Paternity leave (AKA free time)

My two weeks off work started the moment Tyson was born. I was really looking forward to the pseudo-vacation and with all of this free time, I could start completing things on my long laundry list of random crap I want/need to do. But nothing ever goes according to plan.

One week has passed and only one more week left to go, yet I feel like I haven't done much from my list. The first couple days of "vacation" was spent in the dreaded hospital and the initial days at home with the newborn was spent cleaning and prepping the house. After all the chores and other non-fun stuff were completed, I wanted to actually do something with my time off. But I forget, we have a baby now who is not even a week old. We're not exposing him to this crazy heat (second worst drought in Texas history) and I don't want to risk him catching any kind of infection. So we're pretty much on lock-down. We have gone to local stores (Target) but dare not adventure into town or do anything long and strenuous... well not yet.

Hot damn.

Each day seems busy yet I feel very unproductive. I wanted to cook/experiment with new recipes, catch up on my reading, and watch my Netflix movies which have been in the drawer for who knows how long. None of it gets done. I'm so tired that I too need my daily naps like the boys. What's going on?

Even though I didn't get to do what I wanted to do, I do enjoy my quality time with the kids. I had the boys color and decorate whatever animals they wanted and we were going to make a zoo over Tyson's crib. They really enjoyed making animals for baby, so much so that I had to limit them.

There are still eight more animals I have yet to hang.

Andrew had to answer, i.e. draw, various things before starting school this year, e.g. my pets, my house. This is a drawing for "this is my family". Since when did I have red hair like Conan?

Andrew explains the picture from left to right. "That's Jacob, baby, a dot, mama, an animal, nothing, papa, and me."

Today I took the boys to Moody Gardens to check out the aquarium. I figured it was the best time to do it since Jacob and Andrew will be starting school next week. It was too bad we had to leave Lynn and Tyson at home for reasons stated above. It was decent and had a few unique exhibits. The kids enjoyed the underwater tunnel and the penguins. I like the huge octopus. But for the price and distance, I wouldn't do it again.