Two Months of Learning

To say things have been busy would be an understatement. To say things have been crazy would be an even bigger understatement.

Spencer is now two months old and I feel like our house is mellowing out. Now some days shit literally hits the fan still - excuse my language, but that's the only way to describe it. When your 3 year old is crying because you cut her sandwich in half and then the baby is screaming because they don't understand that napping for 5 minutes during the day is the REASON they are screaming now... that's when shit hits the fan. We had to establish a routine and structure in this house now more than ever. I thought pre-Spencer that our house ran fairly smooth, but it's completely different when you add a baby to the routine. It's been two months of learning. 

"I wanted my sandwich this big NOT little, mom!"

I've learned that "me time" has become just about non-existent. A mom in Clari's dance class asked me how I'm able to have real clothes on and make-up on. I think she thought I like take hours in the morning to get ready and that my kids sit quietly while I do this. Nope, far from. My "secret" is that I generally get dressed for the day at 5am. Yes I know that's like the crack of dawn, but Spencer goes back to sleep around this time and it's my only alone time. I've learned that you have to take it whenever you can get it. Plus being able to collect my thoughts and get a kick start on the day is necessary. 

I've learned that staying organized is extremely important. Every evening while Ryan rocks Spencer to sleep, I lay everything out for the next day. I lay Clari's clothes down to the socks and shoes on the floor in her room so that it's ready for her. The diaper bag gets restocked every night. All laundry that was done that day is put away. Every toy is cleaned up by Clari before her bedtime show and snack. Coffee mugs are set on the counter and Clari's bowl of oatmeal is made and ready to be cooked the next morning. I know not everyone may find these things necessary, but I thrive off of this. When I wake up I know the house is set for the day and ready to go. The very first week I was solo (family all back home and Ryan working) I knew I had to do something for my sanity and the structure of the house.

What are the girls up to? Spencer has learned to grab things, but gets really mad and upset because she hasn't figured out how to let go. She talks up a storm, but she's gotta keep up with her sister so that's a given. She is now only waking up once at night which has been a miracle. A week ago she was still waking up every 1.5-2 hours. It made for many emotional 4:30am mornings as I'm squirting eye drops into my eyes and begging Ryan to not leave me for the day. Sleep is the key to everything.

Clari has the world's best imagination. Yesterday her stuffed animals were at the beach. She needed beach chairs for them so she had books across the floor with them laying on them. That girl is fierce and I love every moment of it. Also, she's growing up so fast. Ryan and I were talking about him being in a different state for work in 2018. We were talking about us joining him and then it hit us both...she will be in kindergarten. Slow down my little bug!

Entertaining her sister 

Taylor