All in All

Not a bad couple of days. My Sweets left town early Tuesday ~ before the house was awake ~ to drive 5 hours to pick up my car from the "car doctor" and return our rental. He's been staying with Grandpa J. on the farm and will be back tonight. We miss him oh so much! Virtual hugs + kisses to Daddy.

Harry the house painter is just about finished. One more day should do it. I wrapped my cleaning just in time for Aga to come on Tuesday. She sanitizes our bathrooms and floors every other week and that makes me very happy. You could eat off our basins + bowls... It's hilarious how Buby thinks everyone who comes to this house is here to entertain him. The window guy, the carpet installer, the painter, and Aga. I have to keep him away or he'll talk their ear off the entire time.

The kiddos and I are enjoying some down time at home. Avoiding the stick shift. Walking every day. Hey... that double stroller is A LOT heavier than I remember. {Alana... stop laughing!} Tuesday night Buby asked for pizza, which he never does, so we strolled down to the village for slices to go and got stuck in the doorway. For a while I couldn't maneuver the wheels and a nice man had to unjam us. Buby has had a bout of diarrhea. And bedtime didn't go so well. Both kids were fussy between 6-8 and needed me UNdivided. After running back and forth several times, I got things settled down to where I could nurse Bleu in Buby's bed while reading books. I prayed he would drift off with a smile on his face and NOT follow me to the door screaming. Again.

This is when I realized two things: First, I need more sleep with 2 little kids than I did with 1. Pulling all-nighters {like I did the night before} working on projects or going to bed at 2am and getting up at 5:30 just isn't going to cut it anymore. Especially with an energetic toddler going 15 hours nonstop with no nap. I'm fun Mommy for breakfast and lunch but will crash by dinner time if I'm running on empty.

Second, I cannot let Buby watch TV. He turns into a totally different kid when I do. An hour of Playhouse Disney in the morning throws off our entire day. He becomes more sensitive, less connected and crankier later on. So I learned my lesson yesterday. Tune OUT. Save the DVDs for emergencies. The zoning just doesn't jive with his personality. I'm realizing the same qualities that make Buby so amazing and clever and fun to be with are what make this adjustment from being the only kid to the older kid a bit trickier for him. We've taught him to expect 100% from everyone and now he has to learn patience. The upside: I have mastered the art of nursing Bleu while pouring milk, playing, reading, or running into the bathroom to deal with a potty mess.

Yesterday was way more fun. We walked {with Bleu in the Bjorn} to the village library for 6 new-to-us children's books. We spent the afternoon reading, climbing on each other, reconstructing train tracks and building a fort. Bleu + I practiced holding her head up and sitting. She giggled out loud for her first time. And second time. And third time. In between downpours, we visited our friends at the village coffee shop. Buby + Bleu are sort of celebs in there, and I was talked into trying a frozen hot chocolate with whipped cream. Twist my arm. Then the cookie lady next door surprised Buby with his fave. On the house.