Guess what time it is?

Yep, it's stay-at-home-mommy time again.  We're actually in the middle of it right now.  My parents left for Taiwan on the 4th and won't be back until the 21st.  Usually the first few days are just downright scary as the girls and I get used to being with each other 24/7.  However, last week went remarkably well.  I've made an effort to keep the playroom neat and picked up.  I honestly think this has been a lifesaver.  They will literally spend hours in there playing if I let them.  Before, it was so incredibly messy, you couldn't even walk in there. Actually finding what you wanted was completely out of the question.  Also, they've finally hit that sweet spot in their ages where they can enjoy playing with each other.  I still have to break up some battles here and there but they are thankfully becoming less frequent.  They finally like each other.  Most of their play is Ayla bossing Aubree around...but hey, whatever works.  I've been able to pee without four little eyes staring at me so I'm not complaining.

We've been trying to stay busy--we've gone to Hy-Vee probably 47 times in the last week and a half because it's currently the only store where they will behave like normal little human beings.  We've had a play date, friends over, and cousins over which always helps break up the day.  We drove all the way to our restaurant for lunch yesterday...I think we spent more time driving there and back than the time we spent eating.  We made a trip to the park a couple of days ago...I always think the park in our neighborhood is closer than it actually is.  The walk there isn't horrible, but on the way back, pulling 60 pounds of kiddo in a wagon reminds me how totally out of shape I am.  Could. Not. Breathe. By the time we reached our driveway, my legs were buckling.  Awesome.  Maybe if I did it more often, I wouldn't feel like I was dying every time.  We've done some fun arts and crafts projects that Ayla found in her Highlights magazine...they like to do projects, but I've found that they cannot take any longer than 15 minutes or they lose interest.

I know I say this every single time I stay home with them, but I'm going to say it once more.  Huge high-five to the parents who stay at home full-time.  It's hard.  Really hard.  I love that I get to do it a few times a year but I also love that I have a part-time job to go back to so I'm guaranteed to get out of the house and speak to other adults on a daily basis.  That's huge.  I love my girls more than anything, but I need those few hours away each day to keep myself sane. It hasn't even been two weeks yet that I've been off work, and there have already been some days where I thought for sure I was losing my mind.  Seriously.  Ask Dean.  I think he's convinced I have already lost it.  I know it's not a skip in the park for parents who work full-time outside of the home either and that they would love, more than anything, to have more time with their children.  I'm not discounting that for one second.  But it's a whole different world as a stay-at-home-parent.  It's 100% self-less...there is no me for a single moment of your day.  So to those of you who do it 24/7, 365 days a year--you are amazing. Truly.

So anyway.

I kind of went off on a tangent there.

Long story short, I love my babies but I also love having my little part-time job.  Best of both worlds. :)

Aubree's "smile" is getting worse by the second.  Haha!  I can't get her to smile normally.