A day in the live of the sleep-deprived

Well, its my week and I'm already behind. . . Isn't that the story of my life? LOL.

I spent the last week house-sitting for my ILs while they went to visit my MIL's sister, Grant Kathy, in Oregon. I expected it to be fun and vacation-y, a vacation from the reality of living in a house with 2 other adults and 7 kids. And it was. But it also turned out to be a vacation from sleep as all 4 of my children wanted to sleep in the bed with me every night. For 10 nights in a row. Most nights, I only allowed Rory (8 months) and Izzy (2.5 years) to sleep with me as they are both still breastfeeding, but that still meant 4 feet in the bed to kick me and 2 mouths wanting to nurse. All. Night. Long.

Then the cats and dogs (my ILs have 3 of each) would wake up anywhere from 6 am (when they typically eat) to 8 am and I would take them potty and feed them and hope for a few minutes without kids awake to check FB. Then the kids would wake up and the day would really begin.

So yeah, I was running on a huge sleep deficit the entire time I was there and it just got worse and worse. The last 2 days, I tried to take a nap when the kids napped. And wound up getting "negative naps". You know, those naps that almost don't count as sleeping at all except for you slept just long enough to realize that that's what you need and then woke up. Both times, I wound up with a monster head ache.

Yesterday (when I was supposed to start my week on this blog), I spent every extra minute cleaning up because when my ILs got home today, I wanted them to be happy with the house. It was kind of a futile effort since the girls seemed to undo everything I did, but I was happy with my efforts and with the end result (and I think my ILs were, too), so I guess that's all that matters. But that's what kept me from posting. By the time I was ready to post, my BIL had moved his computer back upstairs and I did not want to venture into his bedroom. It was the only room NOT cleaned all week. . .

I started drinking Red Bulls right before I started house-sitting and they were a huge life saver. I hate relying on something to wake me up, but man there is something to be said for actually waking up when you wake up. I decided my limit should be 2 a day (of the 8.4 ounce size). I had 3 issues with drinking 3 in one day. First, I got jittery and felt like barfing. Second, it was WAY too easy to accelerate while driving. And third, it was really hard to fall asleep when my head hit the pillow. And I really needed sleep. So that was a big black mark.

So I got home today, after clicking my heels and thinking there's no place like home for days. . . and got thrust right back into the reality of 7 kids and 3 adults under 1 roof. And all the fun that goes along with that.

As soon as I got home, I saw a geyser in the front yard. Yup, the main water line busted again. I think it busted like 2 minutes before I pulled into the driveway. I went into the house, yelling for my BIL who wasn't there and told my sister the pipe had burst again. Its like the 2nd or 3rd time this year. She handed me Kai, went to turn off the water, then BIL gets home with meds because Kai is sick and he starts to dig out the main while I get my 4 out of the car and unpack our week's worth of "supplies" (clothes, dipes, random crap "we just can't live without"), he finds the leak pretty fast. I get my kids and stuff inside and my sis tells me she's taking Kai to the urgent care (he has a fever of 102.4) and I offer to watch the girls (AKA play disney "cleaning up" songs while cleaning up the house MUAHAHA), BIL goes to Home Depot for parts for the pipes then fixes the pipes, then he fixes the lawn mower that had broken last week sometime. I fix dinner, he fixes sorbet with his juicer then a family friend calls to say Kai is having a seizure, so I hand BIL my keys and he drives to the urgent care to be with my sister, leaving me with 6 little girls -- 2 who want mommy and daddy and 4 who want uncle-daddy -- to feed and get into bed. And yes, I somehow managed to do that by 10:30 (9:30 for everyone but my nursling). And now its almost midnight and all is quiet. And there really, truly is no place like home. And I am off to try to get some much needed sleep.