Busy Body...

...tired mommy! That is how I would describe Jace and myself on most days! Here is a typical day for us:

5:30 a.m. (yes, that is right!) we hear the pittering of Jace's feet as he runs across the house to our bedroom. "Good Morning, Mommy and Daddy! Let's eat breakfast!" Sometimes we will send him back to his room, but it is useless- he's back in three minutes tops. Then he goes over to where Ethan is sleeping and yells in a loud, growling voice (I have yet to figure out why he yells at Ethan when he talks to him) "Good Morning, baby Ethan!" So now Ethan is awake too and Jace is running around the house like a wildman.

5:45 -6:00 a.m.- Breakfast. Breakfast before six, you say? Who DOES this? Well, we do! Fueling up early for a long day!

6:00-7:00-

Jace: "Let's watch Sesame Street!"

Us: "No Jace, it isn't on for another hour"

Jace: "I want to watch Sesame Street!"

Us: "No Jace, it doesn't start for 45 more minutes"

Jace: "Can we watch Sesame Street?!". . . You get the picture.

7:00- Tim's is out the door for work and... Halelujah! Sesame Street is starting! And mom gets her first much needed break (usually surfing the net, checking email, though she should be doing laundry and cleaning up the kitchen!). Before I had kids, I always told myself that I would not be one of those mom's that used the TV to babysit their kids. My kids would never watch TV. BWAHAHAHAHA! How naieve I was! Now my philosophy is- all things in moderation!

8:00-9:00 Jace drags mommy off of the computer and runs around like a wildman while I get ready and clean up the house.

9:00- Snack time. (Hmmm... isn't this when most people are eating breakfast?) Somedays this doesn't happen though- if we left the pantry door unlocked, Jace has had his snack long before this time, as is evidenced by the wrappers and cracker crumbs found all over the kitchen floor.

9:00-10:00 Activity time. Mom is feeling guilty for ignoring Jace all morning, so we attempt to do some sort of activity. Sometimes it is coloring, sometimes it is making up random games like Alphabet Hide and Seek (I write letter on scraps of paper and hide them throughout the living room- pretty random, but Jace loves it!) Okay, I will be honest- this usually only last about 15 minutes before Jace is bored!

10:00-12:30 In the winter time, this is breakdown time for both me AND Jace. Mom is fed up with Jace's wild behaviour, Jace is fed up with Mom and all you-know-what breaks loose! This time usually involves lots of time outs, lots of yelling and nagging by mom (yes, I yell at my kids sometimes and feel horribly guilty about it!), lots of yelling by Jace at me AND Ethan, and lots of feelings of failure on my part. Oh yeah, and Jace has started saying (in a tone that sounds awefully familiar) "You're a NAUGHTY girl, mommy!!", which adds to my feelings of failure! Aye-yi-yi!

But the rest of the year, this is outside time most days. Park, beach, backyard. These days are sooooo much better and help keep busy Jace busy and me sane!

12:30-1:00 Lunch. I try to drag this out as long as possible so Jace will be ready for...

1:00 Story time and NAP- The best time of the day! Jace seems to be growing out of his nap, but not if I can help it! I NEED him to take that nap! I can usually get him to fall asleep if I force him to sit still long enough, and lots of stories works great! Sometimes I have to read 9 or 10 stories to him before he will fall asleep, but I have learned some tricks. I start off reading normally, and gradually let my storytelling voice get softer and slower until it is almost a whisper. Works every time! Plus it is so good for him developmentally and makes me feel like there is at least one thing I am doing right as his mom!

1:00- 3:00 My break- usually if Ethan will let me, I need a nap now too! But sometimes I get more housework done or waste more time on the internet.

3:00-5:30 Jace wakes up and I am recharged! Only two more hours 'til Tim gets home. I can do this! Jace usually plays outside some more or just runs around the house and gets into things he isn't supposed to. Jace is usually pretty cranky after his nap, so during this time he gets into major trouble if I am not watching him like a HAWK. Lots of climing on the fridge and counters, getting into my scrapbooking stuff, finding the chocolate chips or candy-making chocolate squares and EATING THE WHOLE THING (Yikes! All that sugar doesn't help his behaviour!), finding the raisins and throwing them around the house (I still find raisins in our living room from this incident) or the worst, getting into my makeup and dumping my full, new jar of loose powder all over his head and the floor (I didn't know whether to SCREAM at him or laugh out loud! I soooo wish I would've taken a picture of that- he looked like a white ball of dust! Almost want to make him do it again for the photo op!). But you get the picture. And amidst all of this, I try to deal with Ethan (this is his fussy time) and make dinner! Yikes! My hats off to those who have more than two kids to deal with!

5:45 The second best time of the day- Tim gets home! (Oh, I hope that doesn't make Tim feel bad that he comes in second to Naptime! Sorry hun, I really DO love you!) Not only is Tim home to take the kids off of my hands, but Jace is so ready to see his dad and his behaviour improves dramatically the instant Tim walks in the door.

6:00 Dinner time. Jace used to be such a great eater, until he turned 3. Now he gets more and more picky every day. Getting him to eat his dinner is like pulling teeth- and we almost always resort to bribery to get him to eat. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if he didn't eat all that chocolate, huh!

7:00 Ready for bed. Love this time, too! (Hmmmm, I am starting to feel really guilty that the three best times of the day for me are when my child disappears. Am I an aweful mother? I promise I really do love him!) Jace ALWAYS comes out two or three times saying "I need to go potty and stinky" even though he just went. Every night without fail. We just send him back to bed. Hopefully one of these times he isn't serious or we could be in serious trouble! Kind of like the boy who cried wolf!

7:00-9:00 Wind down time. Time for myself, but mostly time with Tim. Time to soak it all in- this is the family we have created together and even with all the yelling, running, guilt, tantrums, frustration, CHAOS, we wouldn't have it any other way. This is what life is all about! I am far from a perfect mother and I DEFINATELY have some things to work on (you got a tiny taste of it above, but not much!), but I love my kids so much, I love my husband so much! Life is good! Okay, now that I think of it THIS is the best time of the day- time to reflect on all of my blessings!

I snapped these of Jace yesterday, using the tripod may parents gave us for christmas with our handycam. I think the effect would've been better if there wasn't so much light coming in through the front window, but I kind of like it actually! Thought it was fun and Jace had a blast! (What mom, you actually WANT me to run around like a wildman?) If you are interested, I think most shutters were around 1/4, f 5.6, and ISO 200. I originally tried it with my shutters at like 2 seconds, but that was way too long- I couldn't see any of Jace with it open that long!

If you read through all of that, thanks for taking the time! Hope you enjoyed it! And a big thanks to you, Mel for inspiring me to write more details on my blog- I had so much fun reading yours! It is so fun to get a 'real' peek into your life- makes me feel a little more normal knowing that other people deal with the same things I deal with! Hopefully you felt you got that here! (And I hope you aren't irritated with me for being a copycat!) Thanks again! Enjoy!