Now A Days

Three babies, one bath tub. 

I love when they can sit up on their own in the tub. 

Also, the days are getting darker sooner, and that means earlier bedtime. Who doesn't love an earlier bedtime?

For, like, the first month of school,  I took their picture every day waiting for the bus. 

They're just so cute with their little (and big) backpacks on.

Me and Evan love to go wait at the bus stop for Avery to get home.

The second day, the bus pulled up, lots of kids got off, and the bus pulled away. No Avery. 

I panicked for a second and called the school and the bus. 

Turns out she was on the bus, but just didn't know when to get off. She didn't see me, and the bus driver didn't realize she needed to prompt her. (I think the confusion came from us missing that second day of school to go to Chicago.)

So the bus turned around and brought her to me. 

Now, every day I'm out there like a mama bear, eye balling that bus driver to make sure Avery gets off the bus.

Besides that, the bus experience has been great - I dare say the highlight of their day.

Avery noticed that other kids do homework while on the bus, and has requested some homework of her own. 

I remember liking homework when I was in Elementary. It made me feel big and smart.

Noah! Noah!

(does Avery have a little crush on Noah?)

In the afternoons, about the time the kids start fighting, 

I take them on a "scooter walk". 

At the dead end of our street, other neighborhood kids gather to ride their wheels of choice. 

We enjoy our time outdoors before the rain comes.

So, potty training.

One minute I give up and declare the training is over. Diapers are juusssst fine with me.

The next day he makes me believe he's almost got it.

At least we have moved on from this stage...he went naked for a few weeks and would run out and pee in the back yard. 

Now he wears clothes and even goes to school and church with "unnies" on.

I'd say we are...85% there. 

These two are my favorites.

I just love Andrew. 

I love when he grabs my shirt and gives me a hug.

I love when he opens wide for the spoon of food.

I love when he lays his little head on my shoulder right before a nap.

He started eating food in Chicago.

 Flavor seems to be the caveat. 

Hey Gals, Come to My House.

Before picking Emily up from the airport, we went to Teddy Bear Cove to see the purple starfish, but it was high tide.

We just dinked around a bit until we heard the train whistle.

Last time I came here, we were hoping a train would come through, but it didn't.

So this time we got really excited.

It was actually a little bit scary. So fast and loud. I was afraid some shrapnel would fling out on us.

It was about....now...that I thought about putting a penny on the track. Too late.

This is also why we were late to get Emily. Had to wait for the train.

Jimi picked up my mom and Mary in his MD80.

We stayed up talking and talking and talking. Nettie fell down the stairs a couple times.

The next day we went to Vancouver.

I didn't take many pictures, but among the 6 of our iphones, there are a lot of them floating around out there.

Granville Island

This darn bridge.

It scares me, ok?

Everyone else was out there having a dance party.

I could not get across fast enough.

Plus this kid was on my shoulders.

I love touristing around with all my gals,

but I do NOT like Canada's highway (lack of) infrastructure. It's terrible.

Ok, I don't even like thinking about this, so for memory's sake I will just say:

3 hours in stop and go traffic,

"we are going back to Vancouver!" (this actually gives me physical pain to think about),

border crossing with full bladders and crying babies,

picking up my kids from Courtney's house at 8pm in the rain...

I shouldn't have been as stressed out as I was, but yeah. I was a bit of a basket case

So the next day was just totally relaxing. No international travel please.

We went to Fairhaven and had a lovely lunch.

Hello my pretties.

This was my favorite: beach combing.

I just love that every single person is entertained and happy in their own way.

The pregnant lady can sit on a log and rest her bones,

moms can find seashell souvenirs for their kids,

my kids can make trains out of rocks,

watch the water,

throw a rock,

talk and talk and talk.

That's mostly what we do is talk and talk and talk.

Then when everyone goes home we still text each other.

Jimi and Andy want to know what we could possibly still have to talk about?

It was over way too fast.

I miss them.

Andrew and Damon

Damon: "Did I tell you I'm taking karate? Hi ya!"

Andrew: "I got this tooth coming in. It's really bothering me."

Damon: "Ha! I don't even know what that is."

Damon: "Stop hitting yourself, stop hitting yourself, stop hitting yourself..."

Andrew: "Damon, check this out, if you arch your back, you can see what's going on behind you."

Damon: "I'm a kisses guy."

Andrew: "No way man! Hugs!"

Damon: "Look I can bite my hand and it doesn't even hurt."

Andrew: "Sccchhhhheeee, you won't be able to do that once you start getting teeth."

The Mom Paradox

I'm in such a mom funk.

I was looking at pictures of me when Avery was a baby. I was so young and fresh.

 

Now I feel like all I do is tread water and yell at my kids. 

I often feel like I can't do everything that I need to, but most days I don't know what I accomplished at all.

I feel so haggard and worn down.

It's hard taking care of three littles. Hard.

 

 I have been trying to put into words how I have been feeling lately.

It's nothing new, of course. But I just realized the polarizing emotions being a mother creates. Happiness one minute, red anger and frustration the very next second.

 

When I get to welcome them home from school - joy.

When I tell them to leave Andrew alone and they don't - anger.

 

When I get Andrew up from a nap and he dive bombs my shoulder with his face - love.

When Evan just came to me crying with a sucker in his hands, getting my neck and arms sticky - both sweet and gross.

 

When Evan just went poop on the toilet by himself, thereby earning that sucker - victory!

When they all came upstairs to a freshly cleaned play room and dumped out the toys for no reason - sweaty anger.

 

When I watch them be creative and nice to one another, making a "round and round" with the books lined up with peaks that makes a tunnel for trucks - happiness.

When Evan pees in his undies minutes after peeing in the toilet - frustration.

Watching them asleep, family outings when everyone is happy, the rare occasion when everyone sits at the table and eats their food - it's my favorite thing in the world. That's when I love being a mom.

 

Getting them to sleep, fighting with them in public, hearing they are hungry right before they go to bed (because they didn't eat the food I made them) - it beats me down. It zaps the life out of me. It makes me have a permanently furrowed brow. It makes me say curse words. It makes me a boring person. I have turned into an angry, yelling, personality-less person. With sticky on my neck.

 

While writing this post, I've had to stop and:

help Evan go pee (woo hoo!),

argue with him about whether he earned a marshmallow or a sucker (sucker is for pooping),

pick up Andrew and cuddle him because he got his fingers stuck in a truck tire,

look at Avery's creations she's making at the craft table (wow cool! I love it!),

stop Evan from playing with the googly eyes...clean up all the googly eyes,

run downstairs and get a marshmallow for the pee-er,

yell at both kids to leave Andrew alone, don't push! why did you push?,

chase Evan around the pool table to retrieve the "key" he stole from Avery,

wash his sticky hands and face,

explain three times to Avery why the vacuum is out (because I just vacuumed in here)...

 

Are you bored yet?

Edit: after I posted this, I was vacuuming my room. When I finished, I went to find Avery had cleaned up all the toys in the play room and cleaned up Evans room. Total happiness. 

Chicago Wedding!

So in my brain, I know that four days of traveling with three kids plus a busy, kid unfriendly city plus trying to make Evan behave during a wedding shouldn't equal one of my favorite vacations ever, 

but it was! 

I loved it. Chicago is such an unbelievable city. The architecture is amazing! And I'm no architect. 

The buildings had so many intricate details, and so unique. 

 I want to spend much more time there. Without kids please. Because, trust me, the kid situation almost killed me at times. I have my hands full, people.

When I say four days of traveling, luckily sandwiched in there was a visit with the Kelvingtons, so it wasn't so bad. 

These cousins love each other.

xoxo

We figured out that we rode 21 modes of transportation on this trip:

airplanes, shuttles, trains, cars, taxis, busses. Jamie's car.

And with all that transporting, wouldn't you know, I didn't have one poopy diaper en route.

I did during a layover though.

This is gross, so get ready for baby poop....

This happened after our three hour flight to South Bend Indiana. We had a three hour wait until the train picked us up.

It could have been worse, believe me.

We locked ourselves in a family bathroom and gave him a sink bath.

It was crazy.

Then we got on this little train. We had it built up in our minds as a great adventure - the highlight of the day.

But it was not.

 It was the end of a long, long day and the scenery was mostly ghetto areas of Indiana and Illinois.

Oh and also, we thought it would be an hour and half ride.

Nope. There's a time change between the states we didn't know about. So that's a TWO and a half hour train ride.

The kids were burnt. Me and Jim were really burnt. It was hard being patient with them. We weren't patient and they weren't obedient.

Curse that stroller.

They fight over who gets to push it.

They throw a fit if we don't let them push it.

I hate that thing.

We stayed at the Omni. It was so exciting being smack dab down town. 

We rode a taxi from the train station to our hotel with the windows rolled down. I could not believe how beautiful it was. So intimidating! So amazing! So huge!

Those feelings were coupled with an anxiousness to keep my kids safe in a city. 

In case I wasn't clear: big cities were not designed for frolicking children.

But we had lots of help.

Lance was awesome with Evan. 

Evan responds better to people who aren't his mom and dad.

The second day, after a restful night of sleep, we went to the Sears Tower (it will always be the Sears Tower to me).

Joe met us there and gave us the local's perspective. 

I can't believe he lives there. 

He lives down. town.

It's such an amazing city.

Kids are not afraid of heights. 

There is "art" all over the city.

After the Sears Tower, the boys and girls split up.

They went on a river taxi and to Navy Pier.

We ate lunch with Susan and her friends/family, and got pedicures.

Oh PS, Susan is training for a marathon and the 20 mile training run was on her wedding day, so she went ahead and did it before meeting us for lunch. La la la, no big deal. 20 miles later.

She and Joe are so perfect for each other. That's a move Joe would make - exercise for 4 hours on a totally busy day. 

They're just perfect for each other in so many ways.

Introducing Avery and her princess fantasy camp.

She was so pampered the whole time.

That evening we went to the cathedral for the wedding rehearsal. It was so beautiful inside,

and outside.

Then we walked to this Spanish restaurant for some tapas. 

We were all in a downstairs area by ourselves being served tapas for hours. Eventually Avery put herself to sleep, and Evan drove a truck (that Joe and Susan thoughtfully gifted him) around the room.

Back at the hotel that night, the maid(?) brought us milk and cookies. 

The next morning - wedding day - we got up early to do a little exploring before it was time to get ready.

We went and checked out "The Bean". Iconic Chicago thingy.

So then Jim and Avery went across the street to get us breakfast.

I sat to feed Andrew thinking Evan would be sufficiently entertained by this waterfall sculptor.

It's not a splash pad. 

No. It's not a splash pad.

But lots of other kids were splashing in it, so Evan decided to join them.

And fell.

We stripped him down, rung out the shorts, and made our way back to the hotel.

 I needed to get Avery up to the presidential suite in time to get her hair done anyway.

Susan looked so much like Audrey Hepburn. 

Princess fantasy camp exercise number two. 

The view from the suite.

The boys ready for the wedding.

Walking to the cathedral...

Speaking of My Fair Lady:

"Get me to the church on time!"

Jim and the Groom are in the front.

back stage... 

I don't even want to discuss how naughty Evan was during the wedding. 

All I know is the bride is coming down the isle and he is being loud and unruly. I just imagine everyone is looking over us as we are ruining the whole thing.

I started crying and hiding behind the pew, and Lance swooped in and took Evan to the back of the church.

I knew that Sharley had to go do a reading, so I couldn't leave her alone with my baby. 

I don't know...It was just really embarrassing to me to have these loud kids. 

I'm sad I didn't get to see Avery the flower girl come down with her little ball of flowers.

I'm sad I didn't get to watch Susan come down in her pretty dress.

I was just a sweaty mess hiding behind the pew.

Then Andrew was fussy so I took him out, and this is how I got to see the rest of the wedding.

Turns out Evan wasn't as loud as I imagined him. 

And of course nobody was looking at us...they were looking at the bride!

And Sharley reassured me, "Joe wanted Evan to be there."

So I didn't totally ruin the wedding.

It was still awesome.

I am so thankful that Avery had this opportunity to be a flower girl.

She was treated so special. It was a completely magical experience for her.

See that necklace she's showing Jim? A gift from Joe and Susan.

Seriously you would think it was all of our special day the way they catered to the rest of us.

They are some of the most unselfish people I know.

So pretty!

The wedding party went to a park for pictures.

I took my naughty boys home for a nap.

Can you see:

the bride and groom?

Avery and Jim?

So later that evening, we went out to this terrace before the dinner and dance. 

It was such a cool view, but of course my kids were climbing on the railing, practically falling off the building. My heart rate shot up and I made everyone go inside.

Later...

When the kids were in bed and the babysitter was here...

me and Jim went back to this terrace and enjoyed the quiet and the view.

Don't even get me started on how wonderful having three hours of kid free time was.

Don't even get me going.

Ok. I'm going...it was the best three hours of the whole trip. 

It was shackle free.

It was dance on the dance floor with my hands in the air.

It was a giant glass of milk and cookies all to myself.

It was talking with other adults...in complete sentences and complete attention.

It was quiet on the roof looking at the city next to Jimi and only Jimi.

It was my favorite memory.

Avery was the last child standing. It was about here that I took her up to the babysitter. 

She had such a magical day.

After the dance floor was opened up, Me and Sharley dragged Morgan to dance. 

We pulled our nerdiest dance moves for her, you know, to help her not be embarrassed; get her to loosen up.

For some reason that didn't work.

I don't know why...two moms...dancing like dorks. That's strange.

I'm not kidding about the glass of milk. I went to the bar tender and asked for a tall glass of milk to go with my chocolate chip cookie. It was divine.

It was such a fun night,

over too soon.

The next day we were back on that darn train.

I was sitting behind these three, and it suddenly got so quiet. 

I looked over to find them asleep. 

Wore OUT.

They did so so great on the 

2.5 hour train ride,

3 hour wait at the airport

3.5 hour flight back to Vegas.

It was surprising how well they did.

Then we got to spend the night with the Kelvingtons again.

The kids had so much fun with their cousins. I don't even remember seeing them much...

Sammy and Avery got to "stay up late" watching a movie in the tent.

The next day fog delayed our flight to Bellingham for four hours.

Giant smiley face.

Get us home.

See? It shouldn't have been awesome, but it was.

I loved it. I want to go back.