Wandering through the fog

There’s inevitably a certain degree of mental fog that is part and parcel of having a newborn in the house and sleeping in 2 hour stretches. I’m already a bit of a flaky, flighty, flibbertigibbet, and this new person thrown into the mix just compounds the problem.

This past week I have wandered out the door, forgetting something vital every single time we have left the house to take the baby with us anywhere. Packing up himself, his diaper bag (which must include a change of clothes, formula, and a bottle, as well as wipes and diapers), his oxygen and his monitor amounts to so many more things than I’m used to remembering that I forget perfectly routine things that should be automatic pilot – like the check-in paperwork when we went to the pulmonologist (thankfully I had it in my google drive and could just email it to the front desk). I even forget things when he’s not coming along at all. How do you forget to bring a diaper bag along for the 2yo to church on Sunday? Poor Paul had to leave, drive home and change her, and come back just in time to pick us all up after mass. Sigh. Felt like such a dunce on that one. Of course, it’s also true that nobody ELSE remembered to bring it either, so I’m in good company I guess.

We are getting into a pretty predictable morning routine around here. Kids are up by 6, dressed, fed, and out the door by 6:50 so we can get Efrain to school by 7:30 and the older kids back over to their school by 8:00. I am super proud of having mastered the fine art of mapping out my morning travels in such a way as to avoid the maximum number of school zones AND construction zones, while timing our arrival at the railroad to sync with the end of the 7am train. Mid morning I pick up Geneva after her classes are done (unless she finds a friend with a car who can bring her home later). Schooling Jake during the middle of the day, picking up kids in the same order in the afternoon, then doing homework, and if there’s time, letting them do a little Minecraft on Xbox before supper.

And I usually get a little nap somewhere in the middle to tide me over, thanks to Laurent’s help. So, that keeps me from crashing while I’m driving Big Red all over creation. That and caffeine.

But yeah, I’m still a bit foggy. In a couple of weeks there will be all kinds of evening events added to the schedule, as we begin RCIA on Mondays and Wednesdays will be RE for the kids, plus Youth Group, Cathedral Choir, and Kino for Paul. Obviously, I am no longer able to fit Kino classes into my life. Maybe one day I can finish out the second year. But it is not this day!

But it’ll be fine. I can totally handle this! Not a problem! (Collapses in fit of maniacal giggling)

My latest pics of lovin’ the babe…

Hopefully this weekend I will have a chance to set up my new equipment – I splurged on some photography stuff, and I’m super excited about it, but a) don’t know exactly where to put it in this crowded house of ours, and b) don’t know exactly how to use it – but like everything else I’ve ever done with photography, I will figure it out by trial and many errors. Anyway, stay tuned for results!