Contrary to Popular Belief...

I am capable of operating a vacuum cleaner and cooking dinner--two days in a row. It's like ever since we got that mattress, I've been motivated to turn into the perfect housewife and mom. I've spent a considerable time cleaning the house and even cooking for Matt two days in a row. That has to be a record of some sort.

After Matt and I got married, we split up the household chores, with the bulk of them going to him. He's always been more concerned with keeping things cleaner than I have, so he would clean first, just because things bothered him before they bothered me. Then the nausea from being pregnant got so bad that any cleaning could send me to pray to the porcelain god. Even the smell of the laundry soap made me sick. There were several months that we were lucky if I even cleaned myself during the day, much less the house. Matt would work all day, only to come home and take care of me and the house (have I mentioned he's my hero?).

After Patrick was born and I could stand the smells of things again, I took over the majority of the laundry and dishes. Those were my two chores, and I did them promptly and well--but you couldn't make me do anything other than that. I was overwhelmed with taking care of Patrick, and it was tough enough balancing his care and laundry.

Now that we have a routine, though, I find myself with more extra time during the day than I ever thought I'd have. I'm not the type of person to get bored easily, so I always find fun things to do, but I hadn't felt compelled to do anything productive with my extra time. Then the productive spurt from the weekend got me moving, and now I can't seem to stop. I feel like I really can do this whole housewife thing, and not only can I, but I want to as well. I may not be setting up playgroups yet or making my own baby food, but until then at least Matt can come home to a clean house, a clean baby, and a clean wife.
In Patrick news, his new thing is squealing. He uses super high-pitched squeals to replace some of the whining. It's a much happier sound, so Matt and I are thrilled with it. It's so cute to hear too. I think he's excited to realize he can make those neat sounds, which is why he keeps repeating it. I don't mind--anything he can do to entertain himself!
I'm noticing now how entirely mediocre these pictures are compared to yesterday's. Patrick looked so cute while I was taking pictures, sliding down until he was on his back and scratching his round belly, part of which was exposed under the too-short shirt, and grabbing at his crotch (I think the shorts were annoying him). I had all sorts of redneck jokes ready to go. Then none of the cutest pictures turned out. I was trying some without a flash, but they were so blurry you couldn't tell I'd been photographing a baby. And naturally, all the cute poses happened while that flash was turned off. Oh, well, at least I caught him smiling.