Where is my 'easy' button?

Reality check: I have two kids.

As I was walking down the stairs with Michael at 4 this morning I began wondering how I was going to do this alone all day with two kids. How am I going to rock Liliana to sleep while cuddling Michael so he'll fall asleep? Am I 'babying' the kids too much right now? It seems that the fact that Matt and I are parents of two is really sinking in. And as it sinks in more, I have more questions about what I am doing.

This morning I did manage to get another hour and a half of sleep. I let Michael play while I laid on the couch. He played for less than 30 minutes and then crawled on the couch and fell asleep with me. He and Liliana both slept until 8. At one point I was doing the dishes and Michael woke up on the couch. He is very groggy when he wakes up, so I stopped doing the dishes to come over and talk to him. He climbed up on my lap and fell back asleep. Every part of me wanted to get up and finish doing the dishes, but I kept thinking about how precious this moment was. It won't be very long from now and Micheal won't want to snuggle in mommy's lap. But the dishes... they'll always be there.

Last night Matt went to bed super early because he had a temperature. My mission: keep the kids up until 8 so they would sleep in. They were both crabby because they were tired. I was entertaining them with the ceiling fan (they like to watch it stop and start) and then next thing I knew, both kids were asleep on the couch. It was 7:40. So close to 8!

I decided that I should bring Miss Liliana up to bed first and leave Michael on the couch. By the time I had Liliana situated in her bed, I could hear Michael coming up the stairs. I got him in bed and was praying with him and then left for my room. As I was laying in bed I was regretting not putting a pull-up on Michael since he refused to go to the bathroom before he went to bed. In the midst of my considering whether or not to go in the room and put one on him, I heard a thump in their bedroom and then the sound of running and whimpering. Michael was in the hallway running to me with a frightened look on his face. I am not sure if he woke up from a nightmare or if Nickel jumped on his bed (he is afraid of the cat), but he did NOT want to go back in his room. I finally got him to go in his bed, but he woke up 4 times throughout the night.

In the morning, Liliana also slept until 8. I could smell poop in her room when I walked in, but I had no idea what I was about to encounter. She has peed and pooped so many times that she soaked through her diaper. Her entire pjs were soaked with pee as well as her blanket and comforter. At 7 p.m. I am still doing laundry... not because there was so much, but because I keep forgetting it's in there!

Right now we are again trying to keep the kids up until 8. Michael is laying on the couch next to me on the verge of sleepy-land and Liliana is sitting next to be playing with a blue balloon from grandma. Neither of the kids really napped today. Michael cried in bed for what felt like an hour (you would think after all that crying he would be tired!) and Liliana slept for about 40 minutes because she woke up from her brother crying.

We decided to let the kids get up and take them to McDonald's for playland time and their first ice cream cone. Michael did not like the ice cream and was so-so about the french fries. Liliana, on the other hand, loved both. She was sucking the ice cream cone like it was a bottle. We got Michael to go into the playland. He seemed to be having fun - mostly because we couldn't find him in there. Once we saw him we realized he was crawling around in circles - he seemed to be lost. When he got close enough that we could see his face, we saw that he was crying. I had to go in after him. While in the playland (which, by the way stunk of pee), I ran into a boy - about 7 years old. He said, "look at that baby down there" (pointing to Matt and Liliana) "she is eating that ice cream cone like this" (he crossed his eyes and pretended to like a cone). Then he said "babies must cross their eyes when they like something." I thought it was so funny.

Anyway, we are down to 3 days at home the 4 of us. I am really hoping that the sun comes out tomorrow and it warms up so we can bust out the double stroller and go to the park. We have been stuck in the house all week and I am feeling a little stir crazy. Although I do believe that the rain was a blessing because it gave us time to bond and spend time together just the 4 of us (even if Matt was out of commission for much the week due to sickness... don't worry though, he went to the doctor today and has meds to clear up a sinus infection and bacteria infection in his small intestine.

Time to put baby girl to bed. She's so sleepy. Little man just put himself to bed on the couch and Matt carried him upstairs... so much for staying up until 8.

Blessings,
Matt & Becca