Three babies in, and this parenting thing isn't exactly getting any easier. You would think, perhaps, that with each kid you would master some of those basic parenting skills. But instead, it seems that each child comes out with higher level skills of trickery and manipulation. Either that or each one wears you down over time, and my ability to stand fast has ever waned? For example, I just spent the last hour trying to get Matthew to take a nap. An HOUR. He is asleep now, but only after nursing multiple times, singing every lullaby song to infinity, rocking, and soothing. I would try to leave the room and let him soothe himself... but my skin crawled up my neck as I heard him screaming and hyperventilating in his crib. 3 kids in, and the sound of my baby crying still rips right into my heart. The small victory of his sweet face sleeping in his crib is a very small reward compared to the hour long battle we just endured! Which is why I so often don't fight him on his naps despite knowing how important sleep is to his development and health.
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| It isn't all fun and games. An exhausted attempt to get Matthew to sleep in the car and take NJ to the park... gone bad! |
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| My bed on a Saturday at 6:00am. Not as comfy as you think! |
But we are making it along all right. Our days are full of play, exploration, learning, and growth right here at home! Nevertheless, Adam has been growingly disappointed with my rigidity about traveling, camping, and adventures in general. He is right, I avoid activities that involve packing, sleeping outside our own home, or excessive planning of any kind. The bottom line is it is just TOO much WORK! I hardly get any sleep in my own bed, the idea of attempting to get Matthew to sleep somewhere else makes me panic! I do daily loads of laundry at home, usually more than one load. If we travel... my lord by the time we get home I'll have 4-5 loads to catch up on! Then there is the fact that my brain can't seem to remember the basic needs and tasks in our every day routines. I'm always forgetting pump parts at work, or to send diapers to the babysitter. I forget to pack a jacket for a cold day or Jack's library books for library day. My brain is a constant real of "don't forget" "need to do.." which then turns into "what was I just doing?" "why did I come in here?" "where did I just put..?" So the idea of packing all those things up, toting them along on our adventures, and then being able to FIND those items when I need them??? I have anxiety just thinking about it. Which is bad news for my husband who thrives off of travel, camping, and adventures of every kind.
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Adam's new form of excitement and adventure :) Protecting your UNO cards
from baby Matthew! |
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| See, adventures in the mundane :) |
I continually promise him that once Matthew gets a bit older that I PROMISE to resume our adventurous ways. For now I am happy as a lark having adventures in our front yard. Taking trips to the library or park are good to me. I finally understand why my mom had sticky notes all over our home with lists of things to do with the silliest of tasks written on them such as: trim finger nails. Because my gosh... I can have been meaning to trim my finger nails for a week now. A week!!! How does that happen? I should stop what I'm doing right now and go trim them. But then I might forget that I was working on a blog. See my dilemma.
So, either this is normal "Mommy brain" stuff, or I should seek a counselors support :) But either way, I think these kids are growing up to be beautiful little people.
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| Painting our pumpkins |
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| Pictures that were released by Hallmark! |
Three babies in, and this parenting thing isn't exactly getting any easier. You would think, perhaps, that with each kid you would master some of those basic parenting skills. But instead, it seems that each child comes out with higher level skills of trickery and manipulation. Either that or each one wears you down over time, and my ability to stand fast has ever waned? For example, I just spent the last hour trying to get Matthew to take a nap. An HOUR. He is asleep now, but only after nursing multiple times, singing every lullaby song to infinity, rocking, and soothing. I would try to leave the room and let him soothe himself... but my skin crawled up my neck as I heard him screaming and hyperventilating in his crib. 3 kids in, and the sound of my baby crying still rips right into my heart. The small victory of his sweet face sleeping in his crib is a very small reward compared to the hour long battle we just endured! Which is why I so often don't fight him on his naps despite knowing how important sleep is to his development and health.
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