Monday Afternoon

Put Kate down for a nap . . . some crying, but that is usually only temporary. Make lunch. Sit down to eat with Meg, but I can't ignore Kate's crying any longer. Find her lying in her crib with both of her little legs sticking out of the slats between crib rails. Pick her up.

Attempt to console her, try to put her back to sleep. Return to lunch with Meg, but Kate's crying continues. Return to Kate's room and feed her. Put her back down for a nap. (Third time's a charm, right?)

Return to my now cold lunch, but I have to clean up my toddler before I can sit down to eat . . . she's now eaten her entire lunch while sitting alone at the table. Wipe her off, let her play, eat my lunch.

1:00 -- put Meg down for a nap. Fold clean laundry. Throw in the 3rd load of the day. Do the lunch dishes. Return a few calls, check on an insurance claim, work on some HD Portraits photo editing. Prepare Meg's dinner for tonight b/c a babysitter is coming to help with the evening shift.

90 minutes after going down, Kate wakes up. Not too bad, really. Feed her. Let her lay on my bed while I fold more laundry.

Meg wakes up. Re-dress her (remove pull up, put on new panties, return to her pre-nap outfit). Fix her a snack. Pile everyone in the car for Meg's afternoon dr appointment.

Good News: no UTI. Well, probably not, anyway. Leave the dr with something to use to collect urine so I can bring it back tomorrow for testing to be sure. That sounds like fun.

Return home -- and now it's just after 5pm. Put Kate down for another nap. Bathe Meg, which she thinks is a treat because it's out of the norm to take a bath that early in the evening. Dress her, then Kate wakes up. Oh well -- a 25 minute power nap for her is better than nothing.

Feed Kate. Throw dinner in the oven. Jim comes home. Feed Meg.

Babysitter arrives. Give her instructions for the night, which include bathing Kate for me (dude, for $11 an hour, she can give ONE kid of mine a bath). Leave with fingers crossed that there will be no meltdown from the toddler. She waves good-bye from the garage door, so she's clearly not holding any hard feelings toward us for leaving her for the night.

Leave the house at 6:30pm to attend our neighborhood annual Home Owners Assoc. Board of Directors election & meeting. Manage to get through the meeting without volunteering or getting roped into any additional commitments that I would NOT have time for.

8:30pm, go to dinner with my husband. If Jim and I have a spare moment sans children, might as well capatilize and find a way to enjoy a few minutes together.

10:10pm -- right now. So tired. Going to bed.

Not all my days are like this, but more than 1/2 of them are. Another one starts again in about 8 hours.