Snapshot of Life as I turn 31

In a rare occurance these days, Grace and Remington are both taking a nap!

I decided to take it as an opportunity to write a short, no picture blog of my life before I turn 31 tomorrow.

My life is full, blessed and I feel that most days I am able to find that delicate but beautiful balance of time for me, time as a mom, and time as a wife.

Grace has preschool twice a week, and those mornings are special because I have time with Remington that he doesn't have to share with Grace. We sometimes run errands, or go to the park, or Pretend City, or just stay home, but he gets all the mom time, and he loves that, and I do too.

Tuesdays we visit my mom, and have special grandma mornings with her followed by a lunch. Then Remington falls asleep on the drive home (and sometimes Grace does too, but almost always wakes up as I get her out of the car.

But most afternoons, when Remington is napping, Grace and I have a special time where we play board games together. She loves a princess game my brother got for her and she always is Snow White, and loves to win. Recently we got a cooperative game, and she just couldn't understand how we could both win, but she loved it.

I have never lost the love of reading that I got as a child (and have passed onto my kids), so I get my doses of me-time in my reading at two main points of the day- breakfast and snacktime. At lunch and and dinner, there are no books, phones or tv (unless it is a Ducks game) allowed, and we focus on actually having a conversation. But at breakfast and at afternoon snack, both kids know that mom is reading. They are happy and content in their food, and I read that it is actually really beneficial for kids to see their parents reading, as it sets a good example. As Grace has gotten older, she actually will ask me about my books from time to time and I share what I can about what I am currently reading.

Perhaps it is because of that, or something else, but both of my kids love to read. We get stacks of books from the library, in addition to our extensive library at home (inherited from years in the classroom) and a good chunk of my time with the kids is spent reading books to them. Both of them love to bring me a book (Remington will say, not so politely, "Read it!") and sit on my lap as I read them a story, and are getting good at telling me the story of books we have read together many times.

I try for an afternoon walk with them every day, but when that doesn't happen, I try to get Blake to take them instead. But even at home, Remington especially, the kids get a lot of exercise with the variety of balls we give them access to, and hockey sticks/net, baseball tee, etc.

I strive for running before everyone wakes up two days a week, and then once on the weekend, and I also have added weight training a few days a week when Blake gets home. This is another good me-time place where I don't have to worry about anyone but me, and Blake has been amazing at giving me occasional evenings where I can go out with friends too, and he watches the kids (and I return the favor for sporting events or what he wants to do).

We have started "cry it out" with Remington and it seems to be going well, though it is heartbreaking to do with a kid with his advanced vocabulary, as you won't just hear crying, you also hear, "Momma, where are you?" and "I love you, " as he tries hard to get me to come back early. However, with his wider understanding, we can talk about how mom will come back after he goes to sleep, and that seems to be helping. Last night was only a few minutes of crying, and I hope that it continues to go down (as I truly hate hearing him cry).

After the kids go to bed, Blake and I get our unwinding time either with a tv show- recently we are on a superhero kick- or the video game that we have returned to for the upteenth time, having started it before we graduated college and have played and quit multiple times.

I sneak art projects in from time to time, but most days, in the down time between preschool, Grace's dance class, my mom, their other grandma time, and playdates, etc. I just let them play. I really push the divergent thinking toys (which are toys that can be played with a multiple ways). The latest favorites are things like the train tracks/train set, the dollhouse, and the small animals. I love seeing their creativity come out. I have seen Grace give the tiger a shot and Remington have a princess riding a dinosaur. Remington, the other day, set up a bunch of animals in a row, and started feeding all of them with a pretend fork, and saying, "Yummy," as he went. Grace will cook us up crazy foods in her play kitchen, and it never ceases to amaze me what creative minds my (and probably most) kids have when you just let them play with a toy with no specific, predetermined purpose (like so many electronic games and toys these days).

Not to say that I even meet my own perfect image of what parenting should be. Perfect world, my kids wouldn't watch any tv... but the only way I can find to be the wife I want to be is to make a compromise here. For an hour every day, I let the kids watch a show while I clean up the kitchen and prep dinner if I can. They do have to pick up toys first, and whoever cleans up best gets to choose the show. Another way that I am less than my own ideal is with cloth diapers. I feel the need, on this blog of mine, to admit that while Grace still uses cloth diapers at night, we still haven't made the switch with Remington. It is hard to get away from the better look, and ultimately ease that the disposable diapers offer, especially with the many outings we go on.

With that, Remington woke up... and so did Grace... but suffice it to say that I am at a great place of peace and happiness with my lot in life these days.