Challenges of Amy in Motherland :)

Okay, I know it has been way too long since my last post and I could offer up many creative excuses but the main one is I have just been too dang tired...I know that is a lame excuse but C'est la vie! Ironically, the longer I go without posting the more anxious I seem to feel. Perhaps that is because originally I had hoped to keep this blog site a place to capture the many precious milestone of the MY PIE and the ZOBO. But I am finding that lately I just need a place to vent. So there goes that noble goal...;)

As much as I love my little cuties and motherhood in general, I can't help but focus lately on how physically demanding it is especially with two. In all the magazines, baby shows, books, and websites they spout endless advice for addressing feeding, bathing, the general baby care basics. But I have yet to come across a chapter or excerpt that covers what to do when your wrists become so strained that you can barely lift the baby without whincing in pain. That is one of the main challenges I have been struggling with for the last few weeks. I finally found a wrist stablizer brace that helps a bit but with all the thousands of time I wash my hands a day, trying to keep that sucker dry is yet another fun challenge. I cannot be the only one who is suffers from overuse injuries, but how come nobody seems to talk about this phenomenon...not very sexy or glamorous I guess. Either that or "suck it up because you ain't got no other choice" doesn't make for very engaging reading I suppose. One more thing on the topic of physical challenge... With each passing day and each additional ounce that the girls gain, I become more and more aware of how every muscle and joint in my body is completely out of shape and sore beyond belief. Each morning I wake up feeling like a Mac truck has hit me particulary my back, hips, and believe it or not my butt...yikes is it sore. I still haven't figured out what exactly it is that I do all day that makes my butt muscles so incredibly sore...But I digress...Caffine has become an absolute necessity for starting my day (which I hate). I was off the stuff for almost 2 years and now I am right back to truly "needing" it in the morning...sad...I am going to try and work on that as the new year unfolds.

Another challenge that I recently survived was the girls first colds. Caring for two babies is plenty of task enough for me usually, but when their little noses are plugged up and sniffly it makes it alot less fun. Perhaps the worst was having to use those darn blue bulb syringes on them before each nap. Boy did they hate that. Although who can blame them. Who wants someone repeatedly sticking an uncomfortable blue pipe up your nose on a regular babsis for the sole purpose of desnotting you? I know I wouldn't. I read somewhere awhile back that children really are unable to blow their own noses until age 4...age 4!? That is alot of desnotting sessions ahead of us for sure. But on the upside at least they didn't have a temperature. I have yet to have the occasion to use the rectal thermometer. The idea of this is almost too much for me. I know that when the time comes I will inevitably rise to the occassion, but for know it just seems too traumatic, at least for me.

Perhaps the latest fun is that both girls are entering the "teething" phase...oh boy... As cute and loveable as they keep getting I must admit I am very nervous about this phase. We got a taste of what is yet to come the other night when Zoe was virtually unconsolable. As one who as been blessed with very good babies, I had yet to see her stricken with panic and pain. All I can say is THANK GOD FOR BABY TYLENOL! I think I may have gone over the edge without it. As much as I dislike the idea of medicating the babe, I plan to have that stuff stockpiled until she has finished producing each and every one of those pearly whites!!!

Okay, I have to say it feels good to get all that muckity muck off my chest...woohoo!

Now for the fun stuff, both girls are getting so good at pushing themselves up off their chest during tummy time. In fact, each as rolled over on more from this position on more than one occassion. But I think it is mainly a product of inertia and lack of balance than any purposeful action on their part. They just love their hands, flailing them around, batting at any toy in their path and especially putting them in their mouths. Who would have thought it could be so much fun to chomp on one's own hand...but they both seem to be in a complete Zen-like state when happily gumming away. And we have recently had the delight of hearing both laugh out loud in response to silly mommy and daddy antics. Their laughs are what truly melt me and make all the physical discomfort bareable. They are just my ultimate bundles of joy. It is true what "they" say... I baby changes your life in so many ways... With two, we experience all of these changes both good and bad (I mean "challenging") with added intensity. But each and every moment since their arrival has made the daily act of living life so much more vivid and intense that I am blessed and thankful for every experience that comes with being Maya and Zoe's mom!