Ahhhh….

Well, after all of the “taking it easy” before Solveig was born, going through the birth and following anemia, celebrating Christmas and New Years, all with the help of my wonderful husband, my in-laws, friends, and lastly my parents who flew back home last night, I’m finally on my own with the 4 kids.

I used to get so nervous the first time I was left alone with a newborn.  A newborn and a 15 month old (Silje and David) terrified me.  Even after Elias was born, I was nervous to be left alone with all 3.  However, as much as I’ve enjoyed all the help, I’m so excited to be on my own this morning with all 4.

My parents caught us up from the holiday back-up that was our messy house.  Yesterday the tree was taken out since it was no longer drinking water, and most of the decorations came down much sooner than they normally do.  I actually woke up this morning at 8am, and snuck in a shower before Knut headed off to work.  I had a hot breakfast of cream of wheat (the best anemia-buster out there, in my opinion).

Before I let myself get overwhelmed, I started a list of all the things that needed to get done.  Picking up the back hallway, cleaning out the diaper bag, washing diapers, bathing Solveig, etc.  One by one, everything got done.  We even did a few fun things this morning.

I finally completed stamping and stuffing all of the Christmas letters.  (One of the many great things about having a baby, is that you always have a legitimate excuse for being late…even if you’re normally late without a baby.)  The room that the tree was in got vacuumed, and I dared move the couch back to where it belonged.  (It’s not that heavy at all.  The kids could have moved it.)

We finished the broken crayon project.  When my parents were here, Mom and Silje started this project that I was inspired by this site to do.  Well, Ginny let her kids paint with the melted crayons.  I let them cool and harden. You basically sort broken crayons into a silicone baking mold, melt them in the oven, let them cool, and you have fun shaped funky crayons.  Eat your heart out,Crayola.  Elias will have a blast with these.  Well, he may have to fight his older brother and sister for them.

They came out multicolored, but the kids just love them.

Fun snowmen to warm up the day.

This chunky girl got a much needed bath in the sink.  Did I tell you that when we went to her 2 week check up, she had gained a whole pound from her birth weight?  My babes come out small, but they get fat quick.  Just the way I like it.

Ahhh…all clean and changed.

I will admit that the last few weeks, the kids (especially the boys) have watched way too much television and we haven’t been regulating it like we normally do.  Today is no exception.  I figured that my first day “back at work” wasn’t the best time to cut the t.v. off cold turkey.  Silje’s aching to start school again, but I think I’ll put it off until next Monday.  However, I think there’s no harm in letting her do some Chinese on the computer.

I’m not totally back to normal.  My tummy is still pretty rubbery, and I have no intention of exercising whether skiing or yoga until a full 6 weeks has passed.  I’m actually getting excited for that too.  I cannot tell you how good it feels to feel productive and useful again.  I know.  Resting and taking care of an infant is productive and useful.  Maybe I should say it feels good to feel more like myself again.