confessions of a slacker mama

life getting in the way...

2012-06-13T21:58:00.000-04:00

So ~~my mom has~~ people have been asking me when I was going to post on the ole bloggy-blog again. Since it had been March since I last posted. What can I say? It's been a busy few months around here. Here's what we've been up to:
Char-baby turned 1! She is now walking. And, running. And, talking. Okay, she says "More" and "All done" and occasionally mimics what we say. She's at the fun age where she understands way more than she can say. She moved up to the Toddler Room at school. The teachers are great and they LOVE her. They all call her Char-baby (our nickname for her) and one teacher even admitted that Char-baby was her favorite. She still is one of the happiest kids around...but I'm a bit concerned about her terrible two potential. Occasionally, she will THROW herself on the ground if she doesn't get her way. Awesome.
Adeline finishes up kindergarten in a few days. She really did love school. She joined the Environmental Club and was in Daisy Scouts, too. She also just got accepted to the gifted program for Math.
Elizabeth will be soon be a third-grader. Earlier this spring, she got four baby teeth pulled (per the orthodontist. She was a total bad-ass about it...basically not needing pain killers after it was done (though I certainly needed a stiff drink after watching it all!).
The Girls love being in day care. I was worried about them after the nanny left...but they love hanging with their friends and have made us leave them there and pick them up later. They also had a spring recital for ballet. I'm hoping that we're moving onto another activity other than ballet in the fall...not that ballet isn't fine. But they don't love it and it's a big pain/time commitment for them not to love it.
John and I celebrated ten (10!) years of marriage in April. We've been together for 14 years. To celebrate, we headed to Mexico with our friends, Sean and Autumn. It wasn't all smooth sailing...apparently John's passport expired in 2009. We found this out 12 hours before our flight...at 8PM...on a Friday night. So, we had to push our arrival back a few days. Luckily, we were able to extend by one day on the end...so we didn't lose much time.

And me? Well, I'm doing pretty well. I'm working on a project that has kept me fairly busy, and I really do like my job. Unfortunately, I have yet to lose my pregnancy weight from Char-baby (and I might have added a few pounds as well).

Hope you are doing well, too!

current obsessions

2012-03-29T09:46:00.004-04:00

These are the things (other than my family...and wine) that are currently making me happy!

Pinterest: Yep...I've become a Pinterest junkie. My pins relate mainly to recipes (I apparently have an obsession with chocolate chip cookie/sea salt recipes) and organizational tips. We also made the girls Valentine's based off ones I found on Pinterest. E & A also like to look at Pinterest for all the amazing kid's rooms (Tree Houses! Castles!) and dresses and such.

Why can't I have a slide in my room, Mama?

FitBit: I got this from my dad as my Secret Santa gift. It tracks your steps, mileage, stairs climbed and sleeping habits. It's eye-opening on how hard it is to get to 10,000 steps a day. So far I've convinced three people at work to get them, and we have a friendly competition over who is more active. We're talking exchanging texts talking smack and running up and down the hallways at bedtime to hit goals for the day.

The Hunger Games: I finally succumbed to the hype of the books and ordered them last week. So far, I finished The Hunger Games and Catching Fire...and I'm about halfway through Mockingjay. I keep pestering John to read The Hunger Games so we can see the movie. Although, I might have to go it alone because I'm dying to see it.

Not getting my 10,000 steps in so I can read.
Team Peeta, all the way.

Draw Something: It's Pictionary! On my iPhone! Please download this app and start a game with me! It is SO much fun!

Cadbury Easter Eggs: These are NOT those disgusting fake eggs with the fake yolks. These are like mutant M&Ms that I cannot.stop.eating. My boss has them in her office and I eat them by the handful. And then, she made BLONDIES out of them (thanks to a recipe I forwarded her on Pinterest). OMG...they were AMAZING!

So damn good!

bullet points

2012-03-28T09:09:00.000-04:00

The nanny did leave us for a new job. We tried to find a new nanny, but being in the far reaches of the suburbs is not a hotbed for nannies. So, we're sending the girls back to the hoity-toity daycare that E and A used to attend!
So far, the new situation is going well. The girls have asked me to pick them up later because they have fun and they haven't complained about getting up and out the door earlier than usual.
Char-baby also seems to like her new classroom. One of Char-baby's teachers actually was A's teacher back in the day. She talks about how similar they are...in that they are both happy and easy going and they love to eat.
What I miss most about the nanny the fact that she did the girls laundry and unloaded the dishwasher.
Also the fact that Char-baby made it a whopping 6 days at daycare before getting her first ear infection. And the amount of snot that continuously pours out of her nose is DISGUSTING.
Char-baby has started to walk. She still has to pull up on something to get to standing, but she can go fairly long distances on her own two feet.
I still have 15 pounds of baby weight to lose. At first, I was hoping to lose it by 9 months (you know...9 months on, 9 months off)...then I figured it would be gone by the time Char-baby turned 1. Seeing as she turns 1 on Sunday, that's not going to happen.
John and I are going on an 10th anniversary trip at the end of April/beginning of May. I actually need to get cracking on those last 15 pounds.
E asked me if the Easter Bunny was real. Apparently, Emily H.'s sister told her that the Easter Bunny was really her parents. I stammered through a response and she seemed convinced...but we shall see.
E needs 4 baby teeth pulled now (and probably 4 more in June) by order of the orthodontist. He has described her adult teeth as "a log jam" in that 2 adult teeth have come back and filled the space where she lost 3 baby teeth.
A's teeth seem to be even more of a concern than E's. When I described them to the orthodontist at E's last appointment, he told her to bring them BOTH in for June appointments.
My dental insurance covers 50% of all orthodontia. This is worth putting up with the 45 minute - 1 hour commute alone.
I still love me some Instagram. Here are some pictures I've taken since the last time I posted.

Top Row: E watching B-ball with Daddy; Dinner out; 1st day of daycare; A checking out Pinterest

Bottom Row: St. Patty's Day; Dancing at the Irish bar; Wearing SMU shirts for Uncle Dave; My Char-baby

two weeks

2012-02-21T10:23:00.000-05:00

We've been very busy in the two weeks since I last posted. It started out with Char-baby getting a stomach bug that would.not.go.away. Seriously, she would puke...then be fine for a day (or two or three) and then puke again. Poor thing survived for a week on Pedialyte, toast, saltines and applesauce. John actually went to Dallas to visit his brother. We thought Char was out of the woods puke-wise, but then she puked that Friday night. Thankfully, my parents came over to help out...taking E to her basketball game and watching the girls while I ran out and re-supplied myself with the aforementioned Pedialyte. Luckily, she remained in good spirits and we had a successful girls weekend...

that included finishing up our Valentine's...

...picking up and getting Girl Scout cookies ready for delivery....

...and braving the coldest day this winter to deliver the cookies!

For Valentine's Day, we just headed to a local hamburger place for dinner...

but not before giving the girls the BEST!GIFT!EVER! (Seriously, yo...all three girls LOVED the balloons!)

We were supposed to head up north this weekend to go to NYC on Saturday and then out to visit John's other brother, SIL and our nephew...but we ended up bagging that. John was travelling a lot this week for work and then on Friday, we were blindsided by our nanny giving us her 2-weeks' notice. The thought of having to scramble to find a workable solution seems incredibly daunting...but (FINGERS CROSSED!) we might have it figured out! We'll see. However, not going up to New York City did allow us to have our usual Federal Holiday playdate with my friend, Liz, and her three boys that are each ~6 months younger than my girls. It was amazing how well they all get along, even though they are the boy-est boys I know, and my girls are such girlie-girls. The fact that we had some Lost Dog made it even better!

photo a day challenge: week 1 results

2012-02-08T15:07:00.002-05:00

So, I actually stuck to the Photo-a-day Challenge...here are the results!

1. My View -- 2. Words -- 3. Hands -- 4. A Stranger --

5. 10 AM -- 6. Dinner -- 7. Button

I took a few other pictures during the week as well, that I thought I would share:

A rare shot of all 5 of us together!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars with Sea Salt

Amazon Delivers Cuteness to your Doorstep!

E was 2nd Quarter Wildcat Mathematician!

Christmas 2011

2012-02-05T14:46:00.003-05:00

I just downloaded pictures from my camera and realized that I still had Christmas pictures on there. So, in better late than never news, here's our Christmas!

january in photos

2012-02-01T11:24:00.001-05:00

At the beginning of the year, I jumped on the photo-a-day bandwagon, and decided to try to take an Instagram photo a day. It didn't last for long, because let's face it...my life is pretty repetitive/boring AND I get pretty busy and forget to take pictures. But, I did find a Photo a Day Challenge that gives you a theme for each day, so I'm going to try that for February.

Anyway, here's what I have for January...

Week 1

Week 2

Weeks 3-4

I actually took a lot more pictures, but I just didn't convert

them to Instagram.

hitting the books

2012-01-24T09:45:00.002-05:00

While the Big Girls were doing their homework last night...

Someone else was perusing my cookbooks. She loves her some table food...perhaps she was finding ideas for her next meal?

philly!

2012-01-23T11:54:00.003-05:00

We were long overdue for a trip up to Philly, seeing as Char-baby had never been there. We headed up on Friday evening after school, and (THANKFULLY!) had a relatively ride up traffic-wise.

After Maura and Maggie's indoor soccer game, we all headed back to the Please Touch museum. The Girls and I had gone before, but it was Char-baby and John's first trip. Good times were had by all.

the end of an era

2012-01-20T09:04:00.004-05:00

I am pretty upfront with the fact that I'm not a fan of the newborn phase. At all. The crying, the lack of sleep or schedule, the fact that they don't really *do* anything...BLECH.

But a six-to-nine month old? HEAVEN. If babies were born as six-month-olds, I could easily be a Duggar. Kiki and I call them the glory months...the babies are happy and interactive, they can sit up and entertain themselves, but they aren't mobile and therefore can't get into things. It's perfect!

Unfortunately, we've left the glory era round these parts. At first there was the scoot-scoots, which was cute, but not effective in total mobility. But now she has mastered speed-scooting. And crawling.

So, now C spends her days ignoring the thousands of age-appropriate toys that she has and crawling/scooting from bookcase to bookcase to diaper bag...and pulling everything out. It constantly looks like a bomb went off on the main floor.

But, more than anything...Char-baby just lies in wait until you open the dishwasher. It's like Disney to her...the happiest place on Earth!

Unfortunately for us, most of the baby-proofing around these parts has been dismantled. So...we've got a fun few weeks of getting things back up to speed.

toothless

2012-01-19T12:14:00.004-05:00

A lost her tooth yesterday! Unlike her big sister, whose loose tooth was the bane of my existence, she pulled it out without much hoopla.

E helped her carry on the tradition of writing notes to the Tooth Fairy. When it came to prize money, they decided that $20.50 was an appropriate amount to ask for. The Tooth Fairy, however, only brought her $5.50...which is more than the regular tooth rate in our house.

Just like her sister, the tooth next door is also kind of wiggly...so I assume that it will come out in short order. And, just like her sister, there's not much room for the adult teeth to grow in. Since E has already been to the orthodontist, and A's mouth seems even more crowded than E's, I see us become a favorite family of the local orthodontist.

scoot-scoots

2012-01-06T09:42:00.004-05:00

C-baby is now mobile! She'll occasionally crawl on her hands and knees, and is really starting to cruise more now that she can pull herself up to standing. But, her primary mode of transportation is the scoot-scoot.

I love how she has her own unique way of doing something. It reminds me of A's mouth nod. And, I know it's bound to happen, but I will be so sad when the scoot-scoot goes away.

tap...tap...tap...is this thing on?

2012-01-03T20:41:00.007-05:00

A fan ~~my mom~~ was complaining that I never update the blog anymore. She had a point, seeing as Thanksgiving, Christmas AND New Year's have passed since I last posted.

Truth be told, I've been busy. Life with three girls is crazy hectic. The girls are immersed in activities and C-baby is mobile. My job is great, but it's full time and is one helluva commute. I've been going to the gym early in the morning, so I've been going to bed earlier. Add to that the hub-bub around the holidays, and finding time to blog has been impossible.

My ~~New Year's Resolution~~ goal is to try blog a few times a week. I want to remember all of the little things that are happening in this crazy life we are leading. Even if it's just a quick post that (horrors!) doesn't contain pictures.

Luckily, this is not one of those posts. Without further adieu...here's what we've been up to the last few months.

Thanksgiving in Ashland

Performing in the Nutcracker

Start of Basketball Season

Figuring out Christmas Lists

Christmas Break at Home

Visits from Nonna and Pop-pop...

...and also from the Cousins!

this week in photos

2011-11-14T08:23:00.008-05:00

Bundled up and ready to go...

The girls

Teppan yaki to celebrate successful parent-teacher conferences

My little Daisy Scout

The Girls get their hair done

Just out of reach...

Happy Girl

Sunday morning smiles

Free reign in the back of the minivan at the car wash

girls' weekend in san antonio

2011-11-08T12:42:00.008-05:00

Last weekend, I met my sister’s first year suitemates (and my fourth year roommates) for a girls’ weekend in San Antonio. We had gotten together for Molly's wedding last year, but this year it was just the girls (minus 1, who couldn't make it).

It was a super fun weekend where we laughed until our bellies hurt...ate until our bellies hurt...and even drank until our bellies hurt. It was such a great weekend, and I cannot wait to do it again next year. Which is how long it is going to take me to recover because I am very, very tired.

Kiki was the trip's photographer, so I don't have many pictures other than a few from my phone. But, here they are.

And, as the saying on the random plaque I found in a little shop in Gruene said:

Here's to nights I can barely remember with the friends I will never forget.

halloween in re"boo"

2011-11-02T09:19:00.002-04:00

We had a great Halloween weekend around these parts. It was also my birthday, which was very nice, too. On Saturday, I got a little "me" time and went shopping (which isn't nearly as fun when you still have a few pounds to lose...but Loft was 40% off so I pushed through the pain and ended up spending the birthday money that my parents gave me and then some).

We also attempted to make mummy cupcakes. They were just meh in both taste (it was a "healthy recipe using pumpkin puree) and appearance (cake decoraion is not my strong suit)...but the girls had fun.

On Sunday, I took The Girls to a Halloween party and then on the way home we picked up our pumpkins. Did you know that if you wait until 4:30 on the day before Halloween you will have to go to *4* places to find pumpkins because the selection is either really picked over or completely gone? Weird, huh?

But, we perserved and came home and carved those bad boys. They turned out pretty cute. We did one for each of the girls: E's had a bow carved in it; A's wore a tiara, and C's was sleeping and had a paci. The funny thing is that I realized that this is the first time we have ever carved pumkins at home. We did it last year in San Jose...but somehow we managed to avoid this right of passage for quite some time.

On Halloween day, the girls were not allowed to wear their costumes to school. But, they did get to wear them to ballet. It was a scramble to get the girls ready and fed and off to Trick-or-treat after ballet, but we managed to do it. John took The Girls around with a bunch of other neighbor dads, while C and I handed out candy at home. C might have played with/destroyed a box of Nerds and spent 10 minutes sucking happily on an unopened Laffy Taffy.

Because we live on a pipestem in a cul-de-sac, I dont think we get as many Trick-or-treaters as the rest of the neighbors. And, this year, they all seemed older (like 5th grade/middle school). But it was funny to see how many groups of boys would Ooo and Ahhh over how cute C was. I gave those who did an extra piece of candy.

The girls got home at 8:45, had a piece of candy or two and then headed up to bed. They have spent the rest of this week playing with their candy...merging it together, drafting candy piles, sorting candy, pointing out who likes what candy best. Occasionally, they will ask to eat candy, but really, it's more like a new toy for them than anything else. I wish I could say the same.

musical beds

2011-10-29T10:27:00.003-04:00

We're not usually a family of bed-switchers. In general, everyone goes to sleep in their own bed...and wakes up there in the morning.

However, last night, *everyone* was on the move.

C went to bed in her crib
A fell asleep in our bed watching a movie
E couldn't fall asleep in our bed, so she came down to hang out with us. We both fell asleep on the couch.
John carried her up to bed.
I moved A into her bed.
I went to sleep in my bed.
John fell asleep on the couch watching the World Series celebrations.
John came up to bed.
At 4:30AM, E came into our bed claiming she had a nightmare.
At 5AM, I heard C. I rocked her back to sleep and then carried her into C's room where we both slept.
When C woke up at a more reasonable hour, I handed her off to John and crawled back into bed for a little nap.

Confused yet? I drew a litte diagram so you could follow along:

Man, I'm getting tired just looking at that.

seven, seven and under

2011-10-27T22:06:00.002-04:00

Last weekend, the O family came to visit. It was so great for all the girls to get together. This time 6 of 7 joined the big slumber party in the basement. It won't be long before C joins in I'm sure.

On Saturday, we headed down to Charlottesville for the NC State game. We tailgated in a random driveway near the stadium. It was not nearly the prime spot like we had last time we went down, but it was fun nonetheless. The guys' whose house it was were so patient with the girls...running down their soccer and lacrosse balls in the street so our girls wouldn't get run over.

On the way to the stadium, we had the girls walk in "duckling formation" from oldest to youngest. It caused quite a stir. People were even taking pictures of them. We made it a full half before heading on home.

It's always great to see the O's...can't wait to do it again soon!

a day in the life

2011-10-20T08:41:00.005-04:00

Ever wonder what my life is like? Well, then...it's your lucky day! Here's a typical day in my life!

5:26 AM - Get up and work out

Okay, so this doesn't happen everyday, but I am trying to get up in the morning to work out. Right now, I'm doing The 30 Day Shred...it's short and effective. I just try not to get too depressed about how much harder it is than it used to be because I'm soooo out of shape.

6:03 AM - Rise and shine, sleepyhead

By the time I'm done working out, C is up and hanging out in her crib. She was getting up at 5:30-ish...but hopefully we've turned the corner. So, I get her up and she hangs out in a bouncy chair playing with toys while we get ready.

6:56 AM - Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work I go

John and I try to take turns doing waiting for the nanny to come or getting home in the afternoon. (And, don't worry, I was at a full and complete stop when I took this picture. Ah, traffic.)

8:15 AM - Cube Sweet Cube

It usually takes me about an hour to get to work, sometimes more with traffic. I get in, log on and grab a cup of coffee. And then, I start my day.

3:32 PM - Coffee break

Sometimes, a little latte is all you need as an afternoon pick me up. Luckily, there's a Starbucks across the street from our office.

4:32 - On the road again

On the days that I relieve the nanny, I'm out the door at 4:30. And stuck in traffic, again.

5:34 PM - Home again
When I walk through the door, it's crazy. Hence, no pictures. In the next two hours, I have to:

Get dinner ready (in general, we eat at home Sunday through Thursday).
Eat dinner.
Clean up.
Pack my lunch and the girls' lunches.
Relax with the fam.

7:45 PM - Good night, sweethearts
The bedtime routine starts at 7:45. C is first. She gets a bottle and some songs. Sometimes, she can't wait until she's in her jammies to start in on the bottle.

Up next is A. Sometimes, I read her stories. Sometimes, she reads them to me. Sometimes, she just wants a good night song.

Finally, it's E's turn. Most nights, she reads by herself after I kiss her good night. But, we'll also read together. We're currently reading Ralph S. Mouse.

8:33 PM - A little R&R

Once the girls are in bed, I come downstairs. Usually, I get online and watch a little TV. Sometimes, I prep dinner for the next day. Or finish up some laundry. It's a glamorous life, yo.

But, before too long, it's time for bed. Where I'm headed now, in fact.

the week in photos

2011-10-16T21:32:00.001-04:00

Mmmmmm....carrots!

Reason #2,348 to have children...
your own personal bartender

Interims came home...
A is *so* smart, she knows 11 more letters than I do!

At the Fall Festival

Someone's a stomach sleeper now

check (her) out

2011-10-11T12:37:00.002-04:00

Grocery shopping with C (and A & E) - June 25

Grocery shopping with C - October 10

It won't be long before she starts begging for candy in the checkout line, just like her sisters.

i'd say i'm going to start posting more...but i'm sure you won't believe me

2011-10-02T21:49:00.002-04:00

So...it's been 32 days since I last posted here. There's so much that's been going on!

I've been meaning to recap E's 7th Birthday, and the maiden voyage to the American Girl store she and A took with Nonna and Pop-pop...

I wanted to tell you all about the first day of school and how E and A are doing in 2nd grade and Kindergarten, respectively.

Then there was A's birthday and the story of how you should never let your husband order the birthday cake because he will order a cake that feeds 30 to 36 people, on the off chance that the neighborhood kids will come over and eat cake. Luckily, some kids did come over, including the 5th grader that A has a crush on.

A's boy craziness is a post on it's own.

And our little caboose baby just had a (half) birthday, too. She turned 6 months yesterday!

She's been doing great! She's sitting up these days. She's also an eating machine. She's a very adventerous eater...here she is trying octopus!

Okay, really she's only up to Stage 2 foods...I think Octopus is Stage 3.

But the point is, I got so far behind with all the stuff I wanted to post that I was too just overwhelmed to post anything. And, quite frankly, I haven't found much free time to post. So I figure that I'm going to pretend like I wrote much longer, wittier, and heartful posts on each of these subjects and then move on. Hopefully, that will cure my "blog paralysis" and I can write something a bit more frequently.

I've got some good stuff I want to tell you:

what "a day in the life" looks like around these parts
pictures of E and A at their ballet class
stories of how C would be the world's most perfect baby if she would stop waking herself up from pooping at 5:30 in the morning
and riveting updates on my hair (two words that changed my life: dry shampoo) and whether or not I fit in any pants (Spoiler Alert! Not really.)

And, of course, gratuitous shots of all three girls.

But, before all that can happen, I must sleep.

back when it was fun to have a big belly...

2011-08-30T21:00:00.002-04:00

Five months ago today, it was my due date. Tomorrow, C turns 5 months old. Crazy how time flies.

rest, relaxation...and an evacuation

2011-08-28T20:04:00.002-04:00

When I got the job offer for my new job, I lobbied hard for a September start date. Ideally, I wanted C to be 5 months old, A and E to be at school, and, well, August was already crazy because of Camp Grandmom, E's birthday, and a planned vacation with my fam. Unfortunately, the negotiations (with my new boss...who was also my old boss) went something like this:

Me: I'd like to start in September.
Boss: Let me think about that...no...August 1st.

So...though it was a little stressful...I highly recommend working for three weeks and then taking a vacation. You get a little break from the job, and it's not like you are so busy that you worry about work while on vacation. Which was good, because we had to worry about earthquakes and hurricanes instead. You see, my parents and my sister's family met up in Sandbridge for the week. It was tons of fun...except that we had an earthquake and then had to cut our vacation short a day because of a mandatory evacation for Irene. Luckily, we managed to have tons of fun in between the natural disasters. Unfortunately, I have only these iPhone pictures to document the event:

So, tomorrow, it's back to reality. Let's hope that after ~~a week~~ six days of fun in the sun...it's not too rough of a re-entry for me or John or the girls...or the new nanny.

crazy is the new normal

2011-08-16T20:51:00.004-04:00

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.