1:00 AM: Claire wakes me up crying hysterically saying her stomach hurts. I had gone to bed at 11 pm so I was pretty groggy and cranky. I make her go to the bathroom - she feels a bit better and goes back to bed.
5:00 AM: Penelope wakes up and I nurse her. Back to sleep.
8:00 AM: I wake up - Matt let me sleep in, bless him. He is sick too though, and had slept downstairs. I will have him take a nap later.
8:45 AM: Claire still feels sick so I cancel her and Miles' 9 am play date with her preschool teacher. Bummer, I was really looking forward to a quiet house.
9:30 AM: Claire throws up right after I tell her I am tired of hearing that her stomach hurts and she probably just needs to go poop for goodness sake! Mother of the year, right here.
10:00 AM: My kids need attention, I think. And Miles is getting a lot of negative
attention lately. I remind myself to be more positive and loving so I take Miles for a walk around the neighborhood to stretch our legs. He has to go to the bathroom so I let him go on the grass near our playground. He loves peeing standing up.
10:45 AM: Back from walk - too hot to stay out very long. It was good to have some alone time with Miles, even if only for 45 minutes.
11:00 AM: Both Claire and Miles want to take a shower, so I set them up in both bathrooms. Miles says he has to go potty, so I get him on the toilet. Then Claire calls for me - the water is too cold. I run in to fix it. Then I go back to check on Miles - he has unwound all of the dental floss. Penelope cries - I go get her. I come back, Miles has poured his capri sun juice into the paintbrush holder on the play easel. I leave it. Penelope is poopy - I am changing her diaper when Miles comes up behind me and pulls down my pants. He laughed so hard! I pull up my pants and get Claire out of the shower. I think about birth control.
11:07 AM: Just kidding, it was probably more time than that but it feels like every minute is filled with kids misbehaving and getting into trouble - the days are long, but nap times feel short.
I know I am supposed to sleep when the baby sleeps, but it's not really an option most days. During naps, I work on my PR projects and Matt studies for the GMAT (when he doesn't have the flu). I have stayed current on all my work email and then also done some work for my law firm client while on maternity leave. It has helped to pay the bills as more than half of my maternity leave is unpaid. I wish I could take the full 12 weeks off available to me by law, but we will just make it with our savings for my 9 weeks off as it is.
I know I will look back on these days and miss them - everyone says so. It must be true. :)
5 comments:
I love it, Shannon! Some day we will look back and miss these days...right? I know I miss have little babies to snuggle on, so it must be true.
You are so amazing and you are doing an amazing job!
I wanted to write what my mom emailed me so I wouldn't forget it (she doesn't comment on my blog):
You miss the smiles, the trusting looks and beliefs that you are perfect but knowing you are not, you will miss seeing them sleep so sweetly, their laughter, the outings, the traditions of the holidays, the soccer games and various other sports activities, plays and musicals, awards they win, boy scouts and girl scouts, and so on. Not the laundry, dishes, messy rooms, changing bed sheets, flus and colds and temper tantrums etc. Maybe we do just a little, no we don't. :-)
I LOVE Mary's email!! She nails it. I am not a Mom (yet) but I desperately want to have children someday, and I refuse to over-romanticize it by saying you will "miss" the puking! Today was hard! And you are a warrior. Keep fighting the good fight, your kids are blessed!
Nah, I doubt you'll miss these days. Ha ha. But you WILL laugh about them and feel like you can conquer anything if you can be a mom to three wild kids four-years-old and under. Oh, but you will miss that sweet baby, your two-year-old and four-year-old...just maybe not the mix of them creating havoc all together. ;)
And you will miss how much they implicitly trust you, love you and look up to you. Having a nearly teenager has taught me that much. Where did the little girl who idolized me go? Now I've got a very big girl with a very big mouth. And I love her to death, but it is definitely not with the same sweet innocence of years past. I think this is why we are advised over and over to savor the moments. The good moments.
Love you. You're awesome. If anyone can handle it, you can. And if you need a breather, a walk around the block does wonders to clear the head, but a night out with girls is even better.
Just read the other comments. Agree with your moms email. Even though I haven't passed all she wrote about, the days of out of control baby laundry, constant toddler messes and slopped up high chairs are already a memory for me. It's weird, but it actually does pass.
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