Ringmaster

Some days I feel like I am the ringmaster of a three-ring circus, juggling eat and sleep schedules...preparing play times, taming tantrums and flipping circles in order to keep up with it all. Today was one of those days. Now don't get me wrong...it was a good day. Everything was 'managed' smoothly...the kids slept when they should have slept, ate when they were hungry, played well. It was just so crazily busy!

And there I was, prepared for my day (or so I thought) when the alarm sounded at promptly 5:40 this morning. My neighbor was arriving at 9:30 for her maternity photo shoot, and there were plenty of things to get done before her arrival. I downed a half-warm cup of coffee while I peeked quickly at the weather report for the day (a sunny day is pretty important for my photo shoots!) and then scurried upstairs in the dark for a quick shower. The clock read 6:10 as I left the warm haven of the shower behind and I thought to myself "Hey....10 after six...plenty of time to get myself ready before Luke gets up." Oh how wrong I was. His little pj-clad body was at my bedroom door just 4 short minutes later. :( This did not make me very happy, and I was not so chipper in greeting him as I do every other morning. "But its getting light, Mom." he said. Yeah....I guess he was right. Why does it have to get light so dang early these days, anyway??????

Thus our day began. By 7:15, I was makeup'd, clothed, both kids were up, dressed and on our way to being fed. Beds were made, clothes were put away, and after a quick meal, I plopped Ellie down to play while Luke followed me around with his vacuum, and I cleaned up the house a bit. Then it was a quick walking for the dog to pee, three phone calls in a row, a couple of diaper changes (yes...a couple...Ellie is a pooping machine these days!!) and about 20 minutes left to set up for my shoot. Once everything was ready to go, I hustled Ellie back upstairs for her morning nap, timed just perfectly so that she would **hopefully** sleep during my session, which she did. I set up Toy Story 2 to play for Luke while my neighbors were here and I just have to say that he was AWESOME the ENTIRE two hours she was here!! I am so proud of my son! He watched his show, played both inside and out, rode his scooter and bike in the backyard and even grabbed his camera to photograph Tabitha right along with me. :) I really couldn't have asked for a more perfectly choreographed morning. Really. Ellie awoke from her nap at 11: 35 just as Tabitha was heading home and I've already told you what an angel Luke was! Once she left, I had just enough time to put my photography things away and attempt to nurse Ellie before my mom and dad arrived to drop of their dog TJ for the weekend. We're dog-sitting.

When TJ arrived, the house turned into more of a zoo than a circus, with two big, wildly excited hounds wrestling and clamoring through my house! And I kissed my somewhat clean floors goodbye for a few days! :)

To wind down for the hectic morning, I snuck away for a quick (and much needed!) pedicure while the kids were napping. It is Friday after all, and Ty was home for the day by 1pm. Phew! How nice it was to have a half hour of pampering! The rest of the afternoon was much like the morning, with a few less 'activities' tossed in. The kids got up from naps...I made a few phone calls about our insurance...Luke wanted to ride his bike around the block...Ellie needed feeding. You know...the normal, life stuff. Ty had had a rough week, so we decided a few drinks and some pizza was in order in lieu of cooking tonight, so we invited our other neighbors to dinner at our favorite pizza joint and we shared a few beers. Ahhhhhhh. A good way to end a hectic day. :) And now, the show is over. Time for bed. Lights out! :)