It’s been forever since I’ve updated what we’ve been up to. Which was my whole point of starting this blog. It’s a bit of a blur from Thanksgiving on so I’m just going to start fresh with this past week and attempt to go through pictures one of these days to refresh my memory of the past few months.
I’m calling this week from last Saturday until today since I have time tonight. I put the kiddos down at 6pm. It was that kind of day.
Saturday & Sunday
Brian and the kiddos started Saturday morning dropping me off at the start of my first official half marathon before heading over to My Gym for their weekly class. Brian usually takes them every Saturday morning so I can have some home alone time, a treasured rarity. Except last Saturday. I signed up for a half marathon last November with every intention of being better prepared. I was semi-prepared and I finished, which was my main goal. I think 10 miles is my preferred limit, though I may give another half a try later in the year. The rest of the day spent at home and being lazy (on my part). Sunday I went to brunch at Salish Lodge with a great group of gals, then came home to give Brian some alone time since he played dad all day Saturday and Sunday morning. We picked up a pizza for dinner Sunday night and called it a weekend.
Monday
It was supposed to rain Monday when I checked the weather Sunday night. It wasn’t raining in the morning so I tossed the kiddos and our rain boots in the van and we left for Farrel-McWhirter. We checked in on the animals—mainly the goats and avoided Sunny (the scary enormous snoring pig) all thanks to Laine—then went on a mini-trail hike around the park. We made it home in time for lunch and naps, myself included. The kiddos have music class Monday nights; Laine loves class while Blaise is indifferent. I decided to hang at home with Blaise while Brian took Laine to class. It was nice for us to get individual time with one kid each. Thankfully daylight savings came and went without any issues for the kiddos. They went down as usual Sunday and Monday nights (and since).
I haven’t been taking as many pictures as I used to. Either I’m over the initial new parent constant picture taking phase or I’m trying to avoid being on my phone around the kiddos. This is the only picture from the week, Blaise leaf jumping (Laine was flirting with a younger fellow by the goats).
Tuesday
I realized a few weeks back that it’s important to have at home days. I have a need to get out almost daily, and since the kiddos don’t really have a choice, they come with me by default. Even though the outings are usually tailored to them, Blaise made it clear a few weeks back that he likes to be home. And I should have realized this instead of selfishly fulfilling my needs. It was a Friday and we were at our weekly playgroup. He was acting out like he does when he’s exhausted even though we were at our friend’s house where we are multiple times a month. He feels comfortable there, and yet he said he wanted to go home not long after we got there. When I packed them back in the van I asked if he wanted to stop by a park on the way home and he said, “No, home.” That’s when I decided we’d start having more at home days (aka long days). So, Tuesday, an at home day. Back to being selfish, since I knew it was going to be a long an at home day, I arranged for our favorite sitter to come over for a few hours so I could get out for a run along Lake Sammamish. It was a great run for me and the kiddos had a blast with the sitter.
The rest of the day was as usual, playing cars, trucks, trains, puzzles, hide and seek, etc. EXCEPT for Blaise deciding he wants to potty train. We haven’t been actively trying; Brian offers Blaise to go here and there but nothing consistent because of my protest (I’m not ready). We were playing as usual and all of a sudden, Blaise stood up, took his pants and diaper off, grabbed my hand, and led me to the bathroom. He hopped on the toilet and did his thing. He’s since been doing this daily. Not every time he has to go but a few times each day. And of course, Laine wants to try too. I’m so not ready for this, but I’m pulling from my cheerleading days and rooting the kiddos on. If they want to, I’m not going to stop them (even though I’m angsty on the inside).
Wednesday
After our trip to California in early December, we made it home in time to rip up the carpet in preparation for our mini-home renovation that was supposed to last less than a week, that we just (almost) finished Wednesday. That’s a whole other post but the contractor was here for the last time on Wednesday finishing up what was left on the list. It was a long day with the kiddos being confined mostly upstairs as the work was being completed downstairs. We survived and I have baseboards. Now we just have some minor painting and I can call it done (until I decided to redo something else or we decide to move and start over). Wednesday night our hair lady came over to make me a dark blonde (jury is still out) and give Blaise a much needed haircut.
Thursday
Despite having my dad’s teeth (which is a good thing), one tooth had been bothering me for about a week. My dentist was able to squeeze me in early Thursday morning so I was able to get that taken care of. Since I was up and raring to go, the kiddos and I left for (surprise, surprise) Farrel-McWhirter. Man, I love that place. I love parks without playgrounds. It makes the kiddos have to run around, play in puddles and dirt, and explore outside instead of repetitively sliding or swinging (and having farm animals is a bonus). Not that playgrounds aren’t great, they’re just not my go-to. After a successful romp in the soggy grass (Blaise wearing Laine’s pink rain boots and rocking them), I was going to treat the kiddos to Top Pot. I texted my friend to see if she and her little ones were interested in meeting us. They had just made sugar cookies the day before so we passed on doughnuts for cookies and went to their house. After the initial “you’re going to abandon me” clinginess, the kiddos broke free and had a blast playing. We stayed about an hour before heading home for lunch and naps. And successful naps they were. It’s been touch and go for naps the past few months and Thursday was awesome. Both kids lain down in their respective beds and went to sleep right away, no screwing around. AND they slept over two hours (normal for Blaise, not normal for Laine). Which meant I was able to nap for over two hours. It was a really great day. Even after naps it was really great, which is not always the case.
Today, Friday
Long day. It started off great. We were all ready and set to go to weekly playgroup on time. Until Blaise decided he didn’t want to wear pants. Which I can understand, pants can be confining (especially when you want to potty train yourself). But, pants are somewhat of a requirement these days since it’s cold outside. After fighting the pants fight, and losing a few rounds, I was eventually the winner and we left for playgroup (late). Blaise was moody, Laine was wired, I was ready to remove them. We stayed for a little over an hour before we left to go buy cheesy Easter outfits. What was I thinking?! Not about the cheesy outfits but attempting to shop with them. It actually wasn’t terrible but Carter’s having a LEGO table doesn’t work for me right now. Great idea but once the two saw that damn table, it was over. And I’m not comfortable leaving them to play while I nose around the store when they can be out of sight at times. We left with minimal protest, grabbed some lunch, then came home for naps. Naps didn’t happen. They should have happened based on having extremely tired kiddos. But they didn’t. So we had a lazy afternoon “resting” while watching a few kid shows we have on DVD (known as “woo-woo” since it’s a fire truck show). They were driving me a bit crazy and since they were tired, 6pm sounded like a perfect bedtime. Clearly they were tired since they both went right out. Brian is still at work—late nights thanks to deadlines the past few weeks—and here I sit with the Worm lying on my right arm whilst purring loudly, Mayah snoring to my left, and Leilah to Worm’s right anxiously waiting for Brian to get home. Mhoosie just sauntered in the room probably so he could make this paragraph. He’s perched to Mayah’s left on the arm of the couch looking handsome as usual. We have a semi-busy weekend planned so a night off tonight sounds nice. Except it’s driving me nuts that there are toys spread around the room, yet I have no desire to pick them up. Brian will when he gets home (it drives him more nuts and I know this).
Jumping Raccoons 