Me time

As many of you know too well, it is difficult to find a little "me time" with the balancing act of a schedule we keep. We give ourselves to our sweet babies, home, church, work, etc...and what is left over we try and give some time to ourselves. The problem is, by the time we get to the end of the list, we don't have anything left to give to "me time".

For 22 months now, I have pushed my self to the limit on maintaining a balance and it is starting to catch up. The past three weeks I have been sick, off and on, and can't seem to shake it. This weekend another wave of this cold, flu, whatever it is hit again. But this time I listened to my body and took the time off that I know I need. Thanks to my wonderful mom and husband, I have been able to get a lot of rest and take care of myself. This is the most rest I have had since E was born. Also, it helps that hubby has since started a regular work schedule, that does not cause him to be away in the evenings and night. We are so thankful for a normal work schedule after 5 years of shift work!

If we don't take care of ourselves, we can't take care of others as well as we need to.

Below is basically our schedule. There is an extremely helpful element to our schedule that I am so blessed to have. My mom takes care of our sweet baby, every day! E has also started a two day a week school, but mom is there for that too! If not for her, I would really be a giant ball of stress at this point. Thanks mom!

• 5:00 am - the alarm goes off and the race begins
• Soon after - leave for work
• About a 45 min to 1 hour commute later - sitting at my desk opening e-mail, starting the work day
• Home at last, play time with E
• 5:30 pm - Cook dinner
• More play time/ take a walk with E
• Bath time
• 8:30/9:30 pm E's Bed time
• Mommy and Daddy time - usually spent cleaning, watching a few TV shows
• Me time - checking personal e-mail, Blogging, reading my Bible, Work out DVD
  
• Get ready for the next day - pack our lunches, mainly E's lunch as I run out of energy at this point and decide I can just get our lunches together in the AM.
• Bed time
• E wakes up at least once a night for a visit, but soon goes back to sleep.
• 5:00 am - the alarm goes off and the race begins again.

Here's to taking better care of ourselves and for having a little "me time".

Take Care,

April

The House that Cardboard Built

Check out this fantastic cardboard house by Color Me House! We have had the best time decorating the house with E. Each day after work, we decorate a little more. It is almost complete, and will post photos soon. For now, here are a few on the first day we had it assembled. E loves the house and wants to play in it often.

This would be a fun project at a children's party.

Also, see below for an alternative use for formula dispensers.



Formula dispenser turned paint cup!

We used it both with the lid on for one color at a time, and then took the lid off and let her mix it up. Both ways, the paint was contained well.

Paint tip: Tempera Paint is great, but recently I heard a tip from our wonderful preschool minister. She suggested putting a tiny bit of dish soap in the paint and this makes it even easier to wash out of clothing. Great idea!

Gone Fishin'

So it's Friday night after a very long and hectic week, what do you do? Go to Target for some shopping and then hit Starbucks on the way home! That is exactly how we spent our Friday night out. E loves to go shopping, and was all about going to Target tonight to pick out a new game. She chose the Let's Go Fishin' game. We bought it, keeping in mind that this is a game to be played with mommy and daddy playing too, as it has small fish that may be a chocking hazard. E loves the game and was really very good at it. She was able to catch many fish. Great hand eye coordination game!

First day of school

Tuesday was E's first day of pre-preschool/grandmothers day out! I say grandmothers day out as my mom cares for E, while I am at work. Thank you mom!

Above are a few photos before we left for school. Excuse the blue tape, we made a tape road throughout the whole house, to drive her cars on!

E seemed to have a great time!

Family Fun: Road Trip to Dallas

Last weekend we made a trip to Dallas to visit some very dear friends. It was their little girls 3rd birthday and we got to meet the newest addition to their family as well! We had a fantastic time and it was so nice to see everyone.

This was our first long distance road trip and stay at a hotel with E. She did fairly well on the drive up (about 3.5 hours). There was one unpleasant incident though. E decided to see what would happen when she stuck her hand too far into her mouth and gagged herself. The next thing I see in the rear view mirror is her throwing up! Oh my, what a sight! We pulled off at the very next exit and we all bailed out of the car. After a quick wipe down with baby wipes and a change of clothes, we were on the road again, with the sunroof vented!

After we got settled into the hotel, we went out for some dinner and then back to the hotel, where E decided it was time to go home. Oh no! Dinner out had not gone as well as we had hoped, but what more could we ask from an almost two year old that had just sat through the long drive prior. So I called up room service and within minutes we had a tray of mac and cheese and strawberries at our door. The waiter was awesome, he treated her like a queen and presented her meal in grand style. She loved it and from now on room service is lovingly referred to as "mac and cheese man". After her dinner we watched her favorite movie and played games, we had a great time.

Something to keep in mind to keep the little ones comfortable on their first trip away from home. They are really looking for something familiar and secure. We made sure to bring her favorite toys, movies, snacks, and ordering her favorite food that first night really went well. We made a game out of exploring the hotel and riding the elevator. We talked about when we would go home and that this was for a few nights.

It was really a great trip!

FYI: if you ever stay in Dallas, and are looking for an absolutely fabulous hotel, check out the Omni Mandalay! It is outstanding, and really cater to kids while keeping an elegant atmosphere. So good!