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Another New Normal

The above photo really has nothing to do with this post. It is just a photo of Audrey getting some heavy duty sleep while the chaos of our life unfolds around her. Truth be told, she generally isn’t so sacked out in the bouncer seat with her arms free, we generally swaddle her up like the newborn that she is. Isn’t she just sweet as a chocolate chip cookie? 

Speaking of babies, look at the picture of all the A-Town babies from well over a year ago. Weren’t they so little? This morning Charlyn asked me if I’ll remember THIS stage that I’m currently in and I just know I won’t. Time will pass and this season of my life will fade from my memory – the midnight nursing sessions, Maggie wearing her tap dancing shoes all day long, nursing in the car, learning how to maneuver in the world (like at the grocery store) with two kids, feeling sad that Sydney doesn’t get the attention she once did. Other memories will take over and there will be a new normal. 

When I went back to work in September, I established a new normal of being out the door early in the morning and having my afternoons with Maggie at home. As much as I really loved working, I’m thankful that I am no longer rushing out the door first thing and having to say goodbye to both my girls. I also really missed seeing my girlfriends and all their kids. I’d gotten so used to adventures to parks, Jetty Island and all our houses, but the reality of squeezing in a playdate after work really wasn’t an option for all our schedules…we’ve all always had different nap schedules, live far apart, etc. 

With the birth of Audrey and me being home now, it has again opened up the door to fall into a regular schedule of playdates with my A-Town girls. I’m not going to lie….it feels SO good to be back in the swing of things with them! Our kids all get along and we’ve been friends since grade school. Making friends as an adult is not one of my strengths….I wish I was better at it, but there is something to be said for old friends and not worrying about the popper etiquette of sharing information, blah, blah, blah. 

It turned out that Valentine’s Day was a day that we were all open to get together at Lara’s house. Mira, Lara’s new bundle of joy, was born one day after Audrey and I hadn’t gotten adequate holding time of her since we’d only seen her once. [That is the only bad thing about having babies at EXACTLY the same time as one of your BFFs. It is nearly impossible to love on them in the way that you would if you didn’t have a newborn of your own.] Plus, we hadn’t seen everybody else in ages. We hopped at the chance to go and Maggie worked hard on making Valentines for all her friends. 

I didn’t take pictures of it, but the delivery of valentines was the sweetest of things between all the kids. Maggie and Caroline had a hug-fest and I’m pretty sure that Gavin never let his box of Sweethearts go the entire day. Erin brought goodies to decorate cookies and with the help of Marc, Maggie decorated a coookie that was twice the size of her head. We ‘accidently’ forgot the cookie at Lara’s house when we left….

But the icing on the cake wasn’t the cookies, the valentines or even the fact that we were all reunited after a long time. No, the icing on the cake was when Marc busted out Thomas’ new electrical jeep/tractor. Maggie, who doesn’t know how to steer, loved driving and riding in the tiny vehicle. Her and Mara spent an extremely long time cruising around the property laughing and giggling together. Once Mags discovered the reverse option, she never really drove it too far because she kept backing up. Mara, on the other hand, probably would have driven the little cart all the way home had we let her. 

Marc got out the lawn mower and the boys rode around for a very long time. It was actually quite funny watching the whole thing unfold….and to see what type of driver the young kiddos are. Eventually Marc and his little tribe of followers came back inside and we had a bit of play time in the playroom, with Maggie wanting to play guitar with Marc. She gave us a quick concert of “Country Roads”  before too long. 

I laughed with my friends that day wondering why I ever thought taking care of JUST a newborn was difficult….Audrey is a dream, especially if she’s being held or I am wearing her. Having two children is a challenge, one that I’m slowly figuring out ways to make it easier. Getting together that day at first felt like somewhat of a chore to pack everything up and get there on time [which we weren’t], but by the time we got home that evening, I found myself so happy to be back in the saddle again with my A-Town playgroup.  

Give me another me another month or so with two kids, and I’ll be ready for all sorts of adventures, and another new normal. 

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The List and Other Randoms

This morning I woke up with the list of ‘things-that-need-to-get-done-holy-hell-school-starts-tomorrow” spinning in my head. I’ve had kids floating in and out of my class – moving to PM Kindergarten or full day and so I haven’t even written their name tags yet. Worry not, that task is on The List. I intentionally left my notebook, which is keeper of The List, at school over the weekend because I wanted to really enjoy this Labor Day weekend with not too many distractions and school pressures. Translation: I sent myself e-mails about what needs to get added to The List.

Yesterday we squeezed every, single ounce of the day out and by the time our heads hit the pillow, we were satisfied with our weekend. Friday, when we had our ultrasound,  seems so long ago and the things we did in between then and now aren’t really important, but boy did we enjoy the weekend. After we left the ultrasound, Barry and I set out on a mission to find a perfectly round pink balloon. We were successful in finding the balloon; however, it wasn’t until we got out to the parking lot that we realized that perhaps the balloon wouldn’t fit in our car. It was that large. We did some maneuvering and got it to work and next time I have a need for a balloon, I plan on getting another rad huge one. The instant we walked through the door with the massive thing, Maggie was enamored. It didn’t take much convincing to get her to ‘take the balloon to get some pictures taken.’

And that was the start of our weekend. We went to Bellingham to visit Barry’s family on Saturday and Maggie got to spend some time playing with Greg and Linda. I slipped up to Bellingham to run some errands and by the time I got back, they were still having a great time. It doesn’t matter where we go, Maggie always remember who has what toys at their house. I suppose we’re all that way as kids, I can clearly remember toys that both sets of my grandparents kept for the grandkids. She just seems so young to be remembering!

I wish I was better at writing down more of Maggie’s day-to-day anecdotes (maybe I should add that task to The List?) because she has become so dang funny. Like the other day when I was changing over our duvet cover in our bedroom, a long process, and suddenly I heard fake snoring coming from the corner where she was playing. I looked over to see her curled up inside a pillow case with her head sticking out making sleeping face.  Then she’d pop up and yell “Good Morning!” and instantly fall back in to sleeping face/snoring/ball curled inside pillow case. She then insisted on finding a rubber band “I need rubber band right here. I need it now” and tying the pillow case closed around her waist like a potato sack. She kept the pillow case on to hop to her table and eat a snack and for quite a bit of time afterwards.

She’s also trying to figure out who her friends are and anytime we mention some of the little people she knows, she says “they my friends, mama.” She also is figuring out that mama and papa have friends too. We’re working on helping her distinguish between family and friends because as we were pulling out of my grandparent’s driveway the other day, waving to them, Maggie informed us that ‘them my friends.’ She’s right that my grandparents are her friends, but they’re also her family.

 [Other side note, the other morning Barry dropped me off at the Farmers Market and waited in the car with Mags and Syd. I guess while they were waiting for me, Maggie started to ask “Where’s Janet? Where is she? Where’s Janet? Where is Grammy” Barry tried to explain to her that Janet/Grandma was at her house. I wish I could have heard her ask for my mom by first name. So funny.]

But trying to figure out  the friends & family concept is a tough one, because what happens when you have friends that really are like family? How do you explain that? We’re not going down that road quite yet….instead we’ll settle for pillowcase wearing