crazy is the new normal

This morning, I called my mom on the way into the office to tell her about the previous 15 hours of my life. How an argument over a bracelet turned into E giving A nursemaid's elbow, leading to a dinnertime trip to UrgentCare trip for A and daddy, leading to a full-on meltdown from E when she saw A got a Happy Meal on the way from the Urgent Care because A was soooooo lucky. How, for the fifth morning in a row, C has decided that the 5 o'clock hour would be an awesome time to start the day...and E thought she'd just finish up the rest of the morning in our bed. How I discovered that A and E have been taking baths but neglecting to wash their hair or use soap when doing so (though, in her defense, A said she did soap "a leg" on Monday).

When I finished my recap, my mom said, "It's always something over there, isn't it?" And, it's true. Life with three kids has definitely gotten crazy. Getting the stars to align where everything is running smoothly seems pretty impossible.

Since I haven't printed out/framed any pictures of all three kiddos together yet, I made a quick collage of my favorite Instagram pics taken on my iPhone and printed it out for my desk at work. Every time I look at it, I have to smile.

Life might be crazy...but it sure is a lot of fun.

alive and kickin'

So, it's been pointed out to me that it's been quite some time since I last posted. And, sure, I said in the last post I wrote (which was over a month ago) "Alas, I am going to make an effort to post more regularly." I think we can all agree that was a big fat FAIL.

In my defense, we were busy! We spent a week at the beach, which was no small feat since John insisted on going to Kiawah Island...9 hours from us. Then the big girls had Vacation Bible School and I found myself having songs about the 10 Commandments stuck in my head for days on end. The big girls then headed to Camp Grandmom for a week of fun, including swim lessons, tennis lessons, watching the Smurfs movie and numerous trips to Chick-fil-A.

And, C did a lot of growing. And being cute.


The big news round these parts is that I started a new job on August 1st. The job is with my old boss...but the position is quite different (and a lot more technical) than I'm used to. It's also a much bigger company than I've worked for. On the bright side the benefits are *amazing*, and while the commute is crappy, the office is located in a really awesome area. In theory, I could shop at some of my favorite stores or eat lunch at some of my favorite restuarants any time I wanted!

Rather than put the girls back at the daycare, we've got a nanny (who happened to be a teacher at the daycare). So far the transition has been a bit rough. C has gone on a sleep strike, making my otherwise happy-go-lucky babe a bit cranky. And the older girls are "testing boundaries" by hazing the nanny...the Von Trapp children would be proud.

Each day that passes is getting a little bit better...so hopefully I will post a little more. And, if I'm feeling a bit crazy, I'll start back over at Operation: Fit in my Pants, too. Because, unfortunately, I'm in need of a kick in the pants (heh) in that department as well!

what we've been up to...

Jeez...I can't believe that I haven't posted anything since Baby C turned two months old! We've been busy 'round these parts, and add to that there's a certain member of our house who refuses to nap for longer than 30 minutes at a time...and there's not much time for blogging. Alas, I am going to make an effort to post more regularly.

So here's the Instagram version what we've been up to!

 

A learned how to ride a two-wheeler. She basically taught herself while she was at home and E was in school. She's crashed a couple of times, including one pretty bad fall where she busted her lip and gums...but gets right back on the bike. She stopped going to daycare in early June (we had kept her going a few days a week) and is super psyched for K next year.

 

E finished up first grade in high style. She ended up getting awards for Top Wildcat of the Quarter and for the Year as well. So, she was 4 for 4 at awards assembly this year! Quite impressive!

 

C turned 12 weeks on Friday! She is so awesome...just a happy, adorable baby. Well, except for the lack of napping. The whole family adores her. Last night, I got her to giggle by zerberting her belly and giggling at her. Soon all four of us were standing around her changing table listening to her giggle. It was so cute. We haven't recreated the giggles again...but not for lack of trying.

 

As for me, I'm officially a stay at home mom. No, really. I got laid off from my job in early June. Over the phone. While on maternity leave. Yeah, it kind of sucks...but I was unhappy there anyway. I've been sending out some resumes and had an interview or two...so hopefully I'll have news to report soon. But, until then, I'm hanging out with these three cuties. Not too shabby.

eight weeks

Baby C turned 8 weeks old yesterday. She really is a great, easy baby. If you are friends with me on Facebook, then you probably already saw this picture of her smiling.

 

I remember being kind of disappointed when E started smiling...because really? The smiles weren't so big. But, Baby C is a big smiler already. She's also a coo-er which is really cute.

The girls also wanted to get a picture with C. It would have been better if E decided not to go horizontal.

 

Then the girls tried to get her to smile. I got a bunch of those..but this is my favorite.

 

You see, A is a bit rough with C. She loves her soooooo much, so there are a lot of reminders to be gentle and stop touching her head. So, this picture cracks me up because the expression on C's face is like, "OH NO! IT'S THE BLONDE ONE! SOMEONE SAVE ME!"

three sisters

love letters

One of the biggest things that are so different with this preganancy is how I think the girls are going to handle a new baby sister. When A was born, E was a smidge over 2 years old. She was the only grandchild on both sides of the family, and therefore the star of the show. I remember worrying how she was going to react to a new brother or sister. Would she understand? Would she want to share the spotlight? Are we somehow doing something wrong by giving her a sibling?

But this time? Those thoughts have never crossed my mind. The girls have been begging for a sibling for a while, which helps. They've been excited every step of the way. There's not a doubt in my mind that these two are going to love their baby sister with all of their hearts and souls.

 

Of course, stumbling upon letters like these in E's backpack certainly makes me feel good, too.

To: New baby
From: E
I love you so much. I wish you would come out. I can't wait to come out.

Dear A,
I love you so much. You are so cute. Congragulations on being a big sister.

the girls' rooms

Rather than bore you with a post about how ready I am to have this kid, I thought I'd show you the girls' rooms. We had E's and A's repainted when we did the nursery.

As you can see, I'm no Martha Stewart. And none of the girls' rooms are finished. E needs curtains. A needs a headboard. Baby needs curtains and some sort of table next to the glider. But, overall, I like how they turned out.

 

The cross-stitch wall hangings above the crib used to be in my room when I was a kid. My mom had them reframed and they hung in E's room. When we repainted they looked odd, so I convinced E to let me hang them in the baby's room. I thought she was okay with it, but she told my mom,

"Yeah, mommy forced me to give them to the baby."

Oh well.

an arrival almost as exciting as a baby sister

I'm still here...and still pregnant. But, that doesn't mean that life in the the Slacker house was uneventful this weekend. Au contraire. In fact, we welcomed something into our house that might be more exciting for A and E than getting a new little sister.

After months and months of living in utter denial saying that we would just fit three across in seats in our current cards, the Slackers got ourselves a minivan.

As the time to make the purchase grew near, I had accepted my fate. I mean, I'm 36, live in the far reaches of the suburbs, and will soon have 3 kids. There's really not much about my life that doesn't say "Minivan Driver." John took a little more convincing. There was begging to give the Pilot one last chance. But, alas, the minivan it was.

The girls, however, were over.the.moon. They have been begging for a "car with slide-y open doors" for months! One of the highlights of our trip to San Jose was renting a mini-van. And, they love it! We've had to impose a limit on the number of times they can open and shut their doors. They pull up the sunscreen on every single trip. And they beg to use DVD player for the shortest of trips. They gasped with wonder when I folded down the rear seats.

We asked them point blank if this was more exciting than getting a little sister. To be fair, they said No. But, in reality, Baby Girl Slacker better come up with some cool trick soon, or she'll be out shined by the sunroof once the good weather hits.

they're called sight words for a reason

A's school has really been ramping up the Kindergarten preparedness lately. Her teacher, Miss Karen, told me that they were doing patterns in Math the other day and A was kicking ass. She followed that up with "A is so ready for Kindergarten." Unfortunately, A overheard this and was quite devestated when she did not get to go to Kindergarten the very next day.

Last night, A showed me her sight words that she had worked on that day. She had taken the time to carefully write each letter. On the way to pick up E, she read each one to me.

 

A: Fat...Mat...Cat...Sat...Hat
Me: That's wonderful, A!
A: I can read! It's so easy!
Me: You're doing great!
A: Yes, mama! I can even read them with my eyes closed.

So, maybe I shouldn't break out War and Peace for her to tackle, just yet.

the advantages of raising daughters

I've always been one of those people who didn't have a preference in whether we had boys or girls. If anything, I would have said I hoped we had a boy because John is such a sports fanatic/guy's guy whereas I'm not really all that girly.

But, now...I see that there are some distinct advantages to having girls.

First of all, with this pregnancy, the girls are soooooooooo excited. And, not just about getting a new little sister. They are excited about everything that comes with a new baby -- putting together the nursery, looking at the little clothes and toys and tchokes that we receive as gifts -- stuff that John would humor me on, but really couldn't' have cared less about.

The girls spent time with me scrolling through crib sheet options for their new little sister, debating the merits of paisley versus polka dots versus flowers. When they arrived in the mail a few days later, they shrieked with joy and demanded that we opened the package RIGHT THEN. When I told John that the sheets had arrived, I got "Cool" as a response, but he didn't even ask to see them. I'm pretty sure he couldn't tell you what they looked like.

And E, who has always talked in a way that has sounded mature beyond her years, has been cracking me up with her commentary at it all. She will be a PRO at baby showers, because she has the baby shower remarks down pat. As we put away baby clothes last weekend (a task she *begged* to help with), she chattered on:

"Well, isn't this a-DOR-able!"
"How pre-SHUS is that onesie?"
"Can you believe they are ever that small?!?"

I was dying of laughter from it all.

But, it's not just baby-related stuff that is handy with the girls. Case in point, we all in the car the other day when A started talking.

A: Daddy, I need to talk to you about somethin'.
John: What is it, A?
A: After you go potty, you need to put the seat down. 'Cause when I go potty, it's up and then I have to put it down.
John: Well, what's wrong with that?
A: I'm tired of putting it down! You need to put it down yourself. I'm not putting it down for you anymore!

It's like she read my mind.

the party's over...back to reality

We had a great Winter Break 'round these parts. We slept in, hung out in our jammies, caught up with friends, watched some movies, and generally had a great time. This week we are all back to work and school (BOO!)...I hope to update with my annual Christmas and 2010 in pictures recaps sometime before 2012. But, here's a teaser of my girls (and their friend Maggie in the middle) up on stage at a New Year's party singing "Single Ladies."

 

I know that those of you who know me IRL are totally amazed that such a shy, reserved wallflower like myself could produce such outgoing, limelight-seeking offspring. Crazy, isn't it?

happy holidays from our house to yours!

 

what we've been up to...

...also known as "Hey, look! I downloaded pictures from my camera!"

The past few weeks have been action-packed 'round these parts. Last weekend, we had A's Holiday Concert. And, the battery did not die this time around! Here she is singing with all of her classmates!

After the concert, we went and picked out a Christmas tree. And then, that night, we took the girls to a local performance of The Nutcracker. E was entranced the whole time; A was good for the first Act, but got antsy during the second act.

We also got together with some good friends for brunch! We had a table for 14...7 of those were kids. Mayhem, but fun.

On Thursday, we got our first snow. Nothing like last year, but school was cancelled on Friday for E. They had fun playing in the snow...except for when I had to get on a conference call, then they were hungry/thirsty/bored all at once! Ah, the joys of working from home!

This weekend, E had her first basketball game! It's a school league, and John is the coach. Don't they both look so cute?

They ended up tying 10-10...which is the best outcome for a game when all the kids played hard. E didn't score any baskets...but she was a defensive powerhouse.

The league is made up of 1st and 2nd graders. I think the other team was all 2nd graders because they were HUGE...especially the amazons girls. Seriously...my kid (red #15) is off-the-charts in height for her age, and look at how much taller the other #15 is!

John's parents were in also in town this weekend to celebrate Christmas. We had fun, including making gingerbread trees...

and opening presents!

This week should be fun and busy! We've got a half-week of school/work around here, so yay for that! And, the girls are super excited for Christmas!

e's amazing week

E has been having one heck of a week 'round these parts. On Tuesday, she received an award at the first quarter awards assembly. She's apparently spreading the talent around...because instead of being crowned Computation Queen, she was deemed Wildcat Writer. Not as fancy-sounding but just as impressive.

Then, on Wednesday, she had a field trip to hike in a local park. She had so much fun. But the real excitement happened at bedtime when E (*finally*) lost her tooth! I had to take matters into my own hands, but at least it was out.

E and I had a bit of debate on Tooth Fairy Protocol. I insisted that the Tooth Fairy would have a hard time finding such an itsy bitsy tooth underneath a pillow, so she should use her tooth pillow that Grandmom had gotten her. E insisted that the Tooth Fairy would not think to look in the pocket of a tooth shaped pillow for her tooth. She finally relented after we let her write a note to the Tooth Fairy. Apparently, she thought that she could name her price for her tooth, asking for 6 quarters and a dollar. Since she lowballed the Tooth Fairy at $2.50, she apparently could...because that's what she got.

Finally, today was a school holiday. So the girls and I headed to the mall where they got their ears pierced. After changing their minds a gazillion times on which earrings they would choose, they settled on flowers. E went first and didn't even flinch. A had to be strongly convinced to get the second ear pierced. Note the difference in expression between A's before and after.

I'm not sure how tomorrow can top things...but I guess we can find out.

san jose pics

I finally got my pictures uploaded from our San Jose trip. I'm a little bummed that I didn't get more of them, and that the ones I did get weren't all that great. Photographing all three kiddos was definitely a challenge. Guess I have that to look forward to on a regular basis in a few months.

Just Hanging Out

Monterrey Bay Aquarium

Halloween

dear fancy nancy

I cannot thank you enough for all that you do. Your books are some of our favorites. I can read them over and over over (and over) again without wanting to gouge my eyes out.

They were also some of the first books that E was able to read independently.

You've introduced very fancy vocabulary into our everyday conversations, such as dining al fresco.

But, most of all, for the second year in a row, you've come through in a pinch when A's needed a costume for her school's Halloween Parade. A trip down to the bin of dress-up clothes is all it takes, which especially nice when A's actual costume is waiting for her in California.

 

So, thank you, Fancy Nancy! Or, should I say Merci Beaucoup instead?

rubbing off on each other

This weekend, as part of our jam-packed with stuff to do oh my god I just want to sit down and I'm a football widow to boot, the girls and I headed over to JerseyBaby's for a little Saturday morning waffle-fest. And, as she so astutely pointed out, my penchant for slack rubbed off on her as we neglected to create any photographic evidence of this all too rare get together.

But, don't think she's the only victim of undue influence this weekend. Oh no. In addition to seeing the gorgeous master bath redo in person, I also got to witness the greatest craft closet in the history of man. The shelves were filled with various crafting bins all neatly labeled with a label-maker. Y'all, she has a bin devoted solely to feathers and pom-poms people. Feathers! And! Pom-poms!

So, after waffles, the kiddos spent time creating Fun Fusion masterpieces. Haven taught E how to make a scarf using crafting loops. My kiddos were hooked. So, after we left, we went straight to Michael's to pick up our own crafts. (If by straight you mean after going to the mall, E's school's Fall Festival, and home to pack for a slumber party at Nonna and Pop-pop's house.)

The results were craftastic! E wove a pot holder and they both created masterpieces with Fun Fusion beads. And, on Sunday, the good times continued, when the girls successfully created the piece de resistance for their Halloween costumes -- butterfly antennae!

 

All in all, what a great weekend!

other big news!

The March 2011 arrival of SlackerBaby isn't the only big news round these parts. Oh no! We Slackers are full of excitement!

• E has a new favorite color! She has abandoned pink for...BLUE! Can you believe it? We certainly can't. It's somewhat difficult for her to incoporate blue into her outfits every day, because, well, she has a pink-centric wardrobe. But she's somehow managing.


• E also chose to wear her UVA track suit to the game last weekend instead of her cheerleader uniform. I know! Blue AND pants...it's almost like she's a tomboy!


• The Slacker gals all went to the dentist this week! Which, I didn't find all that thrilling, but the girls thought it was Christmas in October. New sparkly toothbrushes! Crappy prizes for opening their mouths! They are already talking about their appointmens next April.


• Speaking of teeth, and despite my prediction that a tooth loss was imminent last September, E has yet to lose a tooth. But her bottom two teeth are super, super wiggly. So maybe 2010 is her year?


• And, finally, here's a picture I shot of A at the GAP on Columbus Day. It was just the two of us all day (E had school), and we went to get 40% kids and maternity clothes. (Actually, we went twice, because I got to the mall and realized I left my wallet at home. Awesome.) While I tried on clothes, A had fun with the fake belly.
  Apparently, wrapping your arms around your belly is instinct.


• And, we are getting pumped up for our trip to California to visit AJ and her parents. All three girls are going as butterflies. The outfits and wings are store-bought, but this weekend, E, A and I will get our craft on to make anntennae. I'm hoping that it goes marginally better than the Cat Ear Debacle of 2010. But, even though it seems like it'd be hard to screw up a headband, some pipecleaners, and pompoms...I'm sure we'll figure out a way.


• Last weekend, I had the opportunity to hang out with Jenn and Sweet Pea Chef at the UVA game. This weekend, the girls and I are brunching with the JerseyBaby clan. And, of course, we're seeing AJ and fam next week. I love getting together with everyone! Yay!

the neglected second child turns four

Sweet Baby A turned four (4!) on Saturday. I had every intention of writing a sentimental post about how much she has grown (as I've done when she turned one, two and three), but we were so busy celebrating that I didn't get a chance. And, though I feel bad about it, I know that she doesn't mind. She is such an easy going kid that she was just happy to get some presents and a Hannah Montana cake (that she picked out all by herself).
Dear Sweet Baby A,

Happy 4th Birthday! Turning 4 was a big deal to you, if only because it means you are one year closer to Kindergarten. Oh, how you want to be a big kid so badly. You want to ride the bus and go to the same school as your big sister, E. You like to say that you are "almost in kindergarten", even though "almost" is 11 months away.

There was a time when you were a loner when you played outside. You are the youngest on our street, and you were too young to keep up with the other kids. Not anymore. When the neighbor kids come to our door, they are asking if both of you can come out and play. And, off you go on your bike, pedaling as fast as your little legs can go!

But, for all that big kid stuff you do, you still are my baby. You fell off you bike yesterday, and while E and the rest of the kids stayed outside, you were happy to come snuggle with me and your beloved Taggie, who at 4 is looking much much much worse for wear.

This year is going to be so exciting! I can't wait to see how much you grow and change. So, happy belated birthday, Sweet Baby A. And, remember, no matter how old you get you will always be my baby.

stifiling e's creativity

My girls can spend hours playing together. A big portion of this is role-playing, where E is the mommy and A is the daughter. Or E is the teacher and A is the student. Never vice versa.

Often, I'm drawn into their games...not as the mommy, mind you, but as the grandma or the teacher or dance teacher. And, most times, I'll play along without a problem.

But, yesterday was not one of those days. We were playing on the swingset, and E was handing out the roles.

E: Okay, Mommy, you be A's mommy. And, I'll be the girl who is too old to have a mommy....
Me: What do you mean "too old to have a mommy?" I'm old, and I have a mommy! Daddy has a mommy, too! Besides, you'll always be my baby. So you'll always have a mommy!
E: Okay...how about you be A's mommy. And, I'll be the girl who lives far away from her mommy so that's why she's not here.
Me: I. Beg. Your. Pardon. You will never, EVER live far away from your mommy, do you hear? You will live close to your mommy forever, so I can come and visit you!
E: Okay. How about you be A's mommy? And, I'll be the teacher.
Me: Sounds good to me.