The Beginning Of The End?

Buddies

 We had a rotten nap day today :(. Little Miss days are always hit or miss when it comes to good naps. We woke up for the day around 7:30am so that made his nap time fall around 10:30. He ended up falling asleep in the Ergo on our morning walk around 10 am and then he woke prematurely at about 10:40 when I tried to transfer him from the Ergo to our bed. Since Little Miss also fell asleep on our walk I was hoping to get a little nap in myself but it was a big fail. Ayden ate and instead of nursing back to sleep as I'd hoped, it was just the pick-me-up he needed because once he finished, he was ready to party. At least he was in a good mood!

Mommy's little helper pulling up!

Somehow I was SUPER productive today... I'm not sure if it's the "get the house ready to sell" mentality, or maybe my new window command center that motivated me but as Little Miss slept, Ayden and I hung diapers out to bleach in the sun, did (and put away) 2 loads of laundry, finally put away Ayden's clean laundry that had been living in a basket for weeks, changed the sheets on our bed, emptied all of the trash cans, cleaned the kitchen, and a few other things I can't seem to recall at the moment.

Who needs toys?

 It also helps that Ayden is a great independent player at the moment. He just hangs out in whatever room I'm in and explores and plays. I take little breaks here and there to talk to him about what he's doing and to hug and kiss on him or make him giggle. He seemed extra interested in the stairs today so I spent some time showing him how he'll have to go down backwards. Obviously it will be a while before he actually catches on but we might as well show him the safe way from the start. For now he just thinks sliding down to the next step down on his belly is a fun game.

Another totally awesome thing I'd like to report is that Ayden only spit up 4 or 5 times TOTAL today. I'm not sure how much I've mentioned our spit up situation but oh. my. goodness. We are so ready for that train to leave the station!! He's been a big time spitter upper from day one and to say we are over it is an under statement. Anyway, 4 or 5 times is a record! I think it ended up being just once after each feeding. Could this be the beginning of the end for spit up at our house?!? I probably just jinxed it but I had to celebrate the small victory and at least acknowledge the awesomeness of the lack of spit up today. Here is a sweet snap shot and a video clip from after a nursing session today.  Breastfeeding gives us moments that are so special I hope I can hold onto them forever.

EYELASHES!  Such a little sweetie.

 When Little Miss woke up we all had lunch and then headed out to drop her off at her family's store. Ayden's afternoon nap was crumby too because I had a couple of errands to run. I knew he'd probably wake up at some point so I got gas first because I knew he'd stay asleep for that one since I wouldn't be getting him out of the car. My next stop was Kroger to pick up a few things that Whole Foods doesn't carry and, of course, the super sweet elderly man who greeted me woke him up. I had to stop and listen to him tell me about how one minute his kids were small and before he knew it they were driving cars. He said he always thought it was too bad that he had to work so much to provide for them while they were little and felt like he almost missed seeing them grow up. That made me a little sad because I know that's how David feels. Maybe that can change sooner rather than later... I enjoy talking to the super sweet greeters at Kroger but at the same time I was super bummed that Ayden woke and his nap was cut short for the second time today. Luckily when he woke up he was pretty chill because typically he wants out of his carseat immediately. He just laid there, quietly starring at me most of the time.

Now I shall share my latest "mommy brain" moment:
One of the items on my list for Kroger was charcoal for our grill. Since I had Ayden's carseat in the basket, I put the big bag of charcoal underneath. I finished my shopping, checked out and got to my car only to find that I had totally stolen the bag of charcoal. I went straight back in to the self checkout lane, "finished" my purchase and headed home. Once David got home and we were talking about our days and I started telling him about Kroger, I realized that I had no memory of actually putting that dang charcoal in my car... Geeze. David double checked the car to find it sans charcoal, as I knew it would be. I called and they said a bagger found it while rounding up the carts and said that I could pick it up tomorrow if I'd like. People must do it all of the time because he reacted like it was completely normal. David asked how, after going all the way back in to pay for it, could I forget to put the charcoal in my car and the only thing I could come up with was "mommy brain." On the way out of the store, the sun was shining right in Ayden's eyes in the cart and I was just concerned about getting him into the car. As a mom, you just get so consumed with thinking, worrying, and caring about your baby that all other things (yourself included) seem to fall by the way side. Oh well, at least I get to go back for it and we'll just call it another story to tell...

So my day ended up being super productive from start to finish. We ate dinner promptly at 5:30 as David requested so he could get to his Crossfit work out on time and while he was gone I made kale chips, paleo crunch cereal and paleo pudding.

Tomato!

Ayden and I also took Maverick for a walk and got back right before David. Then it was bath and bedtime for Ayden which went very quickly because his lacking napping schedule was catching up to him and the poor little guy was TIRED. These days I write these posts as he nurses to sleep in our glider and I really enjoy letting him sleep on my lap for a while as I write about his day. Though it hasn't been easy to write a post a day during this crazy, wonderful journey so far, I know I will cherish every word someday!

It's funny how some days being productive makes me feel so good and other days it stresses me out. There are so many factors at play and I just have to go with the flow. It just so happens that right now, things are in place. I am feeling more rested because of our new sleeping arrangement, Ayden is between fussy stages, and Little Miss decided to take a monster nap. This time next week I could be talking about how exhausted I am and how it takes everything in me just to make it through the day. These past (almost) 7 months have been a roller coaster of emotion, energy levels, stress levels, decision making, and valuable lessons. We've learned to just take it one day at a time and enjoy the ride.

~Sarah