One Of Those Days..

Today was quite simply "one of those days"... I knew from the moment I got the baby out of her crib that I was in for a day full of (unpleasant) surprises.  Savannah woke up cheerful enough, but at some point during her sleep she had a major 'diaper explosion' which caused me to have to give her a bath at the crack of dawn - something neither one of us felt like doing.   After she was cleaned & fed I then had to change all of her crib bedding & start a load of laundry, all the while practically drooling for a cup of coffee.  Afterall, it was only 5:30am.  So you can just imagine my extreme disappointment when I went to pour myself a cup of coffee & realized that I had brewed a fresh, hot pot of WATER.  I had forgotten to add the coffee beans.  UGH!   Even still, I was determined to turn my day around for the better.
I made everyone a big breakfast of omelette's w/ cheese, green peppers & onions + toast, then got Kyle started on his school work for the day.  Just as Kyle was getting into serious "work mode" Bella decided she needed attention.  She sat at the table coloring pictures for about 10 minutes before she asked for a snack.  Our convo went like this:
Me: Bella, would you like an apple?
Bella: Uh Huh
Me:  Okay, here you go
Bella: (in her whiny voice) Noooo!  Ewwwie's!! (frantically points to the skin on the apple)
Me:  Oh, I'm sorry.  You want your apple peeled, right?
Bella:  Uh Huh!
Me:  Okay, here's your apple, no skin!
Bella: NOOOOOO!!!  (drops to the floor)  NOOOOO, NOOOOOO, NOOOOOO!  Bubba!  Apple!!!  CUT!
Me:  (digging deep for patience)  Oh!  Silly Mama!  You want your apple cut into slices!
Bella:  YES!
Me:  (hacking away at the apple as if it were the devil himself)  OK!  Here you go my little munchkin doodle pie - APPLE SLICES
Bella: (takes plate)  No thanks (puts plate on counter & walks away)
Meanwhile, Kyle was pretending to struggle with his school work:  
Mom, it says I have to write 6 sentences about 6 things that I see in the picture on the paper but can I just write 4 because I have 4 good ones & don't you think 6 is too much?
Me:  No, Kyle.  Do as the paper says.  Write 6 sentences.
Kyle: (grumbles, growls, makes all sorts of wild animal noises)  But Mooooooommmm...
Me: No, Kyle.  You have to write 6 sentences. 
Kyle:  FINE!  But I don't want to!  I REALLY don't want to!
Me:  That's okay.  Sometimes we have to do things that we don't want to do.  It happens.
Kyle: But...
Me: (interrupting) No buts.  NO more talking.  NOT ONE WORD.  Just write your sentences.  Get it done so we can move on, please.
Kyle:  Alright, you said no more talking, so I guess I can't talk to tell you that my pencil is broken.  Without my pencil I can't write my sentences.  What should I do now? 
Honestly, I suppose it's a good thing that there isn't a pill that can be taken for patience for if there were I surely would have overdosed on them by now!!
Moving along...
The baby had a lot of trouble falling asleep for her morning nap.  By the time I got Kyle back into "work mode" she was in "full scream mode".  As I was nearing her bedroom I caught a glimpse of Bella in the living room.  She was standing next to the couch, with the most innocent look EVER on her face.  My maternal instinct told me that she was up to no good.  Sure enough, she had gotten a hold of my water bottle & dumped it all over the couch, floor, blankets, everything.  Puddles of water, everywhere.  How much water does one water bottle hold, anyways??  Apparently, a whole lot!  Well, I thought to myself, at least it's only water.  In the 25 seconds it took me to clean up the water Savannah had had ENOUGH.  She was screaming hysterically & was not going to be ignored for one more second so I started to head back towards her room when Kyle started up again:
Kyle:  You know Mom, it's getting really hard to concentrate.  I can't even hear myself talk.
Me: Kyle, you shouldn't be talking, you should be working!
Kyle: But what if I have a question?  How can I ask it, if you can't hear me, because THE BABY IS CRYING SO LOUD!
Me: I KNOW THE BABY IS CRYING.  I AM TRYING TO GET TO HER ROOM TO HELP HER!  Do you have a question???
Kyle:  No.  Not yet.
Bella:  Mama?  Snack?!  Snack!  SNACK!  Bubba Hun-Gee!
Heavens to Betsy how is it possible that the clock was only showing it to be 11:00a?  After tossing a granola bar at Bella, along with firing my evil glare at Kyle that screams "YOU'D BETTER GET TO WORK" without me actually having to say one word, I finally made it into Savannah's room.  And there she was.  Snuggled up with her blankets.  Fast asleep.  Such a sweet little angel, that baby of mine.  It's almost as if she said "screw this, I'm just going to block it all out & go to sleep"!
The next hour consisted of constant demands from the peanut gallery as I tried to prepare lunch, all the while (unbeknownst to me) Jim was sitting down in the man cave.  PLAYING A VIDEO GAME.  With his head phones on.  AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
Bella barely had swallowed her last bite of lunch before I was hurrying her up the stairs for nap.
Bella:  Pay? (play) Please?!
Me:  No.  Nap time.
Bella:  Mama, please?  Pay?
Me:  Nap time.  After nap, you can play.
Bella:  (starting to fake cry)  Pay?  Pay?
Me:  Bella, I promise you that after nap you can play all you want.
Bella:  Snack?  Apples?
Me:  After nap.
Not 10 minutes later she was curled up on the floor with her head resting against her big blue bear, fast asleep.  Yes, she does have a comfortable, warm bed.  But she chooses to nap on the floor. 
So now with both girls sleeping & Kyle finishing up the last of his school work I decided I'd go on the treadmill.  I was feeling pretty tired, but I also knew that I was only going to get more tired as the day progressed.
Since Jim bought me the treadmill I've used it faithfully 6 nights per week.  Prior to this afternoon I'd never stepped foot on it during the daytime, because usually at least 1 of the girls is up & needs my undivided attention & usually Jim is working on a side job.  His job ended early today though, which left the afternoon wide open for me, so I figured I'd take advantage & get my work-out done & overwith way in advance.  To be honest, I was actually looking forward to going on the treadmill because when I go on at night I feel like it's "one more chore" that needs to be done before I can crawl into bed.  I literally put the last of my mohegans to bed, go on the treadmill, shower & go to bed myself.  So anyways, I hopped on & within minutes I was jogging at my fastest pace yet, 4.4.  14 minutes into my work-out & I was about to reach the goal that I've been working towards since the week of Christmas - 1 mile in 15 minutes - when Kyle came running into the room & accidently stumbled over the plug to the treadmill, cutting the power.   Looking back I can't believe I didn't fall flat on my face.  Instinct kicked in & had me grabbing onto the side bars instantly, which saved me from what would have definitely been a nasty fall.  I swear Kyle is the Scarecrow from the Wizard Of Oz, reincarnated.  He is such a clumsy little fellow.  The other day he was carrying a small basket of laundry down to the basement when he dripped over....dust?...and fell into the boiler.  He's constantly tripping & falling.  I think it's because his mind is always going a million miles per minute & his body simply can't keep up!
Well, anyways, I survived the rest of the day with my 3 monkeys.  Bella had a nice nap, as did Savannah.  Everyone was fed & bathed by 6p and with the exception of a couple of minor tantrums courtesy of Bella my evening with everyone went smoothly.
I do have to laugh at myself, though.  Just yesterday I was sitting here thinking to myself how great of a day the kids & I had.  Everyone was so cheerful.  Everyone played well together.  Lots of laughter, lots of smiles.  It was a day chock full of cooperation & everything ran like a well oiled machine.  And at the time, I thought to myself, it would be so nice if we had another baby someday.  It's so awesome to have these kids, how can we not have another?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! 
After a day like today it sure does seem INSANE to even spend half of a second entertaining the thought of having another baby.
But, God willing, tomorrow is another day.... and even tonight, as I think about my frustrations of the day, I can't help but feel so blessed to have these kids in my life.  Someday I will miss all of this.  Someday I will look back & laugh over all of this.  Parenthood.  It's one huge emotional rollercoaster ride & if you don't agree with me then it's only because you're not a parent.