Start of School and Fall Activities

I've really been slacking off on this blogging thing. Days are pretty busy now, especially the ones where I work. When I do get some "quiet time" I'm usually folding laundry or straightening up...or catching up on my shows. Anyway, the past two plus weeks have been busy to say the least. All three of the big kids started school, we celebrated Buster's birthday, we celebrated my grandmother's birthday, and Pirate started soccer. Instead of doing a separate post on each thing, I'm making this one fun-filled post about everything!

Sunday, August 26 was Buster's birthday. We had gone out to dinner and to a couple bars the night before to celebrate. We stayed out until 1am, which is pretty much unheard of for us. We had a great time. Unfortunately I had to work all day on his actual birthday, so we didn't have a special birthday dinner. I did have time to make a cake that morning, so we sang Happy Birthday and had cake to celebrate that evening.

This is kind of a funny picture!

On Monday, August 27, Princess and Pirate started school. Princess started third grade, and Pirate started kindergarten. They were both really excited about school, and they had a great first day. Luckily, their enthusiasm has continued through the first two weeks of school, and they are both still loving it.

Everyone on Facebook used these signs this year. Thanks, Pinterest!

Trouble had an Ice Cream Social on August 28th to meet his teachers and the other kids. His first official day of school was September 4. I was a little worried about how he would do in school given how he acts, but he had a great first and second day. He's only going Tuesday and Thursday mornings, but it's just enough to get him out of the house and have some structure and interaction with other kids. He definitely needs that!

Couldn't forget a Pinterest sign for the little guy!

It is unbelievably quiet in here when Trouble is at school. Superchunk takes his morning nap for a good part of the time Trouble's in school, so Curly gets a lot of Mommy Time, which we both love. He turned 18 months on Friday, and he seems like such a big boy now. He weighs around 25 lbs. I'll find out for sure at his checkup tomorrow morning. He loves playing with trains and trucks running around the house. He is 100% a Mommy's boy, and I don't mind that one bit!

 My handsome big boy after a much needed haircut!

Pirate started soccer during the first week of school. He only had two practices before his first game this past Saturday. He really loves playing. I missed his first game because of work, but Buster said it was pretty entertaining to watch the kids play. I get to go this weekend, so I'm excited to watch the action on the field!

Wearing his official uniform for Team USA!

Big family gatherings are few and far between since everyone has so much going on these days. Last weekend my dad's family got together to celebrate my grandmother's birthday. She turned 39 again this year, which is pretty amazing considering she has a granddaughter catching up to her age! We were able to grab a quick family picture of my grandparents with their grandchildren and great-grandchildren. The only one missing is my cousin who lives in Florida. We pretty much filled up the entire living room at my uncle's house to get this picture!

That's a big crew!

Superchunk continues to be a chunky boy. He had his six month checkup last week and he weighs in at a whopping 21lbs! He's also 27 3/4 inches tall. This is one big boy! He's rolling all over the place, and trying to scoot himself around. He is also working on sitting up, although he only lasts a few seconds at a time doing it. That's a lot of weight to move around!

Rocking his first pair of shoes!

Today is the first Ravens' game, and it's Purple Monday. The kids could probably care less, but I made sure they were all supporting the Ravens. We're also crazy excited about how the O's are playing right now too. It's a great time for fans in Baltimore!

Don't they look thrilled? Nothing like a photo session at 8am!

Family Trip to the Park

When I got this job, I knew I'd be working evenings and weekends. I had to work Monday and Tuesday, but was off last night and tonight. Tonight is Pirate's kindergarten orientation, so last night was kind of the last family night we'd have before school starts. I wanted to do something with the kids since we haven't gotten out to do much this summer. We planned to take the kids to the big playground at the park. The kids were were really excited. So, we loaded everyone up and headed to the park after dinner.

Getting everyone ready to leave the house, although easier than it once was, is still kind of a circus. While I cleaned up from dinner, Buster fed Superchunk his dinner. Then I changed Superchunk's diaper and put him in the carrier. He's the easiest to get ready to go. Next we send the kids (one at a time or they'll take forever) to go to the bathroom, wash their hands, and get socks out of their drawers. They've been living in flip flops and Crocs all summer, but tennis shoes are better for the playground. It never fails, someone seems to get lost upstairs or distracted with toys and this turns into a fifteen minute process. Once the socks are on, the fun process of getting shoes on begins. Buster started loading the kids in the van while I threw a few diapers and bottles of water in the diaper bag. The plan was to go play at the playground then get ice cream or milkshakes at McDonald's afterward since we had a gift card.

We drive to the park, and the kids are super excited. As soon as we get around the corner to see the playground, I know we aren't going to last long. It is packed. Apparently we aren't the only family trying to get the kids out to play. So, we unload everyone and I get Superchunk's carrier attached in the stroller. Buster gets Curly out of his car seat and immediately realizes Curly pooped. Somehow we forgot about changing his diaper before we left the house. We then got to enjoy the fun that is changing a squirming toddler in the back of the van with wipes that have been in the diaper bag way too long and are almost dry, while also trying to restrain three kids who just want to run across the street to the playground, while the baby in the stroller is crying because he just wants to fall asleep. Again, we were a circus. We overcome this and move onto the next obstacle, the fact that there is no ramp from the street to the playground on the side where we parked. We could either a) walk around the entire park with the 5 kids to get to the handicap ramp, b) leave (which Buster and I both wanted to do!), or c) ghetto-style carry the stroller down the steps. We went with option C. You'd think we would have caused a  spectacle with all the kids we have and the fact that we're carrying a stroller down the steps, but then again, we were at the Westminster City Park. If you've ever been, you know what kind of characters are there. No one even noticed us.

In my mind before we went, I'd push the stroller and follow Curly around the toddler area while Buster would watch the three bigger kids on the bigger playground. WRONG! Crowded doesn't even describe how many people were there. Before we separated, I made sure said out loud what color shirt each of the kids was wearing to keep track of them. I went into the toddler area with the little guys and Buster went the the bigger playground next to it with the other kids. Immediately I realized how wrong I was in my plan. Curly can't climb the steps and go down the slide on his own. I would need to go up with him. And I can't leave the stroller with the crying baby. So I carry Curly around. We try the swings. He freaks out and screams. We try the see-saw. He freaks out and screams. Thankfully Superchunk just gave up and fell asleep, so I only had one crying baby with me. We headed across the playground to where Buster and the kids were, and the look on his face said his experience wasn't going much better. Trouble wants to be big enough to do everything on his own, but he's still only three and needs help. It was so crowded it really was hard to keep track of everyone. We moved over to a less crowded part of the playground and the kids played some more. Finally, we decided it was time to go. I honestly have no clue how long we lasted. I know for sure it felt like 3 hours. I think it was more like a half hour though. Then we headed over to McDonald's and got some drive-thru dessert for everyone. By the time we got home and unloaded everyone, it was kind of melted, but no one minded. At least we had one last night out as a family before the end of summer!

Yes, I have enough kids to fill this weird see-saw thing!

This was a different night at a different playground, but kind of cute with all the kids in it. Apparently that's Pirate's favorite shirt.

Milestones

When I was in the shower this morning (the place where I do most of my uninterrupted thinking) I was thinking about how the kids are really changing and developing.  I realized that things are getting easier around here, and that's due to the fact that the kids are all getting bigger and doing more. Milestones are important, but sometimes they get overlooked in all the chaos that is life with five children. Writing the things that have happened lately will help me to remember them. Some might even make it into the Baby Books, although I doubt it :)

Superchunk is an absolute dream baby! I mean, he is as close to a perfect baby as one can get. He hardly ever cries. He's been sleeping all night since he was six weeks old. He sleeps 10-12 hours every night, and doesn't even seem bothered when Curly wakes up crying during the night. I admit, he spends a lot of time being moved from place to place, Jumperoo to Exersaucer to playmat to highchair to Bumbo. He doesn't get held as much as I'd like to hold him, or as much as he did when he was a newborn, but he seems to be okay with it. I try to rock him to sleep at night, but he wants no part of it. He likes to be in the crib and fall asleep on his own. (I told you he was a dream baby!) As tough as things seemed when he was first born, they have gotten so much easier where Superchunk is concerned. He's on a schedule where he takes his four bottles a day, two regular naps in the crib, and the same bedtime every night. It seems like all of a sudden he's into a routine that just flows with what everyone else is doing. He just started eating cereal, and we put him in the highchair at the table when everyone is at the table so he can be part of our meals. He also started rolling over last week, which I thought would take much longer for him to do since he's so big. That's a lot of baby body to move! The kids love making him laugh and coo, and he loves watching them. There is a lot of activity in this house, so there is always something to keep him entertained! 

Curly seems to be getting bigger every day. His clothes that were too big when summer started are fitting better. He has an older look to him now than he did just a few weeks ago. He has a mouth full of teeth, with all four of his incisors coming through in the past few weeks. He cut back from two naps to one. We moved him from the highchair to a booster seat at the dining room table. Although he loves to throw his placemat and utensils on the floor, grab everyone else's food and drinks, and bang on the table, it's still neat to see him sitting with the rest of us. He's also walking backward, running, dancing, and trying to sing to his favorite songs. I'm pretty sure he is Mickey's biggest fan!  More words are coming into his vocabulary, and he's starting to make animal noises to match the animal he sees. He is constantly watching his big brothers and sister and trying to imitate the things they do. He's a huge Mommy's boy, and I love it. We go for a little walk every night and spend a few minutes on the porch watching cars and birds. I love that one on one time with him. 

Trouble is potty trained! I've mentioned before that he's been trained since he was two and a half, but that he wouldn't poop on the potty for anything. FINALLY, within the past week, he has started regularly pooping on the potty. We're still using the sticker chart and making a huge deal out of it every time he goes, but it's a HUGE improvement over where we were before. It's been a journey, that's for sure! He also hasn't worn a diaper or Pull-Up for a nap or at bedtime in over a week. I can't remember for sure, but I think he speaks better than Princess or Pirate did when they turned three. Some of the things he says really make me laugh! He also watches Princess and Pirate and imitates everything they do.

Pirate is starting to read, which is amazing to me. I know for sure that I don't spend as much time reading with him as I did with Princess. She was reading well before she started kindergarten, and he is just beginning. But he really enjoys it, and I'm spending more time working with him. I love that my kids love books and going to the library. Pirate got his first library card, and he gets a kick out of doing the self checkout at the library. He's at a great age where helping is fun. He loves to do his chores, which I think is great because I know that in a few years I'll probably get the same eye rolling from him that I now get from his sister. He's gotten much more independent recently, getting up early and entertaining himself rather than waking up the rest of the house, getting his own breakfast, cleaning up after himself. He has a great imagination and loves playing with his superheroes and dressing up like them. 

Princess is getting very mature. In most ways this is a good thing, although I'm not loving the eye rolling and the stomping up the steps when she doesn't like what I tell her. Pretty sure the teenage years are not going to be a good time! Where she does her share of eye rolling and whining, she is an enormous help around here. I am constantly asking her to run and get something for me or to help the boys clean up. I know she gets annoyed, but it's good for her to help. She is reading the Harry Potter books now, which really hit me that she is growing up. I'm used to her reading much younger books, but she's reading longer more mature books now, and understanding them. She's also into popular music now. All the kids know some of the popular stuff that's out there now. I'm not a parent who plays kids' music in the car, so they know stuff that I like. But she now tells me to change the station when she doesn't like a song, and I see her in the rear view mirror singing along. In the past year, she has really started showing her taste in clothes and how she wears her hair. I know this is a good thing since she is going on 9 (OMG she's going on 9!), but I miss her being a little girl that I can put in cute little dresses and fix her hair any way I want. She's growing into her own person, which is amazing to watch, but also terrifies me!

This is a busy house, and it's easy to miss the milestones the kids are achieving. Nothing is going unnoticed, it's just a matter of taking a step back and looking to see everything that is happening. Sometimes it's hard to see everything at once, so I have to take a second and separate the big picture into smaller pieces. It's worth it though, because this is all happening so quickly that one day Superchunk is going to be the eye-rolling eight year old, and I'll wonder how he got there!

PS- I was recently nominated for a couple blogging awards, to which I am shocked and thankful. I will write about them as soon as I can get my thoughts straight!