I'm a bad mom...

Yep, I'll admit it, I'm a bad mom...

My kids don't have fruit for breakfast every day unless it's in the Nutrigrain bar I gave them because I was too busy doing my makeup to make them a fully nutritious meal.  I'm not sure my kids even really had breakfast this morning because they fully rejected my home made waffles I made them and then basically gave up on breakfast.

For supper, they had nacho chips, cake and sugary fruity juice.  Not because there wasn't plenty of wonderful sandwich choices and yummy watermelon.  Nope, because they were eating something, I was happy and that's that.  I did convince them to have SOME watermelon after a while which they LOVED but no go on the sandwiches.

My kids watched a lot of TV today.  They watched a lot of TV yesterday too and probably will again tomorrow.

I haven't had hummus in my house since the boys were 8 months old.

I yell, daily.

I haven't cleaned my toilet yet this week.

I have two loads of clean laundry on my bed that I shuffle from one end to the next whenever I want to go to bed.

I don't make my or their beds... like ever.  Maybe... maybe once a week.

I was too lazy to go get groceries this morning so my kids will have the Honey Nut Cheerios once again, yes the sugary kind and not the Healthy-O's their nurse recommended.

My kids speak French, English and Chiac.  Yep, we are Moncton-ising their language already.  We are most definitely messing them up for their future careers.  Zachary said his first fully chiac sentence this week: "Samuel! Je ne peux pas reacher!" while he was trying to reach something on Gab's rental van.

I have an online business that requires me to be on my phone.  A lot.  Even my husband judges me for that one and I admit that I am on it a little more than I should.  I'm trying really hard at trying to grow this business and yes, it requires me to be on my phone a lot more than I should.  That is the ONE thing I know I need to change.  Online office hours is what I need!

I know I'm going to love every moment of my week off with my boys but I can't wait to have a full day to myself to do nothing but watch OITNB or read an entire book all alone on my sun chair.  Thank you daycare!

I could go on but then I might get some calls from CPS because there HAS to be some perfect moms out there who still judge.

I have to say that I know I've been judged and I'll admit that I judge others on a daily basis.  I shouldn't but I do... yet another bad mom moment.  I really do think it's just human nature to judge and I know very few people who don't actively do it so shut your mouth and stop judging me lol!

People often ask me how I do it, how I can manage to have a career, do Younique, and raise three toddlers... it's simple, I don't have a pristine house.  It's quite often in shambles.

For the most part, my kids eat a well rounded breakfast, don't worry.  They love their Spinach Blueberry Banana Smoothies, they love their Banana Oat Pancakes, they love their Yogourt, Strawberry Granola Delight, it's just that sometimes, I say F it, I don't have time or I don't want to make an effort so here's a Nutrigrain.

There are so many times when we as moms just think we are screwing our kids up but let me tell you, we are doing the best we f-ing know how.  My kids are loved beyond words, they have a roof over their heads, they get to sleep in a bed every night knowing they are safe, not even knowing what being unsafe feels like, they have food in their tiny tummies (even if most of it is carbs and sugar tonight) and they get to play in a house that is lived in.  I know that when they grow up, they won't remember if I made their beds or not or if I gave them fruit every morning.  They'll remember me laughing my head off as I watch them jump on the couch and being silly.  They'll remember jumping all over me and Gab as we tickle the crap out of them.  They'll remember the stories we read them and the cuddles we gave them WHILE watching TV.

What brought all this on?  Well my book club girls and I went to see Bad Moms on Friday and man was it ever good!  I laughed and cried and laughed and cried some more.  It just made us all realize that even the most "perfect" mom has got some shit of her own to deal with and there is absolutely NO ONE that is perfect.  We all have our "I've just screwed up my kid for life" moments.  I'll tell you this right now, if you're one of my mom friends, you're doing amazing, you're doing the best you know how and your children are loved.  I know because I see you looking at them.  I know because the love you have for your children comes out of your eyes even when you're telling me a story about how annoying they are.  Love is all there is when it comes to our children.  Love, structure, and knowing you're their safe place... keep it up my friends, we are all in this together!

Now who else has confessions to make so I truly don't feel alone in this??? lol

Here are some pics to look at while you think...

Oh, but a video first!  Here's Zachary's first solo swim:

https://youtu.be/8qTm8T9ub1o

Zachary reading a book in the chair he insisted he sit alone in at the doctor's office

Now waiting for xrays... 

We still don't know the results! 

My students waiting for their test... it's easier to count those WITHOUT cell phones! lol

My amazing students... I sure will miss them!

My wonderful summertime colleagues!

Jacob loves sitting with me while I get ready :) 

We had such a good time at our cottage getaway!

This was my alone time while Gab drove the boys back home... so peaceful! 

Fun washer toss!

Finished off the night with some fireworks!

Fire time!

Gab doing his thing!

Sam was wearing Kelly's daughter's hat!

Fun times at the Ho twins birthday!

Sam didn't want to take a picture with me... womp womp!

Have a good week y'all!!

Yes please... Go the F to sleep!!

I'm sure you remember, especially if you are friends with me on Facebook, the beginnings of toddler beds.  I stopped updating because I really thought it was going to get better.  Well it hasn't completely fallen apart but I can't say that it's all rainbows and unicorns either.  We have a pretty good routine established because that's what has always worked for our boys but the moment we put them down, it's demand after demand after demand.  Jacob always wants Gabe, Samuel and Zachary always want me for the most part and there's just no pleasing them.  They want water, they want a hug, they want a back rub, they want another hug, no, not a hug in the bed, a hug high high (where we need to pick them up) and then no, not just a hug, a kiss and a hug, no, not in the bed, high high Maman!  When we think we have one figured out the other one begins his list of demands... We have tried it all and I think we have just come to the conclusion that bedtime in our house will be a process.  When you have three toddlers in the same room with different needs, it's just not going to go smoothly.  Sure, give me one kid per room and I'll figure out that kid, but give me three in ONE room... nope... just not happening!  I have been telling Gabe for a little while now that this is just going to be our life for a little while.  The boys are simply NOT going to say good night and let us walk away right now so I took a poll amongst my toddler parent friends on Facebook and here are some snippets of that thread:

"You are not alone lol... I have to rub his back, sing him a song, read a book and then he'll yell at me to come back because he wants to talk to me about Santa... WTF lol" (translated)

"Tonight he [toddler] was in there singing Wheels on the Bus at the top of his lungs for a good hour and a half"

"It can be almost a 2 hour process or some lucky nights only a few minutes.  We read him 3 to 4 books and usually sleep with him until he falls asleep"

"One is easy... the other twin sings, takes her diaper off, wants water, her blanket, wants to give us some lint, etc..."

All I can say is that I'm glad I'm not alone.  I've done mostly everything by the book with these kids and we've been raving about them since they were newborn and this episode in our lives where they're just not doing what we thought they SHOULD be doing is hard.  I'm having an easier time with it lately since I've accepted our fate.  It takes us anywhere from 15 mins to an hour and the nights where it takes an hour can be really hard on the head.  Jacob needs a LOT of soothing and if we leave when he's not ready for us to leave, he'll get out of his bed, plant himself at the end of the hallway in front of his bedroom door and cry like it's the end of the world.  Sam just likes to have his legs hang out from his bed so we sometimes have to go put him back to bed and then he wants kisses and snuggles high high.  Zachary normally wants to us to kiss a imaginary or non booboo, remove imaginary or non hair from his mouth or he wants his McQueen blanket.  He can quite literally ask us to put that blanket back on him 15 times a night.  I think, often, it's that we're so spent with our day and we know that our alone time is coming up soon so we just want them to go the F to sleep!  We just need to breathe and give them the time they need.  At the same time though, as someone advised me so, we can't forget that they need to learn to self soothe as well... Man... this toddler stage is tough!  All I gotta say is WTFK??????????  lol!

I will say this though... once they're asleep, unless they fall out of their beds, they sleep all through the night until their GroClock sun comes up.  It's an early 5:45AM wakeup call but that's when we gotta wake up to get three toddlers ready to get out of the door for 7:15AM!

As annoying as putting them down for their sleep at night can be, we have SUCH awesome little dudes!  Sure they still push and bite and pull hair and ignore us when we warn them of danger such as falling off the couch if you try to jump over 5 pillows... They are also the most entertaining, lovable, squeezable little boys.  They make us roar with laughter on a daily basis and our hearts grow with theirs everyday.  We had SUCH a great weekend!  I can't wait to see what the rest of the summer brings us!

Here are some pictures to finish off :

I have no idea why he was crying but he was pretty cute in his pink headband! 

It was a good day on Thursday to be a summer camp teacher!

On our way to Shediac to spend some time with my family!

It was Christmas in July so it was craft time!

Boys dancing on the stage to the Christmas music!

Finished product!

This is what fashion looks like to Zachary. Some fights you just don't fight!

Babineau family reunion!

The boys were the talk of the town!

Two of the three were watching Paw Patrol while Jacob was being Jacob...

About to remove Sam's socks!

Sam thinks it's hilarious!

The boys are helping out Papa remove random nails from the platform.

The boys are loving their new backyard addition!

Had a good time at the Peacock Twins birthday today!

He's pretty serious about his cake

Please mum, could I have some more please?

 Have a great week everyone!

Poor little Zachary...

So... my child fell and hurt himself pretty badly and I wasn't even there.  There are so many questions surrounding the event that I can't answer because I wasn't present.  I got a call on my lunch break on Thursday telling me that Zachary had been crying for over 1.5 hours and they were starting to be worried that he may have broken something.  I call work to advise I couldn't go back, rush over to daycare, try to get as much info as possible before rushing the the ER to see if my little baby boy had broken something.  We were seen pretty quickly even though the waiting room was pretty full.  Zachary was not crying at that point because he was just so exhausted.  The moment they put us in a room he fell asleep on me and was out for about an hour which was great because the doctor came in about 30 minutes later.  We were sent to get some X-Rays fearing a broken collarbone.  Thankfully the x-rays showed nothing fractured but he obviously hurt himself pretty badly because I can't even pick him up by his arm pits he cries out in pain.  The doctor was asking me so many questions and I couldn't answer all of them making me feel like the worst mother for not getting more details from his daycare worker.  She said he fell while playing on the rocks.  I don't even know if the rocks were pebbles or boulders! Quite a difference!  The next morning, his eyes are all swollen and it leads me to believe that he hurt himself worse than we thought although their is naught a scratch on the kid!  Then we notice his ankle is all bruised and battered... WTH happened to my little fella??  He stayed home with my in-laws on Friday because we didn't want him to aggravate anything... Our conclusion is that he fell off a medium sized rock and tried to brace himself and pulled (tore) a muscle.  He's been a trooper though!  Plays as much as he can while making sure to favor his better side... poor little dude!  We might have to consult a physio if we see him continuing to favor his right side as we wouldn't want him to always be scared to use his left arm.  Today's update :  his eyes are no longer swollen, he seems to be less sore than he's been so I think he's recovering as well as the doctor told us he would.  We have decided to send him to daycare tomorrow since he seems to know his limits of play.  I just hope no one accidentally pushes him and he hurts himself again.  I guess that's just a chance we take everyday.  I in no way blame his daycare providers.  As we know, toddlers are crazy little humans and it only takes 2 seconds for something to happen so it's just a unfortunate event.  I still cringe and my heart breaks a little every time he winces in pain... 

We had such a great weekend!  Yesterday morning we went to Aberdeen Center to listen to DJ Bones as he went through a plethora of French music for my summer students.  The boys loved it as the center has a great big play yard.  They danced a little, were amazed by the fountains and played forever in the daycare play yard.  After that we took a little tour of the Mosaic Festival that was happening downtown.  We sucked on slushies, ate some Hungarian Nutella treat, they jumped on the bouncy castle (even Zachary attempted it once... but once only... limits!), walked around all the booths and ran into a few friends.  It was great.  They were zonked out when we got home and we all went down like logs!  They had a great nap!  We then got up, drove to Shediac to visit with my family, played in my mom's kiddie pool, had supper, played tag (their new favorite game) and brought home so pretty exhausted little boys who went to sleep without too much fuss!

Today we woke up lazily, took some time to get going with the day and waited for Pépére to get here so that he and Gab could go build me a platform for the gazebo.  I brought the boys out back to watch and play and they did sooooo good!  They stayed away when asked, played really well together; I think I only intervened twice in 2.5 hours!  Once when Zachary and Samuel were hitting each other with play shovels and once when Jacob pressed down on their Tonka truck causing sand to fly up all over Sam's face including IN his mouth.  He had so much in there... I tried to show him how to gurgle and spit but he just swallowed and spit the remnants.... I'm pretty sure he swallowed most of the sand I couldn't get out... It'll make for some pretty sandpaper like poop tomorrow I'm sure!  

What a fantastic weekend we had!  I love my family and I can't wait to see what else this life has for us! Have a great week my friends! xxx

My summer camp kids!  Look at how excited they are to learn French!

Thank you Kelly for being my gym buddy!

My poor little dude passed out on Maman... I have to say that I LOVE these cuddles!

Eating pizza in their underwear like true men... all they need is a beer!

Aberdeen Center

My students listening to DJ Bones rock the francophone music

The boys insisted Gab sit in the little play house

SO MUCH NOISE!

Break Time!

Almost all complete!  All that is needed now is a nice stain job, put the nice outdoor carpet we bought and actually set it all up!  Will show updates later this summer!