Two kids down

Wow... Poor John. He's still at work, and it's 10:30 at night. I will be heading to bed shortly. This is the second night putting two kids down, though John got home in time to finish up with Eric last night. Ugh. I hate when he has projects due because he works from early in the morning until late at night. I feel sorry for him... and me of course. ;-)

So tonight I put Eric down early. Very early. Like 6:50pm early. He was a nut today. Don't know if it was the weather (all the crazy rain and the storm that came through) or just a "Bad Eric" day, but that boy was so giddy and violent. I hate having to discipline Eric at this age. He just doesn't get it. He hurts Rachel, and knows I don't want him to. But at this age he doesn't understand that he's hurting her or consequences/ punishment. He only understands that he gets a reaction when he's "Bad Eric."

So Eric went down about an hour early. Rachel, of course, had to fall asleep at 9:30. [sigh] And then... fireworks. LOUD fireworks. It sounded like they were going off right outside her room. And unlike Eric, she wakes up if I drop a cloth diaper on the floor; it's so frustrating. So the fireworks woke her up. And since I had nursed her for an hour and a half to get her to sleep, I was PISSED. Our town (each town in Fairfax county) has a festival around this time. Apparently Herndon started theirs tonight. I could have stomped to the fair grounds and killed someone. Grrrrrr

I think I would be more serene if I had more sleep. Going to bed now. :-)

So Eric's getting a *little* jealous of Rachel...

Yes, that's Rachel's bouncy seat.

Gratitude

Wow... it's been a long time since I posted. Do I have any readers left?? ;-)

I've been meaning to write this post for awhile. I have the most awesome friends and family on the planet. When I first found out I was pregnant with Rachel, I totally freaked out. Taking care of Eric day in and day out was the hardest thing I had ever done, and now I had to do it with another baby??!!

From day one I had people offering to help. I just wanted to say an official "Thank you!!" to a few...

1- My parents stayed with me for 2 weeks when Rachel was born. They completely took care of Eric so John and I could take care of Rachel. You guys are awesome!

2- My friend KC stayed with me for a week in late April, and she was amazing with Eric. She did laundry and let me rest. As I get older I am finding out that my friends of over fifteen years can still surprise me. KC- I never knew you were so good with babies!

3- Karen- for coming to my shower and stayed with me for a few days. We had a lot of fun.

4- Kelly made Rachel's letters, homemade thank you cards, onesies for Rachel, and my favorite- a keepsake box. Kelly, you are so talented. Thank you for everything!

5- All of the wonderful women in my Fairfax Moms' group who brought me meals. I'm so grateful!

6- All of the moms who have come over for play-dates. They have helped me keep my sanity.

I know I'm forgetting a ton of people- my sister and extended family who came to my shower and who call, send cards and gifts... But you get the idea. :-)

Yay Rachel!!

She slept 7 and a half hours straight last night!! Then nursed and went back to sleep for 4 more hours! I love Babywise!!

The Benefits of Zrytec while Breast-feeding

I have got to take Zyrtec every day now... the pollen is so bad. This has a beneficial side-effect- it knocks out Rachel. At four weeks she now sleeps for 6 hours in the first half of the night, and then for another 4 hours after a feeding. (Granted, sometimes it's a very LONG feeding, but at 3 am everything seems long). So I usually take a Zyrtec in the early evening.

Unfortunately today I had to take one at around noon. And this is the result: a 4 hour nap! She will NOT WAKE UP. Grrr... I really loved the fact she was almost sleeping through the night, too. [sigh]

Enter the Toddler

So today my toddler and infant napped simultaneously for two hours! Anyone with more than one kid knows that this is a miracle from God. With these two hours I was able to finally eat and drink something today, clean, do laundry, make my bed with new sheets (I never make the bed routinely; the pollen is killing me at night!), watch HGTV, and Skype my friend Louisa in England. This was the highlight of my day.

It's funny... When Eric was first born I remember thinking 'Oh My God, how in the world am I going to manage this?! It's so hard! I have no free time!' Now I have two, and I think, 'What the hell was I complaining about?!'

Babies sleep all the time! I could sleep when Eric slept, watch t.v. while I nursed, go to the store while he was obliviously asleep. Life gets incredibly more difficult when an opinionated toddler enters the picture. I now awake to Eric screeching at the top of his lungs as my wonderful husband feeds him breakfast downstairs (assuming Rachel hasn't woken me up first). I now have to chase Eric away from the dishwasher that he can not only open and start but can also climb inside (his new trick). I have to watch my reaction to every thing Eric does to piss me off because if I act shocked or upset, he will undoubtedly continue and escalate the behavior.

I try every day to concentrate on the good qualities about my son and not the craziness. He is a great sleeper. He is (mostly) gentle and good to his baby sister. He has a great sense of humor. I want to cherish these times and remember the good things about his toddler years. I remind myself that all too soon he'll be going to school, and these times will be gone.