In which I let my 7 year old raise herself

I have to be out the door every morning by 6:30 in order to be at my desk by 7:10. This was a little challenging last year when I only had two kids and now baby Sam is making it even more crazy. So, I stole a page out of Sabrina's book and bought Ellie an alarm clock. She is now responsible for dressing herself, making her own breakfast, and combing her hair. I have to say, our first week of it worked really well. This morning? Not so great. First off, her alarm went off for a full 12 minutes before I went in and turned it off and dragged her out of bed. Which is why we were a little rushed this morning and I didn't notice that the sun dress Ellie was wearing was just barely past her behind. And she wasn't wearing shorts or leggings underneath. By the time I noticed (as she was walking up the sidewalk into the school for before-school care), it was too late to do anything. I am pretty sure she is getting a dress code violation today. Sigh.

I want to get away

Every time we add a new baby to the mix (you know, all three times), there is always a not-so-fun period of adjustment for Tom and me. Add going back to work full-time and it gets even more not fun (unfun, funless) around here. So, when we got an invitation for a wedding on a beach in Port Aransas, I was determined to go. In the past, I would have never left my babies for the night before they were at least a year old, but with the 3rd kid, all rules go out the window. I called up Dianna and traded her one night of watching my kids for two nights of watching hers (I figured mine were a little more difficult). Let me just say, that one night away was amazing! We had fun visiting with friends at the wedding and the next day we enjoyed a romantic walk on the beach and lunch on the pier. I am already dreaming of our next little getaway.

First Flight

I took a quick trip to Arizona this past weekend for my niece's wedding.  (Side note: I realized this weekend that I have gone from identifying with the bride and groom to identifying with the parents of the bride and groom.  That made me feel very old.)  This was the first of my parents' 23 grandchildren to get married so we were all pretty excited about it.  All of my brothers and sisters were able to make it to the wedding and it was so much fun just hanging out with everyone. I took Sam with me and was pretty worried about how he would do on the flight considering he had been congested and teething for the past two weeks.  Luckily, his tooth had finally broken through that morning and he was a perfect angel on the flight.  Actually, he was pretty darn awesome the entire weekend.  Despite having a baby in tow, I felt so light and free.  One child is so much easier than three.  Especially when I have an abundance of family to help me.  Now prepare yourself for a deluge of photos...

The bride and groom

Di and I posing in our boots

Love my sisters!

I had so much help with Sam!

More help...

Even more help...

Appropriately attired for the flight home

Dear Sam at 5 months

Dear Sam,

You are now 5 months old. I feel a little disappointed that I had to return to work right when you started to get fun! You laugh and smile so much more and you are more into playing with your toys. You love the jumper at your babysitter's house and you will jump furiously for long periods of time. You are great at rolling from your front to your back and not so great at rolling back to front. You show no signs of crawling and I think that is because you have a lot of weight to lift up! However, all those rolls in your thighs seem to prop you up pretty well and you are very close to being able to sit unsupported.

You still love to be talked to and sung to and you will coo right back at us. You were sleeping in your crib, but last week you started getting really congested so we moved you back to our room to sleep in your Fisher Price Rock and Play. You are almost too big for it, but I like that it elevates your head and is the same height as our bed. Your sleep schedule has become nonexistent as you wake up frequently for pacifier reinserts or a feeding. I have to tell you, little man, you are wearing me out! But even though I am tired, you have the unique position of being my last child so that thought always is in the back of my mind when I am up rocking you during the night. I have a feeling you will be able to get away with all sorts of shenanigans because of your last child status.

I introduced you to rice cereal at 4 months, but then quickly stopped because I am lazy like that. I think I will just pack it in your diaper bag and let your babysitter start feeding you this month. Speaking of the babysitter, you love Ms. Rebekah. Having in-home childcare this year has made my transition back to work so much easier. She texts me pictures of you throughout the day as proof of your well-being. Plus, you have Jack there with you and you are always happy to watch him play.

Jumping at Ms. Rebekah's

Sam, you just get more and more adorable every day. Month 5 was a great one and I am excited about all the months to come.

 Love,
 Mama

A Farewell to Summer

*Warning, I am a little addicted to collages these days...

We continued our back-to-school tradition of going to The Cheesecake Factory and Build-a-Bear. I think Ellie is the one who loves this tradition the most. She is still more into stuffed animals than dolls and she sleeps with her first Build-a-Bear creation (Chef) every night. This year she made a bunny and named her...wait for it...Bunny. She then picked out a robe and bunny slippers for Bunny to wear. Jack was more into the outfit than the animal. He quickly chose a Batman costume and then picked a black bear to stuff inside of the costume. He named his bear Batbear (last year he named his bear Build-a-Bear Bear, BearBear for short, and the year before he named his bear Beepaw). Jack likes to sleep with all three of his bears each night. So, clearly these over-priced stuffed animals have sentimental value to my kids. Maybe just the memory of a family outing? I don't know. But I feel like it is a tradition that they will soon outgrow and then we will need to think of a better one.

Other fun things we did this summer that didn't make the blog, but thanks to Instagram I have record of...

Cousin Tri Camp with Aunt Rosie

Bluebell Factory