School days

SCHOOL DAYS!!! YAY! Who was excited for school to start??! Who had been waiting for these days all summer?! Happy days!! WOOO HOOO!!!
NO. Leave now. I'm serious. Just leave.
School days. These days are obviously celebrated by those that either have kids that can be responsible for waking themselves up in the am, or those that can get their kids ready, drop them off, and drink mimosas for the remainder of the day. I'm not jealous at all, I promise....I just don't like you. Kidding. Kind of.

Let's start with the teenager that cannot wake himself up to save his life. SO annoying. It's super annoying that I have to give a life lesson before 7am, y'all. That's right, before 7am, I am giving a flippin life lesson on how a job is not going to care that he didn't hear his alarm. And after that, there is still no sense of urgency....he still does everything he would as if he was on time. I mean, I don't think I was ever late....however, my bus also didn't come at 7am....but that's not an excuse at all. I guess I should be up, making sure he's awake....but, 16 is kind of old enough, and I was just up nursing a baby not long before that.

Let's move on to Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Those school days. Who was happy to send their kid to preschool?! No. I already told you to leave. IF you are still here and were happy to send your kid to preschool, you probably didn't have any other children to worry about. THAT is when sh!t gets stressful. Let's run through a typical Wednesday because a Monday just wouldn't be fair.
Wednesday morning. Wake up to Madeline staring in my face before my 6:30 alarm...I don't even question why she's up so early anymore, she just is.  Slowly roll out of bed, and before my feet touch the floor, Joseph is UP...he is my very spirited child...he is not just up, he is screaming....SCREAMING for me. So, after running in to get him, I coax every one downstairs for breakfast. This includes a huge dispute over who gets which bowl, what they can agree on eating....I don't even say they have to eat the same thing, but apparently to keep the peace, they must eat the same thing. After a long, tiresome start to the day, I start getting children dressed. Usually during the most chaotic of that is when Christopher wakes up. DRESSING ALL CHILDREN AND YOURSELF IS SUPER STRESSFUL. You know, that point in the morning where Joseph is fitting out over wanting to wear boots that give him  blisters instead of comfortable shoes. Once something in our morning disrupts Joseph, it's all over from there. Madeline also likes to feed into whatever chaos is going on with Joseph, and that's always super fun.
Let's fast forward to when we get to school. All these well behaved 4 yr olds being dropped off, then there's my spirited little two year old, screaming.....SCREAMING that he has to leave his sister. Lord, help me. I mean, they seem like they can't stand each other while together, but cannot stand to be apart?? I don't understand.[only child of 10 years]. Anyway, WE are like the side show at preschool drop off in the morning. Pick up? Same. Who decided preschool for one was a swell idea? Really.
I keep telling myself it will get better. Repetition and all that.....fingers are crossed.

Happy SIX Months, Christopher!

Sorry I'm late, little buddy, but you turned SIX months at Myrtle beach!! Lately it's hard to find the time to it down at the computer so...  Happy SIX Months, Christopher! We tried to write a 6 in the sand...even though it's kind of hard to see. You were such a good boy on vacation, as we toted you back and forth from the beach, to the pool, to the room, all day long.

You are so easy going. Whatever, wherever, you are there.. Except long car rides....you could definitely do without them. We can take you anywhere though, and you're just so happy and content.

Your smile is contagious and it just lights up our home. We are all completely obsessed with you and how adorable you are. I could stare at you all day, Daddy just loves to nibble you all over, Joshua loves to make you giggle, Madeline could squish you to bits, and Joseph still treats you like a gentle newborn, with gentle forehead kisses for his little "HI". Yep, that seems to be the nickname your brother, Joseph, has given you....I think he hears us saying, "HIIIIIII" in a cute, sing song way that he may have assumed that was what you should be called. No matter how hard we have tried, he still calls you HI. You enjoy all of us just as much, though....falling all over yourself whenever we say just one word. When your sister starts to pick you up and we are running to save you, you're so laid back. haha.

Food is your most recent interest. Anything we have, you want. You have tried veggies, grains, and even some meats. Pizza crust falls under grains, right? because you LOVED it. You also really love eggs, peas, and green beans.....but, there's a possibility you love all things food.

You grab everything in sight and it goes straight in your mouth to your 2 emerging bottom, front teeth. The smaller the toy, the better, so we really have to watch you with all these big kid toys laying around.

You adore cuddling....you make it a point to wake up exactly at 3am every morning. You nurse and cuddle. It's almost like you know this is just our time. We both end up falling back asleep, while you're nursing, but I always put you back in your bed before sunrise because your sibs like to wake up a tad WAY earlier than you. Oh, and when you wake up at 3am, you're never crying, just talking...and waiting for me. It makes my heart skip a beat.

Sitting up like a big boy, you also try to maneuver your way around the floor to where you want to be. It's mostly a roll, but you're also exploring your hands and knees. I love to see you wiggle all the way across the floor, only for a big sibling to remove the toy that was your destination. You don't cry about it, you just watch how they play with the toy....either plotting revenge or how you will play with it at some point.

You are loved so much.....our little BIG surprise that we cannot imagine life without.