Just the Four of Us....

Why´d we have to go and make things so complicated???? just kidding. I am so excited to have two daughters. I am also very tired.

Life has gotten a lot more hectic around these parts. Daniel started back at work today, and I am sitting in a room full of laundry. Clean laundry here, dirty laundry upstairs, a washing-machine working on load number 258. If only I had a laundry-room to hide that mess!

How am I going to keep up with it? Not just with the clothes... No, with every aspect of life. I just put the girls down for naps and it feels like I haven´t accomplished anything at all. Few things are more dreadful (at least when it concerns the domestic sphere).


Time Management: I was finally starting to get things organized (before Anika was born). Overall, the house was still a bit of a disaster, but I at least managed to keep the bed- and bath-rooms clean & tidy. It was so rewarding to look around and not to see piles of junk all over the floor. Not to notice a layer of dust on every surface.
Now, on the contrary, I can hardly move an inch without stepping on something. It makes me so nervous. But here is the problem: when the girls are fed and asleep (in other words, my window of opportunity!), I can choose to do one of the following (two, if I´m lucky & particularly efficient):
*Get showered & dressed
*Eat whichever meal is due
*Take a nap
*Clean
*Cook
*Relax
That´s it. And, as you might guess, I often choose the last. Why? Shouldn´t I at least have the decency to brush my hair and put on a clean pair of socks?? Well, I should, but that hour of "nothing", of sitting in front of the computer, helps me to feel ever so slightly connected to the outside world. And that beats personal hygiene- it just does.

But it´s a tough choice. I would LOVE to take a nap. I´d also really love to sort through those piles and clean the bathroom..... (the effects of my nesting-syndrome haven´t worn off) But I prefer to talk to y´all instead.

So.....life as a family of four. It´s still sort of unreal to talk about "the kids"...plural. Makes me feel like I should be in my thirties. Arianna is taking the change very well, thankfully, though I notice that it has affected her. Of course it has. Children internalize these drastic changes, and I can tell that Ari hasn´t been sleeping as well lately. She has woken up several times from what seem to be nightmares. She calls out for me and wants to sit with me, but it happens almost exclusively when she wakes up at night. During the day, she goes merrily about her business, playing cheerfully as usual. She doesn´t complain when I hold Baby Zus, nor does she go out of her way to get my attention in those instances.
She is kind to Anika, and seems quite fascinated with her. (and, let´s face it, life is too full of exciting things such as numbers and letters.. who has time to be minding baby-sisters? Just this morning, she enthusiastically shouted "toast is de A de Ari"..so, I looked at the soggy piece on her plate, and, good heavens!, it did indeed resemble an A.)

Anika is still so easy to care for. She eats and sleeps much and well. She does, however, suffer terribly from colic at night. These colic-attacks tend to happen between 11 and 1 at night, and they last long. Poor little thing: her belly becomes like a rock, she kicks her legs frantically, and she screams out in distress. Tears roll down her warm little cheeks. And there is so little I can do to relieve it. I move her legs, I rub her belly, I try to help her get rid of those gases, but it´s tough. And, as the experts say, colic can´t always be remedied. You just have to go through it. Mothers can try to cut out certain things of their diet, or drink special teas, but, in the end, those tiny intestines just need a few months to develop. And some children suffer more as a result of this process than others.

So, the colic has been no fun. Neither has the mastitis, though I am finally getting past that ordeal.

It takes the four of us about 2 hours to get ready to leave the house for any type of outing, and this stresses Mama out. (and I am not saying 2 hours of slowly gathering our things. I mean 2 hours of rushing). Daniel doesn´t get too stressed by this, but then again, stress is just not his thing, and I envy him for his ability to just "stay cool and take a chill pill". I might envy it, but things get pretty tense when I´m trying to get myself (and everybody else!) organized and Daniel sees no need to hurry. Poor Ari has picked up on this (of course), and has been running around saying, "It´s not fair!" (with every bit of the dramatic intonation that I give it) because she´s heard me say that while I complain about not even having time to finish my breakfast.

What do I have to say for myself?? Huh? I act like a total maniac around my daughters sometimes. It´s very frustrating, and I try to make up for it by being really really calm and sweet, but sometimes mothers can´t be helped. Sometimes, we just need to let it out. And I´m pretty sure the kids will get over it eventually.

If I could just get caught up. I just need to get organized. The baby-announcements are designed and ready to be printed: I need to get that dealt with before another week goes by. And that laundry...that dreaded laundry that is filling one side of our closet (towering high above the hamper that holds it).. And the groceries. The meals that need cooking. The bathtub that needs cleaning. The list goes on, and I am so pathetically failing to finish the To-Do´s.

One day at a time, I reckon. As long as I can keep this baby fed & burped, and the other one out of trouble!!!