Updates

First of all, thank you so much for your kind words on my last post. I had facebook messages, conversations with friends, a wonderful card in the mail (thanks Mel!) and comments on the blog from my friends. Your words of encouragement, ideas, & support really helped.  We see our pediatrician next week. I am looking forward to seeing what our next steps should be.

Life just doesn't stop. Since I last updated I've had a stomach virus, sinus infection, & ear infection all at the same time. I had to  miss 2 days of school and probably should have missed 3. I am feeling WAY better. But Andy has a sinus infection, Ty is getting one, and Luke is taking his turn with the stomach virus as of today. I mean...really?! We are so ready to be healthy! Wilson went to the doctor for his stomach aches and they ran a bunch of tests. So far everything has been good news: good blood counts (ruled out infection & ulcer), tested negative for celiac & chrone's. I'm glad we already have Wilson & Luke's well visits next week so I can follow up about Wilson's stomach issues as well. It may just be bad luck with several mild stomach viruses or could be anxiety related.

What I keep learning as a mom of 3: The craziness never seems to stop. There is always something with one of the boys. See the previous post and the paragraph below this one for a couple examples.  Someone always "needs" me. I NEED at least an hour with all the boys in bed so I can have some me time. I will fall asleep reading almost every night because by the time my head hits the pillow I'm just plain exhausted.

Tyler is causing the something right now, in addition to everything else. He is being a THREE year old. If you haven't heard, three is WAAAAY harder than two. Bedtime has become hard with him. He wants to stay up to spend time with me (so he says...) and he is at the awkward stage of needing a nap but that nap is causing him to not be quite ready for bed at the right time. So...he is put to bed. Gets up, is put back to bed, gets up, gets a spanking, etc. Repeat several times. Then at some point in the night several nights a week I wake up to find him in our bed. He shares my pillow and smushes me to the edge. What is it about kids coming to mommy's side of the bed?! We have a king size bed- but Ty wants to snuggle next to me. Awww- right? Well not when you have an elbow in the face!

So we have a new positive behavior system going on around here. I put the boys on charts. All 3 of them. Let's deal with those somethings shall we? Here is what they earn stickers for right now:
Wilson- Responding with the right attitude (coming when called, doing what he is told, completing HW without whining etc)
Luke- Answer questions when mommy/daddy ask them, no whining about HW or taking out the recycling
Ty- 1 sticker for peeing in potty, 2 stickers for pooping in potty, 1 sticker for staying in bed all night, 1 sticker for feeding Lottie

The charts are just the kind you can buy for the mini size stickers. I've had them forever. They are hanging on a low cabinet for them to see. So far they have all finished 1 chart (20 stickers). They each have a different reward they are working towards. Wilson's last one was a sandwich from Jimmy John's, Luke earned $ to buy Valentine Grams at school, & Ty wanted to buy a new car from the movie Cars.

So in a nutshell: life is good but hard. Not really any new information! We love our boys more than words can say and we are trying to be good parents. But it is hard to know what to do sometimes!