Brutal honesty

I decided on a whim last week to get my hair cut short. It's been approximately 5 years since it's been this short. In fact, I believe I started growing it out again right around the time that Megan was born, so about 5 1/2 years to be exact. But I'd had enough of styling my already short bob hairstyles and so I found a kicky hair style that I don't even have to style and decided to give it a shot. It certainly helps shorten my mornings by having one less thing to do in order to make myself presentable to the public.

As I'm sitting in the chair and the hairdresser is 'styling' me up to leave, Megan walks over with a big smile on her face. She takes a quick look at the hair laying on the floor and says, "Mommy! She cut a lot off. You're hair is really short now!"

"Yes, I know," I replied. "You've never seen Mommy with short hair before. Do you like it?"

"Not so much," she says, with the same angelic smile still on her face.

Nice to know that I can rely on her to tell me what she really thinks.

Wedding

We are back from a quick weekend in PA where my niece got married. (I still can't believe I'm old enough to have nieces and nephews who are getting married!) It was a very nice ceremony and the day just flew by.

Both Megan and Matt were in the wedding as the flower girl and ring bearer. Megan performed her duties beautifully. Matt, on the other hand, decided to change things up a bit and kept us all on our toes.

To start with, the wind was blowing slightly and Megan was having a tough time keeping her petals inside the basket. So Matt helped her out by chasing them around and handing them back to her. That was all wonderful and good as we walked towards where the ceremony was being held, however, once we arrived and they had to walk up the aisle, Megan's job was to scatter them for the bride. I guess Matt didn't quite understand that and thought that they were continuing to blow out of her basket. So he continued to pick them up as she scattered them and then gave a handful of them to my sister-in-law as he made his way to the front.

He had also decided the night before at the rehearsal that he really wasn't all that interested in pushing the bubble mower up the aisle. He played with it for hours around the reception hall but when it came to pushing it up front for the ceremony- it was too much trouble it seemed. So on the way back down the aisle, he handed it off to Megan and she carried it back for him. Thank goodness it was a pretty relaxed atmosphere, otherwise I would have been upset that things didn't run perfectly. Instead it provided some comic relief for everyone. Leave it to my rug rats to mix things up a little!

The girls...

The boys (groom on the far left)...

Moon over Misquamicut

Proof that we are raising our kids right. Here's a photo of Matt washing his hands after going to the bathroom...

Remembering...

Today Robert is officially 3 months old. He's growing like crazy and I affectionately refer to him as our "monster baby". It's amazing to me how much a child grows and changes during their first year of life. Three months ago he was a little 8lb 8oz crying, pooping, sleeping infant. Now he's somewhere around the 15lb mark (He was 14lbs 2 oz at his 2 month check-up), he smiles, coos and has begun laughing when tickled. He's now coming pretty darn close to sleeping through the night (bottle at 8:30pm - goes to sleep by 9pm and then sleeps until 5:30am) although not on a consistent basis just yet. He's eating real food now too and has been for over a month and his dinners have consisted of all the stage 1 fruits and vege's at this point. He really is a pretty content baby.

While we had thought that Matt was our last child, Robert came along as a pleasant surprise. Perhaps it was because someone up there decided to bless us with another family member while proceeding to take away another. Because of that, I don't want to take this gift for granted. I'm trying to remember every last detail, every last smell, every last facial expression.

I don't know if Robert really looks like Bob although he looks a lot like Matt when he was this age. Of course Matt looks like Bryan, who looks like Bill, who looks like his Dad... And Robert has Bob's crooked pinkie fingers although they're not as noticeable now that his fingers are so chubby. And Sandy swears that he has Bob's "turtle lips", as she likes to call them. Heck, he has a double chin just like his grandpa did.

So perhaps it's just wishful thinking but wouldn't it be nice if there really was a "transfer of souls" so to speak? Wouldn't it be nice to know that there is still a part of Bob that is with us through Robert? And when he smiles in his sleep as babies do, I'll always think that it's because Grandpa is whispering to him. It's good to know that Grandpa Bob will never truly be gone.

Cankles I understand, but hippos...??

Matt has a way of saying certain words that I find pretty darn funny. And although I know I should be teaching him the correct words, so far I've refused because...well, I'm lazy for one...and with the chaos that surrounds you after having 3 children, one needs to find humor in the little things in order to get by.

One of the words is "elmos". "These are my elmos," he says referring to his elbows. And this one I understand. It's just a mispronunciation of the actual word.

But the other one is "hippos". One might think he is referring to his hips, but no, I assure you that is not it. He's actually referring to ankles. Hhhhmmmm... the only way I can rationalize it is to think about my own ankles which proceeded to disappear towards the end of each of my pregnancies and instead morph into what I affectionately referred to as cankles. (Calves + Ankles = Cankles) So perhaps he is referring to the enormous size of those cankles which were relative to the size of hippos? No? I don't know, this one has me stumped...

I'm back! But I don't have to like it!

After 12 weeks on maternity leave, I have to say just how easy it was to leave the electronic world behind. At first, my guilty conscience ate at me when I wasn't checking email but I quickly got over that. And now that I'm back to work...well I can only imagine that I will have more time to check my email, update the blog, do some laundry, take a shower....oh sorry...I got a little carried away there. But in all honesty, one can accomplish more working a full-time job than you can when spending all day at home with 3 kids.

So what have we done all summer long? Take a look...

Of course, first came the introduction of Robert into our family...

Then Megan "graduated" from pre-k. The ceremony was held the day after Robert and I came home from the hospital. So I apologize for not taking more pictures of the event but let's just say that stitches and metal chairs do not make for a comfortable combination. It was all that I could do to shoot this one picture and unfortunately it's a bit blurry. Here she is accepting her "diploma"...

Along with a visit from his Aunt Chris from Tennessee, Aunt Tam and the girls also came up from PA for a visit. The kids and I also made 2 trips back to PA as well with one of those trips occuring when Robert was only 2 weeks old. He is now a seasoned traveler just like his older brother and sister. (Here are the kids playing at a playground back in PA.)

We also made a trip to Sea Isle City, NJ with some of the family. Here's Robert's first trip to the beach...

Here's Matt, learning how to boogey board. First he started on solid ground...

Then he went into the water with some help from Dad...

From there he was on his own... (and no, I was not quick enough to snap the picture of him getting slammed by another wave and coming up choking and sputtering which resulted in the end of the boogey board lessons. Why? Because I was too busy yapping at Bill for letting him go when the kid doesn't know how to swim. Let's prioritize Bill!! Eliminate the oldest child first and then move on to the younger ones!)

Walking to the lake...

The boys, playing in the ocean...

Matt was often found just staring at the water and giggling...

Exhibit AExhibit BExhibit CExhibit DPosing for Sports Illustrated, Swimsuit Edition...

Megan and Matt, sitting along the water and having fun as the waves pushed them around...

Taylor and Bill...

Zach, the funny kid...

Some good natured rivalry...

Seth...

Goofy Megan...

Mommy Taylor... best babysitter EVER!

Uncle Bill taught Matt how to pop a wheelie - here he is practicing...

Peeking out from the tent...

Uncle Dan, taking Megan on one of many bike rides...

Crazy kid...

Jocelyn...

Taylor...

Dad and Megan...

Matt in a hole...

So now the summer has come to an unofficial end with Mommy going back to work, the boys are at day care and Megan is starting Kindergarten. She's doing well (although her first morning going off to the extended day program was a little teary) and enjoys going to school. She loves to wear a uniform and thinks of herself as one of the big kids now. She also proceeded to tell me last evening while I was tucking her into bed that this year she might get a boyfriend. "Lord, help us!"