Where to begin?

Where shall I begin? Well, I should really begin by giving a quick update about baby-to-be, due in December. Already, this baby is getting the shaft on the blog because I assume our tangible happenings are more interesting than the pregnancy updates (to summarize the last 28 weeks, I've been stiff, fat, sleepless and hungry all the time). In any case, I had the opportunity for some bonding time with the peanut last Friday as I gazed at a sonogram screen for thirty minutes during my latest appointment (now conveniently scheduled during preschool hours - awesome news if you've ever been privy to my Carly-humiliates-me-at-the-OB's office stories). I usually can't help but prematurely try to make guesses about his/her personality during these sessions and this was no exception. I'd say, with the baby's constant movement, that he/she is not a big sleeper and possibly thinks that that is funny (it's not). The one concrete trait I did learn from the doctor is that this baby has big feet. And, yes, I am concerned.

In any case, here are the latest shots:



Switching gears now to preschool, glorious preschool (God bless those home schoolers). All summer, we talked up the idea of school to Carly. Every time we drove by her new school, we'd make a big deal about it being "Carly's school" and point out "Carly's playground" and tell her how exciting it would be to meet new friends & new teachers, read new books, and play with new toys, albeit, without mom, dad, binky or froggy. We practiced rocking out to a school bus song anytime we drove by the school. You get the idea.

Well, good news, my brief stint at child psychology worked. Day One came and Carly was so excited, she could barely eat her breakfast. She had her frog backpack over her shoulders before she was out of her pajamas. She even totally refused to pose for the traditional first day photos.


And, as we pulled up to the school, she screamed "bye bye mommy, Carly's school, yeeeeeah, see ya!" Once inside, she found her way to her classroom, walked right in toward the train set, and didn't even look back to say goodbye. (A bit over the top, don't you think?) Then, when I went to pick her up, she threw a fit and refused to leave. I'm talking total temper tantrum. I had to carry her kicking and screaming to the car and toss out a few fake laughs for the benefit of the staring moms when she did the 'ole arching of the back to avoid the carseat trick. As a new preschool mom, precariously navigating the world of late policies and volunteer "opportunities", I found myself a bit humiliated. I mean, seriously, I was surrounded by moms conversing with the teachers about how little Mary finally adjusted after snacktime and how little John spent his day looking longingly out the window for his mom. And damn it if she didn't do it again the next day.

The following week, our pick-ups were a bit more successful, perhaps because I knew to bribe her with the promise of a lollipop in the car and a return to school for the back-to-school pizza party on Friday night. In any case, I think we'll just use this photo as her official first day photo. Of course, I had used my free time the previous week to buy those mums.

Fantasy

Does someone you know fantasize? My husband does and his season kicked off last night with a ridiculous auction or draft or whatever that lasted over 3 hours. Greg was on a conference call with the rest of his league of, excuse me guys but, dorks and demanded complete silence within the house and absolutely no interruptions. Carly was lucky to get a "goodnight" from him as he studied his 6 pt font spreadsheets of names and stats as if he was reading his Mazdarati manual. In any case, like the dutiful wife that I am, I complied and tried to shut out the periodic laughter and accusations of cheating that emanated from the back room. Normally, I would have poured myself a huge glass of wine and called up my sister in law, Michelle, to make fun of the scene, but alas, no vino for me right now. Instead, I kept my distance and surfed for some crappy pre-season (that's right, I get the lingo) tv show to watch.

Lucky for me, the new 90210 was making it's debut during the fantasy draft, in what appeared to be a two hour gift from God on this particular night. And, folks, I will admit here that I actually was eager to tune in. (First, I need to concede that I shouldn't be admitting to this on my blog, especially after Levi Johnston's unfortunate self description on myspace. You really never know when you are going to be the center of a political scandal, though, do you?) I'm not sure what I really expected because, as Greg later pointed out, I didn't even watch the first 90210 and this version is on a network neither of us have ever heard of, but guys this show is really, really bad. It is laughable, it's so bad. Last night's pilot episode managed to steal a plot from Pretty Woman, badly imitate Sweet Sixteen, and pathetically pluck the Lucille Bluth character from Arrested Development (God I miss that show, when is the movie coming out anyway?) It was so bad that I actually think watching Fred Thompson speak at the republican convention may have been a better choice.

On an unrelated note, did you happen to catch this last week?

End of the Innocence

Our summer vacations have come to a close and it's almost time to get ready for preschool (yee-ha!). There are too many hilarious stories to recount from our trip to the Rock, but suffice it to say that one of them involved Grandma Rita strapping a maxipad to her ankle. In any case, Carly had a great time making memories with her cousins, so below I'm sharing a few more shots.

Sully - either protecting Katie as she slept by the bonfire or waiting to see if she had an extra s'more.

It did not take old Sully boy long to locate a better spot, directly under the chair holding the marshmallows, chocolate and graham crackers. Score.


This shot captures exactly how I'll remember Charlie at meals this summer.


Carly finally convinced her cousins that Annie isn't a "girl movie," but a classic to be enjoyed by all....over & over & over when necessary.


Okay, these two shots are from the "donut place" as we refer to it, even though the donuts there are not that great (you can bet I still ate them). That is actually a goat on top of that platform thing, and Charlie is using the pulley to entice it up there to eat. Pam Anderson and PETA were protesting in the parking lot while Kid Rock was singing "All Summer Long." Just kidding.



Carly & Sully were pumped when Greg finally arrived...but not so happy when he made us head home early.



Carly & Mitchell at the Fredrickson's beach, just a few houses away. On a related note, if anyone has contacts at the Army Corps of Engineers, my mom is interested in bribing them to clear some of the grass away from her beach.


And it wouldn't be a family vacation without a ridiculous amount of time spent trying to get a group shot. This year, mom & Julie actually set up a poor professional photographer with the challenge of trying to get beach glamour shots of 5 kids under the age of six, one great-grandma with very fussy hairstyle taste, one matriarch who thinks that the coordinating white outfits make us resemble the Kennedy family, and 5 other pessimistic adults. Painful does not describe it. Did I mention that Carly had some type of crib accident just prior to the shoot and emerged with a swollen, bruised nose? In fact, the only one who honestly enjoyed the photo shoot was Nick, who, when it came time for individual family shots, instructed the gracious photographer that "since Scott doesn't have a wife, I will just be in his photo."





And, finally, a photo that my dad would love....he would have also loved every minute of chaos with the family this summer. Cheers dad.

No rules, no worries

Summertime is the perfect time to reevaluate all the rules that I've been instigating in our game of parenthood/familyhood. Okay, maybe I'm just feeling really lazy about keeping track of things like, let's just say, lollipops for breakfast. Last night, after Carly's ice cream cone at 8pm, the poor kid had to ask me for "cheese? fruit mommy?" She accurately observed that we had forgotten dinner.

Other things that we have been loose about include bedtimes, bathing suits on the beach, ferris wheel rides for kids under 40 inches (she's 36), binky habits (sorry Greg, but we'll all work on this when we get home), and sitting down in restaurants during dinner (my mom assures me that people don't care if my little maniac runs around saying hello to each table...and I'm usually happy to pretend they don't either - mama's got to eat!). Perhaps the biggest departure from our home rules, though, involves the amount of time I allow to ellapse between the moment I hear the screen door slam and the second I go chase the escape artist. At home, faced with a busy street and strangers outside our front steps, I give it about 10 seconds. Up here, I'm more laid back. Most times, I hear an announcement ("my stroller!" or "tea party at nana's beach!"), a giggle, or the pitter-pat of her feet that betrays her whereabouts. And, if I don't, I just send Sully or great-Grandma Rita to go track her down.

Yeah, I'm not that lazy.

More pics from our trip:

Carly (right) joining Nick and our friends Riley and Mitchell to stretch out for the fun run.



My pre-5k photo...trust me when I tell you that the post-5k photo was much less flattering.


Action shots from the post-run parade. Another rule down the drain: don't let child eat candy thrown at her by strangers.







And the fair...



That's my massive 21-week prego self flanked by Carly and my nephew Nick on the ferris wheel. For future reference, Nick cannot be trusted to follow the "DANGER!!! DO NOT ROCK CHAIR WHILE RIDE IS STOPPED!" sign when hanging 100 feet in the air above Lake Michigan. And, no, pregnant women are not supposed to be on the ride either.



More shots of Carly with her beach buddies (Joey, then the whole crew eating dinner).




yesterday's cold spell



Finally, I thought I'd include this photo, even though it is not particularly great, because it captures a typical screw-up on my part. Yesterday, we stopped by the farm across the road to get a closer view of the cows that Carly had been waving to for the last 2 weeks. If you look closely at the photo, you will see that we inadvertently stopped by the bull pen. No wonder those damn animals had steam coming out of their noses and were aggressively charging back & forth. Suffice it to say, Carly is "all done" with the cow close-ups for now.

Small town charm

How do you know you are in a small town?

1) The Ms. Any-Small-Town-USA and her court are going to be in a tug-of-war contest against the local firemen at the town fair this weekend. It may involve a fire hose and water.

2) They will throw you in a homemade "jail" if you are not wearing a $2 button that helps pay for fireworks at same said town fair.

3) The cashier at the local pharmacy felt it pertinent to tell the elderly lady in front of me, who was purchasing what seemed to be a yearly supply of laxatives, that an easier way to combat her problem might be to eat more yogurt. The elderly lady was actually thankful for his advice.

So here we go, our first installment from the Rock..........

Carly having breakfast with her baby (this is the one she named "Sara") at the beach.





Their view of Lake Michigan.



Joey, Charlie, Carly, Nick and Katie (over under the pink balloon) eating Superman ice cream at the street fair.



Nick, Carly & Joey



Carly, Nana (and me taking photo) having lunch at the Town Club (a local bar)....check out the time on the wall.



Joey and Carly enjoying lunch al fresco on Wednesday.



By the way, does this look like a good way to greet your customers? Believe it or not, it's a local swim shop (not a gun or hunting store).

Off to the Rock

Well, we are off to the Rock today. No biggy, just a 14 hour roadtrip with a toddler and a very large dog. But it is always worth the effort to enjoy the beauty & simplicity of life (mom, pay attention) on Lake Michigan.

I used to eagerly anticipate the geeky emails my dad would inevitably send to me, Greg, Scott, Julie & Judd before we would descend on the lake. They would always reference some teaser of an activity he was conjuring up as well as some super cheesy photos meant to get us psyched up for the trip. Some involved local fauna, many involved flags, and almost all of them included vistas of the Rock's beach. Below are just a few examples of his artistic talents.






Carly, Sully & I will be gone for three glorious weeks, so we'll try to stay in touch by blogging from afar...rumor has it that the Rock just got high speed internet, which is very exciting. THAT would have been helpful while trying to plan a wedding.

A par-tay!

Finally, I'm just now getting around to posting the birthday party photos. This year, we opted for a joint venture between Carly and her good buddies Max, Bella & Amelia. Carly, Max and Bella share the same birthday and Amelia's is just a few days later. I'll admit that there were many moments leading up to the festivities during which I feared I was really being a lazy mom opting to co-host a birthday party at a park and not sweat the small stuff like I did last year. But, let me tell you, it was fantastic. Who says Costco can't make a decent sandwich? Certainly not the mom who spent 2 hours roasting red peppers over an open flame last year. Aren't all birthday parties all about the cake anyway? I can tell you for certain that Miss Carly thoroughly enjoyed her party, as well as her cake.