I may not be the most qualified to write a “how to” on the matter of punctuality, but I’ve learned a few tricks and I have needed to remind myself of them now that we are back on such a rigid schedule. Some people are just timely by nature and some of us have to work hard to be. I am one of the latter. These 5 tips have been tested and proven by me, the messy mom, to work with getting even the most “challenging” of pupils up and out and on time!

5. Time yourself


In order to know how much time you need, you need to know how much time you take.
For example, when I had my second child I was shocked by how difficult it was to be even close to on time. So I would set a timer each morning and then stop it when we were leaving. There were actually several times I never stopped it and would come home from church and the timer was still running, but eventually I learned how much time I needed to get myself and two kids ready. 

 Last year when SJ started school I had my laptop open while I got ready and I typed out what time I did everything so that I had a realistic idea of how much time everything took. Even though no one was ever supposed to see this I am going to be vulnerable here and show you a copy 

Lastly, this year I have to admit that I have missed getting Z off the school bus TWICE already. Kindergarteners have to have a parent present or they won’t let them off. I was so embarrassed. So what I started doing was taking a screen shot of my phone so that I know what time I left the apartment, then another screen shot when I get to the bus stop, then another one when the bus comes. You could just write everything down, but this way is so much faster. After some observation of these patterns I think I have the hang of it. I know when to leave without having to get there TOO early and feel like I am wasting my time. Isn’t that the art of time management? 

4. Dress to the shoes


This is a fly lady thing, but it’s helpful. She will tell you to get fully dressed including your lace up shoes, and even do your hair and makeup so you feel motivated and in the zone. When you are in your pjs and socks you feel comfy and lazy. This doesn’t mean you have to get all dolled up. Trust me I usually look like a bad tabloid photo most days, but I do like to get myself ready first and have some solitude while the little ones are still snoozing. Then I wake the kids up at the last minute. I think of it like securing my life jacket before assisting a minor. 

3. Set everything out the night before


This is another one where I am preaching to myself. Twice I have panicked trying to find my keys at the last minute. Last year before SJ started school I posted a question on Facebook for advice on the matter of getting up early and getting to school on time and this was the most popular suggestion I received. I am going to work on it. 

2. Give yourself extra time


Something unexpected always happens. You may have to go back to the house because your child forgot their backpack. Or maybe you can’t find your kids at the last minute because the lining of your purse has a hole in it and your keys slipped in there to become a part of some secret society. Or who knows you could even arrive at school to find that your child took both shoelaces out of her shoes and retied them into a the most intricate of knots that not even a high ranking boy scout could undo. These are just hypotheticals of course, but stuff like this could potentially happen. When you have done #5 and timed yourself add 10 minutes to whatever amount of time you have concluded you need.

1. DO NOT HIT THE SNOOZE BUTTON 


When I asked for advice on Facebook last year the best tip I received was in all caps it said “DO NOT HIT THE SNOOZE BUTTON”. This has been the #1 thing for me (that’s why I did 5 through 1 because I wanted to save the best for last).

Comedian  Jim Gaffigan jokes “The snooze bar is a wonderful invention. Nothing like starting the day off with a little procrastination! As my first decision of the day I will go back to sleep.” His whole bit on the snooze bar is hilarious, and not to get all serious, but it did get me thinking. Do I really want to spend the first 30 minute of my day in groggy debate with myself about whether or not I have more time to sleep. Some of you you can’t think of a better gift to yourself than hitting snooze and that’s cool. I like to think of the snooze bar like a real bar. Some people can go to the bar and have a drink and it’s a delightful little treat. Other people go to the bar to have a drink and wake up the next day with an enormous headache and a hideous pair of celtic boots they paid a gypsy $700 for (true story from my neighbor). I think I am a snoozaholic and saying no to the snooze last year may be a big part of why I was always on time. 

Alright ladies, or should I say “late-ies” he he. That’s all the tips I’ve got for you today, but feel free to share your own. I’m still a work in progress myself. 

Despite my best attempts (and new years goals) I have not been able to make it to Michigan this year, but my best friend was able to find a way to get to me instead. It’s been almost a year since I last saw my favorite sisters. They drove out to meet Ezie after he was born. 

Getting of all of her old nail polish

then having new paint put on. She’s such a princess.

A year ago I posted some of the humorous lines I had heard Z say when he was 4 years old. If you didn’t see it you should check it out. We all got tons of laughs from the goofy perspective of our preschooler. He kept us laughing this year as well. I wish I could remember all of the funny moments, but at least I had some of them posted on Facebook which helps.

1. I told the kids they had to watch something educational (something they hear me say a lot). Then I thought I heard Z say “how about something rectal” I knew that couldn’t be right so I asked “something what?” and he repeated himself “rectal” I just stared in shock and confusion. He further explained,”Something Wreck-it-al, you know, like, Wreck It Ralph”. Although I like how he cleverly combined his favorite movie and the word “educational” it just didn’t work.

2. Conversation on the way to school. 


Me: Zion, do you think you would be interested in learning spanish? 
Zion: Well, I already know one language. 
Me: Yeah, what is that? 
Zion: Talking
Me: Talking is a verb it’s not your language. Do you know what language you speak?
Zion: Chinese. 
Me: No. What language do Americans speak?
Zion: American? 
Me: Closer. It’s English. We speak English. 
Zion: Oh. Never heard of it.

3. This one is in reference to his understanding (or lack) of his little sisters hearing loss. He says,
 “When I was two and I was deaf I didn’t follow directions either”.
Half of that is true. 

4. Another misconception of what it means to be deaf was when Ezie had a dirty diaper and Z said “at least it doesn’t bother SJ because she can’t smell since she is deaf”

5. Z had been wanting a “cap like daddy”. He really wanted a blue cap specifically. So when he found this hat he knew it was the one because it is blue and says “cap” on it. 
Eventually I told him the truth about it being the letter “G” and spelling Gap. From that point on he called his hat a Gap and will say things like “I think I’ll wear my Gap today”.

7. This next conversation happened in the car and was in reference to Z’s keen sense of direction. 

J: Z, in 10 years I don’t know if I’m going to be able to hold a candle to you.
Me: I don’t know if I’ll be able to hold a candle to you in a year.
Z- Well in 3 months you are both going to be lighting a candle on my cake and giving me a card because that is when my birthday is. 

8. A random conversation out of the blue


   Z- Mom, cars are expensive right? 
   Me- Yes
   Z- and important? 
   Me- Yes
   Z- I’m going to get one when I’m 20.
   Me- Sounds good.

9. Then there was this akward conversation before I just recently started letting him go to some public restrooms alone 

Z: SJ has to poop a lot

me: Why do you think that?

Z: Because she never stands up

10. Most recently while at Party City Z found a big number 6 candle. He grabbed it and thought we should get it. I said “I dont know. Don’t you want to blow out six candles instead?” (Its cheaper and we already had some.) He got excited and said yeah that’s a great idea! Then he went to grab 5 more of the number six candle.

Thanks for laughs little man! 

    

The last time I did a theme party was when SJ turned 2 (a year and a half ago). I was more than ready to jump in with both feet this year for Z’s 6th birthday. I’ve known for almost a year that we were going to do the super hero theme. It’s so trendy right now and it’s always in style for boys, so there was no shortage of ideas or resources to pull from. And as always I came up with some Messy Mom originals. I will share all about the craftsy pinterest inspired stuff later, but for now lets just take a peak at what my son called the best birthday party of his entire life.

The best part about having a super hero party is getting to be a Super Hero.

We had extra costumes, just to be sure no one was left out.

They took turns hitting it with a big cane and it wasn’t long before…

candy and treats showered all over the little heroes. YAY!

Unfortunately, right after that we had to use our super speed powers to rush inside to avoid the severe storm that was quickly approaching. Everything went from a nice warm and breezy summer evening to the tornado scene from the Wizard of Oz. The sky turned black and ugly, but at least we had the power of (ahem) good weather apps so we weren’t completely taken off guard.

Inside the house Z opened presents and had birthday cake.

Each child got a party favor and the evening ended up being a total success!

So I totally missed doing an update at 10 months for Ezie who is 11 months today. He gets the short end of the stick as the third born when it comes to photos and documentation. No shortage in the lovin’ department though. As I told him this morning “I love you to the moon and back, and every single space in-between, without a doubt forever and always” and then I give him  a zillion smooches until his chubby little face starts to look completely bored. Seriously though, he is the best baby ever. We are so blessed to have this breath of fresh air in our lives.

As far as his 9 month milestones he has had an eventful summer.

He went in a pool for the first time. I shouldn’t be surprised that he loves water, he was a water birth after all.

He also started singing at 9 months, I shouldn’t be surprised by this either. His dad has done vocal performance for the past 20 years. This isn’t the best clip (and there is not any visual since I was driving), but Ezie has a variety of tunes with different tempos and unintelligible lyrics. He sings a lot and it’s adorable.

He also went from showing no interest in movement and being completely stationary to suddenly crawling like there is no tomorrow. I love to hear his hands pitter patter on the floor. Cutest thing ever.

This is his Batman costume from Z’s party. Definitely more photos coming SOON.

At 9 months old Ezie started pulling himself up to a standing position. He has tried to cruise around a bit, but has had no success at this point.

Another milestone was his first hearing test in a sound booth. His right side technically needs to be retested because he scored so low, but we are all confident that the reason was fatigue since they tested the left side first. There are absolutely no red flags for Ezie’s hearing, other than having parents that have connexin 26.

Now onto what happened at 10 months old. 

He got 3 new teeth, for a whopping total of 11 teeth, and he has 3 more on the way.

He is also pointing and mimicking a lot of words, sounds, rhythms, and gestures.

His first flight was last month from Ohio to Texas and he did so good. He slept most of the time both ways.

He is still nursing every 5 hours (give or take) and he naps 3 times a day. His favorite distraction is straws believe it or not. He loves to gnaw, tap, throw, and twist plastic straws which is great because they are usually pretty easy to come by.

Lastly, I must confess that I still carry all of his 24 pounds around in the infant car seat. I know he is ready to graduate up to the next size and I get comments on that, but the problem is I have two other kiddos to keep up with. In an emergency I can set Ezie down if he is in his car seat, which comes in handy if, lets say I need to pick SJ up from throwing a tantrum in the parking lot, or help Z with his belt in the restroom. Hopefully he will be able to stand up on his own soon and then I will feel more comfortable carrying him around without the car seat.

 I wear Ezie in the Ergo backpack style everyday to the bus stop and on nature walks, or even while decorating a birthday cake!

I can’t believe the next time I do a monthly update he will be a year old. Insert pouty face here. I have never been this attached to the baby stage. As far as being so far behind on keeping track of all of his milestones and baby memories, that is my goal for the next month. I have to get cracking on his baby book and our family albums. I am going to take some professional 1 year photos too! Hold me to it, okay?

1 down 35  to go. We just completed the first week of our new school schedule. Being a mop (mother of preschoolers) is tough biz. I can attest to that, but I never realized the energy and organization that would need to go into having kids in school. Granted, it would be easier if I didn’t have to work with completely different schools, with different schedules in separate cities. One things for sure though, the days ZOOM by. Here is what our daily routine has looked like this week.

We get up at 7:00 and take SJ to school at 8:00. I have to park the car and walk her into her class.

Afterwards we usually run some errands do some laundry and have lunch.

I walk Z to the bus stop at 12:30.

We are supposed to be there by 12:42 so this gives us plenty of time to get there, especially since the bus has been late everyday, except one day which we ended up having to run to catch it. I had Ezie in the Ergo on my back when this happened. I am sure it looked comical. The driver apologized for being early. I just appreciated her waiting for us.

After we get back up to the apartment I have a couple hours where it is just me and Ezie.

At 3:00 I have to go get SJ

 Once again I have to park the car and go to the upper level of the school. No drive up service here. From there we go back to the apartment I get both kids upstairs and go back down in 20 minutes to walk to the bus stop where we wait, and wait, and wait. 

Once Z gets off we go back up to the apartment unpack our stuff.

We have tried to have outside time everyday weather permitting. Then it’s back up the stairs one final time for dinner, then bath, and bed.. It goes by so fast! Everyday I say “It’s already 5 o’clock?” Everyday!

So the frustrating part is that I feel like I am going up and down the stairs and buckling and unbuckling the kids all day long. For the record the bus thing is not my idea, but I tried to drive him and I can’t realistically make it from SJ’s school to his school in time and even if I did I would have to get Ezie and SJ out of the car and walk into the school to sign him out anyway, because that is how they do things.
The big fiasco with Z’s school has certainly put a damper on everything, but I am trying to have a good attitude and make the most of it.

On the bright side I get a lot of exercise. And I like having a routine. I like getting the kids to bed earlier and getting up earlier. It feels more productive all the way around. Both Z and SJ seem to enjoy their schools a lot.
 
As the weeks go on I am sure it will get easier and I will figure out more efficient ways to manage our time.

Maybe you are thinking “Whoa. How do you do it all and tote around a ten month old on top of it?” I don’t know. I ask myself the same thing. I don’t mind though. There is all this hype about YOLO these days and that’s great, but my motto is TOLO, They’re Only Little Once.

Needless to say things have been a bit stressful around here. It’s like one big emergency after another, but I like to believe that the worst is behind us.

They say when it rains it pours, so I should not be surprised that in the middle of getting ready for school to start and dealing with various medical situation Z would break his glasses. It was in a very awkward place too. We tried apoxy, super glue, and in the privacy of our own home I was even desperate enough to use tape. Thus the funny photo I posted the other day.

Long testimony short we got an anonymous envelope  in the mail with nothing but cash inside and it was the exact amount it costed to get Z’s glasses fixed just in time for school! I have no idea who this good samaritan is, but if you are reading this thank you for your generosity and for being a willing vessel. God is good.

As far as SJ, the scary episodes she was having with her internal device seem to have subsided and we saw her ENT today. He showed me her CT scans and gave a very thorough explanation of what it appears has happened. The good news is that the internal device is not misplaced, but it has shifted a little bit within the area that it was implanted. This is not anything you can see from the X-ray, but judging by her symptoms it is pretty obvious. It will heal itself by building up scar tissue that will secure the device again and she will be 100% back to her normal once the process is complete. She hardly ever touches her head there anymore, so I think it will be smooth sailing from here. We will see the Doctor again in two months just to be sure. 


Both of these things were like mountains before us along with the horrible infection I got in the middle of it all, but everyone is healthy and doing well now. Praise the Lord. Thank you for all of your prayers! 

I look back at last week and I think Did all of that really just happen?

The week started out with a bang as I began to feel sore and and achey on Sunday and had a 102 degree fever through the night.

On Monday J had to work so he called up the reinforcements and my mom came right away. I went to the Doctor and got a prescription for what was diagnosed as a bad case of mastitis. 

Tuesday my mom was back because of SJ’s head sensitivity which of course resulted in a trip to the hospital. She’s doing much better by the way. 

Then on Thursday I had to drive to northern Kentucky to pick up Z’s glasses which were broken. That is a whole other story.  Then Thursday night Z and I had our first meet the teacher. 


He is doing a pose.

Friday my dad came up to help with the kids so that I could fly out to Texas for my nieces bridal shower.

The shower was beautiful, it would be nice if I had taken a better picture. 

It’s been a year since I’ve been back to Texas which is too long. The trip was short (one full day, that’s it), but sweet. I got to spend a little bit of time with one of my best friends. We were pregnant at the same time last year, but her son is 4 months older than E (although you’d never know it by size!)


In other baby news I got to meet my great niece for the first time. 


 I also got to catch up with a family member (and friend) who was also pregnant the same time as me last year. Here we are lookin’ pretty big in August 2012


And now in 2013 we’re just pretty.

I flew back the next morning and I’m ready (I hope) for another busy week.  Z starts kindergarten tomorrow and his BIG spectacular superhero costume party is Saturday. I have my work cut out for me!

SJ had her first day of preschool yesterday at Ohio Valley Voices. 
However, almost immediately after dropping her off I got a call from her ENT’s nurse wanting to know if we could be at Children’s hospital at 12:00 pm to do a CT Scan. This wasn’t out of the blue. I was expecting the call I just didn’t know when. I have to back up to last Friday in order to explain what we are dealing with. J and I noticed that SJ was touching the right side of her head a lot. It looked like she was experiencing some irritation or sensitivity around where her implant is. We even debated whether or not she should wear her processors. Most of the time she was fine, but we noticed it off and on all weekend. It gradually became worse to where on Monday she was up at 5:00 am crying and holding her hand on her head where her right implant is. It doesn’t matter if she is wearing the external parts or not, what hurts is obviously on the inside and is not sound related. For hours she did not seem like herself. So I called her Doctor and I told them what was going on. The lady that answered the phone (bless her heart) said the Doctor could see her on November 3rd. I told her that if it were as simple as a bruise it would be gone by then, and if it were worse it would be too late! I had to call a couple times and eventually after several different conversations I got the order for a CT scan. So after I got that phone call yesterday I picked SJ up from school and we went to the hospital. 

 This morning after dropping SJ off for her second day of school they called me again, this time with the results. Everything looked fine (no shifting or visible problems with the device and nothing wrong with her brain), which is great news, but unfortunately that still leaves me with a lot of questions. Something is causing this pain. She gets random “episodes” several times a day and one time she even tried to put a bandaid over her hair where her implant is . She will also go through spurts where she is content like there is nothing wrong at all, even if I touch her right implant. Her ENT set an appointment for Tuesday and I will get to speak with him directly and just hope we get to the bottom of this. I know my daughter and she is usually a TOUGH COOKIE. The most important thing for me right now is to just be a voice for her. She can’t tell us exactly what is wrong, but until she indicates that it no longer bothers her I will keep pushing for some kind of answer. As always, prayers are appreciated.