7 Quick Takes - Mommy Takes

Usually, I update on the kids or each member of the family and what we are doing as a family. This post is a little different. It's a weird post for Father's Day. Perhaps in a few days I will come up with a Father's Day post.

1. Glum - I wrote about having the baby blues in a previous post.  With previous babies, I had never quite experienced something like this.  It was quite a roller coaster.  There were moments when I felt overwhelmed and I felt if I did not get away from the whining, clinging and demands, I might hurt the children.  Thankfully my husband has been home and available for these moments.  If I had been alone, I would have tucked them away in there rooms for some unscheduled quiet time, a.k.a., Mommy-timeout.

Now, I seem to be evening out back into myself.  For the most part I am well.  But, I still seem to be a little glum.  I still am looking to find the beacon of inner-light.  I feel it is coming.  I think that going into summer mode has complicated things.  I need my regular routine and order.  Having a new baby forces us to scale back what we can do, plus, my husband has less routine with his job, and we are not organizing home school lessons.  I just need to keep busy...and I wonder where my son gets it.

6 weeks postpartum visit with my midwives - They were both there to catch baby Lucy.

2. Darn Song - I regularly go to group exercise classes at my gym.  During the relaxation portion of the yoga class I go to the instructor plays the song below.  Darn song!  It is about losing a loved  one.  Every time it plays I start crying, because I think of my brother who we lost tragically.  No one has noticed my crying, because at this point in the class everyone is red faced and dripping sweat and the lights are a little dim.  (Yeah, this song plus postpartum hormones = emotional lady).  It's played right before the portion where we lay down and turn the lights even lower.  So I have time to collect myself.  Darn song keeps making me cry, they need to stop playing it!  Don't they know that some people are going to feel very strongly about the song selections.  There is another one about a woman giving a baby up for adoption.  It's very sad.  It's so odd to get all emotional at the gym where I ought to feel great from the endorphins. 

3. Leg-acy - I thought that giving birth would provide relief to the varicose veins in my leg.  I was just praying for an early delivery so that relief might come.  In the end, I was granted that early delivery, even though my three other children were all delivered in the 40th week.  I do not know why this caused me so much agony.  My leg certainly seemed to have less trouble in the days after the birth.  It seemed a slow improvement.  It was not instant relief.  But a few weeks later things seemed almost normal.  Today, just the nested veins behind my knee feel a little hot and achey.  But the rest of my leg feels right.  It feels normal.  I would like to lose ALL of this baby weight to help things even further.  But, I am happy the vein problems are only present while pregnant.  If we have another child, I will have to be better prepared for this problem and anticipate fully the measures I will need to take to endure better.

Before

After

4. Sad Day - our favorite kids store is closing.  I cannot imagine our lives without this store.  The store sells so many of our favorite things.  There are also kids activities there and a play area, all for free.  I sort of hope that the store finds a way to reopen, or reconsider. :-( It's been a great addition to our community.

5. New Addition - My mom came for a visit and we thought this would be a perfect time to tile the kitchen backsplash, since she is an expert at home renovation.  We are lucky to have her talent.  We love home improvement.

Pretty Natural Stones - marbles and granites, and sandstone 

6. My baby can swim! It's one of those proud momma moments.  This swim class did not allow parents to stay, which I thought was great, but I had no idea what was going on--trusted though.  By the end of the week, they had a show-off day.  I could not believe that in a mere five days of 30 minute lessons my baby learned to swim on his own, without his momma teaching him.  I am so glad he learned this new skill.  But, it was also a reminder to me that someday my baby bird will spread his wings and fly away from my nest (hopefully not until he's' 30 ;-).  Two nights this week he read the bedtime stories to me instead of vice versa.  I was pleased with this as well.

7. Not a Newborn - Lucy stopped looking like a newborn this week.  She is just barely fitting into size one diapers. By next week she will be into size two for sure.  Both Lucy's and Annie's newborn phase went by so quickly.  I hardly remember being pregnant and giving birth; and Lucy seems like an infant now.  I am sure I will blink and she will be a toddler.  I am definitely trying to savor my babies these days.  I do not know how people with just two children don't long for those days when their babies slept on their chests and made baby noises. There are drawbacks to babies, but the goodness of each child always seems to outweigh.  I was just thinking the other day if I had stopped after two I would never know Annie and she is such a wonderful child.  I could not imagine not having her.  Which just shows me, how important each person is.