Check-in

So I'm working on that birth story. And by working on it, I mean I haven't started it but think about starting it all the time!

Oof. I have been busy, the days just fly by and all of a sudden it's 8:00 pm and the boys are in bed and Olive is sleeping peacefully in the Rock-n-Play and I have little energy for more than folding laundry or tidying up the kitchen or watching TV. Lame I know. 

And today I'm kind of stuck wasting time sitting at my parents' house while the cleaning lady is busy scrubbing my grimy bathroom and mopping the disgusting kitchen floor. (Really forgot how messy and gross spring can be. Especially if you have a DOG. Our backyard a week ago was truly disgusting.)  

I know. Rough life I live. Kids are at daycare, Dan is busy at work bringing home the bacon, there's a nice lady cleaning my house, and I am sitting on the couch at my parents' house, trapped under a sleeping almost 3-week old baby, coffee and cinnamon roll by my side, watching a drunk Kathie Lee talk about nonsense on the 7th hour (sounds about right) of the Today show. 

No complaints here. Though I really should have grabbed my laptop this morning. I broke down and finally downloaded the Blogger App on my phone, so maybe you'll be treated to more of these stream of consciousness/I'm trapped under a baby posts in the future!

My lap while I type away on my phone. 

Maternity leave is awesome. And I have loved the time I've gotten to spend with just Olive when the boys are at daycare Tuesdays through Thursdays. Our mornings are pretty hectic though, with getting the boys to either daycare or preschool every weekday, so I still most definitely look forward to weekends and the slowness of those mornings. 

Olive is not always loving being carted around every morning either. Poor thing. 9 am is just about when she would like to nurse again and go back to sleep for the rest of the morning but instead she is buckled in the car seat and forced to accompany her chauffeur mommy all over town.  This week there have been a lot of tears as we try to get out of the house. The boys though are so sweet and helpful and just hate when she's upset. Gus has become a very reliable pacifier holder/retriever while we drive. 

And since I'm out every morning it's easy to make the decision to just run errands and meet up with friends and then inevitably we girls come home in the afternoon and both crash from exhaustion. 

Yesterday I had another one of those giant parenting fails. I signed up to celebrate Gus's half birthday at preschool before Olive was born, but somehow I put it on my calendar wrong and thought it was next Wednesday. Nope. It was yesterday. So as I was dropping off Gus his teacher mentioned it and I had the HOLY SHIT moment and started to scramble. Moms and dads are supposed to spend the school day with the birthday kid. We bring a special treat and baby pictures to share and of course I had none of that. Including the dad. Oh yeah, and I had Louie because I had planned on dropping him at daycare after Gus at preschool. Ughhhhhhhh. 

So I raced Louie out of there. Promised Gus I'd be right back (he was so excited, why didn't he tell ME this was happening? He was fully aware and his teacher said he had been talking about it on Monday!) And then started making the panicked calls. Dan wouldn't answer his phone. My mom wouldn't answer her phone. My sister-in-law wouldn't answer her phone. I needed someone to go get the ice cream that Gus had requested. I was sobbing and feeling like the worst mother. I didn't have the Moby to put the baby in during class. 

Groan. Just. The. Worst. 

Oh but it worked out okay. Gus had no baby pictures to share, but he got to show off his real live baby sister. And Dan couldn't make it because he had meetings all morning, but my mom came through with the ice cream. Still. I hate that it was all so half-assed and felt the guilt. Oh yes, major guilt. 

So I promised Gus we would go out to dinner somewhere fun after daycare as a family. This decision lead to an extremely exhausting and somewhat stressful evening because poor Olive freaked out in the car on the way to and from the "restaurant". Let's just say we were reminded why you don't take a 3 week old baby out during the witching hour. 

We tried this new place in Minnetonka, Play and Learn Cafe. It was fun, but INSANE and you could tell the staff was overwhelmed. We were told that they have actually been closing early in the evenings as of late because they were so dead, but I guess word is starting to get out. Because last night it was crazy busy. The kids of course LOVED it, but I was a bit less than impressed by the food. It looked beautiful, but for example, the kids meals were just not enough food for my kids. Louie ate his little slider burger and yogurt and fruit and then asked for another hamburger. Uhhhh. Sorry dude. 

My food was fine, just cold, which I'm guessing was a result of the unexpected dinner rush. I'm willing to give it a second try at some point. 

Gus's grilled cheese kids meal. Pretty and healthy, for sure! Just... not enough of it. I guess maybe my kids eat a lot compared to others? 

The play area was very fun and the kids had a blast running around, I might just go in the afternoon next time, while the families with toddlers are all home napping, and get some coffee and treats or something instead of a meal. I don't know. Fun place though, and loved the concept. 

What more should I say before my phone dies? 

Maybe just a few more pictures. 

Laura you are right!! (I don't know how to link on this app!) These Zutano booties are THE BEST. Actually stay on! Olive wears them everyday and I plan on buying them in every size as she grows out of them. :)

All the kids at my nephew Graham's 2nd birthday party this past weekend. You better believe I was a mere hop away ready to catch my baby girl who appears to be just teetering on her brother's lap. Ha. Oh and poor Louie is sobbing because I guess he wanted to hold Olive for the picture. 

I humored him for this photo and he felt better. 

They still love her!

I went to Southdale in search of spring jackets for the boys on Tuesday after meeting some work friends for lunch. Such a treat, I never actually go shopping at a mall anymore. Of course there was a parking lot nursing session involved on this outing. 

That's that for now. Heading home to my clean house!