Ryan is on call today, so this will be a glimpse into my life while my husband is on call. This usually means that I don't hear from him all day (no texts or phone calls...nothing)!
It's 5:30 and I hear Heather crying on the monitor. I sleepily walk to her room to nurse her. This is her typical time to wake and nurse and then she usually falls back asleep for another 1 1/2 to 2 hrs.
This morning she wakes back up at 7 a.m., but she is babbling and having fun playing with her doll and blanky. I drift in and out of sleep watching her on the monitor because I'm not ready to get up. A few minutes later it is silent, this is my lucky day! She has fallen back asleep and it lasts for 30 minutes. Then I get up and put in my contacts and go to get her.
Ryan is already up and ready to go as his call starts at 7am. He is lying in bed trying to rest and dreading not knowing when he will get his first call.
After we let the dog out, I called the Institute's daycare (local exercise center) to reserve a spot for Heather, if I want to have a chance at exercising today. Infants 12 months and under require a reservation due to the state's strict worker to child ratio and most days it is really difficult to get a spot before 11am. I'm in luck today!
Now it is time check on Brooke. She is still asleep, so I eat my "champion" breakfast of a Boost and granola bar. Then I play with Heather and get a load of laundry started.
Over the past few days, this car has become the object of desire. Brooke would play with it some, but now that Heather has figured out how to climb in it herself Brooke has a new interest in playing with it. This morning Heather gets to enjoy it by herself!
Brooke is a little camera shy this early in the morning!
After Brooke wakes up, I fix the girls breakfast. Today they ate sweet potato pancakes with strawberries and yogurt. While we were eating, Ryan got up and greeted us for a few minutes before heading to work.
After breakfast, the girls played, while I got ready to go and exercise. After getting the girls dressed and ready then we headed out to exercise!
I ran 2 miles on the treadmill, which is all the energy I could muster out of me today because I hate running inside, but it beats running in the heat. Then I headed to the locker room for a quick shower! I used to never take a shower at the gym, before I had kids. Now it is kind of nice to get a peaceful quick shower without being interrupted or having monkeys climbing your legs while you are trying to dry off! I have to hurry because I can only reserve a spot for Heather for 1 hr and my hour is almost up!
On our way back home from exercising, I stop on the roadside to buy a watermelon. I have seen these people selling the watermelons all summer I was curious whether they were worth stopping. It turns out to be one of the sweetest watermelons I have ever tasted!
Then we head back home to eat some lunch and put Brooke down for a nap. Heather took a quick 15min nap on the way home so she isn't ready to sleep just yet. I let her play for a little while and change out the laundry. I caught her on video (click here for the you tube link) being silly playing with this basket.
While she was entertaining herself, I looked up an article that was published in Longview News Journal yesterday that featured us from Saturday picking grapes at a neighbors house. The newspaper didn't print the pictures they took of Brooke, but they were on the internet. Here is the link. I didn't expect the paper to be there, but I will keep the article for Brooke to look at when she is older.
Once Heather is finally asleep (the whole process for putting her down usually takes about an hour most days), I eat my lunch and then I start to work on this post. This is taking way more time than I thought it would.
I remembered I need to take a package for my nephew, Ethan, to the post office today, so he can get it for his birthday party this weekend. After the girls wake up from their naps, I pack them up again in the car to go to the post office. This is a huge ordeal to take both girls to the post office. I usually do it when Ryan is home, so I can leave them with him, but this package has to go out today and I cannot wait until tomorrow. What should take 5 minutes (the PO is just a mile away) ends up taking 30 minutes or more. However, I love going because the lady that works at the tiny Judson PO is so sweet and remembers who you are and asks about your family! She saw me unloading the troops from the car and came out to help carry in my package today. It was so thoughtful!
After we got home from our "trip" to the post office, I told Brooke I would make her a smoothie for a snack. She loves to help pour the ingredients and push the button on the blender. This is one of the power foods that I know she will gobble up, so we usually have it at least once a week.
Heather even got a few bites today.
After snack time, it was free play until I noticed Brooke straining and asking for a diaper change. There wasn't anything in her diaper and I asked her if she needed to use the potty. Of course the answer was no! Potty training is something we have been struggling with the last several months. She knows what the potty is and even how to use it, but refuses to use it and has been having emotional breakdowns every time I mention it. Well, I think that just recently she has discovered that she can have control over her BMs and has chosen to hold it, which of course leads to constipation. It has been 2 days since she has last gone and I know that she has to go, so today I gave her the option to sit on the potty or get a suppository. She wisely chose to sit on the potty and sit and read and sit and read....for a whole hour with no results. I hated doing it, but I felt like I had to give her the suppository because I saw how bad she was straining and I didn't want it to get worse. Well, hopefully she has learned her lesson! In a 30 minute time span, I had to change 3 diapers. She did say that her tummy felt better!During this whole time, Heather didn't like all the attention Brooke was getting so she was getting upset and just wanted to be held. Sometimes I just feel like a jungle gym with kids climbing on me all day. You would think my arms would be sculpted with how many times I pick up and hold my children all day! I need to keep reminding myself to enjoy it because on day they won't want to be held!
Well, tonight was special because my dad was coming to babysit so that I could go out to dinner with a few friends. I heated up a lasagna for them to enjoy and told my dad the routine and kissed the girls good bye. Of course it would happen that just as I'm walking out the door, Ryan is coming home to grab a bite to eat. Since he is on call, I can't tell my dad to go home because he could get called back up to the hospital any moment.
I leave and savor the mommy time! It was fun getting to eat a dinner and chat with friends.
After coming back home, I find my dad holding Heather in her room asleep in his arms and he has been like this for the past hour and half because he doesn't want to set her down. Every time he tried to lay her down she would wake up and start crying. Ryan tried to tell him this was an every night occurrence and that is just the way she falls asleep, but he is not numb to her cries like Ryan and I. I take over and lay her down. She fusses for less than five minutes and then falls asleep. I know she will outgrow it. I just wish it would be sooner than later! While I was away, I learn that Ryan hasn't been called in the whole time and 5 minutes after I walk in he gets paged and has to go back, but it isn't urgent so he sticks around for an hour so we can catch up. During this time, my nightly chores still have to get done, which include watering outside, which takes a good 1/2 hour. Ryan normally helps, but can't tonight since he is on call. I cannot wait until we finally get some rain or the weather to start cooling down. This seems like the never ending heat wave! After watering, I still have the laundry to finish drying and folding. Then I have to clean the kitchen and do the dishes. Maybe just for tonight some of this will wait until tomorrow....
I hope you enjoyed a day in my life!
I loved peaking in on your life.
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