September Little Things

(9/12) Almost 4 months old! Not a happy camper!

(9/14) Enormous garden spider near our pond

This sucker was as long as my ring finger!

I almost walked into the web while we were playing volleyball

(9/15) Sweet snuggly sleeper! She's still sleeping in our room - I can't seem to cut the strings with this girl!

(9/18) Hanging at home - Beau is SO blonde!

Sad sad baby!

(9/24) Found Beau like this after his nap ... creepy, no?

(9/24) My scrumptious baby! I want to eat her up!

Beau's car full of "squishies"

This was during the phase when I took all of their toys away and only let them play with one thing at a time. It was very short-lived.

(9/24) Cute boy eating his yummy feta chicken dinner

(9/24) Hannah with her "boyfriend" Buff

(9/25) Hudson's kindergarten photos (we took our own because I didn't want to buy the school ones!)

Cute little stud muffin!

I love this boy!

Having a child begin school really changes things for the stay-at-home Mama. It forces us to wake up early and get going each day - putting clothes on, eating breakfast, getting teeth brushed, and getting out the door before 8am! For a woman who can't make it to 9:00 church on time, this seemed like an almost impossible task!

I started out the school year pretty gung-ho. I'd cook the boys hot breakfasts. I'd get my workout clothes on and get all three kids out the door by 7:40am to walk Hudson to school. It felt great! Three months in and 9 tardies later (10 is when you get in trouble), things have definitely changed. I stay up too late, hit snooze too many times, and rush around the house in my bathrobe like a chicken with my head cut off griping at Hudson to get his shoes on, combing Hudson's hair at the breakfast table while he snarfs down a bowl of sugar cereal, and slapping together a PBJ while we say family prayers. Seb's taken over the drop-off duties until the weather warms up (and to give me some time to get my act together!). I can't believe we're going to be doing this for 20+ years! It's a little daunting. Eventually, I'm going to have to come up with a plan to make our mornings go a little smoother!

I've been having some hard mommy times lately. I tend to swing from feeling fine to feeling depressed every now and again, so hopefully I'll be feeling better soon. I'm just in one of those down phases! Bleh! I think everyone's having a hard time adjusting to the new school schedule. Hudson's sort of "grown up" since starting school. He's feeling more independent and learning new things - both good and bad. Some changes we've noticed:

• He's gotten really loud - what happened to his indoor voice?? It totally disappeared!
• He's become quite the artist! Hudson comes home and draws until dinnertime. He told me he doesn't really like playing with his toys anymore - he just draws now. 
• He's become intolerant of Beau. I think he just needs some alone time after being at school all day. 
• Lots of rage. Not sure where it's coming from, but we've had lots of yelling matches, insane meltdowns, fists clenched in anger, using Beau as a punching bag, etc. Maybe he's just overly tired ... maybe the growing boy needs to eat more ... maybe he needs to see a counsellor ... whatever it is, it's got me worried! 

I'm having a reeeeeeally hard time connecting with my sweet boy. I feel like I struggle each day to be positive with/about him. Any pointers? I could really use some!

Beau is also having a hard time adjusting to Hudson being gone. It's been a double whammy for Beau - all of a sudden, his best friend is gone to school all day and instead of being stuck home with mommy, he's home with mommy + Hannah. When Hannah was born, it wasn't much of an adjustment because Hudson was his #1 playmate anyways. He's just now feeling the effects of his sister joining the family. He's taken on this alter-ego who we call "Baby." He talks in a different voice (kind of lispy), is really naughty, and cries a lot. He goes back and forth from being Beau to being Baby depending on how he's feeling. It's hard having Beau out of sorts - he's always been my easy, go-with-the-flow child. He's definitely regressing - he had almost been potty trained, then decided he didn't want to go in the toilet anymore and is back to diapers again. SO FRUSTRATING! Ugh!

Hannah's been my little calm in the storm. I love on her and snuggle her and enjoy her perfectness. When everyone's driving me insane, it's nice to just watch her kick for joy in the bathtub and soak in some of her pure happiness. She started out pretty fussy, but she's getting to be SO FUN! She's the most talkative baby we've had, and despite her lack of vocabulary, she babbles, grunts, coos, and yelps and is super loud! She's very animated and her big sparkly eyes just kill me.

So that's where we are right now. Hudson's at school all day, Daddy's at work all day, and me, Beau, and Hannah spend our time cleaning house, reading books, watching cartoons, going on playdates, doing grocery shopping, yadda, yadda, yadda. One highlight of September included the Jogathon. I brought the little kids to watch and Beau ended up running more laps than anyone! He was incredible!