A Butter Pecan Melt Down.

Being a mom is realy hard. In fact some days it's the hardest thing I've ever done. It's draining, repetitive, frustrating and all around tiring. But what I seem to struggle with the most is finding time for myself - how does one find time when there is no time? How does one sit down and relax, read a book, exercise, watch a movie when there's dinner to be made, laundry to be folded, toys to be picked up, pottys to be cleaned...?

Oy!

Yet even in the hardest moments I still find myself loving every minute of it.

Even in the hardest times, I know this too shall pass.


Just two weeks ago I sat out on my parents patio (we're visiting from SoCal) with a bowl full of ice cream. I had intended to eat it as soon as the kids got down for their naps. It seemed feasible this day, roo went down and then I went on to bear.

Made her lunch and prepped her room and pj's for nap time while she ate.

And somewhere between lunch time and bear's final attempt to keep me from leaving her bedroom, roo woke up...

It had been a full hour all ready and I so desperately wanted to sit down and enjoy that ice cream, but it just wasn't in the cards today.

As roo kicked and babbled in her bed I aggressively scooped my butter pecan out of it's box as if every scoop would send the little one back to bed. No such luck.

I was angry, I felt cheated... so cheated I couldn't even eat my ice cream. I just sat there and stared at it, angrily.

The anger just started to boil and before I knew it I was raising my hands up to smash the bowl on to the patio below...

But caught myself just in time.

If anyone had happened to see me just at the moment for sure they would have thought I was crazy.

So I cried and cried and cried.

And sniffed and sobbed...

Until the moment past.

I quickly ate up my ice cream, cleaned up my bowl and sighed.

I just needed that moment. And the moment had passed. I felt better - I moved on. I picked up roo and we spent the next hour together, happily playing and bouncing, until it was time for another nap again.

And just as I said goodnight.

Bear woke up.

:)

Life With My Bear & Roo

A lot has been going on and a lot is about to go on...

Our little roo turned 5 months old last week. She also started sleeping through the night (Can I get an amen?!...). She is still stubborn about going down at the end of the day but I'm not going to complain. I'm sleeping through the night and she's a happy girl when awake ~ that's all a mommy can really ask for.

Ah, yes, the pretty baby with the big gummy smile is all happiness and joy and it makes those hard first three months all seem worth it now. Colic, thrush, reflux, it has all slowly melted away and my beautiful roo is purely herself these days. She babbles frequently; still very expressive and spends most of her awake time busy playing and experimenting with whatever toy she can get her hands on. She is becoming a little scientist.

But the most wonderful thing of all is that over the past few weeks bear has become really loving towards her little sister - sharing her toys on occasion, offering her one of her favorite blankets, playing with her.

We actually had a small tea party all together earlier this week and roo grabbed the princess cup right up to her mouth; she's been watching us, she knows what to do!

Roo is certainly ready to start baby food! I've been really lax about it, offering rice cereal here and there... This time around I'm just not that crazy about it. We had so many tummy issues before, I'm just not ready to jump into it like I did with bear. And I can't decide for the life of me what food to start with. I'll get it together soon, roo will remind me! She frequently stares at us simultaneously with Acadia: drool slowly dribbling down her chin, eyes glazed over, ready to pounce at any sign of a roll away crumb.

And lets not forget what's going on with my sweet bear, who has been busy with potty training. It's up and down. She is ready, she knows when to go and she is very good at controlling her bladder. But she is having a hard time letting go of the diapers. After a few days of going number two on her own she has slowed down again. I'm not going to push her, it seems like the more I let her take control of the training the more willing she is to work on it. I just hope we can say goodbye to diapers soon.

Here are some favorite moments from the past two weeks:

Bear Says:

Bear finally went number two on her own and the first person she told was her little sister:

"Roo! I did it! I went poopies in the potty!" 

While at the doctors bear told the nurse all about how we went to Disneyland over the weekend:

"We watched the parade, went on Nemo, watched the fireworks, but we didn't want to get stuck in traffic..."

After explaining to bear that we can't give roo coins because she could choke and that choking could mean that we would lose roo forever, bear responded:

"And then we would buy a new baby at the hospital?" 

Silly old bear... roo's are not for replacing!

Events:

-Bear got her first haircut this week. I had been putting it off for a long time. I love her baby curls and was afraid it would all disappear with the cut. But it was time, she had obvious dead ends and the tangling in the morning was getting old. After a few days with the new trim it seems that her curls have stayed, thank goodness!

I took bear to the best place to get a first haircut; a 100% kid's salon with rocket ship seats, movies and toys. Easy peasy, my bear's hair was trimmed in no time. It all ended with a lolly pop so I'm pretty sure she won't fuss the next time I suggest we go.

-Tonight bear and daddy are camping with friends. The house is quite, my baby roo is sleeping and best of all I think it's almost clean in here!

Upcoming: 

Wednesday we head back to the northeast; first for a game at Fenway and then to my parents. We'll say goodbye to daddy on Sunday and spend the rest of the month at my parents. I'm looking forward to getting back to my hometown and hanging out with family and friends. But most of all I'm excited for roo's first big trip. Her big sister had already flown three times and camped twice by this age, it's about time she started catching up!

So long!

bear's mom