What a Day

Some times you have days where you are basking in domestic glory, thinking you should be crowned mother of the year! You know because all the kids are clean, fed, happy, and well rested because they didn't fight a single nap or bedtime. Oh wait, most of the time those are just dreams. Because then you have a day like I did where reality popped any dream bubble of domestic bliss I may have possessed.

Monday started out with plans, which by the way is never how a day should be started if you have two little ones. I really wanted to whip up a few batches of pancakes to freeze, so we could have ready made breakfasts on hand. (Just an FYI pancakes can freeze for up to 3 months and are easily thawed and warmed in a toaster or toaster oven) So anyway, I wanted to make several different flavors and amaze Sarah with all these new choices for breakfast. I figured I could get it done during the afternoon nap. All illusions of grandeur.

First I woke up completely exhausted and with a killer headache. And it wasn't really Andrew's fault that I was tired. I got plenty of sleep so I guess my body was just behind the times. When Sarah got up, which is usually when and why I get up, I got her changed and settled down with breakfast. I had changed Andrew and put him on his play gym already. So Sarah is trapped, I mean strapped, into her booster seat and I turn on PBS and crash on the couch. Not intentional at all. I woke up to Sarah telling me she was done and Andrew was still happy as can be playing. Thank God for trays and seatbelts.

Well my headache was still there but we desperately needed to get milk so out of the house we ventured. Everyone got dressed and we headed to go pick up my sister (who was out of school because of a kidney stone - fun for her). She couldn't drive because of her pain meds, but I thought it would be nice for her to get out for a bit too. So we drove to my mom's house to pick her up. This was Andrew's first nap of the day, maybe 10 - 15 minutes he slept in the car.

I got milk and lunch (while my sister stayed in the car with the kids and the Veggie Tales CD that has taken up residence in the car) and then we came back to the apartment to eat. Cue my sister saying she has some friends who want to see her after school and she needs to be back home so they can come by. Ugh, so we load everyone back up and head back across town to take her home. Delaying nap times and causing meltdowns. When the kids and I finally got back home, I was juggling a sleeping toddler, a diaper bag, an infant carrier, and a grocery sack with milk. (No, I won't take two trips, it's much easier to overload then go back out, right?)

Sarah stayed asleep, but Andrew was against sleeping at this point. I rocked, nursed, pleaded, and begged for about an hour and a half before he finally caved ... for another 10 minute nap! Yep, my good sleeper is gone. I'm hoping it's new teeth or something causing it, because I liked his old sleep patterns.  My plans for pancakes or even a nap myself (because I was still dealing with the killer headache) were completely shattered. Ryan got home from work and I was so done with the day already. But there was still a lot more to handle. We went to my mom's to eat, so we didn't have to stress about cooking or procuring some kind of fast food. (We had Chipotle and I scored some great Sunday newspaper coupons! Highlight of the day right there.)

Then, when we were finally home for the night, both kids fought sleep like it was their mortal enemy. Andrew didn't go down until after 10:00 and Sarah stayed up playing in her crib until after 11:00. And those pancakes that I so naively thought I would get done, well I finished them about midnight. One batch, and Sarah better fricken LOVE them.

Some days reality bites, but you brush it off and hope that the next day will be domestic bliss, or at least closer than today was!