Better

Well, I'm feeling better. I did have a morning to myself on Tuesday and it really helped. I met up with a couple of my friends for "free pastry day" at Starbucks. We chatted for quite some time and it was a nice break! David and I are going to pick a day once a week where I can go off without the kids and just have some time to myself. This should help for sure.



David took this first picture yesterday of Lily and I am in awe of how long she is getting. Those legs!
Lily got all dressed by herself! Including the accessories of shoes and sunglasses!


This weekend was Lisa and Rik's annual Tiki Party. We had fun! I didn't take very many pictures and a few pictures didn't turn out well. This is Lisa, the hostess and Lily playing with a lei.



Jack-in-the-box

Bluesy

The last few days have been a bit rough for me. I'm feeling a bit bored and blue with my life. Don't get me wrong, I love my husband and my children. I just find being a stay at home Mom very challenging sometimes and this is one of those times. I feel like every day is painfully the same, even the weekends when my husband is home all day. For my sanity and my children's sanity, I do love schedules. My kids are on a basic schedule of sleeping. Go to bed at 7:30 and Jack has two naps while Lily has one nap. I have been successful with getting Lily's afternoon nap in line with Jack's afternoon nap. There are days when that doesn't happen, but for the most part, they sleep at the same time. Therefore, we must make sure we are home for those naps. I am leaving playgroups early or arriving late because of the nap schedule. It will get easier when Jack moves to one nap a day, when he is about a year old.

This morning I just felt so blue about the day. I had no plans today and felt like the 3 hours before the afternoon nap would be forever. I ended up taking the kids to the mall and having Lily play in the play area they provide. It did help pass the time. Right now Jack is in his crib and Lily is finishing up her lunch. (I forgot to feed her lunch before going to the mall - oops! Poor girl).

I think I need to find myself a hobby that I can devote time to each week. I also need to find time to spend with my girl friends without children. That brings up another thing I feel guilty about. When I am away, that means my husband is watching the kids. I feel guilty asking him to watch the kids because he does have a full time job outside of the house. So, he is either working at his outside job, watching the kids or doing something around the house. I try to be cognizant of his fun time too and encourage him to take a guys night as well. I'm supposed to have a day a week to myself. Well, a morning a week (David goes to work at 11:30am). I am not so great about taking this day. Last week it didn't happen and so far no plans to do so this week. The week before last I did have a morning and man, it made all the difference in the world. I need to be better about getting with David and working out a schedule to have a morning to myself each week.

I have applied for a couple of part time jobs. I think this would allow me to feel like I can use my brain more than Motherhood. The down side to a morning PT job would be I'd miss out on the playgroups. So, I have mixed feelings about working right now. I think my Mommy friends really help pull me through these early childrearing years. It's nice to talk with them and know that I'm not the only one feeling challenged with raising young children.

So, as I'm writing this, Lily is now in bed and banging on her crib, which wakes up Jack. Now they are both screaming. There goes quiet time!!

I know this is a phase and I'll get through it. Just needed to vent...happier blog next time. I promise!!!

Sink baths, slings and guitars

The other day we needed to give Jack a bath stat! I've never given my kids a sink bath, and it worked like a charm! Jack had fun too!!



I love my baby slings! It makes carrying Jack around so much easier. David found my wrap job funny. He said it looked like I ducted taped Jack to my belly. The 2nd picture reminds me of being pregnant again. I'm so so so happy we are only pregnant for 9 months!



Jack is also sitting in a highchair and eating dinner with us. He's still so-so on solid foods, but we are getting there!


Lily being sweet...


Lily loves to play with my guitar. Yesterday, she was singing about "everybody's potty trained!" (if only that were true for her!) Then she got the blues and was singing "Everybody's broke. Everbody's sad." Guess she has an insight on the state of the country!?

The 4th

We had a nice 4th of July. We hung around the house in the morning, then after nap time, we went to my friend, Nicole's house for a BBQ. Lily enjoyed playing with Nicole's kiddos and even woke up this morning talking about "Miss Nicole's house". No fireworks last night for us as they are too late. However, David and I did see a few from our back deck.


Jack's teething has begun and a rolled up tortilla did the trick. However, I must get regular flour tortillas as the wheat ones fall apart too much. There was quite a protest when I took the tortilla away.....David likes to make Jack laugh by touching his feet to his cheeks. This reminds me of that painting by Edvard Munch "The Scream"




The morning of the 4th we had a picnic in our front yard....Lily helped water plants.



Before going to Nicole's, we had to wake up Lily from her nap. She took awhile coming down the stairs.




At Nicole's house...Jack found a new nap spot on Nicole's Aunt's shoulder....Lily enjoyed the ice cream cake...I think Nicole and Lily look alike in this picture. They have similar profiles. Perhaps Nicole and I are distant cousins?

"Vacation"

Our original side deck...Lots of ball playing with Maya this week...Jack is sitting up all on his own now and loves playing on the floor with big sister.


This week David is on vacation from work. Well, work at his job. And when I say "job", I mean his job outside of the house. This week David is working on our side deck. He's put in a lot of work so far and has lots more to do. I'm looking forward to our new side deck! This will allow us to hang outside, drink coffee, watch the kids play in the cul-de-sac and socialize with the neighbors. Along with the deck, we are running lots of errands and organizing the house. So, this "vacation" is a lot of work, but well worth it. I also get to spend lots of time with the hubby this week and that's always nice.

And another Jack update for those who don't have Facebook: Jack is now saying Mama. Love it!!