You Picked the WRONG Time to Mess With ME!

I realize I am so far behind in blogging. I am in a hole and I can't seem to dig myself out of it. I still have more pictures and stories to share from North Carolina. Then I had three weeks back at home, where I was able to do some fun things with Leigha while the boys were at school. Finally, that little hop, skip, and jump to Japan. I guess that just means I have tons of material to keep me busy for awhile.

Yesterday was Matthew's MRI, Take Two! This time they told me to sleep deprive him and not to feed him. They actually wanted a cranky kid when we walked in the door. Geez, bring in a cranky kid and knock them out. Of course that's what THEY want. I don't think it dawned on me what the ramifications of sleep deprivation meant for ME until Wednesday.

Wednesday was the first day that I actually felt like I was on track with the time change. Just when you think things are finally back to normal, BAM! I knew better than to try and put just Robert and Noah to bed. That would never work. Around 8:30 p.m. I put the boys to bed. I waited about an hour, which I assumed was enough time for the boys to actually fall asleep, and then I went in and grabbed Matthew. He was pretty out of it for a little bit, but once I handed over his Leapster, he was all smiles. It was almost a flashback of our plane trips. Every few minutes he wanted to switch games, which meant I had to do it.

Matthew did a great job of staying awake. I made chocolate chip cookies and then I had to stay on the floor with him so that he would stay awake. I finally let him doze off around 2 a.m. and started cleaning the kitchen. He stirred here and there, since he was on the floor, and then I woke him back up around 4:45 a.m. when I got out of the shower. Leigha woke up early, too, since she slept on the couch.

Considering I hadn't really slept, I wasn't too pleased when the medicine wasn't working, AGAIN! The nurse told me to take him on a car drive and see if he fell asleep. I told her that didn't work last time. He falls asleep and then when I brought him back in from the van, put him on the table, and strapped him down, he woke up again. Granted, that could have been from all of the stupid jack hammers that they were using all around the building.

Irritated and tired, I decided it couldn't hurt. Matthew fell right asleep in the van. I successfully was able to get him out of the van and back into the building without waking him up. At least the construction was finished. They did the MRI and I have the films of his brain. Unlike Michele, I have no idea how to even figure out if it looks good or not. I did get a few good laughs from them. I will have to figure out how to scan them sometime.

Unfortunately, my kids don't let me rest. If I try to lie down on the couch, they jump all over me and yell, "WAKE UP, MOMMY!" Needless to say, I didn't get any rest. To keep awake I decided I needed to stay on my feet all day. By the time 8 p.m. rolled around, ALL of the kids were ready for bed. That was great news, because it was time for the Olympics! The Olympics are killing me. I love watching them and they don't end until 1 a.m. Out of no where, my tiredness disappeared. I was good to go! I balanced a check book I hadn't looked at in months (and was right on down to the penny!).

The Olympics were over around 1:15 a.m. I headed upstairs to my comfy bed and went right to sleep. Around 7 a.m. Noah was at my door. I peeked in his room and saw that Robert and Matthew were still asleep, so I told him to go back to bed for another hour. I promptly fell back asleep. I am not sure what woke me up, but I noticed that it was 8:58 a.m. Whoops! I couldn't believe that the boys were still sleeping. Oh wait, they weren't!

Noah greeted me, at the top of the stairs, with his hand holding his clothing and diaper on. I figured that he needed a new diaper so I told him we would go downstairs and change it. The smile left from my face at that very moment.

As I turned the corner, a look of absolute HORROR came across my face. I can't remember what I noticed first. Could it be my other two boys sitting amidst three shelves of board games that had been dumped out? Was it all of the nerds that were scattered around the floor and even mixed in with the cat food? Was it the 5 lollipops, that no longer had wrappers on them, sitting on miscellaneous pieces of furniture? Oh wait, maybe it was my wonderful neighbor who was standing in my doorway. Yeah, that was it.

I didn't take pictures for the first half of the clean-up job. So these aren't accurate pictures of the mess that was made, but you will get the idea.





It turns out that my boys probably got a bit bored with the board games, scissors, candy, etc. and decided to go visit their friend, Alohi. At first Tara's husband thought I must be ringing the doorbell because my boys couldn't reach it. Tara told him she didn't think I was out there. She gathered them up and started walking them back to my house. Tara asked them where their mommy was and Robert just smiled and said, "Mommy is sleeping."

So guess where Mommy and the kids are going this morning? LOWES!! We had tried to buy locks for my doors when we got back from NC, but they wouldn't work with the frame around my door. I guess I should have tried to get back a little bit sooner. I can't even imagine what would have happened if Tara hadn't been home. I think I would have freaked out more if I wasn't standing their staring at them. They were pretty obedient for the next hour- which is why they are still breathing.

Then the phone rings. The phone has been ringing non-stop since the day after we returned to the states. I had placed a nanny ad in the newspaper. I have never hated the phone as much as I have hated it this week. I will have to get into that later.

When I looked at the caller ID, it said "PRISON." Gee, did they know that my kids were being naughty? Were they calling me to tell me someone was taking me away on vacation, I mean to prison, because I was neglectful to my children? No, it was a collect call from the Cook County Prison. I recognized the area code right away, because I used to live in the Chicago area. The recorded message tells you that you are receiving a collect call from a prisoner and would be charged $4.80 for the first minute if I accept. Then it pauses and let's the prisoner say who it is. This was the response I got, "This is an emergency call, press 0." However, that just happens to be the number you press to accept the charges. Sorry, not on your life. I hung up, baffled. Then the phone rang again. Was it a prospective nanny? No, it was the prison again. I hung up three times thinking that someone was picking the wrong time to mess with me. I was already out for blood. I immediately went in to search for the number to the prison. It seems it's a holding facility until they are sentenced and sent to the correct prison facility. Aren't they lucky? They get UNLIMITED use of the phone, so they can play with it ALL DAY LONG!!! Needless to say, my phone number is now blocked from that facility.

So, to all of my Chicagoland friends, don't bother trying to call me to bail you out of jail. You are just SOL! Enjoy your stay!

Now that the trauma portion is over, sit back and enjoy the show. (Just watch, don't click on anything on the page.)