always surprising

How messy a living room can get in so short an amount of time. I keep trying to tell myself that I've got a very little living space with a lot of children - and it's natural and normal that it should be messy. That it's more important to spend time cuddling my baby girl, or playing trucks with my boy child, or reading to my big girl than to worry about whether or not the Uno cards are scattered all over the floor. But the problem with that is that a messy house makes me crazy. If I could have a maid who scurried along behind the children cleaning in their wake, then my life would be blissful.

But alas, there's just me. So the obvious solutions are to either resign myself to being that maid, teach the children to clean up after themselves, or get used to living in a pigsty. I vacuum frequently, and the dishes and laundry are done several times a day (folding and putting away is another story). But there are toys every freaking where, and that's despite having cleared out a whole bunch.

In other news... other than living in squalor, my little family is healthy and happy and content. Jess is finishing up her first week at summer camp - she gets swimming lessons twice daily, art classes, Israeli culture classes and apparently, they make her climb a ladder periodically for reasons that she can't explain to me. Sam got brand new Justice League underwear today - which is great, because he's developed the habit of taking off his underwear everytime he goes to the bathroom. So, if I want to keep him dressed, I almost have to go thru three or four pairs of underwear daily. I exaggerate a little, but not much, because he tosses them into the corner of the bathroom or hides them under the couch, and I'm not sure if they're clean or dirty and when it doubt, I just get him a new pair. And since I wash clothes all the time, but rarely fold and put them away, he's always got lots buried in the laundry basket and not sitting in his dresser waiting for him. So six new pairs in the rotation will definitely help. We've made a deal - he has to wear at least underwear when there are other people here. When it's just us, he can run around naked. This is a good compromise - he'd rather be naked non-stop and I'd rather he be dressed all the time. Julianna was not in the mood to sleep last night, just wide awake at eleven o'clock, so we sat up and watched Grey's Anatomy reruns again. She's such a little love, all cooing and smiling and sweetness.

My staph infection and "multiple fissures of the nipple" are not doing well. I'm going on my second month of dealing with this, it started at the beginning of June (May having been taken up with a nursing strike followed a week later with thrush). I'm taking my medicine, using the lansinoh, and it still hurts unbelievably. I really think I'm going to just always have to have the shield and/or pump on that side. The other side is doing great, nursing is pain free, and thank goodness, I've had no problems with supply - Julianna is growing like a little weed, she's so big :-)