Snow Day

Vader left the house at shortly before 5 am to go across the state for work. He won't return until late tomorrow night. He's the one who gets up with SkyWalker in the morning and gets him on the school bus at 6:50. Which meant I was going to have to do it this morning and tomorrow. But, luckily for us, we had a snow day. So instead of waiting for the bus at 6:50 I got to lay in bed awake wondering if Vader was in a ditch somewhere and if my dogs would EVER stop barking at the plow guy. I had contemplated getting up at 5 when I was wide awake, but I didn't and sure enough I fell back to sleep right around 6:30 and woke up at 6:45 when the dogs declared war on the plow guy (one of the best decisions we ever made was having someone plow our driveway. Totally worth the money.)

Everyone was excited that it was a snow day and happy to be together. I posted an article while we were all still in pajamas just after breakfast, we quickly got dressed and did math homework and the older two played a little and then we had lunch. Chewie slept okay, SkyWalker and the Princess played in his room and I had just enough time to run 3 miles and shower. Then I brought the laundry up there and without saying anything SkyWalker started to help me sort it and put his own clothes away. So the Princess put her clothes away--which fell short of making it into the dresser, so SkyWalker picked THOSE up and put them away too. Usually it takes me so long to put their stuff away because the three of them like to climb all over the clean clothes and me and cause a ruckus. But today it was done in no time. After that we made corn muffins and then we all went outside and played in the snow. They shoveled and fell down and jumped and I had to drag Chewie in crying. She would have stayed out much longer. We ate our corn muffins, had breakfast for dinner (french toast for them and an omelette for me), and then headed upstairs for bed.

It was an amazing day.

I take for granted, sometimes, how lucky I am that I have kids who get along so well with one another. SkyWalker has always played on the Princess's level, even when she was a baby, but now that she is older they've really become companions. It's so nice to see. They often giggle and laugh. I can leave them together to play outside in the snow and not worry. Not everyone can do that. I am so lucky that they are so good to each other.

But today was not all about luck. I worked hard when they were younger to set routines so that they have alone time and so do I. I remember when SkyWalker gave up his nap and I... just let him. It was so stupid of me, but he had been in daycare and now he was home and it was kind of nice having alone time with him while the Princess napped. It wasn't until I was pregnant with Chewie and couldn't physically keep up anymore that I started the Quiet Time Experiment--something that turned out to be a lifesaver. Because I enforced it with him, the Princess doesn't fight it. During the summer we had some struggles because they wanted to play together but they were too loud and would often wake Chewie. But now that SkyWalker is back at school the Princess has settled into her routine of being in her room quietly while Chewie is sleeping. Last week she played with her new doll house and then "got tired" and took a nap herself. On the weekends when Daddy is home I am not as vigilant about quiet time and it's okay. And on special days like today I let them play together and they are often so happy for the chance that it works out. And I am glad that Chewie sleeps in her crib giving me the freedom to run on the treadmill or take a shower or go out to the mailbox. I honestly do not know what I would do without that alone time. We're all so much better off because of it.

Today was one of those days when the little things clicked, like a sign saying "You did it right!" It's not often that one ever feels that way with parenting, so when it happens it's nice to have a record of it...

Little of this, little of that

The Princess had her ultrasound last Tuesday. It was a good thing I took the night off from work. Our appt was at 3:30 but we weren't seen until after 4. We didn't get home until after 5:30! The surgeon was amazed by how well she's doing. She's still on amoxicillin for another 6 weeks *groan* but then she's off. Her next ultrasound is in March and hopefully he will tell us that she will never need amoxicillin again!

We had our first big snowstorm. She did not go outside at all but watched from the window. SkyWalker and I decided to hang up our Christmas lights during the snow on Thursday. Then we went out and played yesterday. I pulled him in the sled and nearly broke my back. We're supposed to be getting a lot more tomorrow. I'm hoping the library will be smart and not even open and I can spend the day at home watching Vader pull SkyWalker on the sled as I sip hot chocolate and read a book (yes I'm dreaming).

My sister was supposed to close on her house yesterday. I'm assuming she did... she won't move in until after Christmas because they're going to do some work. My brother and sister-in-law did the same thing. We started moving in the day we closed. Were we stupid? We sure as hell don't have the time to fix things now. We did redo our bedroom--put in wood floors and painted--but that was it. Granted we were paying rent and needed to get out of an apartment. But still... I LOVE my house. Everyone knows how much I love my house. But there's so much to do. I hate wallpaper. There's wallpaper in the living room going up the stairs, all over the kitchen, and in the bathroom. We'd need to rip that all off and paint. I hate the tiles in our bathroom and would love to have bigger tiles that would be easier to clean. And while I'm dreaming... I would love to convert our garage into a new living room, make our living room a playroom, and build a new garage that would really be a 2 car instead of a 1 1/2 like it is now. And maybe convert the attic into another room because I don't know what we'll do if we have 3 kids the same gender. I suppose we could convert our office downstairs into another room. But we don't have the time or the skills to do anything ourselves and we don't have the money to pay people. Or help from anyone else. Maybe someday we'll have more money and can actually do what we'd like. I'm tempted to tell SkyWalker to rip the wallpaper off so we'd be forced to replace it....

I went to the Christmas Tree Shop to get an apple peeler that one of my friends has. I turned right around and walked out of the store. What was I thinking going to to the CHRISTMAS Tree Shop in DECEMBER? I'll have to wait until the holidays are over. I really wanted that damn apple peeler though. I think SkyWalker can use it himself and it would make things easier. He likes his apples peeled and sliced and this does both. I also want to get to JoAnn's and buy a Christmas village. The little ones--5 inches--are cheap. And they have a library building this year. Maybe after soccer on Friday.

I'm not drinking enough water. It's so hard in the winter. I had another headache the other morning that was turning into a migraine and I'm pretty sure it's from not having enough water and having too much caffeine (even decaf tea has caffeine). I think my "supply" is also going down, partly from the Princess eating SO MUCH food, but also from not having enough water. I'm going to have to force myself to drink water everyday. And then a cup of hot chocolate to warm up.

Pumping break is over.... back to "work."

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Snow

I left work an hour early and SkyWalker and I made it home at our normal time. The roads are not good, visibility is not good, my wipers kept freezing over. The library closed early at 5.

This has no effect on my husband. He is *still* working late. He's not planning on leaving any earlier than he did last night. He is an idiot. He's driving the Civic, which is not good in the snow, and he'll probably be home even later because of the conditions. And I need him home because it is impossible for me to give SkyWalker a bath and get him to bed by myself.

And this working late and weekends thing might be happening until May. Actually he said until #2 is born. Joy.

As soon as we got home I updated the library blog and the event keeper to say the library closed at 5 because I am a good little webmistress. I also added a headline something or other from the library blog on the library's website to try to entice people to go there. I only have 3 links to it on the main page already.

The one benefit of the snow is that I don't have to worry about muddy dogs. Snow is much easier.

I wonder if I'm so tired because #2 doesn't stop kicking me. It's constantly pushing. I have images of it trying to claw its way out of my womb. Please let it stay in until May.

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