You know you've been to too many doctor's appointments when you walk up to the sign-in sheet for a registration desk that serves multiple doctors and services (e.g. outpatient therapies, lab, x-ray, and multiple doctor clinics) and you draw a blank. You can't remember which child you're signing in, which doctor, or which test you are there for.
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I walked into the children's outpatient center near our home the other day with only two of my children. I was pushing Elli in her wheelchair, carrying Luke in his infant carrier carseat, and somehow managing to hang onto a binder for my notes from the appointment and with a backpack jam-packed with necessities strapped to my back.
It was tricky, but I was managing. I had decided that carrying the carseat was ultimately easier than pulling a stroller behind me while pushing a wheelchair in front. Strollers have notoriously uncooperative wheels (especially when contrasted with the blissfully-smooth steering of multiple-thousand-dollar wheelchair).
An older woman with one child walked out as we were walking in. She made a comment I normally hear when out with 3 or more children: "My. You have your hands full."
This time I had a new response. "I left two more at home today!"
She was speechless.
And I was regretting their absence. Sam and Anna are quite helpful, as they like to push Sam's stroller. That frees up my arms considerably.
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Luke actually slept 6 hours in a row two nights in a row. Both nights I've woken up before he did, immediately panicked, and raced in to check on him. Why is it that moms always think something is wrong when their baby finally starts sleeping for longer?
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Last week we ran out of this absolutely spectacular coffee we were given as part of a baby gift when Luke was born. Nothing else tastes like coffee after our palettes have been so spoiled. We tried to make do with the above-average grocery store coffee we'd been drinking before, but it actually tasted more like tea to us now.
So we've been drinking half-caff and even decaff in a search for suitable coffee in our cabinets. All to no avail. Last night some friends picked up the delectable beans for us, and Scott left the hosue at 10:30pm to race over and get it from them.
But I have this depressing feeling that Luke's longer sleeping patterns at night might be a result of drinking less caffeine in the morning.
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I get calls from Children's hospital frequently. Since having Luke and since Elli's increased issues of late, I've come up with a new game for myself. It's called "Guess the Department."
It goes like this. I pick up the phone.
They say, "I'm so-and-so from Children's."
And I come up with some great response like, "Where in Children's?" or "Which child are you calling about?" or "You're going to have to help me out a bit.
OK, so those aren't great responses. I'm tired. But I am trying for something that isn't rude, but is something that will be memorable and express my need for just a little bit more identifying information.
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We've managed to be on time to church almost every week since Luke was born.
We have also managed to forget Scott's backpack with his laptop every week. We run slides with the words to our worship songs on his laptop, so it's rather essential.
Apparently the baby and a baby backpack has replaced Scott's backpack in our Sunday morning mental checklist!
