Surviving Teething

Here we are going on day three of no nap and this mum is about ready to pull her hair out or have a nervous breakdown, whichever comes first!



Liam, on the other hand, is running from one side of the room and/or house to the other. Never mind that he's overtired and cranky. Forget that he's drooling and running air grade fever. Ignore the five to six teeth he's currently cutting. Nothing will stand between a teething 17 month old and a good time!

It's been a long week. I'm anxious for all these teeth to come through. I'm ready for the sleep regression to end. I'm ready for quiet time to pay the bills and do the taxes. And if I'm 100% honest, I'm ready for a shower.

I know in a year I'll miss so many things about this age, even if I can't see it now. I'll just keep reminding myself of this until this rough patch called teething is done. Until then, one day at a time!

The Joys of Boys

Tornado Liam

2012 has kicked off with a bang!  I have two very busy boys who keep me on my toes.  The past couple of nights we've had these idyllic 1950's-esque evenings.  The Gunny and I have a drink while I finish up dinner as the boys play nicely together in the living room under our watchful eye.  It's great!  Then yesterday happened.  The fussbucket was, you guessed it, fussy.  He's cutting about six teeth right now so napping was not in his schedule, even if it was in mums.  Needless to say, not a lot got done around the house.  Instead it looked like a tornado had touched down in our living room and I was frazzled to say the least. 

My savior!

When my oldest finished his homework he took the fussbucket upstairs to play and for the first time all day a calm settled over me.  I wanted to sit and relax with my feet up, but somehow I mustered the strength to do dishes and bake banana muffins.  I have no clue where this energy came from, but it was one of those  moments in life where I thanked God that I have kids ten years apart.  Because yesterday I needed the sanity of a clean kitchen and my sweet boy gave me that gift.  (I'm pretty sure my husband appreciates it too!)

The fruit of my labor!

What's even better is that when the Gunny did get home from work as I was wrapping up feeding the fussbucket he noticed how tired I was and kindly offered to make dinner!  So I did get a little time to relax with a glass of wine to finish off the evening.  Living in a house full of boys is exhausting, but it definitely has it's perks!  I am blessed by each of my boys and their love for me.

Sweet Bliss

Motherhood is one of those roller coaster journeys.  There are ups and downs.  A day that is a slow climb and seems like it will never end.  Then there are the days that zoom by and you wish they would slow down so you could enjoy the moment.  Don't forget the days were nothing goes right and both baby and mommy are crying.  And then there are those blissfully sweet days were things just seem to go right.  Thankfully, just when I thought it was going to be a day where nothing went right the roller coaster took a sharp turn!  Today, as I was about at the brink of frustration, my husband came home to drop off gear and rescued the crying fussbucket from his bouncy seat enabling me to enjoy the rest of my shower scream free.  Then the fussbucket sat in his Bumbo while I did my hair enabling me to have a fro-free day!  (Which is much appreciated when I have a meeting with the principal!)  But it doesn't stop there.  Liam just got changed, ate and went down for a nap at naptime!  What?  This has been pretty unheard of lately so I am ecstatic that he is back on schedule today!  I am in awe of the quiet in my house right now.  Of being able to each my lunch with both hands!  And thankful that my husband had to switch out gear, triggering these moments of bliss for this mum.

Mommy Brain

When you're pregnant you seem to become extra forgetful.  Everyone claims to have "preggo brain".  Unfortunately, it doesn't go away, it just changes  names.  I now have "mommy brain".  While it's a fabulous excuse for being forgetful or absent minded, it's also slightly embarassing and inconvenient.  It's only 8:30 in the  morning and I already have two prime examples of mommy brain.

First, I was looking through information to register Liam with our insurance.  I have to go down to the office today and was looking through things in his baby book where I had stored his temporary birth certificate.  I thought his footprints from the hospital were there, but they weren't.  I start freaking out that we don't have them!  I remember my friend Michelle showing them to me in the delivery room.  But between the rest of the delivery process and Liam not pinking up fast enough and being taken to the nursery I wasn't sure exactly where they were.  I thought we had them, but there was that moment of panic.  Fortunately my "mommy brain" cleared up long enough for me to look in a folder that had my pre-registration info for the hospital in it and there they were!  I knew I'd kept that folder for a good reason!

Second, I made myself a yummy and healthy breakfast this morning of oatmeal with banana and a serving of golden raisins in it!  In the process of mixing in my mushed up banana and raisins the fussbucket went at it.  I went to change him, walked around with him for a bit, put him in his bouncer and then went to the restroom.  When I came back out to the living room I smelled something burning.  What????  Yep, I left the burner on so there is now a layer of burnt oatmeal on the bottom of the pot.  That should be fun to clean!  But at least what survived my "mommy brain" is tasty!

Now to go wolf down said remaining breakfast so I can feed the fussbucket!  Hopefully my "mommy brain" moments for the day are all checked off and I can function like a normal human being!

Murphy's Law of Motherhood

Good old Murphy and I have always been good friends, but little did I know his law would apply to motherhood.  He is always popping up and reminding me he's around.  For instance:

1. Whenever mom sits down to eat baby will fuss.  Hence I ate ice cold eggos this morning.  Yum!

2.  As soon as you change the baby, they will soil their diaper straight away.  No wonder parents spend so much on diapers!

3.  When you sit down to feed the baby and aren't mobile, the dogs will desperately need to go outside!  But since they don't wear diapers, they win!

4.   You lay down to take a nap and the phone rings, the baby cries, the dog barks or any number of things to keep you from actually sleeping.  Sleep is overrated anyways, right?

5.  You only type with one hand because you always seem to have a baby in the other.  Because the hunt and peck method is so much more productive!

6.  Time is relative.  You think you are responding in a timely manner, but really they've been waiting on a response, that thank you note, that phone call back for way too long!  But you're worth waiting for, right?

7.  You spend a whole ten minutes getting ready in the morning/afternoon/whenever you can get a chance only to be spit up on.

8.  You double check the baby stuff ten times before leaving the house only to realize you forgot to pack your older child's pajamas, grab the dog's leash, put your wallet back in the diaper back, etc.  Preggo brain does not seem to go away and is now renamed mommy brain.

9.  You get a text inviting you to meet friends for a last minute coffee only to cringe at the sound of baby practicing for his audition for the purple crying video as you're about to leave.  No one thinks baby is cute when he's screaming his head off...no one.

10.   You're just drifting off to dreamland when you're rudely awakened by the little one crying.  Nothing says fun like a middle of the night snack and diaper change!  (The snack is normally for the little one...normally!)

So Murphy, you've had a good run these past three weeks.  I'm sure you'll give me more reasons to remember you as Liam grows.  For now, could you take a wee break so this momma can get a little sleep in?