I workout

This picture has nothing to do with working out, it just makes me smile.  The left side is Emmilyn, and the right is Landon when he was little.  They are definitely related!

So I'm officially 6 weeks post-partum and very anxious to hit the gym to get back in shape.  I vaguely remember how in a former life I'd roll out of bed, drive to the gym, walk straight in, workout for as long as I want, maybe grab a coffee after, or go shopping, or both because I could. 

Today it goes a little like this:

First thing in the morning I'm nursing Emmilyn and Landon poops his underwear.  Awesome.  I watch to make sure he doesn't sit anywhere while I finish feeding Emmi.  Clean him up, pack the diaper bag, pack my gym bag, load up the car and drive to Walmart to buy store bought cookies for a get-together because the pie I attempted to make last night was an epic fail.  Maybe because one kid was pulling on my leg while the other was crying the whole time.  Leave Walmart and swing back by the house to pick up forgotten gym bag.  Get back on the road to the gym, pull in gym parking lot...both kids are asleep.  Awesome.  Wake Landon up so we can go inside.  Fill out paperwork at gym daycare for Emmilyn who is now hungry again, spend another five minutes explaining cloth diapers to the daycare ladies, finally walk into the gym, put on my sneakers and get on the treadmill and realize I only have about 30 minutes to workout before the daycare closes.  Awesome.  Do I even need to workout at this point?

All jokes aside I did get in a small workout and Landon & Emmilyn both did great at the daycare.  I know it will just (hopefully) get easier everyday and I can't wait to get back in shape and running again!

Thankful



*Photo courtesy of Ellen Nicol Photography

 

 



When a military wife finds out she is pregnant there is one uncertainty she faces that others may take for granted: 

Will my husband be here for the pregnancy, the birth, or the first sleepless night?  What about for that first sweet smile, first words, first steps or first birthday? 

Whether for training or a deployment there is no way to truly know.  If our husband is missing the pregnancy and birth we tell ourselves that it's better because he will be here for the first year of life.  If he has to leave right after the birth we tell ourselves, at least he will be here to experience the birth of his child.  Having experienced myself and watched others friends and fellow spouses experience...well...frankly they both suck.  Period.  We make the most of our situation and rely on our sisters and battle buddies to get through.  We take life one day at a time and fill our calendar with as many activities as we possibly can.  We set goals for ourselves and in my case paint our entire downstairs floor one painstakingly slow section of wall at a time after Landon went to bed.

Why is this on my mind?  Emmilyn is just about the age Landon was when Daddy had to say 'see you later' and board that plane for Afghanistan.  The image of Chris kissing five week old Landon goodbye will forever be ingrained in my brain and heart.  I wasn't worried about myself.  I am quite independent and strong and I knew I would be okay but Landon was so young, so tiny and innocent of the fact that his father would miss many of his firsts.  I took pictures everyday and filled up Youtube with countless videos of every gurgle, laugh, and first Landon experienced but it's never the same as experiencing it yourself. 

Today I am thankful.  Thankful that we have a few more months to cherish as a family of four.  Thankful for a few more months before we have to say 'See you later.'  Thankful to be looking forward to this Holiday season.  Thankful to listen to Landon cackle with laugher while Daddy chases him and thankful to watch sweet Emmilyn sleeping on Daddy's chest.  Thankful to have the man I love beside me.  When the time come we'll survive, one day at a time.  We'll take pictures and videos; we'll talk about Daddy and how he's defending our freedom.  We'll schedule playdates, go on roadtrips, set goals (and hopefully not paint  the whole downstairs again!) 

Today, though, I am thankful.

Cloth 2.0

I started cloth diapering my first born when he was one week old and I did the same thing with my second...at 11pm to be exact.  I would have waited till morning (a much more logical decision) but I ran out of disposables so it was time to switch!  I honestly have to say it has been the easiest part of caring for little miss Emmilyn so far.  I did prefolds and covers with Landon for the first few months while I decided what type of diapers I liked and built my pocket stash and planned to do the same with Emmilyn even though I have a large stash of pockets this time around.  Pockets are easier, yes, but newborns go through so many darn diapers that I find prefolds & covers to be so much easier in the beginning....especially because we are home most of the time.  Here is a picture of E in a prefold with a snappi:

And then with the cover overtop:

 

The first time I began cloth I was so annoyed that the diapers come down to the knees nearly but now it's just normal to me.  Like all things, she will grow into them!  One thing I have discovered new this time around are fitteds (see below.)

 

They still require a cover but as you can see are a LOT more simple than folding a prefold.  I purchased them from a friend and frankly if one of the main points for me wasn't to save money I would own 20 of these!  I have 3 (side note - the brand is Thisties) and I use them mostly for night time or when we are out since they make life a little bit easier. 

 

I've found myself thinking about jumping into my stash of pocket diapers much earlier (E is just 3 weeks old now) but I will probably wait until the amount of diapers we are going through slows down a little bit.  You know, when one diaper change doesn't turn into 3-4 diaper changes before I've even left the changing table! ;)  The only other detail I can think of that's different is that I am using regular Tide Powder for my diaper laundry instead of Charlie's Soap.  The main reason?  I had to order Charlie's Soap online and I can pick up Tide Powder at any local grocery store AND use it on the rest of my laundry as well.  Hey, when #2 comes along somtimes the solution is just whatever is fastest and easiest!

The Art of Grocery Shopping

Today I had a foreshadowing of my life over the next 4-5 months.  Dreary, rainy, cold and I was attempting to grocery shop with a toddler and a newborn. 

::sigh::

I first attempted Walmart yesterday by putting Emmilyn's carseat in the basket (it's not safe to put it on top of the cart people!!) and Landon in the front.  Except Landon wanted to help push the cart.  Ok, that gave me about one square foot of space to put groceries.  Hmm, that won't work.  I came home with about 4 items.  FAIL.

Today I decided I would 'wear' Emmilyn in a carrier and put Landon in the front of the basket like usual and tada - go me!  Not so fast.  When I arrived it was about 40 degrees and raining and the last thing I wanted to do was juggle putting a 2 week old baby into a carrier in the cold rain so I decided to attach the carrier to me, get Landon out of the car, then carry the whole carseat into the grocery store.  Once inside I put Landon in the cart, got E out of her carseat and worked her into the carrier, then stuffed the carseat UNDER the cart so I'd have room to put groceries IN the cart.  Phew!  Are you exhausted because I'm exhausted?!  Now I had to actually do what I came here for!  And don't even get me started on unloading everything when I get back home (in the rain!)  As it goes with everything we survived, but I couldn't help frown when I realized it's just going to get colder and messier over the next several months.  For those who live in warmer climates you might not be familiar with another safety rule that just makes chores (in a car at least) harder in the North Country.  It's not safe to keep kids coats on them while buckled in their carseat.  So add one extra step of taking winter coats on and off everytime we get in and out of the car.

Ok, ok, enough complaining!  When we got home, Emmilyn was screaming to be fed so I quickly unloaded the necessary (frozen & cold items) and abandoned the rest to feed her.  Landon decided to help Mommy and continue putting the groceries away and I had to just smile & laugh as I watched him in action.  Here was the result:

Apparently for a 22 month old, ALL groceries (including bags) go in the fridge.  He probably spent a good 10-15 minutes unloading everything and organizing.  Seriously, every item had a place.  Even though I knew I'd have to go behind him and re-put away everything I let him do his thing because it was clearly a learning experience for him, he was helping which I am thankful for, and it was too darn cute!

PS -HOW is it November already?