Taking Care of Babies and Other Random Thoughts

Boy the last couple of days have been exhausting. As most of you know, my mom is retired and lives with us and is a humongous help with the kids. She left on Tuesday to visit my brother in Illinois for a month and boy am I feeling her absence. It's not that I can't take care of the kids by myself...it's just that I have gotten so used to having help (she's been with us or should I say we've been with her since before Alexis was born) that I forget how difficult it can be to keep up with both of them and still manage to take care of Anthony, the dog, the house, and myself. I am exhausted, but we are adjusting. It's been very difficult for the kids, especially for Alexis since she is nana's girl, because they miss her. Mostly it's hard at night when Alexis wants Nana and she's not home, but I know we will all be alright. There has been one good thing about Nana's vacation. With just me and Daddy around, we are finally getting on a regular schedule and we are getting a little more organized. The kids are going to bed around 9 (very early for both of them as they are night owls) and we get up at 6:30 (also very early, but it's been really nice to have a cup of coffee with daddy before he goes to work). We've done doctor's appointments and trips to vets, grocery shopping and even walks in the evening. Daddy takes care of baths in the evening, so I can do dishes and then we read before bed.

Last night was extra special. Uncle Ted and Uncle Earl sent the kids "Where the Wild Things Are" for Halloween. There were some hangups (specifically a dishonest internet company) in us getting the book though we received the stuffed wild thing a couple of weeks ago. We were gonna hang onto it for Christmas, but Uncle Ted insisted we read it to them last night. Alexis was terrified of the stuffed animal. Seriously, we asked her if she wanted to hold it while Daddy read the book and she nearly cried. She quickly picked up a stuffed dog and told us her hands were too full. Since Justin is not quite old enough to be scared of non-living things, he gladly held onto it. Alexis loved the story and we must have read it at least 5 times last night. We decided that the book would be Alexis's and the stuffed animal Justin's. He finally had a gift that Alexis wouldn't take away from him. However, Bella likes the wild thing too and figured that since she was part of the family, she should get a turn holding him. We spent some time chasing her around the living room to get it back. Here are Daddy and the kids reading.


Justin is really becoming a handful. I can't believe how many things the kids gets into and OMG the climbing! My laptop is now broken thanks in part to his climbing. Last night he moved his LeapFrog music table over to the couch so he could use it to climb up. He then proceeded to hop up on the tv tray where the laptop is and sit on it. It's just the enter key and can probably be fixed with some super glue, but boy has it been annoying trying to type without it today. You don't realize how much you use it until it's gone.

I must take at least a moment to mention how proud I am of Alexis. She is becoming such a big girl even though she still won't use the potty. She was doing so well, but since my mom has been out of town....NOTHING! Today, I had to take Justin to the doctor because it appeared that his eye and eyelid were swelling. Actually, it looked like part of his eye was hanging out of his eyelid, but thankfully, it is just an infection and should clear up in a few days with some antibiotics. I was completely freaked out this morning when I first saw it and spent a good ten minutes crying after I made Justin's doctor's appointment. After making Alexis sit in the doctor's office on Tuesday for 2 hours, I really didn't want her to have to sit there again. I called my little brother and asked him if he could come sit with Alexis for an hour and he was hesitant. (He's freaked out by dirty diapers and was terrified that she might choke on something. To make a long story short he did come, but with my ex-stepmother, who Alexis hasn't really spent much time with. Alexis took it like a champ! She didn't cry, whine, or complain when I left with Justin. She simply said, "the doctor will take care of my brother", gave me a kiss, and went off to watch tv. This may not seem like a big deal, but you must understand that I NEVER leave my kids with anyone except my mom and Anthony. Leaving her alone with someone else should have completely freaked her out, but she was so good. My baby is growing up and though every day is something new and exciting, it also makes me sad.

On a side note. I'm sure many of you are wondering why I'm not complaining about the outcome of the elections since those of you who have talked to me lately have been forced to listen to me bitch and whine. Well, I've decided that complaining about it isn't doing any good. It's not gonna change anything and it isn't making me feel better...in fact...it's just making me angry, so I've decided to accept the things I cannot change and move on, hoping and praying that things will all work out in the end. Ce lest vie.