...and then the DOG'S TOOTH FELL OUT!

Sometimes the shiz really hits the fan.  Having a 15 month old and a 5 week old is pure, marvelous, MADNESS.  Like serious nut-house type fun.  I haven't slept in over a month.  I run around with my head cut off doing the strangest things.  I find bizarre, non-foodstuff things in my freezer that I know I must have placed there since Madi can't reach.  The other day, I heard Hannah crying on my bed and went to check on her after helping Madi with an emergency in the next room.  She was shivering with her diaper wide open, laying in a pile of poop--I had left her right in the middle of a dirty diaper change and didn't even remember her until she started screaming 10 minutes later!  It's getting really hard to form a coherent sentence (especially when I write or text, so sorry if this, and all future posts don't make a lick of sense).  Then when the stars align and both girlies are asleep for a nap during the day, I'll lay down but my mind gets RACING making rest impossible.  I'm just a few more sleepless nights away from a trip to the asylum...and I have to admit that being committed sounds like paradise--better than a spa getaway.  :)  The smallest of tasks takes hours and days to finally complete because of constant interruptions/distractions in addition to an inability to concentrate/focus and see something entirely through.  I am staying cheerful (well, somewhat), grateful (most of the time) and mentally strong (a bit of a stretch), but my body is starting to break down.  My muscles are screaming, my headaches are out of this world, and now I think I've tweaked a nerve/muscle/ dislocated my shoulder and feel crippled on the left side of my upper body.  I know if I could just sleep my muscles could relax and I would be spared physical therapy but that probably aint happenin' anytime soon.  So thank heavens for hot pads, muscle rub, and Moms and husbands that will massage you when they can.

Okay, now I'm really boobing.  Sorry for the whining.  I know millions of mamas have done harder things than what I'm doing.  My mom had 9 kids and didn't sleep for over two decades of her life.  My sister-in-law, Emily, has 6 fabulous kids and works like a superhero from sun-up to sun-down, day in and day out (I need a nap just watching her)! My big sister, Kellie, is a phenomenal Mama Bear to her lucky, beautiful cubbies.  She just posted the cutest "Mama Story" I've ever read on her blog and every time I read it, I end up with tears streaming down my face: (Click Here-->) "Will. Hike."  I have excellent examples all around me who do HARD THINGS every minute of every day and smile all the while.  I know I can be stronger, that what I'm doing is WORTH IT, and that my girlies will grow up too quickly and this will all be a distant memory someday.  

Despite the non-stop fun, we really are all doing great.  Madi is such a sweet, spirited big sister.  She has been very gentle with little sis.  She forces me to push through, makes me laugh minutely, and gets us all out for some powerful Vitamin D in the sunshine several times a day.  Hannah is a doll baby...and it's a good thing she's so dang cute cuz her grunting and wiggling and writhing all night could really get her in trouble if she weren't.  Matt has been SO incredibly helpful, supportive, loving, kind and everything WONDERFUL there is to be.  Grandma and Grandpa Black come up at least once a week to love the girlies for me while I get a real, deep nap (it's really better than Christmas when they show up).  They take Madi to the park, Grandpa holds Hannah and rocks and soothes her for hours, they catch me up on laundry, clean like only Ma can, cook a delicious dinner for us, then drive off spreading sparkles and sunshine wherever they go.  My sweet dad even turns me loose in his beloved and BEAUTIFUL new car so that I can go get a drink and be ALL BY MYSELF for one perfect hour during the week...there's just nothing better!  Just one day of their cheerful, wonderful presence sets us up for a successful week, come what may.  Blessings keep showering down on our little family (mostly in the form of supportive family and friends).  There are so many precious moments sprinkled in with the plentiful stressy ones.  Life is good!  And even the horrifying moments can make you giggle.

Like this one:  (See picture below)

I know this should be sad or at least embarrassing, but I just have to LAUGH HYSTERICALLY every time I see Lily's awful, funny gap and snaggles.  We didn't think she could get any uglier, or that life could get any crazier...and then LILY'S TOOTH LITERALLY FALLS OUT (front and center)! He he he he HA HAAAA!

A few days or maybe it was weeks (I've completely lost all track of time) after we came home from the hospital with baby Hannah, Lily jumped up on our bed and slithered her way up my tummy to lick my face (she'd had it with being completely neglected and needed a little human contact).  I immediately burst out laughing til my C-Section staples started throbbing.  Matt joined in when I peeled back Lily's lip and showed him what was so funny.  Lily had lost a tooth--who knows when--and things were so chaotic and nutso around our house we hadn't even noticed!  The hole in our Chihuahua's head perfectly summed up our sad and funny state.

Crazy and Toothless--Just Keep Smilin' & Fake it til Ya Make It!  This photo captures one of the very few times I have even had two seconds to touch the poor pooch over the last month.  She has been bumped way down the totem pole of priorities and has to lose a front tooth and create a huge hole in her head to even get noticed (a few days later). 

Matt and I LOVE the Animal Planet's "Turtleman"  He is 100% genuine Kentucky goodness--white trash through and through (but the GOOD kind).  When he captures a snapping turtle with his bare hands, he lets out a spirited war cry and yells, "LIVE ACTION!"  He, like Lily, sports a classy wide gap in his front fender.  So now when we see Lily coming, it brightens our day to let out a loud trill and yell, "LIVE ACTION!"  We love our white trash chihuahua and our nuthouse home full of LIVE ACTION!