Oh, What a Night!

My head is still reeling from the craziness that was bedtime this evening...around 5:45 the babies started melting down so I threw a pizza in the oven (to be ready when bedtime was over - roughly 20 minutes) and took the babies to their room to start getting ready for bed. I noticed Ryan was a little smelly, and expected to find a nasty little present in his diaper - but I found SO much more! I took his shirt off an as I was dropping it in the laundry basket I noticed that it felt a little wet and mushy...a quick look at his shirt (and then his back) confirmed my fears. See, Ryan has a particular gift for blowing out the back of his diaper...and this one was a doozy. Not realizing the full spectrum of the mess, I had spread it even farther while taking off his shirt - it was now on his arms, in his hair, and on my t-shirt! I quickly realized we were beyond wet wipes, and with a glance at Allie (to make sure she was safely sitting on the floor in her boppy because I couldn't set him down to move her elsewhere) I took him to the bathroom sink to wash him off.

I stripped him down and just before I put him in the sink I glanced again at Allie (still sitting and playing happily) and then I dove in. He screamed the entire time of course, but after a little scrubbing (with the towel I had grabbed in my hectic rush - and then realized, as I was washing him, was on of my best handtowels...) and rinsing I felt he was clean enough. I wrap him up and turn around...and Allie is gone! I race through the doorway to discover she has scooted herself backwards, half under Ryan's crib. She is safe, but cranky because she is backed up against a rubbermaid storage tub and cannot move any farther. Ryan is crying, Allie is crying, mommy is thinking about crying. I get Ryan dressed, set him on the floor, and rescue Allie to get her ready for bed. Both babies are still crying. I start to sing the ABC's (our latest never-fail, stop-the-crying song) - and it works!

I grab both babies, cuddle them on my lap, and give them their bottles. All is silent, all is calm. I breath a sigh of relief. Then I hear familar grunts and feel familiar pushes from Allie. Pretty soon I smell the smell. No problem. This can't be as bad as his. As I'm setting him on the floor so I can change Allie, I realize that there is another funny smell. Suddenly I remember the pizza! It was supposed to cook 18-22 minutes, but that was almost 30 minutes ago! I race to the kitchen and turn off the oven (just in time - which is good because the last thing I needed at that point was for the fire dept. to show up!). I change Allie (did I mention both overtired babies are crying again - the ABC's did NOT work this time), and we settle back in for bedtime.

Thankfully there was no more excitement. Thankfully they are sleeping happily and soundly at this point. Life with babies is certainly never boring!