MollyMadonna.com

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weekend list.

Since I just ordered my 2012 planner yesterday (realized I can’t live without one after all, even with a smartphone lingering), I’m forgetting more than normal and feeling like I’ve maxed out storage capacity in the organizational compartments of my brain. As there’s a whole host of things I’d like to fit into the weekend, I thought I’d just plod through them here tonight. Then, I’m less likely to forget them, and besides, it’ll gear me up for a fun/busy/productive (maybe)/restful weekend. How can it be all of those things at once? Well, as things get checked off the list, there’s more room for rest. And as I prioritize resting (or relaxing here and there), I’ll be better fueled to find energy for the other things 🙂

It’s a grand plan. We have a (n almost) 9 month old. We’ll see how this goes:

1) Continue going to bed before midnight. If my fingers fly fast enough, I can make it!

2) Wake up, take care of Henry, enjoy breakfast, drink coffee, work out. (No expectations on the exact order in which all of this takes place.)

3) Vacuum and wash the floors. Snowy boots+driveway salt+Kruger+day-to-day routine=necessary. Plus, it’s too big a job during the week with the peanut in tow.

4) Start (um…) and finish thank you notes from Christmas. We’re not perfect around here. Nope. But we are thankful. Now just to let people know about that…

5) Read a few chapters in my book club book. I keep telling myself I’ll do this while nursing. Then, of course, the book would have to be on the right floor of the house when I decide such things. If I’m up, it’s downstairs, and vice versa. Two copies? The ability to remember everything when going up and down the stairs?

6) Relaxed time with the boys on Saturday night. We can make this happen. Already on the calendar 🙂 Ok, well…on the agenda. The calendar, as I mentioned, is still in need of an update. It’ll happen.

7) On the subject of calendars, write down Henry’s milestone-ish moments in his calendar. Because there’s a whole lot that changes quickly at his age, and because I’m starting to forget what was when. I really don’t want to make it up. In fact, I refuse 😉

8) Something delicious (and perhaps new?) for dinner one of two nights. One of us has to make a grocery store run anyway–may as well pick up something interesting.

9) Church on Sunday morning. Love it. Need it. Gotta have it. Done.

10) Sunday afternoon family nap. We did this last weekend, and besides the whole gang waking up close to dinnertime, it was wonderfully uplifting. Problem solver: set an alarm.

11) Laundry. Perhaps. You know, as other things are taking place. Like playtime with H in his room or a half hour spent galavanting in the snow. Something delightful to get my mind off the laundry.

12) I dunno. Throw in a random something else that I’ve forgotten here, and that will inevitably come up. Mostly because I’m an even numbered person, and an 11 point list would leave me wide-eyed awake in bed tonight. 12 it is.

And that is all. Seem like a lot? Not enough? Just right? Only the weekend can tell. But if I don’t plan (or at least hope), the odds of any number of listed items making their way into the next two days become drastically reduced. Who knows. Maybe tomorrow we’ll scratch the whole thing and make snow forts all weekend. Maybe we’ll take a random adventure somewhere and ask the dog to handle the laundry. Regardless, I like having a list.

a little less cluttered for the exercise,

mm

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snow much fun!

We didn’t take full advantage of the generous heaps of snow this weekend because Hank is still a bit too little, but we did spend a short time yesterday goofing off in the backyard. Should have had the camera on manual focus to dodge the gigantic flakes as they fell. The result was a host of outtake-type photographs that, well…I love anyway. Can’t wait for future sledding dates with ALL of my boys (even the pup–he’s the biggest winter weather fan in the family!).

Hope you had the chance to enjoy a bit of the winter wonderland this weekend, even if for a short while!

walkin’ in a…

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toothless grin.

You never cease to inspire me, HD–you, with that beaming, wide, toothless (and contagious) grin. Over the past few weeks, your sense of humor has blossomed. Add the right intonation or pitch to any random word and away you go, squealing and giggling away. I love how you always pick your chin up when you laugh; how you arch your back off the floor and kick your legs in excitement, assuring me of your approval. Your toys are funny. Rubber blocks are funny. The number “fourteen!” is funny. You continue to light up our lives.

As of late, you have quite the opinion, my dear. Your delight or disapproval is clear as day. You love bath time, story time, jumping in the jumparoo. The baby in the hallway mirror is fascinating. The baby lotion bottle? Even better. You are decidedly not a fan of putting a shirt over your head, waiting an extra few minutes to eat, or hearing the bark of a small dog. Your winter coat? No thank you, mom. The evidence before me would suggest you are exactly your age. Indeed.

In recent days, you’ve hiked dunes (with a little help), proven a perfect backseat travel companion, conquered rice cereal and oatmeal, attempted to crawl (but it’s still kind of a scoot in circles on your tummy), grown even more enamored with our big black pup, and learned to sit up like a pro. Mommy would be so tempted to start growing another little person like you, because you are such an absolute joy…but really, I selfishly want to soak up some more Hank time one-on-one before anybody else comes along. I just love everything about you.

I’ve never made friends with as many strangers as I do now with you in tow. I love how you strike up a conversation, igniting connection and community around us without even saying a word. It’s the most beautiful thing. You make this world a better place for being in it. You do. And I don’t just say that because I’m your mom.

smile away, my babe. smile away!

mm

p.s. Fourteen!

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oh, poop!

If you’re not into “gross,” this may not be the post for you. Read at your own risk 😉

We (I) had an interesting morning at home today. In short, Henry started things off with the biggest display of diaper fireworks he’s ever managed (cloth diaper, onesie, swaddler and mom’s pj’s all at once); when I cleaned him up, I found evidence as far north as his shoulder blades. Whoa. I managed to stay on the phone with Grandma K throughout the entire process, so it wasn’t devastating or anything, but record-breaking in Henry’s book, for sure. Once I had him all clean and down for a nap, I gathered up cloth diapers for the wash (read: bag full of diapers=hands full coming down the stairs) and only narrowly missed stepping in a large pile of you-know-what left thoughtfully by the d.o.g. If I hadn’t smelled it first, the next few minutes would have been just that much more thrilling.

Thank you, Kruger. You should really consider moving out for a few days, or at least, never doing that again.

Cleaning things up was just a bit of inconvenience on the day, and admittedly, left me slightly disgruntled with the dog (who I had let out to go the bathroom not an hour before). But hey, I’m home, and things happen, right? I’m still trying to forget the close call on the kitchen floor (I don’t even like picking it up in the grass outside), so all I can hear in my head while I’m getting rid of the evidence is “Ew, ew, gross. Ew, gross. Ohhhhh, gross! Ew!”

On the flip side, I’m kind of tickled at how little the diaper event made an impact. I’m am decidedly un-phased by gross baby things, with the exception of wearing Henry’s meal down my back when I’m dressed to leave the house. I’ll keep working on that one. The rest of the day was relatively poop free, and I’m not complaining.

I know how much photos add to the blog and all, and I considered a few–if only for a second, and only to make myself laugh as I scrubbed away any probable germ-y trace. It’s possible I captured one image with my phone and text it to Jason, just so he didn’t feel left out while at work, but I will spare any and everyone else from all but this post. I have subsequently deleted all evidence, anyway. I mean, I do like to maintain a little bit of decorum and class and such;)

thoroughly disinfected and considering a small stock of rubber gloves for the little blue house,

mm

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early birds.

Henry fell asleep last night around 10pm and slept straight through the night! I first went in to greet the babe at 5:10 this morning, and in between his “I’m hungry and wet. Someone come to my rescue” cries, he was alert and smiley after a long rest. I nabbed about five of those precious hours, which felt great (although I’ll admit, I could still use a few more). And of course, I was happy to see him at such an early hour when he’d not woken me at all through the night.

Naturally, with seven hours of sleep under his belt, our little bug was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed after a diaper change and feeding. Unlike his usual 5 am-ish awake time, Henry was up and ready to go for the day after he ate. Hooray! He was also ready to dirty two fresh cloth diapers in a twenty minute period, to play for a while, and to head down for his morning nap at 6:30am. I’m not sure whether to be excited or nervous about what the day will hold 🙂

At any rate, since we’re up anyway, I’ve folded some laundry, fed and let the dog out, pumped milk for a future bottle, eaten breakfast, gotten dressed and am now blogging, and it’s not yet 7am. Maybe we’re early birds after all…

Henry and I are supposed to head out for a walk with a friend in about 15 minutes, and he is fast asleep in his crib. Sweet little bug. Hmmm, now what? I’ve learned better than to wake a sleeping baby (of course), so the contents of our morning at this point remain to be seen. He could be up again in a few minutes, or he could sleep ’til nine. Life with Henry is one choose-your-own adventure after the next!

no worms this morning. i’m still waaaaaay tired 😉

mm