Bike Rides

The bike Alec was borrowing from our good friends got swapped with a bigger bike they're letting us borrow. Result = Alec's in heaven. He loves going "zoomin" fast and can actually go long distances on it... like super long. A few weekends ago we went on a family bike ride that ended up being 9 miles! We rode under train tracks, over freeways and out to the Bay where we watched airplanes take off and land at the small local airport and ate cold pizza for lunch. Alec never complained once about it being long. Only right after we started for the return trip, I asked him to go faster and catch up to Daddy. He said, "I can't, my legs hurt." He soon got into a good rhythm and was happy the whole 4.5 mile journey home.

Charlie was SUCH a trooper smashed back in the trailer with Gwen in her car seat! I didn't think he'd fit or like it much even if we did manage to squeeze him in. Apparently, he's willing to put up with anything if it means a bike ride. He loved it. We only had to stop once and ask him to not touch Gwen's face or try and feed her pretzels.

Gwendolyn enjoyed most of it, especially the part where I stopped to feed her real quick so she'd stop crying. I can hardly believe how flexible I'm getting in feeding her whenever. I was such a clock watcher with Alec and sorta Charlie. It wouldn't be out of place to have heard me say, "No not yet, not for another 10 minutes!" Now, sometimes I feed her after just 1.5 hours. I'm not sure if I'm getting all soft because Gwen's a girl (totally fair, huh?) or if I'm just too crazy to keep track of hours.

Welp, someone is dropping the toilet lid down over and over again and I hear some metallic clangs and heavy thumps. I suppose I should go upstairs for the 4th time since putting the boys to bed and... what? I have no more threats left. No more options for consequences. Tomorrow I think I'll ask my friend Petros to change the door knob around so I can lock them in their room. Am I cruel?

Updated Note to Self

Thanks everyone for your comments, support, funny emails, treat bags and notes. It does help. All of it. So, Self, go ahead and write those negative posts every once in a while because you'll feel loved and eat yummy food and hear about how awesome you are.

Besides, I think I heard somewhere that crying actually does help you feel better. Even if nothing changes, you'll feel happier... after the headache goes away.

In case anyone wants to know, today wasn't necessarily any better but I almost feel as if I'm watching the chaos happen from the end of a longer tunnel lined with the motivational stickers of the phrases everyone has told me: hang in there, lets try, good days come back, good luck, maybe today will be better, you're an awesome mom, a real person, you can do it!

Thanks again.

A few of my thoughts today...

I either have 1 too many kids or 1 too few bedrooms. I think its the bedrooms.

I have 0 safe places. It doesn't matter where I put my kids or what I take away they can always find out how to make a mess or destroy something.

Anybody mind if I tie a kid or two to their bed?

What about spanking? Is it illegal to bring it back?

I can choose between watching/refereeing/protecting/distracting/disciplining the kids or getting even 1 thing accomplished, like the dishes or a meal. They can't both happen without kids crying, getting hurt, or destroying the house. Forget about doing a fun project like sewing or decorating or organizing those just make the chaos twice as bad.

I really don't want to eat leftovers tonight, it wasn't even that good the day I made it.

I shouldn't pay attention to any "sleep experts". Putting my kids down early for a nap because they seem extra tired since they woke up early just makes them play for 2 hours before falling asleep on the floor right behind the door. Now they'll actually be taking a late nap, which is bad for the early bedtime suggested. Oh, and whats that? Don't wake up a sleeping child?

I remember when someone asked me a month ago how 3 kids was and I said, "oh, not bad! Its going just fine actually." Well, what I meant was, "oh, TODAY was not bad, it went just fine... but ask me again in a month and I'll tell you how hard it is and how much I cry in a day"

I usually try to stay really positive, but I just can't do it today. And man, writing this negative post didn't make me feel any better, in fact it only opened the flood gates. So, next time Self, don't even write one, just stick with the positive ones... even if it feels like a lie at the time, at least it won't make you cry.

Its about time

I finally cut Chris' hair. I was going to cut it a few months ago when I cut the boys' hair but then we had the idea for him to be Little John for Halloween. He decided he needed to keep the beard and shaggy hair for his costume. Any reason will do, right? Good thing I think he looks great with both long and short hair.

Its also about time for another Gwenyrs photo shoot. This time Charlie helped me out by taking the first picture and helping me get her to smile, eventually!

After all that, Charlie squeezes his way onto my lap too and spontaneously says, " I love you, Gwen" and gives her a sweet hug. Only it actually sounded like " I uhv oo den"and it was more of a mauling wrestling move than a hug. Either way, it was dang cute.

I wish moments like that could last forever. This one ended only seconds later when Charlie started crashing his hands on either sides of Gwen's head, like he was playing the cymbals.

baby skin

Oooo, I love these little soft baby bodies!

A similar photo from almost 2 years ago of baby Charlie and 2 year old Alec...

November?

Is it really November? How come my kids are still running around in swim suits when the sprinklers go off in 80 degree weather? Oh, yeah, we live in California and its nice. So I thought a month ago was our last breath of Summer but looks like its having a hard time letting go. I don't mind.

Before you get too jealous, be advised that our weather is going to back to its Winter state next week with highs in the mid 60's. It may even sprinkle on Sunday and Thursday. :) I love living here.I'm not sure what Charlie was doing exactly. I can only guess he liked getting his hair wet in the puddle.

He even seemed to like the dirty water dripping down his face when he lifted his head up. Believe it or not, but below is a happy Charlie.

My sister told me she hasn't seen a recent picture of Gwendolyn on the blog. She's right! I left her happily doing tummy time while I went upstairs to put Charlie down for a nap and settle Alec in our bedroom for quiet time. Upon returning downstairs a few minutes later, I found Gwen fast asleep on her tummy. No crying or fussing.

Halloween

Robin Hood, his mini-me sidekick, Little John, Maid Marian and her (wet)nurse made an appearance at our Halloween party. In fact, we saw them lots this weekend with all of the many parties we went to.

Carving Pumpkins... I can't believe we barely only finished one, this year. It seemed like Halloween came up really fast.


I'd add more details about how cute the kids were or how fun the parties were, but right now I'm just barely managing to keep it together. The boys are giving me a hard time. That's putting it mildly. I started to write a huge paragraph about all the bad things they're doing but that's not going to help anything, I really need to focus on the positives because I'm sure they're there if I look hard enough. Too bad I won't right now.