Early Day = Long Day

Today started out a bit earlier than most Mondays – and certainly earlier than we were ready for on the heels of a relaxing vacation.

L was scheduled for her second set of tubes this morning. So we got up bright and early to head out to our nationally ranked Children’s Hospital – which I feel very fortunate to have literally 15 minutes from our house (not that I ever want to have a need beyond tubes to use it!). I have been lucky enough to only have to visit this place for very minor procedures and each time leave with overwhelming feelings of gratitude and sympathy. Gracious that for all intents and purposes, my children are very healthy and extremely sympathetic to the families I see who have children dealing with life and death situations.

My visit this morning gave me the serenity to help me get through this day. For several reasons, it was probably my hardest one as a SAHM yet: 1) First Monday after a week of vacation (meaning several other people could take on mommy duties throughout the day giving me many breaks), 2) An early wake-up call by E (early meaning 3 am), 3) Stress induced headache that I couldn’t shake and 4) lots of chores to ‘clean up’ after being away for a week.

Needless to say, not one of my most successful SAHM days. I’m wondering how long it takes to recover from being ‘off’ – will I be back in the game tomorrow or will it take a few extra days? The silver lining today was that all three munchkins were still tuckered from a week of playing in the sand (plus L had some extra help with anesthesia) so they all took extra-long naps (not sure I would have been able to do it otherwise).

Lessons I learned today:

·       It’s easy to entertain kids on days that aren’t 90+ degrees – just play outside for an hour or so!

·       When at Children's Hospital you can visit their pharmacy for a $1 bottle of children's tylenol.

·       It takes more than a day to recover from a week long vacation (does that mean it takes longer to recover from a longer vacation? I’m willing to find out!).

Welcome Home!

We had a wonderful time on Lake Michigan last week – really enjoying the 80 degree days and 60 degree nights (no AC, windows open). We spent some great time with our family and met some new friends too. During our car ride on the way home we all talked about our favorite parts of the week:

·         J – going under water and playing baseball on the beach

·         L – playing on the beach

·         E – didn’t really have much to say (being 4 ½ months and all), but I’m guessing she really liked being held all week

·         Me – playing with my kids every day

·         Hubby – Spending time with family and seeing his parents spend time with our kids

Lessons I learned while on vacation:

·       I completely forgot about all of the items on my to-do lists back at home. I even caught myself wondering how nice it would be to spend a summer not having to worry about all of the things that have to be done at home. Then I wondered if I stayed for a long(er) period of time if I’d just make a new to-do list at a different location (then I’d end up in a worse spot having two to-do lists, always having one I couldn’t do anything about when I was at the other place).

·       I spend several hours (too many really) a day watching tv. On vacation, I didn’t watch (nor did I have the desire to watch) any shows. I wonder if this was because I knew all of my shows were being taped on our DVR at home? Or, if I was too busy watching my kids play and the sunset to worry about it. (I’d like to think I’m evolved enough to blame it on the latter but I’m pretty sure it had a bit to do with the former too).

·        Having a beach literally outside your front door makes for HOURS of amusement for an almost 4 year old and a 2 year old. They will find all kinds of things to do in the sand; play baseball, dig with shovels, play trucks, build sand castles… They will also be crazy tired at the end of every day. I found myself wishing I had a beach at our home for those days (of which there seem to be many) I need help finding things for them to do.

·        I went to bed later than usual (having too much fun with my in-laws), woke up earlier (thanks to no curtains and the sunrise), only took one nap and didn’t seem very tired at all. I wonder if it was all the fresh air or just the fact that I was on vacation (and didn’t have a to-do list to wake up to) that gave me all the extra energy. Regardless, I wish I could bottle it!

·        Vacations really ARE all they are cracked up to be!

Here are some pics from our week:

Going on Vacation!

As you all know, we leave tomorrow for a one-week vacation (not nearly long enough if you ask me). We’re planning to wake up terribly early (like 5am) to allow us to get to our destination by nap time. I’m not crazy about waking up so early, but I’m sure I’ll be happy once we get there.

My hubby is a beach vacation guy. I like beaches but not crazy about the ocean (seaweed creeps me out) or a 12+ hour drive. I also LOVE beaching-it during the day and having to wear a jacket at night – the best of both worlds (especially when it’s so hot at home).So, about 6 years ago I introduced hubby to Michigan and while he didn’t love it (we were too far north to get good beaches), he agreed to try it again 3 years ago. This time we stayed a little further south to get better beaches (and a shorter drive). I’m so excited that we’re going back at the same spot we went to last year and I can hardly wait – we’ll be able to see the sunset from our front porch.

When I was growing up, we went to this same place for summer vacation and stayed for 2 weeks. Many of the families in the neighborhood (those who owned the crazy big and pricey homes), stayed the whole summer at the lake. I’m wondering if they purposefully unplugged for that long (granted it was just the SAHM and the kids who stayed the whole summer with daddy commuting), or if times were really that different back then (like 25 whole years ago!) – no summer sports or camps?

I would say that I would love to spend the entire summer at the lake but not sure I could do it. While doing nothing has its appeal, I’m thinking that by the end of two weeks I’d be ready to get back to my to-do list (does that make me crazy?). I also think about how much we would miss at home - holiday parties, baseball games, etc. If we were ever going to do it, now would be the time since our kids are little and not involved in too many activities but I don’t see it happening. Two weeks maybe.

I am looking forward to not having to pay attention to schedules, or plan kid friendly activities. I’m wondering how many times the words ‘go play outside’ will leave my lips. I’m not at all feeling guilty about having everyone else hold the baby all day. I’m thinking about taking a nap every day (what’s a vacation without an afternoon nap?).  I might even try to get in a date night with hubby. In general, I’m going to do a whole lot of nothing – the perfect beach vacation!

Not sure if I’ll post while I’m away – so for all of my flocks of followers don’t be disappointed if you don’t hear from me for a few days.

Lessons I learned today:

·         Planning for vacation is hard work – good thing you’re about to go on vacation!

·         Packing up the car is pretty easy with so much planning ahead.

·         Getting everything in order before-hand results in maximum enjoyment while on vacation.

List Making

I am a list-maker. I make lists for everything. Sometimes I add stuff to my list that I’ve already done just so I can cross it off.

We’re getting ready to leave for vacation tomorrow and I started my lists last week. As all moms know, packing for little ones if HARD. There are 64 items of my ‘PACKING’ list and only 9 of them are clothing related – 14%. I have the ‘PACKING’ list, the ‘things to take in the car’ list and the ‘things to remember the morning we leave’ list. All together I have five lists (that’s not including the lists I’ve been making while we are ON vacation – which happen to be on the list of things to pack!).

The ironic part of it all is that I know that once we get to our destination, there will be something that I have forgotten! I suppose that if I were a really organized list maker, I would have something on my computer that I could print for each trip and add to as I forget things on each trip. Maybe next time. For now, off to make more lists!!

Lessons I learned today:

·        I need a new system of sorting my papers – second time in as many weeks that I couldn’t find something I was looking for.

·       I like the ‘idea’ of being organized but I’m finding it hard to have time to actually do it.

·       I need a list to keep track of all my lists!

The Honeymoon is OVER

I knew it was going to happen, I just didn’t know how long it would take. Turns out - about 2 ½ weeks. I’m tired, cranky and sometimes downright mean. I’m still not regretting my decision to stay at home with my little ‘angels’ but I’m giving up mad props to all the SAHMs out there after living it first hand for 17 days. I’m not sure if it’s a coincidence or not that we’ve also had 17 consecutive days of over 90 degrees.

On the bright side, we seem to be getting into a relatively smooth routine (at least on days that we all sleep past 6am) – which mainly revolves around meals & naptimes (boring!). Outside of my not-so-successful baking activity this week, I have not been very creative or organized about scheduling things for the gremlins to do. As a result, we’ve had a lot of whining, fighting, yelling, and time outs this past week (I’m hoping that these aren’t a permanent part of our blissful routine).

Two things struck me today in the middle of someone’s temper-tantrum; 1) SAHMs need vacations just to break the routines that you don’t want to keep and 2) back-to-school really is the ‘Most Wonderful Time of the Year.’

I’m pretty sure that once school starts (J for 5 mornings, L for 2 mornings – just 2 hours), that I’ll turn into the June Cleaver meets Martha Stewart and my kids will morph into perfectly behaved, well-mannered angels. In the event that doesn’t work out for me, I’m researching story-times at the local library and local bookstores, some gym classes for L and keeping my sister on the payroll to provide mommy with the much needed kid-free time.

Lessons I learned today:

·       Homemade birthday dinners (and desserts) are fun to do and everyone seems to enjoy them more because of the effort put in.

·       Travelling for work seemed like it was hard at the time, but there were several times today that I would have traded places with hubby.

·       Kids crave structure, but routines without kid-centered activities create moms who crave wine.

Dancing Queen

On a whim, I called a dance studio on July 5^th and signed L up for a 6 week 2 year-old dance class (which happened to start that night!). I wanted to see if she was as into dancing in public as she is at home (she has literally been dancing since the day she was born). Tonight was our last class (there is one week left but we will be on VACATION!), so I thought for tonight’s post, I would show you a bit of our dancing queen (it took a few weeks for her to come out of her shell but she finally did!).

(video coming as soon as I can figure out how to get it from my phone to my computer!)

Lessons I learned today:

·         Waking up before 5am to days in a row does a tired mommy make!

·         I am officially out of inside activities (library again today)

·         There are few things better than having a baby sleep on you or spying on our kids as they are playing (or dancing).

The Next Martha Stewart

I think not! Today was another day over 90 (which all of my friends in Texas tell me is no big deal – but I am having a hard time finding something to do that won’t roast the baby in her car seat), so I had to find more indoor activities to occupy the munchkins and keep them out of trouble.

After the Monday morning workout the thermometer only read 84 egrees, so I opted for an unscheduled trip to the park (a little bit of a problem as J decided to wear his ‘fancy shoes’ and L had on Crocs). I took some advice from a previous co-worker turned SAHM and literally ran J & L around in circles – we raced around the circular sidewalk 2 times (the third time was interrupted by L falling caused by her shoes  being on the wrong feet – nothing two Barbie band-aids won’t cure)!). Nap time was very successful today since everyone woke up before the sun (yes, it was a typical Monday!).

So, my indoor activity of choice today was baking. We are having a little dinner for my sister’s birthday on Wednesday so I thought I’d make ice cream and a cake, and wanted to get some cookies made for vacation next week. My kids always beg me to help out when making dinner (and I’m usually successful at finding an activity condusive to their abilities), so I thought this would be a fun thing for everyone today.

Not. So .Much. My first mistake – making raspberry sorbet with a 2 year old and 4 year old (who were still a little short on sleep). Needless to say, my crafty indoor activity didn’t last very long. My kids were troopers though (once I get an idea, I have a hard time letting go so I was determined to bake today!), and managed to play nicely together (for the most part) all afternoon… and I got all my baking finished!

Lessons I learned today:

·       As much as I sometimes like to pretend (on my rare day of ‘crafting), I will not be the next woman to build an empire making the perfect soufflé.

·       My kids seem to understand when mommy is having a bad day and magically start to behave.

·       I need to do a better job of letting go of my to-do list and making fun for my kids.