All I Ever Do Is Talk About My Kids

And this post will be no different 🙂

So, I saw this post on Pinterest one time that equated having a two year old to running a blender without a lid on it. Man…if that’s not the best description of what having a toddler is like, then I don’t know what is. Benji and I have since taken to using Blender as one of Harper’s nicknames. I also like to refer to him as Todd whenever he’s being particularly wild.

We love him, but geez…he can destroy a place in three seconds flat. About two weeks ago, I was beginning to have a come apart because between him and Emrist, my house was always looking like this:

Now…please don’t mistake me for a clean freak because I am not. I don’t mind my house looking like this during the day, when Harper is up playing. But at night, I need the mess to go away. I would like to have a small walkway from the front door to my bedroom, or an empty sink in the kitchen and maybe some clean laundry that isn’t lying in a pile at the foot of our bed. The problem I was having was that I was having to pick and choose what chores to do because I couldn’t do them all. Dishes, laundry and cooking are a must, so that left my living room looking like this most of the time. I also wasn’t ever getting a break. One kid was always up and requiring attention. I was spending my normal “break time” (Harp’s nap) cleaning. I was freaking tired and going insane.

I can’t remember which day it was, but one day last week I was really snappy with Benji and Harper because of all this, so I decided something had to be done! My solution? I put Emrist on a schedule. And can I just say…it has been AWESOME!

I’m generally not a very organized person. I don’t label my cabinets. I don’t put every little appointment in my calendar (although I probably should because I often double book). And I don’t alphabetize crap. However, it appears that while I’m living over here in Babyland, a schedule is a must for me, or my sanity suffers. It’s been roughly a week since I put Em on this schedule and I already feel like a brand new women! I love the predictability of it all. I love knowing that when Benji gets home from work, we can take the kids to the park because Em won’t be hungry again until 7PM.  I also love knowing when I can schedule appointments or outings without it conflicting with a feeding time. Having a schedule just makes life easier.

I think she’s enjoying it too because now whenever she’s awake, it’s this:

Whereas before, she was usually grumpy whenever she was awake. She’d only be happy for about 5-10 minutes after a feeding (if that!) and then she’d start fussing. I also never knew if she was hungry or tired. Now I know that when she starts fussing 1-1.5 hrs after a bottle, she’s tired and it’s time for a nap. Another good thing that I really didn’t expect from putting her on a schedule (and maybe it’s just a coincidence?) is that she only wakes up once a night now and always at the same time —> 3AM! I’m leaning more towards thinking it’s schedule related though because Harper did the same thing when I finally put him on one. Who knows.

So life is good, and I’m getting things done now! Including blogging! 🙂

I shared this on Facebook, but wanted to post it here as well. It’s a picture of how much Emrist has changed over the past seven weeks:

Incredible, right? She’s gained 4-5 pounds since birth, and after looking at these photos, I think it probably all went to those adorable cheeks! Goodness, I love this baby.

I also love this baby:

It was cold and rainy most of last week, but we did manage to get outside and take a walk a couple of times. On one of those walks, he asked to hold my hand. I just had to snap a picture! He doesn’t do that very often, and I’m kind of glad he doesn’t because I’m sure I would take it for granted. Since it’s so rare, it melts my heart each and every time he does it.

I love his heart and personality. He is SO sweet. We visited my mom’s church this past Sunday and when I picked him up from the nursery, one of the workers told me that a little girl had started crying while in there and he went and comforted her with a hug and pat. My heart swelled. More than anything else in this life, I want my children to be kind and empathetic towards others. I don’t care if they’re C average students…or D average students for that matter. I don’t care if they’re book nerds, musicians, or grow up to be wealthy. I don’t care about any of that stuff. But if Benji and I can raise children who turn into adults that are kind, loving and accepting of others, I’ll be so proud.

I am already so proud to call them mine.

This is a picture of Harp (or Todd, I should say) outside of the Montgomery Museum of Art. We attempted to go to a play date there last week. They have a Tales for Tots thing every week, and since he enjoys story-time at our house so much, I thought it would be a good event to take him to. That was not the case LOL. There were about 15 kids in there, and he wouldn’t sit down because he wanted to say hello to them all. I had to take him out because he was such a distraction. We went outside and he played in rain puddles instead.

I love being a mom ❤