Loving My Bear

Taken today on a stroller ride with Nana... he passed out a few minutes later!

After a little prodding (ok, maybe I mean nagging…), daddy finally installed the toddler swing under our carport.  We still need to go get the little foam mats to put under it in case the baby turns into Houdini and wiggles out of it, but so far, it’s a hit.  His little face just LIGHTS UP when he is in the swing.  It’s a fun way to spend a little time with him and an easy way to calm him when he is upset.  Daddy just loves that special time with him.

Personally, I have struggling with my motivation lately.  I feel so tired when I get home from work and I just want to snuggle up with or play with my child.  I don’t want to go grocery shopping, I don’t want to clean the bathroom, I don’t want to unload the dishwasher and tackle the mountain or dishes, and don’t even mention the even taller mountain of laundry.  If I decided that I want to take the baby for a walk/jog in the stroller, then that just eats into my time to get other tasks accomplished.  And then, oh wait- dinner needs to be cooked and the baby needs to be dressed for bed. 

I know these are the same feelings that every mommy experiences, whether she be a stay at home or working mommy.  It’s just that now that this little baby is mobile, I have to be on my toes at all times.  So you know what happens?  I feel overwhelmed and resentful and pretty much none of what needs to be accomplished gets done.  Even if I do work in the kitchen for an hour, I feel like it looks the same as it did before I started on it.

I had gotten very organized in my chores and mapping out my afternoons after work, but again- having a mobile baby now means I have to keep stopping what I am doing to make sure he is safe and also to just play with him and let him know that mommy is present.  I also just want ME time.  I never really wanted to nap before, but now that I do, I can’t.  I suppose I need to eat better and just make getting exercise a priority because I know simply doing those two things will improve my mood and give me more energy, thereby making me a better wife and mommy.  Perhaps with the passing of winter it will be easier.  I know that soon it will be light for longer than an hour after I get home.  The temperature is more favorable and I can get out more.

Rickybear and I sat outside in the [dead] grass the other afternoon.  In the past I would set him on a blanket and it was like he was on an island- he wouldn’t venture off the blanket at all.  This time I just plopped his little butt directly on the grass and he didn’t even want to touch it, lol!  But I grabbed his hands and brushed them back and forth across the grass and he finally got excited.  He was crawling and feeling the ground and eating the grass and getting super angry when mom yanked the leaves out of his mouth.  Those types of activities make it all worth while.