Daily Diary – April 21 2010

And another shot from San Francisco.

Here we are in day three and I am still snapping a lot of photos. Not coherently and not all are going well but I am having fun with it. I am not documenting as much as I should but I am also trying not to give myself a lot of should and musts. This is why I was never able to do this before so I am trying not to talk myself out of it this time around.

I am still heavily unmotivated. Maybe hormonal? Maybe lack of sleep? Maybe meaningless? How about I document some right now?

My beautiful, handsome boy. Doesn’t like to get out of his pajamas. He wakes up and starts playing with his legos pretty much immediately. It takes me a few minutes to nurse the baby, change him, check my mail, and wake up enough to make food for the kids. So David gets a mix of Oatmeal (Cinnamon Roll) and Cream of Wheat (same flavor). He doesn’t know about the cream of wheat but once I mix the two, he eats it just fine. I put it in for iron which it has a lot of. Nathaniel gets to have a slice of bread, a banana, and some cheese (right now it’s white cheddar but he likes gouda, too.) While they eat, I empty the dishwasher and fill it up. I then check some more mail, etc.

Nathaniel is really into his water right now. He usually eats all of his food pretty quickly and then waits for me while sucking his thumb. He makes loud noises occasionally to ensure I don’t forget that he’s still sitting.

After breakfast, we all get to sit around and play. I read some of the blogs I follow or if I am feeling super-ambitious, I might do an art journal page. I will often check my work email, reply to anything urgent, etc. David plays with his legos or he draws. Nathaniel crawls around the room and chews everything he can get his hands on and then more. He’s still not walking but he likes to get up a lot and practices it often.

After that, David gets dressed (all by himself), I change Nathaniel, shower, get dressed and we’re off to drive David to school. In the car, we generally chat or I listen to one of my books on tape. Right now, I’m listening to Easier than you Think. I much prefer non fiction. After we drop him off, we come home and I put Nathaniel down for his nap. Some days he struggles and other days (like today) he’s so tired from being up since 5:48 am that he falls into a deep sleep. While he sleeps, I finally get to have my breakfast, which is coffee, graham crackers, and Dairy Milk chocolate (and some water). I also do work sometimes with TV, sometimes with music. I try to accomplish a lot during this time since it’s often my quietest time in the day. Around 11:30, I get Nathaniel and we go pick David up from school.

When we get home, I prepare lunch for all of us. Nathaniel gets veggies, yogurt, oatmeal and water. And then some pear or strawberries or apples. David gets to have green beans and meatballs. If he finishes quickly, he also gets some fruit of his choice and sometimes bread or yogurt. I have lately been eating a cheese sandwich with one slice of salami. If it’s CSA delivery day (Wednesdays), I get to have a fresh salad with carrots, etc.

And while we eat, we often chat with my Mom and Dad. It’s around 10pm their time.

As they continue eating, I do work. After lunch, they get to play for a while and then I put Nathaniel down again. I drink another coffee, David plays, and I do more work. Today, Nathaniel refused to nap so after a long while, I gave up and decided to take a short break to do chores. So I folded all the laundry that had been piling up for too long a time and Nathaniel took the opportunity to destroy my books. He also loved playing with the hangers.

After all that, some more playing time, and more work for me, it was dinner time. Nathaniel got some oranges, strawberries, yogurt, cheerios, and a few pears. David go to have a half of cinnamon raisin bagel with cream cheese and some yogurt. And some pears, too. Jake came home around then and we were all so happy to see him. After he went running, we finished up the food, and headed to the bath. Two kids washed, teeth flossed and brushed, numbers 1 and 2 in the toilet, and it is officially bedtime.

While I nursed and dressed Nathaniel, David picked our book for the night (here’s Nathaniel wanting to “explore” it by mostly destroying it.) and even though A Visitor for Bear is the most recent favorite, tonight we read Please, Baby, Please. Short and sweet. We were running late.

And then Nathaniel went to bed (and complained of course) and David, too, but he got to read some on his own. About an hour later, I went up to ask him his two things and he was already in bed with the lights off. He told me his two things, we said our goodnight words (Goodnight, sweet dreams, I love you with all my heart, I’ll see you in the morning) and I tucked him in.

I went back downstairs, made myself my third cup of coffee and here we are.

how’s that for documenting? my boring, predictable day. I love it.

Note to Self:
I spent a long time thinking about a Week in the Life today and whether I was going to do it or not and how. I love what Wilna, Cathy and Ali are doing. Simple words and photos. But four pages a day is 28 pages for the week. Plus the front and back makes 30. That seems like so much ink and photo paper for something I can keep on the computer. I don’t know why I am feeling frugal suddenly but it feels huge suddenly, enough to make me not want to do it. But I also felt sad and bad walking away from it, so I decided I am going to it fully digital. And once I am finished, if I still feel like pinting it, I will decide then.

Another thing I noticed is that I need more photos with me in them. I tried to put my wide-angle more today but didn’t do a good job. I will try more tomorrow. This is something I am not too good at, as you already know.

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I have been listening to “Gives you Hell” still and it makes me so happy. I am grateful for the amazing power of music.
2. Despite the blah’ness and lack of motivation, I am still feeling so happy about my life and I am grateful that I’ve been able to appreciate my life so much.
3. I found out today that one of my best friends from childhood is coming to visit me on Saturday. I cannot wait to see him!

Two Things David’s Grateful For:
1. He said he’s still so grateful for legos 🙂
2. And very grateful for Daddy and that he came home early today.