Logistics

I am a planner. Always have been, always will be. I need to go into a situation knowing what to expect when I get there and to make sure I am as prepared as possible for any given situation. You should see THE LIST I have for when we go camping. It’s all organized and pretty on a spreadsheet and everything. You should have seen me that one day years ago when Matt sprung a surprise camping trip on me and packed everything himself. I was so unnerved and anxious about “did you remember extra toilet paper” to “do we have all the condiments we’ll need to eat” and “what about the bear spray? You packed the bear spray...right?”

So one question that always comes back and bugs me is “how will I do this [insert activity name here] with Nikolas, where will I put him so I can do [insert task name here]”. Taking him to the swimming pool for the first time when he was only 10 weeks old almost sent me over the edge. Where would I change him? What would I do with him so I could get changed? How do I get everything shoved into a locker while also making sure he’s safe? Luckily, I had a good friend, and mother of two pre-teens with me to help.  And despite the crappy “family” change room at the local pool, we got it all accomplished. (Note to parents who haven’t done this before – just use the bucket car seat for small babies, and strollers for older ones. Some facilities will let you bring your stroller right out onto the pool deck, better pools will even provide strollers and will have playpens by the showers).

Now that I’m back at work, I am still amazed that people go on to have more than one child. HOW do they do it? Literally? HOW???? Right now, I rely on Matt getting Nikolas up and ready to go in the morning while I drag my ass and somehow manage to get out the door.  I am dreading summer (isn’t that shitty?) when Matt will be gone by 5:00 am and home after 9:00 (due to his wonderful job in the golf industry – note the sarcasm) and I will have to do it all by myself. I know I will figure it out, but I right now I just don’t know HOW.
Other questions that commonly bother me:

HOW do you manage to prepare meals for your family when another new born enters the scene? It took me months to be able to put Nikolas down long enough to prep and cook a meal. He was feeding like a beast and I was STARVING.

How do you travel with two kids?

How do you take two kids to the pool?

How do you do anything with more than one child???

How do you keep up with a toddler’s schedule (nursery school, play dates, etc) and still make sure a newborn gets their daily naps in?

Parental Advice

Have you ever found that the best advice about being a parent comes from those who don’t have kids?

I have to admit; before Nikolas came along, I had no idea what parenthood was all about. When you have kids, you suddenly become part of a secret club. People who are in the club can try to explain to outsiders what it is like, but unless you get in, you really don’t know.

So for people who have no kids and no responsibilities beyond themselves to give advice on how to be a parent, well, I guess it would be like a cave man teaching a pilot how to fly a plane. It’s kind of funny.
Matt came home a few days ago and shared with me that his brother (who has no children) told him that having kids is easy, you just have to be organized and plan. When I heard this, I really did laugh out loud. Oh, I can’t wait for this guy to have kids of his own so he can eat his words!

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is to let go of control and just go with the flow. No matter how much planning and organizing I do – and trust me, I’m a planner; I am the queen of lists– things rarely go the way I anticipate. And not that this is a bad thing...unless I let it get to me, which I used to when I was still adjusting to this whole parenthood thing, I’ve just learned to accept the situation and do what I need to do to keep going on my course.

Great example  of this was this morning. I was getting ready for work, Matt had gotten Nikolas up and dressed and given him a bottle, and he was off to play. I was in the kitchen, noticed that Nikolas was playing in the mud room. On a quick glance, I took note that he was not eating the dog food, so I wasn’t too concerned about what he was doing in there. A few minutes later, I go in to get my jacket on, and find Nikolas has been experimenting with stepping into the dog’s water dish in his socks, and his feet were soaked! Really, it was cute. However, I had to rush him upstairs for a quick sock change and get out the door. This isn’t something we could have planned for...it just happened, and we deal with it. But putting socks on a 14 month old takes some good wrestling technique, and a few extra minutes.

This doesn’t make parenting easy or hard. It just annoys me when people who don’t have kids think it’s easy and if only a little planning went into your life, it would be a piece of cake. And when comments are made that we’re late for events, I just smile to myself and think “your time is coming buddy”.

Snow Job

Well, it’s official: winter has arrived in Edmonton. And winter doesn’t tip-toe through the door. She barges right in, interrupts anyone who may be having a good time, and decides that she is going to wreck the party with her bad behavior and snotty attitude. Wait…am I talking about myself?? No, really, winter sucks. I hate everything about it. I hate the cold, the snow, the ice, the shitty roads, being locked up inside for months at a time because I’m not into winter sports. I could go on and on.

Today, I should be productive at work. I mean, that’s why I’m here, right? Instead, I find myself feeling nostalgic for a time gone by. 2 years ago, around this time, we were planning our 3 week honeymoon to Thailand. We knew we’d be escaping this hell-hole for a brief respite and enjoying the best beaches (and food) in the world. I was shopping for bathing suits, flip-flops and sun screen. Today, I’m finding myself heading over to http://www.flickr.com/, and searching for Thailand beaches so that I can find a pretty photo for my computer desktop. Something that will remind me that warmer places do exist in this world. One day, we will be back. We won’t be alone next time, but we will be back.

Birthday Boy!

The past few weeks, I’ve been doing alot of reflecting on the past year, and really wondering where the time has gone. To think that a year ago, we were just beginning to adjust to this tiny little boy who we compared to an ewok – based only on the little noises he made, and now we are playing games and teaching him body parts.


Our conversations have gone from “but he ate only 2 hours ago...how can he be hungry again???” to “oh my god...look...he’s walking!” It has been such a ride of ups and downs, and in the beginning everyone would say it gets easier, and I’d get so frustrated, and say “When!? When does it get easier?!” But sure enough, as each month goes by, I think to myself, “this is the best age”. And it really does get easier. Or maybe now we’re just more confident in what we’re doing and let’s face it....we’re getting alot more sleep than we did in the beginning.

For Nikolas’ birthday, I wanted to keep the celebrations small and to include only some family and friends to join us. I wanted it to be simple and stress-free. And it was! It turned out to be the perfect day. I can’t believe how fast my little monkey is growing up!

Fall Fotos

MIA

Just about a month ago, my maternity leave ended and I went back to work 3 days a week. Life has once again undergone a big change and we’re trying to adjust to the new way things are.

I really made sure to take advantage of the last few weeks that I got to spend every day with Nikolas, and to not be woken up at 5:30 by an alarm clock...and hitting snooze just isn’t an option anymore.  Now that golf season is winding down, Matt is home in the mornings, so helps out with getting Nikolas up and out the door, which helps so much. But, it’s been a pretty big change in our lives and let’s face it, I’m now even more busy that I used to be.

Nikolas is doing great at his day home, despite the fact that he’s been sick for almost a month straight now. (Yayy germs!) He doesn’t cry when I drop him off and he’s always happy to see me at the end of the day when I pick him up.  The lady who watches him is great and she’s always amazed at what a good eater he is.

It’s nice being at work and spending some time in an adult environment. I’m enjoying having time to be me for a little bit before I return home and am inundated with a dog, a baby and a husband to take care of, supper to cook and try to fit in going to gym somewhere in there. But we’re adjusting and trying to find a groove that works well for us.

It’s only 4 more days until Nikolas turns ONE YEAR OLD. I can’t believe a year has gone by already and that our little boy is growing up so fast.  We’re just having a low-key BBQ for his birthday, but there’s still lots of planning and shopping that needs to get done by the weekend.

Snot Factory

This morning, I am running on empty. I’ve gone the all-night distance and the fuel gauge is reading well below “E”. But if it means that I am the one that provides my baby comfort in the night while he suffers from a horrible sinus cold, I’d do it again and again.

2 days ago, Nikolas developed a runny nose and one runny eye. I wasn’t sure if it was allergies or a cold coming on, because all fluids were clear, and I’ve heard that indicates allergies. Well, yesterday, it was proven that he has a full-blown cold. And I’m suffering from the worst guilt because while Nikolas needed his mommy and lots of snuggling, I was off caring for someone else’s children.  He did get to spend the day with his grandparents, who have an unlimited supply of hugs and cuddles and are always seeking my permission to hold him when he sleeps.

I picked him up in the afternoon after babysitting all day and brought him home for some extra loving. I must say the selfish part of me likes one aspect of Nikolas being sick: he needs to be snuggled.  It`s hard to get a snuggle with a little boy who is CONSTANTLY on the move. Usually, the only snuggle time we get is when I`m giving him his morning or bed time bottle.

So I was up for the most of the night, bringing Nikolas into bed with me and letting him sleep on my chest. It was the only position he seemed to be able to breathe in and fall into a deep sleep. This was something I was never comfortable doing when he was an infant, as I was so paranoid about him suffocating. But he usually sleeps on his stomach now, and his snoring as well as his  20-something pounds kept me awake for the most part, so I knew he was ok.

I love being that person that he will always have to give him snuggles and comfort, and to make homemade vegetable soup when he is feeling under the weather. It makes up for the lack of sleep.