It's Been a Week...

A week ago, I was kicking back on the beach in Santa Barbara.  Oh my, how I wish I were there right now.  It almost feels as if I need another one of those weekends.  I think I do.

I haven't had a chance to write and even right now, there is a hamper full of laundry waiting to be washed, 3 loads of clean clothes that need folding, a bedroom and bathroom that need cleaning, a salad that needs to be made for tonight's BBQ and 2 kids who both are not falling asleep. 

Yet here I am, taking a moment for me.  Lovely.

2 days after Ryder cut his first tooth, he cut his second.  Exactly the same as Kai did, only 2 weeks earlier.  He is about to venture out in crawling territory, but the kid is so incredibly top heavy (23 lbs. at almost 7 months of age, wearing 24M. clothes) that he has a hard time getting himself in motion.  It's funny to see.  It reminds me of Kai at this age.  He hardly crawled and went straight to walking.  I have a suspicion that Ryder might do the same.

Other than that, he is loving his solids.  I find myself so much more laid back with him than I was with Kai.  As much as I would love to start making my own baby food (all organic, just like I did with Kai), it is just too much at the moment.  Besides that, my freezer is popping out of its seams as it is, as it is filled with frozen breast milk, which leaves hardly any space for the grown-up food, let alone frozen baby food.  As soon as he can, Ryder is going to enjoy our 'human' table food as I am already soo done with the jarred version.  However, in the 2 years between the two kids, Earths Best has come out with a ton of new flavors, which makes this process just a tad more exciting.  If not for the baby, then at least for mom.

On Wednesday Kai finally made it to the dentist.  All went well; everyone (including dad and the dentist) survived and Kai walked away with a cool robot and a Sesame Street electric toothbrush.  The pay-off for him?  Ice -cream.  Something he made sure he reminded daddy of all the time while he was in the dentist chair...gives a good impression on our parenting doesn't it?  Except for the bedtime sippy, we are now a sippy-cup-free-house and are transitioning to regular cups.  Obviously, this leaves mommy mopping and cleaning a bit more than she would like.

These days naps are hit or miss for Kai.  He will gladly play by himself in his room for 2 1/2 hours after which the afternoon is usually a bit challenging as he is tired, but when he sleeps, he sleeps well.  However, he tends to prefer the floor over his bed.  Really?!?!  David contributed it to the fact that "he is a boy".  That's it?  Oh well, he has the choice of sleeping on the floor or his bed.  If he prefers the floor, then I assume it has something appealing his bed doesn't have.  Whatever-that-may-be.

Finally, potty training.  Or should I say "Potty Training Refusal"?  Potty training isn't really happening in this household and it looks as if we're still a long way off.  I finally got Kai to sit on his seat by giving him 1 M&M's.  I put it on the sofa.  It worked.  I put it on the toilet lid.  It worked.  I opened the lid and put in on the seat.  It didn't work.  And that's where we're stuck.  On the toilet seat.  He will not sit on it.  I can offer him the entire bag of M&M's and he still will run away screaming.  I'm seriously starting to think that maybe I'll be training both boys at the same time in a couple of years... :-0

And then there is Monday...this upcoming Monday...the day-after-tomorrow... The day that I am returning to work.  Sigh...  I'll only be teaching 1 class in the morning on Mondays - Thursdays, so it's not bad.  I'll be back by 10am, but it does mean that I will not be there 4 out of the 7 days to see Ryder's bright and smiling face when I walk into the nursery.  It'll mean that I won't be there 4 out of the 7 days to sit with Kai on the sofa while he watches Sesame Street and Curious George.  I'll miss it.  Then there is all the extra work that comes with work: grading assignments, keeping track of attendance and dealing with students who think they don't deserve a certain grade.  Ah, the things we get to look forward to as the Fall semester fast approaches.

On that note, I am going back to my housework.  Kids are still not sleeping, so who knows how long I actually have until all hell breaks loose and they request their immediate release from either crib or train table.

Oh, and the Friday Faves...they'll be back next week.  I am sorry for skipping this week, but with this only being half of what happened this week, I just didn't get to it.

25 Day Challenge - Day 25

Being Peace
"You are a being of peace" was part of today's mantra.  Somehow it doesn't matter how often I remind myself of that, it doesn't quite feel like I am.  Juggling all the elements in my life (which I have mentioned enough in previous posts and therefore am not going to repeat AGAIN), I really have to sit down, step back and take a moment to get to that peaceful place.  Well guess what?  Today's exercise was to meditate for 2 minutes.  I can do that.  I used the meditation that was linked to today's challenge.  It was difficult and nice at the same time.

Difficult because I was dealing with 2 children who refused to nap.  I had managed to tidy and clean my desk as I enjoy my work a lot more at a clean and empty desk.  The time that took me was as long as the kids were quiet.  That was it.  The rest of their nap time at least one of them was crying, fussing, calling for me, or whatever-it-is-that-I-am-blocking-out-of-my-memory, but time to meditate wasn't in the cards.  Or so they thought.  I ended up turning the baby monitor upside down, pushed my chair back, closed my eyes and decided that the kids would be okay for the 2 minutes of meditation I was going to give myself.

And they were.  And that's where the 'nice' came in.  For the first several seconds I found myself feeling guilty for not checking on the kids, but once I let go, these few minutes turned into the most relaxing part of my day.  The meditation allowed me to calm down a bit, relax and in a way 'regroup' with myself.  I did feel better afterwards, I have to admit.

"I should do this more often"; a phrase I definitely find myself thinking on numerous occasions.  Whether that is when I take a long shower, when I sit down to read a bit, when I go to bed early, work out, or like today, when I meditate.  And yet, I hardly ever do.  Simply because (I think) I am too busy, have no time, have other more important things to do, you name it.  But...we're talking 2-3 minutes here.  Really?  I don't have 2-3 minutes to do something for me?  Yeah, I too find that hard to believe.  I hear you thinking.

So, on that note, I am going to make meditation a part of my daily routine.  I can take 2-3 minutes a day to take a moment and step back.  If it makes me feel better, then it's totally worth it.  2-3 minutes.  I know I can do it.  Can You?

Today marks the end of my 25-Day Challenge.  To those who have followed me on it, I would like to say "Thank You".  Some of you have mentioned that you might want to try it yourself.  Feel free to use my blog as a starting point, or go to the Innerspace website directly.  Either way, I wish you all the best with it and hope that it will be as helpful, enlightening, inspiring and guiding as it was for me.  I would love to hear how things are going, if you decide to do it.  So feel free to drop me a line or post a comment whenever you have something to share.

From this point on, I will continue with my 'usual' blogging, although I am breeding on something very exciting for my blog.  It will (most likely) be entering the blogosphere this Friday, so stay tuned.