The Zoo Keeper

This is an up close and personal view of my life. I am wife to Chris, an at home Mom to three children by day, and a nursing student by night. I recently picked up a part time job for fun on a Labor & Delivery unit and L.O.V.E it! I find having a part time job provides brief moments of sanity required for survival in my house.

Back to the kids part - Jacob is 5, Madison is 3, and Olivia is 6mos. Our house is also home to two dogs, a cat, and two turtles. Frankly, if there are any other inhabitants, I’d rather not know about them. Jacob is our sports fanatic, smarty pants, love bug. In short, Jake was born with Spina Bifida which is a debilitating birth defect involving the spinal cord. He is able to walk to with the aid of leg braces and crutches and requires a great deal of medical attention but when he’s not sitting in a doctor’s office, he’s busy being five. Chris and I thought we were being super covert by spelling out everything not meant for little ears until Jake started reading and spelling everything. Since he started decoding our conversations we’ve resorted to spelling backwards and even jumbled. It’s simply amazing that Chris and I can even understand half of what the other is trying to say. Pretty soon we’re going to have to pick up a second language.

Madison is our Dr. Jekyll and Little Miss Hyde. She is the sweetest little girl when she wants to be but she is equally capable of throwing the most hellacious temper tantrums you’ll ever witness. Keeping her in a good mood is much easier than trying to pull her from the clutches of satin himself. I think they wrote a poem about her too. You know, the one about the girl with the curl. I think it goes something like this:

There once was a girl with curl right in the middle of her forehead. When she was good, she was very good, and when she was bad she was horrid.

She also happens to be the most uncoordinated being I’ve ever seen in my life which is quite amusing since we have her enrolled in gymnastics. I have a sneaking suspision she and the balance beam will not be friends. Also, I’ve never met a child with an appetite quite like hers. She can eat all day long and still have just enough room for whatever is left on your plate. No, she’s not overweight either. In fact, she is rather skinny and remarkably tall for her age. I would give anything for a metabolism like hers. Otherwise, Madison is a typical three year old. She is absolutely mesmerized by the Disney princesses and enjoys the ability to do things herself - even if it means me going out in public with a child wearing a blue sweatshirt with a pink skirt and jeans complimented by a pair of winter boots in August.

Olivia or “Punkerdoodle” is our even tempered child. She is perfectly content cuddling with me for hours on end. I couldn’t have asked for a better behaved baby. There are nights where she thinks she is a rock star and decides sleeping is for daytime but I still don’t have anything to complain about because I know it could be a whole lot worse. Right now she is in the middle of a growth spurt and cutting some teeth. She’s been on the cranky side but I know it’s only because she is uncomfortable. I just can’t wait for those pearly white razor blades to introduce themselves to my breast. Through three bouts of mastitis - I feel I’ve yet to encounter the most trying times of breastfeeding.

Thats my life in a very tiny nutshell. Well the cliffs notes anyway.