One Simple Word

It is amazing to me that a little person who has spent a mere 20 months in this world has so completely figured me out that she can melt my heart with a single word...

Every night after reading to Layla and rocking her for a few minutes, the last words I utter before laying her down for the night are "I love you." We have had this routine for months, since she was 4 months old to be exact. I love that time with her, just Mommy and Layla, in the quiet, without any distractions, frustrations or stress. I had been so used to never hearing anything in return other than typical baby cooing. Even when she learned to talk, she somehow knew that bedtime was our quiet time and so she never said much. It was simple and I was happy to know that the last words she heard from me before falling asleep each night were "I love you."

About a week ago, Layla and I were on our own for the first time while Matt traveled for work. It was only a couple of days and though I was not looking forward to it, I knew we could manage. I did my best to ensure that our days were very normal so that Layla would not be too upset by Daddy's absence. I, of course, was feeling the stress of having my hubby away and I think my little, intuitive girl picked up on it much more easily than I would have liked. As that first day wound down and we went through our bedtime routine, my mind was elsewhere. Then as I laid her down and told her I loved her, she smiled up at me ever so sweetly and said "too."

I don't think any word will EVER mean so much to me and that is exactly what I love about being a mommy.

Busy Bees on These Lazy Summer Days

Summer officially begins tomorrow and so many people (mommies, in particular) are looking forward to a summer without schedules, classes and plans. I apparently have not been doing my job throughout the year in ensuring that we had schedules and classes to attend. Honestly, outside of our once a week Kindermusik class, we didn't have any daily activities planned besides the always exciting laundry and cleaning.

So of course now that the warm weather is on it's way (hopefully) and everyone else is taking a break from day to day structure, that's exactly what I'm diving into. Our beloved Kindermusik class has ended until the Fall so we set up an email list with everyone from our class. We are making an effort to have semi-regular outings with the kids. We have also joined a toddler swim class and are going to a weekly story-time at the library in our neighborhood.

If that weren't enough, I am going to make an attempt to get myself in shape. Not exactly an easy task when you have a 20 month old attached to your leg. So in hopes that paying for it and having my cute little girl with me will serve as motivation, I have joined a Mommy Caravan class. It's basically a stroller jogging class for mommies and their little ones.

I'm looking forward to jogging with other out of shape moms and only hope that there are no serious athletes signed up...no one wants to look more pathetic than necessary while working out. In preparation of my new class, we purchased a jogging stroller over the weekend and of course tested it out at Alki. I came away from that experience with the knowledge that jogging strollers are great for jogging, but do nothing to increase my lung capacity...bummer. Ah well, at least Layla enjoys it :)

So here we are with our summer packed full of activities and a trip back to Chicago planned (see a future post, to learn of that inevitable disaster, haha) and I am more than happy to be very busy. Layla certainly seems to be enjoying the activities and kid interaction, or as she would call it "babies!"

Stay-At-Home Irritants

So I know that because I have chosen to be a stay-at-home mom, my work environment is a little different from those that work outside of the home. Granted, I don't spend every waking moment in my house, I flit about from the grocery store, to Target, to Kindermusik and back to the grocery store, but I would consider my "office" to be my house. I enjoy that I have all of the comforts of home and feel very fortunate as well, it is wonderful...most of the time. However, I have come to realize being home during the day all week long certainly has it's drawbacks.

Let's start with the fact that everyone, including but not limited to; delivery people, lawn maintenance workers and even all those hoodlum teenagers getting off the bus, assume that these houses they are working around, delivering to or walking past, are empty all day long. I am here to tell you - that is NOT the case! Ok, so maybe the teenagers wouldn't care either way (I was one in the not so distant past, so I remember how they operate), but everyone else needs to get a frickin' clue!

Everytime you slam your tools on the ground, yell to your co-workers on the next block or stand there screaming into your cell phone while holding a running leaf blower (less than 10 feet from a row of houses) you are disturbing the stay-at-home moms like myself. Of course, I have inevitably just put down my very irritable toddler for a much needed nap in order to get a few minutes to myself to complete a thought or just get from one side of a room to the other without a small child attached to my leg. So to all those people outside my house, do you have any idea of how obnoxious that is? Or how much self control it takes to keep me from flinging myself out my front door to ram that damn leaf blower down your throat?!

By the way, just a note, leaf blowing in the pouring rain or when the sidewalks have been freshly salted due to ice, is... REALLY NOT NECESSARY!!!!

I digress.

I know this is not just me...any stay-at-home mom with small children would agree, I'm sure of it. But if you don't believe me, go test this theory on a woman who has been watching the Disney channel all morning while doing laundry, cleaning and trying to wrangle a very stubborn 18 month old, I dare you...

Getting back to the point, I understand that it is not your fault that the idiot builder who chose the windows for my home decided to go with absolutely no sound insulation even though these houses are practically on top of one another. I also understand that you are just trying to do your job. All I'm saying is that, when you come into my "office," show some respect and keep it down!