Why I Haven't Been Blogging Lately

(This could also be titled "Excuses, Excuses", but I'll stick with the original title for now.) 

1. Most of our days look like this (photo removed by myself for baby bum!). Cooped up inside (yep, still snow on the ground), with a babe running around just like this and climbing on everything she can, with the vacuum in pretty much every shot as we spring clean in hopes that spring will actually come around. Is anyone else just finding out that their toddlers don't stop moving? Like, ever. 

2. These are the kinds of endearing things she's up to lately. Nope, no adorable art or flower sniffing over here. We're all about ironically chewing books and carrying socks around in her mouth, and trying to play in the toilet.. I may have given birth to a dog.

3. This is what eating looks like lately. No cute trays of color coordinated fruits and vegetables, because as cute as those are there would be no point in this house. Food is fingerpaint right now, and three meals a day = three baths a day. Why do toddlers like to touch their hair when they eat?!

Okay, so I'm (mostly) joking. Life really is like that around here right now, but the reason I haven't been blogging (besides constantly cleaning and making sure Emmy doesn't jump off the table) is because we've been enjoying it. Every crazy, messy second of it. 

A lot of it is tough, but I can definitely say we were kind of expecting that so at least it's not a surprise. Emmy never stops going. Never! I don't know how toddlers do it! She prefers trying to break into kitchen cabinets instead of playing with her own toys, would rather eat dust bunnies for dinner and throw dinner piece by piece on the ground, loves getting into every closer and drawer and basket and dumping it out.. It never stops! And sleep? I thought she slept bad as a baby, but it really doesn't compare to the last few weeks...

Take last night for example. Emmy decided to wake up a half hour after we put her down and wanted to party 'til near midnight. And as much as I was looking forward to kicking my feet up after a long day, I instead spent the night reading books about shapes and watching A Bug's Life and rolling around in the bed with an overly exhausted, but refusing to sleep 14 month old. Although I woke up tired this morning, it was worth it to me, even just for the memories. Every moment with her is worth it, even the ones that make me question my sanity... And yes, there are a lot of those.

So, life with a toddler. It's difficult, it's busy.. it's what anyone would expect, really. We catch our breath during her naps and try to sneak in a shower. We clean up the house from it's hurricane mess and save our TV shows for after her bedtime. Sometimes we are so tired that we leave the mess where it is and pass out before nine.. Sleep debt is a terrible thing. M and I spent our last date together doing icicle maintenance on the house and picking out a new shower curtain. The parents of a toddler are ever-so romantic.

Toddlerhood isn't all bad. She brings us book after book to read to her, and even if she only gets through half of the book before running away, I love that she loves reading. She wears her baby in a makeshift sling, from one of mommy's or daddy's scarves, pausing in play to say "shh shh" and pat the baby. She holds our hands while walking in the store, in the yard, or even through the house. She can use sign language like crazy, asking for a drink, more play, a bath, something to eat-- and every day she parrots more and more words, saying "thank you" and "hi daddy". Every day she is smarter and wilder than the day before, and every day I find something new to love in this free-spirited little girl.

So, I have sacrificed my very loved blogging time in the name of a shower and traded in photo editing for vacuuming. I know, I know, pretty lame excuses as there are mamas with multiples who rock this blogging thing (how do you do it?!). As much as I know and believe that parents are superheros, even Wonder Woman needs to sit back with a glass of wine and marathon Friends every once in a while. Sometimes I feel like I need to take a break from these things so I don't get too overwhelmed. I do love social media and every single person I've connected with through the platforms I use, but I'm not ready to have two babies yet, so sometimes my blog gets put on a shelf for a bit until I have enough time to breathe. Maybe I'm not as Super as some Super Moms but I know that I give it my best, and in the end that's what matters to me most.