Thursday, September 29, 2011

Timing

I know that all things happen in the time in which they are supposed to happen, but I am not very good at letting go and letting God handle it. I like to plan and I like checklists and spreadsheets and to-do lists. Tell me how to make something happen, give me a deadline and watch me beat it every time!!

Except when it comes to having babies. A few months ago, a girlfriend and I were discussing her desire to get pregnant and I said that I felt it was important to make sure that you want to have a baby more than you want air before you have one, because pregnancy is hard, labor is hard, being a parent is hard. You have to want it more than anything or you will suck at it!

A few weeks later, she found out she was pregnant and is currently in the depths of morning sickness and wondering what she has gotten herself into. When she told me she was pregnant, that little twinge that had been niggling at me since I heard that another girlfriend was pregnant, got stronger. A few weeks after that, I heard about a woman from my birthing class was pregnant again, and a woman who's blog I read is also pregnant again. That little twinge became a full on throb!!

Smug-Hub and I had already discussed having another baby and have been trying for a last few months. We didn't want to put off trying because it did take us so long to get Smug-Baby, but we were half-hearted about it. The fears of starting over with pregnancy, nursing, teething, etc. was really hard. But, we knew that we wanted another baby and if we were going to do it, now was about perfect.

So, now it has been a few months and I am feeling that same old feeling like I did when I was trying with Smug-Baby. Like everyone around me is pregnant and other people seem to get pregnant so easily! By accident! Like, not trying!! Why is it so hard for me? I want to realize that I haven't started in like 3 months and just be surprised. But, that's not me. I'm am tracking my ovulation and cycle and keeping track of the best possible days and waiting. Waiting and waiting and waiting. The two week wait each month is SOOOO LOOONNNNGGGG!!! It's like the first two weeks go by in a snap and I spend the next hundred years waiting for a chance to pee on a stick.

I just want to be pregnant again. I want to look at my sweet daughter and know that I get to do it all over again!! Just a few more days and I can take the test! Of course, I am feeling a little PMS-y today, so...

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Scared of Clothes

All of a sudden Smug-Baby is hating having her clothes put on, diaper put on, diaper changed, clothing taken off, shoes put on or taken off. I don't know what the deal is, but she screams and cries as though I am killing her when I get her dressed in the mornings or attempt to clean the poo off her butt!

She is getting so much better (and I am too I guess) at getting her point across and letting me know what she needs. She is also getting tons better at understanding what I am trying to tell her too, but we don't understand each other when it comes to this clothing thing. I win, I mean she is always wearing clothes, and I don't let her stay in a poo filled diaper, but it is a real challenge!

She used to love her bath time, then she screamed and cried throughout bath time, then all of a sudden she liked the bath again and now that she is having this aversion to changing her state of dress or undress, she is crying though bath time again. I suppose that she will come out of this stage too and all I can do is make sure that she is clean and dry and warm and ride it out.

Other than that she is lots of fun. She wants to play with me and hands me blocks to stack or twirls around my legs in a fun game of lets-get-dizzy! She likes to push the stool up to the bathroom sink and watch me while I am getting ready for bed. She also looks at herself in the mirror and practices her facial expressions - it really is too cute!!

So, you know how Smug-Hub is a die-hard Dallas Cowboy fan and I am a die-hard Washington Redskins fan? Well, these two teams met on Monday night and my team lost by a tiny 2 points. Well, this morning Smug-Hub dressed Smug-Baby in a Cowboy's shirt!!! Well, Smug-Sister decided Smug-Baby wouldn't be allowed into the house with "that Cowboy crap on"


Lucky for Smug-Baby, Smug-Sister had something she could wear


Smug-Hub was so NOT happy :)

Monday, September 26, 2011

Weekend Win

So, I had this really long list of things to get done over the weekend. And, I didn't do any of it. Not one thing on the to do list is marked off. However, I did mark off some very, super, major important things that weren't on the list:

1) Spend time with a sweet and squishy baby.

2) Spend time with family

3) Have a nice meal out with husband and baby

4) Sleep in just a bit

So, no I didn't vacuum the house, finish organizing the kitchen, do laundry or go grocery shopping. But I did take full advantage when my daughter wanted to cuddle. I played along when she wanted to stack blocks. I participated when she made Lego margrarita (I let her play with the plastic margarita glasses I discovered when working on the kitchen and she filled them with Lego's and then presented them to me for "drinking"). We watched Finding Nemo together with her all snuggled in my lap.

Why in the world would I pass up time to snuggle and cuddle with my baby, who is all too quickly growing up, just to vacuum?!?!?

I hope everyone had a great weekend and took some time to stop and smell the roses too!! I sure did!!

Friday, September 23, 2011

Balance

The whole point of killing myself throughout the week is so I can spend the entire weekend with my family, doing fun things and not worrying about all the stuff that I have to get done. I don't want to spend the weekend cleaning, grocery shopping, doing laundry and all that there stuff!! I want to go to brunch with a friend, meet up with Dad for a bike ride, stay in bed late and tickle Smug-Baby and Smug-Hub and have coffee and a late breakfast. I don't want to kill myself working and waste my family time.

I want to make sure that I have a good balance of getting my house in order and keeping it that way, of getting my body ready to grow a new human life, of feeding my family really great food, of spending enough time playing with my child. To do that, every moment needs to be thought out. I spend the majority of my day during the week busting my ass to get all the house stuff done, so I have the weekend free for family (although I do make sure to spend at least an hour each day in concentrated baby play time with Smug-Baby). I refuse to spend my weekends working on the house and stuff. That is my family time!

That is, until this weekend. Smug-Hub is going to be out of town on business (although, I don't know how you really count a company fishing trip as business but oh well...) So, Smug-Baby and I will be on our own this weekend. I have run into a complication in my ability to get everything done today (Thursday) and tomorrow (Friday). Friday, I have a dentist appointment and an appointment to have a tear in the back seat of the Jeep fixed. These errands are going to take most of the day, so the chances of getting the house cleaning done are slim to none. As for today, I was concentrating so hard on working on the deep cleaning in the kitchen, that I forgot to clean the bathrooms (today's daily task), so that has to get pushed off.

So, I have this whole weekend stretching out in front of me. I will be with Smug-Baby but it won't be the fun-filled family time without Smug-Hub, so I am planning on using this weekend to catch up on the things that I haven't been able to get done and get a bit ahead on next week. So, here is my "to do" list for the weekend:

1) Dust
2) Sweep and mop the kitchen, entry way, and both bathroom floors
3) Clean both bathrooms
4) Vacuum the house
5) Complete the deep cleaning in the kitchen - 1 more upper and 4 lower cabinets
6) Grocery Shopping - fill in week, shouldn't take too long
7) Workout

Now, I know it takes about 30 minutes to clean both bathrooms. It also takes about 90 minutes to do the dusting, sweeping, mopping and vacuuming. Grocery shopping will include a trip to the co-op as well as the normal grocery store, so about 90 minutes there. Working out will only take 10 minutes each day. Finishing the kitchen should take about another 60-90 minutes. So I need to devote about 6 total hours during the whole weekend to my tasks! That should be doable and still allow me time for a bike ride, time to take Smug-Baby to the park, catch up on all those shows on the DVR and maybe even start some laundry!!

Without the "distraction" of Smug-Hub I shouldn't have any trouble getting this all done and getting all ready for the coming week. Since I will have finished the upstairs deep cleaning project, I will be able to start on downstairs, a little at a time next week. It will be my second week of working out daily, so the soreness (which is already a lot better) shouldn't slow me down. I have high hopes for next week.

I am well on my way to creating balance within my home and my family!

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Plugging Away

Today is day three, yet it feels like I have been working out and juggling all my tasks for a whole lot longer. I have stuck to my plans come hell or high water and gotten most of what I needed to get done completed on the days it needed to get done.

Monday, the only thing that didn't get done was cleaning out the kitchen drawers. I cleaned them on Tuesday, but that meant that I didn't get to clean off the tops of the fridge and pantry, but everything else for Tuesday got finished. Today, I cleaned the tops and the dish cabinet, the glasses cabinet, made wipes, and washed diapers. I didn't clean out the Gladware cabinet or fold the washed diapers, so that moves to tomorrow. Overall, the stuff that I needed to push off to the next day was small, so I am still feeling like this is doable and I am proud of myself for accomplishing so much.

Smug-Baby is on a short fuse as I think she is teething. She did better today, playing on top of me while I attempted to do my workout moves. Smug-Niece on the other hand seemed less happy to be there. She didn't want to play, have something to eat, or watch Elmo. She would play for something for a few moments, then cry and want to be held, but almost as soon as I picked her up, she wanted down again. I think she was tired, because they didn't nap long and they both fell asleep again on the way to take Smug-Niece home, so maybe that was all it was.

Tonight, we worked on leftovers and played on the floor with Smug-Baby for a while, but then Smug-Hub took off to hang with a friend he hasn't seen in a while with the promise that he would return by 9:30 and we would all go to bed together. We have this plan to keep Smug-Baby up a bit later in the hopes that she will sleep more soundly in the mornings when I am trying to sneak out. The last few mornings she has been up when I left and it is terrible!! Notice, that I am typing this and it is almost 10 though so...

While he has been gone, Smug-Baby and I have gotten all ready for bed with a bath for her and a face washing for me. We both brushed our teeth and put on our PJ's - we are set! She is running circles around the living room with a bucket on her head at the moment!

Smug-Hub has to be out of town this weekend and I have big plans to knock out the rest of the cleaning in the kitchen and start on the downstairs. I also want to catch up on uploading all my pictures to Facebook and order prints from Shutterfly. I want to get caught up on all the season premieres that are currently on the DVR and basically spend the weekend at home, doing home stuff!! It will be nice I think!

I hear the truck pulling up - 10:15! I'm gonna strangle him one of these days!!! Good night all!!

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Just Started This Workout Program and Man Am I Sore!!

So, I feel like I may be dying! Everything hurts and just seems to be getting worse. I do keep adding to the muscle strain each day, so that sorta makes since, but still... I do know that pushing through the first week or two is the only way to help ease the level or soreness, so I am committed to getting though it and getting stronger, but I am so sore!! And Tired!!

I am still trying to do everything on my "to do" list daily and keep both the girls happy and I have added a layer with the workout program. It is going to take some time to adjust to the new pace of my days. I used to be busy, but now I have to be busy on a more structured schedule and at a faster pace than before. It will take some time to get comfortable.

I am looking forward to getting the first round of deep cleaning and organizing done in the house. I feel like that will free up a lot of time during the week, since upkeep will involve less time than the first overhaul has. The plan is to work on the kitchen some each day and have it finished this weekend so I can start on the downstairs next week. If I do a little something down there each day too, then it should take about two weeks and then the house will be done! Of course, then it will be time to start over...

I have cooked dinner each evening this week so far, OK so it's only Tuesday, but I have cooked dinner the last three nights! I have made snacks for the following day, so I wouldn't be tempted to grab take-out and that seems to have worked pretty well. Also, I am motivated not to undo totally the workouts that I have been doing by eating junk! I have been dairy free, except for the leftover desserts from the Greek Festival that I ate yesterday, so that has been good.

Overall the week has been going well as far as my goals and aspirations are concerned. Smug-Baby on the other hand is having a rough week. It seems that she may be working on her two year molars and they are really hurting her. She just bursts into tears while playing happily and grabs her mouth. She is living on the baby Advil now and won't let me brush her back teeth at night. She isn't sleeping well/deeply/long either at night or during naps. It is really hard to watch her in pain and not be able to do much about it.

I hate to admit this, but it is also really hard to be slammed busy and so sore you can't bend over to pick up your shoes and have a baby crying and pulling at you every 90 seconds and then as soon as you sit down to hold her, it passes and she is off back playing. So, you get up (no small feat, since your ass is sore) and get back to work and then the next wave of pain hits. It wears a persons patience! I hope that they break through soon or stop growing for a while, one of the two! She and I both need a break from them!!

Until Wednesday folks!!

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Day 1 of Goals and Aspirations

Today is Monday. Monday is always a new beginning. I know that people say that Tomorrow is also always a new beginning but for me, if Monday is a bad day, the rest of the week just goes downhill from there. If I don't get things done on Monday, then those missed things get pushed to Tuesday, which means I will get less of Tuesday's things done and push off more to Wednesday and so on. So, Monday is an important day.

The plan for the day was to leave the office, hit the bank, drive to Smug-Sister's and nurse Smug-Baby talk with her for a bit and then take the girls out for a 30 minute walk around the neighborhood. Then I would come back and make lunch (A wonderful lasagna from Peas and Thank You), then change everyone’s diapers and head out for nap time, ending back at my house to do a 20 minute workout video, fold the last load of laundry, put it away and work on organizing the drawers in the kitchen (all 5 of them), then I would take Smug-Niece home and come back to my place to do another 10 minute workout video, make dinner and get us all ready for bed.

In reality, I actually did everything except the kitchen drawers! I ended up taking Smug-Niece home right after her nap because Smug-Sister had some free time and wanted to be able to hang with her daughter, so we just played outside on the swing set until about 4 when I headed home. I ended up doing both the 20 and the 10 minute videos back to back and am already feeling sore – welcome to starting from scratch again! But, it is a good feeling all in all. It was hard to do jumping squats and jumping jacks with a small child holding her arms up to you, saying “dance, dance” so the workout was modified a little to make it a team effort J

I made dinner and finished the laundry while Smug-Baby ate a nice Cauliflower Cacciatore (again from Peas and Thank You) and watched Elmo. I got the kitchen cleaned up and bath time going, and got us all ready for bed. The kitchen drawers pushed onto tomorrow’s to do list. Now Smug-Hub is reading to Smug-Baby and she is looking like she is heading for sleep soon.

Tomorrow is another day, but having Monday be such a success, I have a feeling that Tuesday is going to be great!

UPDATE: Smug-Baby went to sleep at 8:30 and I followed her at 9 with my aching legs and butt. She woke to nurse at midnight and never really woke up but never really settled down either. She was up for good at 3:45 so I haven’t slept much as I get ready to walk into the office. I am confident that I can still get my list done today. Today is supposed to be grocery shopping day, but I did it on Friday, so I am just going to focus on the organizing in the Kitchen and watching the season premiere’s of Castle and How I Met Your Mother!!

Monday, September 19, 2011

Aspiring

I am aspiring...

I aspire to be a vegan. I have made the switch to vegan milk and vegan butter in the house and vegan cheese in recipes. However, I still sometimes have "real" cheese on things like eggs, when the cheese is a big part of taste factor. I am not vegan when eating out, mostly because in my small-ish city, finding vegetarian food is often hard enough! So, I have some goals to help me get where I want to be:

     1) Limit the cheese that I eat at home to once a week
     2) Limit eating out to twice a week (that includes meals with family, husband, and/or meals on the go)

I aspire to be organized. I am working on deep cleaning and organizing my house and it is really hard to keep working on one little thing each week and not get overwhelmed at what is left to do. It is also hard not to keep going back over the rooms already completed. My thinking is to have the house on a rotation, once I get finished with the whole house, start back at the beginning. The plan is that with each rotation, the time spent on the room will get shorter and the cleaning more complete, because there will be less to do, just maintenance. Goals here are:

     1) Don't get hung up on how the bathroom drawers are already looking junked up again. Keep in mind that they look great compared to how they looked before and how in a few weeks it will be there turn again.
     2) Don't look around at all that is left to do; focus only on the task for this week and not at the week's laid out in front of you. Take time to enjoy all that you are finished so far!

I aspire to fitness. I want to be thinner and stronger and committed to my personal health and fitness. I want to be around for my child (possibly children) and be able to take them to the park and keep up with them and roll around on the floor with them. It takes health and fitness to do that. However, as much as I want that, finding the time, energy and, let's face it, motivation to put the video into the DVD player is hard. I wish for a buddy to workout with, but Mom and I walk and bike and I blow her off every chance I get! I brought the Tracy Anderson stuff, but she is so hard core that it is impossible to keep up with the hugeness of daily life and workout for 2 hours without stopping. Also, I don't need perfection, I just need better.

     1) I found a couple of DVD programs at yard sales and online. Both claim to compress the moves so that you will get a full body and cardio workout in one short burst. I will do a ten minute workout each day.
     2) The other DVD program is something that Smug-Sister and I both want to do, so I will do that ten minute workout each day too. Using her as my buddy and my support and offering my support to her.  That's only 20 minutes of working out each day and they can be split up into an afternoon and evening burst, when Smug-Baby is eating dinner or playing with Smug-Niece. I only need 10 minutes. I WILL FIND IT!!
     3) Daily walking with Mom. We are planning on walking with the babies in the mornings just after I leave work, before lunch and the rest of the day. We won't be able to do it every week day, but most and we will support each other.

I aspire to make healthy meals for my family. I make menus and plan dinners each week. I have been leaving a few nights open for take-out, family get togethers, or leftovers. I haven't planned lunches, thinking to have the previous night’s leftovers and I have never planned snacks. We end up eating pasta or peanut butter some nights and I find myself tired and burned out from my day and not cooking when I should and leaving Smug-Hub to scrounge up something for himself at the last minute.

     1) Cook nightly. Now that I have found Peas and Thank You, I have quick, healthy, easy to put together, meals that call for ingredients that I already have or aren't too expensive. Mama Pea has never asked me to buy crazy one note ingredients that I will never use again.
     2) Plan for snacks during the day to cut down on getting overly hungry while out and about with the girls. It leads to too many trips to Chipotle!!

OK, so that is the plan for action. I have been working on my weekly cleaning plan for a while and it has been working out well. I have been getting better about the menu planning over the last two weeks and cooking dinner more regularly. Now, I just need to add the workout routines and keep up on everything. I can do this. I WILL DO THIS!!!

Friday, September 16, 2011

Floundering

I feel like I have been floundering lately. Ever since we got back from the beach the sleeping stuff hasn't been good and I haven't worked on the deep cleaning projects in the house and have slid back into unhealthy eating habits. You know that I have put back on 10 of the 25 pounds that I lost? That's insane!! I have been feeling depressed about not getting pregnant last month and at the same time wondering if I am totally nuts for thinking about trying to add another life and another level of stress to my already sinking ship.

Then it was like something flipped in me and I spent this week getting back on track. I did a power walk three days this week with mom and while walking we brain-stormed about some ways to help each other and Smug-Sister better while still getting our own needs met. I did each of my daily tasks on their assigned day. I made delicious meals from Peas and Thank You (which is my only cookbook anymore as far as I am concerned - I actually made something from another vegan cookbook this week too and it wasn't eatable!! Even Smug-Baby who eats almost anything threw this glop into the floor!

I haven't been totally great though. I still haven't started my 10 minute workout DVD's yet, and yesterday I had a chocolate milkshake from Arby's and the day before a couple of tacos from Taco Bell, so I am sure that all the junk offset the good done by the walking, but it was a better week overall than I have had in a while.

I have all the rooms upstairs completed as far as organizing and deep cleaning except for the kitchen. I asked Smug-Hub to complete the pantry shelving as my birthday gift and he seems like he might actually do it. That would give us so much more space in the kitchen!! I am going to try to tackle a few cabinets each day with the hope of getting it finished by the end of next week so I can start on the downstairs.

We don't "live" downstairs, but the room has to function as a guest room, an office, a fly tying room, and a place to store things that we use, but don't use often. It's going to be tough! My thinking is that the upstairs is where we live so the things that we use all the time, every day should be up there. The downstairs should store stuff that we don't use on a daily basis, but use enough that we don't want it boxed up and stuck in the attic or garage. The garage storage should be for stuff that doesn't get used but a few times a year, like the Christmas stuff, off-season clothes and old baby equipment.

I am going to check out Craigslist for a cheap out building for the back yard. Then the mower, lawn tools, wagon and bikes could live out there, freeing up more space within the garage! After Smug-Hub gets the pantry shelving done, I am going to start nagging in earnest about the built-in bookshelves in the downstairs room. Getting my books out will make me happy and will free up more space in the garage!

In the meantime, I am going to pack up everything I can and move it all to Smug-Grandma's attic until some of these things come together, because while I have the ideas, I don't have any money, so....

The sleeping stuff is hit or miss. Smug-Baby got sick this week and had a stuffed up nose that affected her sleep and Smug-Hub is still having a hard time coming to bed, but we are coping.

I am actually excited about getting the last few "to do's" finished today and having a nice weekend with my family. I actually am having a haircut and massage on Saturday using the last of my birthday and Christmas gift certificates so that will be great and the Greek Festival is this weekend which is always wonderful! Also, Smug-Hub and I are taking Smug-Baby with us out to a super nice place for dinner on Sunday to celebrate our 4 year anniversary. It is going to be a great weekend!!

I already have the menus and grocery list for next week completed as well as the new "to do" list for next week that includes exercise! I am looking forward to being back on track and getting my home, body and mind in shape!!

Thursday, September 8, 2011

The Beach

We have returned from our week trip to the beach. Well, it was less than a full week because of Hurricane Irene who's visit forced us to put off traveling to the Outer Banks until Monday. But arrive we did!

I haven't been on a vacation like this as an adult, most of my time off has been to go visit family or long weekends to get something done around the house or whatever. This was my very first vacation! I was looking forward to it with mixed emotions. On one hand, I was excited, but I was worried about the amount of work involved in packing up everything (and I do mean everything) we would need for a week in a beach house. On another hand, I was feeling like I was expecting too much and it couldn't possibly live up to my hopes and dreams. On yet another hand, I was concerned about money and concerned about how Smug-Baby would do being off her routine and in a new place.

Basically, everything I was worried about happened. We spent too much money (mostly because when you plan on cooking at the house to save money you forget that you have to purchase everything that you normally already have on hand at home, like oil and salt and sugar and spices and...). We had to take everything, like sheets and towels and toilet paper and paper towels and everything for the beach and everything for the bathroom and kitchen towels and dish soap and, and, and... it was massive and it was a ton of work to get together and I was exhausted by the time I finished the list, let alone got everything into bags and suitcases. The car was jam packed full, so I couldn't have climbed into the backseat to hang with Smug-Baby should she have needed it. It was tight!!

Smug-Baby didn't sleep well and really hasn't slept well since we have been back either as I think she is cutting the 2 year molars at long last. The lack of decent sleep at night caused her to be cranky all day. She loved running around in the surf, however when a wave sprayed some water into her face she decided she was done with the ocean for the rest of the week. She liked playing in the sand until she noticed that her hands were dirty and then she decided she was done with sand castles for the week too. I spent the majority of the week back in the beach house trying to get her to nap.

I did, however spend just enough time on the beach to end up with splotchy sunburn and no nice tan at all.

Did I mention that I spent the week in the deep throes of PMS? I seriously told my husband that he needed to anticipate what I needed and just do it (read: read my mind) I was serious about it at the time, although now I see that I was being ridiculous! Sort of...

I didn't know it was PMS at the time, because I spent the week trying to talk myself out of taking a pregnancy test too soon. I was trying to get my head around being pregnant again and then I started my period and was crushed. I was sure that it would happen faster this time around and while two months of trying isn't anything like the two years of trying we had with Smug-Baby, I was still hoping for faster this time.

I know that by reading this you will think that I had a horrible time but I really didn't. I just didn't have an amazing time. I didn't feel rested and ready to face down the world and that was what I had expected from a week away from my life. I wanted to feel rejuvenated and I don't feel like it was all that different from normal life. You still had to make and clean up meals, make the beds, etc. The only difference was that you got to go sit on the beach for an hour or so in the afternoon before the baby needed a nap.

I think that my expectations were unrealistic. I was thinking that with my parents going with us and my sister's family going too, that I would have lots of help with Smug-Baby and I would be free to do some things on my own, like read a book or get a tan. In reality, Smug-Baby prefers me when she is uncomfortable and she was out of her element and teething so no one but mommy would do. And really, how can you complain about being number one!! She also started calling me "mum muma" over the week, so my heart was bursting with love!

We went shopping at the outlet mall one evening and I found some really cute outfits for her and she picked out a pair of shoes that she loves. She picked them out and handed them to me to put on her feet, then she ran around the store laughing and showing her feet to random shoppers. It was too cute, so I had to buy them. Then every time I told her to go get her shoes, she would find those and bring them to me. I love watching her little personality come through.

She actually did super great on the drive both there and back, sleeping most of the time and playing with her toys quietly the rest of the time. She did get really cranky about 90 minutes from home on the way back and we stopped and she nursed and ran around for a bit before driving the last hour home. That last hour was hard for her too, but she played with various toys and we sang songs and she made it without too much drama. I was really proud of her overall. Considering her teeth hurt, it could have been a lot worse.

She got sick and threw up all over the bed the last night we were there so that was fun. I think her stomach was upset from all the food that she isn't normally allowed to have (and since she is still nursing, all the food that I don't normally have either). She was fine after that and fine the next day, but I have re-committed myself to eating better and getting myself into healthy routines.

This first week back was nice, because we got home Saturday evening and had both Sunday and Monday off (Labor Day) so we had time to get things unpacked and laundry done and so on before the work week. It is also a short week, so I just need to get through today (Thursday) with both girls and tomorrow with Smug-Baby and all these appointments before the weekend will be here again and maybe, just maybe I will be able to get some rest :)