Pages

05 February 2015

from the cutting room floor

aka, just copying a hashtag and making it PAINFULLY long(er)

or

a big fat photo phone dumb

or

both! you don't have to choose.

There are far too many photos on my phone that I refuse to part with but ... mamarazzi needs her memory back SO .... into a post they go.

I'm sorry.

Here we have ...


lately the older two kids have been obsessed with having indoor picnic parties with pretzels and water and Theo is more than happy to play along. Phoebzilla is more than happy to play along too.


probably only amusing to me and Simon but I was cleaning up Julia + Phoebe's room (aka purging Julia's "toys") when I found all of baby #5's thieved ultrasound photos, all of Sebastian's favorite Lightning McQueen Pull-ups plucked from the brand new box (leaving him with boring Jake the Pirate and Buzz Lightyear .... snoooooore) and some coveted tops of some chip bags that she'd carefully saved and hidden. Next week I'll be on the lookout for a vial full of old bath water or maybe a lock of my hair clipped in the middle of the night. Four has (truthfully!) been my favorite age because you never know what bizarre and harmless chocolate you're gonna get.


two seconds after Phoebe yanked Theo's free grocery store cookie out of his paw and stuffed it directly in her mouth. Theo frantically toddler-signed, "wtf?! wtf?!" but Phoebe's cheetah like chewing won that battle. I can't wait for the Julia vs. Sebastian + Theo vs. Phoebe "who can fight loudest" wars. Coming to a public arena near you .... very soon.


taking us ALL the way back to Christmas day. Even though we were visiting my Grandma in Northern Illinois - the weather was still warm enough to enjoy the park complete with one of those new "we hate parents" merry-go-rounds that are popping up on playgrounds all over the country. They weigh 900 pounds, are almost impossible to push, and kids love them. Thanks playground toy inventors.  I thought you'd really maxed out your potential with the delightful swing but .... NOPE.


Tres Hermanos.
Stalling bedtime and getting along like they never do during the day.


After weeks of going through the rigors of sleep training boot camp ... Phoebe is finally on a predictable and delightful sleep schedule but she threw me for a loop the other night and I bought into the old "look at my swollen gums!! teething bites, Mom!!!" excuse and so I rocked her to sleep like the loving mothersucker that I am. Luckily, her short term memory is deplorable and we were back to business as usual the next night.

I'll stop there before you nod off nicely into your unplanned siesta. Thanks for humoring me and my grainy flock. Always.


24 comments:

  1. Phoebe's face in that shopping cart with cookie stuffed in...so funny and cute! Also, we do not have cool shopping carts like that around here, my kids would freakin love those! Also, I'm thinking "from the cutting room floor" needs to become a regular occurrence here on the ol blog as I love it!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Cute photos of the brood! I recognize those caveman bars in the first photo...I love those! Also, right on about those stupid "merry" go rounds...safety-schmafety I know but seriously mean to parents who take the kids to the playground for a break from entertaining the munchkins.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Can you share your "sleep training" routine? I can't handle long bouts of crying but I need some suggestions. TY!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. haha - no routine. Generally around 8-10 months my kids are ready to cry it out -- but they do cry for longish bouts of time so it's not for everyone. I've found going back in to "soothe" them just frustrates them and gives them false hope that they'll be rescued (although there are entire books stating I'm wrong :)) so I don't do that. It only takes about 2 weeks for us but it's not fun. It's SO worth it though to not have a 2-3 hour bedtime odyssey that results in poor sleep anyway.

      Delete
    2. 20-25 minutes the first few nights then it decreases from there :)

      Delete
    3. Do you do the same for naps? Currently in nap purgatory with my son. Only on me. Only for 30 min.

      Delete
    4. Love your honesty on the sleep training, it's akin to admitting you pick your nose here in Mummydom, everyone does it but no-one wants to be first to admit! No? .....

      Delete
    5. Do you also let her CIO if she wakes in the night? Am eager for your 4-baby wisdom!

      Delete
  4. amen to sleep training. it really sucks when you are doing it, but so much better after! and my guy got super frustrated with check ins so we gave those up right away!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Haha Phoebe totally gets away with the cookie snatching because she's the youngest... but just wait til #5 comes along! Also, the things that Julia hoards always make me laugh hardcore. Potato chip bag tops? Awesome.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hoarder Julia might be my favorite of all time.

    ReplyDelete
  7. love seeing the moments you capture and still laughing at "Theo frantically toddler-signed, "wtf?! wtf?!" haaaaa

    ReplyDelete
  8. You truly have some real gems on your camera roll! I think all the ones you post are amazing, but then to see a pretzel picnic and some wrapper hoarding....it's all too good. I love it, and these posts.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I laughed so hard at the Phoebe-Theo cookie incident.

    And I am thankful I have yet to see one of those merry go rounds. Do you have to spin them from the top? It looks like the perfect recipe for getting kicked in the shins about a million times while pushing it!

    ReplyDelete
  10. If you ever get a minute do you mind writing me personally or doing a post about how you handle sleep with your kids? Do you do any sort of training or do you just go by the seat of your pants? Do you hold/rock/nurse them to sleep until a certain age and then start them on Cry It Out or some other method. Do you think your kids naturally created their own schedule or did you kind of have to guide them (or I guess force them). Some days I'm tempted to start sleeping training and other days I tell myself that perhaps one day he will go to sleep without needing to be in mama's arms all of nap time and will naturally find their crib appealing instead of the bassinet sitting right next to my head that wishes it was sleeping. I don't expect you to be an expert but you are about to be a mommy of 5 children at this point, I would consider you as much of a professional as any licensed "expert." It sounds like you've had some real tough sleepers in your group
    so I'd just be interested to hear what you do exactly. If it's too time consuming to think of how you've handled it with all 4 kids that's fine, I'm just looking for answers anywhere I can find them these days. Sleeping seems to be the one topic no one in their right mind can agree on. Mama needs some ZZZzzz's soon, this no sleeping lifestyle is for the birds except I think they actually get more sleep than me AND they get to fly! ;) Thanks Grace!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Ahhhh I'll take one sleeping Phoebe, please and thanks. My ovaries are screaming!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Oh, I have to laugh at Julia's hoarding. My older two are hoarders too. Especially my eldest wants to keep everything! And the picnic party photo is awesome :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. "Toddler signing WTF WTF" - made my day! Thank you! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  14. toddler signing wtf wtf + Phoebe's face in the pink car = priceless.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I love your blog! I've been reading it for some time now, and find your kids to be da cutest! and your writing is so funny and enjoyable. It's also cool that you're a Catholic mama. Always enjoy your posts!

    ReplyDelete
  16. hi! i'm a new-ish blogger and i wanted to tell you that your kids are the cutest! i can't wait to see how cute baby #5 will be! i always get giddy when i see there's a new post from you on my bloglovin' feed!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Phoebe's face in the grocery cart! LOVE IT. Does Sebastian really need another free cookie? I mean really. Well played, Phoebes.

    ReplyDelete