Why are we are never satisfied with the way things are? I have really been trying to remind myself lately to savor the moment…each moment. I know how fast Nora has grown and now as I watch Wyatt change by the day, I know that these moments are precious and will pass before I know it. So, why do I keep thinking things like “if only Nora was 100% potty trained” or “I can’t wait until Wyatt sleeps through the night”? The truth is that with each new stage we simply trade old challenges for newer challenges. I need to be in the moment and enjoy each of one…even the moments that are not enjoyable. I am working towards having this perspective. Wyatt and I are still having several dates each night. While I don’t eagerly jump out of my warm bed for a 3AM feeding, I do treasure this time with him. The rest of the household is asleep and I am able to focus completely on Wyatt like I am not generally able to do during the day (although, I do admit to falling asleep many nights while he eats). Once he does begin to sleep through the night, I will miss that time with just the two of us…but I will also treasure my sleep. That said, I do want to post about our night last night. I am not complaining at all, but last night was one of those nights where I wasn’t really savoring the moment. Looking back at it, now, I just have to laugh. I want to remember the times like this. Someday when my kids are grown and far away I will be longing for the craziness that I found myself in last night. If you are a pro at having multiple children, you are going to think nothing of this. But, for me this was big. Last night was my first overnight alone with the kiddos. Amazingly, due to all our company, a snowstorm in Colorado, and daddy’s schedule, we made it 7 weeks before I had to do this. I am getting better at juggling two small children, but I am still a rookie in this game. This will give you a very real view of how our life is from time to time these days…

Last night the kids and I went to our Sunday evening service at church. This service was going to feature a young man talking about his mission work in South Africa. The service began at 6:00. I made a point to get to the service early so that we could have our pick of seats and settle our entourage (you can’t travel lightly with kids…especially when you need to entertain them at a service). I made sure that we were on the back row so that we could be as little a distraction as possible. I also made sure we were sitting next to a dear couple who could help with Nora if I needed to take Wyatt out for some reason. The problem is that our Sunday evening gatherings are small and we meet in the fellowship hall instead of the auditorium. We sit on folding chairs. There were more people than usual at the service to hear the presentation and the people who came in late added rows of folding chairs behind ours. By the time everyone arrived, we were no longer in the back but right smack dab in the center of the gathering. Lovely. I will say that Nora was an angel during the entire service. She wasn’t perfect, but to be 2, she did great. Wyatt woke for a diaper change (I got to exit in front of everyone) and then slept through the rest of the service. The presentation on South Africa was very good and I was really interested in it. Then, it struck me that the guy had been talking for a long time. I checked the time. It’s 7:15. Nora has been sitting for an hour and 15 minutes. In hindsight, I should have left then. Interesting as it was, the presentation didn’t seem to be coming to an end anytime soon. Now I was stuck with a dilemma. I could tell the clock was ticking with Nora and I also knew Wyatt was going to want to eat soon. However, I didn’t want to be rude and leave in the middle of the presentation—especially since we weren’t in the back. So, we continued to listen. I figured that once the presentation was over, we would leave when everyone began to sing. It’s 7:30. It’s bedtime. Nora was really antsy by this point. The presentation is still going. I decided we were just going to have to be rude. I began to gather our things including some Yo-gos that had escaped underneath the row in front of us. Nora begins to fuss. I direct her to make her way over the people next to us to get to the aisle so we can leave. I attempt to follow her as I hold Wyatt’s car seat, our jackets, the diaper bag, and Nora’s activity backpack without hitting anyone on the head. Problem: Nora wouldn’t walk in front of me. We finally make it (not gracefully) into the aisle and I rearrange my stuff enough to grab the hand of my whimpering daughter. We make it to the hallway where we put on our jackets and I strap Wyatt into his seat. One of our elders followed us out so he could help me. Bless him! He carried Wyatt to the car while I got Nora and the rest. By this time, Wyatt has woken up enough to realize that he hasn’t eaten in over 3 hours and he is HUNGRY! My sweet Wyatt who never cries for more than a few minutes at a time cried almost the entire 20 minute ride home. During the ride, Nora (who has done more than her fair share of crying in the car) was very annoyed with her brother and kept saying, “Wyatt, STOP crying!” Wyatt was crying, Nora was yelling at him, and I was yelling at Nora to stop yelling at him. Wyatt finally stops crying and Nora lets out a horrible yelp which sets him off again. The whole drive home I was trying to mentally nail down my game plan for once we got home. I needed to brush Nora’s teeth, help her potty, put on her PJs, read her stories, and put her in bed. I also needed to nurse Wyatt and get him in bed. I have gotten good at nursing while doing other things, but I still haven’t mastered doing it during Nora’s bedtime routine. What to do? Wyatt finally falls asleep a few minutes from home. I take advantage of the peace to give Nora a pep talk on being a helper so we can get her ready for bed quickly so that Mommy can feed Wyatt. We get home and Nora was very cooperative. We get her ready quickly. However, Wyatt wakes again in the meantime. More crying. Finally, I get to the point where Nora is in bed ready for stories. I begin to nurse poor Wyatt as I read to Nora. Finally, peace. Nora goes to sleep. Wyatt finishes eating and goes to bed. Mommy collapses in a chair to eat dinner (at 9PM). Thankfully, both kids slept well and our first night alone was a success…once we got home. Savor the moment!

We took our family of four for its very first getaway this week. Chris was on paternity leave and we decided it would be a shame to waste that time. When we first had the idea to take a trip, we weren’t sure if it was an inspired idea for family fun and togetherness or a moment of pure insanity. Luckily, it turned out to be the former instead of the latter. It is a lot of work traveling with a two year old and a six week old, but we had a great time!

We spent two nights in Wisconsin Dells, or as all the locals call it, “The Dells”. This is a huge tourist area (think Branson or Gatlinburg) and boasts numerous indoor waterpark resorts. We had yet to visit this part of the state and decided to shop around to see which resort had the best deals and would be good for young children. Since it is off-season and we were going in the middle of the week, we found a too-good-to-be-true deal (but it was!) at one of the resorts. It was a dirt cheap price that included our room for two nights, admission to the indoor waterpark, and all our meals and snacks. They had a fabulous buffet for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The waterpark (or “waterpool” as Nora called it) was really fun. It had a kids’ area for Nora with a wading pool, fountains, small slides, etc. There was a lazy river. Wyatt, the party animal, hung out by the pool and slept through it all waking occasionally to eat. Chris and I took turns, one of us hanging out with the kids while the other went on the larger slides. Since our package included miniature golf, we took Nora out for her first mini-golf experience. Let’s just say we were glad we didn’t actually pay for this. It was hilarious. The whole concept of the game seemed to be lost on Nora’s two year old mind. If you want to get the ball in the hole, why not just walk to the hole and drop the ball in? Why stand around and hit it with a stick and get frustrated if you can just drop the ball in the hole?

 We played hard the whole time we were there. We even let bedtime slide. I am usually pretty militant about bedtime because Nora does not do well when she doesn’t get her full rest. I guess this is true of most kids, but she REALLY needs her rest…trust me…it’s not pretty when she doesn’t get it. Even with the late bedtimes, Nora did well. She had a blast playing in the water and watching daddy and mommy go down the big slides. The part I was most nervous about was nighttime. How was Nora going to handle sleeping through Wyatt waking up several times a night for diaper changes and feedings? Our deal came with a “junior suite” which had a separate living area with a partial wall. We put Nora on the pull-out couch on the other side of the wall with her Sleep Mate (white noise maker) and she did much better than I had dared to hope. The late bedtimes finally caught up with her, though. She crashed on the way home. Of course, being Nora, she refused to go to sleep in the car and was in a full meltdown by the time we got home. Within minutes of getting home both kids were crying and Wyatt had a blow out diaper. Ahh, back to reality! Fun times! Sweet kids! Great memories! We might even venture out on another family getaway again someday.