Today was an emotionally, physically and mentally exhausting end to a VERY busy weekend. My oldest son turned 6 on Friday. Although the preparations for the celebration began earlier in the week, the festivities began on Friday night.
We took our oldest and a friend to Chuck E. Cheese's for some pizza, games and cupcakes - very informal. We did have a great time, but if you've ever been to CEC, it just tires you out being there. There's the constant "I need more tokens!", "Can you help me win this game or that...", "I want the Smarties for my 50 tickets, not the plastic spider ring...". Overall, we had a fun day.
Then I got home and found out that my cousin was in labor. She wanted me (and about 10 other people - literally) to be there with her. I have my own breastfed baby (5 months old) and wasn't necessarily too keen on spending the entire night in the hospital watching her sweat, contract and Lamaze - in shifts with the others. So, I called her room to see if she did, in fact need me by her side...If the other 10 people were there, I certainly didn't need to be! Lucky for me, they didn't answer the phone. And there were enough attendants in the room with her - she was definitely was not alone.
Saturday morning rolls around. My brother asks me to watch my nephew while he goes to a college football game, no big deal. I have a house to clean for the family party on Saturday. He's a good baby, and there's not tons to do...Enter, my husband. He and his mother went tomato picking earlier in the week and brought home 1.5 bushels, which just happened to be ripe enough to can Saturday morning. My wonderful husband gets up late and then decides to go to the store to go get cans. He comes back and starts peeling all these tomatoes less than 2 hours before he has to leave for work. Yep, you guessed it...I am stuck taking 2 hours out of my day to peel tomatoes. Then my cousin's boyfriend/baby daddy calls and says baby is here, mommy is depressed (lots of family drama and her all-natural birth plan totally went out the window), could I please come visit today. OK. Brother comes to pick up son. I drop kids off at mother-in-law's. Off to Meijer to buy a gift. And off to the hospital. Baby is adorable. I hang out for an hour, pick up the kids and go home. Of course, I get home just in time to get oldest 2 kids in bed and for baby's nightly colic and teething pain to start. I got her to bed at 11, 11:30, midnight and at 1. Finally, I my chance to get the food ready for today's party. I made ham and turkey wraps, a fruit salad and decorated the cake. I was done and ready for bed at 3. That's when baby girl wakes up, hungry. She'd given up the middle of the night feedings when she was 7 weeks old and decided to start them up again at 4.5 months. No thank you! I fell asleep nursing and my wonderful husband fell into bed around 5am.
9am Sunday rolls around, way too soon. We were supposed to be at church at 9:45, that ain't happening. Husband is exhausted, its the first day of Sunday school and I have nursery duty. So, I load up baby and head to church while husband and oldest 2 kids stays home to finish clean-up and final party preparations. The party time comes and so does my father, whom I haven't spoken to in over a year. (Long story, he's related to the same drama that is related to my now postpartum cousin). It was OK. I was a little cautious, but it was a step in the right direction. Then husband's dad shows up about 30 minutes later. He makes it to very few family functions. We had a great day. The party ends just in time for us to pop in a DVD (aka nap time for Mom and Dad - literally). The movie gets done, we have a bite to eat, get the backpack packed and...
Its time to get the oldest 2 kids in bed and for baby's nightly colic and teething pain to start.
Good night.
