Life with The Youngs

It has been a long time since my last post, but I think that I have some pretty valid excuses!!! Life has taken a chaotic turn in the past month or so. For starters, I am working A LOT more. Kiera and I generally work at least 6 shifts/week at the cafe. It has been nice to have more of a presence there in these winter months when so many people are coming in for the 1st time. It's also so nice to hear all of the great reviews. Jeff and I have invested our life (financially and emotionally) into Side Street Cafe, so to hear customers say how much they love it is incredibly rewarding. But... it hasn't been all sunshine and rainbows. I have found myself as the only server in the midst of a full restaurant with a screaming baby strapped to the front of me a few times. THAT is a nightmare. Most people are obviously understanding, but it is still such a stressful situation.

99% of the time I'm incredibly grateful to be in a position where I can work with my daughter by my side (or on my front) meeting her needs and playing with her in the down moments. 1% of the time, I am swearing that it is the last day that I will ever be in this situation as the only server with food is in the window, a table that needs menus, 4 tables that need their checks, 2 that need to place an order, 1 that table wants the music turned down, 1 table that wants the fireplace turned on while I need ice from the basement, people are standing in the door with no clean tables to sit in..... and Kiera clearly needs to be fed because she is screaming. haha! Obviously, the 99% outweighs the 1% and I'm living and learning and trying to make each day easier on both of us.

To be honest, I come home many days at the end of my rope. I'm exhausted and overwhelmed (caring very little about blogging) and needing a big break from everyone, Kiera included. I don't usually get that break, but life goes on and I eventually gain perspective and remember that this is what it means to be a mother. This is what it means to care about others' needs 5 million times more than you care about your own. I think that it's important to acknowledge the tough times because it is (ironically) pretty easy to pretend that you have it all together. I have found it to be much harder to speak honestly about how difficult it can really be. I don't mean "complaining"... I mean recognizing that it is a tough job and NO ONE does it perfectly. It's ok to feel overwhelmed. It's ok to question if you know what you are doing. And it's definitely ok to throw your hands up when you need help.

Yes, it can be difficult at times, but I wouldn't change it for the world and I love every second. With all of our time together, Kiera and I are forming such a close bond. I love to see her face light up when she sees me and recognizes that I'm that lady that loves her, feeds her, and carries her around all day. She is usually great with other people as well, but when she sees Jeff, Lexi or I she seems to recognize that we are the main figures in her life. Grammie (Jeff's mom) has been helping out a lot these days by spending time with Kiera in the morning before we head to Bar Harbor. It's amazing how much I can get done in a 1 hour period without a baby. I'm like a 60 minute superhuman.

We have started feeding her rice cereal from time to time and she seems to be enjoying it. Next I will start the adventure of making my own baby food. My friend Carla recently started, and she gave me some great tips. It seems to be very easy, healthy, and less expensive in comparison to store-bought baby foods.i

I mentioned to Jeff that I have been LOVING her 4th month. She is rolling, laughing, playing, finding her toes, eating her toes, "talking", drooling, and smiling like crazy. It dawned on me that I have said that every month is my favorite month, which can only lead me to believe that it will continue to get better from

here.... until she is a teenager of course ;) Each month, we learn more about her and we watch her learn more about the world around her.

I spend so much time blogging about Kiera because I'm with her all day, but Lexi has seen a lot of excitement lately as well. Her basketball team made it to the play-offs, but eventually lost to Southwest Harbor. This year has been so fun for us as parents because she was playing on both A-team and B-team. Her school didn't have enough girls to fill both teams so she was needed on both. We got to go to twice as many games to cheer her on! I seriously loved watching the girls get better and more cohesive as the year progressed. Not to embarrass her, but she has also been working really hard to keep her grades up. On the nights when I don't have to work, we sit down to work on her math and study spelling. Now I know how my parents felt, because she is learning things in school that I definitely don't remember at all.

She and her classmates are working on an art project now that will be featured at our cafe. All of the pieces will be for sale and the proceeds will go to relief in Haiti. A Haitian student from COA and I went to Lexi's school to speak to the students about Haiti and about their ability to make a difference with their artwork. I can't wait to see how they turn out and I'm hoping that Lex will help me display them at the cafe when they're ready.

Here are a few photos of life these days! Enjoy :)

Baby K and Aunt Emo ice fishing on Long Pond!