New Shower Buddies

My boys have always loved the shower........they take animals in and teach them how to swim, they clean their "weapons", they sing, dance, practice shaving and often complain when they have to get out.

They've got a new shower buddy.....Emerson. She loves the shower as much as they do. After she gets out of her bath, she will run around the corner of the hallway to see if they are still in the shower. On the days where "no girls allowed" is in force, she will stand and bang on the door, crying, until they are done. Guess one can never be too clean!

First day of school.....

Aiden started Kindergarten last week. I naively expected the normal first day of school.......arrive a few minutes early, take some quick pics, wipe a few inconspicuous tears from my eye, and skip along.

No so in this family!

As we were pulling out of the driveway, Aiden announced he had a bloody nose. I thought it might just be a drip from picking it, so I tossed him a few napkins and we headed out. As we were pulling out of our driveway, I noticed CARS EVERYWHERE along our street. We live about 1/4 of a mile from school, and cars were parked past our driveway. I realized we were now WALKING to school on the first day. So with Emerson in one arm, backpack and lunch in the other, and Aiden and Parker in tow, we started the trek.

We had to stop twice because Aiden's nose was bleeding so badly.. huge blood clots and a small river that no amount of paper products would slow.

We arrived at school and wove our way through the chatting parents. I threw his backpack in the classroom and announced I was running to the nurse's office for help.

When we burst through the office doors, my worst fears were realized. 15 moms all standing in line waiting to talk to the nurse about each of their children. I politely excused myself as we dripped blood along the way, and pleaded with the nurse for some immediate attention.

She got Aiden settled on a cot with ice and clean towels. It only took about 30 seconds for Parker to begin jumping from cot to cot, counter to chair.......while Emerson simultaneously started sifting through the closest trash can.

All the while, I'm thinking........WHY can't I have a normal first day of school?

It took us 35 minutes to get things under control. When we got back to Aiden's class he began to cry as he realize they "started without me". I gave hugs and handed him off to the classroom aid. His teacher later confirmed that he quickly cheered up and had a great day.

My only regret.....WHY or WHY didn't I take my camera out of my purse to document all this? In the mayhem, it just didn't cross my mind.

Can't wait to see what the first school party holds in store for us!!!

Missing our cousin

Boy o boy do my children miss their cousin, Carter. He's 2000 miles away in Kentucky - where is dad is in his last year of law school. We have sent mail and talk about Carter often. Aiden wanted to send him a special message..............to let Carter know how much we think about him. Here you go Carter!

Three boys and a crib

This video is a few weeks old, but shows the changes in Emerson. They boys LOVE to climb in her crib and rub her arms and head. She is really starting to recognize their voices and respond to their attention. I've already had to clear out her drawers and put all the 0-3 month clothes away. I don't think I'm ready to see her growing so much...........change happens so fast at this stage!!!!!

Headband Boys

Although I draw the line at putting on my makeup, I do let the boys explore some of the drawers in the bathroom. On morning I dissapeared into Emerson's room to feed her. Ten minutes later, when I came out, I found these two characters...............

first smiles

Emerson is now 7 weeks old and has been smiling and cooing for about one week. She has gained over four pounds and is healthy and doing great. She is sleeping in her own bed (although her brother's wish they could be right in there with her) and really starting to notice the world around her. Here she is in action.............

best friends

It was a special summer for my boys as their cousin, Carter, was here for the summer from Kentucky. My brother, Adam, is getting ready to start his third year of law school so "best friend Carter" has been a long, long ways away these past two years. Although we had to mix two small girls into things, the boys spent their fair share of time together. Some of the most memorable events were spending tokens at Chuck E. Cheese, swimming at grama's house and "working" in her garden, playing at the jumping castles, gymnastics, the park, our backyard......any place that was sufficient for supplying weapons and imaginary bad guys. Here are a few highlights........saggy underwear and all!