September: 2 stars; do not recommend

 THIS MONTH HAS BEEN ROUGH.

Virtual school limped off to a... limpy... start, and we have just now hit the wall where Cooper does no work and whines all day. Meanwhile there are ZERO cases at their elementary school, and I feel like we made a dumb choice.

My semester is about 50% rougher than usual to start. I am optimistic that most of these issues will resolve themselves as we all get our sea legs, but who knows.

Extracurriculars have started back up with a vengeance, and we are just so out of practice at being busy that we have a hard time with all the coming and going and pick up and drop off. And of course the fear that someone will get sick doing whatever they're doing adds an extra layer of crappy.

Minnie has been sleeping terribly after months of sleeping great, and I feel like a total zombie. At the same time, harry and Jack stay up as late as Ben and I do, so then Ben and I try to stay up even later so we can hang out AND PLUS ALSO I get up early to exercise and maaaaaaaaybe work a little before the day begins.

We started working at work again, and that's also very hard when you are used to working at home. We have to leave the house SO DAMN EARLY. For the most part both of us enjoy it when we get there, but there are lots of moving pieces.

This has been a month of new routines and new adjustments, and even though it's been an actual month, I still feel like we are just easing in. Cheers to a new month, pumpkin everything, fall cheer, babies in plush Halloween costumes, etc.

Even more popular than slime? FIGHTING ABOUT SLIME.

She's been eating roasted squash at every meal.

Cutest fall cake pop

Look at the mess Dorothy made between the time I tucked her in and the time I checked on her before I went to bed:

Minnie and I are loving adding layers to our favorite summer dresses these first early fall days:

Healthy eating reset?

 I am writing this AS I AM EATING a handful of M&Ms. And not my first handful.

BUT. YOU GUYS.

My eating habits were so great but they have sloooowly started to go to total hell.

New month, new routines, though, right? RIGHT? Right.

So. A few things that will help:

1. BIGGER BREAKFAST. I have been eating one piece of peanut butter toast and about 6 cups of black coffee. The peanut butter is a step in the right direction, but I need more protein, WATER, and some fruit

2. MORE WATER. I was doing so well at this and drinking a gallon a day, but my habits have lapsed, and I am struggling to drink my water bottle more than twice. Ideally, I would be refilling it 4 times. (The gallon bottle always laying around really lost its charm, but maybe I can drag it out.

3. PACK MY LUNCH. Lunchtime is hectic, and packing a salad the night before even if I am just going to eat it in my own kitchen is for sure what I should be doing.

4. MAYBE EASE UP ON THE BAKING. 

5. TEA FIRST AT NIGHT. I love my spicy nighttime tea, but I have stopped making it for myself, falling, instead, face-first into some cheese or ice cream. I need to drink tea first and go from there.

The biggest thing I need to keep in mind is that taste is just the tip of the ice berg. I need to think about how food makes me feel after I have eaten it. Lately I feel... not good after my junk food indulgences.

Yay for a month of healthy eating capped off with an obscene Halloween candy binge, huh? Bring it, October.

I just want to sleeeeeeeeeeep

 I have to wake Minnie up in 6 minutes so we can go on an hour+ pick up/drop off loop from hell, and I just cannot even. How can I wake a baby who sleeps like crap? Shouldn't I be cultivating sleep?

This morning, I said to Ben, "The closest I ever came to murdering you was last night when Minnie woke up." And he replied "When did Minnie wake up?" And I just sort of rage sputtered for a moment before we fought for 30 minutes over what to have for dinner in light of swim team practice times (which are not included in the aforementioned drop-off/pick-up look AND I JUST WANT TO GO TO BED AND STAY THERE FOR 8 HOURS IN A ROW.

Someday.

Another successful FAST FOOD TUESDAY (which should be our dinner plan on Tuesdays because day-um)

I love her so mjuch, even if she is a sleep-shunning robot.

Family movie Fridays! The return!

 OK. Family movie Friday is baaaaaaaaaaaack, and I for one am loving it.

Even though we have 2 big couches AND a recliner in the basement, everyone was fighting over furniture like a bunch of a-holes, so I went to At Home (OMG I love that store so much) and bought 4 giant floor pillows. PROBLEM SOLVED. HA.

I also took Corey's advice and outsourced the food and movie planning to the family. We each get a week and on that week, we have to pick the movie, dinner, and snacks. Then the person who got to pick picks who goes next. We are only 2 weeks in and so far Ben delighted everyone with ET, pizza from the golf course restaurant, and the full weekly Crumbl menu. Then Cooper selected Tommy Boy, pizza from an old favorite place (Ben and I got salads because we are old), and DQ ice cream cake. Dorothy is up this week, and she is excitedly pondering her options-- and has been since the moment the Tommy Boy credits rolled,

Friday nights are something we all look forward to!

 

SLEEEP REGRESSSSION

 OH my gosh! Babies are for the YOUNG.

Minnie has started WAKING UP AGAIN at like 1 and 4. Or sometimes the second one is at 5:30, and THEN SHE STAYS AWAKE which royally effs my exercise time in the early AM, which I need now that we are both back to work at our real offices and I just **head explodes**

But! SHE IS PRESHUS

Even first thing in the morning. Which should still be the middle of the night.

HOUSE HUNTERS

 WE NEED A BIGGER HOUSE. And by need, I mean want. And by want I mean we also still want to waste all of our money on bullshit AND have a bigger house, so...

Like, would I rather have 1000 more square feet and a kitchen table that everyone fits around it in a room that fits a bigger kitchen table or do I want a Baby Yoda coat whenever I want one?

TRICK QUESTION: BOTH.

WE WILL KEEP YOU POSTED.

Next week

 I am going to be kinder to future Sarah.

Present Sarah is really effing tired at night (and last night, she had a period so terrible she wanted an epidural), but! (And now I am going to stop with the third person). When I can spend 15 minutes-- or even a half an hour-- prepping my next day, everything goes better≥

This can be as simple as getting the kids' school stuff out and making sure the coffee is ready to go and all the dishes in the sink have been put away. I I can also sort the next day's laundry and get a load ready to go in the washer, soap, and bleach and all, so all I have to do is push a button, EVEN BETTER.

Making sure everyone has a lunch packed is next-level awesome. I want the kids to do this while I clean up dinner, but it doesn't always happen. I also like to pac my own lunch even when I am home at lunchtime because it is hectic enough getting hungry Minnie a bite to eat-- I don't always have time to make myself something healthy.

Making Dorothy and Cooper a checklist for the enrichment work they do alongside their regular school work is REALLY GOOD.

Last week, I even made a freaking lasagna from total scratch (except the noodles) while watching TV.

Bonus: All of this activity means I have less time to sit on the couch and shove things in my face hole. TOTAL WIN.

ALSO WINNING:

This outfit

This terrible picture at dance

FLU SHOTS FOR ALL!

Inadvertent Slow Down

 Ok, first things first: you need these PJ pants. THEY ARE HEAVEN. I am worried I will wear them outside the house which would be terrible because they are SO UGLY. But wow. The most comfortable pajamas ever.

We have had an unexpectedly low key week because of 2 bummer things:

1. Harry has pericarditis-- no effusion, but a week of chest pain and exhaustion. He told us he was having chest pains on Thursday night. We saw the cardiologist on Friday, and he stayed home Friday and every day this week so far. He feels better and is going to try school tomorrow, but he plans to call for a ride home by lunchtime if he is feeling bad. SO. He has been home to help with Minnie, which has been great and turns out is something I really missed these past weeks. And also, he couldn't start tennis, so we decided to wait until next month when a new session starts to fold that into our schedules.

2. Someone on Cooper's swim team has covid. The person came to practice a week ago (with no symptoms), got sick Friday last week, and had a positive test on Monday, which is when the club reached out to the rest of the team-- RIGHT AS WE WERE LEAVING FOR PRACTICE. The coach said that according to the county none of the kids was a close contact (HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE-- THEY SWIM WITHOUT MASKS), so practice was on like normal. We decided, though, to keep both kids out all week just to make sure no one else gets sick. SO. No swimming-- also a bonus in terms of business. (But Cooper really missed it.

ALSO! No dive this week because there's something wrong with the indoor pool where the kids dive-- it has also caused the swim schedule to be a mess.

So, we are busy, but not as busy as I feared we'd be.

Minnie has also enjoyed having Harry home

I did a mini LEGO challenge with Cooper, where I gave him a bag of LEGO and asked him to use every piece to build a vehicle and there he was like 8 FREAKING MINUTES LATER.

Having a snack. Like you do.

I love my new glasses, but she might have worn them better.

The sweetest sisters:

Picture day for this handsome kid

Walking Baby Who Walks

Same video posted in 2 places, so don't think I have 2 videos here LOL 

I hope I never forget her little babbling, lip smacking, arm waving walk-- so much so that I put this video on both YouTube AND Blogger.

With the new leap has come BAD SLEEP, which is always harder to deal with when you have been experiencing GOOD SLEEP. But! She is so stinking adorable walking around shorter than the kitchen table (seriously, she just cruises right underneath it) that I don't even care that we're zombies, and that she is a tiny tornado throwing stuff off shelves and leaving chaos in her wake.

Also, let's talk eating pickles:

And crawling up the stairs:

(I am always delighted when I come upon old videos of the other kids, so I want to sprinkle them like breadcrumbs here)

 

Weekending

 Minnie woke up at 5 am and was pretty insistent. I thought if I fed her, she would go back to sleep-- and she did for a minute, but I couldn't, so I got up to do a little work-- just odds and ends I thought I could cross of my list, and now she is crying, but it's not even 6 am. BAH HUMBUG.

Love catching Dorothy reading-- happens more and more often

Sometimes we even read together

Seesters

Ben's parents spent the day with us yesterday, and we had a blast

(A hot blast)

Minnie is a writer!

Being a walking baby is exhausting

Rhythmless

 I cannot find a rhythm, you guys. 

Part of this is because the little kids don't really start virtual school until next week (last week was a joke, and this week, they have substitute teachers and many broken links). Part of it is that Minnie STILL does not have a consistent morning wake time, so I can't **really** bank on early AM work or workout time. Part of it is that Ben's schedule is up in the air. He always is WFH on Mondays and Wednesdays, and he always works from the office on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but Fridays he is mostly gone but sometimes home, and there's no rhyme or reason. When we have things like ortho appointments (turns out Dorothy's mouth is metaphorically big but literally quite tiny because she is getting a palate expander), he usually is the one to take sick time because Minnie can't wear a mask or go inside anywhere, meaning he is unexpectedly there to drive a kid to school, but not always and it's just A LOT FOR ME because I am someone who thrives on routine. And also! The kids' winter swim club has started up, but the schedule is a total shit show because there's a lifeguard shortage. I mean, you guys, the schedule looked intimidating from the get-go because the club doesn't have a dedicated pool, so the kids rotate around the indoor pools in town, but then one of the pools has no lifeguards and other one is having water filter problems and it is all very on-the-fly and head-explodey. Like, I am not someone who can just be like oh okay 4:45pm email that turns my night on its ear. No problem. And! Dorothy is doing dance team, (adorbs) and taking 3 additional dance classes starting next week AND Harry starts playing tennis 4 nights a week PLUS debate and speech season is beginning AND Jack is trying out for his fall play and OH YEAH Cooper and Jack are doing winter dive team, but the fall schedule isn't final yet and OH MY GOD.

And if you are reading this and thinking what the hell lady I thought you were so COVID-conscious you are having your unvaccinated kids do school at home, let me tell you: Harry and Jack are vaccinated, so we are OK with them doing school and low-risk activities. They wear 3M N95 masks with back up KN-95's in their bags. Neither of them is playing an especially dangerous sport, etc. Dorothy and Cooper are staying home, and we have vetted their activities carefully. The dance studio, for example, has completely redone its ventilation and everyone wears masks all the time. Both swim and dive are very safe, spaced out, and require masks on the pool deck. We decided those activities would be a better use of their interaction budgets. We will see how it goes **grimace emoji**

Library story walk: our favorite

Working on their books:

She's plugged in to Alexa listening to Britney Spears "Toxic." I AM SO PROUD

Minnie was wearing the cutest leopard-print denim skinny jeans of Dorothy's, but they were so tight she couldn't walk (and they were an 18-24 month-- I love her so much)

I know there are 4 other kids in this house, but Minnie is the only one who just learned to walk

She is skeptical, but that's mainly because she's wearing shoes, and shoes are weird.

She cannot even believe that Dorothy and Cooper can climb all the way up the play structure.

WALKING! I hope she doesn't lose her rubber band wrists now that she toddles.

It was a double park day the other day-- what can I say?

You guys! Pancakes are a delight.

I love when she destroys Elsa's castle.

Taking Jack to school is exhausting.

 

First day of class!

 Apparently we need a line item in our budget for masks now.

And also, our local library recycles masks, so that's awesome. I am setting up a bin the garage for used N95's and we will take them in on Library Thursday, which was such a hit this summer we are rolling with it all year long.

Speaking of library! I am in a reading rut. Like, I have not been reading AT ALL. If it wasn't for my audiobook habit, I'd be getting NO BOOKS. NONE. I keep telling myself it's because I am so busy, but I have all the time in the world for mindless scrolling, so that literally cannot be it.

I almost lost my shit in a coffee shop today because it was the first time I have been in an indoor space with naked-faced people. I just had to keep telling myself that if the baristas are not getting sick, I am not going to get sick waiting for my latte. and then I left and waited outside for it which was awkward, but I felt better.

I was even more awkward than usual in my lecture today, and that's really saying something because damn! I am awkward on the regular.

It has been humid and gross outside since the very minute I got bangs, and today is no exception. Also, MY HAIR IS SO GRAY.

It is a luxurious delight to be back working in a room of my own, and I will never take it for granted again.

We pulled off the sweetest little surprise...

...surprise PARTY that is-- for Cooper's birthday.

He thought he was just taking a walk with me and Minnie and Jack while Ben,. Harry, and Dorothy ran a fish-tank-related errand. But really Ben and Harry and Dorothy were corralling 15 kids at the school playground so when the rest of us walked by, everyone could jump out and yell surprise. AND BOY WAS HE. (Dorothy was happily playing with a couple of friends on the school playground because she is a leaker and couldn't be trusted to even walk across the street in a way that wouldn't inadvertently or not spoil the party).

I saw all the kids before they said surprise, Cooper told me. But my brain needed a second to catch up.

A whiffle ball party!

With giant cupcakes

Minnie was a fan, too.

HER MASK THO

 

Happy birthday Cooper!

CAN YOU BELIEVE HE'S TEN?!?!