Life with Louis and Max

I've been really looking forward to writing this blog but finding the moment to actually do it has been tricky.

At this moment, though, my 2 year old, Louis, is having his lunchtime nap and Max, my 4 month old, who is still getting to grips with what that means, is kicking away in his play gym after I gave up trying to resettle him upstairs. 

As an early riser myself, I swear by the lunchtime sleep. I can't face an afternoon knowing that things are likely to kick off with the slightest provocation and that tantrums and toys will be thrown. The children's behaviour is much better after them too.

It's fair to say that life with these two is busy. Many of you politely warned me it would be. I often find myself wistfully asking my friends with older children just when it will be that they can get themselves up at the weekends and when I might actually have a holiday again. 

The answer seems to be anything from 5 to 15 years. That said, everyone tells me these years go so fast and so I am enjoying every moment. Except maybe the 3am feeds after you've dared to have a glass of wine with dinner...

Honestly, I think had I been a little younger, I might have had more of a gap between my kids, but regular listeners to Heart Breakfast will know I had a BIG birthday last week and so I kind of wanted to get on with it.  I've always loved my birthday and I approached this one head on and decided to have a party.  

Getting ready to go out is now such a different ball game than before the boys came along.  I'm sure I never appreciated all the free time I had to soak in a bath, try on umpteen outfits and experiment with my make up.  Just securing my 20 minutes to glam up is a military operation and my beauty rut is becoming more of a beauty canyon. Louis also feels the need to steal my make up brushes and paint the walls which is not distracting at all.

Somehow I managed to get party ready, squeeze in to a little red number and totter down the stairs, trying not to get tempted by one last cuddle with the kids which would surely result in some kind of unsavoury smudge down my dress.

I had a ball at my party.  I danced to Madonna and drank to my reasonably good health, all the while putting the next days parenting duties firmly to the back of my mind. I wouldn't say the following day was a complete write off, just one that was needing to be softly pencilled in, and one that required both my children to appreciate the value of the lunchtime sleep. I can live in hope.