Overwhelmed

I had this whole blog post planned in my head last night - was going to write about how overwhelmed I have felt this week and then today happened. I was able to take a breath, visit a friend, spend 2 hours cleaning / straightening the house by myself and tonight everyone was in a good mood. Made me feel like I can do it again (well, I don't have much choice!).

The week was a bit overwhelming though. Individual components aren't so bad but you put them all together and it seems like a lot to handle. Things were relatively easy when I didn't have to get up and out of the house and could take Eli to school whenever and then had all day to be with Cole. Now getting everyone up, fed, dressed and to school so Tim & I can both get to work is another story. Add to that that we're in potty training mode with Eli (very time consuming in the mornings!) and it's quite busy around our house early in the morning. Once the boys are at school and I'm at work, things calm down and seem the same as before. Tim does drop off so his mornings are a little more hectic than mine. When I pick the boys up in the afternoon, the madness begins again. Some days I feel exhausted just trying to get out of daycare! And then there just doesn't seem to be enough time when we get home. With only a few hours, it's hard to spend enough time with both boys. When I was home with Cole all day, I'd spend a lot of time with Eli at night. Now I feel like I don't have enough time - but then again, don't we all?

There have been some really wonderful and sweet moments this week.

• I put Cole on our bed one morning and Eli climbed up next to him and was talking to him calling him a "sweet boy" and trying to give him a hug. He also tried to share his Harold the Helicopter with Cole.
• The girls at school have taken Cole into Eli's room a few times so that Eli could see him and Cole could see Eli. Eli calls Cole "my baby" so him being able to see Cole during the day means a lot.
• This morning we had to wake Cole up and Eli climbed up on the crib, peeked in and was saying "Wake up Baby Cole, Wake up". When Cole opened his eyes, he saw Eli and immediately smiled.

I love the fact that Eli is not jealous at all of Baby Cole and that he really likes Cole going to school with him. I'm so lucky to have two wonderful boys. I can see the love that they already have for each other and I couldn't ask for anything more. I'm also lucky to have Tim as a wonderful partner in this crazy and exhausting world of parenting. We try to tag-team it but he ended up doing a lot this week as I adjusted to going back to work - thanks Honey! I know that next week will be a bit easier and that we'll get better at it. I'm just glad we survived this first week fairly unscathed!

Tonight's picture - loving on Belle

Stay away from the bottle and no one gets hurt.