On Socks and Sex and things that go bump in the night

You get a numbered list because effort is not what I am all about these days.

1. Socks - the #1 reason socks are changed in this house is because they have poop on them. Really. And not just Baby No Elf Ear who kicks into his own filth during diaper changes. #2 is because you are walking around and notice the bottom of your foot is kind of cold and sticking to the linoleum so you look and there's a ##$( hole in the bottom again. I swear to Vishnu that if I ever find that errant nail we keep stepping on I will pound it down with the biggest hammer I can find.
2. The cleanest place in my house in the floor next to the changing table that gets doused with baby pee every single day. And then wiped up. Cleanest place.
3. I made homemade chocolate chip cookies yesterday and bribed Chuckles with them. Eat your veggies, go outside and "shovel" the snow, then you get a cookie. It worked. Am winner mother. He needed to go outside and run around because
4. Seriously, I hate weather blogging but this is ridiculous. It's 12 below zero air temperature. In the last month, we have had: wind chill, air chill, thundersnow, an honest-to-god blizzard, snow showers, ice storm, state of ice emergency when all roads were closed (even the mail didn't come...so much for not letting the weather get in the way of their appointed rounds), flooding, flash flooding, flurries, rain, and i have no idea what else, but really. It is too cold to go outside today. There is ice on the inside of my windows. Even the good new windows.
5. I got my Mirena IUD. So far, I like it. Insertion was painless for sure. It felt like a pap smear, which is not pleasant, but certainly bearable without painkillers. THe painful part was teh $870 I had to pay upfront because my insurance doesn't cover it. Since it's good for 5 years, the cost is fine, but really, upfront. And they had no idea how to bill me so they called the central billing but it was 12:01 (lunch time). Un-fun. I just used up my whole flex spending allottment for the year and it's only half-way through January.
6. I went to a moms' forum last night. Nursed in Public. Had a good time. My kid's not the only crazy one. But he is meaner than I thought. He winged a car at one of his teachers one day but no one ever mentioned it. Until last night. Was quite embarassed. But felt better about my anal retentiveness when I heard about another mom's idiosyncracies.
7. As his gift to me, Bobo slept through the night New Year's Eve. Mind you, I didn't. At 3:30 am, I woke up with huge, full, sore breasts. Of course, when BObo did wake to eat, he only took one side. After that, I went to pump the other side. I filled the bottle, so I had to stop but it was good all around. He has slept through (until 5 or 6 am) a handful of times since then. He's a great baby. He eats a lot during the day, but really, it's OK.
8. I spend a lot of time doing various mundane tasks. 4-5 hrs/day nursing, 1 hr/day changing diapers, 45 minutes wiping snotty noses (mine and the noses of others), 2 hrs/day answering questions and then being told that my answers are wrong, 30 minutes eating pretend food, 20 minutes brushing teeth (mine and others), and so on.
9. Brushing Teeth is the bane of my existence. Seriously. We brush them every night. This should not be a surprise. If we get them brushed quickly, we'll have more time for the good stuff like stories and snuggles. Just open your fricken mouth already kiddo. I tried games, I tried letting him brush himself, I tried letting him brush me while I brush him, I pried open the mouth, I bought fun toothbrushes, and toothpaste, to no avail. End of rope. Of course, he sat in the chair nicely at the dentist and opened big. They cleaned his teeth. He even let them take x-rays. Angelic for others, demon for me. BUt he's sweet and cute and well, you get the idea. Note to Self: Make Mr. Long-Suffering handle the toothbrushing.
10. Second time mom is way more laid back. BUt much more houseridden. I'm not sure whether it's because it's winter or because I have two kids but I am not getting out enough. Am stir crazy with a side order of cabin fever (thus the reason I went out during a blizzard to a moms' forum). But I am using babysitters (grandmas and grandpas) far more this time around so I can get out and have alone time. Sure, grocery shopping isn't glamorous, but it's rather enjoyable when I'm by myself. And solo Target trips are like manna from heaven.
11. I made homemade mole chicken (that's pronounces mole-ay) on Sunday. Mr. L-S was surprised it was good. Dude, I followed the recipe...mostly. It should have been good. I didn't have all the ingredients on hand but made logical substitutions (no stock, use boullion, no tomatillos, use diced tomatoes, etc).
12. I put on my pre-pregnancy jeans, pulled them up, laid back on the bed, and zipped and buttoned them. At 8 weeks post-partum. I feel like ANgelina Jolie. Sure, it didn't look good. And sure, I couldn't breathe, but this was a full 2 months earlier than with Chuckles. And sure, the button was under such a tensile strain that I could've blinded a passerby in the street if the button had given way, but I DID IT. Woo Hoo. And Hoot. And Hooray for me. OK, so they were my "big jeans". Still.
13. I made two New Year's Resolutions. 10 sit ups/day (and I am doing fine with this...I missed a day but did 20 the next day). Sit ups are hard after a c-section in case you are wondering what the deal is with TEN. And I stilll have to cheat a little to get all the way up, but I can tell it's coming along.
14. The second resolution is to have more rhymes with hecks in 2009. Not a hard thing to accomplish since I was on pelvic rest half of the year or more. First trimester, third trimester, half of 2nd trimester, and 6 weeks post-partum (to which I did not adhere). So, this should be easy to do. Plus I have that IUD. Gotta make it cost-effective.