Small Victories

It's no secret that I was REALLY overwhelmed right after Austin was born.  The combination of too much to do and too little sleep was a recipe for nightly meltdowns (anyone who was at my house from 7pm onward knows what I am talking about).  Luckily, I have the most wonderful husband, family, and friends in the world.  Without your help and encouragement, I would not have made it through the past 3 months.  

Another thing that has really helped is some advice Ryan gave me mid-meltdown one evening.  He told me to turn my focus to the small victories I had each day.  So I did.  Instead of getting depressed by what I hadn't done, I started to look for the little things I was able to do.  For example, I changed 12 diapers today.  I kept Austin and Sam fed.  Sure, my house wasn't spotless and we had mac & cheese again but that's okay.

Anyway, here are some of this week's small victories:

I got everyone dressed by lunchtime.  Yes, I know they are in their jammies here.

Everyone went down for their naps on time.  Sometimes this means sleeping in unusual places, like on the couch, but I think it still counts :)

I kept Austin from getting body-slammed WWF-style.  No comment on where Sam learned his WWF moves (Ahem, Ryan.).  Here he is being such a good brother and putting Austin's binky back in.

I kept Austin from being poked, whacked, and dumped out of his baby-chair.  We are still working on the meaning of the words gentle, soft, careful, etc but Sam is getting much better.

We got out of the house.  One day it was sunny and not too cold, so we went for a family walk.  I quickly learned how badly we needed a double stroller.  Sam had a hard time giving up his spot.  

So, here is the new "ride".  Thank you Craig's List.

Another day we went for a walk along the Columbia River with our friends, the Malufau's.  It was gorgeous, but a little cold.  It will be an awesome walk in the summertime.

Now that we have made it through the first 3 months of Austin's life, things are getting much easier.  He sleeps better, eats better, and doesn't cry as often.  But, every once in a while I still have to play the, "look for small victories" game to help boost my confidence.