Real LIfe

I'm going to add this entry that I never posted to my "letting go" series.  This was something that was going on back in July, we have figured out most of these little issues already.  I have heard this phrase so many times recently "this too shall pass"  and by golly it has and so quickly.  So here it goes...

So Aaron and I were out to dinner with some great friends of ours and of course children came up in several conversations.  All the funny things they do and all the naughty things.  How parenting is so hard and how they continually keep you on your toes.  How you just have one of them figured out or figure out their "currency" then they completely throw you for a loop.  I was told I always blog about roses, candy, and cupcakes.  Well to be honest I do this because the blog is meant to be for our family and all the great times we have.  I use a program to put the blog into books to create 'our family scrapbook'.  This is were I post super cute pictures of my children and all the fun things we do.  This is why there really isn't anything 'negative'.  There are hard times and some of them make for great conversation or great funny stories to share with friends, family, and coworkers.  I really should post about them more often.   So here are a few of our "stories" or hard times right now.

Spiderman

He is Lanes nemesis right now.  He recently figured out that he resides in our small garage and he truly is afraid of him.  He has lived in our garage since Aaron and I moved in together.  And to be honest, he has frightened me many times.  Actually, in our old house where he lived in the garage where we parked our cars, every time I opened the garage I was a little scared, thinking some random man was standing there waiting for me.  Not good right?  So once we figured this out we had a little fun with it.  Well, here you have a little low parenting.  Spiderman has become a threat for not cleaning or staying in bed.  I know, this is horrible but in desperation it WORKS.  We have discussed this parenting with each other and decided it is not good, but sometimes in desperation the words Spiderman come out.

The Lion

This dang lion towel causes a meltdown every single time he decides to come out.  Seriously, I don't know what it is about the lion towel but the boys fight over it every time.  We try to take turns or use him as a lour to get out of the bathtub.  But it back fires every time.  The last time he came out he got thrown up into the top of the closet where no one could reach him.  They didn't believe me that the lion didn't like them fighting over him so he went into hiding.  Next time I make it to Kohl's I will get another lion.  But until then, he is in hibernation.  Oh and I won't ever buy them different things, everything will be the same.

Bedtime
Bedtime around here lately is crazy and frustrating.  I seem to be trying to push through the day with out naps just to make bedtime go a little smoother and earlier.  If my boys nap they think they need to say awake until 10pm.  And really a 2 and 4 year old don't need to be awake that late and we need some down time together.  With cleaning up, baths, teeth brushing, hair combing, getting jammies on, reading books, and laying with them in bed it seems to be a 2 hour process. This seems to get drug out with horse man, wrestling, fighting, wining, and avoiding getting ready for bed.  Which I think is a bit ridiculous.  This is where I seem to loose my cool.

I don't know why I fuss over things sometimes.  Like a messy playroom, or unorganized toy bins, getting them to bed, or taking naps.  Why are some of those moments so frustrating?  Because after about 10 minutes I feel bad about being frustrated or getting mad.  It really doesn't matter.  They don't care, why should I?  I do love and cherish every moment, even the hard times.  And sometimes they make for really good conversation and stories.  Looking back already, in the 4 quick years I have been a mom, those little frustrating moments make for lots of great memories.  So really I'm ending with roses, candy, and cupcakes.  But here at the Allan house we do have low parenting moments, frustrating times, chaotic bedtimes, crazy days, but I wouldn't change it for the world.  Because really what else would Aaron and I be doing?

Update:

• Lane and Spiderman are on speaking terms now.  He still tells me every time he sees Spiderman in the garage that he doesn't like him.  Lane- Me don't like Spiderman.  
• Zackary usually is the great big brother and gives up the lion towel for his little brother.
• We started preschool for both boys MWF afternoons so naptime is no longer a daily battle and bedtime is easy because they are usually so tired.  And on days they don't go to school we are out doing things or we stay at home because they are in need of a nap.  It is amazing to not fight that battle daily.  We also stopped laying with Lane at night until he falls asleep.  We read a couple of books, sing a couple songs, and say a prayer.  For the  most part he is staying in his bed.  I am so proud of him.
• Letting go: I am learning how to let go of the little things that I can't fight and that don't really matter.  I can't believe how many comments I have gotten about letting go and showing pictures of my chaotic house.  It feels good to let go!  

Soccer

Zackary started on his first soccer team this week. I have been going back and forth on what to get him involved in that is active enough.  For all of you that know Zackary, he needs something REALLY active.  We have talked about Karate, gymnastics, and soccer.  I don't think that Karate is strenuous enough for him.  This kid has so much energy it is insane (more on that later).   Some great friends of ours mentioned they signed up for soccer and needed 1 more player, so I figured Perfect!  And we signed him up.  Hopefully all the running will wear him out.  Can't wait to see these cute little 4 year olds play games!

I love all this gear.  He is so proud and excited to play.

Letting Go

So here it is.  Our house on any given day.  Yes, it is a disaster!  And it makes me crazy.  But I am letting go.  Letting go of all the nonsense.  This stuff doesn't matter.  The mess can wait.  It will all still be there to clean up later.  Now don't get me wrong, I like things tidy, but I guess with 3, I have to give up.  Otherwise I can spend my entire day chasing after them cleaning, standing at the sink doing dishes, putzing around trying to keep up with the house.  But at the end of the day, it all really doesn't matter.  I don't want my kids to remember me as crazy cleaning mom.  I want to spend that time with them.  But man, this drives me crazy.  Like the counters full of random things.

A dining room table full...(and not of food and guests)

And a dishwasher full of large items...I typically 'do' all the large items and load the little ones.  But, this is one thing I have to let go of.  And here you have it.  Pots and pans, platters, racks etc in the dishwasher.  I now am running it once a day, sometimes twice.  But it prevents me from standing at the sink half the day.  I know this is all a bit ridiculous, but they are things I have always done and now with all the directions I'm being pulled I have to let go.  So here I am confessing that my house is a disaster when we are home for the day!

Disclaimer:  This is not intended to scare anyone that is pregnant or working on the second or third precious little baby.  Because every second of the chaos is worth it.

Swimming

Zackary, Lane, Chloe, and I spent the day swimming at my Grandmother's house with my family in town from Oregon.  Zackary is absolutely in love with his cousins.  And boy did we get quite the diving show from the three of them.  They were making up all different crazy dives and jumping in together.  My personal favorite was "the noodle."  Here we were having a popsicle break.

I can't get enough of how cute Chloe's swimsuit is.  This is the first time she got to wear it and probably the last.  It is getting a bit too tight.

I learned that I still have some diving skills.  I did teach Emma how to do a back dive.  And, yes I even did it myself off the edge of the pool!

Morning Breakfast

Yes, you are seeing this picture correctly, you are probably wondering why you are looking at a picture of a Fiber One brownie in our bed and a pudding cup on the bathroom counter.  This is how we wake up every morning.  Lane brings us something to open for him to eat.  He wakes up and sneaks downstairs to help himself to breakfast, but he just can't quite open them yet.  Usually he makes a good breakfast choice, like a Nurti-Grain Bar or Granola Bar, cereal (which he will bring up a bowl and spoon), or a bagel.  These didn't get opened because I made him go get something else and I have to hide them in our bed.  Just writing this makes me laugh (today he brought up a ring pop, which is now sitting in the baby organizer on my night stand).  This makes me crazy at 6 am, but I know we will always laugh about it.   

Simplify

I'm trying to make a lot of changes around here, mainly to decrease my stress level.  I get tied up and often preoccupied with "stuff" and "things" that need to get done (like cleaning off the counter, and not having dishes in the sink all day).  But this is what I need to be doing.  Focusing on my precious little children.  One of my first changes is to pre plan meals (which I should have been doing all along, for many different reasons).  I tend to stand at the frig or pantry at 4:30 when it is complete chaos and decide what I don't want to make.  The last thing you want to do at the end of a crazy day is to figure out what to cook for dinner.  So I have decided to plan ahead at the beginning of the week.  We plan a few meals and expect some left overs or possibly take out for the other days.  So in the morning, when everyone is happy and has their good listening ears on we make dinner.  Here I have a great picture of Zackary entertaining Chloe while Lane and I did the cooking.  It worked out perfect and I just have to throw dinner in the oven in the afternoon.  And boy has this helped so much.  We have a good dinner and every one gets to participate.

4 Months

Miss Chloe is already 4 months.  I swear that each baby grows up faster than the other.  The time flies faster.  Where does it go?  I guess we are so busy that each day sneaks up on us and passes so fast.  What a fun age.  I guess I say this at every age, it really just gets better and better.  Chloe had here 4 month check and weighs 14 lbs 12 ozs and is 25 1/4 inches long.  She is following right along her 60 % for weight and 80% for height.  She had to have 4 shots but she handled them pretty well, I probably had a harder time with them...

As you can see Chloe is rolling from back to front she actually started rolling last week.  It seems so early to me for this to happen.  She decided one day to start practicing and did it the next day.  Not much practicing for her!  She is all smiles, she loves to chat and do her little dinosaur squeal.  She loves our "dance parties"  and is completely entertained watching her brothers.  She is sleeping very well, she likes to go to bed around 7 and wakes up sometime between 3-5 usually then goes back to sleep until 9ish.  It's nice because in the morning I get some time to get the boys breakfast and lets us have some play time together.  

I have to show a picture of her skullett.  Her hair is so long and thick on the bottom and pretty thin on top.  She is finally growing some hair on top.  It really is quite the look!

Agave pups

I was pretty impressed by this agave we have.  It shot up quite the "bean stalk" as Zackary called it, probably about 20 feet high, no joke.  Not only that but it is completely full of agave pups.  This was pretty amazing to watch grow this spring.  Aaron chopped it down today and we plucked all the pups off and he is going to take them to work to give away.

Ruffles and Rolling

So my new favorite thing besides bows is ruffles.  I love them!  This dress might be the cutest little thing and her little ruffle butt she is wearing under it was so dang cute (please excuse the bad pics again, it's too hot to take pictures outside and my house lighting is no good).

So my little lady decided she was going to roll over all the sudden.  She only practiced for a day.  Now she can't get enough of rolling to her belly.  She hasn't figured out how to get back yet, luckily she in content on her belly watching those big brothers of hers.

Here is the full outfit...so cute right...Thanks Christina.

2 peas in a pod.  These 2 can't get enough of each other.

3 Munches

My 3 little rascals...These are just some funny little shots of them.  Please excuse the horrible photos but they captured the morning.  Chloe was having a nice little swing ride and the boys decided she needed a few all of her toys.  She really doesn't care about toys yet, but they think she really likes them.  Obviously she didn't mind them because she ended up falling asleep and taking a nice little nap. 

And here is my little muscle man...really what 4 year old is ripped like this?  Remember here and here when I was writing about his huge muscles at age 1 and 2?  Well they are just getting bigger and bigger.  I think a lot of it is related to horse man (more on that later).  I really am in awe of those little muscles.

And my little Laner... all sass right now but so dang cute.  

Pre School

So here is my big boy in PreK.  I can't believe it...PreK? Really?  We decided to change preschools this year to Totspot for a few different reasons and we are very happy with the new school.  The boys did a weekly summer camp here and loved it.  So now we go 3 afternoons a week.  Zackary is loving school.  He looks forward to going and his loving his new teachers and all the activities they do.  This kid could paint and do crafts all day!  Let me tell you...I love little kid art and writing letters.  I love the brand new handwriting. 

 I can't get enough!

We decided to put Lane into preschool this year.  I know it is a little early for him but he loves it.  It all started towards the end of school last year when he insisted we pack him a lunch box too.  He always wanted to go into school with Zackary.  He got a little taste of preschool with the summer camps and I'm not sure he would go for us just dropping Zackary off.  Luckily this preschool started a 2's class at the same time as the Pre K class.  Perfect, right?  I figure since we are battling naps and going to bed preschool during nap time should work out great.  And so far so good, its been perfect.  He is learning so much already and gets some time by himself learning and not competing with his big brother.  He actually gets to be 2.  I can't tell you how much I love hearing him sing songs and do little dances he learned at school.  

I love to see him so proud of himself.   

And yes, he does insist on wearing his back pack the entire 3 hours.