Where are the brakes?

I am always amazed at how busy life is. It seems like I start off the week thinking I have nothing to do and, before I know it, my schedule is filled: walking at 8:30, preschool at 9:30, visiting teachers at 10, etc. My kids are growing up so fast and I can't keep up with it all!

I spent this week doing a lot of shopping. It seems like as soon as I get home from the store, the next shopping list promptly is started. A trip to Wal-Mart is quite exciting with two kids! I have desperately been trying to get some exercise time in, but my walks with the kids are all I get. So, I am once again wearing my pedometer and trying to rack up the 10,000 steps a days I need to keep in shape. I did 12,500 yesterday! The great thing is that Evan loves the walks too, so it is quality time with him.

Madilyn looks so old in these pictures. She will be 6 months old next week!

Her eyes are half-closed in this picture, but look at how well she is sitting up! She has too much hair to stick those little bows in now, so I though I'd try the headband, but her hair sticks out all crazy all around it. I can't wait until her hair is thick enought to put little clippies in. But it's redder than ever and I love it!

Todd and I are desperately trying to remember what it means to be married. He leaves for work at 5:30 am to catch the bus to Morenci and then gets home at 5 pm... (if he isn't working overtime which he has a lot lately). Then I get a quick hug and he spends the rest of the night working on his programming homework. I work every other weekend. So, I get a grand total of 4 full days with him a month! It's crazy. We have been on one date so far this year. We went to eat dinner and then shopped at Wal-Mart (only 1.5 hours away from the kids). Madilyn is half the problem since she won't take a bottle. So unil March of next year, I have a little leach. But she's a cute one! I just have to keep telling myself that things will get better once Todd finishes school. I am already planning our first family vacation for next summer. I promised myself I would get Todd to see the ocean for the first time.

I can promise you that if you stop by my house without warning that my house will be a mess. I wish I was a perfect housekeeper, because when I do clean, my house makes me soooo happy. However, if my house is a mess, but my kids go to bed each night worn out from good play and know they are loved, the mess doesn't matter. There will be a time for a clean house. This is not that time.

I also found myself shopping in the dreaded feminine products aisle for the first time in 15 months. Now I remember the only other benefit of pregnancy besides the adorable baby. We women are amazing aren't we? How do we keep up with kids, and husbands, and bills, and cleaning, and errands, and cooking, and on and on? I know for me, it's because I have a wonderful husband, and he's worth every second of it! Oh, and don't forget the mini-me and the mini-Todd that keep my life so full!

I spend a lot of time each day laughing and in amazement at these beautiful children that are mine. Look very closely at where Evan's shirt is in this picture and you'll find evidence that he watches mommy very closely.

Such a big boy, but still young enough to love his bear!