Monday afternoon thoughts

This afternoon Ellie and I were having a snuggle and Kenton saw the photo opportunity...

Ellie has been so sick since last week. Her and I had a Thursday night date at the Stollery emergency again when she started to show signs of getting croup- again. In a weird way, there is almost an adventurous feeling of packing up your baby at midnight and heading out on the quiet dark roads in the middle of the night. 

Obviously, I was nervous for her, but I recognized the signs much earlier than the last time and I knew that either way I wasn't getting sleep that night. 

When we got there we didn't have to wait to get in, we were the only ones there. She was seen right away (still wearing her pajamas) and given a bit of medicine. 

By the time we were heading home, I was starving and felt I had earned a stop in the drive thru at Mc Donalds. It's funny what you will do at one in the morning, regardless if you have a sleeping baby in the back seat. Before any of this had even happened, and I was sitting on the computer waiting for her to try to fall asleep again, knowing the inevitable was that we'd have to go to the hospital, and I was on Kenton's facebook and saw a group of friends were out for dinner around the same time. It made me realize (for the millionth time) how different my life is than lots of friends I have. They're out having a fun dinner, and I'm stopping at a drive thru with my sick baby very late at night. I wouldn't change it, but it's a funny thought.

This is a really good photo of us for two reasons- the photo itself is clear and nicely lit. But it has captured exactly how I look on a day to day basis. 

Being at home all.the.time. can be draining. You get sick at looking at the walls of your house, the dishes on the sink that don't go away by themselves, and you feel tired of it all. Especially in winter.

But I feel better if get up and get dressed (in real clothes, not sweatpants), put on a bit of makeup and shake some dry shampoo into my dirty hair. If I look relatively nice, I feel better. I even do this on days that I'm fairly sure I won't see another living soul except my husband and kids. I don't know, some days are so blah and weeks at home can get monotonous, but it kind of picks me up a bit. I know there's this whole "yummy mummy"movement where moms look like they're going to a fashion show when they're just at the playground which is ridiculous. There are also the moms that look like they have no will to live anymore (which might not be true but the way they look is saying it!) and I don't think that's good either. I would recommend doing something small for yourself every day that makes you feel good (even a little bit) if you are a mom, whether you work or stay at home, whatever that means for you- could be just hopping in the shower and putting on jeans. 

I am definitely looking forward to going back to work part time and having a more work/home balance for myself. I enjoy what I do and I enjoy having to "get ready" and interact with people and think about something other than what I'm making for dinner. That isn't until the middle of April, which actually is not that far away. Blogging will still happen..I kind of dropped the ball when I was working full time in between girls last time, but that was different. I look forward to continually sharing about them and what's going on with us!

Speaking of...in a post coming soon (maybe in a couple of weeks, simmer down!) I will be posting about Kenton's latest project that he's been labouring over the past several months. You may have seen a "teaser" on facebook, but I'm waiting until I can give you a photo of the finished product. It's going to be amazing :)