The kiddos traveled like champs to Cincinnati on Friday night. Josh actually left for Columbus on Friday morning, so I was responsible for getting both kids ready to go by myself. Fortunately, the daycare was a big help. They kept Audrey on her schedule, so I was able to work it out to pick the kids up, make a quick pit stop at home to drop of the milk I pumped that day, and then off we went. Jackson and I picked up $0.99 hamburgers from Wendy's for dinner and went to pick up Joshua in Columbus. Fortunately, the weather held out for us on Friday night, but we weren't quite as lucky on Saturday. We did make it the party, but it took us a little longer to get there. The roads to the highway were NOT great and the highways were just okay. But, we got there, had a nice time and headed back.
The party really wore both kids out. They slept most of the way back to Cincinnati. When we got back to Cincinnati, Josh and I got to play cards with the grandparents. We had a great time. They kept me up way past my bedtime - especially with two kids!!
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Busy season has officially started and it is just that. My daily schedule goes a little like this:
Wake up around 6am, shower and get ready for work, load the car up, wake up Jackson, get Audrey up and changed. Feed Audrey while Jackson "does his things." Get the kids in the car. Eat granola bar or whatever else I managed to grab from the house in the car on the way to drop the kids off. Drop the kids off by 7:30am and get to work by 8am. Work. ("Feed the baby" aka pump twice at work). Leave work by 5:15pm. Pick the kids up. Get home just before 6pm. Eat dinner. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, give the kids a bath. Get kids in pajamas. Feed Audrey around 6:30pm-7pm. Play games with Jackson for 30 - 45 minutes before his bed time. Clean Audrey's bottles and refill them. Take Jackson to bed at 8pm, read him a story from his Super Hero book. (Yes, he is obsessed with this book and we do read it EVERY night!) After Jackson is in bed, go back to work for a couple of hours. Feed Audrey. Go to bed. Feed Audrey at some point during the night. Go back to bed. Repeat.
Sounds exhausting, right. It is.
(Did I mention that Jackson wants Audrey to wake him up every morning. I had her one morning when I had to try to wake Jackson up three or four times before he would get out bed. Now, he wants her to come in every morning before he will even think of getting out of bed.)
(Did I mention that Jackson wants Audrey to wake him up every morning. I had her one morning when I had to try to wake Jackson up three or four times before he would get out bed. Now, he wants her to come in every morning before he will even think of getting out of bed.)
Don't get me wrong, I love my job and I have worked really hard to get to where I am, but these ten weeks can be pretty rough. I feel like I get no me time, no husband time, no nothing but work and kids time. I am glad that I get a little bit of time with the kids each night. I am already looking forward to flexible Fridays post busy season! Only eight weeks more to go! (And let's be honest, it's really six, because I am not busy in April! I just have to make it to March 31.)
The weekends haven't provided any relief yet. We were gone for two weekends for birthday parties (more on that later) and the weekend in between, we stayed up late playing cards with some friends. I really need to take a nap. I attempted to go to bed early last night in order to catch just a few more minutes of sleep. It was a TOTAL FAILURE. Audrey woke up just as my head was hitting the pillow at 9pm. She was then up at midnight and 3am as well.
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We stayed home the weekend after Lily's party, or Super Bowl weekend. It was tremendously cold here. I have never seen temperatures quite like this.
At one point, it did say -13, but I was driving at the time, so I didn't get a picture of that. Brutal. When it warms up to 15 or 20, it feels like a heat wave!
We invited some friends over to have dinner and play cards on Saturday night. We stayed up too late and then woke up too early. The Super Bowl was kind of a drag and the commercials were that great either. I am glad that we ended up staying home, so we could relax a little bit. I did work on Saturday and then cleaned 1/2 of the house before we had company. (That's another story... I really need a house cleaner!) Before I left for work on Saturday, I got a little time with this little girl! She is always so happy to see me. I love her!
The next week then flew by. Audrey is growing like a weed. I am sure she is over 15 pounds and my arms get tired when I am walking around the house each evening trying to keep her from being upset because she really wants to go to bed and I really want to eat dinner before I feed her and put her to bed! Audrey sucks on her hands all the time. She is also cooing and grunting a lot these days. The grunting kills me. Sometimes she does it during an entire feeding session. I have no idea what she is trying to tell me.
She has rubbed a bald spot on the back of her head. I should really get a picture of it.
Jackson's imagination is really going strong. He has been playing with the plain ol' Legos. He built Iron Man's and War Machine's armor the other night. He was so proud of himself. I was too!
He also made me this picture. It is supposed to be me... I think.
Our daycare drop off/pick up is pretty routine now. Jackson likes to go with me to drop off and pick up Audrey, so that's what I do. The other night when I went to pick up Jackson, the big kids were all playing in the playroom. When I opened the door, Jackson said he wasn't ready. I asked him if he wanted me to go ahead and get Audrey. He says yes. (You see the disaster that is about to strike, yes?) So I get Audrey and come back to get him. Now, he is devastated that he didn't get to go with me to get Audrey. UGH!! He's throwing a huge tantrum. Well, one of the teachers comes out and asks if he wanted to take his turn before he left (she thought that is why he was crying.) He says no. So I literally drag him out of the daycare. Now he's IS crying because he wanted to take his turn. OMG!!! Still dragging him, I do get both kids in the car. Now, he is telling me to go back to school. To take him back to school. To which I respond, no. He finally says to me, "If you don't take me back to school, I will just drive myself!" Now in the midst of me being mad because he is throwing a fit, I am laughing because my four-year old is going to drive himself to school! Four, going on sixteen! God love him.
Last weekend, we traveled again. This time back to Cincinnati on Friday night so we could travel to Santa Claus on Saturday for Kenzie's first birthday! Kenzie is ONE. Holy moly. Time is really flying by.
Audrey didn't sleep too great Friday night and at somepoint, I just pulled her into bed with me. Jackson refused to sleep anywhere but in the room that I was in, so I actually had both kids in there. When it was finally time to get up and get ready, Audrey was sound asleep. So was Jackson. So I got in the shower. Shortly after I got out, I heard Audrey start to make some noise. The next thing I hear is Jackson telling her that she isn't alone and that he going to watch her. He was just talking to her. It was super cute. I finally decided to peak my head in the door to see what he was doing. He was just sitting on the bed next to her, holding her hand and talking. Then he told her he was going to read her a book. He noticed me when he got down off the bed to get a book. They were so cute. He is such a great big brother!
The kids had a great time playing. They all wanted to play with Kenzie's new toys, but Kenzie wasn't having that. It was pretty hysterical watching her go all crazy on her cousins who were touching her toys!
At one point while Kenzie was opening her presents, Tyler went to lay down by Audrey. "Baby." It was super cute. I didn't get any great pictures of it, but I did get this one.
After we left Santa Claus, we traveled back to Cincinnati and played cards with the grandparents again. This time, we were up until almost 1am. It was a BAD idea. Fun, but a bad idea. Sandy wanted to take the kids to church on Sunday, so I knew that I would need to get up and get ready too. The morning came MUCH too early. We did manage to make it to church and Audrey got hungry right in the middle of the sermon - not surprising. So I nursed her and then she got really hot, so we ended up stepping out of the back of the church to calm her down. She was so relieved when I opened the door and let some cool air hit her face. After church, she was ooed and awwed over. We had some lunch and the hit the road home again. The kids are so good in the car. We are very lucky that they travel well.
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This week has gone by really fast. I got Jackson's Valentine's, which he signed yesterday and then we made up his treat bags for his friends. He really likes to help do all that. I am glad that we got it done yesterday because I was in no mood to do it tonight. Today has been a long day. I dropped the kids off at daycare at 6:45am and then drove to Dayton for the day. I left there just after 3pm and headed back. The drive wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be and I never felt tired during the drive (although, now, I am yawning so much that I am crying!) We got home and ate dinner and then the kiddos got their baths.
Last weekend, we traveled again. This time back to Cincinnati on Friday night so we could travel to Santa Claus on Saturday for Kenzie's first birthday! Kenzie is ONE. Holy moly. Time is really flying by.
Audrey didn't sleep too great Friday night and at somepoint, I just pulled her into bed with me. Jackson refused to sleep anywhere but in the room that I was in, so I actually had both kids in there. When it was finally time to get up and get ready, Audrey was sound asleep. So was Jackson. So I got in the shower. Shortly after I got out, I heard Audrey start to make some noise. The next thing I hear is Jackson telling her that she isn't alone and that he going to watch her. He was just talking to her. It was super cute. I finally decided to peak my head in the door to see what he was doing. He was just sitting on the bed next to her, holding her hand and talking. Then he told her he was going to read her a book. He noticed me when he got down off the bed to get a book. They were so cute. He is such a great big brother!
The kids had a great time playing. They all wanted to play with Kenzie's new toys, but Kenzie wasn't having that. It was pretty hysterical watching her go all crazy on her cousins who were touching her toys!
At one point while Kenzie was opening her presents, Tyler went to lay down by Audrey. "Baby." It was super cute. I didn't get any great pictures of it, but I did get this one.
After we left Santa Claus, we traveled back to Cincinnati and played cards with the grandparents again. This time, we were up until almost 1am. It was a BAD idea. Fun, but a bad idea. Sandy wanted to take the kids to church on Sunday, so I knew that I would need to get up and get ready too. The morning came MUCH too early. We did manage to make it to church and Audrey got hungry right in the middle of the sermon - not surprising. So I nursed her and then she got really hot, so we ended up stepping out of the back of the church to calm her down. She was so relieved when I opened the door and let some cool air hit her face. After church, she was ooed and awwed over. We had some lunch and the hit the road home again. The kids are so good in the car. We are very lucky that they travel well.
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This week has gone by really fast. I got Jackson's Valentine's, which he signed yesterday and then we made up his treat bags for his friends. He really likes to help do all that. I am glad that we got it done yesterday because I was in no mood to do it tonight. Today has been a long day. I dropped the kids off at daycare at 6:45am and then drove to Dayton for the day. I left there just after 3pm and headed back. The drive wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be and I never felt tired during the drive (although, now, I am yawning so much that I am crying!) We got home and ate dinner and then the kiddos got their baths.
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