This is What Happens

This is what happens when Shimmy comes home early:
*The girls happily play with him.
*I have time to make a great dinner.
*We all eat that dinner together, at the same time, and all enjoy it.
*The girls have fun playing with him some more.
*I clean up from dinner RIGHT AWAY instead of leaving crusty plates and left over food lying around until I have a minute to breathe.
*Both girls are on time to bed, and not because I JUST CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE.
*I am in such a good mood and have so much energy that I have an awesome work out from 8:30-9:30 *PM*
*Shimmy and I spend the rest of the evening together first on the edge of our seats watching the CAPS finally win after 11 shootouts, then laughing together while we catch up on DVRed shows.
*I am in awe and appreciation of this wondrous day as I realize it is as rare and beautiful as a solar eclipse.

MomGyver

I still get stressed out once in a while. I still wonder if I am making the right decisions now and then. But I no longer sweat the "small stuff" that used to scare me when I was a new mom. i have developed a self-confidence and an "I don't give a crap" attitude that I feel gives me an edge. You see, I am MomGyver. In any given sticky, smelly, or otherwise undesirable situation, I can usually find a way to make it work (best read in a Tim Gunn voice). Case in point: Today. Lilah is such a good baby that she must have sensed my frustration from yesterday's post. Despite going to bed EARLY, she slept WAY LATE. It *may* have also had something to do with the very dark, dreary weather. Since she slept late, I decided it would be okay if she skipped her first nap of the day and we set out to a store so I could meet with someone about a very important and time sensitive new house issue. Lilah was spectacular the whole time. As we were leaving, however, I realized she needed a diaper change. We made our way to the restroom. It had one of those pull down baby changing stations, but it looked gross. Even with a changing pad, Lilah is at the stage where she is reaching for, and touching everything. So I decided to recline her stroller all the way and change her in it. I had just opened up her very messy diaper when I realized that the wipes were still in the car. No problem. I found two antibacterial wipes in my bag, but they were completely dried out. No problem. I poured some of my bottled water on them and set to work. Lilah immediately stuck one hand in the mess. Ta-da- that's what the antibacterial wipes are for! Then she got her socked-feet in the mess. No problem. I always travel with an extra outfit complete with extra socks. I threw away the dirty socks. I gave her a toy to play with to keep her hands out of the mess. I looked in my bag again to see what I could wipe her with, but found nothing. Not even a tissue. No problem. I wet some paper towels to use as make-shift wipes. A minute later she had a clean diaper, new socks, and we were ready to roll. Just another day in the life of MomGyver.

Scheduling Conflict

It is only 9am and already my whole day is shot. I have been in this rut for the past couple of months where I cannot get anything done. Once Lilah outgrew the wonderful ability to sleep anywhere, anytime, I became housebound for almost the entire day. I knew this would happen with two kids, but knowing it would happen in no way makes it easier. When Sophie was this age (from months 6 to 13 I think), we had a good thing going on. She woke up, we nursed and played for a while (later on we took Music Together), then she took her first two-hour nap of the day. This is when I ran on the treadmill, got dressed, and got everything organized for the day. Then she woke up, we had a quick lunch, and we set out for a few hours to run errands, have play dates, etc. Then we came home, nursed, and she took her second two-hour nap. This is when I relaxed, made dinner, etc.

Here's how things are going now:
7am- Lilah and I wake up. I nurse her and leave her to play while I get dressed and make Sophie's lunch.
7:30am- Sophie wakes up and I am very busy getting her dressed, fed, and all of us out the door in time to get her to school by 8:15ish.
8:30am- Lilah and I get back home. I want to change her, feed her breakfast, get myself dressed for real (instead of the sweats I have thrown on to take Sophie to school in), and GET SOME STUFF DONE. But she is already exhausted and ready to take a nap.
9am-11am- Lilah is sleeping. I engage in a draining debate in my head. Do I just wait and be ready to go the second she wakes up in case she only takes a short nap? If I do this, that means I will not exercise or get any heavy housecleaning done. Or do I find things to do around here including exercise and housework, knowing that if I do, when she wakes up I will not be ready to leave quite yet and that will definitely jeopardize my GETTING THINGS DONE.
11am- Lilah wakes up. By the time I have changed her and fed her again, it is less than an hour until it's time to pick up Sophie. I may have a teeny amount of time to run a small errand, but certainly nothing significant and nothing that is farther than a few minutes drive from home and Sophie's school.
12:45pm- We arrive back home with Sophie. Chances are, Sophie has not eaten enough of her lunch at school and needs to eat again at home. By the time everyone is changed and fed, it's nap time again.
2pm-4pm- Sophie naps
2pm-*6*pm- Lilah naps
By the time Her Majesty wakes up, it is time for dinner, bath time, and bed time.
THERE GOES MY DAY!

This wouldn't be so frustrating if I wasn't trying to move in two months. In order to keep everything running smoothly, I am in constant contact with the contractor, kitchen designer, and various other vendors. I have had to make every last decison about every minute detail in this house's reconstruction, design, and decor. I am good at doing this over the phone, through emails, and online research/shopping. But sometimes it does require in-person meetings and trips to showrooms and stores. I would rather not lug a baby to these meetings and stores, but if I have to, it had better be a well-fed and well-rested baby I am lugging around town. This just doesn't ever seem possible.

So what am I doing today as I watch Lilah sleep on the video monitor? Am I waiting for her to wake up so we can go to the store and make an important and time-sensitive decision for the new house? Am I exercising and getting housework done? Nope, today I am just blogging about it all. Beyond that, I haven't decided.

Alternative to the Alternative Lifestyle

*Note- I started this post over a week ago. It isn't even relevant anymore. I'm not sure why I am finishing it now except for (a) I feel like I need to post SOMETHING because it's been so long, and (b) it contains pictures I never posted. So here goes.

This morning's activities are inspired by, and in stark contrast to, a previous post.
I should be doing laundry, washing the dishes, cleaning the bathrooms, dusting and vacuuming my room, or working on new house stuff, which has become my full time job. Instead I am watching an old episode of Flight of the Conchords, drinking coffee, and eating a piece of apple pie that I baked from scratch using apples we picked on this lovely day:

Sophie of Late

Lately, Sophie has really matured. She is less than three months away from her third birthday and I really see a big difference between two and three. She is more of my clone every day. (In personality. We all know I'm not tall and blond.) Sometimes this makes it difficult for us to coexist. We are both irritatingly stubborn and known to have erratic emotional outbursts. But because I know she is this way in the same way I am, I have a kind of respect for her. Underneath the two-year old irrationality and noncompliance is something deeper. I see a person who is strong-willed, determined, and passionate. And that's a great kind of person to be. I see so much of myself in her that I often pause in the middle of our conversations and try to relate to her in the way I wanted to be related to when I was young. Which is easy, because I know exactly where she's coming from. And I'm confident that I know this because of how she responds. I get her, that difficult child. I hope she always feels understood and respected- at least by me.


Pictures of Sophie of Late:

Lilah of Late

Lilah has been very busy lately. She can sit up unassisted, which is HUGE! She's still a little floppy, but she is getting better every day. I love this stage. It means I don't have to worry about having a piece of baby equipment (play mat, swing, exersaucer, bumbo bouncy seat, etc.) strategically placed throughout the house in case I need to put her down. Now I just plop her down with a couple of toys and she's good to go.

Last week her first lil toofer popped up. It always makes me a little sad to see my babies get their first tooth. It is a tiny speck of white right now, but it is the beginning of the end of that big gummy baby smile.

She is finally getting the hang of eating solids. Her tongue thrust reflex is starting to go away and she can finally swallow a bite without pushing and spitting it out five times first. Today: strained peas. Tomorrow: a turkey sandwich! (Not really tomorrow, but it will be here sooner than you think!)

And here are some pics of Lilah of late:



Lilah has been very busy lately. She can sit up unassisted, which is HUGE! She's still a little floppy, but she is getting better every day. I love this stage. It means I don't have to worry about having a piece of baby equipment (play mat, swing, exersaucer, bumbo bouncy seat, etc.) strategically placed throughout the house in case I need to put her down. Now I just plop her down with a couple of toys and she's good to go.

Last week her first lil toofer popped up. It always makes me a little sad to see my babies get their first tooth. It is a tiny speck of white right now, but it is the beginning of the end of that big gummy baby smile.

She is finally getting the hang of eating solids. Her tongue thrust reflex is starting to go away and she can finally swallow a bite without pushing and spitting it out five times first. Today: strained peas. Tomorrow: a turkey sandwich! (Not really tomorrow, but it will be here sooner than you think!)

And here are some pics of Lilah of late:

October 15

When I picked Sophie up from school today she showed me a picture she had drawn. Her teacher had written her name and the date on the back of it. The date she drew the picture was September 23. Time stood still for just one second as I immediately registered that date. It was my due date for my first baby, who I lost after carrying for 11 weeks 4 days. That doesn't seem like a long time, but it was long enough to fall in love with my tiny child, long enough to feel elated that I was growing a new life in my body, and long enough to have hopes and dreams for my baby. I remember every detail of the nightmare that was my miscarriage. It was the worst time period of my life. It was odd that I should be reminded of it today, because today was in fact Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. While I no longer think about my miscarriage every day, it is still very much a part of me. I always wear a sapphire (September's birth stone) and diamond ring that Shimmy gave me on the Mother's Day after I miscarried, as a symbol that my first baby is always in my heart. And today especially I have been thinking about him. I never got to meet him, to smell his sweet skin, or kiss the soft hair on his head. But I carried him for the short time he was in this world. I am still his Mommy and I will always love him. And I know he, and all of the other precious babies who have flown away too soon, feel the love all of us Mommies will always have for them.