a day in {my} life

I set out to document a day when my mom was out of town, so I could record a day that I actually had to do everything by myself.  But in a lovely turn of events (lovely for me anyway), my parents ended up coming home early and my mama took care of me like she always does.  My mom is pretty much the best.  I'm beyond spoiled by her.

So this is a look at February 2nd.  Ryann is 5 years 10 months, Elsie is a few days shy of 3, and Thea is six months old.

***

12:31am.  I wake up to Thea crying.  Ugh.  Anything before 1:30am is generally really hard for me.  I'm grateful that we seem to have put the 5+ wake up nights behind us, but I'd still love to ditch this earlier one.  I go to the nursery to feed her.  I try to scroll instagram to keep myself awake but I almost drop the phone multiple times.  I think I nodded off for a minute or two.  Once she is finished eating I lay her back in the crib.  The clock reads 12:59am when I crawl back in bed.  Thea is rolling around and doesn't seem to be going right back to sleep, but she must not have been too pissy because I passed out pretty fast.

5:03am.  Yesssss.  Thank goodness.  Again I'd like to ditch that first wake up, but being woken up in the 5 o'clock hour doesn't bother me too much.  I know I can just get up for the day once I"m done feeding T, life is just easier that way. I also change her diaper this time.  If I try not to change her until we are officially up for the day her diaper usually leaks.  I briefly scroll instagram while I am feeding her, and then I browse Pinterest to finalize the menu for Elsie's birthday party.

5:32am.  I lay Thea back in her crib, then head to the bathroom to get myself ready to run.  I notice it's raining outside, it is so loud on our skylight.  I hope that it stops by the time we have to go anywhere.  After I'm dressed I check the monitor.  Thea is still rolling around but not crying.  I don't want to wake Christopher, but I do want to get on the treadmill and if I don't wake him a bit he probably won't hear her if she gets super pissed.  I give him two more minutes then let him know I'm heading down to the basement.

5:55am.  I hop on the treadmill for two miles.  I'm currently planning on doing a half April 16th, and I'm roughly following Hal Higdon's Novice 1 plan.  Really I'm trying to make sure I get in 3-4 runs a week, utilizing the distances he has.  I should be doing strength and cross training too, but right now I'm doing good if I manage a 4th run each week.  I watch HGTV while I'm running, there is a show on I haven't seen before (that is hard to find on HGTV, I've watched a lot of it in my life), called Renovate to Rent I think.

It isn't pretty, but it gets the job done!

6:20am.  Done on the treadmill.  I head upstairs for a drink and am surprised to find everyone still sleeping.  Usually Chris and Ryann are moving around by now.  I take advantage of the situation and sneak in a shower.  Chris is up by the time I'm done so I take a quick shower.  Then back downstairs for breakfast.

6:50am.  Ryann makes her way downstairs.  Impressive.  We rarely get past 6:30am without seeing her.  She works on some stuff from school.  I'm sure most people try to get it done the night before, but it just seems to work out better for us to have her do it in the morning when her sisters are still sleeping.  Occasionally she sleeps later and it makes it tough, but later is generally like 7:10am at the latest.  We've almost always got plenty of time in the morning for things.  Christopher works on Ryann's lunch.  Elsie is up by 7am and I make both her and Ryann Vans waffles in the toaster.  Once they are ready we all sit down to eat.  I've got some sweet potato hash topped with leftover carnitas and two fried eggs.  Pretty much my favorite breakfast right now.  Shortly after we start eating Elsie manages to dump a bowl full of beads everywhere.  Sweet.  Chris heads off to work.  The girls start fighting about something stupid while I'm doing the dishes.

7:29am.  Ryann goes to the bathroom and gets dressed.  I turn PJ Masks on for her and Elsie.  I run upstairs to grab clothes for Elsie and get her dressed as well, then I fix their hair.

7:53am.  I manage to sneak in blow drying my hair.  #winning  Then I make sure everything is ready for Ryann for school.  The girls shut the TV off at 8:00am and play until the bus comes.  I watch out the dining room window until I see it round the corner, then yell at Ryann to head outside.  I can't wait until it is nice again and the girls can play outside until the bus comes!

8:22am.  Ryann is off to school.  I have to wake up Thea so I can feed her a bit before we take Elsie to school.  I always debate whether or not I should wake her, or just throw her in the car seat right when we need to leave.  But I'm paranoid she'll be screaming if I put her in the car without feeding her.  She doesn't seem super eager to eat, I keep trying, but she just keeps unlatching and looking around.  Suppose I should have just let her sleep.  While I'm attempting to feed her Elsie runs off to the bathroom.  She does a pretty good job by herself, but I still don't love letting her go alone.  Fingers crossed she doesn't pee on the floor and actually washes her hands.  We all head downstairs to get on shoes and jackets and jump in the car.

8:58am.  We pull out of the driveway.  Their day starts at 9.  But bonus, it takes us 90 seconds to get to school.  Again, I can't WAIT for nice weather so we can walk there!  After Elsie is in her room I see the sign up sheet for conferences.  Man, I didn't realize we needed conferences for MMO (not actual preschool), and I also didn't realize they didn't have class for a week.  Sad freaking story.  I sign up and then Thea and I drive by my mom's house to pick up a package (they are out of town), except it's not there.  It was supposedly delivered the day before and I forgot to go grab it.  Crap.  I really hope it wasn't stolen.  We head back home and play for a little bit, then I decide to try and put on a little bit of make-up and straighten my hair.

9:44am.  Thea gets pissed real fast.  I guess maybe she's hungry?  Or tired?  Or both, or neither.  I really never can read her.  Either way, my getting ready turns into mascara and blush and a few passes with the straightener.  I take her to her room and change her diaper, then nurse her a bit before laying her down for a nap.

10:15am.  Thea is in her crib, and not real pleased about it at all.  I go to my room to edit some photos and hope she falls asleep quickly.

10:26am.  All is quiet in the nursery.  I go to the kitchen to grab the monitor and my water, then back to my room to continue editing.  Naturally I have two photos left that I want to edit when my mouse dies.  Back downstairs to grab a couple batteries, then back upstairs to finish the photos.  Once I'm done I get on my shoes and jacket.

11:20am.  I wake up Thea so we can go pick up Elsie.  Her face is so crusted in boogers.  I'm completely over all of these colds.  Where is spring?  Where is the nice weather?  I need it now!  When we arrive at school I find out they were petting a dog today?  Ugh.  Please don't let this aggravate Elsie's asthma.  I'm pretty sure her forms all say she is allergic to cats and dogs, but whatever.  Hopefully it isn't a big deal.  We head back home to make lunch.  Elsie 'takes care' of Thea while I get it ready.  I check on them at one point and Thea is trying so hard to crawl.  I am just not ready for that kid to be mobile.  Elsie has 'cold ham & cheese' for lunch.  She was obsessed with hot ham and cheese sandwiches for a bit, but now she doesn't have any interest, and prefers cold ham and cheese.  Whatever kiddo.  Elsie sits down to eat and I realize Thea needs a fresh diaper.  Of course while I'm changing her Elsie spills some squeeze pouch on her shirt and it is the end of the world.  After she is cleaned up I sit at the table and nurse Thea while Elsie eats.  I didn't write it down, but based on the pictures I'm pretty sure I stuck Thea in the jumperoo and ate some lunch after she was done nursing.  Leftover pizza spaghetti pie.  Mmmm good.

 

12:35pm.  We're all done eating so we head up to the playroom for a little bit before quiet time.  You can tell we've been playing at home the last few days, the room is a disaster.  I remember that Thea is another week older, so I need to snap a photo on my phone.  After that it is time to get E ready to be in her room.  She goes to the bathroom, then I read her a couple of books.  Once she is settled I get Thea ready for another nap, change her diaper, nurse her a bit, and lay her in her crib.

1:20pm.  The house is quiet, time to be productive!  First up is dishes.  Then I try to figure out the cat ears I'm going to make for Elsie's birthday party.  But I'm not really sure what I'm doing.  I give up on those and start trying to work on a cake topper.  But I don't really know what I want to do with that either.  I end up just cutting out random crap with my silhouette and making a couple of multi colored yarn poms.  I feel like I am being pretty unsuccessful with everything.  So much for productivity.

2:54pm.  Thea is fussing on the monitor.  That isn't a horrible nap, but it isn't exactly going to make the evening easy.  I start to clean up, then it seems like she has fallen back asleep.  It is after 3:00 and I realize Elsie hasn't come out of her room.  I crack open her door and she is passed the heck out in her bed.  Completely snuggled up and everything.  Well crap.  That should make for a long evening.  We don't really encourage her to nap anymore because she has a hard time going to bed if she does.  Back to crafting random crap.  I get started on a tutu for a stuffed cat.  Yup.  I'm that ridiculous.

3:09pm.  Ok now Thea really is awake.  And majorly pissed.  Yay.  I change her diaper and sit down to feed her.  Not long after that I hear the garage door.  Hooray for Grammy!  They came back from out of town early because my dad wasn't feeling well.  I'm sorry that he didn't feel great, but I can't say that I'm sad my mom is back.  She makes my life so much easier, I'm not sure how I'd survive three kids without her!  I take Thea downstairs to finish nursing her while chatting with my mom.  Just before 4:00 I decide to wake Elsie, and we all hang out until the bus comes.

4:17pm.  Ryann is home from school.  She is in one crazy mood.  Her behavior is driving me batty.  Anymore she is just a nut when she comes home from school.  I don't really know how to deal with it.  Ugh.  I get Ryann and Elsie ready for dance and then get them a snack.

4:39pm.  My mom takes Ryann and Elsie to dance.  She generally takes them, stays until they are done, and then brings them home.  But tonight is parent watch night and I haven't seen Elsie in class yet.  Plus I had promised them that I'd be coming to watch since Grammy was going to be out of town.  So once they are out the door I nurse Thea a little bit more just to make sure she won't be screaming at me, and then we get ready to leave.

5:09pm.  I pull out of the driveway with Thea.  We watch the big girls, walk around the 'mall' a little bit, and watch the end of their classes.  I tried to get Thea to fall asleep in the car seat for a short snooze, but no such luck.

6:10pm.  Back in the car to head home.  Dinnertime!  Except Ryann and Elsie don't feel like eating.  Lame.  Whatever, I feel like eating.  It's leftover paleo stuffed pepper soup for me.  Chris didn't seem overly excited by it, but I really liked it.  Chris gives the big girls a shower, and Thea is getting crabby so I nurse her yet again.  The big girls head back downstairs to watch a little bit of a movie.  In the meantime Thea gets her shower and then I get her ready for bed.  I let her nurse just a bit more until she is pretty much asleep.

7:23pm.  Thea is conked out in her crib.  I work on the dishes (why are there so many dishes in a day??) and do a little picking up on the main floor.  Ryann reads us her accelerated reader book, then it is time for the big girls to go to sleep.  As expected Elsie is rather wound up.  I lay with her for a bit before heading downstairs.  I browse instagram, and then whip up some 'ice cream'.  I'm still currently eating Whole30 compliant foods, so my ice cream is frozen banana and frozen mango whipped up in the food processor.  I top it with unsweetened coconut flakes and cashews and it is pretty damn good.  Though the Ben and Jerrys I saw in the freezer while locating the mango doesn't really sound all that bad either.

9:10pm.  Elsie still isn't asleep.  I can hear her running around in her room.  I start working on Thea's monthly post on my laptop.  Shortly after that Elsie comes down claiming she pooped in her diaper.  I change it, but there is nothing in there.  Chris takes her back upstairs and we hope that she will just fall asleep soon.  I spend a little more time working on Thea's post.

9:42pm.  I'm tired and can't really concentrate, so I give up.  I'm not being productive so I might as well sleep.  I brush my teeth, go to the bathroom, and snuggle under the covers.  Good night!

10:24pm.  Or not.  Thea is awake and crying.  I'm so groggy.  I hate when I'm woken up two hours or less into the night.  It just makes it so hard.  I toy with the idea of just rubbing her back and seeing if she'll fall back asleep, but I don't really feel like listening to her scream.  So I feed her yet again.

10:46pm.  I lay Thea back in her crib.  She is mad, but not full on screaming.  I watch her on the monitor for a few minutes.  She starts to taper off and I can't keep my eyes open any longer.  I assume she fell asleep quickly, I know I did.

a day in my life

I really really wanted to document a day in our life before everything gets super crazy, we move and we add another member to our family.  And then I spent a few weeks completely failing at blogging and never finished typing out all my notes.  So it probably isn't the best representation of our day, but I had some pictures so I can't let it completely go to waste!

This was April 23rd, Ryann is 5 years old, Elsie is 2 years 3 months, and I'm nearly 24 weeks pregnant.

***

5:45am:  I stir a bit.  I really need to pee, and consider just getting up, but I manage to pass back out quickly.

6:27am:  This time I'm actually awake.  I roll over to play on my phone for a little bit, but maybe three minutes later Ryann flings our door open.  She says she is just too excited to sleep because she can't wait to go to the park.  We convince her to head to the family room, and then I get up and go to the bathroom.  I run down to the basement and switch a load of laundry and then go back upstairs to get dressed.  Ryann is bouncing off the walls because she is JUST SO EXCITED.  Haha.  One of the many dangers of telling her our plans before we are actually on the way to do them.  I silence her with a bowl of cereal.

7:11am:  Chris is getting ready to leave, so I have him poke his head in to Elsie's room to see if she is awake.  She gets so upset if he leaves for work before she is up to get a hug and a kiss.  Immediately I can tell she wasn't ready to be up.  I can hear her grunt yelling at Christopher.  He tries to back out of the room but that pisses her off too.  I go in to offer some hugs for my little mama's girl.  I convince her to get out of bed and give Daddy kisses goodbye before he goes.  Ryann and her scamper off for a bit to play, but a spider quickly ruins the fun.  I get Elsie a bowl of cereal, and once she is finished I turn a show on for the girls.  I throw Ryann some clothes to change in to and then go to find some for Elsie.  When I bring them to her she asks for pockets.  When I ask her to clarify she says she wants pockets in her pants like Ryann.  "Oh yes, your pants do have pockets like Ryann's."  "Yay! Paw-tits! For my phone!"  Wait what?  What phone?  Whatever...  I get their hair fixed and pack a lunch for the park.

8:38am:  We're about 20 minutes later than I wanted to be, but the truth is our plans aren't super strict for the day, so I'm over it.  We head to the gym.  Naturally the girls fight about who gets to push the door buttons and who gets to give the desk people the card.  No matter what plan we come up with in the car, someone is always pissed.  I get the girls dropped off at the child center and then head up to the treadmills.  Me going to the gym has pretty much been a joke.  I basically just walk on the treadmill.  I went ahead and canceled my membership, so I only have until the end of the month to use the club anyway.  When I get settled on my favorite treadmill, I realize Daniel Tiger is on the TV.  Are you kidding me?  Please tell me what grown adult wants to watch Daniel Tiger while working out.  Anyway, I've been toying with signing up for the Mother's Day 5K, so I decide to try and hit three miles in 45 minutes. I throw some jogging intervals in with my walking, and while it was super difficult, I survive.  When I'm finished on the treadmill I gather my things, the girls, and off we go!

10:09am:  In the car again and on our way to the park.  It's been a long time since we've been to this particular park, and we're all excited, plus we're meeting Sarah, Collins and Brooks there, bonus points!  It's a nice park, and not too far from our house, but we just rarely go since there are three within walking distance of us.  Once I'm parked and get the kids to the actual playground, I turn my back for a moment to set down our things.  When I turn back around Ryann has climbed on top of a giant boulder, and several other kids are trying to follow suit.  I can tell the other moms are a bit stressed, haha.  I tell her I need to snap a picture, and then we'll figure out how to get her down.  Pictures are always of the utmost importance, naturally.

I was worried it would be chilly, but it ends up being the perfect temperature.  Nobody cries, and we spend two hours just enjoying being outside and playing with our friends.  The kids start complaining that they are starving around 11am (always starving, always!) and by 11:20 we give in and have a little picnic lunch.  After everyone is fed we play some more, until three school buses show up just before noon.  Definitely our cue to leave!  I promised the girls we could walk the sidewalk and read the story set up by the library, so we sneak that in before heading out.  Ryann amazes me yet again with how much she can read.  I just can't get over it.  Watching her learn to read has been one of the most exciting things in the last few months, it is so exciting, seeing her little mind work and figure it all out, how to turn the letters into words, and sentences.

12:38pm:  Back home again.  I make myself some lunch while the girls spend some time playing.  Elsie is taking care of baby dolls in the family room, and Ryann has retreated to her room to do who knows what.  They're playing so nicely, so I do a little picking up and start the dishwasher.  Eventually I'm able to convince Elsie that it is time for her nap.  She fights going to her room for nap EVERY SINGLE DAY.  Once we're in there and start the whole routine she is totally fine.  It is just the transition from play time to nap time that is miserable.

1:35pm:  I've finally got Elsie in her crib.  I spend a bit of time sitting and scrolling through instagram while chatting with Ryann.  My notes are rather brief here, but my best guess is that I turn on a Leapfrog video for Ry while I run in to take a shower.  At least that is what I usually do on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

3:02pm:  Elsie isn't asleep and I give up on the hope of her napping.  How that girl can play so hard and then refuse to sleep is beyond me.  You'd think an hour at the gym and two hours at the park would wear her out, but apparently not.  I get the girls a snack, and then they spend some time playing in Ryann's room.  While cleaning out closets and bins, I found an entire plastic drawer of post it notes.  I didn't intend to give them to the girls, but Ryann found them, and my house is quickly being covered in little post it note drawings.

3:56pm:  Daddy is home!  Always a highlight of the day of course.  Especially on Wednesdays and Thursdays if he gets home early enough that I don't have to take Elsie to dance with us.  The girls are always a bit crazy when Christopher comes home, but eventually I wrangle Ryann into her dance clothes.  They read a quick book with daddy, then we gives some hugs and goodbyes and we're off.

4:34pm:  We're in the car on our way to the studio.  Ryann's classes only last an hour tonight, but we always have to leave 25-30 minutes before class starts just to make sure we don't get stuck in too much traffic.  It is always hit or miss.  Nothing like having to take the major highways during rush hour to liven up your drive.  It's parent watch week which means I get to sit in Ryann's classes for the whole time.  I have a love/hate relationship with watch week.  I love getting to see what they do of course, but the kids are always a bit nuts and I find myself biting my tongue a lot, wanting to tell Ryann to listen or pay attention or to just stop trying to talk to me!  Haha.  Oh, and for records sake, she had hip hop and tap class.

working on her 'stalls'

6:20pm:  Ryann and I arrive home to the usual post dance scene.  Elsie destroying the family room with toys while watching Thomas the Train, as Daddy gets dinner on the table.  Naturally because I'm writing this post a few weeks later and my notes don't mention it, I have no idea what we had for dinner.  My best guess, based on the picture, are taco stuffed pasta shells.  Chris and Elsie went to the grocery store while we were at dance, and Elsie talked Daddy in to cupcakes.  He can never say no to his girls ;o).  So cupcakes for dessert! 

After we're all fed, Christopher gives the girls a quick bath and I do the dishes.  When they're clean I take Elsie to get jammies on.  When I ask her which ones she wants to wear, she responds with "What sissy wearin'?"  She always always ALWAYS wants to match jammies.  It ticks her off when Ryann picks out a pair that she doesn't have.  They get a few more minutes of Thomas before I decide it is time for no nap Nancy to go to bed.  We read a couple of books, sing a couple of songs, she tries to tell me a million stories and stalls and stalls and stalls...

7:42pm:  I've got Elsie in her crib and Ryann is asking to go to bed.  Christopher takes care of her and I get on to my really important evening tasks... blogging and watching Grey's Anatomy of course.  I just can't quit that show.  Ok I also do a little laundry, and turn to the Royals game after Grey's is over.

10:27pm:  The game is still going but I have to get ready for bed. After brushing my teeth I lay in bed and watch the rest of the game with Chris.  The Royals end up winning 3-2.  And with that, I'm out. 

a day in {my} life

Lately I've been having a hard time making myself sit down to blog.  And I know if it feels like a chore that I shouldn't be doing it, because this blog is for me.  Something that makes me happy.  But the reality, is that it isn't just for me.  It is for my girls.  So one day when they're older they can look back and see what life was like when they were little.  My life pretty much revolves around those two little girls, so I more or less owe it to them to keep this up.

I figured the best way to jump start getting back to documenting more of our daily happenings was with a day in the life.  It has been a while since I've done one.  I actually document one of our days way back in October, but I didn't take very many pictures and never converted my notes in to a post.  So it is about time to get one written out!

I haven't yet decided if I'm going to bring back the 'day in the life series'.  If you really enjoyed reading them let me know and maybe I'll think about it.  I just got a little worn out on organizing it (even though it isn't even that hard).

***

February 12th, 2014 - Ryann is nearly four and Elsie just turned one!

2:20am:  I hear Elsie on the monitor.  Oy.  She had done so well sleeping through the night for a couple weeks, and now this is the third night in a row she has woken up.  I want to ignore her, but the fastest way to quiet her down and make sure everyone else stays asleep is to just nurse her.  I'm in her room for about 20 minutes, and I lay her back down awake.  She goes right back to sleep on her own and I manage to drift off quickly as well.

6:12am:  Ryann is standing over my side of the bed.  She could care less about sleep buddy these days and just comes out of her room whenever she feels like it.  And I'm pretty sure she knows we won't fight with her at that hour because we want Elsie to stay asleep.  Little punk.  Chris says he'll meet her in the family room, but I swear he starts snoring again so I get up.  He starts to say he'll go, but I'm already out of the bed so I make my way to the couch.  Ryann plays happily by herself for all of like two seconds before she wants me to join her.  I inform her that any interaction I have with her before 6:45am will happen from the couch.

Shortly after that Ryann tells me she saw a man walking in our house.  #$!&%^*!#$!  What?  After a lot of back and forth she claims she saw a man walking in our living room.  A bald one who was big.  I'm totally creeped out.  I'm hoping she is just making stuff up to get my attention, but nonetheless Christopher does a sweep of the house just to make sure.

6:48am:  We hear Elsie awake on the monitor.  I grab my camera charger and get it plugged in so that hopefully my camera will last all day.  Ryann goes in to bug Chris while I go to Elsie's room.  I change her diaper and sit down to nurse her.  Meanwhile Ry has Chris get her a muffin, and after scarfing it down she wants to watch 'her shows'.  She generally gets an hour of TV in the morning.  I feel guilty about it every day, but it does help me get some stuff done.

7:25am:  Christopher leaves for work.  Both girls are zoned out on Mickey so I try and quickly pick up a few things.  Our house is a DISASTER.  Laundry that needs to be put away, toys everywhere, party decorations still up, dishes on the counter.  It is to the point where it is such a hot mess that I don't know where to start.  I go with the living room and get a few things put away.  But as I'm dropping off some toys that belong in the family room I notice a not some pleasant odor coming from Miss E's direction.  After getting her changed I decide to make breakfast for the two of us.  Elsie starts off on the kitchen floor, but is quickly relocated to the pack 'n play because she just can't keep her hands out of the cabinets.

8:00am:  After turning off the TV Elsie and I sit down at the table to eat.  We share some scrambled eggs and toast, buttered for her, peanut butter for me.  It is nice to have a child to share my meals with (sometimes), it makes it seem more worth it to do some cooking during the day.  Ryann joins us at the table to color.  After we're done eating I rinse the dishes and get the dishwasher loaded, only to realize we're out of dish detergent.  BOO.  We all play for a little bit before I get both girls dressed.

8:56am:  I decide to lay Elsie down and see if she wants to take a morning nap.  As I expected she paces the crib and starts chewing on the rails.  We need to get teething guards badly.  I leave her in there for a little bit while I get dressed and fix Ryann's hair.  E starts getting really pissed so I give in and get her up.  Really I should just stop trying to get her to take a morning nap, but for some reason I still feel like she is supposed to?  No idea.  My kids are very anti sleep.  I decide that we are going to try and meet Sarah and Collins at an open gym, so we get stuff moving so we can head out.  A quick snack for Ryann, a quick nursing session for Elsie (although I don't think she is amused and would rather have snack with Ryann!).  I tell Ryann to go put on some socks and shoes, and what she comes back with is well, interesting.  ;o)  Not gonna fight it!  Naturally just as were finishing up putting on shoes and jackets Elsie poops again.  That girl, she makes no sense.  She is either constipated, or poops a million times a day.  There is no happy medium.

9:58am:  We're finally in the car and on our way.  I look up the address on my phone and see it is a pretty easy place to get to, something I'm thankful for because I HATE driving to places I've never been.  When we arrive at the community center I park by the main entrance, but only see old people going in and out, nobody with kids.  I call Sarah and she says just to go in the door and ask at the desk, that we're in the right place.  So we head in.  We find our way to the gym and Ryann is beyond excited.  There are a couple of bounce houses, tons of bikes and ride on toys and a couple of playhouses.  She is quickly off and playing.  I spend the next hour trying to keep up with her while letting Elsie play some too.  At one point I let Elsie get in a bounce house and she has zero interest in getting out.  She just keeps happily bouncing on her little bum and I have to drag her out when some older kids climb in.  She is not pleased with me at all.  At one point while we're playing in the gym E takes several steps on her own.  Getting closer to walking every day!

11:23am:  Back in the car and on our way home.  The mission?  Keep Elsie awake until we get there.  The biggest downfall about letting her skip her morning nap is that when we are in the car between 10:45-11:30am it is quite the task to keep her from falling asleep.  Thankfully between a book and Ryann yelling we manage it.  When we get home I get to work on lunch while the girls play in Ryann's room.  At some point Elsie wanders in to the kitchen and I notice she stinks yet again.  I quickly finish getting Ryann's lunch together and on the table and then change Elsie.  After lunch we all play a bit more, and while Ryann is 'crafting' who knows what, I take Elsie to her room to nurse her and lay her down for a nap.

no need for sign language, you'll know if she wants more ;o)

1:00pm:  I've been letting Elsie nurse to sleep for naps (sleep training fail), but today no dice.  So I lay her down.  Surely she'll go to sleep, right?  I read a couple of Curious George stories to Ryann and then work on picking up the family room a little bit.  Why I do that I have no idea, as soon as Elsie is up the girls will trash it again.  After about half an hour E is still just wandering her crib and kind of pissy, so I check to see if she needs a new diaper.  Nope, so I tell her to lay down and put her back in her crib.  Ryann and I start working on her valentines for school.  Elsie continues to whine and yell for another 30 minutes.  Not cool at all, no nap just isn't an option in my book.

2:05pm:  I cave and nurse Elsie to sleep.  Really I think it is just better for all of us if she takes a nap, and Ryann and I have valentines to make!  Our valentines were definitely nothing special.  But Ryann helped put all of it together, and she was so incredibly proud of her work that it made it all worth it.  I loved watching her sign her name, and she drew some of her friends little pictures.  Her teacher had given us stickers with each child's name on it to help the kids pass them out and I was impressed that Ryann recognized every name without any prompting from me.  She selected which bubble wand and which dum dum each kid got, helped me punch the holes and string ribbon through the cards.  She was really just so dang proud of herself I couldn't help but smile.  Definitely beats me putting together some perfectly calculated corny play on words card and just having her write her name (not that I find anything wrong with that, because it is totally what I wanted to do).

3:43pm:  Elsie starts fussing so Ryann and I clean up our mess.  We go in to get Elsie and wouldn't you know, she pooped again.  I get her changed and then we all go to play in the family room.  We also face time with my parents who are in Georgia right now.  So jealous.  I hate snow and cold so much.  Not the point though.  Ryann and Elsie lose interest pretty fast but we talk for a while.  I manage to get Elsie to walk a few steps so they can see.  After we've hung up with them we read some books and then move on to dressing up.  Ryann decks us out, and after I take a picture of her and Elsie, she wants to take a picture of me.

5:17pm:  Daddy is home!  Christopher did me a HUGE favor and came home for an hour between work and a dinner he needed to attend for work.  We live 30 minutes away from the hospital so it meant an extra hour in the car, but man did it make a world of difference in my attitude for the evening.  I know I'm not the only mom who feels this way, that I can handle 7am-4:30pm by myself like a champ and we get along just fine, but from 4:30-7:30pm on my own pretty much feels like hell.  At least one of them is always crying at some point during that time frame, especially in the half hour before dinner is served, so it is much nicer to have a second pair of hands around.  Ryann begs Chris to play in our bed while I finish up dinner, so I start walking Elsie to the bedroom to hang out with them.  I let go and she manages to walk the length of the hallway by herself.  When she finally plops down Chris and I cheer and I think it scared her.  Whoops!  The girls and I eat dinner, and then Christopher gives them a bath.

6:30pm:  As soon as the girls are dried off and in pajamas it is time for Chris to head back out.  Ryann has been VERY in to watching Planet Earth type movies, so we pop in one about the Congo in Africa.  I have no idea why she likes them so much, I'm also skeeved out by all the creepy crawlies and I don't like watching animals fight and such.  But she loves it.  Elsie and I play in the family room while Ryann is watching the video.

7:10pm:  I take Elsie back to her room to get ready for bed.  Dry diaper, cozy jammies over her cotton ones and a little nursing session and she is good to go for the night.  I don't understand why at bedtime I can lay her down wide awake and she goes to sleep without a peep, but for naps it takes her at least 25 minutes to wear herself out enough to sleep.  When I head back to the family room I find Ryann watching the menu of the movie, poor girl.  I have no idea how long it has been over, and she was just staring at the screen.  I'm going to guess she was tired.  I grab some books and snuggle up with her on the couch to read.

7:55pm:  We start getting Ryann ready for bed.  One last trip to the bathroom to go potty and brush teeth and then we both crawl in to her bed to snuggle.  Bedtime has gone a lot smoother if one of us just lays with Ryann until she falls asleep.  Otherwise she comes out or plays in her room for a long time before actually falling asleep.  Usually Chris lays with her but since he is gone it is up to me.

9:05pm:  I wake up in Ryann's bed.  Whoops.  The main reason Chris is the one to lay with Ryann?  I ALWAYS fall asleep.  I think I've only not fallen asleep maybe 3 times?  Then I just feel like butt and have to go to bed myself.  But I really do enjoy snuggling with her.  Just as I'm coming out of her room Chris comes in the door.  We both grab a little snack and sit on the couch and talk for a while.  Then I remember I needed to add some tape to Ryann's valentines because the stuff kept falling out of the ribbon.

10:00pm:  We're both tired, it's bedtime!