"3 Under The Age of 4? Wow, You Must Have Your Hands Full"

I never planned on having 3 children. We talked about the possibilities but we always said we wanted 2.  We also never planned on having 3 so close together, but things happen and apparently God had different plans then our plans once again.  Have you ever been in...hmm lets say Walmart, and you are behind a lady with multiple young children? They are screaming, hitting each other, they don't have shoes on...the mom looks like she has been hit by a train and its just complete chaos. You think to yourself that poor woman... does she not know what birth control is?  Does she not discipline? Yes! I am sure most of us have thought something similar at some point in our lives.  Well fast forward a few years and I am there!  I am eating every single word or thought that I have ever had about moms with multiple young children.  I can honestly say that I have no idea how moms with multiple children do it.   I could barely handle the two I had before Gavin was born. Now that he is here, I am doing all I can to stay afloat. Its not that I don't want to be supermom, but sometimes when I look at these moms with super powers that have all their kids in matching outfits with their initials monogrammed and their hair is done, and their houses are immaculate inside and then they look amazing on top of it, I think...maybe I am just not cut out for this.  I like to joke that at least we are all alive at the end of the day and that's what's important.

Just to get a good picture in your mind of what a typical day looks like for me: 

After being up most of the night...the only thing that gets me out of the bed in the morning is the thought of a huge cup of coffee, or the screaming kids, or the crying baby who wants to eat. but mostly the coffee. Once I'm up its rush rush rush to get Zachary to preschool. With that being said...i take him in my pajamas 9 times out of 10.  For the 3 hours that I am home I am changing diapers, nursing Gavin, or cleaning up after Lukas.  Lukas is my busy, stubborn, 2nd born child.  He gets into EVERYTHING! Seriously the kid does not play with many toys. His idea of fun is climbing up on the counters, the table, or the pantry shelves.  I try to bounce back and forth between him and Gavin but its close to impossible to watch Lukas 24/7.

So that is usually when most of the incidences happen..usually this includes but not limited to him throwing a whole bowl of dog food that was just soaked in the dog water all over the kitchen. Or when he pushes the kitchen chairs all over the house to get what he can't reach and break it.  Or when he gets the bag of pretzels out of the pantry and dumps the whole bag, salt and all, on the floor.  This morning I found him sitting on the kitchen counter, going through the bag of clementines, biting into them and throwing them when he discovers that the peel does not taste so good. I took him off that counter close to 100 times and he just goes right back to it. So at that point I'm so over wrestling him while I also have a baby literally attached to me, that I let him do it.  Then this way its more of a clean up game later.  

 

Once Zachary is home from preschool, the fun continues with " I'm hungry, I'm thirsty, I'm bored, poor me I have no one to play with." After I get all those demands met, 4 o 'clock comes rolling around which is my least favorite time of the day. It never fails... everyday at this time (which I like to call "the witching hour") as I start to make dinner, Lukas decides to have a meltdown.  Maybe I am alone on this or maybe it is a universal thing with most kids around dinner time.  How do you make dinner when you have a 1 yr old screaming, crying, and pulling on your pants?  Curtis tells me to ignore him, but how do you ignore someone who is hanging on to you, screaming your name?

Just as I think my day is almost over, I get the kids in the bathtub thinking this is the second to last stop before I get to have a nice date with some dessert and my couch until something unexpected happens...just like last night.  The bathtub was almost filled, the boys had climbed it, and I was undressing Gavin to put him in his own little tub, when "Ahhh!! mom! poop!! Lukas pooped!!" Sure enough, there was Lukas sitting in the poopy water trying to play with it. Bath time quickly turned into shower time.

Silly boys

The reason I wanted to share this with you all is because right now Gavin is an infant...he is no different than any other infant. He eats, sleeps and poops just like any other baby. He is not behind or ahead he's a "normal" baby.  However, our journey has just begun...pretty soon all his therapies will start and as he grows, it will become more and more apparent that he is different than our other children.  I was already freaking out at the thought of having 3 children under the age of 4 before even knowing of his diagnosis. I am extremely terrified! How am I supposed to raise 3 boys and one having a disability?? With all that I already do, how am I going to find time to squeeze therapy sessions in? and doctors appointments? I become exhausted and overwhelmed just thinking about the future of my sweet little boy. Will he always feel that he has to compete with his older brothers or feel bad that he may not be able to do the things they do? What if other kids make fun of him? Will he be accepted? Will he be able to live independently? What about a school? Job? Who will be here to take care of him after we are gone? These questions flood my head on a daily basis.

Sweet baby Gavin

I keep hearing from people that they are surprised I am handling this so well, and that I seem very strong.  Well I am here to tell you that I am NOT strong, and I am not handling this very well, but I have no other choice... I just do it...I handle it the best I can.  I have 3 little people who look up to me and NEED ME, so I have to try and be strong for them.  

Love these boys

So let me wrap things up there....Is having 3 boys incredibly chaotic? Yes it is... Am I exhausted ALL the time? Yes I am...Do they make me want to hide in a closet, rip out my hair, and drink a whole bottle of wine sometimes? Yes they do! LOL but I love being a mom, and I love my boys with all my heart, and I wouldn't trade this crazy life for anything in the world. As much as I am scared for the future and the hard times that are coming,  I am sure as heck going to try my best to succeed as the best mom I can be to these boys, disability or not.  I don't need to be supermom, I just need to love and care for them and trust that God will take care of the rest.

Saw this and thought it was hilarious and also appropriate for this post

***Side Note*** I did not create this blog to review products but if I find something that will make my life a little easier or any busy moms life easier, I will definitely share with you all.

Introducing...... The Electrolux 2 in 1 CORDLESS vacuum. The key word here is cordless. I don't know about you, but I take my vacuum out probably 4 times a day, or after every meal and snack. Its not that I hate vacuuming, I just hate the process of taking it out, plugging it in, wrapping the cord back up, etc etc etc... There are many different kinds of cordless vacuums that I am sure work just fine but I decided to go with this 2 in 1 from Target and I LOVE it.  It has a stand where you recharge it, and a part of it comes off and acts as a dust buster.  Also as a bonus, Target has it on sale right now for $79.99 and if you use your red card you get an additional 5% off. You can access that by clicking here:
Click Here