I just realized that I've been posting a lot of content that is fun, but not necessarily relevant to my family's life at the moment. And the point of the blog is that in twenty years, I would love to have another way to look back and see what we were up to during these crazy, exhausting baby years.
So, in no particular order, here are a few snippets of our life right now!
-We may or may not laugh when Lincoln responds with a resounding "no!" to everything we ask.
-I haven't left the house by myself with both kids in probably a month.
-Lincoln randomly opens the fridge throughout the day, climbs up on the ledge, and sighs, "nummy, nummy, nummies!" several times a day. I think it's cute so I don't work very hard to stop this habit.
-The sleep situation around here is still terrible. It's currently taking me about two-three hours to get Addie settled down for the night. This ordeal includes nursing endlessly, bouncing, rocking, multiple wake-ups, and more. I'm at my wit's end. I feel like I'm creating another terrible sleeper like Lincoln, but I can't/won't let her cry it out, so I have no idea what to do.
-Because it takes so long to get her to sleep, I have literally no time to do anything without a child hanging on me. The house is getting dirtier and my sanity disappears a little more every day.
-Lincoln seems to choose the times when I am nursing to wreak as much havoc as possible.
-I'm planning to open an Etsy shop soon, and there are craft supplies everywhere. I'm so excited about this because I love to create. But I worry that no one will want my creations. Or, that so many people will want them, I'll have to give it up for lack of time.
-I'm trying to reduce the amount of junk food I consume. I threw out some candy and am attempting to eat fruit or drink infused water whenever I crave sugar. This doesn't really work.
-I have a massive to-do list, huge number of drafted blog posts, and about 15 videos that need to be edited. I never thought that I would be this far behind on everything. :(
-I have a tandem double stroller for the kids, but I've decided I really want a side-by-side. And that's definitely not in our budget right now.
-I feel guilty that we don't have more playdates and that Lincoln doesn't really have that many friends his age - but I am so tired all the time that I can't fathom trying to make new friends right now. Does this make me a terrible mom?
-I'm supposed to be offering summer drama classes as I have had a lot of requests, and it would help supplement our income - but I haven't even begun to plan them yet and the class information really should have gone out several weeks ago.
-I'm trying to grow a chocolate mint plant on my kitchen counter. I've never grown anything before and I'm afraid it's dying.
-I really, really, really miss reading. And I'm sometimes really jealous that my husband reads what seems like all the time. I would give anything to just curl up in bed with a book and read it from cover to cover. Having my arm hurt from laying on it while reading sounds better right now than having my shoulder ache because I have been holding one child or the other for 17+ hours.
-I've always thought I would be a fun, energetic, exciting mama. About once a week, I feel like I might be headed toward that goal. Then, usually, we have a night where no one sleeps, and I'm back at square one.
-Two weeks ago, I decided I would send some random notes to friends via snail mail - because I used to be a letter writing madwoman. I got out five notes that day. I've sent one. In two weeks. Not my greatest turnaround time.
-I baked a pan of brownies about 25 hours ago and literally ate all but about three bites myself. Already.
This wasn't really supposed to turn into a rant about all the things that are wrong right now - but that's what it kind of seems to be! Sorry about that. In all honesty, life is a bit frustrating most days lately. I'm trying to increase my patience times a billion, and am hoping that one day I'll be able to function like a coherent human on the very little sleep that seems to be normal anymore!
I'm surviving on sweet baby smiles and snuggles - and even though I get frustrated, I wouldn't have it any other way.
It's always fun reading about your life, Julie. Especially since I never get to see you!! :(
ReplyDeleteRe: reducing sugar. Good for you!! I struggle with that, too. We've been making smoothies at work recently, and that has really helped me to feel better. It's actually super easy - it takes a lot less time than baking brownies - and if you throw frozen fruit on top of the vegetables you can barely taste them. I'm not sure if you're doing anything like this already, but I thought I'd encourage you since I never would have started doing it by myself.
I hope the kids start sleeping well soon!
We really do need to see each other more often Kayte. :) I heart smoothies, but since the kids are scared by the blender, it happens pretty rarely! :\
DeleteAnd I was so rambly in this post, I didn't even realize that I talked about how I was reducing sugar and went on to say I ate an entire pan of brownies in a day. I'm a disaster!!! lol.
Somehow I've come across your blog and I really enjoy reading it! I know I've never met you, and based on this post, you probably won't even have time to read this soon, but I just wanted to tell you something. At one point in your post, you said that you were hoping to become a fun, energetic, exciting mama but that it wasn't working out too well. Of course it seems like that now - how is it humanly possible to be energetic when you are living off of no sleep? It's pretty hard to make nursing, diaper-changing, and playing with rattles into exciting events. When your kids get to be at an age where you are able to do fun activities with them, I am POSITIVE that the exciting mother you want to be will start to shine through.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that you have a blog where you post about Disney things tells me that you won't have a problem being a fun mom. :)
Aw, thanks! I hope so...I think I just need a LOT more sleep. :)
DeleteWish I could send you a big hug over the internet! I feel pretty special that the one note you wrote came to my mailbox. Thanks. It was a big encouragement! You are an amazing lady, no matter what you feel like most days of the week. And Lincoln can catch up on play-dates when I come to visit this summer, b/c we'll hang out a lot. :) Love you!!
ReplyDeleteThanks friend. Miss ya! :)
Delete