Lately

I have been in a little bit of a funk lately when it comes to a lot of things, my little blog included.  Truth is, going back to work has been a huge adjustment.  I hit the ground running from day one, and trying to figure out our "new normal" at home has been a bit of an adjustment for all of us.  And honestly, most days I feel like the "real" work begins at the end of the work day.  

Dan's job has him working crazy hours until our wonderful legislators can agree on a budget and pass it, which means that, for now, I have both kids alone quite a bit.  I need to note that he is very good about coming home to see them between work and client dinners when he can, and when he's home he is beyond helpful.  He came home last night after work and actually cooked dinner even though he had a board meeting and wasn't going to be home to eat it.  t don't know where he finds the energy, I swear, but I know that I am very lucky to have him.  And don't get me wrong, I'm always so excited to see Lills and Craft when I get home from work and I miss the crap out of both of them during the day, but gosh they can be tiring.  

I walk in the door at 5:30, catch up with Carney and Auntie Syd on how the day went for a few minutes, then play with Lills for a short time until it's time to start dinner (normally around 6pm, 6:15 at the latest).  Starting dinner can be a little complicated because Craft is usually tired and needs a little catnap to get him through to bedtime.  Most days I'll get lucky and he'll take a 20-30 minute cat nap in his crib or in the swing, but the days that he doesn't can be tricky (and trying, to say the least).  I typically just make dinner for Lilly because it's easier than cooking a full meal since she won't eat it anyway and it seems like a lot of work for just one person (yours truly).  While Lilly eats, I make Craft's oatmeal and feed him and when he's done eating we sit and talk to Lilly while she finishes up because I'm pretty sure she's the slowest eater on the planet, even slower than her namesake which is a big statement to make.  I don't even bother trying to clean up dinner dishes or the playroom or the living room, bathroom, dining room, or pretty much any other room Hurricane Lilly steps foot in until after both kids are in bed.  

When Lills finishes dinner, it's bath time for both babes.  If Craft took a cat nap and is happy, I'll put his baby tub into the big tub with Lills and let the kids take a bath together.  If he wouldn't cat nap and is crabby, I will give Lilly the fastest bath in history and then let her watch a show while I give him a quick bath in the kitchen sink.  We then go back upstairs and I let Lilly wreak havoc on even more rooms (her room, my room, Craft's room) while I feed Craft, then she'll help me read him books, swaddle him and put him to bed (she loves this part and asks to help every night, which is really rather cute).  Then it's off to L's room for more books, a song, a snuggle and bed.  Lately, Craft has been fighting me a little at bedtime, so sometimes there is a little extra soothing involved to get him down.  More on that later, because I've been meaning to write a "HELP ME!  WHAT DO I DO ABOUT THIS?!" post.

Once both kids are in their beds it's time to clean up all of the messes, wash bottles and pump parts, make more bottles for the next day, get all of my things ready for the next day, maybe eat a bowl of cereal somewhere in there and most importantly drink wine.  Please do not take this post as complain-y - I choose to work and enjoy my job a lot even though it makes life after close-of-business pretty hectic.  I really just intended for this to be more of an explanation post, like, "I'm sure you can see why most nights I would much rather drink wine and watch trashy tv for an hour and then promptly go to bed than blog."  I keep waiting for things to settle down, but it seems like life has other plans.  Slow down, everything.  My babies are getting too big right before my eyes and I feel like I don't even have time to catch my breath and soak it all in.

Know what I do when I need a little pick-me-up from all of the crazy?  I'll tell ya 'cause I like ya: I watch this video that I was lucky enough to capture last week.



I dare you to even pretend that you can watch that without smiling.  You're welcome.

Happy hump day, friends!