Multitasking Mama

There’s one thing that every member of the Mommy Club probably had to figure out how to do well: multitasking. If my kids are home, even going to the bathroom tends to involve entertaining a child at the same time.  Most mornings I find myself doing at least two things simultaneously, but at one point this morning, I was doing 5 things at the same time.

Lulu has been going to gymnastics on Friday mornings since I’ve been on maternity leave, so I needed to get both kids and myself ready to leave the house by 8:45. I managed to feed the baby and grab a quick shower before Lulu woke up (that’s definitely a win!). After getting her out of bed, dressed and started on breakfast, I found myself engaged in literally five activities at once:

Playing at the park in March? Yes, please!

March in Minnesota can be a little bit miserable. When I was growing up in Texas, spring break meant it was time for swim suits and tank tops. Here, not so much. March can sometimes mean blizzards in Minnesota, but this year it’s meant weeks of temperatures in the 60s and 70s. And we’re loving it!

My favorite thing about the warm weather while I’m still on maternity leave is that it means the kids and I can go to the park as much as we want.

Sleep: It’s a wonderful thing

Newborns have simple needs: feed me, change my diaper and hold me. That’s pretty much it. Unfortunately, those needs don’t take a break during the night. I guess that explains why most parents are very familiar with sleep deprivation. You just learn how to function on less sleep, but that doesn’t mean you wouldn’t love to get more sleep if you can.

As a breastfeeding mom, I’ve been handling the overnight feedings. Of course Hubby’s offered to help, but I would still have to get up and pump, so it’s just not really worth it in my opinion. For the last few weeks, the Gibster and I have been waking up every 3 hours or so for him to eat. But we recently had a breakthrough.

Our Compassionate Kiddo

For the last few months, we’ve been noticing that Lulu is a very sensitive and compassionate little girl. I’m not sure why, but I didn’t expect a child so young to be as aware of other people’s feelings as she is. I’ve discovered that she’s very upset if she thinks someone else is hurting, but she’s also very excited if someone else is happy. These are just a few examples.

The first time it really hit me how sympathetic Lulu is was when we were reading a book called “The Boy and the Moon.” The moon gets stuck in the tree, so the little boy climbs up and feeds it apples until it’s “so big and round and full that it rolled right out of the tree and into the night sky.”

Every time I read the part about the moon getting stuck and everyone being sad, Lulu covers her eyes and makes a heartbreaking “nooo” noise. But when the moon is saved and everyone starts dancing again, she breaks out into a big grin. I hate to say it, but I’ve actually started trying to read her books with less emotion so that I don’t upset her so much.

Baby Boy’s Arrival

Well I promised you a birth story, so here it is. You should probably know that Lulu arrived one day before her due date. By the time we got to the hospital with her, I was already 7 cm dilated, and she was born about 2 hours later.

The Gibster proved that every baby is different, even before we got to meet him. Remember how I said that a nurse practitioner got my hopes up that he would come early? Well, she was wrong. As we got closer to his due date, I was convinced that each day would be the day. Once January 21^st came and passed, I had definitely had enough of being pregnant. Don’t get me wrong, I would do it all over again in a heartbeat, but I was so ready to hold our baby boy in my arms instead of my belly.

One Post Wonder

You know those dinners that they call “one pot wonders” because you just throw everything in a pot, and it’s basically an entire meal? Well, think of this post as a “one post wonder.” I’m going to try to catch you up on everything that’s happened in the past six months. I apologize now for the length of this post.

I’m torn between trying to write this post in chronological order or give you the most important news first. Important news wins out. Our beautiful baby boy is here! Well, he’s actually been here for almost six weeks now. I can’t believe I’m just now getting around to posting about his arrival (more to come in a later post). Here’s a fairly recent picture. Isn’t he adorable?