This Minivan Life

There are three weeks until school starts. If I did happy dances I would be doing one about that. I am SO excited for kindergarten. Ok to be honest I liked school as a kid, I didn't like summer break so I think that starting a new school year is just fun in general. But there's this other part of me, you know the less charitable part, that is so thrilled school is starting in three weeks. You know how there are high energy people in the world... Michael is one of those people. He gets bored easily which makes him cranky and destructive, and leads him to fight with his brother, yell at me, and destroy things... you know what they have a kindergarten? Lots of activities and rules. I think that he's going to love it, you know when he gets over the exhaustion... because let's be honest kindergarten is going to be a rude awakening. No more comfy pants- uniforms only, no more sleeping in, no more destroying things because you're mad, no more "at home" days- this

I must admit that I hate potty training. So far it is one of my least favorite activities as a parent. I really really hate it, I would much rather change diapers than potty train. Michael was relatively easy to potty train, he can be easily bribed, thanks to his potty training experience I think we have every toy from Planes, it was totally worth the money we spent. But Zach... Zach cannot be bribed. Zach is awesome, he is independent and self assured, he has confidence in himself that most of us strive to achieve, but there's a downside, he is stubborn and he cannot be bribed. He will pee in the toilet for Brian, he will not do it at all for me. We've had a lot of accidents. And life is busy, when we were potty training Michael life was busy but Zach was small (like younger than Grace) so he couldn't really move, if it took 25 minutes to pee that was totally fine. And we didn't go many places, that isn't the case now. We are busy, someone always needs something, a

Ok so it's time for a little bit of venting and Mom guilt, please feel free to stop reading, as this is a "journal" I might as well write about it so someday (you know when all my kids can do things for themselves) I can look back and laugh (that painful kind of laugh). Ok so here's the deal, I have quite a bit of Mom guilt lately. I've become a yelling mom, ask my sister, this has not been my finest week- yelling might be too kind a word, let's go with screaming. I want to enjoy my kids (the older two) but lately it is... well tough. I know we all go through seasons in our lives, but this season isn't my favorite (sorta like summer... I mean really who likes months of triple digits? yep no one). It seems like from the moment they wake up until the moment they fall asleep they are screaming at each other, fighting (this has gotten out of control), demanding something, or making a mess. I feel like a hamster on a wheel (cue the Fountains of Wayne song) it

Miss Grace continues to be well... amazing. She really is amazing. This week she started to smile! It happens pretty in frequently but it definitely is moving from gas to controlled reactions to us. She smiles best for Auntie Em, and pretty well for Brian, but not so much for me. She is getting chubby! No really I am pretty sure she is getting close to doubling her birth weight. She continues to be the loudest baby sleeper ever and loves to be cuddled. She is almost always so patient with her brothers. Miss Grace we sure love you!

 After 5 years of boys we finally have a girl. To be honest three boys would have been great two, I didn't have a preference beyond a healthy happy baby. Well I got that and she happened to be a girl. Much to my mom's chagrin I don't tend to dress Grace in the frilliest of clothes. She has a lot of navy blue, green, light blue, etc. She does wear a bow every day but let's be honest those are pretty small and tend to follow the same color scheme. A friend bought Grace this dress, and to say it is really girly is a bit of an understatement. So she wore it to church today, and she looked like a cute little cupcake.

Ok I've missed a few weeks, it turns out that three kids is busy. So Miss Grace. She's amazing, seriously the best baby I've ever met. She is so patient and mellow. She's been to the movies, the park, the pool, the store, the bounce house place, so many places for such a little person. She sits in the baby carrier (the backpack thing) and sleeps. She wakes up, eats, and goes back to sleep as long as you continue holding her. It's amazing. The boys hated the carrier and had to be carried in the carseat- we ditch that as often as possible. She's a chub. There's not really a better way to describe her, it's like someone is inflating Grace. She's getting longer too. I can't believe it, she's not a newborn anymore. But I think chubby babies are happy babies and Grace is a happy baby. She's started to make "cooing" sounds. She likes to talk just as much as her brothers, life is going to get louder soon! She doesn't cry for