Invaded!!!

I'm not entirely certain when or how it happened, but I realized this evening that somewhere along the way, my home has been invaded by aliens or something. Well, more like invaded by little people who have brainwashed me into fulfilling their every desire.


Three years ago, I was a single lady with a cat.  I was "Fun Aunt Tammy" to a couple of 3-year-olds.  I had an art drawer with supplies for the kids and a bin of toys in the closet in the spare room that were neatly out of sight when Buddy and Ka-Diva weren't here.  I had an awesome 3.5' x 3.5' chest in the middle of my living room that offered storage and acted as a table.  I had knickknacks and a great seaside cottage decorative theme going.  Heck.  I even had doors on my entertainment center!  You know...  Like a grown woman should have!

And then I started fostering.  Within two days of Booger's arrival, the awesome chest in my living room found a new home on the back patio because he was learning to crawl, and tended to go into aerodynamic crawler mode where he put his head down and crawled at the speed of light...   Enough said.  Taking up residence in the living room was a new exersaucer and a bin of baby toys.  The spacesaver highchair gained a permanent spot in the dining room. Then Booger started walking, and the doors to my pretty entertainment center were removed and now live in my closet.  When Little Miss began taking an interest in the stairs, we put in a permanent baby gate.

Three years and six kids later (nine if you count Banana, Pooper, and Butterfly!), and I find myself completely overrun in baby gear, preschool toys, clothes, and other kid-friendly supplies.  And the worst invader of them all seems to be the 5-month-old!!!  I realized that this evening as Monkey was playing in his exersaucer and I turned around to see this:

Yep.  That would be my living room...  Formerly a mature, well-decorated oasis of calm for a single lady with a cat.  There's an exersaucer.  A bin of toys that you can't see in the picture.  A stationary bouncer.  The built-in baby gate behind it.  A glider for rocking.  A bumbo and hanging toys.  A swing.  And behind swing... The highchair!  There is even a stash of diapers under the dining room table that hasn't made it to the nursery yet.  Also on the table are two diaper bags (large and small) ready and waiting to be packed for this week's visits.

After the shock of actually registering what had become of my living and dining rooms, I thought...  Maybe I should take a look in the nursery.  Probably not my best and brightest idea.

You see all of those books, puzzles, and bins of toys?  Those aren't even the baby's!  All of that belongs to Booger and the older kids for when they come over.  Booger still refers to the nursery as "his" room, and makes a beeline for his toys immediately after giving me a hug every time he comes over.  What you can't see here is another tub of "older kid" toys under the bed!  This is just sad.  And then I looked in the bathroom.

And the closet...

Then I thought...  "Might as well take a peek in the kitchen."

(The rest of the bottles are in the dishwasher.)

I'm embarrassed to even mention my car. An infant carrier carseat for Monkey and/or Banana depending on which baby is in the car. A toddler carseat for Booger. Two boosters for Buddy and Ka-Diva. A stroller and a pack-n-play.  Most of which is stored in my trunk and rotated when needed.

I really don't understand how this happened.  There I was, a mature, semi-sophisticated, single woman.  I had Girls' Nights and grown-ups came to my house to visit.  Now I have playdates with three-year-olds and the only grown-ups who come to my house are with CPS or are babysitting so I can go grocery shopping in peace.

Seriously.  I have been invaded.

INVADED, I SAY!!!

But who am kidding?  We all know I LOVE IT!  :-)