24

Wednesday 7:15 pm: The twins are in bed. We are making dinner (er...um...preheating the oven for the frozen pizza...). Lucas discovers that our sink has been leaking. We saw signs (the mat in front of it had been wet in the morning, I had noticed a puddle), but there was always another option to explain it. He spends 20 min mopping everything up and fixing the leak.

9:00 pm: I'm talking with a friend about the twins diaper rash (which came back with a vengeance when we returned from vacation). I tell her how I mentioned to my mom we never had trouble with diaper rash before we moved here, and that Lucas commented how strange it was that the diaper rash completely cleared up in Arkansas without us really trying, and she asks me if the diaper rash cleared up when we were in NE. It hits me that not only do I remember it magically clearing up in NE, but also when we went up North! We only have diaper rash issues when we are here, and it only completely clears up when we're gone. We talk about the different options and figure our water is probably a good place to start (specially since I use cloth diapers...).

Thursday 3:30 am: In a desperate attempt to get Allie (who is awake because her diaper rash is THAT painful) back to sleep Lucas tries some milk in a sippy. He calls me to the kitchen. "Kim, does the fridge feel warm to you?" We agree that we both felt like things weren't as cold as usual for a day or so...but the fridge is barely cold. We'll call someone to repair it in the morning.

9:30 am: Lucas and I are a little overwhelmed with all that has fallen apart in our house in roughly 12 hours. We can barely function from lack of sleep. What happened?

11:45 am: The man arrives to check out our fridge. "No problem," he says, " I know what's probably wrong and I can show you how to fix it if it happens again. I see this all the time." Great!

11:50 am: "hmmmmm. Well, that is working, so it must be something else. But that's good news because it's probably something really simple."

12:10 pm: (after fishing what he calls "treasures" from behind my fridge - one tupperware lid and 3 tampons the twins somehow got ahold of and jammed under there...oh, the embarrassment! And then vacuuming because it was too dirty to check out - I'm wishing I could disappear into the floor!) "It's worse than I thought. I'm going to call and get quotes for parts, but this is an old refrigerator and by the time you factor in the cost of parts & labor it will probably be more cost effective to get a new fridge." Oh, dear.

4:00 pm: Lucas and I (after scrambling to find the best deals on the web) take the twins shopping for a new refrigerator. Mission accomplished. Next day delivery secured. We also buy (with the money we saved) iron filtering salt for our water softener (which we think is the problem with our water - *fingers crossed*) We are so thrilled we pop over to Michael's to see what treasures we can find and the twins (thanks to the efforts of a well-meaning, and un-suspecting daddy) secure 2 amazing new toys!

5:15 pm: Lucas and I decide we deserve dinner out and take the twins to Cracker Barrel.

6:15 pm: We got to leave and Lucas places Ryan in my arms, at which point I discover an explosive blowout - on the high chair, down his leg, and now on my hand! I take him to the bathroom and discover that while I have an extra outfit, I am out of diapers! In the meantime, Lucas, busy with Allie is unable to clean up the high chair. How much do you tip the waitress who cleans up your child's excrement? A LOT.

6:30 pm: I run into Target to get diapers (Ry guy is currently going commando in his car seat) and supplies to make the magic diaper cream.

6:45 pm: I discover that the diaper run is too late as I go to diaper Ryan and find his outfit completely soaked. Little Man rides home wearing nothing but a diaper and a smile!

7:30 pm: The twins are in bed. The sink is no longer leaking. We have a new refrigerator on the way. Lucas is adding salt to the water softner. The twins are sleeping slathered in the magic cream. Things are looking up (we hope!).

It was a comedy of errors. Thank goodness we were able to keep laughing. Hopefully things look up soon!