Mommy-ed Out

By the time I got my two trainwrecks out the door yesterday morning, I felt like I had put in a full day of work. The boys have had many good days, but that wasn't one of them. Lucky for me, the plan was for them to spend the bulk of the day in the capable hands of my parents after Gavin's swim class. I went to an appointment for a routine physical and bloodwork. It was no day at Disneyland, but paired with a trip to the gym and a shower sans audience, it was a fine way to spend a Wednesday. And then, to cap it off, I went to a long anticipated dinner date with my old friend, Jess. It was just what I needed.

Dylan landed some time in the evening and fetched our two over-tired boys. I'd feel bad about putting him right to work with the boys upon his arrival, except that I don't at all. He's been on a corporate retreat in Couer d'Alene, staying at a lakehouse, golfing, paddle boarding, kayaking, boating, dining and drinking on somebody else's dime. And also sleeping. The only kind of corporate retreat I've had recently involves small people harassing me at all times of night for the strangest reasons.

But other than early mornings, we've been keeping it real on the home front. Gavin had his 3-year check-up, and all is well. We had a snake encounter (more on that later), and G is loving preschool. He gives me a grand tour whenever I pick him up..." This is where we do music, this is where we have chapel, this is Miss Erin's room, this is Miss Ali's room..." It makes me so happy to bring him there and hear about all the stuff he does. He starts Spanish next week. Haha! Graham is turning into quite the mover and forcing me to think about baby-proofing all over again. And I'm a gym rat because it gives me an hour of sanity in an otherwise hectic but fulfilling but at the same time boring life. The highlight of most days is partnering with my old pal Kris for a workout...and then deciding that we need to eat lunch at 10am. She's the best, and she even snuggles my baby while I eat.

Oh, and then there was that thing that happened on Sunday. After a nice time at church and a lovely lunch with the three blonde Larsons, the kids were running around the courtyard at the restaurant. NBD...nobody else was out there. We sat out in the heat for this reason, but our table butted up to the window of the restaurant, so we were mere inches from other restaurant patrons. We were enjoying our iced teas and having a nice time when I glanced over to see that Gavin had dropped his drawers and was taking a pee in the rocks. I quickly ran to try to remedy the situation, but it was too late. Everybody saw. According to Kendall's report, people were staring wide-eyed with gaping mouths. It was super embarrassing, but the more I share this story, the more I hear that it's happened to most moms of boys. We have incorporated some learning about where it is and is not appropriate to pee into our day.

There's always a crowd with me as I get ready for my day.

G2 is still doling out smiles on the daily. Two old ladies almost melted to the floor when he wouldn't stop smiling at them at Costco. They were so in love with him that it almost got awkward.

Teaching me how to pray and telling me that "Jesus made everything." Clearly, either his lessons at school or at church are sticking.

He likes helping me clean. This adds a happy dimension to things around here.

How will I get anything done in the kitchen when he grows out of the sink?

After Gavin's birthday, we have a lot of indoor things to keep us busy. But I CANNOT wait to get outside in a month or two!

Having Dylan gone the last 9 of 10 days has brought a sense of clarity on a couple different fronts. Summertime was all fun and games, but it might be time to take things in a new direction. Parenting is not more difficult with him gone, and actually it's easier because I run a tighter ship when I am on my own. Every move we make is very well thought out and planned in advance. But there's just something about long days paired with lonely nights. I don't have any specific plans, and I don't exactly know how to shake things up and add a little non-mom productivity to my days, but #mybrainisthirsty.

Happy September!