More power to the mother's out there!

I've always known that motherhood is tough. My sister has two kids, works full time, and is always running around. My mother doesn't understand why she goes to bed so early, but if I didn't know it before, I know it now!

This past weekend I headed up to my parents' to help them babysit my nieces. At first my mom didn't want me to come up, but by the end of the weekend she was so happy that I did. I had a great time playing with Alex and Leah. Alex had so much fun playing with us. I entertained Alex while my mom took care of feeding Leah or putting her to bed. When she wanted time with Alex, I either took over with Leah or conveniently disappeared at bedtime so she could put read Alex stories in bed.

Leah is just precious. She is the happiest baby I've seen. I don't think I saw her cry or get cranky once. Every time you looked at her, this is what you got:



Let's me just say that as adorable as Alex is, she's a handful. Everything is a question. Why this? Why that? We were out getting frozen yogurt and the folks in the store were laughing at all the questions she asked me. How Alex managed to eat her frozen yogurt is a wonder based on the fact that she never stopped talking! LOL!


I ended up sharing a room w/ Alex b/c the new carpet in the basement still smelled. We each had our own bed, but at 7:15 on Saturday morning I hear from the other bed, "wake up Aunt Robin, wake up!" Sigh. I wasn't ready. I had her get in w/ me and cuddle. 10 minutes later, "I'm not tired anymore." I then convinced her to stay in bed until 8, but she still asked me questions and jumped all over me. But, at least my eyes were shut until 8.

That night I took a break and met my friend Amy in Union Square for dinner. It was great to see her, especially before she moves to LA. By the time I got home and watched SNL, it was late.

That didn't matter to Alex. At 7, she was up, informing me that she peed a lot. Of course I'm thinking she peed her pants so I bolt awake. Nope. She's just there w/ her pants down holding her pull up that she had just ripped off. Doesn't she know where the trash is yet? I mean she's 3 and a half already . . . . Ok, so I'm up to dump it in the trash. Alex gets in to cuddle, but that doesn't last . Instead I'm attacked by stuffed animals.

Needless to say, by the time I get up, I'm exhausted. By the time I got home I was still exhausted. In fact, I still haven't caught up on sleep w/ all the stress from work this week, planning for my trip, etc. I'm amazed that my sister is still a functioning adult or that any mother is a functioning adult! I love my nieces and am more than willing to babysit. However, I need to learn to sleep strategically in order to survive it!

Here are a few more pictures that I took of the girls this weekend. I may still be exhausted, but I'm also in withdrawal again!