Motherhood

I saw something on Face book today that kinda got to me, this is what it said. :

I am a cook, a housekeeper, a parent, a teacher, a referee, a nanny, a nurse, a handyman, a maid, security and a comforter. I don't get Holiday pay, sick pay or even a day off. I work through the day and even sometimes through the night. I am underpaid and over worked. Now tell me your job is harder than mine. I am a mother.

When I first read this I thought to myself boy can I relate to that. That's my life on a daily basis. Bouncing from one job to another, sometimes doing all of the above at the same time. When your the mother of multiple children you learn how to multitask real quick. And I thought to myself, isn't that what motherhood is all about.

Now I know I will sometimes joke that I didn't really know what I was getting into and if I did I don't think I would have taken the job, but that is not true. I feel blessed to be a mother.
A mother to my four babies, I jokingly tell my husband that yes they are my babies, when he can figure out how to produce life inside his body he can claim them . And all these thing's I read were things I would and will do for the rest of my life. That is what a good mother does. It's what my mother did, what I saw my grandmothers do. I don't know any different. It's how I was raised. It's what I hope to pass on to my daughters, actually all of my children. I want my children to look back at their younger years and think to themselves, man my mom did the best she could for us, she was always there for us. I want them to know that no matter what they do in life I will always love them . there is nothing they could ever do to make me not love them. I may not like it, may not agree with it, but I WILL always, always love them. Every night before bed one of the last things my babies hear from their mom is this, "How much does mommy love you?" And they will say "higher than the sky and deeper than the ocean". I nod my head and repeat it back to them. Because I am a mother. Their mother. And there is nothing I would not do for my babies.

Emilia Jade Lee, 02/08/02 6pds 14 oz

On this day 8 years ago at 5:02 p.m. my life was changed forever. It was the day I became a mommy for the first time. I remember everything about that day. Being late to the hospital because I stopped and got breakfast at burger King because I knew once I got there I wasn't allowed to eat. My mom and dad were there waiting for me in the hallway. And yes I still remember the pain, I don't know who the wise ass was that told me " you forget all about it after it's over", I have yet to forget that pain. I remember my mom and dad being in the room looking at me like I was some kind of side show freak, watching everything I was doing. the break down (and I do mean breakdown) I had in the bathroom right before I had her, you see I just wasn't sure how they were going to get this baby out but I was not pushing her out and they were not going to get cut me so they had better figure out a way to get her out and I mean now!!! Or the few choice words I yelled at my nurse who by the way had known me since I was like 5, they really weren't very nice and I did apologize after it was all over. I'll never forget the look in my mom's eyes during my breakdown, like she would have done anything for me to make the pain go away if she only could have. At the time I didn't understand the love a mother has for a child, but I soon would. Little did I know it would only be a few minutes after the breakdown. When I was having Emmy they kept coming in and having me move all over the place. Switching the way I was laying, lay this way, no try this, no how about this, it was kinda getting on my nerves. But what I didn't know, what they weren't telling me was every time I had a contraction her heart rate was going to almost a flat line. I didn't learn this until after it was all over with, Didn't want to upset you they said. Really I thought?? So any way I was having a hard time for a minute getting her out then her head finally came and all of a sudden I heard DON'T PUSH, DON'T MOVE, DON'T DO ANYTHING, and I was like what's going on what do you mean don't push, I can't help it I have to, you people have been telling me for 20 minutes to push as hard as I can and now you tell me to stop. I can't stop, It's out of my control. But the sound of their voices made me think I had better listen. I was told at that time why I was having a hard time and she was having a hard time. The cord was wrapped around her neck it was in the way and literally causing her not to get any oxygen, and the more I pushed the tighter it was getting.

Here I was trying to give my child life and at the same time causing her to slip away. I was so scared, I remember shaking, the nurse was trying to get the doctor in there but he didn't think I would complete for a long time so he went to get something to eat. there was no time to wait so the next thing I heard was we have to cut the cord the way it is, and they did. They told me to push as hard as I could and when I did they pulled her the rest of the way out. i remember seeing this little gray limp body with a cord still around her neck being taken across the room, I didn't even get to see her. I sat there for a few minutes as all these people were surrounding my baby and working on her and I realized she wasn't crying, it's at this time I also realized my mom had stayed in the room while I had her. She had asked if she could and I had told her no because I thought she would get in the way. once again, I will always remember my mom standing there quiet as can be tears running down her face and when I looked at her all she said was I told you I wouldn't get in the way, and then she told me that was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. After a little while I finally heard the most beautiful sound I had ever heard, MY BABY. She was OK, she was breathing, crying and was going to be just fine. They brought her over to me, and ya know what, everyone in the room got to hold her before I did. I had to remind them that I would like to see her too. but it's all right they were just as excited to see this new wonder as I was.

Home Invassion or Not...

Picture this: It's 5:00 a.m. you wake up because you heard sounds in the house. Your heart is racing, thoughts are rushing through your mind. And you think to yourself why is this dog still sleeping by the side of my bed and not ripping the person to shreds who's in my house. Well it's a good thing. You finally get brave and get up to check and see what is going on and find your 18 mo old in the bathroom having a grand ol' time covered in toothpaste. At this time you don't know if you want to yell at her or cry because you realize it's not a home invasion. And it's at this moment that she looks up at you toothbrush in hand and says in the sweetest voice "brush teeth" . I looked at this child and asked her what am I going to do with you, and I swear to you this is what she said "luv me" . I think God himself was looking down on this child and thinking I better intervene or she's had.
So yes I think it's going to be a long day, but look at the bright side, she's already had her bath...
I guess these are the thing's I'm going to look back on and laugh at, but not today.

It's a girl

No dear readers I am not having another baby, but we did add another member to our house. Her name is Maggie and she is a lab/boxer mix. We have friends that were keeping her due to the death of her owner. They were no longer able to keep her due to the cost to feed her as they already had two boxers of their own. We decided we could not stand the thought of her going to a pound so now she has a new home.

Maggie arrived at our house last night, i had told our friend that after Emmy's school program maybe we could get her, well that ran a little longer than I thought it would so I was going to wait until this morning but my poor son was heartbroken. How can a mother say no to a sad crying face as he said, "you mean Black Maggie can't stay??" Oh yeah I guess I had better explain that, our friends already had a dog named Maggie so one was black Maggie and the other brown Maggie. So Matthew is running around the house yelling Black Maggie come on--TOO CUTE.

Before I end this i must tell you this story, Matthew was getting ready for school today and looks at the dog and says, Black Maggie do you want to go outside with me, i can show you my school bus. So my husband Joe gets them both ready and when the bus comes has to walk the dog up to the door so all the kids can see Matthews new pet. It was so cute.

The Maring's

This is my father's side of the family, also known as the Maring's. In this picture are my grandparents, Slim and Imogene Maring with their many children. Their are actually eight children not in this photo, they were from my grandfathers 3rd marriage.
You see my grandmother was actually my grandfathers 4Th wife. His 1st he married for love as grandma told me, she died not long after the marriage. He married the 2nd woman and they had two children but unfortunately the children got influenza, my grandfather walked to town to get the Dr. but upon returning home found that one of the children had died. His wife ended up having a break down and was considered insane. Then came # 3, she bore him 8 children. Grandpa went to work one day and when he got home she had left. After a nosey neighbor called state services they came and got the children telling him that a man couldn't work all day and raise children in the proper way. Grandpa hated that woman until the day he died.
So that's where my grandma came in, wife # 4. Grandpa & Grandma had 16 children together( one uncle was a twin but the twin died at birth). One year after they were married my grandma had just had her first child and back came the state with the original eight children. Can you imagine?? Being a newly wed in a sense , just having your first child and here are eight more, What a time that must have been . But instead of complaining she did what had to be done. This woman raised her own children and his as if it were nothing, always making sure each child had what was needed. Now don't get me wrong, my fathers family was poor, but they made due with what they had and all pulled together to get what was needed. Makes me think that in a way they were a lot richer than most families I know now.
They ran a pool hall in Sidell for years for their income, I think grandma had a hand in raising half the children in that town . My grandpa and the boys also took care of the local cemetery, doing all the mowing and yes, digging the graves. He also worked many jobs for the town. At one time he was the town policeman. As I said before they did whatever needed to be done.
There is so much more I could tell you about these two people, but it would go on and on, and I am limited in my time tonight. I hope you enjoyed reading this little snip of information about them, and one of these nights when I do have more time I will tell you more.
Until then, goodnight...

Where to start...

Before I start this I must first thank my grandmother for the positive things she has posted on her blog about me. It means a lot.



As I sit here and write I am trying to figure out where to start. So much has happened since my last post. As you remember the last thing I wrote was sick kids suck, well let me tell ya that was an understatement. # 3 (Sarah) was just getting the mystery bug that had already hit # 1 & 2 and not wanting to be out done by her two older siblings she got it the worst. I ended up calling my husband Joe at work one night to let him know that she had a fever of 104.9 and was still not keeping anything down. So after talking to him and the Dr (thank goodness you can call them at all hours) it was decided that she needed to be seen in the E.R. My husband came home from work and my father in law came over to sit with the other two (#4 had to go with us I nurse him). After some test we find out she had pneumonia. At this point I'm thinking great, another hospital stay. How am I going to stay with her and balance everything at home??? But it turns out they no longer keep them unless they are having problems breathing, like the Dr. said the meds will work at home just like they would here so make her comfortable and give her some extra TLC. I am happy to say she is doing much better now.



I will also write that I had my 34th birthday in September. I had a really good post I was going to write about that but never got around to it. But have no fear I will . (there are so many ideas in this head of mine)



My husband's grandmother passed away then a few days later I got the call that my grandfather had also passed. Oh- did I mention that the day after I was in the E.R. with Sarah my mother called to let me know that my grandpa Miller was there and they weren't sure what was wrong with him. Talk about being worried.



My husband and I have celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary on the 8th of Oct. My mother & father in law kept the kids for a few hours so we could have some much needed time together. We went and visited friends. I must say it was nice to not have to chase kids around.



#2 will be starting pre-school soon we had to go to the Dr. and get his physical. That is a whole post in itself let me tell ya.



So you see friends, it might take me a while to post my thought and happenings but believe me they are there, just waiting for the few minutes of spare time when I can share them with you. I hope you enjoy them and maybe laugh a few times.



Until next time God bless and good night

Having a sick kid sucks!!!

Well, I was hoping it had run it's course but I guess not. #3 (yes my husband and I have jokingly numbered our children) now has the bug. Nothing like a sick child to really liven up the day. High fever, vomiting, stuff coming out of every part of her little body. Yeah this is the life.



This all started with #2 (Matthew). Hit him out of the blue. Fine one minute SICK the next. Lasted for a couple of day's and we thought we were in the clear. No one else in the house showing any symptoms. Then #1 (Emmy) started. My throat hurts, my head hurts, I don't think I can go to school today. I knew it was only a matter of time.



Now at this point all I'm trying to do is keep all sick kids away from #4 ( the baby) but for some reason this is when they are most attracted to him. "I'm just trying to kiss him" I hear. Stay away from him I say.


Now don't get me wrong, by this stage in the game I am a semi-pro at this. Yes, I know not to panic when the fever gets high, just put them in the tub, and to cover everything they lay on or around because you would be amazed at the distance a child can get while vomiting without even trying.

But the one thing I am still amazed at is the lack of sleep. You know, it's just not as much fun staying up all night with a sick child as it was when you were younger and hanging out with your friends. You could go all night. wishing it would never end. But now, your a parent and all you can think is please let this child go to sleep so maybe I can rest. Which you know you won't because while their asleep you go into watch mode. Constantly checking on them, listening for every sound they make, watching the clock so you have the next dose of medicine ready, glass of water in hand. Silently praying the fever will break, the vomiting will stop and by tomorrow they will be all better, and maybe you can finally take that much needed shower.

But I better wrap this up. It's that time. Baby needs fed, temp needs to be taken. And hopefully, all will be better tomorrow.