Would you like some birth control with that pizza?

We went to Cici's pizza the other night for dinner. Essentially it's like the soup kitchen for large families--or for people who don't feel like spending actual money on dinner. It's a big pizza buffet...totally not my style. Buffets gross me out enough as it is. But one that is aimed at serving families? In other words, LOTS of little hands, sneezes and coughs touching the food that I will be eating. Blech. Anyways, Andy is staying with us this week, so it was myself, Madison, Nathan, Scott and Andy. We find the perfect spot to sit, spend 5 minutes getting settled, me scouring the filthy sticky high chair clean for Nathan, Scott getting drinks for everyone. Madison doesn't have her nice tall glass of red fruit punch for more than 35 seconds when she knocked the entire cup over spilling the contents all over the table, bench and floor. The non-English speaking mexican table busser comes over to clean up and makes the decision for us that we should move tables. Just before moving, Nathan manages to grab a big greasy piece of pizza off Scott's plate, getting it all over his little fingers and then slamming it on the table. The busser then picks up the high chair that Nathan is sitting in and carries him across the restaurant picking a new spot for us. He's lucky the rickety high chair didn't fall apart as he carried my baby boy amongst tables! We attempt to get re-settled at the new table when Nathan sneezes. This wasn't any sneeze. My poor baby has his first cold and without going into too much detail, half the contents of his nose end up all over his face, just as Andy is about to take his first bite of pizza. That's always good for the appetite. Finally settled -- again -- I stand up and notice the lovely aroma of fresh vomit. I look to my left and a little girl two tables over has vomitted everywhere. Herself, the table, the floor...you name it. Does this sound like a fun dining experience? It wasn't. When Andy noticed the display at the next table over he just said "Oh, man!" with a very disgusted look on his face. Then Scott, obviously oblivious to this disastrous dinner says, "What's wrong with you? You need to relax and enjoy dinner!"

Look how fast I'm growing!

Somehow, we've stepped into a time warp and Nathan is already 7 months old. Geez! Last night just before putting him to bed, I sat him in his crib to re-tie his crib bumpers which he repeatedly unties! I looked away for about 2 seconds and when I turned back around, this is what I saw!







What is my baby doing getting up on his knees all by himself!??? Yes, it's time to lower the crib mattress. My baby is growing up! For the last couple weeks, he's been getting up on all fours and rocking. I'm soooo not ready for crawling. I've enjoyed living life without every single thing being babyproofed. But alas, all good things come to an end.

Madison joining in on the fun!

Preschool!

Madison started her first day of preschool yesterday! We've been talking about what it means to go to school for months now, so she was fully prepared. I woke up yesterday morning with a pit in my stomach. Did I really have to drop off my little girl at school and *gulp* leave her there?? On the way to school, she was SO excited. She was talking to Nathan saying, "Nathan, I'm going to school today!!" Meanwhile, mommy is tearing up in the front seat. I didn't let Madison see that! It was so cute to arrive and see all the kids excited for their first day of preschool. When the teacher opened the door, Madison was ready to head on in without even kissing me goodbye! So after the obligatory pictures, hugs and kisses, she said bye and walked right in. I walked back to the car and...you guessed it, I cried. I called Scott, he laughed at me, then I felt better. ;) It's amazing to me that just a year ago she was still very much a mommy's girl, never wanting to leave my side. Now she goes off to preschool alone without a second glance back. I'm so proud of her.

It's been awhile!

Has more than a month really already gone by? It's September, really? Time needs to slow down....NOW.

I've kind of been in a funk lately. Well, sporadically. It comes and goes. I think just daily stressors, lack of sleep, too much to do, too little time...it's all catching up with me and affecting me in a negative way. I wish I had something to blame for the way I'm feeling, but I don't. It's me, it's my lifestyle. I desperately need to find a better way to cope. It's been like this way too long. The saying "life is too short"....it's true. I feel like I have been taking my life for granted and that needs to stop. Life IS too short. You can work hard, plan like crazy, do everything right and then in a split second, life can flip upside down and be nothing what you expected or wanted. No, nothing bad has happened to me/us, but I have this looming fear that something bad is going to happen. How negative is that?? But I do. I'm terrified something bad is going to happen and it sometimes consumes me. I mean, overall, I've had a fabulous life. Awesome childhood, loving parents, a husband that loves me, the most amazing children. Nothing traumatic has ever really happened to me or my family (well, besides the whole sister-disappearing-abandoning-her-son thing). But really, how long can that luck go on? It scares me to even write this out. I like to keep the thoughts inside hoping if I don't talk about my fears, they won't happen. We know that's not true.

On to happier things. Madison starts preschool next week. Wow. My baby is going off to school! Scott and I went to the parent orientation the other night. I had to fight back the tears as the teachers told us that more parents cry on the first day than do the preschoolers. She's right! Madison is excited. And she should be...it is going to be so good for her! And this year instead of ballet, she's decided to try out gymnastics, which she loves. On top of all that, she is also taking a beginning sports class with daddy once a week. The girl is busy!

And Nathan....well besides growing, eating and sleeping, he is busy flirting, smiling, laughing and hanging out. He is such a calm, happy baby. I am taking a mommy and me swim class this fall with him. I did it with Madison as a baby and it was a lot of fun, so how can I let Nathan miss out on that fun? No way!

It's late, I need to go to bed (speaking of sleep deprivation). I WILL be more consistent with blogging!