Not sure about this change?

Over the past 2 years, I have been a devoted YMCA fan. I love the gym, the pool, and most importantly the quality childcare. But, now that we have moved, the gym is about 15 minutes drive - which adds up to a quality 30 minutes that I could be working out.

So, I'm trying out another gym by my house (thanks H)... and I went there last night.

AHHHH.

The place was packed with guys sweating all over and checking the girls out. This is definitely an unwanted change from my dear old YMCA with elderly people and moms. But- I guess that's the gym scene?

All I really want is to use the elipticals/weights when I'm not running outside... so I'm going to give it a chance. And- it's only 3 minutes from our house.

So, here's to saying goodbye to the YMCA and hello to the cold harsh world of the tight spandex and people flexing way too much in front of the mirrors.

Appreciation

I tend to be a grass is greener type of girl. I always want to be in some other situation not my own.

When I'm working, I want to stay home. When I'm at home, I want to work. It's one of my challenges.

So, as I'm at home these days, time has definitely slowed down to the pace of a new born baby... which can at times be very frustrating. But, I have been trying to read as much as I can- and have made a list of books that I want to read this year.

The first that I finished today was "The Time Traveler's Wife." Many tears were shed when I closed the book. It is a love story about many of the routine situations/experiences in life... but I really loved it because it reminds me that these events are what life is made out of... and will quickly disappear. It makes you clearly aware of the passage of time.

Did anyone read this book? What did you think?

So, I finally decided to give Safeway online a chance. What a great concept- pick your groceries online, and have it delivered? Free delivery on your first purchase? What could go wrong?

I found the website to be pretty straight forward- some people think it's a pain to go through each item, but I think it's organized really well, and once you pick what you want your first time, it saves your grocery list, and you don't have to change that much the next time you do it.

As for the delivery, they were late. It was kind of a pain, because they gave me a window of 12-2 and they came at 3. Normally, this wouldn't be that big of a deal, but when you have two kids and they are both sleeping and you want to doze yourself, each minute is agony.

So- I wasn't that much of a happy camper when they came late.

The groceries were intact, but I didn't anticipate that I would have any problems with the vegetables/fruit. I guess we all have our preferences for how "ripe" things are. I usually tend to buy really GREEN banannas and semi ripe avocados, so when the banannas came really yellow, and the avacados came rock hard, I was kind of disappointed.

Next time, I might take the leap and go to the grocery store in person. That way I can pick exactly the type of ripeness that I want. What a concept. hee hee.

Someone told me...

that they thought I had it totally put together. I just laughed.

I laugh because:

1) it takes me about 2-3 hours to get out of the house.

2) i can't take a shower unless there is enough time in the morning before steve leaves.

3) on valentines day, we went to Amici's for pizza, and i kept on staring at the people around us thinking "this is what it must feel like to leave prison....it is just so weird to be around so many people!"

4) my memory is shot. yesterday i seriously thought it was tuesday. i scheduled all of our "events" for the day... and didn't realize that it was wedesday until 7 pm.

5) i have been trying to pay our bills for the past 2 weeks, but haven't gotten around to it.

and the list continues.

so- i definitely don't have it together- and being a mom is quite a challenge. i think "work" is definitely easier most days.

my typical day usually runs something like this:

7:30 wake up

breakfast for maddie (emi is usually crying, wanting to be fed)

when steve leaves early, i am trying to get breakfast ready for maddie with one arm

i look pretty beat- dark blue circles under my eyes

7:30-10:00

try to put on diapers/get spit up on and have to change/brush maddie's hair-- which is seriously world war III at our house/clean the kitchen/pick up after our mess of the night/try to put everyone in clothes

10:00

walk to the park where maddie can run around

11:30-12:30

seduce maddie into wanting to go back home-- yes, this usually takes 1 hour

12:20-1:00

lunch

1:00

the sacred time of my day. the holy of holies. i have taken a nap every day since we came home from the hospital.

2:00/3:00

playdough/park/some activity... or if i'm lucky, time with a friend.

5:00

dinner? yikes. this is the worst time of day. everyone is melting, and i don't have a free hand to make dinner, but i'm still surviving on the blessings of other people who have made me frozen dinners.

6:00-8:00

bounce emilie (this is the worst time of day for her), entertain maddie with something, bath...

8:00

collapse on the couch and try to read a book/watch food network? think about when emilie will wake up next

8:00 pm-7:00 pm

usually wake up every 3 hours for feeding...

Although I feel like Bill Murray in Groundhog day, I am going to try and get out a little more often, if it is just for 20 minutes. Because, absence does make the heart grow fonder for some reason.

When I went out for dinner the other night w/o kids and husband, I missed them and appreciated them more that I did 2 hours earlier. I was rejuvinated and ready to hit the daily grind again...

so my next outing will be the gym where I will try to read all the trashy magazines that I can fit in 30 minutes!!

What we've been up to

Swinging..

Playing...

Helping...

Dancing...

Smiling...

Sleeping...

Tinkering...

and playing with Grandma! It was so great to have her here to help and play. Thank you!

The best thing on earth!

I rarely rave about appliances- but I really wanted to share how much I love this thing. If you have wood floors, you have to try this thing out. It's the swiffer vac, and it will save you hours of time cleaning. It has a vacuum up front, and the swiffer towel in back, so it picks up small objects off the floor, and picks up the "dust gremlins/bunnies" at the same time.

The engineers at Swiffer really know what they're doing. Oh- and it's cordless! So, you can go anywhere. Steve and I hop and skip around the house pushing this thing around.

YAY Swiffer!!!

The daily events

Maybe having a baby naturally has it's benefits. I definitely don't remember being this energetic or ready to enter the real world like I have this time. And, not that I'm running a marathon or anything, but we have been taking short little walks, which has been nice... especially in 75 degree weather (sorry friends in the midwest and east coast).

This is on our way back. (Notice how Steve is on his cell phone? He has been a bit stir crazy.)

This was the first day that I decided to put Maddie's hair back in two little buns on the sides. It was perfect, because usually it is a ratty mess full of yogurt, paint, play dough...

About 10 times a day, Maddie asks to give Emi a little hug and kiss her feet. Even though I kind of cringe because little toddlers are germ magnets, I can't say no.

This isn't something you see often at our house because Steve is more often in front of the computer or on his cell phone, so I had to catch this quickly.

Trying to enjoy every minute

Emilie is 5 days old today and we are trying to relax and enjoy being together. It has been pure bliss to have Steve home all hours of the day for this week, and I wish it could last forever.

But fortunately for us, Steve's mom is coming on Friday for a couple of days and then my parents for a week after that, so Maddie is very excited to have the extra attention.

So far (although I know it will change), the night feedings have not been so bad- I was reminded by my favorite book about baby sleeping (The No Cry Sleep Solution) that these moments will pass by too fast, and although it is tiring, if you try to enjoy the moments and make the most out of it, your baby will soon be sleeping by their own, and you'll miss holding them in your arms at night. So that's my goal :)

Yesterday we met one of our neighbors who just so happens to have a daughter around Maddie's age who speaks Mandarin. Although they couldn't really talk to eachother, they got along really well and played outside for quite a while. They both somehow started "talking" about Thomas the Train (yes, he crosses all nationalities and languages) and they were best friends.

Emilie!!!

Before I forget- I am SO sorry I have not picked up my phone for the past 4 days. It isn't because I didn't want to!! In the rush of life after Emilie's birth, we put my jacket (with my cell phone in the pocket) in the washing machine!! So- it died a very wet death... but I'm up and working today, so I am returning to the real world.

More importantly, EMILIE IS HERE!!!

This birth was a lot easier than Madeleine, so I happy to say that I agree with most that giving birth usually gets easier? Well, giving birth and easy shouldn't be in the same sentence, but you know what I mean!

Here are the details for those of you who want to know- but if you don't, just skip to the pictures!!

Wednesday Night: We took a trip to the hospital for some p gel to start my body to go into contractions. Luckily, it started... so it was a night of mild contractions about 5 minutes apart... which should be the time that you go into the hospital, but I didn't feel like they were bad enough.

Thursday Morning: Went into the hospital after taking with my midwife and checked in at around 8 am.

Thursday 8 am-2 pm: Started out with strong contractions, but then they started going away. "No" I said... I don't want to go home. "I think today is the day."

Thursday 2pm: Vitamin P (aka Pitocin or Oxytocin). We started on the lowest dose, and started to rev up.

Thursday 4 pm: Death. Pretty bad. I know some of you have heard this before, but I always thought of it as a marathon, that you can get through it... but once you get to the "transition" stage... all you want to do is die. I wanted to cave and get an epidural, but my midwife suggested that I get into the shower...

Thursday 5 pm: The worst pain imaginable. I don't even want to know what I looked like, but Steve said that I clawed my nails into his arms. It was a back labor- meaning that Emilie was looking down instead of up, so we did most of the labor on my side.

The rest is up to your imagination. I can't believe I did it without an epidural. I really truly and honestly thought I was going to die. I kept on screaming that I couldn't do it. And, after a while, I guess I did it. I was so glad it was over.

We decided her name will be Emilie Christine Leeflang.

Being an only child, I am so touched by having another daughter. Seeing Maddie obsess over her is amazing, and I can't wait for them to grow up together and have eachother for the rest of their lives. Families are beautiful.

Here are a couple of other photos- I haven't taken that many as I've been recovering, but I'll post more soon.

She doesn't really look like Maddie- we think she will have blond hair and blue eyes, but it's only a guess because she doesn't have that much hair or eye lashes...

The little feet.

Here is my favorite little sidekick. She is so excited about "Baby Emi."