Making Magic
You’d think that sleeping less would mean you’d have more hours in the day to, well.. do more? And maybe it’s true, but all those things you want to do, you need to figure out a way to do them without your hands. Occasionally it works - I read an entire book the other day. But most of the time I’m struggling to accomplish one thing that needs to get done that day.
Somehow I managed to plan outfits (for FIVE of us now) for family photos, though. I’m both cursing and thanking past Caitlin for scheduling those photos. I’m not sure what she was thinking, booking them for just a few weeks postpartum when nothing fit or feels good and we’re still adjusting to adding an entire person to this family, and oh by the way that person can’t sit up or smile on command for photos. But I also know that some day I’m going to look back at those photos and be so happy I have them. And we wouldn’t have gone if they hadn’t already been booked and paid for, so I guess it’s not all bad.
It wasn’t easy, but of course nothing is these days, but it makes it seem like more of an accomplishment when we do succeed in something. The photographer kept trying to convince us to change our session to an hour or longer one. She was sure that we’d need all that time to be able to get the photos we’d need. She told me it takes a while for the kids to warm up to a photographer. I’m glad I trusted that I know my family though, and stayed with the 30 minute session, since everyone melted about five minutes before it was over.
And honestly it went great. My kids like to take pictures, or at least tolerate it because they know that Mama pays handsomely in the form of treats when we’re done. So with the promise of snacks in the car for the ride home, and the addition of a cider donut because E could smell* them from the parking lot, they mostly posed and smiled, and I’m hopeful that we’ll get some good pictures. And if we don’t, I’ll hang them on the wall anyway. If you know me, you know I love documenting all moments of life, good or bad. Some of my favorite pictures of me when I’m younger is when I was caught rolling my eyes. Photos that capture real emotion are amazing. Which is maybe why I have so many pictures of my babies crying.
So I still have a to do list with more things left to do than crossed off, but one thing I’ve learned I can easily do from the couch? Christmas shopping. It’s a little comical how many boxes get delivered here daily, but I have almost everyone crossed off my list already. Of course the people I have left are always the hardest ones, but it’s going to be nice having the majority (all?) of my Christmas shopping done by Halloween.
Speaking of Halloween, we’ve managed to make some magic for E and G this year, despite literally having my hands full most of the time. With Tom back at work, I’ve realized that the afternoons with three children work way better when there’s an activity. So it may mean that I’m prepping paint projects at 11 pm in the dark with a sleeping baby next to me, or hiding spooky post-it notes around the house in the five free minutes I have before daycare pickup, but it’s working.
*Speaking of smell: I have many memories of my mom’s sense of smell. Watching her walk around the house saying she could smell something burning that no one else could, which would eventually turn out to be a chimney fire. I laugh now, because I have become my mother. Tom has learned not to question it when I’m walking around the house claiming to smell something. It’s way worse when I’m pregnant, but in general I tend to smell things that no one else does (well except my mom). It’s lately become apparent that E has that same heightened sense of smell. He become easily offended by smells, and recently we’ve noticed that he can smell a dirty diaper from across the house, way before we’ve realized there’s a diaper that needs changing. So he was of course correct that the place we were today was selling cider donuts. It’s a weird thing to inherit, but he’s in good company.