Countdown to the move - Day 22

Thursday was Day 22 of our countdown to the move. Rob had an appointment in town in the morning, so we got to have breakfast as a family on a weekday! What fun.

I made pancakes and gave Maddie her first taste of pancakes, in tiny bite sized pieces. She did not enjoy it! She's too young for syrup so they were pretty dry.

The kids were in great moods, having daddy at the breakfast table!

Daddy left for work, and I was picking up the house and continuing the never-ending project of organizing our chaos when Mima stopped by. The kids enjoyed showing her their new artwork. She was impressed!

Mima left, and while Maddie napped, Robbie and Ellie played in (what else) boxes. Which included pulling whatever I had packed IN the box OUT. It's two steps forward, 3 steps back around here. I don't care a whole lot as long as they are playing nicely and not making a huge mess.

Plus then I happen upon moments like this one.

I'd like to say that the rest of the day went as well as it started, but it took a pretty steep nosedive from there on out. I laid everyone down for midday naps, and Robbie refused to sleep, keeping Ellie awake until 2pm. I finally pulled him out of the room so that she could sleep, and he was a whiny fall-to-his-knees mess whenever I would ask him to do something, saying he was too tired. This is his new go-to phrase - "I'm too tired!" - with dramatics to punctuate his point. It's a tough phase. He has clearly outgrown any sort of nap during the day (never sleeps no matter how long I leave him in there or what time of day I lay him down) but he's so tired for the second half of the day. This too will pass before I know it, but it makes for a lot of cancelled plans in the afternoons because I know I will end up somewhere in public with a melty almost-4-year-old. And with 2 other little ones with needs of their own, not much is worth chancing that situation.

I fed everyone dinner and we made our way upstairs, killing time before daddy came home from work. Bath time is much smoother when I can send kids out one at a time for diapers and pjs. But daddy called and said he'd be coming home late, so it was a solo endeavor.

I ran the water, and Ellie got into the Q-tips.

"Whatcha doin', Ellie?"

"Ummmmm, I'm cleanin' my nose."

The kids emptied their beds of all blankets and animals and pretended to sleep in various locations around their bedroom. They settled on under-the-crib as the best spot.

The bath started out cute, with Maddie between the older two and my hands on her the entire time (otherwise I would have adorable pictures to show you!). Both older kids offered to help hold her up, with Ellie grabbing her arm and Robbie steadying her with a hand on her thigh. They offered her toys and gently scooped water with their hands and washed Maddie's shoulders and back. At one point Robbie started to plant kisses all over her and got right up in her face and cooed: "Aw, Maddie! You're so adorable!"

But then I had to get her out of the tub and get her ready for bed, and the bath tub antics started and my instructions were ignored and it wasn't pretty. I got Maddie to bed, washed the other two, diapered and jammied them and put them to sleep. They fought me tooth and nail before I finally walked out of their room. One more prayer! Tuck me in again! And lots of annoying giggling when I asked them to please be quiet, and jumping and screaming. Ending the day this way stresses me out, because all the work I go to putting Maddie to sleep is undone, and then no one is down for the night.

Rob came home and I was pretty much in tears, and needed to go to the grocery store, so I left while he ate dinner and got ready for bed. Boo to not getting to hang out and talk before going to sleep. It was late by the time I unpacked groceries and cleaned up the rest of the house. But even on the hard days, there is so much to be thankful for.