Meeting the new neighbors

We've officially met one of the new neighbors. Being back and forth between the two houses we hadn't had the chance to meet our new neighbors. On Wednesday my friend Jennifer and her two kids were over at our house to play. Jen had to run out to the car for something and gave Clayton instructions to stay in the house - I was tending to Brooke who had just had a storage bin dropped on her foot and was being very dramatic about the whole thing. Clayton decided that he did need to go outside and I promptly followed him - which he thought was funny and decided to run around the front yard. Our new neighbor Steve was outside with his dog and watching the whole thing. As I was carrying Clayton back to the house (sideways under my arm like a sack of potatoes), Steve's dog Leo (a 90 lbs dog) comes running over to our yard to see what all the excitement is. Steve very politely says, "Hi - are you my new neighbor?" I introduced myself and then one of the other kids opened up the front door to reveal the drama that was still going on inside (mostly hysterical screaming) from the aforementioned storage bin that landed on Brooke. I don't even want to imagine what Steve was thinking at this point, but hey if we can't bring a little excitement and entertainment to the neighborhood, why be there!

Clayton dressed himself today...

...and everyone at preschool noticed! We've never had so many people say good morning and tell him how cute he looks - can you tell why?! Some battles are not worth fighting and Clayton was so proud of his tie. I asked if he was going to work like daddy (see, Daddy wears a tie to work everyday). He responds, "That's silly. Daddy goes to work. I go to school." Some mornings he walks right into his preschool room and other mornings he needs a bit more convincing. This morning he announced to me in the hallway that he needed his kiss so that he could go to school. If every morning goes that smoothly, he can wear the tie everyday!

Lincoln has a cold...

I took Lincoln in to the Dr because he has a cold. I'm guess it's probably because Clayton doesn't seem to understand that it's still a kiss even when it's not on the lips. (Lincoln gets near mouth to mouth resuscitation from Clayton!) When I called to make the appt because he had congestion we had to enter the clinic as though he had H1N1 flu. They made my 34 day old baby who was sitting in his infant carrier wear a mask! How crazy is that - oh well, it made for a picture for my blog post. The Dr confirmed it was indeed just a cold and as long as he doesn't develop a fever or cough we're good. He weighed 11 lbs 1 oz! YIKES. That's gaining almost a pound a week.

Are these the days I'm going to miss?!

The end of summer and start of Fall weather has been great until...today. It's the first day of gloomy skies, rain, wind and cooler weather - and the kids' behavior has been about the same. Let's start off to say that Lincoln had a great 5 hr stretch of sleep last night - from 7 p.m. until midnight...hmmm...we'll have to work on the timing of that. Because then he was up every 2.5 to 3 hrs after that. So, I was a bit tired and less than thrilled when Clayton came down the stairs at 5:45 this morning. I didn't get a chance to shower before Mike left for work which usually makes things a bit tricky because I have to lock a sleeping Lincoln in his room to keep him safe from curious fingers and hope that the other two don't have any major meltdowns/arguments while I'm in the shower. Both kids had quite a few timeouts this morning for just plain not being nice to each other.

By 11:45 a.m. we were FINALLY out the door for the 2 errands I needed to run today. I let Brooke and Clayton out the backdoor to walk to the car. (Clayton has finally figured out how to walk nicely to the garage without running through the yard, playing with the garage toys or stomping in puddles on his way. I made him ride around for last weeks errands in wet pants after he stomped through the puddles - so I think we cured that!) As I was walking out with Lincoln (about 15 seconds later), I found Clayton laying on the garage floor crying and a very apologetic Brooke. She didn't want him climbing in through her side and decided to push him out of the van. Her intentions were to have him out of the car and not to hurt him - so she was upset too because she "didn't mean to hurt him." He wasn't hurt, just a bruised ego and Brooke's consequence was that she didn't get to pick out her own books at our library stop. (She was devistated.) So we made it through the library with no issues and then stopped at the Starbucks drivethrough - between lack of sleep and the events of the morning I justified the stop.

All the kids were quiet and Lincoln was still sleeping so I thought I'd make a "quick" stop at Sentry to pick up the things for dinner given that it's way too windy to take a walk there later. We got into the store and Clayton "lost it" that he had to sit in the regular cart and not the car cart (broken seat belt in that one.) After a great battle to get him seated and buckled he was still a bit hysterical as we entered the store. It was one of those scenes where lots of people are looking at you and I just give my best smile in exchange! As we approached the end of the produce area, one of the managers walked up to our cart and said to Clayton, "it sounds like he's having a rough morning - would a cookie help. Mom, is that okay with you?" I think that was code to me for - "you're distrupting the entire store - will a cookie shut him up." So although I wanted to explain to this well meaning lady that I was not about to reward his awful behavior with a cookie, I bit my tongue and politely accepted her offer.

The rest of the trip, lunch and naptime routine all went great and all kids are now sleeping! Success for now. We'll see what the evening brings...

In our Sunday school class we just started a series on Parenting. I'm so grateful for the lessons - although they aren't rocket science, they are GREAT reminders that I'm working toward my children to be productive members of society 20 years from now....one day at a time. And when all was finally quiet I did give myself a small pat on the back for not "losing my cool" during all the drama. (I can't say that happens every day!)

A girl after my own heart!

As most of you know I'm a list person - mostly because my memory isn't all that great! We have lists of what to pack in the morning, chores, to-do's, etc. Yesterday we were driving and Brooke says, "Mom, can baby Lincoln have a list too?" I told her he could and asked what would be on his list. Her response, "Cry, eat and sleep." She forgot poop, but that's okay - she got the majority of his list right!

We're officially listed!

Pass the news on...
http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/W148n8082-University-Dr_Menomonee-Falls_WI_53051_1112791290

The realtors had their walk-through this morning. Keeping a pristine house with three kids should be interesting - after one morning of making sure the house was set before we left, I'm really praying it sells quickly!

Getting bigger...

Lincoln's features are starting to fill in as he continues to gain weight. He's been eating about every 2-2.5 hrs the past couple days, so I busted out my "What to Expect in the First Year" book and sure enough 3 weeks in the first growth spurt (he's right on schedule.) I think it's funny that with Brooke I had that book opened all the time and Lincoln's 3 weeks old and I was only looking because I was somewhat annoyed by the change from every 3-4 hrs and 5 hr stretches at night to a much more frequent schedule. But that also explains the rolls that are starting to form on his legs and under his chin. Clayton came over during a diaper change the other day and patted Lincoln's belly saying, "Baby you getting a BIG belly!"

And from Brooke's report - this was Lincoln's first time grabbing the end of the Nuk. This past week was also his first trip to the library, the CFA park, and the emissions testing station!

Last, Mike and I were commenting on how his eyes are still very blue and that we think Brooke's had already started to change by this point....we'll see.