Just a little longer

It is so nice when Scott is home.
I feel less stressed.
I am not so completely outnumbered.
I have a little time to myself.
I don't have to wipe everyone's buns after they go potty.
This rotation is nearly over.
I. can't. wait.
We are headed to Eugene, as a family, and I am looking forward to a little more balance.
And hopefully a few dates with the hubs.
And maybe more of this ...
I know our kids are super excited.
I can't imagine why.
Don't they look to be having the time of their lives?

At least they are holding hands.

This kid ...

Is going to be the death of me.
In fact, I am feeling a little comatose right now.
History's longest week has yet to draw to a close.
And next week will surely prove to be just as draining.
Chasing this wild man around is truly exhausting.
I have no photographic evidence of our adventures because I am too busy disinfecting scrapes, kissing his humongous head after yet another bonk, and yelling at him to stop jumping on a discarded mattress someone left next to our dumpster that cats have been mating on.
That and I am too embarrassed to admit that we do indeed live in a complex that not only turns a blind eye to residents discarding their crusty furniture on the lawn but that he managed to rip off his shoes and socks and leap onto said furniture before I could stop him.
It is government-subsidized housing.
In my defense.
I don't know what to say about the cats.
Anyway, not only did I have to drag him off the mattress, twice, but then he tells me he was definitely not jumping on it.
Even though I saw him do it.
And we made direct eye contact.
It is all so illogical.
There are no words.
And that was only Monday.
The rest of the week has proved to be just as disgusting ... and irritating.
Last night he stepped on Ryan's glasses (although in his defense, she broke the number one cardinal rule of responsible eye wear care and left them on the ground) and broke off one of the arms.
Now she has a very fashionable pair of opera glasses that will definitely need to be replaced.
Then he crawled into bed with me only to wet it several hours later.
And when I say wet, I really mean drench.
It smelled spectacular.
And then, as I was washing the pee bedding, after hauling it to the on-site laundry facility this morning, he comes to tell me that he has accidentally spilled his entire bowl of cereal (with milk) and is very sorry.

Needless to say, today I didn't get a shower but have freshly laundered sheets.
And a small pile of grass-stained clothing I need to pretreat after our trip to the park.
What is that endearing saying about boys being boys?

I don't know.
What I do know is that he is sound asleep, uninjured, fully fed, clean, and knows he is loved so the day wasn't a total wash.
He is a handful.
And a little bit of a maniac.
He farts on purpose and laughs.
But he makes me smile.
And I can't imagine my days without him.
I could do without some of the antics, but I keep telling myself I will miss them when they pass.

Preschool ... and a disciplinary chart

I love a new year!
I feel like that instead of celebrating New Years on January 1st, we should party in September.
The real holiday is too close to Christmas anyway.
I digress.
The fall just feels like beginnings to me and I am super excited to have a baby in "school."
She is super excited too.
Just look at that mug:
(She was much more excited than her apprehensive look implies).
Ryan now attends Wonder World preschool.
She loves it!
She jumps out of bed each morning , gets dressed without being told, and screams at Ezra to shake a leg.
Ezra doesn't need any persuasion.
He wishes that he attended too.
He tries to bolt in to her classroom when we drop her off, and I have to drag him out ... crying.
It is actually quite sad. Poor second baby.
I try to tell him that being at home with Mommy will be more fun.
But neither of us really believes that.

Showing off our first-day-of-school outfit and a sticker she received in class.
Isn't she darling?
And with a new school year, comes a crack at a new disciplinary tactic: positive reinforcement.
It is a revolutionary idea.
Scott and I were discussing our parenting techniques and decided that threating the children with vinegar and a visit from Nanny McFee wasn't cutting it.
I don't want my kids to be ill-behaved.
And I don't want to be that mom.
The disheveled one that all other's look at with pity as all my children simultaneously pitch a deafening fit in the paper towel aisle at Walmart as I am scream-whispering for them to be quiet or else, while frantically/haphazardly throwing various items into the cart, which in turn leads to overlooking the one object that we came to Walmart to buy, which then results in a mad dash back through half the store, which produces the opportunity for one particularly clumsy boy to mash his head into someone else's shopping cart, which only triggers a fresh outburst from said boy, who in turn scares the baby that has just barely managed to fall asleep. All we needed was toilet paper for crying out loud.
Anyway, hopefully this new reward system will be effective.
We picked three things for them to work on.
At the end of each day they can earn a total of three stickers for good behavior, and once their chart is full, they can pick out a treat at the dollar store. (Nothing but the best for our kids.)
Hopefully, this will encourage Ryan to stay in bed at night and Ezra to eat his dinner, among other things.
So far, so good.
It has only been one day.

And finally, to tie into our new beginnings theme, I made some new headbands for Ryan to wear to school.
See what I did there?
They were really easy, and really cute.
So cute that I took them and wore them myself.
Well, I tried that "hippie-type" look with it wrapped around my forehead, but probably looked like a fool.
Maybe it would work if it had more flowers on it.

Well, here's to a happy new year!

Beachtastic

We finally made it to the beach.
For the first time this year.
Even though we live but a mere hour from the coast.
But at least we saved it for the only true scorching week of the summer.
And our trip out there didn't disappoint.
And it was windy, cold, and damp.
My kind of weather.
Those conditions, however, didn't keep the kids (or husbands) from donning their swimsuits and braving the frigid water.
I did not. (I like the cold, but I ain't crazy.)
Instead, I snapped a few distant pictures of my family enjoying the sand.
I will spare you a shot of me in my swimsuit with an uncharacteristically generous amount of cleavage (a perk to nursing ... I guess?)
Barf.
Anyhoo, we had BBQ ribs (which sadly fell in the sand, but were still delish) on our teensy grill (which sadly fell apart in the sand, right before we threw the corroded piece of crap in the trash),
and flew our enormous kite (which ended up crashing down on a passerby once the wind died ... hehe).

Here is the fam.
Floating our bath toys down an errant river that empties into the ocean.

And I've also included a picture of the ground, where someone wrote "LOSER" in the sand.
'Cause that's how I roll.
All in all, it was a success.
And I have a car filled with 15 pounds of sand to prove it.
And on an unrelated topic, this is the first picture I have captured of all three of my children together.
And they are naked.
Classy.
And to round out this incredibly riveting post, I have included a picture of Micah along with my baby announcement.
I have been told that he looks a lot like me.
I tried to match the black & white effect used on my ol' baby picture of yore, but didn't quiiiite do it.
You get the idea.
Micah:
Me:
Just for funsies.

What we be doing

Well it has been four grueling weeks since Micah was born.
Just kidding.
No, I really am not.
However, the adjustment necessary when adding another baby to your family is becoming less painful and more enjoyable.
I am sleeping better and crying less.
I mean, HE ... he is sleeping better and crying less.
And as for the older kids, they are getting their fill of Sesame Street and Jurassic Park.
But in between nursing and nursing, we try to fit in a few fun things.
I am becoming more confidant in venturing out by myself and the three.
That, and Scott is gone on rotations, so I have no other option.
We have blessed said baby, hit up a few spray parks (to beat this unbearable 85 degree heat ... I am not being sarcastic but wholeheartedly serious. I feel like Pedro on Napoleon Dynamite and want to shave my hair off just to cool down), and enjoyed a few regular parks as well.
In fact, on our last visit to our neighborhood playground, I was chatted up by a talkative local (translation: creepy loner) and now have a new BFF.
Theron and I are thisclose.

Ryan at the park.
I love everything about this picture.
Her smile, which is absolutely posed.
Her killer haircut; it suits her to a tee, and I luurve it so very much.
And the perfect cat-eye glasses.
Could she be any trendier?
Why actually yes. She is also sporting a sweet romper.
Wish that was made in my size.

Ezra's small birthday party.
Admittedly, he got a little short-changed this year in the celebration department.
Hopefully next year, things will be a little less hectic (and sweaty) and we can have a big blowout.

Blowing out his candles after singing happy birthday to himself.

And Micah, asleep in his bouncer.
He loves to be swaddled like a burrito and in this seat.
He is seriously cute.
Yeah ... that's all I got.

Birthday Boy

Ezra turned 3 on Monday!
I cannot believe how grown up he is!
It was pretty low-key.
Just me and the kiddies.
We started off the day by going to the store for doughnuts and chocolate milk.
Ezzy picked out the messiest one and ate only the sprinkles off the top.
Then we spent some time at the park while I tried to coax out of him a list of his favorite foods.
I told him that he could pick what we had for dinner.
A special treat for his birthday.
He said that he really wanted french fries and a banana.
So that is what we had.
McDonald's fries and bananas.
So healthy.
He is truly the funniest boy.
He is also very athletic.
In fact, he is getting a little set of his very own (real) golf clubs for his birthday.
He loves golfing.
He insists we watch it every Sunday after church (snore).
He also loves the movie Jurassic Park.
I dare say it is his favorite.
And as for other favorites, he also loves the tale of Jack and the Beanstalk.
He picks it every night for his bedtime story.
He loves getting wet, whether it be in the tub or at the spray park,
probably because it involves being nudey.
He eats raisin toast for breakfast every morning and loves to snuggle.
He also must wear his baseball hat everywhere, just like daddy.
And he claims his name is really Ife (pronounced life without the "L").

He is such an awesome part of our family.
I cannot imagine my life without him in it!
Happy Birthday Fezzy Wig.
We love you.

Micah Grayson Pitts

He arrived Thursday, July 28 at 7:48 in the evening.
7 pounds, 14 ounces. 20 inches long.
The delivery was pretty short.
Less than 6 hours from induction to delivery.
A bit more traumatizing however.
My epidural didn't kick in until about 20 minutes after Micah came quietly into the world.
Apparently he was saving up his screams to unleash at home.
At 3:30.
Every. Morning.
But I digress.
Here is the obligatory shot everyone takes immediately following the birth.
I look nuts.
Kinda like Ozzy Osbourne with the eyeliner.
But everything went really smoothly.
I am so grateful for the undramatic (is that a word?) experience.
Micah is perfect.
Ryan is a little bit more enthused about our baby than Ezra.
She is very helpful and sweet.
Ezzy pretty much just ignores Micah altogether.
But in a non hostile sort of way.
I think he is just unimpressed.

Here is the babe.
He is so handsome.
At first I thought he looked a lot like Ezra, but he is slowly developing his own look.
His eyes are a dark grayish blue and he has a dimple in his right cheek.
Love that.
I hope when he plumps up it is more noticeable.
He is a great nurser.
And by great I really mean he nurses all the live long day, and is pretty much upset if he isn't nursing, or sleeping.
This is probably a better depiction of who he is right now.
Such a sweet face, but so fussy.
His sleeping schedule is a little backwards as well.
He sleeps like a champ during the day, and, let's just say, he struggles to relax as well during the night.
But last night we may have had a breakthrough.
Hopefully it will be a habit for many nights to come.
Crossing my fingers there are no more sob sessions in the wee hours of the morning, for either of us.
Hence why I can finally sit down to type a quick note.
This is literally the first chance I have had to function coherently.

But he's worth it.
Just look at that sweet thing.
Oooohhh, there's his dimple.
See it?
In the words of my daughter, "I just can't stand it."
We just love him.
Welcome home, Micah.