Cleaning, Vaccinations, and Sugar Free

I'm writing this post not to brag about how much I do everyday...but rather...to actually DOCUMENT that I DO work even though at the end of the day the house is still a mess. I mean....really?!!!!! These two feet of mine are burning, my ribs are about to crack from lugging Finn around all day (he likes to ball himself up right under my ribcage on the right side and STAY there for HOURS) and there is still a load of dishes in the sink....toys on the floor....and the kid's room is a mess. It's currently 8 pm and I've had a 13 hour day - I'm done.
Here's what I've accomplished:
~ cleaned out the fridge and scrubbed the inside
~ two loads of laundry (washed, folded, put away)
~ washed two sink loads of dishes
~ washed Finn's clothes and organized his baby drawer just in case I have him 12 weeks early :)
~ taken care of two kids with runny noses...one is teething (that says enough in itself)
~ packed up a gift for a friend and wrote a letter (as in...paper and ink)
~ taken care of three kids (meaning...at their beck and call all day...bathing them, preparing meals, cleaning up meals, washing hands, playing, soothing,....being a mother)

For all of my peeps out there that think I'm some superwoman homemaker that always has a spotless house - let's just keep it real. The picture at the top of my post is of dishes that were ALL taken out of my fridge with moldy food in them. That's right...some of the moldy masterpieces I actually had to look at for awhile and guess what it use to be. I think I discovered at least 7 different type of fungus. Gross. I obviously need to write "clean the fridge" a little MORE often in my Mom's Plan Book.

Three guesses at what the above photo is. Here's your hints...
1. It spent 3 weeks in my fridge uncovered
2. It's a food I HATE that we never buy - except this one time which is why it spent 21 days untouched
3. It was purchased when we were all sick

Got it? And the answer is........dried up Jello. Pretty cool looking.


What's amazing is that even after ALL of my housekeeping shortcomings, my love still thought I deserved a Valentine's massage. He texted me yesterday these lovely words "I have a surprise for you." I answered back "I love surprises." When he got home he had two bars of dark chocolate and a bouquet of daisies....my two favorite things (In the words of Meg Ryan in You've Got Mail "they're such a friendly flower.") I was elated and VERY surprised. He then handed me a card and said "that wasn't your surprise"....and Lo and Behold....I squealed! I had a pre natal massage when I was pregnant with Trinity and it was absolute heaven - I'm looking forward to a repeat experience. Isn't he wonderful?

Daisies are so simple yet so fresh and *sunny * looking. Trinity has walked around the house with one of them all day long...I gave Tristan one but he just tore off the petals.

And this little tid bit is totally random but I forget if I mentioned in an earlier post that we are doing a sugar detox (I know, I know.....chocolate isn't necessarily sugar free...so sue me) and it has been WONDERFUL. We've been eating lots of rice and beans, yogurt with frozen blueberries....scrambled eggs and fruit. We are really trying to back off of so much *bready* food...even if it IS whole wheat. Zac is by no means overweight but he has a very difficult time keeping it that way...he has to work out ALL the time or he can put on like 3 lbs in a week. We're beginning to think that maybe gluten is a problem for him? Also, with Brady and his issues...until we find out exactly what is wrong - we're going to basically put him on a gluten free and sugar free diet. I usually monitor sugar but I've never watching gluten is something new for me...we'll see if there are any behavior changes for him.

One little moment of happiness today was my task of beginning to prepare for Finn. Getting his little diapers out and his Robeez...little itty bitty onesies....I swear I could almost smell him. I LOVE the smell of a baby. I'm so excited about him joining our family...I haven't been scared of the actual birth at all...as in the "pushing the baby out" part. One part that I'm constantly thinking about and scared of is the confrontation with the nurses when i get to the hospital and announce that I don't want them to vaccinate him or put the drops in his eyes.

With Tristan I went to the hospital BEFORE the birth, had my birth plan written out...legal documents printed and signed stating that we didn't want any vaccination given. After all of this, I STILL had to fight the nurses and basically felt like I had the plague or something the day of Tristan's birth. I'm lying there, contractions shaking my body...and the nurse staring at me like I had some type of mental disorder and was the worst possible mother because I was choosing this for our baby. Even the next day while I'm in recovery the pediatrician on call came in to my room to discuss my "decision" with me. And people wonder why it is that I longed for a homebirth so badly this time around.

I guess I'll just stick to my guns like I did last time - I really do think that this is the best decision for OUR family and even though it would be easier and less controversial for me just to smile at the professionals and say "you know best" ....I honestly don't feel that way deep inside so therefor wouldn't have peace with that decision. I was at the WIC office last week (guess I just announced what income bracket we fall under) and the nutritionist there was telling me about how a baby came in earlier with six band aids on her legs. When they asked the mom why the baby had so many..usually there are "only" three from vaccines at a time...the mom said that the nurses at the doctor's office accidentally gave the baby the wrong vaccinations first and then went ahead and gave her the right ones two. OH MY GOSH. Sorry....but I'm not willing to let my babies be guinea pigs. When I looked at my shot records from childhood I was given 12 shots total...in my WHOLE childhood. Brady was given 33 in his first 24 months.

And speaking of my Brady, look at this cheesy smile...can anyone else say "HAM" ? Remember last week how Brady was having a terrible week with meltdown after meltdown? This week I have had 3 days of straight 5 year old bliss...he has been an angel. Thank you God. Sunday morning he woke up in a very good mood (also the day we started no sugar) and he's KEPT that mood. I'm so glad because honestly...I needed a little break to build up some patience.