Things I Am Learning

Today is the first day in several weeks that I've been home with no "agenda". We have enjoyed time at camp, at my parents' house, camping, and most recently, in a cabin on a SC lake. Now however, I am preparing to head back to work part time starting on Tuesday, and it's time to start figuring out what my 'new normal' will be. Since I'm unpacking from being gone for two weeks straight, today won't be a "normal" day, but nonetheless, I am learning some things about how life at home with an infant will be. Here's some things I've learned today:

• If I don't get out of bed after Salem's 6:30am feeding, I may not get out of bed until after her 12noon feeding! It's just too easy to let her nurse and check email, then let her fall asleep until she's ready to eat again...without ever getting out of bed. This is not something that can continue, despite how much I enjoyed it the first couple of weeks after she was born. I'll never get ANYTHING done! (you know, the important things like eating and showering!)

• The buzzer on my washer is no good. No, it's not broken...it's just that I found out today that it wakes Salem up even if she's in a deep sleep. She woke up with a cry that was definitely a "hurt feelings" cry and she didn't go back to sleep. I'll have to come up with a different alarm to let me know that the washer is done or else wash clothes when she's already awake.

• Salem likes her bouncy chair. This is a new development. Every other time we've tried her in it she has been too little and wasn't quite sure about the vibrations. This time she's old enough to flail her arms and kick her legs while "talking" to the fish and bubbles in front of her. I got a video of it and if I can figure out how to load it, I'll share. She's just too cute. This discovery is a great one because it gives me another option for attempting to eat meals, shower, do laundry, etc. while she's awake.

• Everything takes 10 times longer with a baby. Okay, I learned this a long time ago, but was reminded today. It's 2:45 and normally I would have had all our bags unpacked and lots of laundry done and ready to be put away. Instead, I am lucky to have the clothes piled in the floor ready to sort and to have had 2 oreos for breakfast.

• Friends are THE BEST! My friend Jenny called this morning to see if we wanted to come over for dinner just because she knew she'd have plenty of food in the crockpot and because we haven't hung out in a couple of weeks. Our daughters are just weeks apart, so this kind of adult hang-out time is so awesome - we get to share stories and talk about topics like breastfeeding, baby poop, and sleeping habits of our kids - and know that the other one really cares about how it's going! Then, when the kiddos are asleep, we get to do adult things like indulge in yummy desserts while playing cards. Yay for good friends! Oh, and did I mention that her call was perfect timing since we have nothing in the house to eat. Well, there may be a can of tuna or two, a box of Bisquick, and my stockpile of BBQ sauce that I got for free from Harris Teeter, but really, does that even count?!

Well, I'm sure I'll learn even more today, but this is it for now. Time to make some tuna salad for lunch!

Hopefully I'll have some time soon to figure out how to load videos and add lots of fun pictures of our adventures the past few weeks.