I admit...I've always tried to be that Mom. That Mom that always has fun activities planned for the kids. That Mom that always tries to keep snack & meal time new and exciting. That Mom that volunteers in her kid's class. That Mom that plays video games with her boys and says silly bathroom words like "poop" to make her son chuckle. That Mom that only promotes educational cartoons. I am that Mom. Well, I'm that Mom, but a little slacking lately. It's nearly impossible to be that Mom when I'm running on an hour's sleep, have a baby that only nurses to sleep, and have a 5 year old that thinks all my latest activity ideas are now "boring." My patience runs thin faster. My creativity is lacking. My pantry is bare. "Spongebob" has taken over my TV lately. I so want to be able to do it all, but some days its just not possible. Even my blog is feeling neglecting.
Today, I started to feel more like that Mom again though. I set up a cute decorative chalk board chore chart for Connor. I went out to lunch with my Hubby to a new Mexican restaurant & packed appropriately to keep my sweet 5 month old content the entire time. I cleaned house. I ordered Noah's personalized Easter basket. I delivered a bag of some of Noah's hand-me-downs to a neighbor with a baby boy. I'm slowly feeling like myself again.
Maybe it was after that 6 hour stretch of sleep last night that Noah gifted me! Sleep is so under-rated.
As I take a break from my Super Mom duties, I figured I'd catch up on my poor blog. Here are some photos from the past week or two.
Matt & I found ourselves at Jaycee park a few weeks ago, as we were in the Cape, but had a few hours to burn before we picked up Connor. We didn't know where to go with Noah, so ended up pulling into Jaycee park. The views are so refreshing. I always seemed to avoid the actual park with Connor over the years, because of the sand. Oh, how the clean freak in me hates sand. The weather was perfect that afternoon though and it was a great place to park Noah, feed him his carrots for supper, and wait to pick up C.
I remembered taking Connor to Jaycee Park when he was a baby for a picnic supper with my parents. I tried to recreate the photo with Noah, just 5 years later.
It's pretty amazing how much my life has changed in those 5 years. I had no idea in the top picture of what my life had in store for me. In the bottom picture, I may be aged with a few gray hairs already (eek!), but so so happy with where God has brought me. And by golly, I make some adorable, smiley babies!
My boys are lucky to have such a wonderful Dad.
Sidenote: After having Noah, we refer to Matt as "Dad" quite a bit around the house. I knew C might have questions with both the boys having different "Dads." I made a point to explain to C back when I was pregnant that he's lucky to have two Father figures and that Matt is known as his Step Dad. C didn't really seem to care, since he knew Matt as "Matt," and he didn't really worry about the title since he'll never actually call him that when talking to him. Well, in the past week, I have been with C when he is talking to his friends about Matt. C made a point to say, "See Matt. He's my Stuff Dad." He says it so fast that it sounds just like Step Dad, so the kids didn't question him. I asked C later what he called him and he said, "He's my Stuff Dad." C assumed I was saying "Stuff Dad," as in the "Dad he does stuff with." We got a good giggle out of it and I told him he can call him that if he wants. :)
Noah's been doing much better trying new foods. He was pretty picky to start, making lots of gaggy faces and refusing anything other that sweet potatoes and carrots. I just kept trying with new flavors and he began to accept them. We even busted out C's mesh eater to try some banana and avocado. It made me want to do another fun comparison photo of the boys. Oh, the big blue eyes!
Noah's officially at the point where he won't stay asleep in his carseat if the car stops moving. I carried his carseat in the house with him sound asleep, then looked down to see this face.
Another month has passed...
Lots of big changes this month!
-Eating baby food (sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, peas, bananas, avocado, pears)
-Rolling over both ways
-sleeping better (up 2x instead of 12x)
-fresh hair has grown in
-grabbing toys
-everything goes directly in the mouth
-able to go in the pool
-cries less in the car (cries half the time instead of the entire time)
Our little Piranha baby wants to chomp on just about anything.
Still no teeth coming through though.
Last week, I posted on our neighborhood Facebook page asking neighbors if they were selling a jogging stroller. Within 5 minutes, I had found someone down the street that was selling a perfectly good jogging stroller for $25 (same one was $150 brand new). We picked it up & it has become our new go-to stroller. I have jogged a few times with it, fed Noah babyfood in it when we're out and about, and walk him in it every day. He wouldn't sit long in his other stroller and with this one, he falls asleep in it almost every time! It was well worth the purchase!
We usually walk while Noah and his Octopus hang out. He usually just chomps on him until he falls asleep. This is how I caught him on our walk a few days ago. So cute.
He stays asleep as long as I keep walking. It's great motivation to shed my remaining baby weight!
Last Tuesday, Connor hung with Nana & Papa. Papa snuck home early from work to get some pool playtime in with his little buddy. Seeing Dad play with Connor in the pool reminds me of when he used to play with Craig, Katie and I as kids. After launching C in the pool, I can imagine Dad was sore the next day though. C isn't light!!
Wednesday, Thursday & Friday, it was just me & the boys. Holy long 3 days. Matt went to Ohio for work, so we were home alone. Behind this happy baby was lurking a congested, stuffy nose that kept us up alllllll night long those few nights. It was not easy entertaining both boys running on zero sleep, without a break when Matt would usually come home in the evenings.
I managed to take both the boys to our dentist appointment on Thursday. I had no idea how it would go! I was blurry-eyed from no sleep, C was on his own in the Dentist chair while I held Noah, and Noah was awake during his regularly long afternoon naptime. I think God knew I couldn't handle much more, so he gifted me an exhausting, yet easy visit. No tears. No cavities. The girls in the office held Noah for me while I got my x-rays. I managed to hold Noah on my lap the entire time I got my teeth cleaned. Connor scored some Star Wars goodies out of the treasure box. We all did great! Phew!
Matt got in Friday night. He entertained C while I headed out before bedtime to load up on all things Vicks for Noah's room that night, in hopes it would help him sleep. To my surprise, Noah slept MUCH better, and we all woke refreshed this morning.
Let's hope another wonderful night's sleep is in store for us tonight!
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