Another Week Gone...

On Monday, I introduced Aunny to my readers. By Friday, I was wondering why anyone would want to have a child, much less two! On Thursday night, Robert sat next to me on the couch. We were both exhausted. Robert said, and I quote: "Next time we have kids, let's not have them so close together." Amen.

Is it just me, or do we seem to be on a "good week, bad week" schedule? I feel as though every time I'm on an upswing, and feel like we're finally getting a handle on things around the house, the kids decide to throw me for a loop. One thing I'm learning: unlike working a desk job, being a SAHM is a new adventure every week. Because of the chaos of this week, I have very few pictures. This may be a good thing.

Grace was the most trying for me this week. She has been waking up early every day. This makes for one tired mama. Yesterday, Grace woke up at 5:30. I usually try to leave her in bed until seven... but there was going to be none of that based on the "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" that repetitiously came from her bedroom. So, I stumbled down the hall before she woke up her brother, changed her diaper, and brought her into bed with us in the off chance she'd get snuggly warm and go to sleep.

After much wiggling, she seemed to finally settle in. For whatever reason, she was most comfortable with her elbow securely nestled into my eye socket... but she was quiet. And still. So I let her be. Unfortunately, that lasted about ten minutes. Next, she climbed right on top of me, and snuggled her head into my collar bone. Fine. Would have been even better if her hair wasn't tickling my nose, but fine. Go. To. Sleep. Nope!

Next she turned over and decided to rest right between my legs, her head resting on my thigh. Great. Fine. Sleep. Before I knew it, she had slithered all the way down off the bed and announced "Buzz Woody!". It was six o'clock. She obviously wasn't going to fall back asleep. Neither was I. Off we went, to watch Toy Story. And that was just the beginning.

On the one hand, she is growing and learning so quickly it is amazing. On the other hand, it's been too quick for me to even keep up. She's really getting good at utilizing different objects (usually chairs) to explore and discover. I found that she had brought a chair up to the television so she could open the DVD player and put two DVDs in. She has learned to bring a chair up to the bookcase to try and climb to reach the small toys that she can play with only when Mark is sleeping. She has learned to move a chair over to my desk to reach the scissors. I found her heading into the living room with dolly in one hand and the scissors in the other. Luckily, I have no idea if she had plans for being a hairdresser or serial killer. I have learned to move fast when I hear a chair moving.

She has also taken her diaper off again and played in the contents. This time it required a steam cleaner and multiple surface wipes. Did I mention this was after she had gone into her brother's room and woken him up? She has learned to press every single one of my buttons. I didn't know I had so many.

I swear, I'm ready to use packing tape to secure her diaper before nap time. Potty training has been one of the strangest experiences for me. At the moment, my daughter will use the potty with no fear, no reservations, and has no accidents when we're out in public. So what's the problem? She will only go when she wants to (or when we're out and about and there are new bathrooms to be seen). At home, she will ask to use the potty when it serves her purposes. Don't want to finish your dinner? Ask to go potty. Don't want to go to bed? Ask to go potty. Don't want to clean the play room? Ask to go potty. And she goes - every time. But she won't go without some sort of inner motivation. Stinker.

If you're happy and you know it, momma must be
too tired to keep the spoon and bowl from you.
(Probably because your sister woke up before dawn.)

Mark is a master at making messes. He has recently begun to get really angry when I feed him. Mostly because he wants to feed himself. The problem, of course, is that he can't feed himself. Try telling him that. He takes the spoon, bangs it inside the bowl, and then holds the spoon up in his best impression of the Statue of Liberty. That's it. He has never - not once - brought that spoon to his mouth. He still hasn't walked either. Stinker.

With Liberty and Justice for ALL!

If you've got some stinkers on your hands this week, hopefully you didn't need a steam vac to help you out. In spite of the bad days and the difficulties, I'm always amazed to realize that I don't want to give up being a stay at home mom. There are certainly some challenges that come with raising your kids, but there are some fun moments too. I couldn't tell you what they are at the moment... but I know they are. Until next week...