This week we got to use the new rain boots & raincoats that the boys got for Christmas, as well as get out the rain cover for the stroller. While the winter here in North Carolina isn’t terribly cold, it has been fairly wet. They got new rain gear in preparation for outdoor play, as well as walking to & from school.
Picking up Ted in a rainstorm.
I have LOVED living around the block from Ted’s school because it forces us to get outside every day. Not only is it faster for us to walk than it would be to drive, we are a one car family. This is still a fairly new concept for us, since we have always had our own cars. But we sold Michael’s when we moved & he deployed, and when mine died last year, we replaced it with one that would fit our growing family.
Mixing brown matter into the clay, so it will drain.
The mildness of NC winters also has us prepping for spring already! Ted and I started our vegetable seeds (indoors) yesterday. We’ve got tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers. This afternoon we’re working on building our raised bed in the backyard.
This week was a doozy. While no actual harm, or lasting damage, was done, it was emotionally taxing. It stretched Michael & mine’s parenting skills and our faith.
Portrait by Ted
The adults had colds. Michael lost his wallet. Ted was experimenting with unsafe choices. The house was a mess. Everything felt overwhelming.
Needless to say, we were ready to reset over the weekend. This weekend we’re celebrating Michael’s birthday, unplugging, and getting the house in order. Some quality time as a family will build relationships and a clean house will give us a good start for next week.
Built a Teddy tower
Not every day/week/month is Pinterest perfect, and that’s okay. It is important to acknowledge the difficult times, while doing what we can to turn it around.
Last week we had the pleasure of welcoming the newest member of our family to the world! Miss Lottie was born via Emergency C-section last Thursday and we have spent the last week adjusting to our new roles & recovering.
The boys absolutely adore Lottie. Jr is always asking to hold her and Ted shows her off to all of his friends. They are not as thrilled by Mama’s recovery & inability to do her usual Mama things (bedtime, carrying kids, playing outside, etc).
I have been recovering well (I think) considering I’ve never had a C-section before and was completely unprepared for what that would be like. I’m still pretty sore, but I did just have major abdominal surgery (Did you know they cut through 7 different layers of tissue? 7?!) so I guess that’s typical. I’m hoping to get back to some of my regular daily activities this next week. I really miss walking Ted to school and putting the boys down for bed.
It’s Baby Week! Well, maybe. Technically she’s due tomorrow, but who knows when she’ll arrive.
This week I had to go back and read my Hospital Bag post from 2 years ago to remember what to pack for this go ‘round. 😅 There are a few things that I’m adding, so I’ll do an updated post about that coming up. I also switched up some of my postpartum must haves, and I’ll let you know which I prefer.
This pregnancy has been my easiest, as far as her & I are concerned. Least nausea, least sciatica, least SPD. HOWEVER, being in the 3rd trimester while moving and chasing after 2 young children is no joke. While I have felt good, I have been unable to keep up with their activity levels and that has been SO frustrating. As we have entered the final week(s) I keep reminding the boys, and myself, that I’ll be back to playing (slowly) soon!
We have done a lot of prep work to get the boys ready to be big brothers. From reading books, to pretend play, to planning her ‘birthday party’. We have been making the transition as fun as we can, while also holding space for the big feelings that will come from it. There’s a blog post coming all about this transition too!
Overall, impending baby has been the #1 focus around here and we cannot wait for her to arrive!
Michael was gone for CTE the last 10 days. The first week we did great! Our routines held us through the transition and helped keep things from feeling too ‘different’.
There were some moments of big emotions and missing Papa, but overall we were on top of things. Until both boys got sick. Then everything hit the fan. Ted was out of school for 4 days, due to an on/off fever. Neither boy was sleeping well, so neither was I (which is extra awful when you’re 37 weeks pregnant). We were blessed enough to have my Mother in Law visiting those 4 days, so we weren’t totally up the creek, but it definitely threw us off.
Now that we’re all feeling better, and Michael is home, we are ready to have a fresh start into our routines before Baby Girl gets here & throws it all out of whack again!
So many exciting things in the last two weeks! We found out where we are moving: Ft. Bragg, NC. We are very excited because it is close to Michael’s family and the boys will be able to spend more time with their cousins. Now we are preparing for the move, and I’ll have more detailed blog posts about those steps coming up.
Our other exciting news is we found out that our new baby is a little GIRL! Michael is over the moon and ran around announcing it to everyone he saw. I’m still processing having to change my language from ‘the boys’ (see above) to ‘the kids’.
Baby girl will be joining us in October!
We have continued fighting the War of the Fleas, with moderate success. I haven’t managed to completely eradicate them yet, it takes a bit more time & energy than this solo mama has. But we are making steady progress. Chester is fed up with me constantly brushing him, multiple baths a week, & getting haircuts every other week. But I know he’ll thank me when they’re gone.
Our biggest obstacle the last two weeks had very little to do with the tiny 2-legged creatures in our house, and much more to do with the fluffy 4-legged one. On May 1 I noticed that Chester had some ‘flea dirt’ and went into full on Rambo mode. So much more laundry and vacuuming than usual, as well as dog baths and multiple brushings a day. I also got a carpet cleaner and diatomaceous earth to make sure we were getting every possible egg, pupae, larvae, and adult.
This has been a great opportunity to teach about caring for pets.
How is this parenting related, you may ask? Well, the answer is twofold. As adults, the daily household chores generally fall onto us, so having 2x as much laundry & vacuuming was exhausting. Also, my preoccupation with getting/keeping the house sanitized meant I had less energy and attention for Ted & Jr. They were champions at first, but by last weekend they were over it & very clingy.
Parenting is a balancing act of all of the things that need to be done. Check out last week’s post about quality time for more on that. The last few weeks, the scales have tipped in Chester’s favor, because his needs were a priority. Soon it will balance back out and things will feel normal again soon.
Ted loves using his binoculars to look at the trees wherever we go.
In the meantime, we are trying to spend as much time in the backyard as we can. The boys will play in the dirt, or the kiddie pool, while I read a book. It has been great for all of us to spend time in the sunshine & fresh air, while still being close enough to a bathroom, water source, and occasional air conditioning breaks.
May in Houston has H-O-T hot. I keep reminding myself that we are only here for another month or so, then we will (hopefully) be somewhere cooler, or at least less humid.
In this series I will be sharing the current challenges I am facing as a mom of an (almost) 4 year old and (almost) 2 year old.
They get along, most of the time..
The last 2 months have been the first time in my life that I am a SAHM with both kids home full time. Last year when Michael was deployed, Ted was enrolled in an Early PreK program, so I only had Jr at home. So this has been a whole new world for all of us. There was definitely a learning curve, which is why I took a few months off, but now that we’ve found our groove, we’re ready to go!
Our most recent adventure has been potty learning. Yikes. I kept putting it off and putting it off, even though Ted showed signs of readiness before we moved to Texas, because I knew we had SO MANY changes coming and I didn’t want to be constantly dealing with regressions and feeling like we were failing. But after a new brother, moving, Michael deploying, starting a new school, moving again, Michael coming home, Michael leaving again, and another move coming up, I decided that it was not worth waiting for stability because we’d be waiting forever. Overall, it’s going well. Jr is also very interested, even though he isn’t quite ready yet. But we’re rolling with it and involving him in the process as much as possible.
Best friends
This week we (by we I mean, I) implemented some new routines/goals around the house. It has helped tremendously to have the house in better shape. My goals are to do a complete load (wash, dry, put away) of dishes and laundry every day. I have struggled with this because with only 3 people (do the toddlers count?) we don’t make a ton of dishes or a ton of laundry each day. So I got into the habit of waiting until everything was full before I washed it. This became a problem on the days were I was overwhelmed, tired, or just plain ol’ ran out of time to get it done when it NEEDED to be done. Then it was intimidating knowing there was SO MUCH that was piled up. Now, even if the dishwasher is only half full, I run it every evening. This has allowed our kitchen to be a more hospitable place, where we (I) want to cook. It also frees up my brain space to do more with the boys. I have found myself to be a better mother because I am less stressed. Surprise, surprise.
We have been making a point to spend as much time as we can outside every day. It is getting to the point, in Houston, where the unbearable heat/humidity of summer is quickly approaching. We go on walks, go to the park, or play in the backyard every day. We’re even planning a picnic lunch for next week! The benefits of getting outside are innumerable. So far this year we have logged 94 hours outside, using the 1000 Hour app. I admit that I’m not the best about filling it in every day, so we probably have more. My goal for is 750 hours for the whole year, which is just over 2 hours a day. We easily hit more than that on days that we are at the zoo, at the park with friends, or swimming at Grandma & Grandpa’s house. But there are days where we are lounge, or it’s storming, so we don’t get outside much, if at all.
Cheese!
I am excited to share more of our everyday adventures with you here! Mom Diaries posts will be every other week, so I’ll see you here in May!
Living in Plaid 