Familiar feeling

I've been a full-time mommy over the last week waiting for the new nanny to start and I remember thinking of my school days in terms of the time between morning break-lunch- afternoon break-study hall-last break of the day- and home. Not really considering anything I may have learned in between that time. Today I realized I think of my mommy days in terms of the time between morning nap-sesame street-snack-long nap-doodlebops-snack-and the Dennis hand-off.

Is this wrong? Shouldn't I be enjoying the amazing development my children are experiencing throughout the day? The subtle bonding elements they share in the sweetest of ways? Shouldn't I be skipping to Mia's room upon her wake-up call to discover something new and wonderful? What about baking a cake together and then I can lovingly dot her little nose with icing just like the ad shows.

I love them...I really do. I just can't help but feel some sort of accomplishment that I can hand them off to Dennis (before he even has a chance to put his man purse down and slip into his capris) unharmed, well-fed and well-rested. Someone please tell me they did/do the same and their children are good citizens.

Dear friends in Minneapolis...

 

Just in case you were wondering, the capris are back in full force. Although, he has added a few new colors he hasn't had any altercations...yet. Nor does he really seem to care. He swears it is going to catch on this season. Um, not so much.

Only an architect...

 

would care this much about restoring windows. Since the moment we moved into our house, Dennis has been borderline obsessed with getting our living rooom windows operable as they once were sometime before cars were around. I, myself, think they are just fine, other than the small fact that they are not tempered and the kids would be in big trouble if they accidentally ran through them, but I'm greatly mistaken (as I've been told over and over again) about them. Evidently, the windows are supposed to go all the way up inside the wall; which I'm still finding hard to imagine. Now, most husbands come home pretty ecstatic when their sports team has won some huge championship..not my little guy-he just won the world series of securing a true window restorer. Mr. Cousins (or Mr. Cushion as Mia calls him) has worked with historic windows for almost 40 years and he has begun the process. I don't think Dennis has been this happy since we found the living room paint color. That is why I love him.

Mia never misses the opportunity to jump on our neighbor's rocks

 

Mia spots a "hop hop"

 

Milk and Stickers...

 

Feeling purple

 

Too early for coffee

 

wake up miss mazy

We miss MOMA... Mia wakes up every morning and says DADA! DADA! i go into her room, she says MAZY! i unzip her from her dome and then we run to mazy's room... see for yourself.

mazy loves the wagon trips to the loop

 

Mia don't....

Mia has been such a trooper since Mazlin's arrival. I find myself continually telling her to be gentle, don't pull Mazzy, don't push Mazzy, don't let Mazzy eat your lunch, don't pierce Mazzy's ears or write on her face :). I'm not sure if other parents do this, but I always reflect on Mia's day after she goes to bed and usually feel awful. I know one day they will both plot against Dennis and me, but for know I feel like Mia is the odd man out. Everyone tells me that it changes with time.

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Swimming at Aunt Debbie's

Ciaran's Party Slide

Mia preparing for Ciaran's Marching Band Party

The More Things Change The More They Stay The Same

Tuesday, July 10th, 2007: 7:30 p.m. in the McGrath house: Both girls sleeping quietly (a bubbly bath and 2 books each), clean house, Zeke snoring on the bed and not a piece of laundry to do.

Dennis and I looked at each other--he goes to his laptop to do some architectural stuff and I go straight to Tivo. Nothing better than Flavor Flav's Charm School Finale with Monique. To think I thought things would never get back to normal. Tomorrow I'm just hoping for an hour or two of Kathy Griffin on the D-List.

Welcome home Miles.

Blogging is a funny thing...

I've realized that blogging is similar to cleaning your house before your guests come over or smiling and waving to your neighbor immediatley after arguing with your husband in that healthy passive-aggressive way we know and love. You can take the pictures exactly as you want them and you can talk about only the things that are fun and happy and rainbowish and leave out all of the bad stuff. Blogs are a small glimpse (completely controlled by you) of your life for everyone to see. I've taken a bit of a break and I could tell you it is because I'm so in love with the new little addition that I find any other activity pales in comparison. In reality, two children change EVERYTHING. I've heard a million people tell me this and I've found it to be true. Mazlin came home on Tuesday and by Friday I was calling Dennis off the golf course and telling him he needed to come home right away because I was feeling so overwhelmed I just wanted to cry. Yes, it is true, as much as I would love to say it has been an easy ride, it hasn't. We get a good laugh out of it but I actually told him we should put the dog (that I've had for 14 years and dearly love) down because I couldn't handle all the responsibility.

I remember when I arrived in Guatemala and met a number of other adopting moms, a few of them were breastfeeding and I thought it was so amazing that the body rises to the occasion. I didn't know it was physically possible to do this but it is. I'm realizing postpartum isn't only for bio moms out there. I'm happy to say each day gets better and Mazlin is a love. She is the sweetest. We went to our first family outing on the 4th and I remember looking at both of them swimming knowing that everything was going to be fine. I'm just having bleach and Pine-Sol withdrawal and a little reality TV withdrawal. My house is a mess, they sleep at different times, eat different foods, one walks-one doesn't....in the end I'm happy--just a little more cluttered than usual. I wouldn't change a thing. More pictures to come-----