First day of school

The kiddos went back to school today (both are going twice a week for about five hours) and we are all so excited!  The kids both love school and I love having a little time to get things done and seeing my babies come home so happy. 

Heading out for the traditional first-day-of-school pictures – amazingly, it was raining!

You know Charlie has a fair complexion when the camera won’t focus on his face; so these aren’t the best pictures, but I still think the subjects are pretty cute!

And the requisite comparison shots:

Ellie’s first year (2009)

Ellie’s second year (2010)

Charlie’s first year (January 2011)

Walking in to school

It didn’t take Ellie long to leave Charlie in the dust…and not look back!

Ellie went straight into her class and was very disinterested in any further photo ops, but here’s a picture of Charlie in front of his classroom:

And last year in front of the same classroom (which was Ellie’s classroom last year):

I decided to take the kids out for a super special treat since at any point now I’m going to be busy with a newborn and will miss time with my first two babies.  It was perfect timing because Miss Ellie got in the car and announced that she had poo’d in the potty at school – woohoo!  We went straight to Pacuigo for a first-day-of-school and look-who’s-a-big-girl-now treat.

Charlie and I shared a bowl…and as you can see, he got a little extra help from his big sissy too!

Charlie’s first and best friend

Hillary and I have always wanted and nurtured a close friendship between Jackson and Ellie.  We have orchestrated play dates for them since birth, we labeled them “best friends” from day one, and we’ve just generally made an effort to support their little friendship.  The “littles,” Charlie and Baron, on the other hand have mostly be treated as sweet little accessories to the “bigs.”  They’ve been at the play dates, but we haven’t even paid attention to whether they’re playing – mostly because we’re busy trying to keep the bigs (and everyone within arm’s length) alive and also because we still think of the “littles” as tiny babies who couldn’t possibly be old enough to play.  That all changed about a month ago when the bigs went to vacation bible school and the littles had several play dates – just the two of them.  Since then, Charlie can’t stop talking about “Abear.”  He gets SO excited when Bear comes over or when we go over there and they are just adorable together.  Hillary and I have talked about this and neither of us remember Jack and Ellie being this close or genuinely having a friendship like this at the same age.  Hillary and Jay kept the kids for a weekend so Damian and I could have a babymoon and Charlie was in heaven being with Bear for almost 48 hours.

I just love this picture of the little guys holding hands in the back of Hillary’s car:

Some other pictures that Hillary took during the babymoon (thankfully she’s so much better than I am about taking pictures!):

That’s our boy!

C-man LOVES his sister (“sissy”).  He just thinks that she hung the moon; and apparently this admiration carries through to her fashion sense.  He recently became obsessed with some of Ellie’s pink Dora crocs – he wanted to put them on as soon as he woke up in the morning and insisted on wearing them until the very last minute at night.  We got a few strange looks at the mall, but we let him rock those crocs as long as he wanted to…which turned out to be a little over a week.

 

I thought the phase was over until I turned around from the kitchen sink one afternoon to see Charlie pushing Ellie’s doll stroller with a purse over one shoulder and her purple princess high heels on.  It turns out that he’s very coordinated and can walk in the heels better than Ellie can.

 

Then I found Charlie with one of Ellie’s old sandals on (I don’t know where he found it or how he figured out how to put it on).  We’ll see what he comes up with next.

Belly and babies

Last November, we bought/won a photo session through the auction at Ellie’s school.  It was expiring this month so we decided to get some pics of the kiddos and the belly.  It was just a mini (30 minute) session and the little man was not in a picture-taking mood, so I was thrilled to discover that the photographer got some great shots!

This picture sort of makes me laugh – I think it’s a pretty accurate representation of how Charlie feels about giving up his role as the baby of the family:

 

36 Weeks

We’ve done a terrible job of documenting this pregnancy, but here are a few belly pics from about 36 weeks.

Tea for two

Ellie saw her tea set in a closet (tea parties used to be a daily event, but when Ellie lost interest, we packed away the tea set and forgot all about it) and was SO excited to have a tea party with Charlie.  Amazing how a couple of cookies and water in tiny cups can keep kids entertained for ages – such a treat for all of us when cabin fever has set in big time!

So inappropriate!

Tonight at dinner I got really hot (thanks to some spicy soup and this ridiculous weather), so I took advantage of being at home with family and I flipped my shirt up over my belly. It's certainly not something I would do outside the house, but at home, I figured everyone would cut me some slack. Not so much. Ellie said "Mommy, you put your shirt down. I don't want to see your baby." Can't really blame her!

No wonder!

I’ve been feeling so guilty lately because I just feel like a big blob of a mom.  I’m so big, so uncomfortable and so tired, and the weather is so oppressive, that I just don’t have it in me to be very active with the kids these days.  They’re such sweet kiddos and I love chasing them around and rough-housing, but there’s very little of that right now.  Anyway, in the midst of one of these bouts of guilt, I gave myself a little pep talk and realized that:

• I’ve been pregnant and/or nursing for 47 out of the last 50 months.
• I’ve gained (and lost most of) almost 140 pounds
• Just getting the kids in and out of the car involves lifting over 70 pounds worth of kiddos
• Between being up with nursing babies and pregnancy-induced insomnia, I think I’ve only slept through the night about three times in the last several years (okay, that’s a bit of an exaggeration…but not much!)

So instead of wasting valuable energy feeling guilty, I’m going to go back to laying on the playroom floor and gestating while the kids run circles around me!

Mr. Mom, Part III

The other day, I was working in the kitchen and Charlie came in with a stuffed animal under his shirt, patting his belly, saying “baby, baby!”  If only this baby would make his/her exit as easily as that stuffed monkey came out of Charlie’s “belly!”

Sibling love

Charlie love, love, loves his sister!  He follows her everywhere – if she sits down to read a book, he sits as close as possible to her; if she’s running around like a mad woman, he’s close on her heels, running around like a mad man.  He calls her “sissy” and it makes me smile every time I hear him say “dank you, sissy” or “where’s sissy?”  So sweet!

On another note, Ellie has rediscovered the beautiful hats that Nana knitted for her.  Despite the record-breaking heat, she wears them around the house constantly.  I hope she’ll keep wearing them when the weather is a bit more appropriate…but likely, she’ll then be obsessed with wearing her swimsuit or something!

A rare moment of quiet

Jackie-Bobo, Baron, and Hillary spent the night on Friday while some oil-based primer was drying at their house.  The next morning, Hillary and I were chatting in the kitchen and for one terrifying moment, Hillary and I realized that (a) the kids had been out of sight for several minutes and (b) they had been quiet for several minutes.  The second realization was much more terrifying than the first and we immediately went to find them, prepared to put out whatever fire they were, literally or figuratively, starting.  More shocking than any trouble they could have been getting into was the total innocence that they were engaged in.  They were so sweet just sitting next to each other looking through books.  Hillary wisely snapped a picture to prove that it happened!

Like sister, like brother

Charlie is following in his messy-eater-sister’s ways.  It’s not uncommon to look over mid-meal and see him with a piece of pizza on his head.  At least he’s generally a bigger fan of utensils than Ellie was at this age, but at the end of this meal, he looked vaguely like an Umpa-Lumpa.