Adventures in Mommyhood

I have several friends who just had babies and are going through those tough first few weeks. So, I thought I'd offer up a few morsels of comic relief for those hours in the wee morning when you feel as if you can't go on another minute. Truth be told, (as mommies know) being a Mommy is simultaneously the most challenging and the most rewarding job on the planet. Still, as high as the rewards can take you, a tough day can really bring you low.

This post is something I wrote and sent to my mom and a few friends just a week or two after Cam was born. I was desperately struggling through each sleep-deprived, hormonally-charged day and praying I (and my boys!) would survive my mommyhood. This is for you, Ashley, Connie, and Tara - I think about you often and am praying for you all!

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A Day at the Barr's House with two boys under 16 months:

Kayden soaked his diaper through his clothes, so I took him to the changer on the pack 'n' play in our living room, and got him stripped and changed his diaper. Then, I made the mistake of putting him down before he was dressed, so I had to chase him around the living room and wrestle him to the ground to get a new suit on him. As soon as that was done, I hear (and smell) that Cameron needs a new diaper. SO...I get him over to the changing table and proceed to change his diaper. About halfway through this process, he lets out an enormous fart and poops all over the changer, me, and the new diaper, which I had unsuccessfully used to try and block this latest "installment." Lovely. And it gets better - lots better! :)

I'm in the process of getting this cleaned up when I hear water running. Water running? That's weird. So I look up to see that Kayden has reached up onto the dining room table and pulled over a nearly full can of Dr. Pepper (which I HAD placed out of reach...I thought!) and there is a huge puddle on the table that is pouring over the side onto the floor, hence the sound of water running. Then I see that my newly-changed 16-month-old is sitting directly under this Dr. Pepper waterfall, happily splashing around and laughing hysterically. So then I run over to Kayden (yes, I'm still covered in poop and had to leave Cameron buckled on the changer without a diaper on) and grab the nearest blanket to mop up the puddles on the table and floor, and get Kayden de-stickified and his clothes stripped off again.

I get back to Cameron, who miraculously hasn't peed all over everything, and get a new diaper on him. Then, I get him situated in the pack 'n' play bassinet so I can get myself and the changer cleaned off and get the soaked and poopy articles up to the washer. I get up to the washer, and dunk the pile of clothes and blankets into my blue "poop bucket," where I soak dirty stuff until I'm ready to wash. It's at this point that I realize that the last thing I dumped in the bucket was a pair of Kayden's dirty pants. Red pants. Yeah, the water had turned pink. So now I've just dumped a ton of (it figures) mostly WHITE clothing/burp rags/blankets into pink dyed water. ARGH! :)

I get the clothes and bucket rinsed out and in the wash, and rush back downstairs, relieved to find that my sons have not spit up, peed, pooped, or knocked anything over. Success! :)

All this - and it was only 10am!