Back to School and other Business

But first -- how about I outline my day for you? Because I'm a little worried that it pretty much sums up what my life is going to be from now on...

Alex didn't really want to sleep last night, so that was fun. Scott had a big presentation at work today, so he couldn't miss work and I wanted him to get as much sleep as possible, which meant that I didn't get very much myself. He let me squeeze in one more hour of sleep this morning from 6:30 to 7:30, which was really great, but my morning really got off to a rough start when I came downstairs and Grace told me that her throat was hurting and she didn't want to go to school. Perfect -- 3 days into the school year and it's already starting!

Amy took Ethan to the bus stop for me, I sent Grace, Sophie and Jane down to the basement to watch TV, I scheduled a doctor's appointment for Grace, and then tried to squeeze in just a little bit more sleep before having to take her in to check for strep throat. Luckily (or perhaps unluckily for tonight's sake!) Alex decided to sleep the morning away and I was able to leave him with Amy while I took Grace (and Jane -- who is proving to be quite difficult to deal with alongside the baby -- she's just nuts) to the doctor. Grace's test came back positive -- that's the 4th time this year, folks -- and we headed over to the pharmacy to pick up her meds and then raced home to get Sophie ready for preschool. She had to go early today to start her speech therapy and of course, I was late getting her there. After dropping her off, I headed back home where Alex was finally waking up and I fed him quickly before taking him back to the hospital to get more blood drawn to check his bilirubin levels for jaundice.

When we got back home I was hoping to FINALLY squeeze in a good nap, but my plans were foiled first by Alex not napping and then by Jane who woke up EARLY from her nap. Aaaahhhhh! The day was finished off with me being late to pick Sophie UP from preschool and then completely missing the bus for Ethan who got home 15 minutes earlier then the past 2 days and had to walk all the way home in the blazing heat. The saving grace to the whole day was my bff Natalie who brought dinner to us this afternoon and Amy who helped to keep the kids occupied and entertained for me while I was taking care of Alex.

And that's that folks. The kids actually went down pretty well at bedtime, so that's really good and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the baby will sleep for a little bit longer tonight. But if not, at least the weekend is coming up and hopefully I can catch up on some sleep then!

So, basically --in case you can't catch the theme here -- sleep is very important! A true luxury. And since Alex has been born, I've never felt sleepier! I don't know why it's been harder this time around, but I feel like I just can't get enough...

And now for a little pre-baby (and post) catch-up:

First up? The Annual Plant Picnic. The "kiddie drop" was the highlight of our move here last summer and this year was no different! This year the picnic was a bit earlier in August and took place a couple of weeks before the baby was born. The kids had a lot of fun jumping in space walks, playing in the balloon house, and riding on the swings. And of course, participating in the kiddie drop. Essentially a large area was roped off with all kinds of toys, candy, junk, etc. scattered on the ground and on their mark, get set, go -- all kids under 12 were able to run rampant gathering up whatever they could before it was all gone. Oh the excitement for my kids! They were really mad when we had to leave right after because of me. It was like 99 degrees out there and the humidity was insane. I'm pretty sure the heat index that day was around 110 and with my hugely pregnant self I was just not gonna make it any longer!

Playing in the balloon house -- giant fans were blowing the balloons all over the place. Jane was a big fan herself. Or at least she was until she somehow managed to get stuck in one of the venting holes -- that was pretty scary.

Here is Sophie protesting that she would NOT be too scared to ride on the swings.

And you know what? She proved me wrong! She actually managed to stay on without freaking out and she even said she liked it. Hahahaha.

Grace is really into posing with Ethan for pictures...

Do you see what I mean? Hahaha.

Eagerly awaiting the kiddie drop.

And they're off!

Jane was mostly interested in the tootsie roll pops she found on the ground.

Happy with all their loot.

Could they look any hotter or sweatier?? It was brutal out there.

Up next? Scott's 34th Birthday! Poor Scott. It was a pretty lame birthday. We celebrated the night before and had it double as Family Home Evening. We had strawberry shortcake and Scott opened his one measly present from all of us -- a new power cord for his macbook which has been out of commission for several months now due to the old one being busted. Woo hoo! Hahaha. Super exciting, I know. Fortunately, Scott doesn't really get into birthdays the same way the rest of us do, so HE was not disappointed with the day. I, on the other hand still felt super lame that we didn't manage to do anything else to celebrate. :(




And now a brief interlude for some more Quilting Pictures! I know you're all probably sick and tired of seeing all my handiwork at this point, but this is my blog so you'll just have to suffer through it. Hahahaha. I'm just joking. Although, I'm sure there are many of you who couldn't care less about the following pictures...

Alex's Finished Ticker Tape Quilt

Close-up of the front.

The back.

Close-up of the quilting (and fabric on the back) -- I just love the way hand-quilting looks after it's been washed and dried.

And that's that. I literally finished the quilt the day before the baby was born, so that was perfect timing.

Which brings us to The First Day of School: A highly anticipated event around these parts. :) I was really glad to be back home from the hospital in time for the first day. And it was extra exciting having Scott home for it as well this year. Here are the obligatory Back to School shots of the kids.

Ethan the 3rd Grader.

Grace the 1st Grader.

And Sophie the Preschooler. (Not pictured -- Jane. Although she was running around like a crazy person during the entire photo shoot!)

Grace wanted "one more silly faces" picture. I guess Ethan didn't get the memo. Hahaha.

I didn't manage to get a shot of the big kids getting on the bus, but Scott took some pictures of Sophie going to preschool and then inside her classroom.

I think this is going to be a good year for the kids -- they all seem to really like their classes and teachers, so hopefully that will continue! Ethan was mad that they didn't "learn ANYTHING" on the first day of school, but he's been happy since then. Grace has a new "love" -- his name is Ryan. I didn't clue in on her questions after school the first day about if husbands are always older than their wives. I guess I should have figured something was up (but I'll just blame that on my sleep-deprived brain) -- because she was happy to hear that my sister Sarah is older than her husband, and my friend Natalie is older than her husband, because Ryan is apparently in Kindergarten. Hahahahaha. Sophie seems to like preschool, although she doesn't know any of her friends' names and she doesn't really like to talk about her day when she gets home. So that's that! I'm hoping that as we get back into the swing of things with school routines, etc. that life will get a little easier. Wishful thinking? Perhaps...

And finally -- a little Photo Shoot with Baby Alexander. And I must say he was remarkably cooperative! Not a fuss or a peep out of him -- which is much more than I can say about photographing a certain other son of mine. Hahaha. Here are some of the gems. He is a cute little fellow if I do say so myself. :)

And that, my friends, is that. Until next time...