Smotherhood Part II

For starters, a few pics...
Our home teachers came over for the first time, and Kalia, not usually this forward, snuggled right up to Nathaniel and held hands (he was reading her stories while we all chatted.) We got a kick out of it.

My girls LOVE to play with a twin mattress on the stairs. We either make a "slide" or a "cave." It's an ugly old thing, probably too uncomfortable for anyone to sleep on, but I'm glad they are getting some entertainment out of it. This is Annie perched on top of their cave before bed time.


All right, so here's an update on my emotional state. No news on what's going on with our house. It is KILLING me to not know how soon I need to start packing, or to know where we're going to go, but I am trying really hard not to worry about the unknowns. We'll figure it out soon enough. We're considering some major changes.

As for smotherhood...it's kinda funny....after all that venting and complaining, things really did change around here, for the better. It actually did some good! It was the suggestions and comments by many of you, that helped me implement some new things. Really, nobody likes a complainer, so I will try to do less of it, but somehow it produced some good things. And also, it seems like just when I couldn't handle any more smothering...the burden eased up. I think that is just a tender mercy from the Lord. Here's some things that are different around here.

1. Kalia and Annaliese are still playing together really well. (SCREAM OF JOY! WOOOOOHOOOOOOO!!!!) Annaliese screams in frustration a LOT (loud, shrieking kinds of screams), but they will now play together for up to an hour. They still make big, huge messes, but usually, it's worth it to me. One day they locked themselves in Kalia's room and played happily for at least a half hour. I was not about to disturb their party, they weren't even fighting! Little did I know that they had a box of Fruity Pebbles somehow, and Annie took off her poopy diaper and left in on the floor. 2 points for you if you can spot it. When I finally went in, the ENTIRE floor was covered in these rainbow pebbles, and every step you took, you heard CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH. This was the cleanest corner of the room, but here's a guilty-faced Annie and a gross diaper on the floor.

2. Kalia also has a new friend, 3 houses down. She's 5 years old, and is not yet in kindergarten.Despite the age difference, they get along great. Kalia is pretty mature for her age, and always gets along best with kids that are older than her. I almost feel like I have a free baby-sitter, since the 5 year old (she's 6 in September)is a bit motherly/bossy. And she has an older sister (she's 7) who likes to watch/mother Annaliese after she gets home from school. I'm sad this new friendship can't last as we are both moving; It's just a win-win for me, to send her out the door, so excited to play with her friend.

3. I have started working out. After about 4 years of not exercising, it's been hard to get back into it, but thank heavens I discovered Jillian Michaels DVD workouts. 30-Day Shred is a tough, intense, 20-minute workout (technically there's 3 progressively harder workouts to choose from.) She also has a 50-minute one called No More Trouble Zones that I used as my very first "getting back into exercise" workout, and it KICKED MY TRASH (as in, so sore I could barely walk for a week), but I LOVED the way she pushes you through the workout. She really challenges you to remember your REASONS for working out in the first place, so you can make it through the workouts. A friend of mine is doing a 21-day challenge (to make some new good habits) so after taking a week off to recover from that video, I have been working out every day for a week, except Sundays. Today I did No More Trouble Zones again, and I couldn't believe the difference in my endurance. I feel really good, and I can already see some definition starting to show up on my arms and stomach. Amazing. The only thing is, I have to workout while the girls are asleep. One day I tried to do my 20-minute workout while K & A were both awake, and I kid you not, every 60-90 seconds they were asking me to get them juice/a snack/a toy/etc etc. It was frustrating to have to keep stopping. I remembered why I haven't done this for 4 years. So now...only when they are asleep.

4. Speaking of sleep, I previously stated that I could not get Kalia to nap. I concocted a new plan and it has been working beautifully. I made Annie switch down to 1 nap, instead of 2, and then I've taken advantage of our warm/almost-hot weather here, and I take the girls swimming every day. I taught Annie how to use Kalia's old Duck Float (Called a Puddlejumper- I LOVE these things!) and now I don't have to hold her in the water. They both just swim all over the pool while I sit on a lounge chair, and they TOTALLY wear themselves out. I bring them home, put them down for a nap, and they zonk right out and I have 2-3 hours all to myself. It's been AMAZING, and just what I needed. (Will upload a video later today of the swimmers.)


5. I didn't end up reading the book called Smotherhood. Once I got into it, I saw that it was more about moms who have full-time jobs on TOP of being a mother at home. That sounds so incredibly tough. It was still a good book, but I was looking for something a little more specific to the challenges of staying home all day. Another friend let me borrow a FABULOUS book called "The Ultimate Career" by Daryl Hoole- it's an LDS book full of scriptures and quotes from General authorities, and is one of the best books I've ever read about motherhood. And, it has an incredible chapter on depression which I thought was really interesting, and even applicable to some things I've been going through as I've started to feel other emotions, like worry, fear...etc.

5. I've been trying to expand Annie's diet. She's still on her special formula. We tried Goat's Milk again, and it was a major failure. Soy gave her eczema. So that means no dairy at all, no eggs, no corn, no wheat, no soy. She loves all-fruit smoothies. I've also been doing some gluten-free baking (with milk and egg substitutes) and she got to enjoy a homemade chocolate chip cookie for the first time EVER! As you can see, she thoroughly enjoyed it. Her poor left eye still had some swelling- she had two different black-eyes in 3 weeks. Same eye though.
6. I read an incredible book, it's called The Help by Kathryn Stockett and I absolutely LOVED it. I had to wait months on a wait list at the library, but it was touching, thought-provoking, and sometimes had me laughing outloud. Thanks to Holly for suggesting it to me.

Here's the swimming video. I love how Kalia's friend lets a huge burp rip. Funny.
Sorry friends...it isn't loading right- I put it up on facebook, you can see it there if you want.