good week :)

well, i was very nervous about anna going to alaska, but it all worked fine. i didn't have a single breakdown! haha :)

tuesday went ok. arden was fussy in the afternoon so i threw her in the car and went to my old work to show her off. bedtime went really well that night. on wednesday, she slept for 2 1/2 hours in the moby for one stretch, and i managed to get a lot of housework done. the ladies and baby from mesdames plus baby came over and hung out that evening. while they were over i got to take a shower and vacuum. and they did the litter and took the trash to the curb for me:) so sweet. they even hung out and tried to soothe a very fussy arden. even sweeter. thursday we went for a nice long walk. it was warm for most of the week and i saw crocus blooming. crazy flowers, it's still january! :) anna's sister, aimee, came over after work to hang out for a bit. then an old rugby friend came and cooked a lovely dinner (winter green salad and salmon). i even enjoyed a bit of wine. again, i was surprised at the resilience my friends have for staying over even though arden is crying/screaming. arden was just fighting sleep. so frustrating and exhausting for me.

my mom got into town yesterday morning. we basically hung out at the house all day. arden took a 2 1/2 hour nap again, but not in the moby. she fell asleep in my lap after eating and i just kept her there for an hour. i thought she would wake up when i put her in the crib, but she remained asleep. so nice. my mom napped then too :) and i read for a bit. mom got to see the full extent of my repertoire to put arden to bed. i used a new trick. i bring her to the bathroom and turn the cold water on full blast. it snaps her out of her crying jag and falls asleep within minutes. lovely :)

anna got home at 1 am and it's been so nice to have her home today. i think i was just going, going, going while she was gone. constantly turned on to do everything for arden. today i felt like a hit a wall in the afternoon. my body seemed to suddenly say "you're done. go to bed." so i actually took a nap, while anna took arden for a walk. i probably could have slept for hours, but arden was crying when anna got home. oh well :)

but the most awesome thing this week- mom babysat arden so anna and i could go see a movie. albeit we just walked two blocks to the theatre and came home right after, but it was great :) we saw invictus, a movie about south africa/nelson mandela/rugby. i like it a lot. arden was very good for mom, took her bottle and slept about half the time. i was able to feed her when i got home and she went down to bed like an angel.

mom leaves tomorrow night, and anna goes to work again on monday (thankfully not out-of-town), but i feel like i survived a difficult test just fine. i know there will still be bumps in the road and i'm sure i will still shed tears on hard days, but i'll be ok :) i can be a mom, and a good one at that.