"Oh nooooo! My shoes!!!"

We moved into our home last April - two weeks after my second son, Easton, was born. We had a nice little overlap with the selling of our prior home so while we waited for that to close, we were able to give our new (to us) home a much needed facelift. Our home buying journey is a tale for another time, but what is relevant is that we referred to this house as "the wallpaper house." We had seen so many homes - first we knew their addresses, then as the list grew, we identified them by their street, and then towards the end it became identifying features, like "the shag stair house" or "the Winchester home" or the home we finally got which as mentioned previously was "the wallpaper house." Built in 1967, this home had some really fun remnants of times past - nothing to gawk at, as it was all done with good taste and quality materials, but certainly some things that were not our flavor.

So yes, the floors, they were redone from a cream carpet that had seen years of traffic (still clean, just worn) to a family friendly, luxury vinyl that fits our aesthetic and can withstand the force of a toddler who's only speed is "full steam ahead," a baby who will surely adopt that speed soon enough, an 80lb husky/malamute/moose, and two cats...who occasionally rip around the house with gusto.

The floors, which are essentially brand new, are being redone because the installers neglected to offer us a moisture barrier - something that is entirely necessary with a floor sitting directly on a concrete slab. We started noticing sticking sounds, and they agreed to put the moisture barrier in - and now that the floors are up, we are noticing that this sticking is likely caused not only due to moisture (which exists) but more-so due to the fact that the floors should've been leveled in spots (something else the installers neglected to offer us).

SO here I am, typing this in the middle of a construction zone, with the baby soundly napping in our room (thank goodness for that small miracle). Clearly a disturbance in the routine.

Having two babies is awesome - and also completely chaotic! You think "ah, that must be fun" or "wow, that must be a lot"...and I'd say "Yup! Both of those..." What no one tells you about is getting through the hurdles of the day. Literally...from the moment you wake up to the moment you fall asleep (does that even actually happen?) How do you do it? How do you do it when it's just one of the adults taking on both of the tiny humans? And then, how do you do it when your routine is disturbed? It's raining? There's been a time change? Your floors are being redone??? That last one...that's where I'm at right now.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are the days that Ben leaves early for the office, so those are the days that I am solo for the morning routine. I'm fortunate to have a partner who can help on Monday and Friday - I know there are many out there who are already thinking "yup, that's my life every day" ... you all are heroes! 

Today, Lincoln woke up in a mood. As a 2.5yo, it seems there are good days and bad days. I mean, really though, as a 33yo, I get it...I have those days too. I'm just a little more equipped to departmentalize those emotions and generally just cope with them. I envy Lincoln and his ability to wear his emotions on his sleeve. It sucks being an adult sometimes - why can't I just facepalm someone when they're annoying me? sigh...again, that's an entirely different post.

I always get Easton dressed and ready before we go into Lincoln's room. I've learned that there can be no deviation from the plan. "Good morning Lincoln!" to which he replies "where's daddy?" and I remind him as we do the nights prior that "daddy is at work right now, but mommy and Easton are here to wake you up and get you ready." The script then goes something like this:

Mommy: Alright bug, let's get up and go potty so we can get dressed

Lincoln: I don't wannnnnna potty

M: Well we need to go potty before we can have breakfast.

L: I want my cars

M: First we go potty and get dressed, and then you can get your cars.

L: Where's daddy?

M: (dying inside) Daddy is at work right now, but mommy and Easton are here to wake you up and get you ready.

On these days, where he just doesn't hear me, (I've found that sometimes he just wants to hear what he expects to hear) it's just bound to be a morning of resistance. These mornings definitely don't happen all the time, but today was just one of those mornings. My best friend reminded me a week or so ago of a beautiful thing called "breakfast in the car" which is not only exciting, but a game changer for these mornings. So when Lincoln responded with an enthusiastic "yes!" to my "would you like to have breakfast in the car today?" I switched gears and got him ready to get in the car ASAP!

Right! Back to where we were before. Remember that our floors are being redone? This also meant that I needed to get the entire family, Bob (the dog) included to get in the car and be back in time to meet the contractors. It was a hustle - I literally got back at 9:30AM on the dot, I kid you not! But in the hustle this morning, where I grabbed Easton's breakfast and bottle, Lincoln's breakfast, water, lunch, sweatshirt, and person, as well as Bob, his leash, and his doggy accessories, I managed to put Lincoln in the car shoeless. While I was doing this, I knew he didn't have shoes on, I saw the shoes by the door and thought to myself "I'll grab those with his lunch and 73 other items." I mean really, what is one extra pair of shoes to grab when you're packing up the entire house. Especially when they're right by the door, in front of your face, where you've likely stepped over them 892 times already. 

We got in the car, everyone was happy - Lincoln was eating his bagel and cream cheese, Easton was happily munching on his and also sharing with Bob. Peace restored! 

It wasn't until I got to Lincoln's school, got Easton in my arms and went to release Lincoln from his seat that he and I both looked at his feet and started laughing. Both of us, without saying anything, just started giggling - it was actually really sweet. And Lincoln then exclaimed while laughing "Oh nooooo! My shoes!!" I forgot the shoes. What are ya gonna do? Sometimes things happen. So I picked him up, 22lb Easton under my left arm, and 35lb Lincoln under my right arm, laughing hysterically about his shoeless feet. Pretty sure the parents coming back to their cars from drop off saw us and thought "ya...that's something I'd do too." We all laughed. No one gave me the look of shame. It was an honest mistake.

Lincoln was placed on his classroom floor, in his soccer ball socks (his choice) and he proceeded to run up to his teachers and exclaim "I have no shoes!" and then he said something like "I need two shoes" which was super confusing because he was actually saying "I need tissue" - so that happened too...but anyway, to be honest, I wasn't about to drive an hour round trip to bring him his shoes. My mind thought "hmm, I wonder which stores are open now." But I guess this is something that does happen because our wonderful teachers came to the rescue with a pair of loaner shoes. 

I walked Easton back to the car and then drove Bob to doggy daycare. Drop offs complete, Easton and I returned home, an hour and a half later juuuuust in time to greet the contractors and put him down for a nap. 

And now, I'm just reflecting on the fact that this morning really doesn't feel chaotic, because it has now been hours of listening to cement grinding, mariachi music, whistling to that mariachi music (not me), and floors being pounded into place. So we take every moment in as it comes, and I think at the end of the day, that's when we can all decide how chaotic or non-chaotic a day feels.