Today

Here is what I did today:
1. Nurse Josie 10 times.
2. Change about 40,000 diapers with accompanying blowouts and wardrobe changes.
3. Feed Holly breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks.
4. Play with Holly.
5. Read Holly her favorite books a countless number of times.
6. Discipline Holly. Yikes.
7. Do dishes. Twice.
8. Wash about 4 loads of laundry.
9. Clean the living room.
10. Make dinner.
11. Get Holly bathed, PJ'd, read scriptures, pray, get her in bed.

Here is what you would've seen if you had come to my house today:
1. Me and the kids still in our PJs.
2. Breakfast still on Holly's face at 2:00 in the afternoon.
3. Holly running around with a fork she found on the kitchen table.
4. Holly throwing a fit because I asked her to clean up a mess she made.
5. Dirty dishes in the sink. They multiply like crazy!
6. Complete, utter chaos.

So...even if it looks like we're a mess, it doesn't mean I haven't done anything! I have come to the conclusion that about 90% of work that a mom does she has nothing to show for; if it gets done, you don't notice it. Only if it is not done do people notice. Days like this are so frustrating!

DIY Christmas

I finally put our Christmas tree up today. We were waiting because Holly is sure to destroy it; then we were waiting for Andrew to summon the courage to forge a path through our attic to find the Christmas decorations. Finally, I put my foot down and decided that it was happening today, for Pete's sake. I mean, it's December 20th! Geez.

I found these cute green lights and the light-up star toward the top of one of the boxes. I got them both on clearance last year I think, because I feel like I should never pay full price for Christmas decorations. (Well, really I feel like I should never pay full price for anything...but that's another story for another day.) Anyway, I don't think we'll be making it into the pages of House Beautiful anytime soon, but it's cute and it's just right for us this year. What with an 18-month-old and all that.

Now I'm starting to feel the Christmas spirit! I'm ready to go finish wrapping all of the presents. I can't wait to see them all under the tree on Christmas Eve.

Daily Occurrence

Every day around 2:00 in the afternoon, Holly gets up from whatever she's doing and goes to the front door. "Da-da?" she asks. "Da-da?" Andrew usually gets home somewhere around this time (give or take an hour or two), so I always tell her that Daddy's coming home soon.

Fast-forward to when Andrew comes home. Holly hears his keys in the front door and runs to watch as he comes in, a huge grin on her face. She tells him "hi," waves, and ignores him for the rest of the day.

Sick

We've had both roseola and a stomach bug at our house this week. We have had at least one person in our family sick every day since Sunday, so I literally have lost an entire week of my life being sick and caring for my sick children.

Since we have stuck around the house this week, I have had lots of time to contemplate how much it sucks being a mom sometimes. Fevers, rashes, up to my elbows in puke and poop--you know. Waking up in the night with miserable little girls and dragging them into my bed to try and get a few hours of sleep. Mom is on call all the time, no break. (This includes my mom, who was the lucky one holding my hair back while I was throwing up. Thank you. You're the best! You will have a hard time getting me to move on with my life.)

At the same time, I have thought about how wonderful it is to be a mom. I can't even describe the kind of love I feel for my two girls. There is no one else who I would rather care for and hug and kiss and comfort. Holly is the only one who I want to cuddle up on the couch with and watch The Little Mermaid 100 times. In a row. And although Holly and Josie have been sick this week and that's the reason they have been so cuddly, I'm grateful for those moments I have had with them, just hanging out and hugging them and smelling their sweet baby smell. My kids are the greatest. I love being their mom. Even the worst moments we have together are worth it, because we're together.