Up the nose

So, if we're friends on Facebook, you probably already know this, but here's the story anyway.

I was in the shower the other morning and when I got out, Charlotte was playing with the game Operation. She loves this game. Some of the pieces are rubber and green. Charlotte loves these pieces and sometimes she walks around with them in her hands for hours. I think she just likes the way they feel. Well, I guess she wanted to know what they felt like up her nose, because that is where she stuck one.

As soon as I got out of the shower she came over and showed me one piece said, "Nose" and then sniffed a few times. She actually pretends to stick things up her nose a lot. I think she likes the reaction she gets from me (It's a middle child thing - you know, negative attention is still attention). Well, I thought that was what she was doing. So I said, "No no Charlotte. We don't stick things up our nose. It's dangerous." Well, she kept following me and saying, "Up nose, up nose." Then I started looking for all of the pieces to the game. I enlisted the help of Gavin and we were searching for all three green pieces. We found two. I put her up on my bed and sure enough, I saw it up there. I couldn't get it out with tweezers and she wouldn't blow it out. I was a little panicky. I called the doctor and they said I needed to come in right away. I rushed around and got all three kids ready and headed out the door.

On my way there, she seemed fine so I started to chuckle to myself about it. I called my mom and we had a good laugh. I did this with a sticker when I was little. An hour later (thank you Chicago traffic) we pulled up to the dr.'s office and before I could get the kids out of the car, Charlotte puked all down the front of her. I started to panic again. I ran them all inside, got us checked in and then took her to the bathroom, stripped her down and tried to clean her up.

Once they called us back into our room, the nurse was taking her time. She was taking her temp, weighing her, and just chatting with us. It was nuts. Then she came back in with these long, sharp tweezers. She pulled that thing out w/i three seconds. It was awesome. Charlotte must have thought so to, because she was bouncing off the walls after ward.

Not fun to stick things in your nose, little girl. Not fun!

Busy

Remember all the way back when you just had one child?

I do. I think I scrapbooked all day. I look back on those days and think, Why oh why did I not take advantage of all that time? It's funny, but I thought I was SO busy.

Then came baby number two. Life got for real busy. I was running AWANA at our church and I thought I had NO time for anything else.

Now I have three. I am homeschooling, nursing an infant and potty training a toddler all at the same time. Oh, and did I mention I help head up the children's ministry at church? I read at least one book per month, if not more. I attend play groups, have lots of play dates and I go on dates with my husband (which we've really done before - I know, I can hear you gasping as you read this) at least once a month.

I can't imagine how much I will be able to do if/when baby number four comes along! It's as if with each child you gain some super power to do more and more and more!

I forgot!

A normal day for Chase looks a little something like this . . .
wake up
get fed
sit in the exasaucer until he cries
move him to the bouncy seat till he cries
nap
wake up
get fed
sit in the exasaucer until he cries
and so on . . .
I do love on him and coo with him while feeding him and carting him around, but that's about it.

This past Sunday Charlotte and Chase had boogies and were feeling a little down, so I stayed home with them. Gavin and Ryan went to church.
Even though they were sick, I had the best morning. I bathed and pampered my two little ones! Chase got the works after his bath - ears cleaned out, lotion over his whole body, and even a little powder.
Charlotte and I had some quiet snuggle time and read some books together.
I have to say, I forgot what it was like to care exclusively for little ones. I am so busy during the day trying to homeschool Gavin and make sure I take advantage of all of the teachable moments. Sometimes I overlook the moments to just be with the babies. Sunday morning was just what I needed to slow me down and not forget that they grow so fast! Even though I hate missing church, I am grateful for the reminder.

Snuggle your babies today!

Update on Chase

Well, after my last post and talking with a few friends I decided to let Chase cry it out one night. He cried for maybe 15 minutes and then went back to sleep for a few more hours. The next time he woke up, I fed it because it had been about 6 hours. Then he went back to sleep for three more hours.

That next day, he started himself on the perfect four hour schedule. He ate, stayed awake for two hours, slept for two hours and then ate again. He did this ALL DAY. He followed that up with a six hour sleep stretch that night. This has been our routine for the last few days. It has been WONDERFUL. I feel energized and ready to tackle whatever comes my way!

Charlotte even walked into the room last night holding her poop. I calmly took her to the bathroom and took care of it. Sleep deprived, I would have FREAKED!

Thanks for all of the advice, encouragement and especially prayers! I know that they worked!

Advice

I don't usually do this, but I am desperate at this point. Chase is not a good sleeper. He WAS a good sleeper. At 6 weeks he was sleeping 5 and 6 hour stretches. It was awesome. Then we went to MI for Christmas and everything has been going downhill since then. I am having THE HARDEST TIME getting this kid on a schedule. I came to the point where I decided that he just maybe would function better not being on a schedule (not everyone is like me, after all!). Well, I started letting him do his own thing, but it is just maddening to me and he IS NOT a happy baby. I never know if he wants to eat, sleep or just hang out. When he cries I have no idea what he needs. My older two were the perfect baby wise babies, esp. Charlotte. She was sleeping nine hours by seven weeks.
Chase is waking up 2-4 times every night. Here are some things I've tried so far with him.
I put a heater in his room and socks over his hands to keep him warm - worked for one or two nights.
I finally let him sleep on his tummy (he seems more comfortable that way BUT, when he cries really hard it makes me nervous.)
I've given him gas drops b/c sometimes I go in there when he is crying in the night and I hear him tooting, then he'll go back to sleep.
I've cut dairy out of my diet (for the most part)as that seems to upset his tummy just like it did with Charlotte
I've give up caffeine, but he seems crazier since I did that
I haven't let him cry it out yet. I didn't have to do that with Charlotte and it makes me sad.

To be honest, the night feedings aren't really bothering me as much as his daily routine (or lack thereof). His feedings are fine, eating every three or four hours, but his naps are just all over the place. I know that if I can get him on a good daily schedule, the night sleep will fall into place. I've read lots of sleep training books and I'm too tired to read more. Please, just tell me what to do!

One of THOSE days

Today has been a hard day! One of those, grin and bear it kind of days. My first mistake was trying to bake cookies at 9:00 this morning while all 3 were awake and lively. I resorted to letting the olders eat about 3 or 4 mini reece cups. This of course made things worse. They were so hyper they woke up baby from his nap.

We've hardly done ANY school today. I don't really feel that badly about it, though. I'm learning to be flexible and I know we are ahead.

The baby has been crying all day. I resorted to putting him in the sling for part of the morning. You know, one of those things I said I'd NEVER do. I've stopped saying "I will never..." because I so often find myself doing those very things!

Chase also puked in the huge bin of legos (at least he stopped crying after that) . Gavin was SO grossed out. He plays with legos for hours a day. I mean HOURS. So, this interrupted his play. He was really great about it, though. We were able to salvage some that didn't have spit up on it for him to play with while I cleaned up the rest, which took forever.

To top everything off, it's Valentines Day. A day we never celebrate. Until this year. The hubbs surprised me with a card. and flowers. and a gift! I was floored. It was so nice, yet left me feeling like a schmuck b/c I didn't get him a thing! Hence the baking of his favorite cookies at 9 a.m. Gavin and I also whipped together a scavenger hunt for him to find the cookies. The last clue reads - "Is this the last clue? Hmmm, I wonder. You may find your gift hiding with your clean unders!" Yep, we hid them in his underwear drawer. Gavin's idea, of course.

Well, it's only nap time (although I feel like it's bedtime). It looks like my house has exploded and I am hoping that Ryan is game for pizza tonight!

I do have to say, (amidst all of the chaos) I love my life, my kids and I can't wait to smooch Ryan when he gets home!
Hope your V day has gone smoother than mine!

Wonder where we've been?

If you've been wondering where the Dobbertin's have been, I'll tell you.

I've been nursing Chase, bouncing Charlotte on my leg and reading with Gavin all at the same time. Don't worry, I take sips of coffee here and there in between all of that.

Life is moving at an incredibly fast pace. I miss blogging. I miss READING blogs. I checked my google reader last night and I had over 100 blog posts to catch up on. I skimmed and trimmed, or course, but I got caught up with you all.

Homeschooling has been fun, challenging and incredibly rewarding. I am furiously researching curriculum for next year. what are you all doing next year? I may do a post on what I've figured out so far. You know, with all my spare time . . .

Miss you all!