Overheard...

Mommy: "Boys, don't lick the cart it's dirty."

JJ: "Mommy? I clean?"

Mommy: "Yes, you're clean."

Casey: "I clean too?"

Mommy: "Yes, you too."

...

JJ: "Hey, Casey!"

Casey: "Yeah?"

JJ: "Want to lick my tongue?"

Casey: "Okay!"

[and then they did. and i didn't know whether to laugh or cry. so. i laughed so hard i cried.]

Happy Birthday to My Biggest Bloggy Fan.

Yes, I realize I already posted within the last twenty-four hours, but this is special.

This Past Couple of Weeks Have Been Busy. No, Seriously.

1. Casey started preschool.


2. Jonathan cuddled with Stephen on the couch.


3. Casey brought home his first art project.


4. Stephen bounced and chewed on his hand. With his (two!) new teeth.


5. Casey fell asleep after preschool.


5. We adopted a horse.


6. Wesley and I got all gussied up and went to Meaghan's surprise thirtieth birthday party.


7. The big surprise was Bobby (finally!) popping The Question.


8. Jonathan pouted because Casey went to school without him.


9. I tried to sell my mini fridge. (Want it?).


10. We went to our first Saturday Night Supper.


11. I tried to sell a pretty rose blanket. (Love it?).


12. Casey learned to go to the potty on his own. (Mostly).


13. We attended a pie festival.


14. Stephen tried ice cream.


15. I cooked. (A lot).


16. Stephen grew enough hair for a faux-hawk.


17. Casey quit preschool.

And So The Experiment in Preschool Ends. Alternately Titled: I Spent Three and a Half Years Getting Him on a Schedule, Don't Eff It Up.

So it turns out there are unintended consequences to sending your child to half-day part-time preschool:

• He makes your morning a living hell by screaming for the two hours before leaving that he does not want to go to school.

• He embarrasses you by hysterically crying through the whole drop-off process and then dramatically sobbing on the teachers shoulder and refusing to kiss you good-bye when you leave.

• He pisses you off by recovering .3 seconds after you walk out the door.

• He stresses you out by failing to be highly visible on the webcam.

• He makes you crazy by refusing to eat lunch at school and then demanding the exact! same! meal! at home.

• He makes you anxious by falling asleep on the couch amidst your other screaming children who could possible and will definitely not let him sleep nearly long enough.

• He upsets his brother who has been desperately waiting for him to come home by being cranky and refusing to play.

• He hurts your feelings when he asks to go back to school on his off days.

• He hurts your head when he whines all. afternoon. long. on his off days because he didn't take a real nap the day before because he fell asleep on the couch and was totally woken up by those other loud children you have.

• He screws up your agenda because you refuse to take a tired whiny three year old on fun! outings! because taking a tired whiny three year old makes them not! fun! outings!

• He makes you feel like a total losey mcloserton failure when you unenroll him from preschool after less than two-weeks.

• He makes you (very) happy when he says he'd rather be home with Mom.

More WW here & here.

Well, At Least I Know He's Paying Attention.

[wiped out on the couch after preschool]

"No, Mommy! Don't cut my hair with scissors!
Scissors are VERY DANGEROUS!"

~Casey

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- More quotes here.

Saturday Six: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

Baby Jay.

Jonathan. On this day(ish), 2008.

This One's All About The Little Guy.

Stephen's six month birthday was overlooked yesterday because Casey started preschool and that kind of overwhelmed me. I'm now recovered and would like to take a moment to reflect on where we are now that one hundred and eighty three days have passed since my favorite Tuesday of 2009.

I don't know how much he weighs, or how long he is because I haven't made the six month check-up appointment yet (stop judging me), but I DO know he is:

- rolling over (and over and over)
- laughing at his brothers
- gorgeous
- completely engaging
- a big fan of baby food (especially applesauce)
- so incredibly ticklish
- not quite sitting up on his own
- a one tooth wonder (bottom middle!)
- scooting on his tummy, but not quite getting anywhere
- finally okay with facing out in the baby carrier
- sitting in a shopping cart
- no longer riding in the infant carrier
- loving the jumperoo
- still a nursing fiend
- refusing to sleep through the night
- loving to be held all. the. time.
- a cuddly bug
- perfect

My Baby is Growing Up So Fast and I'm Having a Hard Time Writing About It. What I'm Trying to Say is He Started School & This is the Story of Day One.

This is the obligatory picture with Daddy before leaving. Jonathan really wanted to go too. I may have tricked him by sending him to the bedroom to fill his backpack. Ouch. Mean mommy. Don't worry, Jonathan had a very special day while Casey was at school. Complete with lemonade.


Quick picture with Mommy (that's me) before heading out. Yeh. I'm hot. No make-up, shower wet hair and chipped toe nail polish. I didn't really meet any other moms doing the pick-up drop-off thing, but I did learn that yoga pants are totally okay to wear in public. This makes me happy.

Casey did great when I dropped him off. A little bit shy, but he really seemed to like his teachers. He showed off his "rescue-pack" and was very excited to find the cubby labeled "CASEY". He had me take him to the bathroom, then asked whether I could stay to play. When I said 'no' he gave me a kiss good-bye and dove into the legos. I left and was mildly insulted that he didn't throw at least a small tantrum on my behalf.


Naturally, I raced home and logged onto the school's webcam. I couldn't find him anywhere, until Hubs pointed out a sad little boy being carried around by the teacher. It tugged on my heartstrings a bit, but was so much better than seeing him have a full blown fit. Wes wanted to race to the rescue, but I knew Casey would recover.

Later we checked again and he was hiding behind the teacher's skirt. Later still, he was sitting at a table all on his own while the class had a lesson on the floor. But finally, in the afternoon... integration! Playing with other kids! Coloring! Crafting! Yay!



When I arrived to pick up, he was walking down the hallway with his teacher and another little boy. He was all smiles and excited to tell me about his day. The legos! The playground! The coloring! But then I asked about lunch, and the other little boy answered "He didn't like his lunch! Casey didn't eat ANYTHING!" So, I asked Casey myself and he said, "I just cried a little bit and then I was okay. I'm hungry for food in the car." That kind of broke my heart.

He was all smiles though and talking about coming back to see his teacher and friends on Wednesday. So, I totally considered it a success.

Except.

Until.

Now, he's decided he doesn't want to go anymore.

So. Wish us luck on that.
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p.s. click on the picture if you're not sure which one is mine.
p.p.s. More WW here & here.

Yes, My Oldest Child Started School Today and a "Good Mother" Would Write About That. But, I'm Not Trying to Win Any Awards.

I'm pretty sure at least two of my kids are related.

Casey, circa 2007

Stephen, circa this morning

video of Stephen, circa this morning

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p.s. Don't forget you can enter to win $25 in print credits here.

So We Took Another (mini) Vacation.

This time we brought the sitter. Our last visit was great, but since we added another ankle-biter it seemed prudent. She got the room with the big bed and we got the kicking squirming children. How does that happen? Regardless, it was still kind of awesome.

Day 1:

The beach!!! Then, lunch at O.C. White's (because it's what we always do), a little walking around downtown St. Augustine then we move into the hotel. After we're settled? More beach! Except the second time it was windy and cold so we ended up watching Netflix at the hotel. Did I mention the hotel had free wifi? Lifesaver.

In the evening we dumped the big kids on the sitter and took the baby with us back to downtown St. Augustine for dinner. We wandered around for an hour lamenting our poor planning skills until finally stumbling across La Pentola. And holy good god of yummy food, what a find! This place was magnificent. We sat in the little outdoor courtyard and practically licked our plates clean. If it weren't for the hostess knocking into the baby carriage and waking up Stephen halfway through our meal, it would have been perfect. It was still kind of awesome.









Day 2:

We woke up to rain and gloom, so after free breakfast at the hotel, we trekked out to the St. Augustine Alligator Farm. I totally (wrongly) assumed it would be a dirty overpriced tourist trap. While it was (a little bit) overpriced, it was still kind of awesome.









p.s. Casey is supposed to start preschool tomorrow. Hold me.
p.p.s. Need business cards (or announcements or brochures)? You can win them here.

I am (Mostly) Hiding from the Internet this Weekend. Please Don't Take it Personally.

If you really miss me, I'm being crafty here, and selling stuff here, and cooking here and giving stuff away here. I'll be back soon. Promise.