Thursday, April 30, 2009

Down Time

This weekend Sam and Seren are taking a fun trip together to celebrate my sister in law's graduation from college!

I am so proud of her!

And Wyeth and I are going to just chill.

When Seren was 5 months old the thought of being alone with her for two nights would have terrified me. What would I do? Who would hold her? What would I eat? (Can't cook when you have a baby)

Now, as a mom of three years, the thought of an entire weekend with my cuddle muffin sounds like a vacation. No , "Mommy, mommy, mommy...." or "But I don't want to right now!" or "I'm so busy, I can't, Mom!"

Not that I won't miss both of them like crazy! Seren is such a huge part of my life and I love her to bits despite the complaining and "negotiating".

But just time with my little man? That sounds SO nice to me right now.

My mom and Dad have volunteered to take him for an hour so I can get a much overdue massage. I am just about drooling with anticipation!! It is going to be WONDERFUL!

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Tuesdays with Mommy

For the last two months, I have had Tuesdays and Fridays off from work. I cherish these times! The last two Tuesdays, my parents have joined us and we have gone to fun places. The first was Sportszone and this week we went to the Please Touch Childrens Museum in Philadelphia (a local favorite).



I love watching Seren take on the world. She has impressed me recently with her enthusiasm. Whereas last year she would tentative watch as children climbed and jumped, this year she is all about doing it ALL. (And doing it all by herself, thank you!)



For instance, she went rock climbing at Sportzone.






She is totally into make believe these days as well. The line between reality and make believe is often very blurred. She is CONVINCED that "Snoozy and Strawberry" (twin elephants) live in our backyard. She talks about them daily. "Mom! Snoozy and Strawberry are back! Want to see them?" With just as much enthusiasm, I look out the window and say "hi!". I love when she then corrects me. "Mom! They aren't over in that corner, they are over THERE!"



Anyway, little Ms. Sunshine has her challenging moments where she INSISTS on ruling the world. But she also just loves being part of the world. Taking it all in. Jumping around. Singing. Playing hard and living in the moment. Such an inspiration! And she is totally rocking the potty. I couldn't be prouder.



Here are some shots of last week and of this week. I LOVE Tuesdays.










Monday, April 20, 2009

Kicking My Butt- but Nevermind


I am exhausted. I don't sleep. I don't eat well. My pants don't fit. My shoes are so old. My skin is ashy with exhaustion. Two nights ago I laid down to sleep and I was so dizzy from fatigue and dehydration that the entire room spun. I don't know what else to do for my little man. Is he STILL hungry? Am I making enough milk? Should I give him solids? Why doesn't he seem satisfied? Am I making a huge mistake by trying to comfort him all night? Why doesn't he sleep? Why is he sick all of the time? What am I doing wrong? What am I doing wrong?? What am I doing wrong???


To add insult to injury, I woke up with a hickey on my boob from one of the middle of the morning "feedings". His cold is much better but he has some horrible yucky yeast on his neck. As the pediatrician told me on Friday, "He is a complete mess."


I felt like saying while choking back tired tears, "Join the club!" We ALL are complete messes.


Motherhood is kicking my BUTT!


BUT THEN...


I am reminded of a book that we read to Seren called "It was a Good Day"by Kevin Henkes. Seren has memorized this book and reads it verbatim. We love the simple tone. In the book, the yellow bird looses his favorite tail feather, the white dog gets tangled up in his leash, the brown squirrel drops his nut and the red fox looses his mother. The next page says, "BUT THEN"...


Suddenly the book takes a turn for the better. The white dog gets untangled, the squirrel finds the biggest nut ever and the fox finds his mother.


That is how today is going. Beth posted this post- about my post- and about her own realization that our little people are only little for so long. So while I can barely see due to be up AGAIN with Wyeth, instead of throwing in the pumping/breastfeeding towel for good, and instead of being tempted to just let him fuss and cry, I am going to try again. And I'm going to try to change my expectations.


I can be up. All night. Every night. I can do it. Because I want to be there for my kids. Because Wyeth is still so little. He has no sense of day and night. And because, as Beth said so well, there will be a day when they don't need me. But they need me now.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

You know you are getting older when...




You go to the dentist and are told, "Look, you coasted through your teens. And coasted through your twenties. But now you are in your 30s and you have to make some changes."




I keep "failing" my dental appointments. I was told, "You are on a very short leash."




I need to start flossing. Every day. Twice.




I didn't tell her that the pants I am wearing today are the same pants I wore yesterday. The ones with a little bit of spit up on the knee.




Because ya know, I have LOTS of extra time to take care of myself and do things such as floss.




That being said, I don't want to me the classroom mommy that has no teeth! So I will do my best.


Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Red Letter Day!!

Holy cow did we have a "big" day in the life of the Angus family yesterday!

First of all after spending an entire month with Wyeth having a cold, coughing and being awake every two hours, I had had enough. I googled. I vented. I cursed. What was I doing wrong? Was he ok? Will he ever sleep? And then, armed with encouragement and googled information, I put Wyeth to bed EARLY. And focused purely on reading his signs of fatigue. And ya know what? It worked! Wyeth went down at 7:40 and stayed asleep until 12:30. Then woke for the day at 5:30. AWESOME! This is a HUGE difference. (I am not naive to think that this will stay forever...but...wow)

So *I* woke up happy.

Then as soon as we gathered downstairs for breakfast, he decides that today would be a good day to roll over. And just like that, after about a week of trying, my Wy guy, at 4 months, flips from laying on his back to laying on his tummy. Yahoo!

But then it gets better! Seren saw our little friend Grace pee on the potty Friday night. It must have stuck in her head because on Saturday she wanted to wear underwear and do it too. After two failed attempts which included holding her pee for 21 hours, (21 hours!!!), and screaming, I was skeptical. She peed once on Saturday. And twice on Monday at the child care providers' home. And yesterday she was on a roll! Four times in the potty on Tuesday!

Her face was SO happy. She was SOO proud. It can take a long time for it to happen so patience is KEY. But man, her little face when it actually happens? Priceless! And thank God for in-network calling because then she needs to call everyone. Calls Daddy. Calls Grammy. Calls Poppy. Calls Me (if I'm at work). Awesome.

I finally get why parents get so INTO this thing. It takes forever and is one of the last "baby" milestones. I peeked in at her last night as she slept in her big girl bed. My three year old to be.

Unreal.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

We bought a boat!

I know that the economy is falling apart, that people are loosing their homes and that businesses are tanking. But knock on wood, we haven't been directly impacted. Other than slightly higher prices in food, we are doing ok. We have been saving up for a long time to follow our passion of sailing! We live close to the NJ shore and this week we did it! We bought a boat!!

We got a little sunfish! We see this as our own personal stimulus effort! Check it out! Isn't it awesome??





(Did I get you?)

We don't sail. We don't have extra money. We are practical people, VERY practical. And for that reason and that reason only, we bought this:



Our very own 2002 Buick Park Avenue!

Indeed, a very different KIND of boat! :) This has been owned by an older woman and is immaculate! (We can't wait to smush cheerios all over it) It is FULLY loaded and includes such luxuries as "memory" seating! Awesome! The kids have PLENTY of room, it gets better gas mileage than the SUVs we were looking at AND the trunk can easily fit three people in it. (if for some reason you needed to put people in the trunk!)

Sam said it well. "It is so comfortable! It is like driving in our living room. Only it is more comfortable!"

Yeah, we are a "think outside the box" kind of family.