Ordinary Wednesday

This isn't too thrilling, but nevertheless, here's a glimpse of a normal Wednesday with the H's for you to "peek into."

Matt woke around 4am. He always comes back to bed after getting ready for a little more sleepy time together before he leaves a bit after 5am. He prayed, we exchanged goodbyes, no kisses this morning (he's been sick, we think the swine flu...though he's 2 days free of the fever), and I went back to sleep. I woke up a couple times, but lazily stayed in bed...until I heard those little noises coming from Stevie's room. I glance at the clock, 8:09am! Oops!! Stevie's usually up, moving, making noise around 7:45am. Sometimes I let him "play" till 8, but I'm up and moving. This morning, however, I apparently needed some extra encouragement, ahem.

I changed to a different old cross country t-shirt since Matt's been sick to try to decrease the transfer of germs when handling Stevie through the morning. And let's face it, I'm not showering before I go to get him this morning. I give myself a moment in the bathroom and enter my little boy's room with fuzzy eyes. There he is, my little roller is on his tummy, kicking his legs with great thuds, a toothy smile on his face. Of course, the little crib mirror that hangs on the side of the crib has been yanked off and is upside down next to him. We "share" good mornings and sing our daily, "Rise and shine and give God the glory glory..." I transfer him with kisses to the changing table, and unzip the sleeper to find a completely drenched onesie. I'm talking drenched up to his chin. His diaper never comes close to containing all nights' worth of urine. Thankfully, this morning was only "wet". ;) (He's in size 2...any thoughts Moms? They don't sell overnights for that size.) The wetness never seems to bother him. He actually fusses while I change him because he'd rather be eating. He chews on some toes while I change him out of the soaked onesie and into a fresh diaper, onesie, and a sleep and play. I'm silly, I know. I often put him in a sleep and play for the morning hours to start the day a little more cozily since he naps in a couple hours. (Unless his evening clothes were dry, I'd keep him in those.) Later, I'll change him into "day" clothes.

We take the bouncy trip down the stairs. I nurse Stevie while checking emails and catching up on some blogs. Then it's time for my breakfast and Stevie's oatmeal and bananas! This usually consists of lots of mmm's (unintentional of course), smiles, and "I'll have more of that please" noises. He gets some play time while I do a couple things in the kitchen. I even popped an Oreo or two. Yup, I started the day off wonderfully after my Raisin Bran, ha. Nap time arrives for the little man. Diaper change, story in the rocker ("Peekaboo I See Who?"), nap music (our wedding music, yes, it's sort of modern day Jane Austen-y to have him sleep to the music his mother and father were married to, and I love it) a mini burping session and a few more snuggles, followed by the crib. Today, he was put down around 10:15. It was rainy and dreary this morning, so I hoped he may be able to drift off to sleep on his own. When it's dark, that's more of a possibility.

I washed the dishes from breakfast, the evening bottles, and the few dishes I surrendered to the morning from last night. I checked the weather, looked through some mail from yesterday and began planning a trip to the store after nap to buy some bottle accessories (we use Dr Browns = lots of parts)...but see the coupon is not good until tomorrow. Then I heard the cries from Stevie's room at 10:45am. He still had not fallen asleep. This is typical. It takes him awhile. Check another flyer and notice one coupon expired yesterday, but another began today that I'd like to put towards a Christmas gift for my mom. Yes, I may be early to some, but if I can find good deals now, I think it's worth it!

Now, it's shower time for me. 11am. Just before, I checked on the little man. He has fallen asleep..and after only 45 mins to boot! The joy it brings me when I don't have to go to him for him to fall asleep. That doesn't happen much for nap times. The little things definitely are big things for this mom.

I put some laundry away after my shower, and at 11:40, I hear some awake noises. That wasn't a very long one! Time to get his bottle ready and feed him. Turn on the news during feeding and hear we got seventy-two hundredths of an inch of rain...interesting...? I ate my lunch and checked in on little Stellan over on MckMama's blog. He needs lots of prayer right now. I had my lunch time chat with Matt on the phone, and then changed the boy and packed up. First we went to that clothing store to look for something for my mom but didn't find anything. There used to be a shoe store right next door to it. I even asked Matt later about it just to be sure I wasn't going looney. I wanted to ask for some boxes for Operation Christmas Child. We don't have any shoe boxes this year in our house, and I sort of head it at my church, so I thought I'd get some extras for others in the same boat. Anyway, that store is no longer there. I guess that shows how often I buy shoes! We went to Walmart to print pictures (we still hadn't printed his birth pictures or ANY pictures of our firstborn child who will be 5 months next week...gasp, smack cheeks in shock, I know), and while we waited to use the kiosk? (only 1 was working...true to form), I asked for shoe boxes there, but they didn't have extras except for one without a lid. That won't really work. I also looked for an album for the pictures I was printing, but I was unsuccessful with that either (well, for the kind I was looking for anyway). I even contemplated a scrapbook, which is a hobby (though not taken up in a long time) but at the moment I now have three crafty projects on my plate for the little man, and I didn't want to go crazy in the spending department either. You ever feel like your errands were a complete waste of time? We finally got the pictures printed and headed home at 2:15. It was time to change and nurse Stevie and give him a bottle. He had a dip in his weight so he's on the super size plan, haha.

Matt came home around 3, and we popped a pizza in the oven. He has class on Wednesday nights (he's going back to school), so it's usually a quick and easy dinner. I had some talk time with Matt, I had some play time with Stevie (and time in his jump-up to work on those leg muscles), I washed bottles, and then we ate dinner with Little House on the Prairie in the background. Nellie had twins. Ever seen that one? haha (I know, I know, tv during dinner. I'm being honest here!) Nap time for Stevie came, same routine as earlier, only this time we read, "The Way to Wyatt's House" (a little paraphrased for his attention span). Matt and I spent a few more minutes together, and he was off to class.

The rest of the evening, I worked on this post, and went to wash some dishes (does it ever end?) and do some clean-up, but the napping boy had awoken. I gave him a few minutes because he needed a longer nap. Noticing he wasn't settling, I went in to rub his fuzzy little head to sleep. As much as I want him to go to sleep on his own, I do find those moments special. I'm sure he won't need me to rub his fuzzy little head when he's 18. Then I continue with a little straightening up, and start a Gilmore Girls episode online. Stevie woke up again, so even though it was a bit early, I got him up. He had his bottle and devoured his rice cereal. Stevie played contentedly on the floor with his toys for awhile. At 7:35, it was time to get everything ready for bed time. I start the water (it takes awhile to get it warm) and get out his towel, bed clothes, bring up the bottle and formula, bring Stevie upstairs while turning off lights and turning the heat down downstairs. I got out some clothes for Matt for work the next day because he gets home so late and up so early. Bath time was next and is pretty much Stevie's favorite time of the day. He kicks, he splashes, he smiles and giggles, he lets out some excited noises, and tries to grab my hands or the washcloth as I clean him. He wrestles with the towel while I dry him, and warm clothes are added to the clean little boy. It's quiet nursing time, and then he got his bottle (like I said, his meals are super sized), a few more burps while we pray, and then it was off to bed for us both by 9pm.

I waited for Matt to get home by checking email, facebook, and blogs. He came home and told me about class, we prayed, and he let out his "sleep breaths" within moments of "amen"...and I fell asleep sometime after my thoughts stopped spinning.