Thursday, July 22, 2010

Adventures in Chaos

Olivia is two weeks old today. It sort of feels like the time went fast but also feels like she was born a long time ago. The past two weeks are almost a bit of a blur. Julie went home on Tuesday morning and I am officially flying solo with the kids during the day. So far, things are going pretty well. I have decided that I am just going to appreciate that my new life really is "adventures in chaos." I have to approach each day with an open mind and minimal expectations of getting much accomplished. I have already made a few observations on how to best function thus far- I thought I'd share them with you.

1. Get a morning shower while I have a chance- this is more important than 10 more minutes of sleep.

2. Embrace two cosmetics: mascara and lipgloss. The mascara does an ok job of making me look less tired. More importantly, the lipgloss diverts attention from my sleepy eyes by drawing attention downward! I realize that nobody is here to see me but when I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror, I feel just a bit better!

3. Spend zero time on planning what to wear- there is a 95% chance I will be puked on or pooped on before noon. And, if those two things do not happen, there is still at least a 5% chance that Gavin will spray me down with the hose when we play outside. While on this subject, make sure to keep up on laundry as all 3 of us seem to change clothes at least twice a day.

4. Do at least one thing for myself each day. Whether that is watering my garden, writing this blog, reading a magazine- I have to maintain some form of balance. Adam encouraged me to go meet my friend for a glass of wine last night. I hesitated but realized that he too wants to make sure that I get out of the house and get a chance to be me and not just Gavin and Olivia's mommy.

5. Finally, when it feels like shit has really hit the fan- look at the picture below, sigh, and count my damn blessings!

5 comments:

Emily said...

I appreciate your transparent and honest recount of the first couple of weeks... I'm sure the wonderful moments outweigh the bad, but I do like hearing it's not all peaches and cream (I don't want to have too high of expectations!) Good for you for getting out last night! And I'm proud of you for taking showers and putting on make-up, very impressive!

Missy said...

Jenny, great way to sum it all up, count your blessings! You have two really cute ones right there. ;) Awesome photo!

Jolie Lucero said...

You make motherhood look good!

Eileen said...

love that picture and story of being a momma of two little sweet children.

Michele said...

Jenny... I meant to comment on this awhile ago... love your synopsis. Mostly the "Doing at least one thing for yourself each day." I lived and breathed that thought... even if I had to wait until 11:00pm at night. I was happy to just read a good magazine for 30 minutes. Sounds like things are going well!!