Seconds From Disaster

I am at the end of the most unbelievable morning. Note that I am neither stressed out nor am I upset. I am not seeking sympathy. I just can't believe how quickly 3.5 hours passed with nonstop activity. I laugh as I sit here and think about it. Life with a new baby is always very interesting.

I've got 5 kids at home; school is out this week.

I got out of bed at 8:00 when Maria was crying in her room. She was hungry. I fed her, burped her, and handed her off to Morgan so that I could clean up the breakfast mess sitting on the table. I took her from Morgan and laid her in the changing area in the Pack 'n' Play in my room. I got distracted with pony tails, help with puzzles, and Transformers. I handed out new shoes to four children. When I went back to her, I found that someone had removed her diaper (not me) and she had wet all over her lower half and the blanket beneath her. I sent Isaiah away and grabbed her bathtub. I bathed her, dressed her, and fed her again. She fell asleep. I handed her to Madeleine and went to the bathroom to shower as fast as I could.

While in the shower, I received four different visits from two different children. The last was Noah telling me that Isaiah was into the sugar in the kitchen. We made "donuts" the night before and I left the powdered sugar at the back of the counter. He pulled a chair up to the counter and made the biggest mess my kitchen has ever seen. So I filled the bathtub and put Isaiah in it. I answered a phone call. Madeleine came into the kitchen to tell me she's tired of holding Maria and I handed Maria off to Morgan. I turned the radio on, listened to our Bishop speaking on Catholic radio, and began cleaning up the kitchen. I called to Noah and told him to get into the bathtub. I had to unload the dishwasher in order to clean that mess up. I finish and began loading it again. I wiped counters, cupboards, swept the floor, wiped chairs, cleaned the table, scrubbed what needed scrubbing, and finished up as Madeleine came in to tell me that while I was cleaning, the boys had been splashing water onto the bathroom floor.

I went into the bathroom and moved the sopping bathroom rug. I put down a towel and told Noah to add more water, as I needed to wash their hair. He told me all the hot water was gone.

*sigh*

Morgan came into the bathroom to tell me that she thought Maria was poopy, as she smelled bad and felt wet. I tell her to hang in there--I've got to finish with the cold boys in the luke warm water who are shivering and then I'll help her. Madeleine wanted a pony tail too. The phone was ringing again.

I finished with the boys, toweled off Isaiah and instructed Noah to dry off and get dressed. I sopped water from the corners of the bathroom. I put Isaiah in a Pull-Up and got him dressed. I talked Morgan through holding a poopy baby while she waited.

As fast as I could, I took down the Pack 'n' Play and move it from our bedroom to Maria's room. I set it back up and covered the changing area with a fresh blanket. I told Morgan to put Maria down. I filled the empty wet wipe container and grabbed a handful of diapers. I told Morgan to go wash her hands, as she had used the words, "She feels wet," when talking about Maria.

I told everyone to put shoes and socks on and go outside. I changed Maria, got her dressed again, and sat down to nurse her. By then it was 11:30.

So much for the museum, so much for the park, so much for an errand to Target and to Home Depot. Time for lunch.

I turned on the TV to nurse Maria. I put it on the National Geographic Channel and realized that I was watching the show Seconds From Disaster. It's about the December 2004 Tsunami in Asia/the Indian Ocean. Yikes. I wasn't stressed out to begin with, but God always has a way of pointing out that my unbelievable mornings are pretty mild.