Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Still Trying...

I feel like I've been a mom of two kids for forever but it's taking me forever to get into a routine.  And then I remind myself it's only been 6 weeks!  I feel like I should be in a good routine by now.  Some days I feel like I have it together, other days I feel like a train wreck.  Sadie is definitely my #1 priority, just because she HAS to be fed and changed and held when she needs it.  She doesn't understand needs from wants yet so when she cries, she needs something.  Maddie is my #2 priority.  I make sure to put Sadie in her pack 'n play and read books with Maddie, or sit outside with her while she plays, or play with her in her playroom.  I do a lot more games with her in the car (our most recent favorite is saying rhyming words).  I make sure Maddie knows she's still loved and that I WANT to pay attention to her.  I also make it a point to "remind" Sadie to be patient.  If she's crying and needing to eat but I'm getting Maddie something to eat or drink, I'll say, "Sadie, I understand that you're hungry but I need you to try to be patient.  Right now I'm helping Maddie.  Maddie tries to be patient when you need attention so I want you to try to do the same."  Of course this is all for Maddie's benefit at this point...she just beams knowing that it's her turn to have my attention :)  My #3 priority is me...most of the time.  I have been staying up later than I should to work on my #4 priority-housework.  I try to do one load of laundry every day just to keep on top of it so it doesn't pile up on me.  Sometimes the laundry gets washed and dried, then it sits in the dryer until I need to use the dryer for the load the next day.  Then I fold it and put it in a basket.  Yep, that's about as far as it gets.  I currently have no empty baskets.  But that's on my to do list for tomorrow!  The house is pretty much a disaster right now and I'd be pretty embarrassed if anyone came in my front door.  The dishes are done (well, not tonight's yet) and there's no food laying around :)  I have to be happy with that at this point.  Maddie's playroom hasn't been cleaned in several days.  I get her to clean up one thing at a time.  Yesterday she cleaned up her ABC books and her kitchen stuff at different times.  (if she wants to play outside I tell her one thing she needs to get cleaned up before she can go out...it's working pretty well!) 

The girls are both clean, fed and happy so I feel like I'm being successful at being a mom of two for now.  Oh, and Murphy?  HA!  This poor dog is so neglected it's not even funny.  She used to get fed around 7am, now she's lucky to be let out of her crate to go outside and be fed by 9am.  I've let her water bowl go dry a few times and she hasn't had any exercise other than going crazy jumping at the back fence to get at the dogs behind us.  And our house plants?  Let's just go ahead and consider them dead.  :)  Ok, not yet...there's still hope.  It's just that when I get a spare 2 minutes that it would take to water the plants, I'd rather sit down on the couch and rest!  Oh well, life would be more simple without the plants anyway (and the dog, but she was more of an investment than the plants were!)

I know I said I'd post pictures, so here's one for you.  I already loaded the pictures onto a website to order prints and I don't want to go through loading them all on here too...it just takes too long.  Sorry for my impatience, but the dishes are calling and a hot bath and a cold glass of wine are calling me!

Saturday, October 2, 2010

A Month Later

Can you believe Sadie is a month old already?  It's amazing how I feel like she was just born, but at the same time like she's been a part of my life forever.  I can't imagine my life without my two girls.

Over the past month Sadie has changed and grown so much.  When we left the hospital, she weighed 7lbs 10oz, at two weeks she weighed 8lbs 9oz.  I don't know how much she weighs now, but she's probably pushing 10 lbs already.  She's growing longer too.  Her feet are growing (socks finally stay on!), her cheeks are growing, her second chin is coming in nicely :)  Obviously she's a good eater...she's also a very good sleeper.  She eats every 3 hours like clockwork.  There have been a couple of nights that she woke up to eat every 2 to 2 1/2 hours during growth spurts and a couple of nights that she went 4 or 4 1/2 hours without eating.  But mostly she's up every 3.  It's tiring, but I know the day will come when she sleeps longer.  I'm looking forward to that day!  During the day Sadie has a couple of awake periods.  Usually in the morning after her first daylight feeding she'll stay awake for an hour or so.  Then in the afternoon or early evening she has another awake/alert period for another hour.  She makes really good eye contact with me and settles right down when our eyes lock and I start talking to her.  She doesn't move and scrooch, she just watches me.  I love it!  I've been trying to get her to smile but haven't been successful with consistent smiles.  I got one good one on Thursday and my mom got one on Friday but we aren't sure if they were "true" smiles or not since it was only one smile per day.  One day soon she'll start smiling and won't stop :)  Oh...and this baby girl has DIMPLES!!  The one on the right cheek is a little deeper than the one on the left cheek.  She's going to be so beautiful with her big, dimply smile.

In a few days Maddie will be 2 years and 4 months old.  I'm amazed at how much she continues to grow and change.  She obviously looks a lot bigger now that I have an infant in the house, but she is seriously getting big.  She's getting to the point where some of her 2T clothes are getting to small (mostly too short...both shirts and pants), but her 3T clothes are still too big.  I can put 3T shirts on her but the pants are really long.  Maddie's imagination continues to grow just as much!  She does so much role playing.  She plays by herself most of the day, taking Snuggly to school or taking care of her puppies.  She's really good at pretending things, like she pretends she's holding a leash and walking an invisible puppy.  She bends down to pet the invisible puppy, feeds it, pets it, hugs it.  Today she was walking a black puppy named "Fluffy".  :)  I took her to a park and was pushing her on the swing and she kept asking the puppy if he was watching.  She's just so cute!

Maddie loves school now.  She looks forward to going every day, she tells me she loves her teacher and that she has so much fun at school.  She can't wait to go back every time we leave!  It's amazing how much she's learning at school too.  She's learning some letters and numbers (B, D, M, F, 1, 2) and is also learning some days of the week.  She's been coming home with more crafts and papers and enjoys showing them all off.  I love seeing all these pictures she's coloring.  I'm just so proud of her!

Well, it's getting late and Sadie will be up in about an hour and a half so I better get some sleep.  I'll try to post some pictures tomorrow...no promises, though :)