Some Random Mom Thoughts

1.  During Matthew's first year of life, I always made jokes about how I was such a first-time mom when it came to things I worried about.... but in my head I always thought, "But really I'm going to worry about all these things with every kid."  Hah.  Nope.  I really do worry so much less this time around.  Of course there is still some worry - and I think there always will be, but I stress so much less about the random red mark on her skin or if there is a teensy tiny chance that she could be getting sick.

This girl will be tough as nails, I tell you.

2.  You know how when you're a brand new mom, you go through about 100 wipes to change one diaper?  And then by a month into the whole mom thing you've basically figured out how to clean a blowout with one wipe, and you make fun of your husband who still tends to go through 100 wipes per messy diaper?  I am very embarrassed to admit that I am not one of those moms - I still use WAY too many wipes for one messy diaper.  Considering I have two kids in diapers, this is very sad.  I'm not sure why I haven't mastered this skill.  It's not like I'm not getting practice.

3.  Both baby girls and baby boys are incredibly awesome.  However, it's soooo true that girls are way more fun to dress up (duh, right?) - and I'm living it up with the whole dress-up thing.  I seriously take pictures of her every day in whatever she's wearing.  There are a lot of things about raising a daughter that have already started weighing heavily on my mind, (in particular, teaching her about her worth in a world that will constantly tell her that she's not good/smart/pretty enough....I could devote a whole post to this) so before things start getting complicated, I'm going to live up the non-complication of cute clothes and accessories as much as I can.  

She likes dressing up more than it looks like she does.  ;-)

4.  Matthew is bored.  :-/  I pride myself on getting both kids out almost every day, but let's face it - it's never for very long, and Matthew spends most of the day cooped up in our small apartment.  I'm trying to be creative and come up with new activities, but ahhhhh, it's getting harder and harder.  SOS.  If anyone has any awesome toddler activities to help keep him busy, please share.

5.  Kate will be 2 months old this week.  WHAT!?  So basically, we've moved from the newborn phase to the very small baby phase.  So sad, and also such a relief.  Ha!  I will forever miss my little squishy newborn, but oh how I love the laugh/play/alert phase!!  So much fun.  Now if somebody could please just tell her that the screaming for over an hour every night before bed really isn't necessary....

Breaks my heart!

6.  Sometimes I have awesome days.  And sometimes, my days are not quite so awesome.  And then every now and then I have a really bad day.  One day last week I was feeling especially discouraged with myself and read something that stuck with me - "I do my best every day, and I have learned that my best is not the same every day. It took me a long time to realize that that was okay.  Learn from my journey.  Give yourself permission to just survive today.  Because you are amazing."  I love that.  I am extremely lucky and blessed to have a lot of good days... but those bad days have and will continue to happen sometimes.... and if I don't have perfect patience with the kids while taking them on amazingly fun outings and keeping them both entertained all day while also keeping the house clean and doing laundry and making a super delicious and nutritionally balanced dinner while also finding time to do all the other random stuff that needs done, that is okay.  More than okay.  I am learning to prioritize and to accept that sometimes I just won't get much done.  And at the end of the day, if I'm not as patient as I wish I had been, it's comforting to know that I can always try again tomorrow, and these little munchkins of mine are more than forgiving.  They teach me so much.