Constantly Seeking Balance

Anyone who knows me knows I'm a text book type A personality. A scheduler. And I have trouble starting something new if I can't plan time to continue doing it for the foreseeable future.

For example, I wouldn't work out on a Wednesday if I knew I couldn't do it Thurs, Fri and Sat, simply because the lack of continuity would bother me. Not logical, but I'm just rigid that way.

One of my biggest challenges in going back to work is balance. And as much as I'm missing the time with the kids being out of the house 9 hours a day, I'm also missing time to work out, do pilates, etc. These selfish things are really important to keeping me happy with myself, and happier overall.

So today is one small victory in that I successfully got up early and hit the gym before work. Friday's are easier b/c I work from home, therefore can come home sweaty and don't have to budget in time for shower, make up, etc.

Hubby watched the kids before Paula got here, and I plan to go during nap time Sat and Sun.

While not yet ideal -I'd really like to get up to 5 days a week - it's a start. And with Juliet still getting up at night, it's likely all I'll realistically be able to squeeze in for now.

But it feels like a major achievement to make some time for myself.

Last of Naples

Could I stretch this update out any further? Returning to sub 20 degree temperatures, can you blame a girl for relieving the vacation over and over each night?

We had such a fantastic trip down there - staying almost a full week, something I don't think we've ever done before. Hubby put on his out of office, also something I can't remember him doing in forever. He has been working so hard and traveling so much, it was really nice to see him relax a bit.

Seeing the kids with their grandparents is a joy you don't really understand until you have kids of your own. It's just so nice to see our parents love them so much.

Ben and grandpa Joe had a big breakfast together every morning, both waking up at the crack of dawn long before anyone else cares to. They drank fresh Florida OJ and Ben proceeded to then bounce off the walls for the next hour after main-lining all that sugar.

Juliet, born at the onset of one very cold winter, was able to go outside without 18 layers of clothing on and we actually saw her legs for the first time :)

Grandma Marsha and I took her on her first big trip to Waterside, the luxury mall in Naples.

We hit Randy's, our very favorite seafood restaurant. And my sis surprised us with an amazing date night at Tru Lucks, where we had delicious stone crab. Hubby got his fill of Skyline Chili (there aren't any within 6 hours of us up north), and Mama Mia's pizza.

I ran every day and managed to squeeze in a 10 miler in advance of our half marathon at the end of Feb.

Overall it was just the perfect visit with the grandparents, a great way to end my maternity leave, and allowed us a nice break from all this cold and snow.

Thanks to Joe and Marsha for putting up with all the ruckus immediately upon arriving down there yourselves. We loved every minute of it!

Ben and His Dad

I think I have two more picture posts from Naples. There are really a lot of cute shots, and I know everyone likes the photos so we'll just keep them coming.

Truth be told, my hubby really hates the beach. When we were dating he took me there a lot, in retrospect probably because he knows I loved it. But once married, he gave up the charade and stopped coming down with me but for a sunset or two. The only one able to get his feet back in the sand is little Ben of course.

A couple pictures from our trips to the ocean. And one from the pool. Heated to a balmy 80 degrees, they went swimming almost every night even though it was pretty brisk out. Ben loves blowing bubbles with his dad and did a really great job flapping around in the water...

Potty Training

As anyone with little ones will tell you, a lot of time is spent talking about pee and poop between baby blow outs, diaper changes, and of course potty training.

With boys, everyone says it is much easier to tackle potty training in the summer.

Apparently b/c they just run around naked for a few days and learn to pee outside?? This is really weird and incomprehensible to me but given that everyone also says it isn't something you should try to tackle with a newborn, I've pretty much put it out of my head for now.

Until I walked in on bath time one night and hubby was trying to get Ben to pee on his frog in the bath tub.

Essentially teaching him to pee on command.

Amazing.

So they've been quietly working on this project every night - and we've been talking a lot more about the potty throughout the day.

Tonight, Ben stepped up on his stool and PEED IN THE TOILET!

Wow.

I'm sure we're eons away from ditching diapers, but we're celebrating the milestone never the less. We cheered and screamed and high fived. Hopefully we didn't scare him out of ever repeating this feat.

Pretty exciting.

Any tips on how to expedite this process??

Jumping Waves

A few pics of Ben jumping waves...

Sirens and Fire Trucks

How do you impress upon your soon-to-be-two-year-old that a personal visit from the fire station, sirens and all, isn't awesome?

Ben's highchair sits just under our ADT security system and this morning, when I ran upstairs to grab the baby, he stood up and pushed the fire button.

You'd think the piercing alarm that immediately went off would scare the diaper off of him.

Or the fact that Stella totally freaked and started howling like crazy.

Nope. Sure didn't. He was laughing.

And due to a glitch in the call-back system, they called hubby's fax line and got no response and immediately dispatched a truck.

So while I was explaining that pushing that button was VERY BAD, a fire truck came screaching down the street and a full crew charged up our stairs.

At this point Ben was on the couch squealing with delight about the personal visit from the fire house.

All before 9am.

Awesome.

Naples Zoo

Finally able to head outside without freezing our bums off, we were eager to find a few fun activities (besides Skyline Chili) to do with the kids. Naples Zoo is a place we've passed a thousand times but never ventured inside.

It's awesome!

They have a new giraffe exhibit, which as you may know is one of Ben's all time favorite animals, so we headed there first. We also saw lions and tigers and bears :)

And seemingly unassociated with the zoo, "Mickey," a little white bird that followed Ben around for at least 25 minutes provided the most entertainment of all...

Naples pics

The fact that everyone is so pooped today is evidence of the great time that we had. More details to follow but a few cute pics of the kids until then...

Packing Up the Crew

Preparing for a week away with two kids is seriously a job in and of itself, but alas I think we're there. Bags are packed, strollers, Bjorns, bottles, geez.

We've been hyping the trip to Ben all week. He is really excited, though I'm not sure he knows exactly for what.

Airplane entertainment is a top priority for hubby and me so we planned to bring a few of Ben's favorite books, toys, and of course the ipad.

So tonight hubby comes up after putting Ben down and says "OK, we decided on...Toby, Bertie, Thomas, Harold, Percy and the icecream truck."

Thinking about the two of them planning all the toys we'd bring melts my heart in a thousand ways. And the simple fact that Ben is allowed to bring five trains and a truck speaks volumes considering in the same breathe hubby warned me about going over the 50lb weight limit with our suitcase and started critiquing specific items I packed.

We've never had a full week in Naples and I am so excited I am sure I won't sleep tonight...

The Flipper (2)

...as it turns out, rolling over (one way) is totally normally at this age. But don't tell her that, I'm sure she is still an over-achiever :)

The Flipper!

Juliet flipped over in her crib yesterday!

It's always funny (at least initially) when they do this for the first time b/c they are so startled by the action and then immediately go into turtle mode, flapping arms and freaking out to be stuck on their back.

(yes, my kids are tummy sleepers. check here for initial post on that. I tried to get Juliet to sleep on her back, but she hated it, just like Ben. Choices you make and then have to live with/worry about).

I thought it was a fluke b/c she is much too young to be flipping, right? But then she did it again today, twice.

I looked it up and the only thing I could find on flipping in my trusty baby bible was listed in the six month chapter. Another over-achieving child :)

The downside of this is that it occurs during nap time and then she is all fired up, even if I go down right away to right the situation. But I just can't beleive she is flipping over. I am off to do some more investigating in my books...

Thomas! (part 2)

Signifying the best day in Ben's life so far, we found a Thomas T-shirt and matching sweatshirt set today at Target.

I'm already anticipating having to wrestle it off of him tonight.

He has spent the day chin down, pulling at his shirt picking out Thomas, Percy and James, surprised to see them each and every time.

Simple pleasures my friends.

Back to Reality (almost)

With my return to work fast approaching, I feel the panic beginning to settle in. If only I could be a stay-at-home-mom WITH a nanny :)

Weeks ago when still-sleep deprived and bleary eyed, heading back to work seemed like a welcome relief. Now of course we're (kind of) on a schedule. I'm working out. Ben is more awesome every day, and it feels tough to leave them.

And there is my self-important concern that they will not possibly survive without me...which couldn't be farther from the truth, but we've had so much fun the last few weeks!

I know it'll be fine, and it will be easier this time. I will like being back at work, being really useful - and when I say that not immediately thinking of Thomas the Train - I'll know what is going on in the world again and enjoy conversing with adults about things going on in the industry.

I do like my job, very much in fact. It will just take a little time to remember after this 'break.'

And nevermind that Ben will soon be speaking to me strictly in Polish.

I will miss them. Sweet, warm Juliet. Funny, sing-songy Ben.

Cherish the days, hold a little tighter, run a little harder. Reality is coming our way, time to get excited about it!