play the iPad. He needs the deer hunting game updated. Against my better judgment I allow the update even though I hate the game. Harlow is back in the basement with Hudsy. I've removed all the candles.
12:25- I get a message on Facebook that someone wants to buy the toy I'm selling. Yay!
12:30- I get lunch ready for the boys- leftover Chinese food and oranges. The boys eat at the kitchen table and Harlow throws a tantrum because I won't let her sit at the table with them, she'd just eat all their food. Hudsy makes her better by giving her an orange slice. But I turn my back for one second and she's climbed on top of the table and just like I knew she would, started stealing the boys' food. I take her down and the tantrum continues. I ask her if she wants to take a nap and she says she does. I take her up to her crib.
12:45- Paxton asked for seconds, he's my best eater. Hudson is done eating so I ask him to start cleaning up the toy room. He argues that he didn't play those toys like he always does but he cleans them up anyway. I still can't walk through the room because it's a disaster but I'll take what I can get.
12:50- Paxton is done eating, I clean up the kitchen and heat up my own leftover Chinese. The boys go down to the basement for a movie and rest time. I sit down to eat in the living room and watch an episode of Hostages, I'm behind a couple episodes.
1:15- I finish lunch, clean up, and stoke the fire. I can hear the boys playing in the basement, instead of resting, but they're playing nicely so I decide to leave them be and I can wrap a few presents.
1:40- Still wrapping presents and the boys are still playing in the basement.
2:15- Harlow is still napping. Paxton comes up to tell me they are still having rest time, I remind him that rest time means actually resting which they are not doing, so that means they are having play time. Then he asks me if he can watch shows on the iPad. I'm getting alot of wrapping done so I tell him he can. He takes the iPad and goes downstairs and I hear him tell Hudson, "She said we can." Hudson is always sending Pax to ask for things that he's too chicken to ask for himself.
2:30- My aunt drops stuff off for Hunter and Bella barks and wakes up Harlow but amazingly she falls back to sleep. I let Hudson and Paxton have a caramel they've been asking for all day.
3:00- Harlow wakes up and Hudsy runs up to get her, I follow. On his way he yells to her that he's coming and she'll be okay. He's gotten really good at getting her out of the crib. They all stay upstairs to watch me put the clean sheets on the beds.

3:20- The boys are playing hide and seek and Harlow goes to the bathroom begging to brush her teeth again. She does this many times a day.

3:30- I water the Christmas tree and notice all the needles on the floor so I decide to vacuum. Harlow gets a book and looks at it while I vacuum around her.

3:45- I ask the kids if they want to bake a cake. Hudson says it isn't anyone's birthday so what's the cake for. I say it'll be a "Welcome Home" cake for Daddy coming back from his hunting trip. They all want a turn mixing and Paxton says they'll use teamwork. Harlow just wants in on all the action.

4:00- Hunter comes and all the kids are excited! Paxton asks her to play catch.
4:30- Hunter starts getting ready for a date and we all watch her. She dresses Harlow up as a mini-Hunter. She puts perfume and lip gloss on the all of them. These boys have been subjected to girly things all of their lives. I ask her if she'd mind if I threw 2 or 3 car seats in her boyfriends car and they take a couple kids with them. Of course she says yes, tempting but we won't intrude.

4:45- I go out to get the mail, so much more fun during the holiday season for Christmas cards. We got 3 today!
4:50- Hudsy tells Hunter to look for the pickle on the tree, she finds it and he gives her one of his presents he made and wrapped. It's the snowman that I wanted so badly to keep because its so good. He knows that was my favorite so he tells me to look for the pickle too and if I find it he'll give me a present. I know where the pickle is but I play along and take a couple minutes looking for it. He gives me a present and promises its the next best one after the snowman. I opened it and it was a candy cane and it is the next best one.
5:15- Hunter leaves for her date. I start making supper, a lasagna bake, and the kids go downstairs to play. I take advantage of the time and frost the cake. I know they'd like to help but some things are much easier without a 5, 3, and 1 year old. They can decorate later with candy and sprinkles.
5:30- Harlow brought her fairy costume to me and said "help me on". Two minutes later her dress was off and she came running at me in a pirate mask saying, "raaaaa". Next it was a sparkly pink bunny mask. I tried to get a picture of all of them but she ran away yelling "no!".
5:50- Supper is ready and as usual Harlow insists on eating by herself so I take her white shirt off which I never do (I've never been a fan of eating without shirts) but clothes and lasagna do not go well together. Shockingly enough, Hudson doesn't complain about what we're eating and digs right in.

6:15- The kids are done eating and already playing. The boys are playing hunting, my least favorite game. One plays the hunter (usually Hudson) and the other plays the deer. You get the picture. I've told them several times that I don't like this game but they don't listen. I've also taken all the toy guns away several times before, but they just find other toys and use their imaginations to turn them into guns.
6:20- I eat my supper in the living room again and worst thing ever happens!!! Harlow comes to me with a gun and says "boom boom". My heart breaks, my girl will not become a hunter!
6:30- A still shirtless Harlow sticks her tummy into the tree and laughs. Then rubs her belly and says "ho ho ho".
6:40- I get Harlow ready for a bath, I take her diaper off in the bathroom while she's standing and a big turd falls out! I didn't realize she had pooped. The boys laugh like crazy and it makes Harlow nervous and she cries and says "poopy". I get her cleaned up and all three hop in the tub. They love taking baths together.

7:10- I get the kids out of the tub, oldest to youngest. Hudson points out that I always do oldest to youngest and it's not fair. He makes a good point but it's easier to keep Harlow contained inside the tub rather than running free. She won't get out when it's her turn, says "no" with her attitude until I tell her she can have cake for snack, then she practically jumps out. As I sit her on the sink to comb her hair she puts my wedding ring on which she always does. She says "mommy pretty", then throws it in the sink, but after the hundredth time she does this, I know that its too big to fit down the drain so I don't freak out.

7:25- We decorate the cake and send a picture to Daddy because the kids already want a piece for snack. I love Harlow in this first picture, looks like she's ready to devour the entire cake!

7:35- Harlow is down to only crumbs so I tell her she's done and start to clean her up. She's furious with me and starts flailing her arms. I hold her down and get her washed up and afterwards she stands up and slaps my butt, laughs and runs away.
7:45- We all sit on the living room floor to read Christmas books. Hudson loves reading and would sit all day. Paxton makes it through one book and then leaves to play a game. Harlow sits on my lap and looks up every once in awhile for a kiss. Melts my heart. She likes reading Santa books so she can say "ho ho ho".
8:00- Harlow is usually in bed between 7-7:30 so I ask if she wants to go to bed but she forcefully tells me no. She knows best so I let her stay up awhile longer.
8:10- Pax climbs on my lap and says "I just wanna hug you". I hope he's this affectionate forever!

8:20- I ask Harlow again if she wants to go to bed, she says yea now. I change her diaper and put lotion on her. She gives her brothers hugs good night which melts me everytime, and I take her upstairs. She tells me to turn her heater on and that she wants a do-do (nuk) and a baby. She gives me a kiss and a hug with her arms around my neck and I put her in her crib. Once more she says good night and love you and she watches me close the door.
8:30- I call Jamie to see how far he is, about 20 minutes out so I tell the boys they'll see Daddy before bedtime. We cuddle on the couch and watch The Little Mermaid on TV.
8:45- The boys argue a little about who gets to lay on my lap and get into a mood where they don't want to touch each other. Hudsy yells at Paxton, "If you don't like me then I don't like you." Pax decides to move onto his own part of the couch with his own blanket. They are tired but waiting to see their dad.

9:05- Jamie comes home. Hudsy follows him everywhere, Paxton is too tired to move.

9:20- Pax gets too tired and heads up to sleep in my bed.

9:30- We convince Hudsy to go to bed too and he and Jamie go sleep together in the basement bedroom. We usually sleep with the boys on the weekends whether its in our beds or in the living room for a slumber party. Jamie wanted to sleep in the living room but my back just isn't up for floor sleeping. And Hunter will be home later to sleep on the couch. I remember to leave the front door unlocked for her and I keep the tree lights on so she can see. I kiss Hudson and Jamie good night, get upstairs and am bummed because Pax is already asleep. I realize it's only 9:30 and everyone is in bed so I go back downstairs to watch an episode of my favorite show, Scandal.

10:45- I remember to hide the elf and put him in between the screen door and front door, sitting on the wreath, peeking inside. I head up to bed and snuggle with my boy.

12:20- Hunter gets home and comes to wake me up to let me know. I fall back to sleep immediately.

7:30- I wake up once again to Paxton rubbing my face and asking if he can go find the elf.

The young princess of our family is (unbelievably!!) one and a half years old! She weighs 22 lbs 4 ozs (20%) and is 31.5 inches tall (44%). It's hard to put together words for this girl. I'm usually saying, "she is something else". Sister has attitude, SHE.IS.SASSY! Most of the time she's a sweet sassy, but other times not so sweet. She knows what she wants and she's going to do it/get it no matter what anyone else says. Her vocabulary is still pretty limited, what you'll hear her say most is "help me", "love you" and "thank you". She has 14 teeth which she shows often with her cheesy smile. She can count to 3 and also knows that when I count to 3 it means she better do what I'm asking by the time I get to 3. She loves her baby dolls and has to sleep with one but doesn't care which one. Still loves her crib bumper pad straps the most! And still loves going to bed. She knows all of her body parts. She likes to find the moon at night. Says "Santa" and "ho ho ho". Hears the back door open and runs to it yelling "Daaaaaadddddy". Just learned how to give a real hug with her arms wrapped around you and it's amazing. Will usually give you a kiss if you ask, but sometimes likes to tease and says "no" but then feels bad and kisses you anyway. Has super sensitive skin and mild case of eczema and loves her nightly lotion rub down. Loves to play with her brothers, cries when they leave her out, but enjoys picking on them as well. I would say Aunt Sheri is her favorite person. She'll tell you she pooped and lays down to get changed. Loves brushing her teeth and asks to several times a day. Can and will climb on top of everything. Insists on watching a movie the second she gets into the car. Doesn't care for wearing socks and usually takes them off. She's picky about which shoes she wants to wear and likes to pick them out.
*Has the scrunchiest smile ever.