Category: documenting

This week I am documenting a week in our lives along with the Ali Edwards community. Here are some photos and words about yesterday, if you’d like to see…

Saturday I really did not want to get out of bed. Both kids had slept with me all night so I woke up to them crawling on me. At a certain point I couldn’t ignore it anymore. I think we got up around 6:30 a.m.

Our plans for the day included going to the bay to fish and play on the beach. We were just going to head out as soon as we had breakfast and packed up, no real rush. While I was making breakfast, Liam found my hand weights and seemed very proud of himself for carrying them around.

Meredith looks for the cats first thing almost every morning. She said, “Does Ziggy need some love?” and held him while watching TV.

Even on Saturday I usually try to get up before the kids to do a Bible study, but things have been crazy lately, especially with the sleep situation, so I didn’t today. But I was missing that encouraging word in the morning, so I read the day’s entry in My Utmost For His Highest while I waited for my coffee to brew.

After breakfast I started making and packing lunches.

Finally we were all ready to go and we packed up the car. The kids played in the puddles a bit before we left. Liam’s one pair of sandals that I can stuff on his fat feet were dirty, so I pulled out a pair of Meredith’s old purple Crocs for him to wear.

We made a stop by a gas station to get some drinks.

On the way to the bay, it suddenly began storming. We weren’t too concerned because according the weather report it wasn’t supposed to last long. But Meredith got very upset, and after talking over our options with her she got fixated on the prospect of an indoor playplace or playground.

 

When we got close, however, none of the fast food places had playlands. But thankfully we found an awesome playground close to the dike and it had stopped raining enough that we could get out. Things were a bit slippery but the kids had a decent time. I forced a family photo so hard, but I’m glad I did it!

We stopped to get bait and then found a place to set up. Please don’t judge our brown sand and water! This was a dike on the bay so not representative of Texas beaches in general. Our primary aim was to fish, but we just needed a place that would be safe for the kids. They were nervous about everything at first, but Liam quickly realized he loved it and Meredith got braver over time.

David caught a few little fish! He was kind of embarrassed by them, but he was fishing in the shallow part to be close to us. Meredith even held one of the fish and threw it back into the water.

For awhile David crossed the road and went to fish in the deeper water. I played in the sand and water with the kids. Meredith began struggling. I could tell she wanted to play and have fun, but she was really bothered by the sand getting on her. Eventually we had to pack up and leave early because she couldn’t calm down. Both kids slept the whole ride back.

At home we woke them up because it was 5 p.m. and there was crying. I tried to get as much stuff unloaded and cleaned up as possible, then I begged David to take over while I showered. Yep, this was only my second shower of the week which is pretty normal for me.

We rarely eat out, but after a long day I asked David to just pick me up some chicken fried rice for dinner. He and the kids played lava while I finished cleaning up.

Obviously they needed baths too.

David took Liam for his nighttime ride and Meredith had quite a few tantrums for me.

She wanted to clip her own nails. She is getting better at it.

After that we read books and went to sleep. Again, I meant to get up but fell asleep in her bed. I moved to my own at midnight and at some point later she joined me. I think I need a different strategy here.

Thoughts on today: I’m so glad we made our family adventure happen even if it wasn’t perfect. Meredith is not going to remember the sand in her swimsuit but she will remember how she floated in the water and touched a fish. There were moments of pure bliss while we were together and I can get caught up on the chores later.

This week I am documenting a week in our lives along with the Ali Edwards community. Here are some photos and words about yesterday, if you’d like to see…

A rough night and not the best morning. I’m feeling a bit discouraged about the whole sleeping situation.

Meredith woke up multiple times during the night; at midnight she began crawling out of bed. I asked her if she had to go potty but she said no and started crying, “I don’t want to go to bed!” I told her it was the middle of the night but if she wanted to go play by herself then she could, but I was going back to sleep. She went back to sleep. Later she woke up crying and speaking random words so I’m guessing that was a bad dream.

At 4 a.m. I woke up and realized my phone had died. I didn’t want to oversleep so I got up to charge it and then went to my bed. Liam soon woke up and I nursed him awhile. Meanwhile the cats were prowling all over me and Ziggy was laying on my face. At 5:30 Liam was quite awake so I got up with him and made coffee.

I like in the photo above how you can see the steam coming out of the kettle.

And I like this one because you can see Liam’s cute PJ’s and how big he is on my hip. I’m wearing a sweater and my joggers because our AC is finally fixed, it cooled off outside, and David turns the temp way down at night. And this is another one of my coffee mugs in rotation, which I got from the Katy Half Marathon.

Right after I made my coffee Meredith woke up crying. The above photo is so blurry but I’m including it because it shows how I was comforting her and Liam is just hanging on to me, not happy about being put down. I got Meredith settled on the couch to watch TV (she likes being wrapped up in blankets these days) and Liam was fine to walk around, watch, and amuse himself. I made everyone breakfast.

Back in my room to get ready. On Fridays I can wear a different color scrubs. I also like to do a quick French braid on Fridays; for some reason little rituals like that make it more of a special day.

David woke up early today and was playing with the kids in our room. Then Liam stole this blanket from Meredith and there was crying, hitting, and kicking. Liam thought it was a game; Meredith did not.

We left the house a little early. Daycare dropoff was easy and I drove to work listening to the Sorta Awesome podcast, another Friday ritual.

Heading in to work. I was working in pre-op that day.

At this point there is a big chunk of time with no photos because I was so stressed at work! Usually pre-op is not that difficult and I don’t mind it, but I happened to get a really complicated patient and I was stuck in the middle trying to coordinate everything. I hated feeling that her surgery (which she needed ASAP) was dependent on me when I didn’t really know who to call or what to do. It eventually got resolved, but I left an hour late.

I went directly to pick up Liam (David had already picked up Meredith) and we met them at my parents’ house. We have dinner there every Friday night and have been doing so for years.

We ate pretty soon and then just hung out. Liam loves “playing” on my dad’s computer with him. Meredith always asks to help throw the ball to Maisie, one of their dogs. (Usually she wants to help take Oliver for a walk too; he is the dog that bit her but she has no hard feelings.) Then it started raining a little and the kids wanted to play in the puddles. In that last photo Liam was posing for a picture and literally saying “cheese!” as best he can.

When we left, David took Liam for his nighttime ride and I brought Meredith home. She almost always asks for a snack for the car ride and my mom gave her some Cheerios in a bag. She was being cute and said she wanted to share them with me. “I’ll give you one at home and one in the morning, okay Mommy? But not now because you’re driving.” She dutifully gave me one at home and placed one on the counter to give me in the morning.

Changed into pajamas and while I was doing that Meredith began intently laying out blankets on the floor of my room. “I’m gonna make a cage Mommy! It’s gonna be really cool.” She wanted me to watch her so I lay on my bed for a few minutes but I was almost falling asleep.

We moved into her room and I waited while she picked out books to read. While we read, David came home with Liam. He popped his head in and told me he had to go to the store. A few minutes later Liam woke up screaming, so Meredith and I just moved into our bed where I nursed him and we all fell asleep. I don’t know when or how I’m going to get these kids into their own beds!!

Thoughts on today: I’m glad that I got to record some normal Friday things, especially dinner at my parents’ house. Work was abnormal, and I had originally intended to go to the gym again but I left late and couldn’t. I’m always SO tired by the end of the week.

We made big plans for the weekend so stay tuned… ;)

This week I am documenting a week in our lives along with the Ali Edwards community. Here are some photos and words about yesterday, if you’d like to see…

Picking up from yesterday, I came back to my own bed at 2:00 a.m. Liam woke up so I had to nurse him. He woke up again at 5:00 a.m. to nurse. I really wanted to get up before the kids to do my morning routine, but by the time Liam settled back asleep it was 6 and that’s usually the time I start getting ready. But I really wanted to do my Bible study, so I made coffee and packed a lunch and then sat for ten minutes to do it.

I’ve been doing the study No Other Gods by Kelly Minter and then Voxing about it with my friend Lauren. I like it; the daily homework is shorter than Beth Moore studies and there are no group video sessions that I’m missing out on by doing it myself. So it’s good to find a new Bible study author that I like since I’ve done almost all of Beth Moore’s!

The kids were still asleep and I was running later than usual, so I rushed through making breakfast. While my skillet was heating up I heard Meredith calling for me. I went into my room and they were both awake. She started crying because she wanted me to hold her. I don’t know what it is that sets her crying sometimes, but after a few minutes she was happy again. I put her on the couch with Liam to watch TV while I finished breakfast, but Liam leaked out of his diaper. I changed him and brought him into the bathroom with me. River (the cat) entertained him. It’s a love/hate relationship between Liam and the cats. :)

We left on time and again I gave Liam his backpack to wear once we got to daycare. He even hung it on his hook. We are supposed to sign the kids in and out each day and I do try to sign them in, but we are bad about signing out.

At work again and my coworker Jenny was there with me. We had a regular day of patients planned, but two of them ended up cancelling. In total we had six.

Lunch break. I always read while I eat lunch. This is what I bring most days to eat.

We finished up our patients around 2:30 and I went for my walk around hospital campus. It had been raining a lot of the day, but it had stopped at this point. So nice to have cooler temperatures.

I left work twenty minutes early and went home to rest for a bit. I finished my book!

David and I met at daycare; I got there a few minutes before him. All the kids had been put into one room so when I stepped inside Meredith saw me and said, “Look! Liam is here!” Then she began asking over and over, “Where are we going to go? Where? Where Mommy?” She is always looking to the next thing, not content to just sit and be. When David got there she ran to him and said, “Daddy, I wanna go with you!!” They went to the grocery store because I had run out of eggs. Meanwhile, I took Liam home.

He nursed for awhile and I started a new book, then it was snack time. Pears and Canadian bacon. When he was done, he held out his bowl and said, “Mo! Mo!” so I gave him another bowl of pears. He still wanted more after that and since David and Meredith weren’t home yet, I heated up five frozen meatballs for him, which he ate. Later he ate more pear, a PB&J sandwich, and a slice of cheese. Yeah, this kid can eat and his favorite thing is meat.

It was a difficult evening, actually. Meredith for some reason was very emotional and was crying over every little thing, or crying over nothing. We had to send her to her room several times where we heard a lot of screaming. It also didn’t take me very long to lose my patience. These tantrums of hers were a daily thing for much of age three, but they have been fewer and farther between for which I am so grateful.

Oh, and we just had sandwiches for dinner and half of us ate on the couch.

To get things calmed down we had to divide and conquer. I got Liam ready for bed and sent him off with David for his nighttime ride. Liam loves it and is always glad to go.

Meredith was crying for something else to eat, so after some intense discussion we settled on some yogurt and a granola bar. She brought it back to my bathroom to eat at her little vanity while I got ready for bed. She had to bring three spoons with her.

I made the rounds of the house and turned off lights and put things away. The cats were settling down for the night.

Finally, Meredith and I went to her room. She “cleaned up” a few of her toys which was really just an excuse to play with them a bit before bed. She was really stalling and I had to get stern with her before she finally picked books to read. It also took her a really long time to settle down for sleep and I was on the verge of leaving her alone in her room for a break. Sigh.

Thoughts about today: it was another pretty normal one for us. Nightly baths don’t seem to be happening like I planned for them to, but that’s okay. Some serious meal planning needs to happen this weekend. And hopefully tomorrow the emotions will have settled down. :)

This week I am documenting a week in our lives along with the Ali Edwards community. Here are some photos and words about yesterday, if you’d like to see…

The morning didn’t go exactly as I wished it to. First of all, Meredith came into our bed at midnight so we still have some work to do there. And Liam started fussing at 5 so I couldn’t get up to do my own morning routine. When he finally finished nursing and I got up at 6, he was awake too.

Like I said, you do what you have to do to get ready when you’re a working mom. Sometimes that means letting your toddler sit in the sink and play. :)

While I got dressed, Meredith woke up and immediately began crying. She was saying, “No one is going to play with me!!” What she meant was that she wanted me to play with her RIGHT THEN. Instead, I carried her to the couch, wrapped her in blankets, gave her a cat, and turned on Daniel Tiger. She was placated. Then I was able to make breakfast.

Getting the kids ready in their room. Meredith scraped her foot the night before and she’s still milking it. She needed an “ice pad” and “couldn’t walk.” Also, that cabbage patch doll was mine!

I put Liam’s backpack on him for the first time, and he thought it was the best thing ever. I tried to take it off to hang on his hook and he cried, so I left it on. Such a big boy.

At work it was a slow day (again) so I made myself some coffee. We have a new single serve coffee machine that is so fast and pretty good. I can’t quit it.

I gave chemo to one patient and we had a meeting with our director since both of my coworkers were there. We are trying to figure out how to help give chemo to inpatients.

After finishing up with my patient I went to lunch at the doctor’s office (a drug rep was giving an inservice and brought Zoe’s Kitchen) and then I went to my own doctor for my annual physical. Those paper gowns are so lovely, huh? I read while I waited, and almost fell asleep. The only problems I brought up with the doctor are my occasional dizzy spells and possible iron deficiency.

When I left the doctor the sky was beautifully gray and it was raining!! So exciting.

At home I checked the mail and my next postal book club book was there – MOMO by Michael Ende. I added it to the pile of books I’m currently reading or need to read in the next month.

I changed clothes and then I went back to my work gym. I ran for a half mile, then did squats, shoulder press, and deadlifts.

David and I have been talking about eating healthier as a family and we’ve gradually made some good changes but today we just spontaneously decided to be a little more drastic. I’ve been phoning it in for dinners a lot lately so I used this extra time to cook a somewhat healthy meal. The cats are all over the place of course.

Meredith makes her dramatic entry home. I tell David to take the chicken out of the oven and then I go pick up Liam (remember David only has one car seat in his truck).

Dinner! I was happy that we sat down at the table together again.

Got everyone ready, then we walked down the street to meet our neighborhood friends Jack and Case at the pool. Unfortunately the baby pool was closed and my kids don’t have floaties (mom fail?) so it was a bit more stressful than I expected since neither of mine can swim and we just had to hang out on the steps. They were both pretty scared at first but (contrary to the photo) were loving it by the end. We stayed until the pool closed at 8 and then Meredith cried. “I’m saaaad!!” she wailed. She doesn’t deal well with disappointment or the end of something fun.

David met us at the pool and took Liam for a drive to put him to sleep while I walked Meredith home. She was a bit grumpy but did well going to bed once we got home. I didn’t mean to, but I fell asleep in her bed and stayed there until 2 a.m. when I moved to my own.

Another day in the books!

This week I am documenting a week in our lives along with the Ali Edwards community. Here are some photos and words about yesterday, if you’d like to see…

Tuesday morning I woke up at 4:40 a.m. in Meredith’s bed. I hadn’t meant to sleep there, but she woke up multiple times during the night and at some point I fell asleep and stayed. I came into my bed where David and Liam were, and Meredith woke up and joined us soon after. All of us slept until around 7 a.m. I tried to take a picture of us cuddling, but it was too dark and I didn’t want to use flash.

The story there is that I took the day off work because there weren’t enough patients. Since I knew I wasn’t working, I stayed up a bit too late on the computer the night before. So I was very grateful the kids let me sleep until 7. We got up and got going; Liam soon needed a diaper change. He is outgrowing the changing pad for sure but it’s still easier than the floor.

Yup, more Daniel Tiger for the kids. I pretty much let them watch a little bit every morning. It is what it is; the show is really cute and educational, and when you’re a working mom you do what you need to do to get things done sometimes. While they watched I made breakfast and got everyone dressed.

Ugh, dishes piled up in the sink. Since I was off they got left there overnight which doesn’t usually happen.

This is my breakfast almost every single day. I’ve gotten really efficient at scrambling eggs. I had a couple ibuprofen because my muscles were so sore from lifting weights the day before.

Loading the car. Meredith buckled her own car seat, which is only the second or third time she’s done so. It feels like a milestone because car seats are just the worst.

The kids both wanted to open the doors to school themselves.

I took these pictures looking through the window after I had dropped them off. Liam is already eating more breakfast (they almost always eat some eggs at home too, which I encourage because maybe then they won’t eat so much of the carby stuff they serve at daycare) and Meredith is just looking around the room.

Back at home and I felt instantly relaxed being alone in the house with no plans for the whole day. I took a long, relaxing shower and then did a little work on the computer in my craft room.

Time for more coffee. That mug was sent to me by one of my oldest friends who I never get to see anymore. She read some of my updates when we were having a really rough time with sleep and sickness, and just randomly sent it to me to cheer me up. It has famous first lines of literature on it, so naturally I love it. And that French press I recently had to buy to replace my old one which Liam shattered. Meredith did the same thing when she was a baby, so apparently I didn’t learn my lesson to keep them out of reach. But I love this new one; it’s bigger and more colorful.

I decided to take some time to work on a quilt I’ve been planning to make for Meredith. I accidentally sliced my hand (not deep, but it did bleed) so I needed Band-aids.

While I worked I watched Lizzie Bennet diaries on YouTube. My sewing machine is a hand-me-down from my husband’s grandmother. Every time I start to use it after a period of inactivity the tension is off. I’m starting to think I should get a new one.

After awhile I started to feel a little stir-crazy and anxious. Sometimes it’s hard for me to just rest and relax. I left the house and got lunch at Potbelly sandwiches. Then my best friend called me and I hadn’t talked to her in months and we chatted for an hour. So nice.

I had to pick up a couple of holds at the library and I decided to stay there and read for awhile so I wouldn’t be distracted. I’m reading The Cat’s Table by Michael Ondaatje and loving it. On deck is Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson.

Back at home it was getting late so I hustled through a few chores. Cleaned the cats’ litter boxes, watered plants, and made a big salad to take for work lunches the rest of the week. Then I fed the cats and left for my in-laws’ house. David was meeting me there.

My mother-in-law tries to pick up the kids from daycare once a week if she can. She takes them to visit her father (we call him Pappy) at the nursing home right down the street from us. Meredith especially has a special bond with him.

When I pulled up at their house, my father-in-law was holding Liam out front waiting for me. Liam ran to me and gave me the best hug. I love that kid, he is so full of life.

Our iPad is so old that it’s practically nonfunctional, so the kids are allowed to play on Mimi’s. They are learning to share but Liam doesn’t understand the concept so sometimes there are fights.

When we got there the kids had already eaten dinner so David and I sat down to eat together while they played. It was a roast with carrots and potatoes and fruit salad. When I was done, Meredith came to me and said dramatically, “Mommy I’m sooo hungry.” She was angling for dessert and she got it because Papa loves indulging us.

Meredith played hide and seek with Papa and had me pile all the cushions on top of her. She still doesn’t really “get” the game but she has a blast playing it.

When it was time to head home, David took Liam in his truck to drive him to sleep, and I took Meredith to put her to bed. Amazingly, she fell asleep in the car on the way home, but then she woke up when I laid her in bed. We read a few books and then I tickled her back which she loves and calms her. She fell asleep pretty quickly and I got up to work on this post.

After a little bit, one of the cats scared David and he yelled, waking up Liam who cried. I went to nurse him in bed and just stayed there for the night.

This was obviously an abnormal day for me since I usually don’t have a day off like this, but it was so nice and needed.