Those Eyes...

IMG_3917, originally uploaded by maggiefielding.

And you can see what keeps me away...

I Am Not My Mother (& Repeat)

I am not my mother. Sounds so simple and obvious, but sometimes I need to say it. Out loud.

I am not my mother.

We're alike in many ways - we both have a pretty mean sense of humor and a low threshold of embarrassment, we're both good dancers, we can both be pretty stubborn, we've both been known to break into song for no reason...

But there are also more than a few areas where we're different. And I need to learn that that's ok.

Cause I am not my mother.

I know, you're saying "duh". But I think we all grow up wanting our children to enjoy all of the advantages we had as kids. And when we can't provide that, it's hard not feeling like you've somehow failed them. I had the house people always wanted to come to - my kids would rather go to Monika's house than Disneyland. My mother always had a hot dinner ready - I can NOT cook. I'm working on it, but progress is slow and really, you're either a natural or you're not. And as a child, my mother (and by extension I) took great pride in never donning a store-bought Halloween Costume.

So this time next year, can someone please look at me, remind me "You are not your mother" and send my ass to Target?? Oh, and make sure it's the one with the Pizza Hut so I can bring back dinner too.

I Know, I Know...

Dust is collecting. I get it. BlogHer even took all my pretty ads away.

But let me say that having three small boys sometimes feels more like 9. They're just exponential like that. So here's what has been keeping us busy...

1. Kell is nursing every two hours at least. Yes, around the clock. And he has a constant need to be held. Sometimes, he'll let me put him in the swing, but I never know if I have two minutes or two hours.
2. On a positive note, Kell is also making tons of eye contact and wants to make faces back and forth as often as possible. Yay for cuteness!
3. Dash has developed this terrible screeching noise that I can't figure out how to stop. Any advice appreciated.
4. Dash has also decided that he neeeeeeds a three hour nap. This is problematic on school days.
5. On a positive note, Dash is the loviest little guy on the planet so even as he's screeching or protesting the sudden early end to a nap, you can't help but wanna love on him anyway. And you're rewarded with "I love you mommy" at every turn.
6. His other favorite thing to say is "Wanna go Mon-Ka's house!". And I oblige him every chance she allows I get. I like it there too.
7. Fin has school Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoon. So our mornings consist of running around trying to get the house in order, get dressed, have lunch and get out the door. Then I come home and try and get Dash down for his nap (see #4) and I nap too (see #1)
8. Fin has soccer practice on Fridays and games Saturdays and some Wednesdays.
9. Fin has decided that he constantly needs to irritate Dash in any way humanly possible. Which results in #3. Often.
10. On a positive note, Fin is a terrific helper and has been my savior (with diapers, water, burp cloths, etc) more times than I can count.
11. We, Mom and Dad, decided to make their Halloween costumes this year. Expect a long post on this later with pictures and expletives and a LONG explanation on why we will never do this again.
12. Dad started a new job, Yippee! But it's busy. And he's busy. Which means Mom is extra busy.

And Kell looks sleepy so he's about to be fed and all to bed. But there's the shortlist as to why I've been MIA. Again. But I promise a good post soon (see #11)!

MIA, and A Story.

So I now know that you officially cross the threshold of crazy when you hit three kids. I'm sure someone will say that it's because they're so close in age. And I'm sure my response to that person would be expletive heavy. So between Kell's arrival, the start of school and soccer, Dash entering the terrible 2's and Brooks starting a new job, it's been a little hectic around here.

I have some pretty good stories to share, but as it turns out it also takes three kids to master the whole sleep-when-the-baby-sleeps deal too. And then, this one couldn't wait. And I want to save anyone who thinks that maybe they too can grocery shop with three under 4. Fin, the good child of yesterday, is walking next to the cart. Kell, in his bucket, is in the front basket. Dash is in the big part of the basket. Kell's seat is so tall I can't see Dash. As I put things in the cart, Dash is trying to open and eat everything (before you tell me I'm an awful mother for bringing a hungry child to the store, understand that Dash is ALWAYS hungry. Or, more accurately, will always try and eat whatever is around.) Then I hear Fin yell that Dash has the eggs. I immediately stop and run around to the front, picturing him moving the carton of eggs. Nope. He has ACTUAL EGGS. IN HIS HANDS. Looking very full of intent-to-toss, he starts yelling EGGS, EGGS. Thanks kid.

I guess it would have helped the visual to acknowledge that the kids are in LAX shorts and crapola tees, Fin is covered in paint (from school), and Dash's shoes are on the wrong feet (DASH DO IT MYSELF!), and Kell is in an old onesie (it was 104).

I'm thinking we should just go ahead and have another one.

Fires...

It's been a rough start to fire season here in SoCal. For us that meant a LOT of time spent indoors this past week (which in my current state wasn't necessarily such a bad thing). Admittedly, I did very little venturing outside, so when I finally did get around to taking the trash out today, I was shocked to see the remnants of the far had spread this far away. By the Woob's calculation the nearest fire front was about 7 miles from us...


The good news is that it's getting under control quickly and our air quality should be much improved by this weekend.