Week in the Life: Saturday

The fast and the furious edition...  I barely took any pictures today.

Weekend = dual parenting team, YES!

It's a rainy and gloomy day. 

Louie takes a monster morning nap, and the rest of us drink coffee (well not Gus) and play and watch Curious George and bum around the house.  Sound familiar?

It feels like all we are doing today is disciplining Gus.  Spring fever?  Typical two-year-old stuff?  I don't know, but my child is driving me INSANE.  I hate this part of parenting a toddler, because with every time out and every talking to and every moment where I'm trying SO. HARD. not to loose my patience, I always feel a little bit of sadness and remorse afterwards.  Like if I'm accomplishing anything it's breaking this wonderful little boy's wild spirit, which just might be the thing I love most about him.  I don't know.  It's just... well it makes me feel like I might be doing it wrong. 

Laundry.

OH MY GOD we have to get house.

We have those too small shoes we received earlier in the week that need to be returned via the post office, so that's our first thrilling errand.

I make a quick stop at the McDonalds drive-thru while Dan is in the post-office.  It's sadly quite clear how often I do this since, as usual, Gus yells out LARGE DIET COKE! and THANK YOU! when I pull up. 

The second errand involves doing something about that rat's nest of hair on my son's head.  There are large, terrifying cartoon scissors at this place, and bright yellow walls and purple chairs, its definitely what you would call an overstimulating environment.  Louie kind of loved it.

There is a crazy mess of people waiting at the front.  We get ready for a long wait, but it's only about fifteen minutes.   

I consider for a second trying to get Dan to take the kids somewhere fun for lunch, but really, we're both just exhausted from our morning of disciplining and the rain has got the whole family in a funk, so we head home.

Lunch, then nap time.

Dan and I watch a two hour DVR'd episode of The Voice last week in about 45 minutes (while I blog).  I can't believe people sit through the whole two hours of this show.  It's really lame actually, but for some reason it's the only reality show we have gotten into.

I think about straightening my hair and trying to make myself attractive, because my parents are taking the kids and it's date night tonight!  Can't wait, we're just going to a movie, nothing too exciting, but we're both feeling pretty drained from parenting and the timing couldn't be better.

This is what my hair looks like if I do nothing to it after showering, like I did this morning.  Ack! 

I end up just putting it back into a messy bun.  Soooo lazy!  I know, I should probably try harder for my husband.    

Not only are my parents taking the kids for the evening, but they're taking Gus for the night, quite a treat for all involved actually, Gus loves spending the night over there.

After nap time we decide to make room for the pack-n-play in our bedroom.  Hoping this change helps Louie start sleeping better.  Who knows, but it's a first step.  Still going to wait a few days to put away the bassinet though, just in case. 

Our little night out is quite lovely.  Good movie, delicious popcorn, nice company, and we even talked about things other than the boys.  When we pick up Louie at my parents I check in on Gus sleeping in his own little bed at grandma's and he looks so lovely and peaceful and I just want to go smell his hair and pick him up and bring him home with me.  I pull myself together and remember just why it will be nice for all three of us (mom/dad/Gus) to have a night of space from each other and we head home with just our baby. 

Week in the Life: Friday

My work week is over, yipee!  Gus doesn't get the memo that he doesn't have to get up early to go to Grandma's.

I'm nursing Louie at 5:00 when Dan gets out of bed for work, and he's back asleep about 20 minutes later.  At 5:38 I am woken from my lovely 18 minutes of slumber by Gus's voice on the monitor.  I feel a little bit like throwing up.  That is sleep deprivation for you.  ;)

I bring the monitor for Louie upstairs with me and climb into bed, dozing on and off.  I can't be sure if Gus went back to sleep, but he must have because he doesn't force me up and out of bed until 6:45 or so.

Louie is up anyway, so we head downstairs and snuggle in bed all three of us a bit until Gus is driving me crazy bouncing around and pressing the buttons on his very loud motorcycle.

Hmmm, we're a pretty snuggly family I suppose, didn't realize that until I started documenting this week.

I notice at this time that I slept all night wearing the cardigan that I wore to work yesterday, over my pajamas.  Huh.  How did that happen?

When we venture into the kitchen for breakfast, I find this note on the kitchen counter, written on a paper towel.  I am amused that he decorated it with Cars stickers.  Gus is quite excited about that fact as well.

Neeeeeeed.  

Gus sitting very nicely in his chair eating breakfast.  This kid needs a haircut, look at that rat's nest!

Playtime in the living room before the baby's nap.  George puzzle!

 I am somewhat concerned about the flat spot on Louie's head.  I've been noticing it quite a bit over the last few weeks, and I'm really hoping it's not something we need to get one of those helmets to correct.  Boo.  I'm probably being over-concerned, I know most babies develop a bit of a flat spot, and it usually starts to round out and look more normal once they're rolling over and spending more time on their bellies.  Still, it's quite obvious in this picture.

Louie goes down for a nap just before 8:30, puts himself to sleep with no fussing at all.  Thank you buddy.
     

Gus chooses to pull out the insanely loud "zuzic" (music) toys at exactly the moment I put his brother down for a nap in our bedroom right next to the living room, so I persuade him to bring the concert into the kitchen.

I go to pump and realize I have no clean pump parts.  Curses!

Gus and I go to the basement bathroom and start to get ready for the day.  We have a lunch date with uncle Ben and my old coworker friend Laura, she left the company just a few weeks before I came back from maternity leave and I MISS HER!  (Play date soon Laura!)

I had to make this picture black and white because the lighting in our basement bathroom makes me look truly HIDEOUS.  I'm still in my pajamas (tank top and Dan's old stretched out boxers) and yesterday's cardigan.

Little Louie is up from his nap around 10:00.   Tummy time!  Let's get rid of that flat spot boy!

Looking much more presentable, despite my one-day dirty hair (and cluttered dresser).

Ben calls and asks if he can come over for the hour before we have to leave for lunch.  He was out getting a hair cut and is killing time.  SURE!  I'm totally up for some adult interaction.

Ben comes and hangs out a little in the living room with the boys while I swiffer vacuum the kitchen and make the bed.  I swear all he's doing is sitting on the couch playing with his phone, but if he hadn't been there, Louie would have been fussing and Gus would have been hanging on my legs while I tried to get these simple tasks done.

Nothing says toddler like finding a motorcycle in your bed.

After lunch with Laura the boys both go down for their naps and I relaaaaaaax.  Both sleep for about two hours, at the same time.  Lovely.  I catch up on some of my Week in the Life blogging and feel much less stressed about how behind I am on this project.  (Blogging about blogging, how meta!)

I wake Gus up at 4:00 when Dan gets home from work and we decide to go for a walk, even though it's pretty chilly.  It's nice to just get out of the house and get some fresh air.  Louie is starting to fuss anyway by 4:30, looking to take his early evening cat nap, so it's good timing as he can sleep in the carrier.

Grandpa sees us at the park (my parents live just across the street from it) and walks over.  That's him smiling and talking to Louie as we get the boys strapped into the stroller to walk home.

We stop and pick up dinner on the way home, feeling lazy about cooking.  (Yes, after eating out for lunch.  I admit, this happens a lot on Fridays.)

Greek tonight.  Gus's favorite, he asks for it by saying "MEAT!"

Bedtime.  Louie is out very quickly tonight, after lots of fresh air on our walk.

"Nilk."

"It's time for bed.  Stars fill the skies.  Now it's time to close your eyes."

Pacifier.  Cuddles.  Good night!      

Week in the Life: Thursday

Whoa... loosing steam here by Thursday, that's for sure!  

That's ok.  Thursday was pretty laid back, more of the same as far as the morning routine goes.

Dan watches the news every morning.  Looks like a gross weather weekend ahead!  Yay!

I don't think to take any pictures at work unless I'm eating.  It's all about the food at the office, probably because it's admittedly quite lovely to eat meals at my own pace with neither of my baybees needing me.  

 

Chipotle is INSANE today at lunch!  

Mmmmmmm.

At my parents' house for dinner.  Nathan works a pretty crazy retail schedule and it's hard to get the whole family together, but he's off tonight!  We were playing it by ear this morning because if Gus didn't end up napping, we weren't going to push it, but miracle upon miracles, he finally slept.

Took this picture after dinner.  Notice how Gus's full plate is still sitting there?  Punk was just not having it tonight at dinner, barely ate a thing, a few carrots, a few pieces of broccoli, but mostly he just whined and wanted to go play with the NEW TOYS!.

Speaking of....

My brother's wife Michelle is going to start watching my boys in June, so she's starting to accumulate toys.  A trip to my parents attic brings out all these awesome old school little people toys!  It's a total blast from the past, I have so many memories of playing with these toys with my brothers!   

The 2000's have RUINED little people toys.  This stuff is awesome.

Ben and I are almost as excited about these toys as Gus.

I know, enough.  But I can't stand it, I haven't seen this stuff for so long!!!  I LOVED this space station little people toy.  Like seriously, hours of entertainment when I was ten.

 

Snuggles from my baby.  Cutie slept through dinner upstairs in the pack-n-play after finally getting to nurse.  (It was kind of a rush when I got home from work, getting out of the house and over to my parents, so he had to wait.) 

You know how earlier this week I said Louie is trying so hard to roll over?

He's soooooo close!  He just needs to figure out how to get that one shoulder out from under him.  

Come on buddy, you can do it!  At this point, the whole room is cheering him on.  Go Louie!

Oh my goodness oh my goodness!  He did it!

We are thrilled, he is proud of himself, and grandma missed it.

Then two minutes later he does it again!

And grandma missed it again! 

Oh grandma, if you would just stop talking for 30 seconds!

Fun milestone, now I need to stop setting you on the edge of the bed while I go to the bathroom!  That's the thing about babies, just as we get used to one stage, it's on to the next.  Love it, so proud of this little guy, less than a week away from being four-months old.   

Week in the Life: Wednesday

Another work day.  Hump day!

On Wednesdays I drop the kids off at my mom's, so there's no Dan around to help get everyone out of the house.  Last night was not a great night of sleep for Louie and me, which means I get up late and don't have time to shower.  I am less concerned about this than I probably should be.  ;)

Gus is up when I get out of bed at 6:00, hanging out with Dan in the kitchen, watching Curious George.  Darn it, he may be sleeping better these days but he's getting up WAY earlier.  It's always a trade-off with kids and sleep, isn't it?  Dan leaves, so I bring Gus down to the basement where I get ready and he watches more TV and plays.  Yeah, more television.  That's just how it's got be on mornings like this.

Louie is awake upstairs soon after I start getting ready, but he's cooing and kicking around, so I don't rush to get him.  I realize how little time I have, and pretty much do the bare minimum to be office-friendly.  Teeth.  Face.  Minimal make-up.  Deodorant.  Clean clothes.

Funny thing is that since I didn't shower, and my hair was straightened yesterday, I am actually running early, despite waking up late.

I get slippers on Gus and Louie's diaper changed (I attempt to nurse him, but he never really wants to nurse right away in the morning once he's really up, and we did that at 6:00 anyway), and we're out the door by 6:40.  I marvel at how I manged that.

I decide that since my mom won't be expecting us until at the earliest, 7:00, we have time to stop and get a morning treat!  I mention donuts to Gus, and of course he is game.

We drive down our neighborhood's Main street about 2 minutes from my house and the bakery that I was planning on stopping at doesn't open until 7:00.  I find that really annoying.

I decide to stop at the little coffee shop just down the road, hoping they'll have something.  I start to drop hints to Gus that he might be getting a muffin instead of a doughnut, not knowing what they'll have at this little hole-in-the-wall place, I feel like it's probably a good idea to prepare him for this potential change so we can avoid a tantrum in public.

I haul my two boys out of the car (I cannot believe I decided to take on a little errand that involves so much in-and-out of car seats after such little sleep) and we make our way in.

 Yes, Gus is still in his pajamas and slippers.  He doesn't seem to mind, and sending clothes/shoes in the bag to grandma's certainly saves us a lot of time and trouble in the morning.

They have both muffins AND donuts.  Yay!  He picks out a chocolate doughnut with sprinkles, and I pick two more, one for my mom and one for me, and of course get myself a large dark roast coffee.

Gus dances around talking about my hot coffee, talking to the one other patron, an older gentleman sitting on a couch reading the paper.  He indulges my spunky toddler at such an early hour and smiles and talks to him while I add cream and sugar.

Once the kids are at my moms (and I have woken my mom up) I am off to work.

Same old, same old.  Not going to go into any details about my actual job.  1.)  It would be boring, and 2.)  that just doesn't seem to be a good idea.

 I do cut up my pear mid-morning for a snack.  And for lunch I have my free Subway from yesterday.

Dan and I are both taking off early today to drive out to his brother's house and snuggle their new baby, so I finally get out of the office at 1:00-ish, after pumping for the second time.  (I was supposed to be there at 1:00.  I am an annoying person.)

From 1:30 to about 3:00 we hold the baby and catch up with the new parents.  Well, not necessarily new, this is their third baby boy, so these two are old hat at this stuff!  This visit makes me a little wistful for the newborn days, but also so thankful we're through all that post-partum stuff.  Goodness, less than four months ago that was us, amazing how quickly the time passes!

John picked up some random snacks since he knew we were coming by.  I haven't had a Swiss cake role since probably 8th grade!  This is quite a treat!  

I pick up Louie and Gus on my way home, normally I don't get to do pick up because I'm at work, and this gives Dan a chance to go get an oil change.  The boys are both sleeping when I get there, and Louie took his longest nap ever at my mom's, about two whole hours!

Louie is loving this purple blanket my mom made a year ago for some woman at work's little baby girl.  Clearly she never gave it to her.  (Gracious me, look at those big blue eyes.)

 It is SUCH a gorgeous evening, our house feels super stuffy when I walk in the door and I immediately open all the windows on the first floor.

Then I start on throwing something together for dinner.  It's going to be really random tonight, because there was no planning involved, and there are no leftovers in the refrigerator.

 I cut up a pineapple that needs to be eaten.

Gus pulls out a bunch of play-doh and begs me to make a snake (clearly I have amazing play-doh skills), so I take a break from dinner prep and play with him for a few minutes.

Then I whip up some grilled cheese sandwiches.

And steam some green beans.

And that is dinner.  Grilled cheese.  Pineapple.  Green beans.  Yeah. 

Louie starts to get really fussy during dinner, I can tell he's tired again.  That kid is always tired.  Babies.  So I strap him in the Babyhawk and the two boys and I head out down the street with Gus on his trike.  Dan wants to put together this new bench/storage thing we got for all of the outdoor toys that are taking over our porch and backyard.

 We pick dandelions and get pretty sweaty because it really is WAY hot.  Louie falls asleep immediately.

I teach Gus to blow on the fluffy dandelions and make a wish. He is obsessed, searching out every one he can find, and closing his eyes when he "makes a wish". 

I love sweet nights like this, but I'm also really exhausted, and pretty much am trying to force myself to enjoy it.  I really wish I had the energy of my two year old.     

Gus is excited about the new toy chest when we get home.

And also excited to hang out with daddy.  Dan, I think, is just grateful I got him out of his hair long enough to build it. 

I am excited to get Louie out of the carrier and take off some clothes because I've got some insane swoobs (sweaty boobs) action happening.

A much less crabby Louie (after his cat nap on our walk) and I snuggle in bed a bit.  I decide I should give him a bath tonight, since it's been a week.  I know.  Weekly baths.  I am terrible!  In my defense, he had really sensitive and dry skin up until about a month ago.  He used to get a rash every time I bathed him, so we started to do it less and less until it somehow became once a week.  I'm sure that will change as the weather gets warmer, and Louie gets more mobile so there are more chances for him to get dirty.

Both kids get baths and head to bed.  After which it's the typical weeknight fun... dishes, cleaning, daycare bag, beer, snack, a little TV, then bed.  Bedtime keeps pushing out for Dan and I because even though we both are super tired, it's just the only time we get to really relax and spend time just the two of us.  Unfortunately we're usually both regretting these late nights it in the morning.