Absence makes the heart grow fonder (I hope)

I'm sure when you hear from me about an update the idea of order and togetherness don't come to mind since it feels like what seems an eternity (at least to me) since my last post. I wish I could provide a reasonable excuse as to why I've been away for so long, but unfortunately I can't. I wasn't away accomplishing fabulous things. No, I've just been away trying to accomplish life with two kids.

After my sweet Kylie turned one in October I thought I was well on my way to looking like I had things together but soon after that...BAM. Daylight savings time ended and all manner of naps and schedules went out the window and there I was again feeling like I had no clue of what I was doing even though this isn't my first rodeo in the kids department. Keeping her on somewhat of a good schedule and ensuring Braedan is entertained and challenged is about all I could handle the last few months in addition to the day-to-day tasks a stay-at-home mom encounters. Oh, and I can't forget about trying to accomplish all that, plus keeping up with the hustle and bustle of the holidays which seemed to have started the day after Halloween as opposed to what should be an obligatory and respectful waiting period until after Thanksgiving.

And as I type this I feel so inadequate because I think of those moms with three kids, or more specifically, friends and family who work and have kids and I feel like such a wimp. I have to remind myself that I'm doing the best I can, but recently one of my best girlfriends from college, Betty, made me feel better about my motherly faults and she didn't even know it. On the website I share with her and my other college girlfriends we exchanged one of our daily threads, and I can't even recall what the whole thing was about. We might have discussed the need to get things done at home, but all I remember is one line she wrote, I don't know how you stay at home moms do it. Bless her heart, because I'm always thinking on the other end about how working moms do IT along with all the other stuff.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is I blame my absence from the blog for the last three months on my lack of good time management skills, sleep deprivation and, for the month of December, the retail world. But rest assured in the midst of my countless self-doubting moments these past few months, both Kylie and Braedan were having a great time. Kylie had a fun-filled birthday with family, presents and one of her newfound favorites--dessert. She really had not tried anything sweet prior to her birthday cake so you know that was a big hit.

By the time Halloween rolled around they both had a great time even though we were eaten alive by mosquitoes while trick-or-treating.

 

During November, we enjoyed visits to San Antonio and Houston where we caught up with family and friends, and in December the idea of Christmas and a visit from Santa Claus in both Corpus Christi and New Mexico helped Braedan to keep us on our toes when it came to planning the gift delivery. (Which by the way, I think Braedan now believes that Santa can make several stops and Christmas just isn't the one day but maybe a whole week long. That is a whole separate post I'll have to tackle some day.)



This year he wanted a tree of his own for his room.

And that was the end of our year in a nutshell. I'm going to try my best to stay on top of this whole stay-at-home mom gig along with everything else, including this blog.