Houston, only one problem (my 3 kids!)

Oh, hello, me again. I go from blogging maybe once a week to attacking you almost daily with updates.  The biggest difference?  Well, hotel rooms, mostly.  And lack of a painting area in them.  When the kids go to bed, I have limited options and at home this is usually my painting time.

I'm fairly exhausted but need a little downtime sans kids before I cash out.  Let me pick up where I left off on the plane last night. So, we turn off Barbie, land the plane (why oh why do they have to turn on the lights and blast their voices thru the loud speaker), and we exit the plane to a very Texan, very American welcome.  American flags, vets, and fighter jets were lined up to greet the team.  Apparently we were the last team to arrive, but the servicemen were still in good spirits and Brady tried to high five all of them.  

We got on the bus and it was a 30 minute drive from the airport to the hotel.  100% of our kids fell asleep, which sounds great in theory, terrible in reality.  Here are the things we needed to get up to the hotel:

-3 sleeping kids
-3 large bags
-1 car seat
-1 stroller
-2 carry on bags
-1 diaper bag
-3 (?) random bags that Eric is responsible for that have something to do with the team
-2 adults

Brady rallied and walked through the crazy welcome that the Tar Heels received.  Jackson and Avery woke up through the chaos that was the welcoming committee, but still needed to be strolled/carried.  We arrived in our hotel room, the boys told me they were hungry (probably because dinner was 6 hours ago) and I attempted to feed children and get them into bed.  Meanwhile, Eric has gone back to get the rest of our bags and I am basically convincing our kids to sleep in their underwear.  And the wrench in the whole deal is that we are supposed to have adjoining rooms, but we have two rooms un-adjoining. So Eric brings in bags and goes to "snack" (which is a meal), and leaves me with putting to sleep three kids.  But then busts in 10 minutes later, right after kids are in bed, with a bellman and informs me that we are moving from the third floor to the ninth floor!  Ok, let's go!

Goodness, we were a sight to see.  Kids half-dressed with no shoes, me in my PJs pushing a stroller, followed by a bellman hauling our bags which have been half unpacked, then repacked, Eric rolling the crib which has no baby in it but lots of random stuff (like all the dirty clothes we'd taken off), down the Hilton hallway.  And then, "thank hun, sorry hun, I gotta run!" poof!  he's off again!

But everyone eventually got to sleep and man, an adjoining room is life (trip) changing and worth all the hassle. The rooms are roomier anyway so two of these and it is heaven.  Marcus Paige's girlfriend who doubles as our babysitter is coming tomorrow night to take over the second room with intentions of helping out on the babysitting front.  Hurray!  I needed her today as Eric was gone from morning until evening. 

Brady woke at 6 am and Jackson and Avery quickly followed at 6:30.  Did I mention they went to bed at midnight?  We declined an afternoon zoo invitation smartly, because both were asleep by 11:30.  Both slept nearly 3 hours, which was heaven.  We made 4 trips to the pool, starting at 8 am with no swimming suits and ending around 6 because they heard their friends were there.

I'll end with a video of Jackson.  If I haven't mentioned, I adore Jackson and everything about him.  Here's a typical convo, hotel style.

And we're off!

We are currently flying 3,000 feet above the earth. Destination: Houston, Texas.  Mission: win the Final Four and survive six nights in a hotel room with my children. To give you a live play-by-play, Brady just screamed loudly at Jackson, "Just push it once!!"  Referring to the iPad. Because headphones make you scream and everyone around you laugh.  The boys don't usually get to watch or play on iPads, so for the last two hours, they've been soaking it up. I'm seeing Barbie right now as I peer over their shoulders (thank you, Sean May, for your daughter's iPad). And Eric is knocked out.

Avery is also asleep. And speaking of, since their is always something to be said about that, I truly don't believe Avery has slept for more than 2 hours uninterrupted in over a week. I took her to the doctor yesterday because I was convinced the ear infection she had never cleared up.  Anyone else ever gone to the doctor hoping for an ear infection because the alternative (that she perfectly fine night terror) is difficult to swallow? Anyway, the good/bad news is no infection, though there is fluid in her ears which may be causing discomfort.

But back to the trip, the boys are super excited to get to go on a bus, a plane, and end up at a hotel tonight. We are flying on the team plane, but since their are so many kids traveling, we get a family bus. I remember traveling when Jackson was a baby and we had just lost to Iowa State and had to fly home that night after the game. You could hear a pin drop on the bus to the airport, and I just prayed Jackson would stay asleep (which he did).  Don't have to worry about that this time!

The boys got dressed up for the plane just like daddy and the players. Glad we got some double use out of their Easter clothes. I'm not big into dressing them the same, or dressing them like frat boys, but they do look cute!

And Avery just started sitting up! Just in time for the trip. The boys had lots of fun counting to see how long she could stay up.

 

We've started out decent...time to peel the boys away from Barbie!!

Philly fun

Well, that was fun!  I am back home, if only for a few days.  The trip to Philadelphia was a success and somehow UNC managed to figure out a way win enough games to make it to the Final Four.  I realize we were a #1 seed, and ranked #1 in the country, but I know how much needs to go right to make it this far, and I've been hesitant to dream too much of actually making it to Houston!  But the dream is a reality and the reality is, I have a lot to do.  For the past three weeks, I've packed, unpacked, repacked, and laundered lots and lots of clothes.  Even when we played in Raleigh, we stayed the night at the hotel and we had to pack! But while the alternative is easier, this is so much better!

Avery and I had a great trip to Philly.  I put a ton of miles on our stroller.... we walked everywhere.  And ran a few places too.  However, that city might be the least handicap/stroller friendly city in America.  First, their are the cobblestone roads which are beautiful, but bumpy.  Their are the super old buildings that are also beautiful, but don't have any ramps so navigating the stroller up steps was an adventure.  One of the other coaches wives and I went to get our nails done on afternoon in a second story salon.  Not only were their no elevators, but the stairs were very steep.

Avery did great at the games.  The first game was at 10pm on Friday night.  We went to half of the game before ours and in the almost four hours were there, Avery might have slept 45 minutes.  Keep in mind at home she would be completely asleep during that time.  She zonked out on the bus ride home and got back to the hotel at 1:15. I changed her, fed her, 

and looked into these eyes the next 45 minutes. So frustratingly cute.

So 2am bedtime means she'll sleep in, right? She woke at 6:45 for good (with one or two other wake ups in between). It was cold that morning so Avery and me and my coffee hung out in the lobby.

Yesterday was Eater and Avery hit two services. Eric took her to the sunrise service while I slept (actually, while I went back to bed...since I got up at 6 with her).  Avery and I hit a later service while Eric went to breakfast with the team. How comical is is that they often have 11am "breakfast?"  

She changed from her church clothes to her game gear and after a long day of waitin, we headed to the game!

She slept most of the game, hallelujah. We flew back last night and I crawled in my bed at 3am. Avery was asleep...until 4am. Then 6am.  But then she slept u til 7:45...hurray! 

Side note: I put Avery down at 7 tonight and she woke at 8. I just had to take a typing break to tend to her 2nd wake up at 10pm. And this is her own bed which should be better than the hotel. If I survive 6 more nights in a hotel with her and two other children, I deserve a bigger trophy than the one the Tar Heels will hopefully bring home.

I could go on, but frankly, I need sleep. I will leave you with my two favorite images  of the weekend.

A Philly vacation: a dream come true

Ever had a peaceful day? I think I did one time. And I could be confused, but I might be having one right now.  Avery is curled up in the nook of my arm snoozing in a hotel room in Philadelphia. Why aren't I sleeping, you ask? Well, because my husband called a bit ago and woke me up from a glorious sleep. Honestly, I don't even remember what he asked or told me, so clearly not important enough to arouse such wonderful slumber.

Honestly, I was a little happy to be woken from my dream. You know those dreams that are so vivid you can't quite separate them from reality? Here is mine:

We are in Philly and Eric and I are out to dinner with Eric Montross (maybe because I had lunch with him today?), my old boss, and some UNC boosters who we ran into at the restaurant. Eric is completely hammered and was almost falling asleep during the meal. I was pissed because I had told him to slow down before dinner but he was slamming Jack Daniels straight from the bottle.   Then he puts his head down and starts crying and he had to crawl under the table in order to avoid everyone seeing him.  I pulled him through the restaurant and went to the family restroom. Since we didn't have a child with us, we got suspicious glances from patrons. No really people, I wanted to tell them, that's not what we're doing here.  This part is slightly fuzzy, but then he tells me on our one year anniversary he had a "moment" (his words not mine) with one of the coaches from the women's team and I told him I didn't believe him and was mad at him for trying to deflect the conversation away from his current actions and didn't he realize how I rarely got nights out without the kids. He admitted that no, he never cheated on me at which point their was a knock on the family restroom.

As dreams do, I was transported back to Chapel Hill where I was home with Avery who was sleeping in her carseat.  I saw on the news as the police gathered outside my neighbor's house and were arresting the grandfather of one of the children because he had been abusing them. He'd always seemed creepy (like in real life) and my suspicions were confirmed (in my dream). I went outside for some reason and thought Avery would be fine just for a minute. But I ended up around the block so I rode my bike (?) quickly to try to get back but a teenager swooped in front of me and made me swerve into the grass. I was furious, asked him his name and he wouldn't tell me so I proceeded to lecture him while he mocked me. Then I knocked on his door and gave his mortified mom the rundown. Meanwhile, I knew in my heart that Avery was awake screaming in my house but I had to make sure justice was served at this house.

I think that's when the phone rang. Two lecture in one dream. What a nag I have become.

Meanwhile, in real life, Avery is still sleeping soundly next to me. You know when she didn't sleep soundly? Last night. I dropped the boys off with Erics parents last night -- I needed a trip with less of my children -- and Avery went to sleep at 9:30. She woke up at 12, 2, 4, 5:15 and 6:15. Brutal. But it was peaceful just getting two people ready to leave the house. We flew out at 9:30 and Avery was easy as can be.

I had a Philly Cheesesteak (she had some too) then we crashed. Eric will be back to the room soon and perhaps we can have a pseudo-date night!  That hopefully ends better than the one of my dreams!

The madness continues...

Anyone who has had a baby 5+ years ago will be quick to tell you a variation of the same thing: you will miss these days, these are the best days, you'll never have days like this, life sucks after these days, etc, etc, etc.  And I can tell all these women the same thing: you either have amnesia or had a cleaner, a nanny, and a chef.

Ok, I kid, I kid.  These are the days, I know.  I actually do love them, in theory.  In actuality, they are mostly good and always exhausting.  Like last night, knowing how much the boys loved staying in the hotel in DC, I planned for us to stay in Eric's Raleigh hotel on Thursday night.  First of all, you'd think the Heels playing locally would mean a present father, but the team left Chapel Hill on Tuesday and will not return until Sunday.  So, in order that the boys could actually see their father other than FaceTime, we left Thursday after preschool for the hotel and hung there before the 7:30 game.  On Monday night, after doing two loads of laundry and packing for four people (oh, and cooking for 3, cleaning up after all, bathing 3 and putting all to bed), I collapsed in a heap.  But then had to pull myself together to deal with the daughter who laughs at sleep.  But I digress... packing for one night in a hotel took more time than I anticipated.  But it was fun and the pool was a hit.

Oh, and we took naps!  Naps!  Coordinating three naps happens about never and its worth noting when it does.

Don't ask why Avery has no clothes on, but Brady's fetish with heads continues.  As does is thumb sucking (despite the disgusting stuff on his thumb).

Heels win, we made it back to the hotel and I crushed some shrimp tacos, pizza, and fruit that Eric brought back to me at 11 pm after the kids were finally asleep.  I feel like my kids are hungry always, and I think they get it from me.

We headed back to Chapel Hill Friday and I didn't feel well after lunch.  Nothing is worse than parenting when you don't feel good.  Except parenting another sick child when you don't feel good.  2pm Friday marked Avery's first vomit of her life.  And it was quite a lot of vomit, like seriously it kept coming (and it came from nowhere).  But, she seemed to feel pretty good after her pukefest, and I started feeling better, so we got out of the house and went to the men's tennis match, where we had our own match.  These boys could not get enough of me feeding them balls and thankfully, Avery cooperated and slept so that I could.

 

Tonight the Heels play for a trip to go to the Sweet 16.  At 9:40! (!!!!) And sadly, it probably won't even start on time.  Want to know what I'm usually doing at 9"40?  Getting ready to head to bed, if I'm not already there.  And want to know what I'm normally doing at 8:30 when my babysitter is coming tonight?  Enjoying my favorite time of the day, doing anything I want to do, which is usually very little.  The good news is the boys both took good naps today so I have decided to boycott bedtime and let the babysitter deal with them.  I mean, I'd hate for her not to earn her money.  Which, by the way, is not $30 per hour -- I'm now feeling like the $15 per hour we pay her is a bargain.  But I will pay for this game in other ways tomorrow!

 

We better win....

Letters to Avery: 6 months

Dear Avery,

Happy half birthday!  Sorry this letter is a day late... typical 3rd child unfairness (I feel your pain).  It has been a whirlwind of a week and come to think of it, your life has been a bit of whirlwind.  You have proven yourself worthy in the travel department, which means, we are keeping you! Thank you, Avery, for no longer hating the car.  That's just flat out inconvenient.  You do seem to like to be where the action is….also a good quality if you want to fit in our family.  And you are not afraid of some physical contact.  Also good, because you have two older brothers who thrive on it.  You like to be tossed in the air by daddy, pushed in your swing by your brothers, and tickled by your mommy.

 

One of my friends in DC brought her 4-month-old baby up to our hotel.  I told her to put her baby in the jumpy swing that hangs on the doorway.  She put her in it, and she was terrified.  I put Avery in and she nearly broke the springs off she was jumping so enthusiastically.  Your brothers weren’t even there to show what you could really do in that swing.   Then I put you on the bed and was putting your feet above your head as you giggled, a feat only babies and yogis can pull off and my friend commented, “Wow, bendy baby.”  Today when the nurse was prepping to give you your shots, she commented how active of a kicker you were.  It made me realize how fiesty you are and how un-gentle we are with you.  You’re not perturbed when your brothers get up in your face and blow (spit) on you.  In fact, you love it!  I hope you continue to be tough and fiesty, both in body and spirit. 
 

You are certainly tough in the sleep department, but I’m not even mad about it, right now.  Two nights ago, daddy got back to the hotel around 3am (he couldn’t NOT celebrate) and guess who was up smiling like it was 3pm?  Your dad was super amused….your mom was not.  But darn that smile does get me.  Its like you have the ability to smile with your whole face, and it melts my heart.

 

Maybe this reason why you haven’t been sleeping well is the ear infection you apparently have?  I took you to your 6 month appointment this morning and the doctor told me you had one!  But you were so happy!  I was surprised, although you are not my first child who has had an unexpected ear infection at a well child checkup.  In other news, you are average for weight and height and of course, 99% in head size. 

  

I love you so very much, Avery.  You and your big head.

Love, 

Mom

Winning ain't cheap!

We are currently driving back to Chapel Hill, low on sleep but high on life! The Heels won the ACC tournament and victory tastes so sweet. Bradys first question when he woke up was, "did we win?" and he was pretty impressed with the trophy.  He is currently holding it in the backseat.

 

I had decided that the game was too late for my kids, especially since I would be flying solo and lots of walking was required for my kids. But yesterday morning, I decided that I really wanted to see the game and went on a mission to find a babysitter (which proved rather difficult, even with lots of people searching for me). But we found someone so I spent the afternoon planning how to make things smooth.  It started with making sure Brady didn't fall asleep while the other kids were napping, thus ensuring he would go to sleep early and not be upset when I got to go the game and he didn't.  Jackson, on the other hand, took a much needed 3 hour nap. So at 7:15, the kids got in bed and Brady was asleep by 7:30.  One down.  I tried to be inconspicuous in the dark room with an awake Avery. She zonked out about 7:45, things going according to plan. Two down. The babysitter was coming in 30 minutes so I laid down with a very quiet Jackson. I thought for sure he would be asleep soon. Things were falling into place.

I texted the babysitter at 8:05, asking her to wait in the lobby when she arrived until I texted her to come up. It became evident that he wasn't going to sleep by the time I needed to leave, so I started prepping him for a babysitter.  The kid loves books so I put a bunch out and gave the babysitter the code to the iPad in case jackson got upset when I left. He rarely gets access to it, so I knew it would ease any disappointment. Of course he was all "bye mom!" when I walked out the door, all my concern for nothing.

I texted her during the game and got this.  

False advertising on my part...I told her she'd get some good studying done.

I got back after the game just after 11:30 and Jackson. Was. Still. Awake. He was drawing on the iPad, grinning like he hit the jackpot.  So then I asked the babysitter what her hourly rate was and she says, "$13." I thought that seemed low, especially for the city, and I thought I'd be generous and give her $55 for 3 hours, since she had to take the Metro, came last minute, and actually had to work.   Here was our exchange:

Babysitter: (very sweetly) Um, I don't think you gave me quite enough.

Me: I'm so sorry! What did you say your rate was?

Babysitter: $30 an hour

Then I picked my jaw off the ground. She looked at the money again and seemed to try to make the math work in her head, and acted like maybe what I gave her was ok. But I apologized again and thrust another $20 at her and asked if that would be good (still not $30 an hour), and she said it was great (um, yeah), gave me a little bow and I was left $75 poorer, and an appreciation that this was not my city.  

Obviously, it was money so well spent and I am so glad I got to witness this amazing game.

We came, we saw, we conquered!  Goodbye DC!

March Madness (aka traveling with kids)

If you ever feel like you want to write a blog, but don't have anything to say, just have a child. Then have two more. And then travel with those children.  We have had a big time in DC, though I appreciate more fully my house and the space that it affords us. I'll be ready to put hotel life behind us for a while.

This picture is not indicative of true life in a hotel. This is a snapshot of the boys when they weren't tackling eachother, begging me to go swimming, spilling food on the ground, shedding clothes across the room, and basically driving me batty.

Nighttime hotel life brings it own challenges and thankfully, my boys are heavy sleepers and Avery's wake ups don't bother them (yes, that is all three boys I'm talking about). I lost track of how many times she woke up last night, but I can't count them on one hand, sadly. Which is impressive since Avery woke up for good at 5am. Lucky for me, I went to bed when the boys did about 8:45. Since Eric didn't get back to the hotel until midnight, I felt bad passing Avery off so early and figured I would make the best of it and go for a run. It was a gorgeous 70 degree morning and the good part about running at 5:30 (and there aren't many things) is that all the monuments were still lit up.

We went to the zoo later in the morning.  It was an adventure riding the Metro with three kids by myself. We boarded the busy train and Jackson started to climb out of the stroller at the same time the train started moving. A nice lady dropped her cell phone in order to catch the falling toddler and to Jackson's credit, he recovered well. Hopefully the phone did too. Then the stroller started rolling because mom hadn't locked it. Basically, we were a hot mess, but I managed to get my crew to the zoo in one piece where we met Eric's parents, who are staying with his uncle who lives in DC. The zoo was great, but with the baby strapped to me all morning, my back didn't love me and right now, I could use a good foot massage.

This guy kept hiding under the blanket. Monkeys are so close to our species that it sometimes feels to me like I am crossing a line and invading their space. Like paying $1 to see the freak show behind the curtain at the fair. But I do love monkeys, and they did not disappoint. 

Needless to say, the zoo wore the boys out.

Me too, but I didn't have this luxury.

Oh, and the reason we are actually in DC is to watch games. So far, so good.

Jackson knocked out quickly during yesterday's noon game.  Extra hands at the basketball games have proven helpful. 

I took about 10 pictures of the three of them before tonight's game and zero of them were any good. Although "good" is a matter of perspective. I personally like the second picture where "kiss your sister" looks more like "eat your sister."

I have to give props to my kids because we walked back from the game tonight at 9:30, just the four of us, and I was worried about Jackson making that walk, since I had to leave the stroller behind and he was working with a short nap today. It was a 1/2 mile at least and he didn't complain once or ask to be picked up. It's nice when your kids suprise you in a good way.

I won't push my luck though, and I will be watching the 9pm game tomorrow from my hotel room. Probably screaming at the TV by myself!

I will leave you with a picture of our peaceful room at 11 pm. Yes, both boys are sleeping in the center of their own beds. Clearly, the inmates run the asylum.

DC: Day 1

We are day one into our DC adventure and if our family is good at anything, it is not being deterred by travel challenges. The boys and I were supposed to fly privately on Wednesday night, but we got word yesterday from the plane owner that there was issues with the plane and we wouldn't be able to fly out. We got word at 4pm and at 7pm, we were in our car heading north! The team flew up last night and Eric was able to come home after practice so he could drive with us. Most of our bags were already packed, but it was still chaos getting out the door.

The kids did awesome, most notably Avery who slept the whole time until she lost it about 5 min from the hotel. Great timing. The boys slept the majority of the drive, though Brady said he was going to stay up until we go to the hotel. When we  pulled up, he popped out and said, "See mom? I stayed awake!" like I didn't realize he had been asleep the last 3 hours. Honestly, he had no sense of what time it was and probably didn't even realize he was sleeping.  

To further confuse our children, we took them to "snack." The players get snack each night and if you can take a gander at the boys' plates, you may see foods like hamburger, shrimp, and macaroni and cheese. Most people would be 300 lbs if this was their "snack."  My boys have never been shy around food (especially Jackson) and they loved their late night meal.

Timestamp on this picture is 11:15.

We all went to bed without any problems and Avery was her typical self. The good news was I didn't have to get out of bed to feed her throughout the night so I'm not sure how many times she actually woke up. But I do know she woke up for good (yapping loudly) at 5:15.  This is when Eric usually takes over after my night shifts and this morning was no different, as my wonderful husband took her out of the room. (Until, being a typical man, he brought her back shortly because he had to use the facilities). 

Brady woke an hour later and Eric took him to the pool for a swim before he had to disappear for work all day. Which left me and three kids in an unfamiliar city (insert wide-eyes emoji). We made the .7 mile walk to the Museum of American History.  But we had some time to kill before it opened (because that's what happens when your baby wakes up from her nap at 8 am) so why not chase some squirrels and birds?

Then chase each other.

The museum was great, and I would like to go back with maybe one child, or maybe none.

Thankfully for my boys, it was very hands on.

We ate, came back and wrestled in the lobby. A nice lady gave my boys crayons, stickers, and paper, probably to get them to do anything but what they were doing. Sound parenting on my part.

We hit the pool and saw the players rehabbing. Brady had fun splashing them.

Jackson was content to sit on the side, which worked for me because it meant I didn't have to get in.  If he can't touch the bottom, Jackson isn't having it.

At 2, we came back, shut the blinds, and crashed while watching the tournament games.  Which is where I am now, enjoying the peace of three sleeping children!