* Woken at 5:35am (after a terrible sleep with a very unsettled baby beside me and a random terrible coughing attack which almost woke up said baby) by a loud pitched squealing alarm coming from my basement.Find said alarm but can't figure out how to turn it off. Check both breaker boxes but nothing is labelled about "annoying alarm for ____ system!" so have no idea what the alarm is actually for.
* Call hubby in a panic, text mom in a panic, Jim calls me back on his coffee break 20 minutes later but he has no idea what the heck the alarm is. Finally turn off the breaker to the whole basement and it stops the squealing but now I have no kitchen, hallway or bathroom lights on the main floor. For some reason that set of lights is on the downstairs breaker?!?!
* Decide not to go back to bed, make a cup of tea, write email I didn't want to write but had to.
* Text Kevin and he says he'll come over and see if he can figure something out for me.
* Get email from teacher requesting we come in after school for a chat.
* Kids get up and I catch James walking down the stairs with Kennedy in his arms! Usually she's in her crib and he can't get her out but she was on my bed and he heard her fussing and went in and saw I was downstairs so he thought he'd just bring her down. Dear lord...NOT something he's allowed to do with her at all!
* Call my mom and cry that I just need a break from the grumpy and tired baby that has been attached to me for days. My usually happy and good sleeping baby has decided she needs to scream her lungs out when she is laid in her crib and as soon as she's put down anywhere and I leave the room she whines and cries. I know immunizations are important, but they sure do make for some grumpy days afterwards.
* Zombie my way through making breakfast and lunches and throw some clothes on and brush my hair and teeth.
* Kevin came by and disconnected the alarm and turned the breaker back on so I had lights in my kitchen again and power to the basement.
* Drive Jordie to school and then head to Jenn's for a quick 1 hour visit. Kennedy cried and was grumpy but kept busy with some toys and then shit herself and seemed happier but very tired. It was not quite 10am and I just wanted to cry again.
* Home to call plumbers to come and look at our sump pump in the basement which we believe might be the alarm that went off.
* Take very tired baby to Nana's for what is supposed to be a nap (nope...she slept for 10 minutes before waking up again). She hates sleep right now.
* Jim and I tidy up the laundry room and try to get things moved around to access the sump pump access hole that is underneath the washing machine and cupboard. Rob Byrce comes over for a quick chat and we think everything is all good with the sump pump and maybe the alarm is for the hard wired in smoke detector system we have.
*11:27 and holy shit I just about forgot to pick up Jordie at preschool. Race out the door and get there late. Consider taking him home with me but am so tired I just want to have a very short nap before our meeting at the school, so I take him to Nana's instead.
* I get home and my poor tired hubby is still awake from his graveyard shift last night. We make lunch cause now neither of us have eaten yet. Sit down to eat and within 15 minutes the second plumbing company has called and after talking to him we think we do need to double check the pump system below the washing machine so we move forward with trying to move the washer but soon realize I'm totally useless at moving heavy shit so we wait for the plumber and hope he'll help Jim move it. Plumber gets caught at another job and can't get to us in time before we have to go.
* 2:35 we leave home, pick up a pissed off James who throws a hissy fit in his classroom and take him to Nana's so we can go back to the school to meet with his teacher.
* 2:55 meet with his teacher. Things aren't going well for our very bright big guy who is struggling socially and emotionally at school. I tried my best to keep my shit together but I cried anyways. Plans in place for the future, but still a tough conversation to have.
* 3:40 rush to Nana's to pick up Jordie for swimming lessons. Jim takes the other two home to meet with Kevin who is nice enough to come over and reconnect the alarm and help Jim try to figure out the problem. Bright spot was that they did find the problem and the sump does appear to be working properly and the alarm just went off because a breaker had been blown and the tray it sits in was completely filled with water. Looks like the alarm did it's job :)
* After Kevin left Jim packed his stuff for work so he can head back on the 6pm ferry to Texada to hopefully sleep for 4 hours before going back to work tonight. I feel so bad for him but was really glad he was home today to help me with the plumbing stuff, as well as come to the meeting at the school.
* 4:00 I watch swimming lessons where I have a great chat with Ash and manage to not cry which was surprising. Then run two errands with Jordie, including the credit union where I seriously tell the teller that I think I may have had too many kids (hehehehehe....I said it with a tired smile on my face). I also have a quick chat with Katryna....and I end up crying again. On the way home Jordie tells me he's sad that he hasn't hugged me enough. He hasn't seen me crying at all today but I'm surprised at how perceptive he is to how I'm feeling today. Promises to hug and kiss me lots when we get home (promptly forgets two minutes later when we walk in the door but I love that he at least thought about it!)
* 5:10 arrive home to read an adorable letter that James made for me. I cried again. I'll post the letter at the bottom of this post. Have a quick 20 minute chat with Jim while he feeds Kennedy a bottle. It's amazing how nice it is when someone else feeds her sometimes. I do love that time with her but sometimes on days like today when I'm feeling very over touched and done it is a really nice break. I know I'm not the only mom to say this, but some times it feels like it.
* I fed my kids Fruit Loops for dinner (yup mother of the year award coming this way today). Well one also had strawberries and the other had yogurt so it wasn't all bad I guess.
* Shower/bath the two littles, brush teeth, deal with a screaming Jordie who has an owie on a sensitive area that needs to be dealt with but he screams like he's dying. While I am dealing with Jordie, Kennedy is crying and whining on the bed because she's tired of James bugging her (he was watching her but then picked her up and she was having none of it...she just wanted to drink her bottle and go to bed).
* I plunked a somewhat happier and distracted Kennedy down in the boys room for them to entertain her while I quickly cleaned up the kitchen and made her bottle, then I put Jordie to bed, fed Kennedy her bottle and she falls asleep on my shoulder and I am able to do the crib transfer (YAY) and then read to James in my bed. All kids to bed by 7:45 and I haven't yet eaten supper or done any significant household chores today other than load the dishwasher.
* Sit down to write this blog...and get distracted....still need to eat supper and am so tired I can barely see straight. 3 nights in a row of really uninterrupted sleep makes for a very tired and clearly emotional mama. I don't cry often, but when I have bad days like today it just tends to happen. I'm gonna eat and then crawl into bed and try to watch Grey's without falling asleep and I'm going to hope that all of my kids sleep through the night tonight.
The whole reason that I wanted to write this blog was to show the two really bright spots to my otherwise really crappy day. Plus I like these day in the life posts that are really honest and real. Especially ones like today where I openly admit how many times I cried. My life is always crazy, sometimes awful but always full of love for the people that are in it. I couldn't have gotten through today without my Mama's help, a wonderful "get on the same page" chat with Jimmy and some bestie advice from Ash. It takes a village to raise kids...and today I feel like I leaned heavily on my other villagers!
The adorable letter that I got from James. These types of things make all of the crappy stuff above totally worth it.
And him singing this lullaby to a sound asleep Kennedy
Let's hope for a much better day tomorrow for everyone!
