Oh. My. Goodness. (the Micawber Principle)

When we decided to go for that one-more fourth kid, I kind of figured, hey, we've got this parenting thing down. We're already outnumbered. We haven't slept in years. We're pretty well used to legos all over the floor and peanut butter all over the furniture. How much worse could it be with just one more?

The answer is: A LOT. or rather, maybe not so terribly much worse, but enough to tip us from just south to just north of Insanity, Population 6.

A la Dickens: "Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen pounds nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds nought and six, result misery." Substitute parental time/energy/sleep for the pounds, kids demands on the same for expenditure, and you get the general idea. It's getting a lot better- Peter's sleep is improving, Thomas is potty training- but for a while there, yikes.

Illustration:

I was getting Peter down for his nap the other week. Thomas got the bright idea to sneak into the pantry, scale the shelves, and get out a bottle of sprinkles. He dropped it on his way down again and it fell into a 25 lb bag of flour, which struck him as an interesting playtime option. He scooped and sifted and dumped for a while (THIS INCLUDES PUTTING A USED FLY SWATTER DIRECTLY IN THE BAG), until George and Helen found him and were horrified at the mess he made. The two of them, with such sweetness and caring, decided to clean it right up and I found the situation looking something like this.

Mothering moment of the year: I bit my tongue and said, "wow, thanks guys, for helping to clean it up!"with NO sarcasm in my tone. Yes, my eyes may have been tearing up a little, my face going a bit purple, but I think I get some credit there.

bedtime follies. a drama in three acts. playing every night.

I

The scene opens with four children all tucked in bed for the night.

Helen: but Daddy, why can't I sleep in my princess dress? isn't that how a princess should sleep??

Thomas is out of bed. Tim puts him back in but he won't stay.

Tim: Thomas, you'll have to sleep in your crib if you can't stay in the big boy bed.

Thomas: (hysteria)

Tim: ok, I'll give you grace this time. Back in bed, I'll tuck you in.

Thomas (complying surprisingly quickly): ok daddy, where are my grapes?

Peter: waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!

II

Helen: HELP! HELP! HELP!

Tim goes in to find that Thomas has somehow sneaked into the big kids room and wiggled into her bed. Back in his bed he goes.

Thomas: grapes, daddy! I want the grapes! where are the grapes?

George (gets out of bed): Mommy, I have a big problem.

Me: what's that?

George: I need to know the difference between a hotel and a motel.

Peter: waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

III

George (gets out of bed): I have another problem!

Me, with a sigh: What is it now?

George: I have an itchy tooth. And I can't scratch it.

Thomas (sadly): grapes? grapes?

Peter: waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

catch up...

George is 6! He still loves kindergarten, reading, and anything related to science, space, anatomy, robotics, and engineering. His biggest wish is for a pile of junk to make inventions.

Helen is learning to read. Her ballet recital is in a month and is she ever excited! She loves to do arts and crafts projects all day long and goes through incredibly quantities of tape.

Thomas is obsessed with diggers and dump trucks. He is very chatty, and he has some fantastic mispronunciations going on these days, too precious to correct. "Elmo" = "yoyo." "cement mixer" = "mixer mixer." "helicopter" = "really-copter."

Peter can roll over and play with toys now. He is doted on by his big sibs and they always get the hugest smiles. His sleep is just terrible, but then again no one expected any different.

conversations

Me: Kids, Janie and her mommy and daddy are coming over tomorrow. Do you remember them? Janie's daddy is a veterinarian.

George: Yes, a veterinarian is someone who sells vegetables.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

George: Mommy, I know someone who has TWO daddies!

Me: (silently panicking, attempting to collect myself and prepare for an intense conversation...)

George: Yes, it's Jesus! Because he had God AND Joseph for daddies!

Me: (slow exhale)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Helen: Mommy, today at preschool I played with Jameson, and he's a boy, and he's my best friend, and he's a boy, and I want to play with him allllllll the time.

Me: (eek!)

(The preschool teachers confirm that all the girls have a crush on this little boy, but he usually does play with Helen. Then one day he played with another girl and Helen shot dagger eyes at her all morning.)

Not! Ready! For! This!

more Christmas!

Just some of the memories...

Making Christmas cookies.

Helen was in baby HEAVEN! She was always to be found entertaining one or the other.

Ice skating.

Group shot.

One of the best gifts was lots of Amazon boxes all taped up. The intent was to build forts and towers with them ,but the kids had an even better idea and used them to play "Angry Birds."

All ready for Christmas crackers and our big dinner!

And of course, a wild rush at the tree when it was present time.

Christmas 2012

What a lovely extra special year! We had two brand new little boys to celebrate- Peter, and his new cousin Max who is just two months older. Truth be told they weren't overly impressed with each other for now, but I'm sure in a year or so they will be best buds.

put these babies in order...

Well, who is who?