Mommyville...

Welcome to Mommyville.

Population 2 adults, 2 children and 1 dog.

So I have been dreading the week when I would be ALL ALONE with my two lovely children and a dog. So far I have been very blessed either my parents or Matt have been with me since Macie has been born. But Matt has returned to work and my parents have returned to Colorado.

It is not that I don't know how to raise children, I have been doing it successfully with one for over 2 years now. It is the fact that I will be out numbered, especially around nap time for the 2 year old. I am used to being outnumbered, I taught first grade for 8 years with anywhere from 20-25 students. But that was in a classroom setting and they had the fear of the principal to keep them in line.

Now I am all alone with 2 very darling and wonderful children. I know I can do this and I can do it fairly well. The trick, which I did learn from teaching is that a schedule is a must and you MUST stick to it. No matter what!

So my goal on Monday was to get a schedule going and to tackle putting 2 down for a nap at the same time so that I could take a nap. My nap is crucial since a little girl (who I will not name) thinks that waking up every 2-3 hours in the night and eating for an hour is perfectly fine. Which means that Mommy gets about 4 hours of sleep each night. Which doesn't really allow for the best functioning Mommy the following day. Anyway...

Monday morning Lucas woke up at 7 am and Macie woke up around the same time. I brought Lucas into my room and put on a lovely Sight Words video (thank you Preschool Prep!). While Lucas practiced his sight words, I fed Macie. Then I put Macie in her swing upstairs in my bathroom and got ready for the day. So far, so good.

Then we went down stairs and I prepared breakfast for Master Lucas. This usually consists of pancakes or cereal. Thank goodness for frozen pancakes then breakfast is done in 32 seconds. During this time Macie works on her tummy time. While Macie is doing tummy time and Lucas is eating I wash the bottles or clean up any messes in the house.

After breakfast and tummy time, it is time to feed Macie again before her morning nap. Once she is down, Lucas and I do "homework." This means I check my email, blogs that I follow and a social network. Lucas plays on the i.Pad and does his ABC's from Star.fall. Also, I eat my breakfast during that time.

Once Macie wakes up from her nap, we all take a little walk to get some fresh air and let Lucas play at a local park. This allows a little 2-year old to get a little worn out before lunch followed by nap. We play at the park for about 15 minutes and walk back home. A nice little 45 minute outing.

When we get home, I prepare lunch for Master Lucas and let Macie play a little bit. Then we head upstairs to my room. While we are there, Lucas watches his sight word video and I feed Macie. This allows for Lucas to relax and to let me put Macie down for her afternoon nap. Once she is out, I put Lucas down for his nap. This is really what I was most worried about. How would I get a little boy down for his nap, especially when he can fight it for over an hour sometimes. Seriously, I was FREAKING out about this! But I think with the walk and the cool down time, it has taken less than 10 minutes to get the little man down! Holla! This then makes for a happy Mommy because I get a nap!

After nap, Lucas has a snack, I have a snack and then Macie has a snack. And by the time that is over, Matt is home from work. Take that Mommyville. Oh, I must add that Matt asked when in my schedule does it allow for me to get dinner ready. Well, the first day I didn't have to worry about it because dinner was brought over by Lori. But I did manage to make dinner on Tuesday. Oh yeah!

We have even taken more adventures over the past few days... I took both to the store for a few items and a coffee drink and we even made a trip to Tar.get. Bring it on! I can do this.

Now for the nighttime routine... Well, that is a work in progress. Getting baths for 2 and getting 2 to bed. That is a blog for another day!