My husband hit the nail right on the head as he said yesterday, "Wow, babe. We are one busy family!" Yes, dear. Yes, we are.
As soon as the alarm clock goes off at 6:45 a.m. (sooner for my husband who has a love for early morning workouts), the three of us hit the ground running. Literally. I'm running around getting everything together for me, for John, for Tristan.... it's a whirlwind of commotion. But there's a very special thing that happens in our house: Daddy and Tristan time. I love this.
Every night before bed, I lay out Tristan's clothes for the next day. Every morning as I'm running around getting things together, I can hear John in the nursery with Tristan. He dresses him, talks to him, sings to him and sometimes I can even hear, "Whoa, dude. What are you doing? Don't pee on me!" Ahhh... I love it. SO. MUCH. What I really love about it, is that John loves it, too. I often find myself rushing with Tristan - - hurry up and change a diaper, hurry up and change his clothes, hurry up and get him in the tub. But not John. He takes his time and as soon as he walks in the door from work, he devotes every minute that he can to Daddy/Tristan time. (He's also the one who dresses Tristan for bed, entertains him for a little while and then gives him his last bottle for the day.)
I know as parents we all get caught up in the "happenings" of our day-to-day lives. I work part time, John works full time (and then some), we're involved with our family and friends and we are NEVER home on the weekends. During the week, I even schedule at least one play date for Tristan and his little friend, Olivia. When it's not raining, I push the stroller at the park for as long as I can until I get tired or Tristan gets bored. To be honest, our lives are a constant GO GO GO. And that's ok.
Through all this, Tristan is excellent when it comes to riding in the car, adjusting to a different schedule, going out to restaurants (he waves and smiles at strangers and they love it), and just staying... well.... staying busy. And I've learned that if we just keep going, we're not feeling the exhaustion of waking up at 4 am with a baby who has peed through his clothes, or a dog who thought he heard a squirrel and decided to bark, or even a roll of thunder that shakes the house and scares us all awake from our deep sleep.
But what I've learned most, is to try to be more like John - - sure, there are more Mommy/Tristan moments during the day, but I feel as though because of that, I may not appreciate them quite as much as John does. He recognizes that his moments are shorter with more time between them, so he takes his time. He enjoys them more and I enjoy watching my husband and son interact with one another.
Although the days are always busy, and we can all say there just aren't enough hours in a day, we can all learn to slow down. Sometimes we can even convince ourselves to STOP and enjoy the hours that we do have. Life is made up of busy, hectic moments, but it's also full of sweet time spent together. So slow down, enjoy the moments and remember that one day you'll be able to sleep.... one day... or, at least I hope that's the case! :)
As soon as the alarm clock goes off at 6:45 a.m. (sooner for my husband who has a love for early morning workouts), the three of us hit the ground running. Literally. I'm running around getting everything together for me, for John, for Tristan.... it's a whirlwind of commotion. But there's a very special thing that happens in our house: Daddy and Tristan time. I love this.
Every night before bed, I lay out Tristan's clothes for the next day. Every morning as I'm running around getting things together, I can hear John in the nursery with Tristan. He dresses him, talks to him, sings to him and sometimes I can even hear, "Whoa, dude. What are you doing? Don't pee on me!" Ahhh... I love it. SO. MUCH. What I really love about it, is that John loves it, too. I often find myself rushing with Tristan - - hurry up and change a diaper, hurry up and change his clothes, hurry up and get him in the tub. But not John. He takes his time and as soon as he walks in the door from work, he devotes every minute that he can to Daddy/Tristan time. (He's also the one who dresses Tristan for bed, entertains him for a little while and then gives him his last bottle for the day.)
I know as parents we all get caught up in the "happenings" of our day-to-day lives. I work part time, John works full time (and then some), we're involved with our family and friends and we are NEVER home on the weekends. During the week, I even schedule at least one play date for Tristan and his little friend, Olivia. When it's not raining, I push the stroller at the park for as long as I can until I get tired or Tristan gets bored. To be honest, our lives are a constant GO GO GO. And that's ok.
Through all this, Tristan is excellent when it comes to riding in the car, adjusting to a different schedule, going out to restaurants (he waves and smiles at strangers and they love it), and just staying... well.... staying busy. And I've learned that if we just keep going, we're not feeling the exhaustion of waking up at 4 am with a baby who has peed through his clothes, or a dog who thought he heard a squirrel and decided to bark, or even a roll of thunder that shakes the house and scares us all awake from our deep sleep.
But what I've learned most, is to try to be more like John - - sure, there are more Mommy/Tristan moments during the day, but I feel as though because of that, I may not appreciate them quite as much as John does. He recognizes that his moments are shorter with more time between them, so he takes his time. He enjoys them more and I enjoy watching my husband and son interact with one another.
Although the days are always busy, and we can all say there just aren't enough hours in a day, we can all learn to slow down. Sometimes we can even convince ourselves to STOP and enjoy the hours that we do have. Life is made up of busy, hectic moments, but it's also full of sweet time spent together. So slow down, enjoy the moments and remember that one day you'll be able to sleep.... one day... or, at least I hope that's the case! :)