Mommy Points (Like Brownie points...)

Today, I earned two mommy points. These mommy points are a lot similar to brownie points that my husband earns every once in a while, but no one keeps score on mommy points except me. Last night I got an email letting me know that I wouldn't hear from my man due to a blackout (blackout's happen when a service member has lost their life and the military is still tracking down the family to inform them).  I shouldn't have checked my email, I knew it wasn't Chad, but that doesn't mean I didn't stress over it all night long. Anyways, due to my lack of sleep, the kids and I slept in, and I kept them home because I was too lazy to drive them to daycare.

Point 1: My kids are bathed and clean. And they didn't scream getting that way either.        

Point 2: My kids ate all of their dinner, without complaining, AND asked for seconds (well, Ben grunted for seconds, but I got the message). And then, Sariah cleared the dishes away without complaint. Yes, I'm feeling like that was point worthy, maybe even an extra point worthy, but I lost that extra point because I wasn't as patient as I should have been putting them to bed. In fact, I failed to impress upon Sariah the importance of staying in her bed. She is currently sitting next to me reciting the ABC's... which is awesome, except that it's the billionth time she's done it. Oh, and I just noticed she put shoes and socks on.. her shoes.. my socks. Ugh.

I finally heard from Chad, he didn't even know the unit had been on blackout because he'd been gone on a 12 hour mission, and then informed me that it wasn't anyone we knew. Which made me sigh in relief, and actually get dressed for the day.. at 7pm...

Well, I never did claim perfection, after all ;)

Mean Mom Face

Tonight was an interesting mix up to our normal events. There we were, the kids, myself, my neighbor V, and her two kids; walking along pushing our strollers for our evening 4 mile walk. we had just hit our first mile ( I know this because I track our walks via GPS ;) ) WHEN ALL OF A SUDDEN this tiny little ford comes zipping by, speeding and TOSSING newspapers and junk mail out the window all over the streets. V and I stopped, looked at each other, and asked ourselves, what now? V suggested we check to see if it was real mail with a name on it, because that would be so wrong, we would feel obligated to call the MP's. No one's mail should lay out in the middle of the road for anyone to see! So we walk over, and survey our surroundings, it was just adds and junk mail. All of a sudden, THE CAR CAME BACK! Idiot boys. They couldn't have been more that 16-17. So I stood there with my children, in the middle of the road, and started to put my hands on my hips. OOOooooo we glared at those boys, and then we told them to GET OUT OF THE CAR AND PICK ALL THIS UP RIGHT THIS INSANT! And they did.. well, 2 of them did. They started with the far stuff, and then they got closer to pick up the little stuff that was still by our feet, and this is when I really let into them. I put on my meanest mom face and started lecturing about the evils of littering and how they were speeding and made a motion of writing down their license plate number so that if they pissed me off any more, I would call the MP's and their parents. One of the boys tried to excuse himself by saying that they were just having a little bit of fun (baloney!) and that they were on their way back to pick it up (super baloney). My mean mommy attitude totally came out at this point and I wanted him to say something more, go ahead! Well, he wisely shut his trap at that point (disappointing!) and finished picking up all his trash and drove off (at a decent speed). V and I then went on with our walk. Although, with all the excitement, we did not set another 5k record, we did not do our best time, and we totally slacked off the power walking. BUT, we did finish our walk, and we did get some good mommy time in. So all in all, it wasn't a complete bust, even if I really was looking for a fight/police report/mommy tattling. I mean, it is a saturday night, I didn't really have anything else going for me tonight ;)

Oh alright, I guess I'll put pictures up.

I am feeling rather generous in that regard today, because for the first time in this pregnancy, my tummy is finally past my boobs! We just passed the halfway mark, and I'm feeling great. This picture was taken by my super talented 2 year old, Sariah. She loves loves loves taking pictures, esp if mom is in some awkward position/state of undress!

Our days are still going in a good routine~ Wake up at 6, get the kids up and dressed, the bags packed for daycare, and it's off we go. Drop the kids off by 715, make sure the providers know whats what and have everything they need, and get out of the daycare by 725 or I'm going to be late for work.... Drive in Seattle traffic with the rare sightings of the sunshine causing the seattleites to literally freak out... Always an adventure! Spend 8 hours working, up and down and all around the shop/office/toilet... you know the drill! Drive home (in twice the amount of traffic and freaking out seattleites) and get to the daycare before it closes. I'm averaging around 1730 (530 for those of you who don't read military), which is right when the kids teachers are leaving them with the "aftercare" lady. I get screams of joy and instant demands to be picked up as I try to gather the daily supplies to be refilled for tomorrows adventures. I get the kids in the car, only to hear more screams, but this time in protest of having to sit in their respective car seats- although ironically enough, Ben refuses to sit on the blue one, and so Sariah sits there while he looks silly in the pink one. Good things my kids don't have color/gender issues! (Chad and I think it's funny, Ben likes the pink on because it's more comfortable for him). Well, we eventually make it home, I do a quick clean up of the mornings craziness, try to come up with something suitable and fast for dinner, and feed the kids and I before 1900. (7) I have a pressing engagement when the weather is nice, every evening at 1900. At 1900, the kids get put into the double stroller, I strap onto my tennis shoes ( you know, those same shoes I just took off at 1800 to make dinner...) and we go for our walk. If we're lucky, my neighbor Vecincia and her two girls will join us in their double stroller. Right now we're averaging 2+ miles, including some grass, gravel, a steep hill, and cooling temperatures. It's beautiful. I'm trying to stay active to prevent the pain I experience while carrying Ben (I'm also trying to avoid my cane!!!). So far, it's totally working. I haven't gained any pregnancy weight, but the baby is growing according to plan and the midwifes trust I know what I'm doing. I'm sure they might start to worry about it at the next appointment (good things it's not till June!). I'm not worried about it, I'm excited about it!! Well, anyways, we get back to the house around 1945, and Ben gets a diaper change and goes to bed, Sariah and I catch double jeopardy and then the real work begins. Dishes, Laundry, repacking the bags for tomorrow, bath time, switch loads, sort socks, vacuum and then see whats on TV. If we're super lucky, Chad will call and we will get to Skype with him. Sariah makes faces and Chad tells us about his day. And then we go to bed, only to start over again in the morning.

I wish Saturdays were more relaxed then they are, but on Saturday, the shopping, minor errands that can't be completed during the week, the chores that don't need daily doing, and more mommy and kid time :) Sundays start early, get ready for church, go to church, survive church with two wiggly kids, get home from church, force nap time, eat, and laze about.

This will be my last week at work. I'm excited, but not because it means rest, but because for some odd/super super odd reason, I am having some serious nesting issues. I mopped my floor the other night. This is not normal. I folded, MOM, FOLDED the laundry. I vacuumed, swept, and disinfected the kitchen counters. I got rid of nearly empty boxes and I took the shelves out of my fridge to be bleached.. Oh ya, something is wrong. I am looking forward to the last day of work because guess what's next on my list... THE SEWING ROOM. Oh yes, the sacred corner that no one is allowed into unless your name is MOM (me, not my mom, not my mother in law, not anyone else in the whole wide world), is going to get organized, decluttered, detrashed, and reordered. I'm itching to get in there, but can't do it unless I have time to finish the job in one go. Oh yes, next week is going to be fun. FUN I tell you! FUN!!

Ok, I'm crazy. But you love me!

Oh ya, Chad's doing good too!

Xoxo