naptime and other ramblings

Mike and I really don't have any justification for complaining about anything on a week when he has to work 2 days and I only have to work 1 (hollaaa!), so let's not call this complaining, but instead we'll label it sharing.  It's Open House at Mike's school, so he was up and out the door at 6:15 this morning after a brief snuggle-time with Natalie, and won't be home until after 9 tonight.  I love my days off with the budgie, but holy smokes does a whole entire day (3 meals, bath, bedtime routine, etc.) alone with her still completely wear me down.

It's been nice so far, a quick errand-run followed by a stop at the Lobster Trap Christmas Tree that's erected annually by our town's waterfront (Lawster!  Missmass!  Tree! as Natalie would say), and then some Gabba at home and lunch.

It's coooooold out there today, so I'm using Natalie's naptime to think of some creative ways for us to have fun inside this afternoon.  Thank goodness for Pinterest, am I right?

I've also been using this midday downtime to reflect on how much I have come to enjoy this period of toddlerhood.  I love how much fun Natalie is when she is awake, and I love that our daily schedule together includes a solid 2-hour naptime that lets me recharge.  How do you other parents use naptime?  I usually make myself be productive for the first hour (laundry, dishes, email, random toy pick-up) and then give myself an hour of guilt-free whatever (sleep, book, tv, blog).  It's a balance that gives me the energy to make it trhough the hard parts of my stay-at-home days.

On another note, I'm getting pretty excited about Thanksgiving.... and not just because it will mean 5 days off as a family.  We're doing a seafood Thanksgiving on Wednesday, and then a traditional turkey thing on Thursday.  And then..... it's time to decorate for Christmas!  I can hardly contain myself.

Hmmm.  Should this be filed under Most Random Blog Post To Date?  Perhaps.  Oh, well.