Busy-ness

Maybe twice a week was a little ambitious.

I think last week might have been one of our busiest weeks yet. Last Friday, I had in my care: two 10 month olds (those would be mine), one 14 month old, and one 16 month old. The only difference between mine and the other two is that they walked and mine still crawl.

We were full....crowded in fact.

As if the day hadn't been challenging enough, upon hearing the news that Dustin would be working all weekend, I loaded up the boys after the other two had been picked up and left for McKinney. I've never made this trip before by myself. I still haven't recovered enough to consider ever doing it again.

They screamed from Eastland to McKinney (about 4 hours with all the stopping we did). I'm not talking about weak cries. I mean...choking on their snot, suffocating themselves, out of control screaming. I think it took about 12 hours for my muscles to fully untense after we got there.

But then we stayed through Monday and had a great time with Grammy and the trip home wasn't near as traumatizing for us all.

We spent the entire day Tuesday in our pajamas recuperating from the weekend.

Landon had an eye doctor appointment on Wednesday in Lubbock. I left Eli with a good friend from church and I got to spend the whole day with just Landon. It was liberating and fun (except for the four hours at the doctor only to be seen for about 15 minutes...ugh). Landon's eyes are fine by the way.

Both boys had a pediatrician appointment on Thursday, so back to Lubbock we go. The same woman went with me to help - as a simple doctor's appointment is too much for me to handle alone at this point in time. Eli and Landon are just simply too active. Even with two of us...we were both sweating and exhausted by the time we left the doctor's office.

Their checkup went great. Eli weighs 16 pounds, 13 ounces and Landon weighs 18 pounds, 12 ounces and they have both grown two inches. They are perfectly healthy and even a little ahead developmentally. I'm not sure if I have ever mentioned this, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE our pediatrician. I love him.

We spent Friday in our pajamas recuperating from the last two days in the car/big city :)

Dustin had to work again on Saturday, so the boys and I loaded up once again and headed to Stanton to cousin D'Laney's birthday party. We had a great time with family!

Yesterday was of course full as always with Bible class, worship, cooking lunch, cleaning up lunch, nap for everyone, back to worship, cooking dinner, and cleaning up dinner. But oh how I love Sundays. It's so refreshing to meet for worship. It is the only day of the week that I am guaranteed to spend with Dustin. And to make it even better, Eli and Landon have apparently gotten the memo about Sunday being a day of rest because they usually sleep ALL afternoon, which makes for one very happy momma.

I have come to some realizations based on the events of the past week:

*I thrive on being busy. We do much better on days that we have something to do or somewhere to go. It's a TON of work to get us out the door, but it's usually worth it.

*I do not want to keep other kids full time. I have been asked before if I was interested in providing childcare and I declined at the time. It has nothing to do with other people's children (the two I kept last week happen to be two of the sweetest little boys I've ever known...with the exception of my own of course). It has everything to do with the fact that I am Eli and Landon's mom and I stay home with them for a reason - so that I can care for them and play with them and read to them and love them. Adding other children takes me away from them and I hated the way I felt that day. There isn't enough money in the world that would make it worth it to me.

*I can do a LOT by myself. Naturally, I was intimidated to venture out on my own when we finally got the go-ahead this past spring. But even the times we've had complete meltdowns in public or rough days on our own somewhere outside of the house...they are better than the feeling of being a prisoner of my house. And when I think about it...I can provide anything and everything that Eli or Landon could want or need. Even if they happen to need it at the same time. And the more we get out, the easier it becomes.

*One baby is easier than two. I don't mean to say that one baby is easy...it's just a lighter load than two babies. It's much more manageable when you are not out-numbered. I felt like I could slow down and really enjoy Landon last Wednesday because I wasn't so wrapped up in the logistics of everything, trying to anticipate the next crisis.


Okay...because I only like to read blogs with pictures....I'll throw in this pic of my Eli sleeping. I love how he destroys his bed trying to fall asleep.


So...this was a little wordy. Next time: less words, more pictures.

Happy first day of school to all the teachers and students!