Mom On The Run

He takes me out for lunch when he has vacation days.
He knows exactly what is the bare minimum of housework he needs to do to keep me from freaking out on him.
He voluntarily runs errands for me so I can “relax”.
When he comes home he brings me a beer….. And more Bear Paws.
And he ABSOLUTELY adores his little girls – spending hours reading them stories.

What else could a wife ask for?

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Sierra, my oldest daughter is now close to 3.5 and Brooke my youngest daughter is close to 16 mos old. Things in our little corner of the universe are just starting to get “good”. Sierra can use the washroom independently, stays dry through the night, feed herself, and sleeps through the night on a very regular basis etc. Brooke has almost finished weaning – we’re down to nursing 1-2 times a day (at this point it’s gotta be solely for comfort), she occasionally sleeps through the night and periodically plays nicely with her big sister. I should be celebrating – the baby/infant phase of my life is just about over and I’m about to enter a whole new phase where I can regain some more freedom and attempt to get back to doing the things the “old” Janice enjoyed, like running, shopping my myself etc… Only I’m not so sure about this freedom thing. You see, part of me can’t imagine not nursing, being pregnant, waking up for night feedings etc… I can’t imagine not having a cute, chubby, wobbly little toddler underfoot. Rob and I have always talked about having three kids. We find ourselves now teetering on the proverbial fence. We’re damned if we do, and damned if we don’t. If we do, then we face another two years of diapers, night wakings and tremendous amounts of crying. But if we don’t then we may always feel an emptiness, a what if? Will we always wonder if we “stopped” a life? Would we always wonder who our family is missing? A little brother? The boy I always wanted? Or another sister – a threesome of cute little girls?

Is there any easy way to decide which side of the fence we should jump to? How did you decided to have another or stop?

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Last week, while on our amazing NYC vacation, Rob and I bought a Wii Fit at the largest Toys r Us I’ve ever seen! Today I got up early and tried it out. I only logged 15 min in my fitness bank, but tonight my abs hurt more than they’ve hurt in ages! Ouch! This begins my new routine of getting up early to get fit. I’m also hoping to run 3 times/week on my lunch + 1 longer run on the weekend. (After our vacation I finally have enough confidence to leave the kids with Rob or my parents for an hour or more to go run).

The Fit is pretty cool. Essentially it’s a balance board with games. From my limited use of it, it seems that it’s only way of measuring your progress is to measure the increase in your balance and centre of gravity. Now this may seem like a negative thing, but actually in terms of OVERALL fitness balance is very important. Balance and core strength prevents falls as we get older, and falls cause injury, which generally don’t heal that well as we age. That said, preventing falls is key to longevity and quality of life. The other thing I like about it is it’s motivating and the activities are short in duration, therefore holding my very short attention span.

I’m going to keep on “Fitting” a few mornings a week and track my progress – I may not lose weight from it, but judging by how sore I am tonight, I’m sure I’ll increase my core strength, balance and posture.

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Several of you have asked to see the NYC 2008 pics. Here are a few (the rest can be found on flikr):

Micawber at his home in Central Park (Micawber is a children’s book by John Lithgow that Sierra absolutely loves):

The first time I ever got the "meat sweats" from eating a sandwich (Courtesy of Ben Ash Deli):

Maybe next year I’ll run it (but remind me not to go to Ben Ash Deli before the race):

The Sea Lions were playful:

And the Taxi’s drove far too fast:

But not always:

I went shopping:

And Rob waved goodbye to his money:

We went on a double decker bus tour:

And also took in the view from the 86th floor of the Empire State Building:

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I have it all worked out – for ~$650/month I can live out of a car in NYC. I’ll never have to leave. I can soak up the atmosphere everyday, shower at a gym, eat out of garbage cans, maybe work a part time job as a server. I love it here!

The shopping! Oh the shopping! I’ve completely fallen in love with the cutest little Coach clutch that I saw at the Columbus Circle Mall – it’s kind of expensive so I’m going to sleep on it, yanno, see if I still love it tomorrow. So far I’ve done a bit of shopping, a ton of relaxing and have enjoyed 5 meals without children!!! Yay! Rob and I spent 2 hours walking around Central Park. We saw the carousel, watched the crew set up for the NYC Marathon next week, and visited the Central park Zoo. So beautiful this time of year as the leaves are just beginning to change:

I had a great lunch with my twitter friend: Samara. She treated me to a fantastic lunch at Serafina Broadway. Yum! Yum! The food was great, the service was great and the company was even better. We talked NKOTB, social media, blogging etc. She also gave me a copy of the Faces magazine where NKOTB was featured. Thanks Samara!

Tonight Rob and I are going to head up the Empire State Building and have a nice meal together. Tomorrow I’ll do some more shopping, while Rob watches the Breeders Cup, then have a nice dinner, catch a show and relax. I’m having a great time!

Oh and the kids? We called home lastnight – they don’t even miss us! All that worrying for nothing!

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But instead I’m on my laptop surfing the ‘net. Why I wonder – why am I procrastinating? I have this awesome chance to have 3 days of peace. 3 days to spend reconnecting with my hubby. A 3 day vacation in NEW YORK CITY that we are getting for free! And yet I’m procrastinating.

I’m scared – the thought of leaving the two wonderful little girls sleeping soundly in the bedrooms adjacent to me makes me absolutely, incredibly sick to my stomach. I feel like I’m going to throw up – literally. The thought of going to bed tomorrow night, and the next 2 nights after that without getting their sweet little hugs is unbearable. I know they’ll be fine without me. I know that they will have the same moments of sadness as they would probably have with me here – but I’m still worried. I want to be there to hug them and care for them. I love them so so so so much – that being away from them kills me. It rips my heart right out!

You all have told me to go, have fun, they’ll be ok etc… So I’m going to listen to you – I’m going to muster up all the strength that I have and shut this here ‘puter right off and go and pack. (But first I have to sneak into their rooms, place a kiss on my finger tips and then transfer that kiss to their foreheads with my hand ). Goodnight!

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