10 steps to being a fun mom *and* a good housekeeper

Something I discovered just yesterday is that it's possible to succeed at this toddler/preschooler and newborn thing. Just not maybe every day. For a while yet.

(How did my grandmother manage twelve children?!)

Here's what you do:

1. Partially fill three large bowls with water and set them on the kitchen floor.

2. Holding baby, get some balls and show your toddler it's perfectly fine to make a mess by aiming the balls into the bowls.

3. Marvel at how good he is at actually getting balls into the bowls.

4. Try really hard not to laugh when he slips on the wet floor, despite multiple warnings not to run or jump. I'm sorry, but people slipping can be funny.

5. Tire baby out, then put him in the swing when you realize he's fallen asleep.

6. Continue to play with toddler until he begins to lose interest in the game.

7. Break out a new Little Einsteins DVD.

8. Mop up water on floor, thus cleaning the kitchen.

9. Prepare self a snack like a NutriGrain-waffle-with-neufchatel-cheese-and-raspberry-preserve sandwich.

10. Check e-mail for 10 minutes, by which time the baby in the swing begins to cry.

And then you watch the remainder of the DVD while your baby nurses as though he's never eaten before and never will again, and you ponder when you'll get to the rest of your e-mail and blog commenting.

Easy-peasy!

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Spread your wings and prepare to fly

A queen butterfly

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Bring on the chaos

I was going to write this post about how I hope by the end of the day, I will be able to say I survived being the mother of two children alone for the very first time.

See, my husband went back to work today for the first time in a week.

But.

Super friend (makes her sound as though she has super powers, no?) Guinevere and her son stopped by with lunch. Her son and the Man-cub played and swapped sandwiches. She got to hold the baby.

Then my husband also came home for lunch. And to hold the baby.

So I haven't been alone for the whole day.

Which is way better than the post I would have written, I'm sure.

For once, I'm disorganized, but rather than feeling out of sorts about it -- I am enjoying every minute of it.

For now....

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I'm not pregnant anymore

Was it all the walking?

Taking my son for a bike ride over all the speed bumps in our neighborhood?

The, ahem, prostaglandins?

Was it the labor-inducing cookies suggested by the Rookie Moms that I made the day before I went into labor?

The threat of scheduled eviction?

Or was it just time for him to be born?

We finally got to meet our baby on June 30 -- our little Junebug.

He's perfect.

I'm sore and exhausted (can't you tell from the photo?), but extremely happy.



Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

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Down the boardwalk

At Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge

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Overdue

Today I got to see this cute little creature who is quite comfortable in my womb with his/her eyes open. I am fine. The baby is fine -- big, but fine. Rather happy, the ultrasound tech said.

Not to put a damper on your comfy-cozy happiness, little one, but you will come out! I promise I'll try my best to make it worth your while.



Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

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Top 10 signs you've been pregnant too long

10. At your doctor's office, they're talking about inducing you. But it was the janitor in the elevator who suggested it first after taking one look at you.

9. You won't be held accountable if you happen to punch the next person who says to you, "You don't look comfy," or "Are you sure it's not triplets?" (Both said to me in the past week.)

8. Family and friends who were once interested and excited in your upcoming birth are bored with you and have now moved on to talking about Jon and Kate.

7. Even your husband is no longer interested in helping you out with that #1 method of getting labor going ....

6. Braxton-Hicks contractions no longer phase you, and you wonder in the back of your mind if you'll glaze over real-labor contractions too and be surprised when the baby arrives while you're eating breakfast one morning.

5. You are considering charging your baby rent. You could take it out of his or her future allowance.

4. When you hear a friend's neighbor had her baby two weeks early, you scoff, "Showoff! Overachiever!"

3. When people politely ask how you're doing, you tell them you feel you're going to burst -- and they believe you and take five steps backward.

2. You feel sorry for yourself and drown your sorrows in a glass of milk.

1. Your toddler son gets confused when you show him a real baby -- and it's not in your belly.

After all my boasting about how I just knew this baby was going to come early like I just knew my son was going to be late (and he was -- a whole week late), this child is showing s/he is either a procrastinator or another little obstinate, strong-willed child like the Man-cub.

And all I can say is Oy.

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