On a happy note, the boys love me

Well, it's been one week and a day since Mike left.  But who's counting?

I don't even really know how to describe this week to be honest.  

I feel like crud.  A big, headachey, sore throat, sore body, boogery, pile of crud.  

And so does Piper which means that this pile of crud is not about to get better any time soon.  Piper's already inconsistent and shoddy napping is even worse now that she is sick and she sleeps worse at night now than she did before as a newborn.  She is exhausted and you can tell it from her sleepy eyes but she is hell bent on not sleeping.  That, and the fact that Isaac has been having bad dreams and Eli has a cough, means that I am up all night with someone.  And no sleep for me means I'm not getting better anytime soon.  

And it makes me a tad bit irritated.  So if you call and I don't answer, it's because I'm not really in the chatting mood.  I don't want to answer how I'm doing, since that is the first question everyone asks.  It's not exactly the way I saw the first week of Mike being gone going.  

But here I am, sick and tired beyond belief, with an already heavy load.  

So I guess that fact alone kind of counteracts a lot of the good of the week.  But there has been some good so I ought to mention that as well.  We did some fun things earlier in the week before we got sick.  We've gone to the gym, gone swimming, went for a small hike (more like climbing rocks), got some groceries, had a treat/movie night, played at the park, and went to Sonic for a treat.  

Yesterday the boys worked all day on cleaning the basement.  It took them forever but they worked diligently and only got in one fight.  I promised them a treat for all their hard work and then as the day went on and I continued to feel rotten and Piper continued to NOT take a nap, I could not find it in me to make dinner.  So I decided to take the boys to Golden Corral where I knew they would all be happy with the prospect of choosing their own food and they would get the treat I promised them after dinner as well.  

Maybe I'm crazy to take three boys and a baby to a restaurant by myself but it seemed like the better option to me.  And I was right--everyone was happy.

The bright star of the week really is the boys.  They have to be the best little boys heaven has ever sent to earth.  Piper wakes up at night and cries and cries and wakes even the soundest sleeper in the house (Isaac) and the next morning they all mention that they said little prayers in their heads for her that she would stop crying and go back to sleep.  

Last Sunday they made this little sign for me.  I saw them huddling together in the family room, whispering, markers all around.  They proudly presented it to me soon after.  In case you can't read what it says:

Thank you Mom for taking care of us.

I love you more than anything else.

Thank you for buying us food.

Thank you for buying this house.

We are so blessed to have you.

You are the best mom ever!

Sorry Dad can't be with us.

No mom is better than you.

I love it when you are happy.  Piper probably got all her happiness from you.   

They've been so helpful, happy, and appreciative.  Which makes me in turn appreciative and want to do more fun things for them.

So, here we are, ending our first week without Mike and I am hoping for things to improve on the sleeping and sickness side.  I am sure we will get better in a few days.  As for the sleeping thing--let's get real.  Piper is six months and showing little improvements in that area.  I don't have a lot of hope for better naps.

What I do hope is that the next 7 1/2 weeks will be better than this one.