Naptime

I woke up with a bruise today. Yesterday for the first time in over a year, Alex & Ian took their afternoon nap at the same time and it lasted a mind blowing 2 full hours. It's like it was meant to be. Alex practically asked to go to sleep and BOOM done. Nighty Night.

I quickly unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher, a task I can only do while Ian is slumbering as he likes to climb up on the door, grab onto the racks and shake them like a caged monkey. I knew I had to think fast. WHAT could I accomplish during this gift from god break? Now, your about to get a glimpse into my absolute 'inner freak'. Are you ready? I pulled out my master 'house' list. It has a breakdown room by room in list format of what either needs to be done in that room, or bought. Example.

Living Room-

• Replace door hinges from icky brass to oil rubbed bronze


• Find new ceiling fan, then figure out how to hang on our 20 foot ceiling
  
• Find new picture frames for the hundres of photos we have no place to put
  

I quickly ran to the garage to survey supplies. What could I do in 1-2 hours without making too much of a mess or needing a trip to the Home Depot? AH! Lightbulb. I grabbed my electric drill, screwdriver, painting tape, primer, brush and hit the stairs.

Had there been a camera filming, it probably could have been a documentary on the life of a mom apparently on speed. I was excited, panicked and anxious that at any moment I'd hear that tiny 'blip' of the baby monitor notifying me my 'me time' was over.

I've been painting window frames, doors, and mouldings in our house for over 2 years now. Our bedroom, the last room was my victim today. I first had to remove the shade from our window which evidently was being held by just one bracket, as removing the one sent the thing plummeting right to my eyeball. PAIN. I ran to the mirror to make sure I wasn't bleeding. No time could be wasted. I taped, painted the window and much to my surprise the kids still slumbered. Now what, AH. My closet frame. I removed the giant, brass rimmed, mirrored closet doors I despise and set them out on our back patio. Don't ask me how I did this. It must have been super human 'mommy during nap' strength. I taped and primed again. Satisfied, I cleaned up and put the dangerous objects away just in time to hear Ian stand up and shake his crib rail in his normal 'get me out of here' rage.

I love Mondays. The errands and catch up tasks of the weekend are done. We've cleaned, we've shopped, we've done our laundry. It's just my day with my kids. Total quality time. I actually get down on the floor and play with them, we go do fun things, or sometimes we just stay in our Jammie's all day and snuggle, read & play. It's is what makes the other 4 long days at work all 'worth it'. But this Monday was particularly special because I had a great time with my babies and got to do something for me too. I painted. I made progress. It was a good good day. Even IF I woke up with a bruise.