not giving up yet!

Josh sent me an email yesterday entitled, "Help! I'm being neglected!" and the blog address was enclosed. I'm going to go ahead and agree with him. The worst part is that I don't WANT to neglect the blog! It's just that three kids is crazy! Wonderful and fun and love-filled and CRAZY! I'm happy to report I've kept everyone alive for 8 whole months now, and I'm still sane. Mostly sane, anyway.

We've had a tough few months, starting around late September when Sebastian caught a cold from the kids. The cold turned into a fever for several days, then a cough, then another fever, then an ear infection, then bronchiolitis, then another double ear infection that wouldn't clear up with the first antibiotic, then more bronchiolitis, 6 weeks of nebulizers, then my parents' house burnt down (I know!), then ANOTHER double ear infection, and then my parents came to visit and picked up the flu on the plane. My mom ended up in the ER for dehydration, and before the week was out, I'd caught the flu too. Gabe's 6th birthday was spent with me shuttling back and forth from the hospital and feeling that I was definitely getting sick. I had 5 days of 103.5 fevers, then Josh got sick, then poor sweet Sebastian got sick, and as of Friday, Gabe and Josie tested positive for influenza A. Woooweeee, it has been quite a fall and beginning of winter. I have been tearful quite a few times over lack of sleep and worry for the baby. The hardest part is having two other children who need you also, and not being able to be there for them and be the mom I want to be to each of them because I'm spending hours comforting one baby.

Not to mention, prior to October, Sebastian could perhaps have qualified for easiest baby ever but oh ho ho, noooooo longer. He doesn't sleep well, eat well, or feel well anymore. But enough complaining... I'm confident 2013 is going to turn things around!

Besides illnesses and my parents' house burning down (also a crazy story for later), life has actually been great! Seriously! We've settled into kindergarten with Gabe (more on that later), and Josie is thrilled with preschool, and everyone is in love with Sebastian. Josh had his annual holiday party in Germany, so Sebastian and I met him in Paris for 8 days (also more on that later). We went right before Christmas which in retrospect was a leeeetle bit stressful, you know, what with our two December birthdays and Hanukkah and new year's and all that, but it was AMAZING. We spent thanksgiving with family in Florida, and even fit in a quick trip to Disney World for 3 days and had a great time. In October, we had an impromptu 9 year law school reunion with some of my favorite girlfriends, which is always a blast.

So really, life has been generally wonderful. I'm doing a little bit of private tutoring, just a few hours a week, but enough to keep my brain functioning and give us a bit of extra spending money. The rest of my days are spent snuggling my kids and spending time with Josh and trying to slow the days down. I'm STILL trying to figure out how to keep these babies from growing up so fast. I've threatened to stop feeding them, but they're whiny when they're hungry. Suggestions welcome.