My Morning Playlist

Every weekday morning the kids and I pile into the car and head to my mother-in-law's house around 8:00 am. Every morning, without fail, once we're in the car the first words out of the boy's mouth are: "Mom, can we listen to the robot song?" He has renamed Daft Punk's song 'Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger' "The Robot Song." So, we listen to the robot song, after which I hear from Prissy Pants, "MOMMY!! I want MY song, too!" So, next on our playlist is Toni Basil's classic 'Mickey' which causes Paige to dissolve into fits of giggles and what I refer to as "car dancing." She kicks her legs around like a crazed horse and shouts, "Look at my legs, Mommy! They dancing!" After those two songs have concluded we move onto, "Let's play Daddy's song! The Potty song! Pwease?!" Okay, let me clarify... it's not a song about a potty. It's actually LMFAO's 'Party Rock Anthem', but it was relatively new when we started potty training Paige, and she LOVED it, so I changed the words to 'Potty Rock' because, well, you do what you have to do when potty training a stubborn little girl. All of this, and we're almost to Debbie's. Time for one more song. Carl IV chimes in from the back seat: "MOM! Can we listen to the song that goes "UNGH!" in that part? You know...the UNGH part?" After I make him say "UNGH" about 12 more times I play Michael Jackson's 'P.Y.T.' which has a grunt a few times about halfway through the song that Carl IV find heee-larious! By that time we're pulling into the driveway, I boot the kids out of the car and rock out to whatever songs suit my mood that day. This morning I was in a Metric kind of mood, and having just watched Scott Pilgram vs. The World (good movie!), I chose 'Black Sheep.'  And, well, that's my morning. Now you know. Aren't you glad I shared?  :o)

How Does She Know?!

Since coming back to work, the #1 thing that people ask me about Teaghan is, "How is she sleeping?" It never fails...every time I answer with a, "Great! She's usually down by 8:30 and sleeps until around 4 or 5:00," the following night is a complete disaster! It's like she hears me and thinks, "Wait! She's sleeping, too?! Hmm. Can't have that!" Just yesterday I was telling a customer that she's doing better than my other 2 were at this age and BAM! Last night was uuuuuuuuuugly. So, God forgive me, but in the name of self preservation I am going to start lying when people ask about her sleep habits. "Awful. Up every 10 minutes." Hell, maybe she'll sleep 12 hours solid then.

Catching Up

Wow. To say a lot has happened since I last updated this is the understatement of the year! In case you don't already know, I had the baby! Hooray!
Click here to see pics of when T was brand new.
Teaghan Renee was born 11/7/2011 weighing in at 9lb 4oz and measuring 21 1/4" in length. And, hey. Wanna know something cool? My sister had her kid the same day! Daniel I'materribleauntbecauseIdon'tknowhismiddlename Collins was born across the pond in London on 11/7/2011! How cool is that?!
While I was home with all 3 kids (allow me to interrupt myself here by saying GOD BLESS STAY AT HOME MOMS! I only did it for 2 months and I was ready to go insane!) I decided that it was time to crack down and potty train Paige. Well, to say she was tough is the understatement of the year. Wait...what? I already have one of those? Hmph. Alright, fine. It's the runner up understatement of the year. There. Back to Paige's potty training. I'll spare you the gruesome details, but one particularly poopy day for both Paige & Teaghan I had had it up to here *picture me holding my hand about neck level* with wiping butts. Going from changing a newborn to changing an almost three year old...it just felt like wiping a 35 year old's behind! Wrong in so many ways. So, that was my breaking point, and I'm proud to say that within 2 weeks she was accident free (aside from the sporadic 2am "MOMMY, I peed my pants! Waaaaah!").
On Dec. 21st we piled into the van and headed to Pensacola for Christmas with the family. The whole family. My parents rented a SWEET house on Pensacola Beach that was right on the Gulf. So we drove down, my sister and her crew flew over from London, my grandparents drove down from Tennessee, and of course my parents were there. That's 9 adults and 5 kids (including 2 newborns) in one house for almost a week. It was quite an adventure! I know my kids had an absolute blast taking 547 walks on the beach per day, and it was so great to hang out with the family!

My Christmas gift to the fam was to have the amazing Jessi Field (a friend from high school who is now the most amazing photographer) take some great shots on the beach, so I'll be sure to share those once she edits them to make me ... errr...I mean us look incredible. Heeheehee.
Once we said farewell to the beach and returned home I started work the following Monday. I had been at my desk less than 30 minutes when my boss walked over to me and said he had absolutely no idea how much I did on a daily basis and that I would definitely be getting a nice raise this year! BOO-YAAAAH! It's a shame that it took me not being here for 2 months to get recognition, but it's nice to be appreciated all the same! :)
So...I think that about wraps it up. I'm sure I left out some stuff here and there, but I'll make sure to post them as things pop into my head. Glad to be back! Happy New Year!!

P.S. -  Just to show how shockingly similar Teaghan and Carl IV look, check this out:

Top 10 Things I Never Thought I Would Have to Say...

I knew becoming a mother would change my life. I'm not stupid. But, really...the things that I find myself having to say to my children...it's really just frightening. Here's my top 10 (in no particular order):

1) "Do I look like a tissue? Please don't wipe your nose on me!"
2) "Do you have underpants on? Don't lie to me." <-- said with surprising regularity to the boy.
3) "Get that out of your mouth! Gross!"
4) "No, actually, I don't think the worm is cute."
5) "Yeah, well I want a LOT of things." <--- Said in reply to the inevitable "Mom, I want...."
6) "Quit chewing on your sleeves!" <--- I'm convinced the boy has an oral fixation. Half the time I feel like I'm talking to a puppy instead of a kid.
7) "No, you cannot ride the dog."
8) "Because Popsicles are not something you eat for breakfast!"
9) "Ew! Please don't lick me!"
...and now for my all time favorite:
10) "Dude, if you don't get your hand out of your pants, I'm going to take your penis away." <--- Oh, yeah. I've said that.

Kids Say (and Do) the Darndest Things

Remember when Bill Cosby did those prime time specials with all the funny things kids say? I live that. Every day. It's probably the only thing that keeps me sane some days. Last night Carl III told me a story about Paige and I thought to myself, "I should really type this stuff out, because these are the things that I need to remember when I'm ready to flick my kids in the eye."

- When Carl III arrived at his mom's house to pick the kids up yesterday afternoon, Paige was sitting in the room that she and Carl IV share and was reading a book. Carl III poked his head in and said, "Alright, Paige. It's time to go." She looks up from her book and says, "Get outta my woom." Carl III patiently says again, "Paige. It's time to leave. Let's go." But, alas, "Weave me awone!" is her snotty response. He walks in the room to get her, and she looks at him and says, very matter of fact, "Nobody wuves (loves) me." WHAT?! He looked down at her and said, "Now, that's just not true. You know a lot of people that love you very much. Me, mommy, grandmom, Carl, Aunt Leah, and a bunch of other people." After considering this for a moment she says, "Oh, okay," gets up, and walks to the door. What a weirdo.

- In our area, the students of Penn State have a few weekends a year that they collect money for childhood cancer research/treatment. One of these weekends was about 3 weeks ago, and while driving around I gave a few bucks to one of the kids while I was stopped at a light. Carl IV was immediately all over me with questions. "Mom, why'd you give that guy dollars?" So, I explained that they were collecting money to help sick kids and their families. "Sick kids?" he asks. I go on to explain that sometimes little boys and girls get so sick that they can't leave the hospital and all their medicine can get really expensive, so these students were out raising money to help their families pay for that stuff. He chewed this over and I thought that was the end of it. The following week my mother in law tells me a story that while in Wal Mart, Carl and Paige had their money (a hand full of change) that they wanted to use to buy a prize. Paige got some candy or something, but Carl couldn't decide on anything. While walking around, he noticed one of those big donation stands that have the slot for you to put your change in and it twirls down these slopes and stuff. Carl asked what it was, Debbie told him it was for sick kids. Carl looks up at her and asks, "Can I put my money in there? I want them to get better."  *sniff* Are you kidding me?! Little things like that are so great to hear. It's reassuring to know that I'm doing something right, you know?

- Carl IV is working on writing the letters of the alphabet and corresponding letters with words that start with that letter, etc. Well, this weeks letter is 'E.' So, we're talking the other night about words that start with 'E.' So I say, "Elephant starts with E...egg, excellent, enormous..." At this point he starts cracking up, looks at me and says, "Hahaha! YOU'RE enormous, mom!" .... Yeah. Thanks, punk.

It's a Mess in Here!

The title of this post refers to my mind. I've got so much going on right now that I am completely incapable of forming a coherent post, so I'm just going to type some random thoughs flying around in there and hope that it provides you with some entertainment.

- We moved into a house in King of Prussia last weekend. Actually, Carl III moved us into a house in King of Prussia. I basically sat on the couch (until he took that to the new house) and watched him move. The house is smaller, but absolutely fantastic!

- I've been trying to organize all the baby stuff for Teaghan's pending arrival (only 2 1/2 more weeks!!!) and am just in absolute awe at the amount of crap that Paige accumulated during her infant-stage.

- Baby clothes (especially girls') can make anyone mooshy. Example: I'm digging through bins of Paige's old clothes to wash and organize by size. Carl III comes walking through the living room, pauses for a second in the doorway, turns around and says, "I don't care how lame it sounds...baby clothes are just so freakin' adorable."

- Next Friday is my last day of work before maternity leave. I absolutely cannot wait for my boss to get a feel for all of the things that I do every day around here. Knowing in the back of my mind that he will have a new appreciation for me when I come back is making the last 2 weeks here much more bearable.

- I still haven't packed my bag for the hospital. For my first pregnancy I shaved my legs every day for the last month of pregnancy, had my bag packed the second I entered my third trimester, had my doctor's number on speed dial, etc. This time around I have to be honest...I'm not even sure who I should call if/when I go into labor.

- I have woken up before 3am the past 3 nights. *yawn*

- I want a big slice of pecan pie right now. Mmmmm...

- We're going here on Sunday to pick apples and pumpkins. I think I might be more excited than the kids. Fresh apples?! Yes, please!!!

- I got a pedicure on Tuesday. My toes are hot pink. The girl working there looked at me like I was nuts when I picked my color. Why do people feel that loud colors are only for the summer time? If anything, I need that splash of fun more now than I did in July. Dur!

- My ankles have reached 'cankle' status. What are cankles, you ask?

Have You Seen This Child?

Carl III found this picture on his phone's memory today. This was a little over 2 years ago. Have you seen this baby? Where did she go? Would you look at those cheeks?!