Our new normal

Our lives have gone through ALOT of adjustments in the past 2 months, for the past 5 years my time has been my own. Road trips when we want, pajama days when we want, head to the park on a whim. People look at me like I have two heads when I tell them I have more freedom as a Mom than I did when I was working full time. Yes, I have them with me but it was up to me how we want to spend our time. Not anymore, we are now privy to the school calendar, school drop off, pick up madness, homework, making sure we get reading time in, Lacy's speech, chores AND our family time. Family time is hard to come by right now, we just haven't started school, Jason has a new job which is so much more time consuming than his previous one. Grateful? I'm unbelievably grateful he has this opportunity and he's enjoying what he's doing. The girls & I have adjusted to long days while Jason is working or traveling but I'm still trying to figure out how to fit everything in, make sure he stays connected to what is going on at school, at home when he can't be here. I make lists of things to talk about with him so I don't forget funny things or just day to day stuff. I have no doubt that we'll find our new normal...probably just in time for another new adventure.

And she's off...

Sweet little Haley is CRAWLING! Just like Harper did, she went from a wobby sitter to sitting herself up and crawling in the space of a few short weeks. She's been scooting for awhile but a few days ago, the girls asked me to put Haley in the playroom. They like to each take a "baby" for playing house. I put Haley down and she saw some necklaces the girls had on the floor and like she knew exactly what to do, started MOVING! So, we will now have to put away teeny tiny tinkerbell teacups again for the last time! She's such a great baby, she fell asleep drinking her bottle before nap which she never does so I picked her up, snuck upstairs and just rocked her for a few minutes in peace. Although I look forward to her getting older, I savor those tiny little moments because all I have to do is look at my giant kindergartener and know how fleeting they are.

Columbo Day!

Conversation on our way home from Walmart yesterday:
Me to the girls, "I'm so glad we had a little break from school. We had so much fun."
Lacy, "We did not have school because we had Ms. Lauren's Halloween party"
Lily, "No, we didn't have school because it was Christopher COLUMBO day"
Me, "I think it's Christopher Columbus" while I'm laughing hysterically
Lacy, "Who's Christopher Columbo?"
Lily, "He had three ships, the Nina, the Pinto and the Christopher Maria"

Ummmm...NO

Harper's speech is really taking off thanks in large part to some tips from Lacy's speech therapist. Her favorite words are still "NO" and "Mine" but she is starting to say some short sentences like, "Mommy, where Gracie?" our neighbors dog. When she asks for something like a cookie and I say no, she'll just start this droning, "pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease". I'll say no again and then she'll start "pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease". We have these silly conversations with Harper that go like this, check out the video!

Walmart

I have no problem running errands with the girls, well until I actually do it and then I remember why I try not to do it often. Biggest problem is I have no cart space. Harper is in the front and Haley is in her carrier in the back. So, I decided to run to Walmart with the gaggle and let Lily & Lacy push a cart with the stuff and I would push the baby cart. They're always wanting to push the cart so I thought this would work out splendidly! Not so much. Gave Lacy a turn first with the cart, Lily pouted because it wasn't her turn. After 3 steps, Lily pouted even more because according to her, "It's never going to be my turn" and then after 4 steps, Lacy said she didn't want to push the cart anymore which was fine because she couldn't even see over the cart and was going to run people down. By the time we actually got to the back of the store to start our shopping, Lily said she didn't want to push the cart either because "my legs are hurting from pushing the cart" So, then through most of the store, I'm having to do this weird pushing & pulling of two carts. We make it to the checkout, Haley starts fussing, Harper starts fussing because Lily & Lacy are playing with the junky toys they put in the checkout lines there. Then, Haley really starts crying so I have to get her out of her carrier which makes Harper even madder because now EVERYBODY is out of the cart and she's not. Harper aka Houdini gets out of her cart seatbelt and is attempting to stand up which thank goodness she had her rain boots on which don't fit through the leg holes very well. So I'm holding Haley, making Harper sit down, trying not to look like the crazy Mom at walmart who has no control of her children. Unloading the cart, telling Lily and Lacy to get to the cart and stay there. So, while the checkout lady is asking me "Are those all yours?" "Yes" and "Going to try for a boy?" "No" and "your poor husband" "No, he really loves his girls", I'm unloading bags from the bag carousel while still holding Haley with one hand and she projectile spits up her bottle with large chunks of carrots she had for lunch all over the floor and the bags. Yep, I think I'll just wait until the weekend next time.

Am I really having this conversation?

In my bathroom, trying to gain a few seconds of peace before we head out the door,Lily comes in.
Lily, "What color would my throw up be if I ate a cucumber?"
Me, "Green, I guess"
Lily, "When I ate Cheetos, my throw up was orange"
Me, "Yep"
Lily, "What color would it be if I ate a green pepper?"
Me, "Green but you won't eat a green pepper"
Lily, "And if I ate squash, it would be yellow"
Me, "Yep"
Lily, " And if ate meatballs, it would be brown"
Me, "Can we talk about this later?"

Dinner Prayers

Jason's out of town and we usually do a little less conventional Grace at mealtimes & here's what it was tonight.
Me, "Girls, lets talk about what we need God to help us with" "Mommy needs help knowing what to do when we're having trouble being good listeners and to be patient"
Me, "Harper, what do you need God to help you with?"
Harper, "Cookies!"
Me, "Awesome, Sissy, what do you need God to help you with?"
Sissy, "That a dinosaur does not eat Haley"
Me, "Great, I think Hecan work that out. Lily, how about you?'
Lily, "That I love you and that we put away our clothes the right way next time"

Morning Madness

I know every mother across America does it too but getting everybody out the door by 8:10 is super challenging to me, especially to try and do it without being a drill sergeant. 4 & 5 year olds do not share my sense of urgency...at all. I hate rushing them through breakfast when we've had 5 years of hanging out at the breakfast table for an hour & now we've got at most 30. I hate having to interrupt Lacy when she's talking to herself in the mirror for 10 minutes instead of brushing her teeth. And when I tell her, it's time to get shoes on, she tells me, "But I haven't brushed my teeth yet" And this morning when they're supposed to be brushing their teeth, I found them in my closet. Lily, almost naked with some towels as blankets on the floor because she said she was cold and Lacy just digging through my craft supplies for absolutely no reason. It's so hard for me to patient. I've tried to make a game out of it. I've told them that we've been turtles for a long time in the morning and now we need to be faster. They picked Kangaroos as the animal they wanted to be like, so there are many mornings when I can be heard saying,
"WE ARE KANGAROOS, WE ARE NOT TURTLES, GO GO GO GO!"