Today is my last day as a full-time housewife/mommy. Although, when I think about the day I've had so far, I think I might be ok with heading off to the office tomorrow:5 AM: Baby wakes up for his first breakfast. I get up, bring him to bed and nurse him. We both fall back to sleep as Eric is leaving for work.
7:15: Baby wakes up and is cooing happily. I get up, make the bed, hold the baby while I read my bible, pray and reflect on life. I begin to get a little teary eyed as I gaze down on my content infant nestled in my arms and think about how much I will miss moments like these once back at work.
7:45: Cadence wakes up. I go to greet her. "Mommy, pee-pee!" she says pointing at the floor. Indeed there are the telltale streaks of wetness on her pant legs along with a small damp spot on the carpet near her foot.
7:50: We officially start the day by getting everyone bathed.
8:30: Everyone is bathed. Cadence is running around the house naked while I finish dressing the baby. About the time I get the last snap done on his clothes, he spits up on them. I hang my head and decide just to wipe it off for now.
8:45: I begin to strip the linens off Cadence's bed as they are also pee-stained. I also try to convince her to put on the clothes I have set out for her.
9:00: I open my closet to get a shirt for the day, Cadence attempts to close the closet door with me inside. I tell her not to do this, she continues to attempt the close the door. I give the door a shove as the shoe rack on it is jabbing my back. I hear a thud, then Cadence crying. I put on a shirt and pick her up and apologize for knocking her down. She is consoled.
9:10: Breakfast is served and the baby is crying. I feed him his second breakfast and he falls to sleep.
9:20: I have eaten, Cadence is still eating. I take this opportunity to comb out her still damp hair as she is strapped to her booster seat at the moment.
9:40: Cadence is finally done eating. I enlist her to "help" me with the dishes.
10:00: Cadence helps me do laundry that includes her soiled bedding.
10:30: Cadence scampers out of the laundry room and I hear a door shut somewhere in the house. I follow the trail of shut doors and find her standing at the toilet. "Poop," she says, still fully clothed. "Home," she continues, pointing to the toilet. I reach behind her and can feel a lump in her diaper. At this moment I can't help but feel glad we have not yet switched to panties. I strip off her pants and diaper and plop her on the potty so she can finish.
11:00: After cleaning Cadence up, I am about to diaper her again when I realize she has a terrible rash from the soaked diaper this morning. I allow her to help me apply some diaper cream. We wash our hands, then the baby wakes up.
11:10: I feed the baby after changing him. I watch Cadence as she attempts to stand on top of the rocking horse in her room, an activity she quickly ceases on her own. She then comes and joins us on the couch with books.
11:20: I put the baby on his bouncer next to us. Cadence and I run outside and get the mail. Cadence steps on a splinter right before going up the steps to our porch, I am able to pull it out. We make it back inside.
11:30: I begin reading/singing "The Little Drummer Boy" (a book illustrating the song, her choice of course). She is entertained. The baby starts to grunt with a serious expression on his face. After finishing the book, I give the baby the sniff test and confirm my suspicions of a poopy diaper. I lift him gingerly from his bouncer, as he has been known to have poop escape the back of his diaper. I see two stains on the bouncer. I then do a quick survey of the baby and see the poop has not escaped the back but has oozed out around both legs.
11:40: I attempt to grab some wet wipes to lay under the baby while setting him down on the changing pad to avoid further spreading the mess. I then begin to unbutton his outfit and discover the poop has not only oozed out around both legs, but has erupted up the front of his diaper, is smeared across half his belly and has filled his belly button. Today the poop is a sour smelling, runny, pumpkin colored poop. And it is everywhere. I quickly decide another bath for the baby is the only way to handle this. I get the bath prepared then return to the baby. As I try to slip off the messy clothes poop is smeared on the baby's arm and hand. I quickly try to wipe this down before his hand makes its way to his mouth. I then decide to actually open the diaper for the first time. What I find is an indescribable orange mess. I then attempt to grab both the baby's feet to extract him from the mess. He however gives some quick kicks of excitement now that the diaper has finally come off. These kicks land squarely in the soiled diaper. I now have no other choice but to grab slimy poop-covered feet and begin to wipe off as much of the stuff as possible before dunking him in the bath. Once in the bath, the baby then sends an aptly aimed arc of pee right at my hand, the same one previously covered in poop.
12:00: My stomach is beginning to grumble. I place the baby on the rug on the floor in the kid's room, diaper him and turn to get a new outfit for him. As I'm fishing out a onesie I hear a "slap-a-tap-slap" and turn about to see Cadence drumming on his bare chest with her hands. Inspired by "The Little Drummer Boy", no doubt. I dress the baby, and leave him on his tummy on the floor to play. I then go get a trash bag to collect the mess remaining on the changing table. I also remember tomorrow is trash day so I begin to dump the kids' trash can and bathroom trash into the bag while I'm at it. When in the bathroom, I again hear a "slap-a-tap-slap". I turn to see Cadence now drumming on the top of the baby's upright head. "No!" I cry with some force and the baby begins to cry as I make my way to him. He is quickly consoled and I tell Cadence she is not to ever hit him on the head, to which she replies, "Whyyyy?" We have a quick discussion, she receives a swat to her behind, she hugs and kissses her brother, and I finish collecting the trash.
12:30: I begin to fix lunch, Cadence pushes the baby around the house in his high chair since I have not thought to lock the wheels on it.
12:45: We sit down to eat. The baby begins crying. I feed him again and he falls asleep. I put him to bed. I eat!
1:15: We return to the kid's room to begin putting linens back on Cadence's bed. Cadence begins jumping on the mattress once I've pulled it out of the frame (this is the easiest way to make it). She asks me to jump with her. I do for a few minutes (it's a very sturdy mattress). This gives me the sudden urge to pee (funny what childbirth does to the body). Then begins the battle to put the bed back together.
2:30: The bed is fixed and Cadence is in it. The baby is now awake. I take him to relax for a few minutes on the couch. Cadence gets up and comes out of her room. She is escorted back. She cries. I go in one more time and tuck her back in, telling her I will not come back in. A few minutes later she is out of bed and crying for me again. I let her cry. I attempt to get the baby back to sleep. I cuddle him closely and rock him, he smiles at me then starts wiggling around.
3:00: Eric gets home. Cadence is still crying. He goes and tucks her in. Not another peep is heard from her. The baby is still awake. I put him down on his back to play on the freshly clean play mat. He quickly rolls himself onto his tummy and wiggles around. He spits up, not on the mat, but onto the carpet exactly next to the mat. I clean it up, put him on his back on the center of the mat again. He rolls onto his tummy, starts wiggling, and spits up again, this time all over the mat and much more than the first. I take the mat back to the laundry room, stick the baby in the high chair and begin to write this.
I should probably be cleaning something or begin dinner, or one of the other important household things, but instead I've decided to sit and write this as I reminder of some of the things I won't miss while I'm back at work tomorrow.
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