September 2023

Just catching up a bit

We kicked off the month of September with an open water swim that got delayed because of weather and then canceled due to thunder (while some of the swimmers were still swimming) so that was reeeaaalllly fun)

H and J befriended some kids at the park who shared their juice jugs with them and they couldn't have been happier. Its strange reliving some of the stuff I used to do with the bigs or the middles with the littles. 

I've been plotting a rework of our photo wall. I have since spaced out the pics a bit to give them a little elbow room but it remains a work in progress and there are never enough black and gold frames to go around

H is super into dipping her food - even if it is sour cream. 

The Gs are still going strong at work and have even starting stretching a longer nap in the mornings which I very much appreciate. Yes their shirts say I'm the Favorite. I've been accused of only holding my favorite : ) 

Sometimes, some kids can express parental emotions better than the parents themselves 

H had all my feelings locked in her facial expressions the afternoon the van was towed - I think she was just scared of the tow truck but she and I were tracking

One Thursday afternoon I whip into the driveway after hearing a weird noise as we drove down our street. I sat in the front seat texting but then knew we were toast when E announced - ummmm Mama I think you need to see this. 

I hop out to find fluid pouring out of the front underside of the van. I hustle everyone out since I didn’t know what it was. Well come to find out it was coolant and a week and a thousand dollars later the van was back. Transporting 11 people around in two cars for a week gave us even greater appreciation of le Van. Also, we have the exact same van on order because this one is fast approaching the 150K mile mark. More on how we came to that decision later. 

Six month old twins. I love them and I am so grateful they are ours

J helped me make his bday cake and I let him lick the beaters and he proceeded to dip them back into the batter... but I couldn't be mad at him. Also on his bday week we realized that if you are painting with OIL based paint you CANNOT use your oven (unless you want your food to taste like gasoline or propane). Fun Fact

He is FOUR! He loves everything outside. He is not a huge fan of playing soccer but he will stand on the field. He is a very early riser. He is probably the most perceptive kid - he notices where we are when we are driving and if we take a different way. Trains, trucks and machines make his day

For he bday he really wanted a lawn mower - like a real one. We talked him down to a wheel barrow which he loves to fill up with leaves and dirt and yard trash and dump it. Also he has conned A into giving him and C wheel barrow rides. 

All the May Stuff

Well May has nearly wrapped up with all its crazy and glory - and we weren't even playing soccer which undoubtably would have added to it - thanks for trying to mask up outside... 

The eve of May started with a Friday night walk thru the park while the girls were at swim 

And was followed by an unusually long wait at CFA. We were here at 6:34 and pulled away with food at 7:11. 

We kicked off May with a trip to pick strawberries

They were probably some of the biggest and sweetest we have had in a while 

E and M dressed in strawberry colors

I did have a little sticker shock when we picked 3 buckets at $16/bucket and I tried to remember what it was last year and then I remembered its all about the experience, right? 

Of course we had strawberry ice cream before 10 am for our efforts 

And the kid who hates having her pic taken (mother's daughter) has no problem taking her own

We went back 2 weeks later for strawberries and they weren't nearly as big and plentiful as the first trip so I'm glad we went when we did

A little reno update...

We had to empty out the cubbies so the new floors could get installed. I knew it was coming but still pained me to have to unload them. I know I'm not the most organized or neatest person in the world and I'm good with that but at least in my mind there is a plan 

Everyone has a cubby to throw (but could be hung) their stuff and there is a spot for collectables (drawers), shoes (bins unders), loose stuff (bins over) and storage for art supplies and other craftish things we don't always want to see but need access to (high doors).

The cubbies were something a designer and I drew up 5+ years ago and I really appreciate them for the in-theory organization they provide. Well let's rip organization out during the craziest month of the year! For an indefinite amount of time. So we organized out of laundry baskets and shoes strewn across the garage 

Until one Friday I walked in and my cubbies were back - plus three! And while we still have not totally loaded them down because there is still painting and sanding and staining to do - they are back and give some sense of order in this crazy crazy month we live thru 

This is the big kid study /reading room. Everything seems to be coming along nicely. The tile was put in the bathroom and laundry room this week and I'm still wondering how laundry will be happening since the washer and dryer are staged in Lee's office at the present moment. 

We put hardwood in the nursery which meant J got kicked out for 3 weeks and he had a ROUGH time living in the pack and play in our room. We opted to transition him to the kid room downstairs with A and C and put a mattress down for M in the nursery. It's been a loud and wild bedtime for a week with 3 under 5 in one room. M is enjoying her solitude. 

They planted the field at the end of the street which is always big excitement - especially for A and J - who loves a truck, tractor or bussssssss. 

The girls swam in a long course meet not too far away. The difference is it is a 50 meter lap instead of a 25 yard. I watched on the video feed Friday night and could have died for the girls. Apparently M was legit shaking before she swam the 200 IM - a lap of each stroke.

This guy lost a tooth and the next day lost another. I hate when preschoolers start losing teeth - I feel like it is the first signs of turning into a bigger little kid

He also tore through his school shoes a week before school got out. The girls never have done that. So he wore tapped shoes for a day and then we trashed them and found an old pair that he hasn't completely destroyed. So much for hand me downs. 

All the end of year stuff happened which meant more than a few meals in the car - which means finding crumbs for days and getting the blower and blowing the van out every week or so to unearth things that are left behind. 

Mother's Day at preschool!

Last project of the year - ecosystem diorama

Slushy party at school for a fundraiser I help organize - the day AFTER the glucose test that I failed so J and I shared. Sidenote, I walk 15-18 miles a week so I'm pretty confident I don't have gestational diabetes. 

End of year AHG projects - shirt and cakes. 

End of year preschool program - A totally rocked it out and was on stage and didn't lose it like he did at the Christmas program 18 months prior. C was totally into the spotlight and two weeks later is still giving microphone commands to everyone who had speaking parts. 

I went to As preK party the last day of school which I have not been to for the big girls but since there were so few parties parents could go to I went and I'm glad I did. Mr Curious. 

End of year choir program that came together in only two months of singing in person. Lee went and I stayed with everyone else because there was some questionable cold/cough/allergies around the house

M had her end of year 1st grade celebration and was given the Lifesaver award. She got the most AR points and stamps for never getting her bee moved - but I'm halfway convinced she just never got caught.

End of year AHG awards. The girls earned a bunch of badges and did a little on their own so they were pleased with themselves. R is moving up to Explorer next year so she's excited for that.  

Yesterday was Field Day. Probably the best school day ever. There was lots of sugar, water, fun, sun and stories to tell. 

Just Because - car seats

Two weeks ago when we were driving to get the girls from school the stomach bug reared it’s ugly head - in the van, via people strapped in carseats. 

ICK!

Carseats normally collect tons of crumbs, dirt, rocks, treasures and trash but when you are trying to clean up from someone getting sick in them, if you are like me you probably just wish you had the money in the budget to toss them and start fresh.

But if are like me you probably don’t have the disposable income to just trash 250 car seats so we are stuck unstrapping them, fighting with the padding and tossing them in the washer - but that probably voids the manufacturer warranty- but it’s pretty much nearly impossible to spot clean so VOID away.

Then there’s the straps which are impossible to clean. And they are the place that I have found is center stage in the stomach illness department. The straps are made into the seats so you cannot take them out and wash them so spot clean it is and clean they’ll never get.

And the icing on the cake is that you probably forget there’s no padding on the seats until you are ready to brave the world again post stomach bug and then you’ll be late as you fight to get the padding back in place and the seats back in position.

Linking up with Rosie just because 

The Storm before the Storm

The tale of what lead up to baby J's arrival...

The weeks before he was born was a flurry of ALL the doctor appointment I can possibly handle. And my patience continues to grows during doctor appointments. Though it never fails to boggle my mind why appointments are scheduled and you still end up waiting 20-45 minutes to even get called to see the doctor. I mean, I GET it there's paperwork and processing and things that come up and stuff and stuff but my time is valuable too, you know. I digress because nothing's going to change and I ought to be thankful rather than whiny.

Honestly all the doctor appointments really started piling up right after we got back from the beach - the second week of July. Between biweekly OB appointments and ENT checks and dentists and someone getting a tooth pulled because of an abscess - oh and I don't think I've mentioned this but maybe I have.... there were several heads that had lice in our house at the end of July - which was terrible and I don't think you can fully understand the implications of lice unless you have had kids who have had it and you are constantly wondering if you nitpicked well enough and olive oil and yellow Listerine and apple cider vinegar are your BFF for days. On top of an extremely busy pool season plus being a thousand weeks pregnant... I probably need therapy to process all that happened between July 4th and J's arrival.

In fact I think the last three weeks had been even more medical-filled and we have the stacks of bills to prove it. So thankful we live in a time and place that we can get all this stuff taken care of but man has it been exhausting.

Ear aches
Check ups
Waxy ears requiring colase to get it moving
Dental check ups with cavities found
One of the two cavities filled
OB appts
And the hardest hitter... an abscess on a leg that came out of nowhere

I found the abscess late Wednesday night (8 days before baby J) and I was fully prepared to go to the ER that night and dragged Lee home from his Bible Study - I was totally freaked out because at that point I had no idea where it super painful spot came from. It was not black and blue like a bruise but it was basically untouchable.

After doctor appointment 1 of 5 for abscess - what else do you do when you get some news you don't want to hear because your 39.5 weeks pregnant and ain't nobody got time for an abscess... chocolate milkshakes of course

Thursday, Friday and Saturday were sprinkled with pediatrician visits to the point where I wonder when the credit card company is going to call to confirm they are legit transactions.

When part of your treatment plan is taking hot baths and because you're number 4, mom never gives baths because showers are way easier... relish in lots of baths!

Saturday afternoon A and I trekked up to a children's hospital to get the thing drained. Now I imagine draining with a needle and some sort of suction device. Well, let's just say that's not exactly what happened.... at all. I was pretty unprepared for the 20-30 minutes of screaming and tears and MAMAAAAAAAAAAAS that is freshly in my mind.

He was so hungry and so pitiful 

After two popsicles and watching Thomas on the iPad while soccer was on the TV, A was pretty unfazed. I made the long walk to dig the van out of the parking deck (why would a MAJOR hospital only have about 20 parking spots for both the ped ER and regular ER). On the way in I discovered the van is in fact taller than 7 ft 4in courtesy of the plastic bar thing which I scraped the whole way down. SWEEEEEEEEET

I made good on the chocolate ice cream promise I made before/during the hospital visit and we got dinner while we were there and I drowned all my emotions of the last 6 hours into my cheeseburgers and fries (and then proceeded to feel terrible the next day but it was totally worth it).

Such a long day!

Sunday was quiet which also happened to be my due date. A's abscess still looked pretty bad especially with the hole from the ER in the middle of it.

Monday held another doctor appointment. A new medicine (not without its issues of course) and hope that we might not have to go back to the ER for another draining of this crazy thing - next time they'd sedate him which I wished they had done the first time. Though, I have to admit, I love to block out L&D but seeing A go through what he did - I have a bit of a different perspective and thinking, if he can do that, then I can do L&D.

Tuesday was uneventful during the day. Tuesday evening Lee and I squeezed in one more date night without a third wheel - which was so nice, and then Tuesday night I couldn't sleep. I was semi-convinced I might be in labor but not convinced enough to do anything about it. Wednesday morning I told Lee I wanted him to go to the pediatrician with me and A which was the final check before another trip to the ER or a wait-and-see because the medicine was working. Then we'd go to the OB to see what the deal was - even though I was to be induced the next morning.

I kept thinking to myself - come on and just hold out until everyone and everything is in place and planned for - PLEEEEEEEEASE.

Well my plans were foiled because my OB couldn't see me until 1 - he was in surgery. A's appointment went well and we did not have to get the abscess drained. So Lee was on kid duty for the rest of the day and I went to work for a few hours and then trekked to the OB.

While there the nurse used the doppler and discovered that baby's heartrate was in the 180s - which is pretty high - especially considering the week before it was in the 130s. So off to the ultrasound room which confirmed everything appeared to be fine and also I swear the tech said something about 'baby girl' - and I was pretty much validated in my assumption that this baby was in fact a girl (so I clearly misheard her). Then my mind floated to the girls name and how I liked the first name but wasn't convinced of on the middle name - much like M's middle name which I have come to adore. Then the 20 minute fetal heartrate monitor. I'm pretty sure I had more than 2 people ask me if I had any caffeine that day to which my reply was, I had only had water and I wasn't hungry.

With the option to go to the hospital then (I wasn't dilated - but maybe in early labor) or go home and drink a bunch of water and eat something decent, I opted for the latter and headed home a bit more assured I wasn't in active labor - I hadn't been in natural labor since R - so 7.5 years ago and I think I was worried I was going to forget what it felt like.

That night Jibbe stayed the night just in case we had to bolt to the hospital - which we didn't but it felt better knowing if we needed to I wouldn't be waking up neighbors and waving them on to our house as we sped out of the neighborhood.

So that's our story and I'm sticking to it. In hindsight the last 3 Saturdays have had completely different feels.

This Saturday - coaching A's soccer game with baby J by our side. I think coaching is semi-therapeutic for me

The Saturday before - sitting in the pediatricians office doing the happy dance that I was NOT in the hospital with baby J and getting the play-by-play updates on M and A's soccer games, wishing I could watch Lee with all five big kids out on the soccer fields, watching Lee single-handedly man the house and the laundry and antics

The Saturday before that one - wanting to be the one to take A to the pediatrician to the final check on the abscess, coaching M's soccer game, getting a text from Lee that said the ER was in our near future, experiencing the ER, coming home crying thankful that A was okay but emotionally drained from everything he went through - mama's of sick kids, I don't know how you do it. A wasn't even that sick or in the hospital for long and it sucked the life out of me.

So who knows what crazy adventure will happen to our house next but for what we've been through, I hope we get a little down time before

7QTs - Work, Pool, School

Linking up with Kelly ... pre gaming for school week

---1---

It has been a rough week for Catholics. And if by rough, I mean awful. Many more eloquent writers have written more about everything. It is disgusting. It is sad. We pray for the victims. We pray that all the evil men (and women) who are in the Church to depart.

Part of this post really made me think about the scandals in a whole other way "My son wants to be a priest. He talks about celebrating Mass and practices with his Mass kit. I have prayed to God that He would give one of my sons a vocation to the priesthood. But now I just don't know if I want that for him, for any of them."

---2---

I got this fancy new desk... 

Actually it is really not. Just a 42x24 metal board thing with feet. A few other peeps in the office stand while working so I figured I'd give it a whirl. You know the staying... 

Sitting > Laying down

Standing > Sitting

Walking > Standing

Running > Walking

---3---

We were on the last jar of honey and it had solidified...

I was really worried I was going to boil it because the directions are clear about the water being hot but not boiling. Reconstituting took longer than I thought but did the trick. 

Now we can have peanut butter and honey sandwiches again! BLAAAAAAAAAH!

---4---

We soaked in a little more summer at the pool

C waffles about loving being in the pool and hating life at the pool

I'm mostly not worried about the kids dragging her around in the shallow part of the pool

A refused to go down the slide... I think our first bout from the beginning of the summer was traumatizing. Next summer he's going to be going down like a champ!

---5---

We had to do our school supply shopping... 

This was me and the 3 littles while the 2 bigs were at playground clean up. Thanks for the pic M!

Then we headed into Target with the behemoth cart - which is harder to drive than the van! - plus...  

And my 2 walkers. The Saturday before school started back. 

It is not procrastination for me people. It is just how I CHOOSE to handle things. Did my kids have the coolest folders - no but we did find one good Shopkins one. Did M have the best pencil box - heck no because I've convinced they don't make good pencil boxes anymore they are all crappy - or at least the ones mass market available are. 

Anyhow, we made it and I'm glad I didn't school supply shop for a month before school began. I was busy in summer mode. 

Also, it is worth noting I gave the Wally-world pick up app a shot for about half the school supplies. 

Point.

Click. 

Crayola markers, pencils, paints, scissors etc was too easy and I had a discount code. 

I purposefully left folders off and a few other things (Hi Target) because I needed to put my hands on these things. 

My Wally's experience was nice. It mainly cut the jabber from the kids of CAN I HAVE EVERYTHING COLORFUL AND GLITTERY IN THE STORE??!?!?!

My shopper was really nice and brought my stuff out and told me they didn't have any scissors left and something else got  replaced - totally fine. 

BUT!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got home and unloaded and peeked in my bags and crazy me had ordered 3 packs of skinny dry erase markers - I swear they looked thick online at 11:15 pm when I was ordered them 

SOOOOOO....

Lee had to return them for me and pick up scissors which he obviously had to go into the store for thus defeating the purpose of online ordering but whatever. It was operator error. 

Then for the next 3.5 days the girls wanted to peruse everything but I nixed that until the night before school which almost killed them. 

---6---

And then school happened.... 

And the first day I picked them up on their halfday and had packed lunch for the pool which was met with grumbling but one day they'll thank me. 

And then homework became a reality

But we survived it

I spent one of the halfday morning sweeping out the garage with the little peeps who were not in preschool. I was glad to get that done and throw some stuff out including a little dead mouse.

---7---

To close I don't think I've fully dished on the fall sports line up but here's a teaser...

PB bites for a prepractice snack

He was loving his shinguard and soccer shoes and rolled around in the grass more than he stayed on his feet but the Rabbits are going to rock it out this season... I just know it!

E stitched this photo together or something. But obviously the next most important thing at soccer outside of postgame snacks in the postpractice playground run