Moving Past Survival Mode

Sometime in my past, I learned some things about basic human survival . . . not from my own personal experience, but from reading books, I guess. Basically, if a human being doesn't have food, water, and shelter, he can't focus on anything else until those items are secured. Only then can he begin to worry about anything else.

For the first two months of Mariah's life, I felt a little like I was in "Mom Survival Mode." Each day was geared toward feeding myself, a baby, and two other children, keeping them clothed (although I'm sure they would have survived without this one), and keeping our shelter a step above a local landfill. Most days, looking back at the day, it felt like that was really all I had done. Thus my theory that I was simply living in survival mode--I wasn't yet capable of focusing on much else. I headed to my mom's house for a few days to take a much needed break from my own reality. I took all three kids with me for the first few days, then Tony took the older two home, allowing me to stay there for two more days with just Mariah. I came home ready to take it on again. I didn't know if I was going to be able to do much more than I had been doing, however.

Then something amazing happened. On the day Mariah turned two months old, she became a new baby. I credit two things for this miracle. The first is that it seemed as if her stomach suddenly knew how to digest milk MUCH better--gone were the constant belly-aches and endless burping marathons. Secondly, I figured out that I was spending way to much time and energy trying to help her or make her sleep. What she was trying to say to me (and I should have this one figured out after much experience with my two older children) was "Mom, you can't make me," and "I'll do it myself!" So, I finally just laid her in her crib, walked away, listened to her cry for a few minutes, and VIOLA! She went to sleep and has been sleeping beautifully since. She takes good daytime naps, is happy in between, and the best of all is that she averages about 10 hours of sleep a night without waking. Overnight she went from my toughest baby yet to my best. She's three months old now, and has continued these behaviors quite consistently. (I think I've been awoken just once for a night feeding in that entire month.)

So I feel like I've moved past survival mode. I have several pieces of evidence to support this feeling I have--most of which are projects I've been able to complete that are a step above keeping the house looking a little better than a landfill.

1. I cleaned my carpets. Yeah, I rented a shampooer and did the entire house. It was great, especially watching all that dirty water go down the drain, knowing it wasn't in my carpets anymore.

2. I cleaned out my van. Not just getting the garbage out, which I struggled to do for the previous two months. I actually vacuuumed and shampooed carpets, wiped down all the interior (may I say that leather interior is the ONLY way to go with kids, in my opinion), and Armor All'd all of it. I even took out all the car seats, stripped off the disgusting pads and covers, washed them, and put them back together, which was no easy task. It looked amazing.

3. I mentioned this a little in an earlier post, but I got caught up on my digital scrapbooking, finishing 12 more pages. Here's one that I liked, but didn't include earlier.

Sorry you can't really read the small print. Oh well.


4. I painted and decorated our playroom. I also pulled out all the toys and Tony washed them all. I reorganized them and put them back away. It's like we have a whole new playroom. Connor and Mylie helped me get started, then went to Angela's for the day. Mariah napped or watched me paint. She was great!

Playroom before--BORING

Getting started

Playroom after some bright paint and cute details--FUN!

5. I painted our guest bathroom. This is probably my favorite room makeover I've ever done, and all it took was a can of paint. I just love the color--so warm and happy. Connor was very proud of how much he helped me with this room, and he really did! He was a great painter.

6. I sewed two cute little curtains--one for our playroom and one for the nursery. I decorated that room three years ago when we moved into the house but never bothered with a window treatment until now. It turned out so cute!

The playroom curtain

7. I cleaned out our disgusting refrigerator. There's nothing like a clean fridge to lift my spirits!

8. I've worked hard in my Biggest Loser Contest. Although I'm not even in the top half after the first weigh-in, I'm really happy with my progress toward my post-baby weight loss and fitness goals. I've started lifting weights a couple days a week, which I have not done since college. I've even been getting up early enough to play 6am basketball twice a week with some friends.

9. I've been a big-time MV Buffaloes fan, going to as many games as possible and loving every minute of it. Here are my little BUFFS fans.

Isn't this sweet?

Connor doing what he does ALL day--BASKETBALL!!

Even with all this evidence that perhaps I have moved on, I've been discovering over the past few days that I've probably been running a little faster than I have strength. I've paid for it now by being sick for a few days, and feeling like I've landed myself right back into survival mode. Oh well, it was good while it lasted.