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Whether we’re in our house for an hour or a whole day, after Adele goes to bed, we look around and see that our entire place is upside down. We’ve completely given up on cleaning throughout the day because it’s a futile waste of energy. I longingly remember back to the days when ‘infant Adele’ would be entertained by a single toy, book or a chain of plastic rings. I now spend 1-2 hours every single day tidying everything up. It’s exhausting. But to us, a clean house means a clear mind… and at this point, I need all the sanity I can get.

Here’s some ‘Before & After’ photos of our house this week…well really it’s like “Before & After & Before” because it is an endless cycle of Elmo, spilled milk, strawberries crushed into the rug, random Mrs. Potatohead pieces all over, emptied out toy bins and miscellaneous tupperware spread out everywhere. Welcome to our beautiful life:

LIVING ROOM – BEFORE

LIVING ROOM – AFTER

ADELE’S ROOM – BEFORE

ADELE’S ROOM – AFTER

THE KITCHEN – BEFORE

THE KITCHEN – AFTER

Tell me we’re not alone here! Share your “Before & After” pictures! We’re keeping real here!

When my friends asked me what I was doing for New Years this week I told them all I was hanging out with my mom and going to bed at 9pm. And that’s exactly what I did. And then at 12:01am as the East Coast was ringing in the New year, Adele woke up yelling “Mama! Down!” She was wide awake. My mom and I alternated picking her up, rubbing her back and trying to get her to fall back asleep. Eventually I dragged her into bed with me, which to her meant playtime. We were lying there in the dark and she was talking up a storm.

“Cookie?” –no baby, it is the middle of the night. No cookies.

“Milk?” –here, have a sip of water. “Milk?” And she practically pushed me out of bed so I would get her some. “Cookie?” No cookie. Just milk.

“Daddy?” — yep, we will see daddy tomorrow, but we have to go to bed first. And then she made the ‘shhh’ sound. That’s right, we have to be quiet and sleep.

“YODEL-DEE YODEL” Adele, grammie and grandpa are sleeping. Go to sleep.

Eventually I strapped her into the Ergo and walked around the dark, quiet house. She slept on me into the wee hours of the morning. Just the two of us enjoying the first moments of 2014. No one else I would rather celebrate with (except irving of course).

Being a parent is tough sometimes, but when there are snuggles to be had, I will take it. Happy new year!

The only purchase we made on Black Friday!

China 2014!!