A sort of update.

So this week was long. Really good but long. Chris was in London all week, so my adult contact was extremely limited. When he's there, and we're here, our schedules are so different. He calls right before he's going to bed, and that's usually around 3 or 4 our time (sometimes later) which is a very busy/cranky kid time. So while he's gone most days we barely get to talk for 5 minutes, and even then I usually have kids jumping on my head or someone wrapped around my legs crying. Can you guess which child would be jumping on my head, and which one would be around my legs crying? 

But on a positive note when he's gone I get so much done!! It's amazing! I probably shouldn't say Chris being gone is the entire reason I got anything done this week. This week was the first week since Christmas that I have had the energy and haven't been sick to actually get moving and get something other than just being a mom done. At the beginning of the week I was listening to Dave Ramsey talk about tackling one thing at a time because if you try and tackle everything at once you never accomplish anything. So I took that concept and applied it to an extremely messy house and mountains and mountains of laundry. When I tried to tackle everything in one day I never got anywhere and it was completely overwhelming. So I picked one chore a day to complete. First it was the kitchen. Then the rest of the down stairs, just picking up and vacuuming. Then, once that was done I polished the kitchen cabinets, cleaned the downstairs bathroom, cleaned my bedroom, cleaned my bathroom, cleaned the kids bedroom, dusted everything, cleaned the kid's bathroom, vacuumed the stairs and upstairs (except for Mary's old room) then I mopped and steam mopped the tile downstairs, then I spent 4 days on laundry. But I'm finally caught up, and I've been able to keep it spotless for over a week now. I'm seriously picking up and working all day, but it feels so nice to be getting stuff done instead of lying on the couch because you feel horrible or you barely have the energy to lift your arms. The second trimester is so much better than the first! Even the kids are getting into the habit of cleaning up one mess before they move onto another. And the other wonderful thing about having the house clean is that I'm such a better mom! It's kind of nice doing one chore and one load of laundry a day because sometimes when you start getting overwhelmed by everything you have to do, you just finish what you committed to do, and then you can turn whatever it is you're wanting to do into your chore tomorrow. Chris has been laughing at me because I've been on his case about every little thing he leaves out, but I remind him that he's less stressed when the house is clean and he does whatever it is with a smile on his face. 

He got home on friday and it is wonderful having him home. The kids miss him so much when he's gone, and I miss having a grown up to talk to. Plus I like being around him, and I sleep better when he's here so that plays a part in it too. 

Almost the entire last week was amazing outside!! We played outside almost all day, everyday! Then on friday it was cold and rainy/snowy. Then Saturday we woke up to two inches of snow on the ground. We were all so sad. It's hard being cooped up again after you've enjoyed sunlight and the park for a week. I'm really hoping this next week will be much better. 

Life here on the home front is basically the same. Boston LOVES the avengers right now, especially the Hulk. He carries around his hulk toy and spiderman pretty much all day, and he's taught maddie how to say "Hulk, SMASH!!" You guys are going to be blown away at how big Boston is getting! He's such a good helper! And he's super excited to have a new baby around. He is going to be an awesome big brother and a huge helper to me! Every week he asks to go to Babycenter.com and see the baby. They have videos of what the baby looks like and is doing at each week of development. He's convinced that it's a girl. But we won't know for a couple weeks and both Chris and I have absolutely no idea one way or the other. The other funny thing is if you hug him too tight he'll say "You have to be careful because I have a dragon in my tummy! So you can't hug me the tightest hug, or it will hurt the dragon!" He says the dragon's name is toothless, and that only boys can have dragons in their tummies. lol. It's so cute. He LOVES babies right now. Maddie loves carrying her dolls around and loves little babies, but we'll see how she responds to a new baby. The difference between the two of them is crazy. Boston is such a boy and Maddie is such a girl. Maddie flocks to anything pink/sparkly/glittery/flowery/or princessy, and Boston...well I saw him playing with Maddie's Rapunzel doll and Tinkerbell doll, and they were beating eachother up. I think Rapunzel won. Today in Church he made me draw the hulk, Ruby (an assassin on the avengers) Captain America and Iron Man. I'm not an artist, but I was actually impressed. He was sort of impressed. He mentioned that Iron man was wrong, but he was satisfied. lol. 

 Maddie's silly face

They LOVE this little table!