The Daily Grind

Lately it seems like I'm surviving the day just so I can make it to bedtime and get some more rest. These kids wear me out! It's amazing how much work it is to care for two boys under the age of three. I'm sure there are people out there thinking, "You have it easy." Well, it many ways I do, but these kids are all that I can handle. Nolan's little brain never stops asking questions all day, and it makes my mind tired just trying to explain everything in this world. Half of the time I don't know the answer and have to make something up. Some day he'll realize that his mom isn't as smart as he thought. But for now, I'm faking it.

Ezra has learned how to shriek. Loud. Not necessarily because he's angry, although much of the time he is. I'm actually excited for him to crawl. I never thought I'd say that, but I think he'd be happier if he could get around. I thought he was starting to scoot two weeks ago... it was a false alarm. He is, hoever, officially sitting up! He is definitely starting to have more and more personality every day. Of course, he still refuses a bottle or sippy cup so the longest I've been away from him is four hours. He's growing up though and I'm trying to enjoy this baby stage. But anyway, I can't believe the time it takes to mother these kiddos. There's spoon feeding Ez 3 to 4 times a day, nursing him 5 to 6 times a day, bathing, diapering, remembering to medicate his eczema (which has really flared up), and making sure to rotate the toys in his immediate vacinity so that he doesn't get bored. And then on top of all of that, I'm supposed to keep a clean house, make healthy food, and be a good Young Women's secretary. And it's always good if I can do these things in a calm, loving way and be a sweet wife. Yeah, not really happening. It's an interesting sort of busy that I am. Not the running around, stressed out kind. It's the kind where I feel like I can't hardly leave the house. It's the kind where I'm taking care of everyone and feel like I've lost myself. Someday I'll take up a hobby again, or at least start a book. For now I'll try to enjoy these sweet boys!

Here's a quick list of some of the things we've been doing:

1) Making progress on the basement. Two new walls are framed and we moved our load-bearing wall successfully. That was frightening because at one point my Dad said, "Well, maybe we should have moved the piano in case the floor gives way." And at another point he said, "If something happens, I'm running to get Ezra out of his crib safely." It was nice that none of those things happened.

2) We saw Avatar in 3-D at the IMAX. I was skeptical about all the hype, but it really was something! That was the longest I had been away from the kids in 8 months. Thanks to Grandma K for watching the boys.

3) We attended a friend's wedding where they had a small ice skating rink. The skates were too big for Nolan so he slid around on his shoes. Justin and I acted out all the great pairs skating moves from the Olympics, including grabbing onto our skates to get extra points. Okay, we weren't actually wearing skates either. Fun time.

4) Spent several hours at the Living Planet Aquarium. Turns out Ezra really loves fish. We'll spending more time there since we invested in memberships.

5) Nolan has discovered a love for painting. He sat for over an hour painting a boat, and the next day begged to paint a wooden snake. I love Michaels craft store for selling these cheap kits.

6) Nolan removes the couch cushions to make a crude fort. He loves it when I get blankets out to make a deluxe fort, that usually falls over in 15 minutes. Maybe it's not that deluxe.