boo! the monster family

These are the drawings that Langston drew (in anger?) to "scare" me...bc he was angry at having to clean up his room. Boo, mom! (I admit that I did a little, "AHHHH!" when he showed them to me. He was then satisfied.)

walking on sunshine

Langston is a man of great taste. He loves all kinds of music. (Which is great bc so do mom & dad.) He & I were listening to some awesome 80's stuff the other day & he drew a pic of "Walking on Sunshine" (Woe! Woe! Woe!) complete with "music notes." Then he wanted me to sing the song (by reading the "music"). :)

dishing: my hubby

I would like to add to the "sah mommy's...do it in one day" post that the reason I didn't write about dishes is bc my wonderful husband has (since our "talk") taken up lots of dish duty. He does them (his way) most everyday. I VERY MUCH appreciate this. It may have taken us 2 kids & 5 years, but I think we are really beginning to hone in on "the needs of the other."

Zora's hot (play)date

Our friends at church, Crystal & Micah, have a little guy, J.D. Langston has named him "baby J.D." to clarify. :) Baby J.D. totally overdressed for a playdate with Zora G. She felt as if she had to throw on a bow, just to look a little flashy. :) Just kiddin'! J.D.'s mommy was the matron of honor in a wedding one Sat, so she was gone & couldn't feed him one feeding, which I offered to do. He only nursed for a min. (before realizing, "hey, you're not my mom!"), so I wasn't as much help as I hoped to be. But, Micah finished dressing him for the wedding at our house, so we couldn't resist the photo op. Totally cute. **OH, yea, and Micah & I laughed at the positioning of the babies arms. In the top one he is giving her a "reach across" (forget the "reach around!") & the bottom one they are linking arms! :)

Full of hot air

Here are some pix of Macomb's Hot Air Balloon Fest. L. is posing w. his pal, Mia, in one. And there is one of his fav balloon, Ka-Zoo-Ee (sp?), the Zebra. There's also one of he, Barclay, & some kiddos climbing a net/goal. The two kids to the top, right are our new friends, Sumner & Zoe. Their dad is Tim, B's new office-mate. They are Gator fans & from FL & AL originally...ah, the kinship!

A Stay-at-home mom's life & experiments

Millions of years ago (or so it seems) I used to do all my cleaning in one (full) day. Since pregnancy took it's toll, followed by Zora nursing all the time, that one day turned into about 3 days. I never felt like I accomplished much that way. (Although I know I must take it "one day at a time." Urg.) Anyway, for all you moms out there, here's an experiment from this s.a.h. mom I know you can relate to...
6:30ish Zora awake & cooing; nurse her (she's more interested in cooing)change her diaper (And I think she only nursed twice during the night...or was it thrice?)
7something Langston up & needs help with clothes
730-8ish lie back down; nurse Zora; get her to sleep
8ish cook cheese eggs w. fruit, coffee, apple juice...feed the fam
830ish Zora awake; nurses a little
Begin the clean up.
Beat rugs outside. Open windows. Find music videos to listen to (for kids & myself). Argue w. L. over cleaning up his books. (He draws monster pix to scare me bc he's angry about having to clean, but he cleans after he gets all the angry out.) :) Clean/sanitize bathrooms. Sweep.
10:30 Zora nurses. No sleep.
11:15 begin preparing lunch for all. No bread. Gotta go to the store!
11:30 feeding both kids & myself.
12 Zora nurses & goes to sleep. Change sheets on all the beds. Put laundry on.
12:30 Read to L. Tell him a story.
12:45 Leave L. to sleep. Z. is awake.
1:15 Z. back down to sleep.
1:20-1:40 check email; post a blog.
1:40 more laundry.
2 grab a Mt. Dew (or I'll never make it.) Begin mopping.
2:40 pause on mopping (can't mop where kids are sleeping), so tidy up dining room; clean mirrors; change pack N play sheets
3 Dust where I can (kids still asleep)
3:15 Clean highchair, booster seat; Put on laundry load #3
3:30ish Z. awake! Nurse. Change diaper. L. awake.
4 Snacks. Mop some more. clean up & finish dusting where the kids were sleeping.
Barclay comes home & asks could we please not order pizza tonight (aka "Is there anything to cook?"...and I am even out of bread. Put your thinking cap on, Sonya!) He wants to go out tomorrow night & eat & watch the Gator game. Okay.
4:45 put potatoes on to boil; corn cooking; fish thawing in the sink. Get a shower.
5 hold Z; get ready
5:15 Cook; feed Z. cereal.
5:30 Food for all! (Supper time!)
6 Leave for Macomb's hotair balloon festival.
6:30 Nurse Z to sleep. Enjoy seeing friends & hanging out at the festival. The boys get a funnel cake; mom gets a few bites. :) Go to B's office; he collects a few things to work at home. Nurse Z. as I wait on boys in B's office. Change a Zora-poo.
8:30 Home. L. poops & I put him in the tub. Nurse Z. to sleep. Clean L. Get another shower.
9 Get a snack for L.
9:45 Clean up messy snack kid & area. Z. wakes up. Bathe Z. quickly. Milk & stories for both kids.
10:20 Z. asleep again.
10:30 L. down in his room.
10:50 Last load of laundry for the day. (set the "delay" to wash 'em at 7am) L. up; he needs to poop again.
11:10 L. pooped! He's back in bed. Asleep within minutes. I read & get a snack.
11:50 Call it a night.

Now, let me say that I don't think I charted every diaper (there was one big poo in the a.m. that I missed). And I didn't count every pause for kid related items...holding Z. as I cleaned or helping L. with art, but for the most part that was it. Z. missed her "tummy time." (That just happens some days...I don't think it will damage her for life. :) I didn't read to the kids as much as I usually do. I didn't give them as much "face time," either. I don't know if I'll do this again anytime soon, but it was a pretty "easy" day (no toddler melt downs & no one "fought" a nap). And Langston helped me more than he even knows. He "read" to Zora. He danced for her (for a while). He was just being himself: a fun, sweet little guy. And she was captivated by everything he did. She even tried "talking" to him sometimes. :)

Speaking of "talking"...
I'll admit that this post & idea came about, in part, due to a "conversation" (ahem) that Barclay & I had several weeks back. We were working through some things & he asked me the most dreaded, horrible question a working partner could ever ask a stay-at-home partner...yes, you all know it..."What do you do all day?" (I need back ground music & an evil cackle as I type it!) Well, I attempted to give him a "run down"...I cook (at least once), but prepare meals for 3 people at least 3 times a day (do you count toddler snacks?), do at least one load of laundry, nurse every few hours, change lots of diapers, interact with both a toddler & infant (read, play, sing, discipline, feed, get Zora to sleep at least 4 times & Langston twice, etc.), "pick up" messes here & there, attempt to check email at least once, talk to someone outside of the house (read: adult interaction), attempt (& mostly fail) to exercise,...and if it's a cleaning or shopping or playgroup or dr. appointment or pre-school day, lots more. The funny part of our conversation, or my response was, I almost didn't know where to begin! Most days are a blur of all this stuff meshed together. I feel as though my Blog-time is my "Bl-ahhhhhh-og-time." I love to think & read & express & write. One doesn't get to do all those things much b't drool cleaning, mush feeding, toddler taming, & even all the sweet stuff that is kid rearing. It's a HUGE blessing to be with my babies daily. They are my life. And yet, sometimes, they are my life...and I am exhausted by my life...not tired, but worn slap out. And I try to make myself remember that this is yet another season of life; yet another quickly passing phase. It'll be soccer & dance, then dating & ACT scores before I know it. Chill or I won't enjoy the "best things" in life. My family is, to me, one of the "best things..." and so is cleaning all the things in my house in one day. ;)
*Editor's note: I didn't get around to folding the laundry. I now have done 7 loads in 24 hours & am folding #3. I also didn't get to go to the store till this morning, but it was much better that way. We shopped as a family & B always helps me remember & think of things I wouldn't remember or think of without him. I love you, honey!

Staycation

This post is a few weeks late! This year was a year of little funds & a big addition to our family. Therefore, we decided against our original plan of hanging out in Chicago for a weekend & went with a "staycation" or "Family Day 2008," as L. & I named the day.
We began the day with "Bee Movie," followed by a family lunch. Then it was off to the carpet golf course for all. Barclay & Langston golfed. Zora ate. I fed. Post-golf was a family nap. And the evening ended unfortunately with zero pools open to swim in. Oh well! A couple of "extra" computer minutes for L., "extra" stories, & a bath made up for the loss...somewhat. It was a fun, family-filled day. :) ps) please don't enlarge the pic of "the girls"...the teenaged acne fairy has been visiting me a lot lately. *sigh*