Are there enough hours in the day?

...as a parent, does it always seem like you are running on empty? I know that is probably a stupid question but seriously, what is the deal? I have been doing this for 8 years but it seems as if I will never catch up! I go back to work in two weeks, look at my house and want to cry. There was so much I wanted to accomplish before I go back to work and none of it is going to get done. I can barely get the dishwasher loaded let alone get the laundry folded and put away. And this is with me NOT WORKING. What is going to happen when I go back?

...and don't get me wrong, I knew what I was getting myself into when I decided to have my fourth child. I knew it would be chaotic, messy, and how many other adjectives I could use to describe my house. But right now, at this moment, I am seriously OVERWHELMED. There is so much to do and I do not even know where to start.

...today I opted to take all four boys with me to the dr's office for Coltan's appointment. A real outing with my four boys, all alone! I had the option to leave two with Chris but I wanted him to get some sleep since his job sucks and he needs all the sleep he can get before I start work again! So we go to the office and Tristan of course wants to interrupt while the dr is talking. I am trying to listen while Ronan is acting cranky because I am having to pinch his nose for five minutes to stop his second nosebleed of the day! Then the nurse says to me "I know this can be overwhelming..." and tries to give me advice on how to handle my kids...UGH! I wanted to cry right there and then...

...so the appointment is over..thank goodness...and we head out the door. We start driving home and in my head I am weighing out the pros and cons of taking them all to Sprouts, my favorite produce store. It is on the way home from the dr's office and not convenient for me to take the kids home and come back. So, it is about a 10 minute drive before I hit it and I say to myself, "OK, you can do this." So I stop at Sprouts. Baby is sleeping, check! Ronan is not cranky, check! Ethan and Tristan can walk beside the cart, check!

...so here we walk into Sprouts and it was a complete 180 from the dr's office! Only one time did I have to ask Tristan to get off Ethan's back and only one time did I have to tell them to stay beside me! In retrospect, calling them back was my mistake as they were chasing after the ball that Ronan threw on the ground. I was able to shop for 15 minutes and buy more than 10 items! Ronan did not try to get out of the cart, baby did not wake up until we were leaving the store (and even then, he did not cry) and the two older boys stayed by me the entire time! Yes, they received a treat, sour neon gummi worms, but hey! Small price to pay for good behavior!

..I talked to two different women in Sprouts and they couldn't get over how cute the boys were! I said "Thank you, it is because they are behaving now!" One woman with her two daughters said her friend has five sons! Yikes! Good luck with that! I am finally getting used to having four. It is more work but not that much different from three. Coltan is an easy baby. I am extremely lucky. Our biggest hurdle is dealing with the terrible 2's. WOW! Can't wait until this phase is over.

...But, one obstacle seems to be out of the way, it is 2 am right now and he is sleeping in his brothers' room for the fifth night in a row! Last night, he did come back to my room later in the night but tonight, he is in there and went there ON HIS OWN!!! :-) Keep in mind that both of his brothers did not sleep in their own room until after he was born!!! So this is early for me and I am so happy! Chris and I almost did not know what to do with ourselves when there was no child in between us in the bed on Tuesday night. (Coltan sleeps in the bassinet beside our bed) Neither one of us is used to being in bed at the same time due to our schedules and if we are in bed together there is a child between us. 10 years we have been together, you'd think we would have been more excited about it, but both of us just thought it was kind of weird. LOL

...Anyway, back to the original question at hand, are there enough hours in the day? No. Every time I go to start a project, it fails because one child is always needing your attention and you know you are going to give that attention to them. What kind of parent are you if you don't? Sometimes, you wonder if it should be mandatory for everyone, no matter what age, to have nap time just so you can get things done. Then again, when they take a nap, it turns into rest time for yourself and then before you know it, they are up again and you have to put away whatever you were working on so it does not get ruined, Sound familiar?

Welcome to my world!