Steady Stream of Energy

I woke up this morning way too early to Liam. Peter responded by scooping him up and acquiescing his request to sleep in our bed, only Peter went back to sleep in Liam’s bed. Normally this is a non issue, but this morning, Liam would not go back to sleep. For three hours as dawn crept in he talked, poked, and tossed, waking me each time I began to drift off to sleep. I woke up a zombie. A zombie with a perplexing question on her mind…how do moms keep steady energy day in and day out? Right now it seems like I have days when I am at turbo and then days when I can’t imagine making it through with out a coffee, a coke and some chocolate and this pregnancy those handicaps are beginning to show themselves. UGH!

So what do you do to keep an even flow of energy in your daily life? I want the flow of energy that is constant and more at high gear than low. I know some of it is resisting the caffeine, and going for the better foods; resisting the curl up and vegetate and going for the hike; resisting the “I don’t know how I will make it through today,” thoughts to gratitude for another day with the littles who will be big soon enough.

Deck the Halls...No Really...

Ha! Talking with you tonight reminded me of the few Christmas' since we've had kids when I didn't have it in me to buy a tree. Truly. The first was when we were going to Boston with Finn and an infant Liam and our finances were so tight that it seemed superfluous to spend a dime on a dying tree. So we bought a tinny Target one that was maybe 18 inches high (which is currently at a friend's house because they too are heading to their inlaws this Christmas). It was drab and desperate and melancholy.

The second Christmas with no tree was when I was pregnant with Andrew Kieran, living out in Gloucester, on the shores of the Atlantic. I couldn't drum up the energy to buy and decorate a tree. What a sad sap I was, missing home and because of it having a hard time setting up a home. My roommate and friends from college, Drea & Bryan, remedied that. They took Finn and Liam for a Saturday while we house hunted and when we returned they had bought a small, live tree, and decorated it with homemade ornaments they made with the boys, (which still are on our current tree now--I can't bear to throw them out). They made and decorated Christmas cookies with our boys, and indulged them in some hard core Star Wars watching and stick ball hallway playing in their Brookline apartment. It bought tears to my eyes and cheer to my grinch-filled heart that definitely grew three sizes that day.

Some days, even some years, we need those friends to pick us up, I only wished Drea and Bryan had saved me from the tinny tree year. So go plant that beautiful little evergreen in your yard and decorate it! Plant it far away from your house so it doesn't give too much shade to your sunny home, and close enough to see it from your windows lit! Wish I were there to break ground and throw the first full shovel of dirt away.