Checklist update and Mommy-guilt kicks in

So Janna (oh, she of the most beautiful twin boy-children I have ever seen), asked me how I was doing with the Maternity Leave Checklist. Good question, I thought. So I thought I'd check, just to keep a running tally.

So here's where I am (with 5 weeks of maternity leave to go):

• Finish sending out thank-you cards to friends
• Organize and clean out my basement
• Swap out winter and spring/summer clothes
• Figure out what to do with maternity clothes (consignment? Freecycle? Give to a friend?)
• Frame (and/or re-frame) photos; hang them in the house
• Find an aesthetically-pleasing (or if not, then cheap and easy) way to organize the boys' books in the living room play area
• Take my bedroom comforter to the Laundromat to wash
• Take my Christmas tablecloth to the dry cleaners (yes, I still have not done that and it's April. And what?)
• Take some things back to Macy's/Target
• Get a pedicure
• Get my eyebrows done
• Go to the Dominicans and get my hair done (This item and the previous two are all part of Operation Bring the Sexy Back. New spring/summer clothes are also a part of that mission, but only after this baby belly has gone the way of the wooly mammoth.) I bought a few things, but nothing compared to what's coming when my gut is gone. Lester, be prepared for the spending spree, sweetie.
• Go visit friends with Clair, or the boys, or all 3 (Kelly, in particular)
• Go visit friends all alone! Preferably where a meal and cocktails are present (Angel, Kelly, Beth, Stacey) I have dates scheduled with Beth and with Stacey. Angel, Kelly? Where you at, yo?
• Go visit Granddad
• Have lunch with Lester during the work week
• Go out with Lester on a real grown-up date Just asked Michelle to babysit on May 4, so that's in the works
• Take my Dad out for lunch again, this time with Tahira since she missed it last time
• Get Clair on a predictable eating and sleeping schedule
• Get Clair sleeping in her own bed
• Wean the boys from their nighttime bottle Down to 6 ounces a night. Next week starts 5 ounces.
• Get on the pill Picked up my prescription yesterday. Gotta wait for Aunt Flo to show before I can start taking them.
• Get on the pill!
• Get ON THE PILL!
• Make an appointment with my primary care doctor to get my sugars tested Called and he said call back in 3 weeks, because they need a certain amount of time to have passed after delivery to get a true reading.
• Plan and have the boys' 2nd birthday party. Working on this. It'll be on May 12th, and I'm going to get them a play kitchen. But that's as far as I've gotten.

Looking at this list makes me think about the fact that I am doing a lot more this maternity leave than I EVER did when I was home with the boys. This is good news; it shows I'm getting better at this "being a Mommy" business. But my Mommy-guilt makes me think that maybe I should be concentrating a bit more on my newborn baby. :-(

When I was home with C and D, I was really paralyzed at the idea of taking two infants anywhere by myself. So I just stayed in the house, by myself. And consequently, I spent a lot of time just being with them: singing, talking, reading, sitting in front of a long floor mirror turned on its side, pointing out the features on their little faces, doing Tummy Time etc. I can't say I was aware of this time as "quality time," necessarily; as I noted, it was mostly by default because I was NOT leaving the house and I was sorta freaked out and fascinated by them, so I over-compensated by being all up in their faces all the time.

But with Clair, I'm not so freaked out. So I know if I leave her in the bouncy chair for a bit while I have a sandwich -- or clean out the basement -- she'll live. And I have two boys to play with, so I'm often holding her in one arm while entertaining/chastening/tending to them. She's like an appendage, sometimes, if I'm being honest. A cute and cuddly appendage, but still...

So should I really just chill out on all the chores, and try to cherish this time that I'm getting with her? She really is a totally fun baby -- much more animated and smiley than Cary and Dean ever were at this age (or even older, actually). And you can tell she craves closeness and socialization. She LOVES it when we talk to her and smile at her and sing at her. LOVES it. So maybe I should give her that while I'm off? It's only 5 weeks of time that I get with her. And what on this list can't be done another time, like a weekend or a random day off? And what will really happen if something on this list doesn't get done? Meanwhile, my baby daughter (my LAST child ever) will only be this age once. And never again.

Look how peaceful and sweet she is when she sleeps! Awww.

Dilemma!Sigh. Perhaps there's a happy medium?