It has been such a long, exhausting year that I actually had to look back on this blog to remember what Adam and I did on our 6th year anniversary. I had a good laugh when I read it. Last year I marveled at how much our lives had changed in such a short time. But since that time last year, our lives have changed dramatically yet again.

As is the nature of life I can only say with absolute uncertainty that things will not keep changing more and more dramatically in the years to come.

There is a popular adage about 7 years, called the 7 year itch. That after 7 years people tend to re-evaluate their relationship. Was it true for Adam and I? After all, last year we were dining at a top Chicago restaurant for our anniversary. This year we haven’t managed to do more than hang an open suggestion in the air about a dinner out sometime in the future.

Because of this 7 year itch concept, I actually thought long and hard before I wrote this blog about the things that need fixing in my life. I will say that I’m not without my itches.

Luckily, none have anything to do with my relationship with my husband. In fact, the only really big itch I have in my life that needs scratching is my need for more uninterrupted sleep. And the only person who does anything about it happens to be my husband. Each week he asks Angelica to come early, sometimes without talking to me, to make sure I get more rest. And for that I’m grateful.

In fact, at this point in my life I’ll take sleep over a fancy dinner any day. Still, all this writing about anniversaries has made me realize I ought to motive. Instead of blogging I should be booking a restaurant and the babysitter!

When did School Buses Get Seat Belts?!

A few weeks ago I opened Jack’s backpack and read the notes from the teacher. There was a field trip on January 28th to the Shedd Aquarium.

“Always a busy place”, I thought. “I must ask if my sitter is available for me to chaperone.”

Next I opened Ben’s backpack and found a note from his teachers. There was a field trip, also on January 28th, to the Planetarium.

Well between the two kids, which one stood a better chance of getting lost? I chose Ben.

The night before the trip Jack asked Adam why I was going with Ben and not him. I felt terrible. Torn between two kids, not to mentioned the other two I was leaving behind for the day. It made me realize that these sort of conflicts will be a problem over and over again in the future.

Picking Veggies. And for some unknown reason Steak Sauce.

As for Ben’s trip, as usual the other chaperones were assigned multiple kids. I only had Ben to watch. He’s still quite a hand full.

His teacher told me of another classic Ben moment. The day before he had grabbed her boob and asked if she fed babies milk from them!

It was nice to spend the day with Ben, exclusively. One on one time is a rare commodity for a mom of four.

We all watched the Sesame Street show with the entire class, then played in the Planet Explorers kids area. We had a sack lunch then headed back to the classroom.

I let Ben stay at school to nap. I also used the time to nap myself.

A big hunk of burning love.

This week we had our rental unit’s furnace serviced. Our heating and cooling guy, who is amazing, informed us of the new law on furnaces.

Apparently the new law requires us to have a furnace with 90% efficiency by May 2013. The standard now is 80% efficiency. If you already have an 80% efficient furnace you do not need to replace it before May, but when it breaks you can no longer buy the same replacement.

Great for the environment and great for your energy bills. So what is the problem?

We vent our furnace through the chimney. The new furnaces need to be vented by a sloping PVC pipe. It can not go straight up into the chimney. It needs to vent out of the wall. And since there are houses on either side of us, the vent would have to be in front or in the back of our house. That’s not just installing a new furnace. That’s a rehab job.

We could buy a new furnace now and get it installed so we won’t have to worry about this problem for another 15 or 20 years. Or we could suck it up and change when our furnace finally breaks. We haven’t decided yet, but I’m glad we were informed before the law went into effect so we could have a chance to make a decision. I hope you are too.

I’m not sure why this is happening to me so many more times than it did with Ben and Jack. But twice since I’ve been back from Florida I’ve had a two clogged milk ducts. That makes three total. With Jack and Ben I only had one each.

I’ve read that if you don’t feed regularly it can happen. I’m pretty sure my feeding schedule is not regular. Sometimes I use formula, sometimes I breast feed, I go a long period in the afternoon when I pick up the older kids without pumping or breast feeding. I don’t think about it that much and perhaps I should. Or as Adam says, I could just stop breast feeding all together.

The first one I could see because there was a huge white spot on my nipple. It was painful and made my boob lumpy, but when I pumped, it umlumped me a bit. Within a few days of worry, hot showers and continuously putting cabbage leaves in my bra, it passed. There is still a white spot, but the boob produces well and now causes no pain.

Yes, cabbage leaves, people. My sister told me about it. It works. But I have no idea why. And neither does anyone on the internet. She also told me to take a needle to that white spot and pick it out. I just didn’t have the courage for that.

Yesterday the other boob started acting up. I woke up in pain. It was lumpy and I could not find any white dot. I still had the head of cabbage, so I put leaves in my bra all day. I tried a shower so hot that my skin was pink afterwards. I even laid down downstairs on my stomach for an hour while Adam put the older kids to bed with my boob soaking in a bowl of hot water.

It was sore all day and I went to bed last night in pain and not feeling well, thinking I’d need to call the doctor in the morning. It was probably infected. More mastitis. And more Augmentin. I was too tired to think about how tired that medicine made me last time.

I nurse Sam at 2am on the clogged breast, and changed the cabbage leaf. In the morning it was still sore, but less so. I nursed again, then pumped. Then, after reading on the internet to take some medicine that reduced inflammation, I very happily found my prescription ibuprofen left over from the twins c-section. Took that and a nap with the twins in the morning. Rest was another thing important to unclogging a milk duct. I had to giggle at that suggestion.

Even less lumpy and painful now. I think I’ve managed to avoid a trip to the doctor and more antibiotics. If so, I promise to drink alcohol every night in celebration of my freedom…

Poor Aaron, I hope he’s doesn’t spend a lifetime being overshadowed by his twin brother, who did this last month.

Pulling up to standing at 8 months is pretty impressive, still more advanced than most of the pack…