Packages!

Over the last month we've received a few packages!

Up first: I'm a member of a group on Facebook that's made up of a bunch of mommies. Around Christmastime they had wanted to mail me a package since I live overseas, and try as I did to tell them not to since Shannon was going to the States, they still wanted to send something. It really was so sweet of them to send me something, even though I've never met most of them!

Marshmallows, ponytail holders, markers, coloring books and art supplies, gum, candy, a mini-muffin tin, silicone measuring cup, and spatula.

Lane loves that Minnie Mouse coloring book and markers. It is by FAR her favorite "art" thing these days. Thanks, Healthy Mamas! It's so much fun to get fun packages from America!

Then we received a package from Shannon's mom and stepdad. Sharon said that she was out shopping and found a bunch of stuff on clearance and just couldn't resist, so the girls got some cute new clothes.

Onesies, pants, Hello Kitty shirts, dresses, and jammies. Thanks, Sharon and Milton, for the fun new clothes!

And then we received a package from some friends of our who live in China. She had wanted to give cloth diapering a try when she had her third baby, but a couple months in decided she just had too much going on to keep up with doing diapers too. I had mentioned to her that if she didn't want her diapers that I would love to have them because I thought I'd have two in diapers for longer than I did. Anyhow, they mailed us all their cloth diapers (I'm SO excited to have ones with snaps instead of velcro!) and some other goodies for Noel.

A nursing cover, Econobum cloth diapers and a couple BumGenius 4.0's (not all diapers are pictured...they were in the wash), a bracelet and necklace for Lane, baby pants, socks, and onesies, and a cute top with matching headband. Thanks, David and Christy! I am SO grateful to have more diapers, and the other things were such a fun, unexpected surprise!

And there you have it. I know we've received other packages over the past couple months that I've forgotten to post about, and if they were from you...I'm very sorry that I forgot to brag on you!

28 Months Old

5 Months Old

Dear Noel,

A few days ago (ok, ok, a week ago) you turned five months old. This month hasn't really been a major milestone-achieving month for you, but it's certainly been a fun one! You did learn how to roll from your back to your belly, and you spent the better part of three or four days doing nothing but rolling; even when you were tired of holding your head up you would roll right back onto your belly and start crying for me to roll you back over so you could do it again. Now you've strengthened up your neck muscles and enjoy being on your tummy for 10-15 minutes before you're ready to be flipped over. You're also starting to be able to push yourself around a bit, and I wouldn't be surprised if you start creeping within another month or so.

Sporting your first headband, courtesy of our friends David and Christy.

This month you only gained 240 grams, or about half a pound, putting you up to 13 pounds, 4 ounces, and you grew 3 more centimeters, putting you up to 25 inches long. You're still pretty short and on the lower end of the weight spectrum, but you've got some rolls on your legs so we think you're doing just fine, although the doctor wants us to give you solids this month. We may try some avocado or rice cereal.

You're still such a little peanut, snoozing on the big bed!

You've started to actually like your pacifier, and I think that once you can move around to find it, you'll prefer it over your thumb. Noel, you are such a happy and smiley baby. You just love to be paid attention to, cooed at, and tickled. You're at that stage than another friend dubbed something like, "that happy, smiling, rolling-all-over-the-place stage." It's so much fun to watch you observe everything around you, work on your hand-eye coordination by trying to get things in your mouth, and interact with Lane, whom you love. Every month with you just gets better and better!

Love,

Mommy

Going Insane

I often think that I do a pretty good job of managing life as a SAHM. I like cooking and being with my kids. I don't love cleaning so much, but I've just decided that while my kids are little my house will never be as clean as I want it to be as often as I want it to be that clean. And I'm ok with that; as long as toilets are clean and nobody's eating dead bugs off the floor, we'll all survive. I manage to keep the laundry and diapers washed and folded and meals cooked, and most days Lane doesn't watch more than an hour of television, we get to go to the park, and sometimes I'm even brave and bust out the art supplies.

But then life happens, or Shannon leaves town, and I can barely keep my head above water. Shannon left on business this past Sunday and will return tomorrow. This entire week I've been falling into bed at 11 p.m. or later due to laundry, emails that have to be written, mistakes (not mine) that need to be made right (more on those later), food that needs to be cooked/frozen/prepared, needing to take a shower (which has become an evening ritual while daddy's gone), needing to pump, Skype calls, and so on.

Noel has been waking up at 3 a.m. for the past three nights, completely soaked through her diaper, awake, and not wanting to go back to sleep without nursing. And she learned how to roll from her back to her belly, so for the first three days this week I did almost nothing except roll her back to her back, because of course she wanted to practice rolling, but her muscles weren't strong enough to support her head for very long and she'd start crying the instant she got to her belly. I got nothing done until yesterday when she started to be able to go for 10-15 minutes at a time on her belly.

Lane's been getting a new molar (she only gets them when Shannon's gone, apparently) and cranky. And disobedient. One day this week was so rough that I forgot to put a diaper on her before bedtime. The first words out of her mouth the next morning were, "Mama, wet." to which I responded by looking for her diaper which I'd assumed she took off in the middle of the night, only to find that I never put one on her.

Lane has reached that stage of toddlerhood that just makes you want to pull your hair out because she just talks all. the. time. And I could handle her talking all the time, it's just that she repeats the same things over and over and over and over again. "Look at dis, mama. Look at dis, mama. Look at dis, mama." Over and over and over until I want to scream at her, "I SEE IT!!!!" I love her to death but can't wait until she's capable of thinking about something besides the same exact topic we've been discussing for the past, oh, week!

Who knew that these two cuties could make a mama want to pull her hair out as often as I have this past week!

This week has about done me in. I've been trying to put out a million fires and keep up with all the other normal stuff, like laundry and emails, and just haven't been very successful at it all. I feel like a major failure as a parent this week, even though I've tried to not be a stick-in-the-mud and we have done some fun stuff. I just feel horrible every time I lose my temper or raise my voice because I've told Lane for the thousandth time not to climb the rack in the kitchen (or the couches, or the cabinets, or the washing machine, or the radiators) and she keeps doing it anyways and then I have to spank her. And I'm just frustrated with why doesn't she obey me when she knows what the consequences are going to be?!?!

Anyways, I guess all of this is just a cry of frustration. I'm just tired and tired of the boring, monotonous repetition that is my life these days, some just normal (laundry, cook dinner, go to the park), and some drive-me-insane ("Sit down, Lane!" "Don't climb [insert-anything-here], Lane!" "Don't hit mama, Lane." "Don't throw toys, Lane!"). Someone out there please tell me that toddlers do eventually learn how to behave without their bottoms being spanked a gazillion times...I'm getting desperate over here!