still not graceful yet, but my kids are alive and unharmed.

did i ever mention the time when the christmas tree fell on baby girl?  it was within a few days of having brady and i was in bed nursing him or something when honey went to take a business call in his office.  and wouldn't you know but baby girl was playing hide and seek under the christmas tree in our bedroom and managed to tip it over!  luckily it fell mostly on the bed and baby girl could get out okay but seriously?!  of course honey steps away for a moment and a tree falls down on our kid.

so this evening i left honey at home alone with the kids while i went to a youth fireside from 6-8.  he texted me as i left and told me everything went well but when i got home he also told me that brady hadn't slept while i was gone (he seems to wake up from whatever his afternoon nap is and then stay awake and be grumpy and fussy for several hours until 9:30 or so) and i could tell it was wearing on him just a bit.  so i had a few things to do real quick but ten or fifteen minutes later i heard my honey call out to me "brady needs you!" which is our code for "i'm done with this kid and it's your turn now!" (we started using that with baby girl without realizing it but it works well so she doesn't know she's getting passed off for grating on our nerves) so i took over brady (and consequently baby girl too... because she seems to go wherever brady goes and because she's super clingy and attached to me since he was born) and brought him to our bedroom to nurse him in bed. and then to burp him, bounce him, and whatever else him to try to make him happy and comfortable.  meanwhile honey was in his office or something... who knows what but i told baby girl not to disturb him because he was taking a break.

so while i'm trying to help brady, super attentive big sister baby girl (i swear i love that she loves him so much but it does sometimes drive me juuuust a bit crazy) starts climbing on my bed side rails to reach over my nightstand to get brady a binky or nose drops or who knows what because she seems to think she always knows just what he needs to stop fussing (which is pretty much all the time) and i kept telling her to stop (this only happens fifty or a hundred times a day) climbing because it's dangerous and brady doesn't need anything right now and blah blah blah of course she's not listening.  and then i'm telling her she needs to be careful because she's going to knock the lamp over and then christopher walks in the door just in time to see baby girl knock the lamp over and hear the lightbulb inside crash and shatter into a million pieces all over brady's clean clothes and blankets (i dedicated that corner to him for the time being because his room is all the way upstairs and i'm too lazy to actually go up there for naps, diaper changes, etc.) and ummm, that didn't make honey happy.  he might have looked like he wanted to punch someone.  or throw something.  so, deciding that he needed another break (while he was cleaning up shards of glass) i took the kids upstairs to the play room (have i mentioned that baby girl thinks the playroom is actually called the ball pit?  "i want mommy and abigail to go play trains in the ball pit!"  ha) and we stayed there for a long time.  long past baby girl's bedtime.  because honestly, i know what it's like to need a break and i wanted honey to reap the benefits of it.

eventually my son fell asleep without waking up two minutes later.  and eventually (like at 10:00), my daughter got to bed.

this is what my nightstand looks like... nose drops, nail clippers, binky, and currently MIA nose sucker hang out on the window sill so they're within reach when i need them.  ps- thanks for the lamp, ashley!  luckily it made it through this unscathed.

and this is the current state of things.  sometime tomorrow i will skillfully text honey and ask him if that area is safe. anyone have tips for making sure your onesies and sleepers are free of tiny glass shards?

wanna know the great part?  somehow i kept my cool with baby girl.  she and brady did so well last night and all day today (in my opinion) that i'd stock piled enough patient parent points to help me handle my night of two gorgeous children crying (often at the same time!) and still feel compassion for them, myself, and my dear husband.  there's always blessings to be found.

is anyone else enjoying this mini series on "carrie is handling this two kid thing like she's stumbling through the dark in flippers and a straight jacket" or is that just me?