i'm realizing more and more, that as i get older, my disdain for the summer months goes up. i don't even have kids in school yet!
i remember the years when i used to look forward to the summer; when the summer was a thing to be treasured! those were the days of spending weeks at a time at bear lake with my friends, laying on the beach without the worry of premature aging, just worrying about looking good for that weekends dance at the old farm. raspberry shakes without the worry of the extra poundage.
when it came time for early dance practices, that wasn't a problem either! sure, it sucked to get up but there was always the promise of a bed to come home to an nap in for the next three hours following a practice. by the time i would wake up, it would be just in time to get ready for the evening festivities with friends: night games, hot tub, swinging under the tree.
now, all of that fun and nostalgia has given way to just stress and tiredness in the summer! summer now means chasing kids to slather on sunscreen they hate, putting on a happy face as you take them to a HOT HOT park, and oh my gosh, swimming.... when did swimming become such a hassle! i feel like i am in perma panic mode whenever we make it to a pool! i wish i had reptilian eyes, you know, the one that can look in two directions at once? yeah, those ones. it doesn't help at all that i have two children who are fearless in the water and are all over the place and demand independence! i can't tell you how many times i've had that "moment" of panic. you know, the moment when you are frantically searching for your child who was JUST right there and now has disappeared. when your blood goes cold and you know that a rapist MUST have grabbed them from the fence and you will never see them again. one thing that scared the shiza out of me is the low low fences here! 3-5 feet tall is all! a kidnappers dream! if my kids weren't so damn cute and not afraid of strangers, maybe i wouldn't be such a crazy ass.
standard low fence
no pool fear
so, you guys see all of these pictures of the fun little outings we go on. fun for the boys? yes! that's why i do it! fun for me? N to the O! As my parents found out when they were here last weekend, even with 5 of us watching them, one always manages to slip away. i was all cool with taking them to the ball park to watch jeremy play every friday, until my dad mentioned that he thought that was the best place to kidnap a kid because there is so much going on! really dad?! i need another place to fear?
oh and forget about that thing they call "energy" cause i aint got it. i hope that when all of this early child rearing phase is over, i will have enough pictures of happy faces that i will forget how tired i always was and just remember how happy i was able to make them. i hope that i will even be able to convince myself that i didn't have that hard of a time. i will only be reminded of it again when my daughter is at the same stage in life. only then will years of memories flood back to me so i can tell her that she is not alone, much like my momma has done for me.
back to the fall and why it's SOOO much better than the summer. for one, boys clothes are way better looking! sweaters. hats. layers. long sleeves. they all make for a handsome and dapper little man. i'm sure my neighbors are way stoked about the fall so they wont have to see my kids in their underwear/diapers so much. yeah, i've become that mom. my reasoning: with all of the stains they are prone to, it is much easier to keep them partially clothed until we are just about to go somewhere. seriously, these boys are stain MAGNETS!
1/2 naked when possible
cute fall clothes!!
the other major plus is the many activities that involve being in enclosed spaces. it's now kosher to take the kids to indoor play places, like monkey business where we went yesterday. it was fully enclosed, had NO back entrances, and there was SO much for them to do! they even had an art room full of paints, paper, easels, and drying racks. i also would like to take the boys on a train ride (enclosed space) and drive through the mountains/picnic.
ah, they WANT to be in the stroller
can't wait for getting pumpkins at a patch! for this, as in the past, there is a goal in mind and so seth has been able to not run off. we are there to find the perfect pumpkin and to get it, he NEEDS me there by him to pick it up for him. that is they key.
also waiting to get some extra use out of the backyard fire pit. this activity is a little stress inducing (open flame, curious kids, running) but again, if there is a goal, like roasting a marsh mallow, their energy can be directed in a safe way.
was i always this nervous and crazy? no, no i wasn't. i think i've always been on the cautious side, but this pregnancy has definitely brought out the neurotic side. heck, i even check to make sure the basement windows are locked before i go to bed for cry in out loud! with all of this craziness though, i am probably the furthest thing from a helicopter mom. riddle me that. if you see me at the park or somewhere else, i always seem super duper calm, but trust me, there is a frantic woman inside screaming for control!
so, let's celebrate the coming change of season and a change of pace. a slowing down of things. cute clothes. party planning. getting the house decorated. crafts for the kids. baking. ahhhhh. sounds so nice!
ok, so the post is "it's a girl" but i am very aware that the post won't really be much about that. it just happens to be one of the big events that happened these past two weeks. it was last friday that i had my appointment and i was very convinced that i was having a boy. it's funny because i was convinced seth AND luke were both girls! some mothers instinct i have.
so, the doctors apt went well. when the technician said "girl" jeremy said "oh crap".... but there is a lot of confusion over the "oh crap". he was hoping for a boy only because he LOVES little girls. the "oh crap" was more like "oh, crap. there goes any semblance of a backbone for this little girl""oh, crap. we are going to be poor with all of the cute girl stuff out there i won't be able to resist buying my little baby" accompanied with "oh, crap. what am i going to do with a teenage girl!" we will cross that bridge when we get there, but for now, we are thrilled and very surprised that we are having a baby girl!
the naming wars have already begun. i have not yet bought anything for this little one but i have a feeling i will mostly be buying new bottles, a comfy rocker, cradle, meds, diapers, video monitor... and all of those not so fun but necessary things!
people have asked me where we are going to put the baby and how are we going to decorate, etc. the bedroom will be the boys playroom and the playroom will be moved into the basement. we plan on getting it finished while we are on our cruise in november. hopefully i can get into nesting mode before busy christmas season, cause after that we won't have time! as far as decorating, i am thinking sky themes (hot air balloons, clouds, kites) in the colors soft turquoise, mango, and yellow mostly. you will get a better idea if you look at my pin board: http://pinterest.com/sarahs0dap0p/if-i-had-a-girl/
this also shows the kind of girl clothing style i love since A TON of you have been asking me what i like. this is better than explaining :)
i hope you all come visit after the baby is born!
back to these past two weeks. on friday seth had his first soccer practice. he was amazing, and i'm not just saying that. he was rocking it on the field. he was not a fan of waiting in line to do certain things. he kept saying "but i'm not playing!!". i think he will get used to the idea of lines and waiting in due time. i brought luke (BIG mistake) cause i thought that practice would just be seth on the field and luke and i could wait on the sidelines while we watched. not the case. i guess parents have to be on the field with them to help them wait in line. holy shite that was SOOO draining. carrying luke while trying to convince seth that lines are cool and for big boys. towards the end 5 minutes, both boys had migrated to the stack of cones on the side. lining them up and playing with them. by then i was looking around like "yeah! judge me! do it! i'm pregnant people! let the boys play with the cones! do YOU want to convince the little one to sit tight while also getting the older one to magically enjoy waiting in a line to kick a ball when he could be playing with novel cones!?" i'm sure no one really cared, but of course, i was a bit agitated. what? me? yes.
that night jeremy's grandparents came in! we went to dinner with them and then some shithead young teens STOLE seth's ball he was playing with while i was inside ordering and he was playing with it outside with grandpa. so what did crazy hormonal momma do? well, i RAN down the street and confronted the group of ten or so. as i came up to them, a chubby one threw it in an alley. here's how it went down:
me: HEY!! where is that ball?
teen 1: wh-what ball?
me: the one you stole from my 3 year old son and just threw into the alley
teen 1: oh, ummmm
teen 2 to teen 1: i told you not to do it!
teen 3 to me: i told him not to do it!
me: you ought to be ashamed of yourself! that is NOT a nice thing to do
seth: bawling!!!!!!
me: you did this to him!
them: ok, we'll get your ball. sorry!
teen 1: if we can't find it i'll give you money for a new one.
me: yeah, ok
then they went to the alley dumpster and all of them got on the nasty ground looking for it underneath.
about 5 minutes later they emerged with the ball! seth was SO excited!
it was a nice time to give seth a lesson on not being mean and not stealing. i didn't mention to him that the ball was a found tennis ball in a parking lot. minor detail.
that weekend with jeremy, his grandparents, and mom & vaughn, we went to boulder and a 30 minute wait for a restaurant turned into a TWO HOUR wait! i was incredibly impressed with how the boys handled it.
my favorites of that night were:
1. when seth danced and drummed with a street performer
2. someone on the road with a sign that said "need weed"
3. vaughn staring down the people at the table we were waiting for to get them to leave.
4. luke becoming bff with just about every dog he saw
the next day we went to the zoo. well, the boys, denise and i did. the idea of the zoo was GREAT but by the time we found a place to eat breakfast and then got to the zoo, it was about noon. this meant that not only were the boys tired, but so were all of the animals. that on top of the heat made for a bit of a zoo day momma struggle. oh and when seth fell to the ground and said he wanted me to carry him... that was just the best.
random dude with my name tattooed on his neck. what a creeper. i don't even know him!
luckily, for me and the boys, the struggle was overshadowed by the fun of one active ape! we spent about 45 minutes just watching this little guy play around on the ropes. seth LOVED it when he hung over the water and peed! i still hear about it! they have these ropes that go overhead onto a little monkey tree island .there are NO barriers from the rope and people below. this little guy climbed over all of us! he went back and forth a couple times and the crowd went wild. at one point he stopped and looked down and just about everyone moved out of the way cause they were sure they were about to get pooped or peed on. unfortunately, that didn't happen.
denise was so great taking us there. she is the epitome of trooper! nothing phases her! the walking, the hills, the heat, the tired toddler behavior... nothing.
that night we made some great memories with everyone around the fire pit with s'mores. it was our first time lighting it up and i already know it will be a weekly must.
after everyone left, we had about a week to get things ready for our new visitors: my parents and armelle (our dear friend we met in belgium when we were there for a summer)! i haven't seen her since 2009! her and jeremy have a great commentary/back and forth. i would just sit back and crack up! she is very cynical and sarcastic. they would go back on forth with the whole "my country is better" schtick.
they all got to our house on thursday night. the boys and i were all asleep but i could hear them in the house talking until about 1230! oh gin and tonics.
the next morning we went to boulder originally, but ended up driving to Nederland instead. what a cute and quaint little mountain town!
armelle regulating
how cute is that path?!
i need to go back cause this store would be the cutest backdrop for for-realsy pictures
luke, talking to the bear statue.
luke saying to himself: i'm about to go run into the road and freak everyone out! bwa haha!
we took a walk around some stores and then my dad, seth, and armelle went on a little walk.
i took lukey to the carousel of happiness... yes, that's really the name. loved it! so here's the story with the carousel: a vietnam veteran, while in vietnam, promised that if he made it home alive, he would fulfill his dream of carving a carousel i the mountains. well, he made it home safe and 27 years later the carousel of happiness was complete. each animal is hand carved and the music machine is from the year 1813! we must have gone on that about 10 times.
creepy clown kraco that used to be the carousels biggest fan. totally creepy and nightmare inducing.
afterwards, we went upstairs to the puppet show theatre. that's where the doom began. there is this little stage to do puppet shows. me, thinking, how dangerous could a puppet show stage be, let the boys go and have at it. as we are getting ready to leave, i hear this huge, i mean HUGE "Thud!!" followed by seth shrieking in pain! turns out, this little theater is 1960s safe.... which means, not safe at all! with the little stage, to get out, you have to maneuver a 3 inch lip hidden by a curtain which then leads you to a rock hard wood floor about 3 feet down. terrible design. terrible.
seemingly safe
the whole building could hear it! sell got all dazy and sleepy... so of course, we COULD NOT let him sleep. i was terrified. still not sure if he suffered a concussion or not, but luckily, he was not disoriented or confused for long.... just a terrible headache the rest of the day.
tired boys on the way home. notice the monkey my dad is snuggling with!
that evening, we took seth to soccer. i don't know how many times i told my parents it was just practice, but they kept saying "seth's game" and i just thought they were saying that to get seth excited. no. they really thought it was a game. they still had fun watching him practice with his new yellow shirt, number 7! it was also his first time with his new cleats and shin guards. he looked so big to me!
after soccer, we went to jeremy's softball game. my mom and dad took seth and luke while armelle and i got pizza. when we got to the field, all hell broke loose! seth was sitting on my dad's lap (i'm laughing as i type this) realized that he didn't have his softball. anyone who know seth knows that he will be fine one second, think about something, and can completely turn in a snap! seth starts bawling on my dad's lap and pees ALL over him! i mean, my dad was drenched. he just quietly/scarily gave seth to me, and walked away to the other side of the field and sat by himself. armelle said "i think your dad quit". after cooling off/drying off, he returned. of course, i laughed until i about peed cause it was then that i realized that seth had peed all over him and not just by him, cause there was a lot of pee on the bleachers.
see the discolored area all over his lap... yeah, that's urine
the pee, both of my parents being a little drunk and cheering very loudly for their losing team, and the pizza that the restaurant forgot to cut into slices, called for a very entertaining evening. very!
Saturday, we took a tour to the Hammond candy factory. by "we" i mean everyone but me and Lukey.
how cute are those little hats!?
luke looking really cute, but what you can't hear is the shrieking
the tour wasn't really catered to those under 3. we waited outside while i, what else, got agitated.
but how can i get that agitated with a face that cute!?
seems to be a theme when i take them places where i end up exerting too much energy. tired sarah = agitated sarah. it's science. armelle was also pretty agitated.... which reminded me a lot of me before kids. ah, good times. the store inside was insane, though! got me some zots, yo! party in my mouth!
we had a bbq that night and did the fire pit/s'mores thing again. this time we had legit roasting sticks. armelle and i took a trip to a couple different stores to find them. apparently, bags for dead animals are hilarious for belgians because i had to take a picture of it and send it to her so she could show people back home. meh.
american funny? no. belgian funny? yes.
sunday morning armelle went home. the night before she left us all presents that were all a huge hit! jer and i got belgian chocolate. i would have hid it if i knew what i would find the next morning. backstory: my dad gets these night chocolate cravings. always has. i remember as a kid hiding my halloween/christmas/whatever candy cause he would steal it and eat it. really. and no remorse. my mom would buy candy to pass out for halloween and my dad would find where she hid it and eat it so come halloween, all she would find is an empty bag. we literally gave away sweet and low packets and oatmeal packets for trick or treaters one year out of desperation. anyway, i am sure you know where this is going. i woke up to a near empty box of the finest belgian chocolates. and ya know what, when i confronted him, no remorse again. he even went as far as blaming it on seth, who hates chocolate!
before
after
even with all of that, we were all so sad when we had to take them to the airport. especially the boys. they fell asleep before they could say goodbye, so my parents made sure to leave them a memento.
seth woke up to hugs and kisses mom-mom and grandad left for him! he loved it!
today has been a recovery day. lazy. making lots of forts, or as seth calls them "camp outs".
i think we have watched the muppets about 3 times today, just in the background. it's SOOO funny listening to seth randomly sing "me party" that he sings "having a mean party all by myself!" and "man or muppet". every now and then, he sings "manomana doo doo dee do do" to lukey, who apparently hates that song cause he cries every time seth sings it.
oh, and lukey just had his first time out this afternoon. starting that whole chestnut. that was fun. we'll see if he can take me seriously now. seemed to do the trick. i know time out is suppose to begin at age 2, but, hey, close enough.
