Battles & Blessings

Battles:

• Short week.  Lots to accomplish.  Zero energy.  Not a fun combination.
• Trying to carve out time to spend with my husband and my son.
• Sleeping troubles.  For me, this time.
• Super-clingy Miles.  Probably because we've all been so busy.
• Super-stressed Maestro.  Nothing new. :)

Blessings:

• Bits of free time.
• Two days off this week, in return for 12 hour work days.
• Spent at least part of every day with Miles.
• Found a few moments to read and blog.
• Great new book.
• Support from family and friends, when even I didn't know I needed it.
• Toddlerhood.  I love it.  It is awesome.  The end.
• Re-connecting with a childhood friend.
• Glorious weather.
• An overall feeling of contentedness. <happy sigh>

My Hectic Life*

I've been complaining for weeks now about my hectic life.  I thought I'd give you a little insight into our day.

• 7:15ish am - I get up, get ready, make breakfast for Miles, and do my best to down a cup of coffee before
• Anywhere between 7:00 and 8:00 am - Miles wakes up.  Sometimes he plays quietly, other times (like every day this week), he bangs on the door yelling, "Mom-mom!  Mom-mom!" at the top of his lungs until I come running in, convinced there is a crisis.  There never is.
• Wake-up time until 8:00ish - Play with Miles in his room.  Eventually get him changed, and dressed.  Usually, end up leaving his room in a state of disaster.
• 8:00 - 8:30 - Turn on the TV and give Miles his breakfast to distract him while I (finally) get to drink my coffee and maybe even get dressed for the day.
• 8:30 - 9:00 - Do some light housework - dishes, laundry, decluttering - whatever I can manage in half an hour.  Miles usually spends this time between my feet "helping" or asking for any number of things I cannot help him with while carrying a basket full of laundry.
• 9:00 am - Load Miles - and his junk - into the van, and drive to work.  If I'm not already completely brain dead, I call one of my parents, as this is my only opportunity to talk to them most days.
• 9:30 am - Arrive at work.  Unload Miles.  Try to get him interested in something, anything to distract him so I can get some work done.  By 10:00 am, I can usually begin working.
• 11:00 am - Miles begins whining because he's a) hungry, b) tired, c) bored, or d) all of the above.  I try to placate him for a few more minutes so I can finish up what I'm doing.
• 11:30ish - Miles finally wins the fight, and we zoom out the door and off to lunch to avoid a Meltdown.
• 12:30 - Drag my exhausted rear-end back into the office, carrying a suddenly-heavy Miles, who fell fast asleep in the van on the ride back.  I spend the next 15-20 minutes making sure he stays asleep.
• 12:45 - I finally get to do some work. Until:
• Anytime between 1:30 and 3:00 pm - Miles wakes screaming from his nap.  Don't ask me why.  He does it at home, too.  It's just the way he is.  I pick him up and cuddle him while finishing my latest task on the computer with the other hand.  Eventually, he wakes up completely, and goes off to play again, quite content (usually).  I generally manage to get a good chunk of work time at this point.
• 4:30ish - Miles lets me know, in no uncertain terms - that he is done being at work and is ready to go home.  I try to placate him, or send him outside with to play with one of my co-workers who is finishing up for the day.  Meanwhile, I frantically wrap up everything, amend my to-do list, cross a day off the calendar, and clean up the remnants left by my son, the Tornado.
• 5:00ish - We finally load our weary behinds into the van, and drive the 30 minutes (longer if traffic is bad) back home.  If I have any energy left, I call the other parent, to make certain they don't feel left out.
• 5:30ish - I make dinner, while Patrick plays with Miles (or vice versa).
• 6:00ish - We all fall into a heap and eat our dinner while staring mindlessly at the television.
• 7:00-8:00ish - Playtime with Miles.  Possibly a bath, if he's amiable.  Or particularly smelly. :)
• 8:00ish - Begin bedtime routine.  Play quietly in Miles' room for 10-15 minutes, then read 2-3 books (with him in bed), then 2-3 lullabies, and goodnights.  Patrick and I take turns on this.  Whoever is not doing bedtime is cleaning up supper dishes, and shoving toys out of the walkway so we don't kill ourselves in the morning.
• 9:00ish - Patrick goes to work on a project (or a work assignment, if it's been that sort of day), while I sit down to catch up on e-mails, Facebook, and maybe my blog.
• Bed for us as soon as we have finished our chores for the night.

Which is why I am going to begin splitting my Assistant job with a friend.  We will each take half of the work load, and thus, half of the days in the office.  On my working days, I will drop Miles at her house before I head to the office, and on my non-working days, she will drop off her six-year-old with me.

It sounds like Heaven.  I can't wait to start next week. <sigh>

*True story: It took me four tries to type the title to this post correctly, because I am one exhausted Mama.

Can't Keep Up!

Too many awesome things have been happening recently, so the updates you have read all week are usually at least a week old by the time you see them.  In an effort to catch up, here is another of my (in)famous lists.  I think I shall title this:

Cool Things That Have Happened This Week:


Saturday: Stacey and I hosted a baby shower for our dear friends Bethany and Shelby (whose mysteriously-named little boy is due in August).  The games were hysterical.

The cake was beautiful and delicious.

And the parents-to-be seemed to enjoy themselves.

All in all, a good day.

Sunday: I slept for an indecent number of hours, then spent hours playing with Miles, before wrapping up with dinner with Paul.  Not a bad day at all, I must say.  Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures worth sharing. :(

Monday: Took the Boy and met Bethany for brunch.  We had a marvelous conversation, and Miles was (for once) perfectly behaved the entire day.  It was glorious.  Even better, he fell asleep when we got home and napped for over three hours.  Then, we went outside to play, and he showed off his belly button:

Tuesday: Playdate at the Children's Farm with several friends and their kiddos.  A beautiful, relaxing trip which was sprinkled with lots of praise for my once again perfectly-behaved son.  I'll admit, I basked in it. 

Yes, that is my very active toddler, waiting quietly and patiently for his friends to arrive. *mommyglow*

Wednesday: After a week of playing around, Miles and I decided it was time to actually do some work.  Miles ran around playing nicely while I worked for almost an hour and a half straight, before he started getting cranky.  When asked what was wrong, he signed, "Food, please," so we ran to Arby's and grabbed some roast beef sandwiches (which he inhaled).  After lunch, he crawled up in my lap, gave me a huge snuggle-hug, and asked for his pacifier.  When I asked if it was naptime, he floored me by responding, "Yesh" and signing 'please'.  I rocked him for two minutes before he passed out.  I once again beamed with the delight of mommy pride. :)

And a bonus list, just for you loyal readers, who love them oh, so much, I'm sure. :)

Good Things I Discovered This Week:

• Something is working.  Whether it's medication, my renewed commitment to taking care of myself, a widening circle of wonderfully supportive friends, or maybe just the onset of an easier stage in Miles' development*, I have actually felt like a good mom a lot this week.  And that feeling has allowed me to remain calm and collected over things that usually throw me into a tailspin.  Hurray for a sense of normalcy.
• I have started to enjoy being around other people's children again.  Since I became pregnant with Miles, this has been a continuing struggle for me.  There are a few kiddos who have managed to endear themselves to me, but for the most part, I have had little interest in any kid except Miles.  This week, I found myself delighting in the antics of strangers' children for the first time in recent memory.
• I can be around babies without having a panic attack.  Even tiny ones.  And I think they're cute.  Which is good, since every freakin' woman I know is having a baby this year.
• Rather than freaking out at the thought of leaving Miles for even a few hours, I have started planning outings without him.  I have a date night with my charming hubby tomorrow, and a girls' night next weekend.  And I'm excited about it.
• And most of all, I've realized that, for the first time in a long time, I am content.  Thanks in no small part to all of you, who have supported me on this journey, and allowed me the room and given me the push I needed to get here.  I am so blessed to have each of you in my life.  Yes, even you, random internet stranger. ;)

*Please, oh please, let this be true!!!

Tired

I am exhausted.  So, the post for today will suck.

This is because yesterday, I:

• took Miles to the children's farm with friends
• cleaned the living room
• vacuumed
• did a pile of laundry
• chased Miles around the living room trying to keep him from destroying everything I had just cleaned
• cleaned the kitchen
• took Miles off the dining room table where he had climbed and gotten stuck [repeat x 10]
• made stuffed peppers for dinner
• had friends over to share the peppers
• walked to Dairy Queen
• had a lovely conversation on the patio while we ate our ice cream
• chased Miles around the patio to keep him from darting out into traffic
• walked home
• chatted for a few moments with the roomie
• stared blankly at the computer for awhile, trying to think of something witty to write
• gave up and went to bed.

The end.  Have a good day.  May it be a tad less busy than yesterday.