Soooo Behind!!

Where to begin?

First...After a lot of thought and prayer, I have decided to become a "stay at home" mommy. It was something I never thought I would ever do in a million years...even up to month 2 on maternity leave I was still planning on going back to work. But then one day...it hit me. I thought about it, prayed about it, and I finally made the decision that, for now, the best thing for me and for the boys is for me to stay at home. Now...I am still working on Monday and Tuesday while the boys are at MDO, so I am still in touch with Almcoe, but I have taken on a much lesser role in the company. I have been back at this "part-time" role now for about 3 weeks and it is wonderful! I am so blessed to be able to do what I do and to even take a step back for a while. I am loving staying at home with the boys...I no longer have to deal with my heart being ripped out every morning as I left for work with a child screaming and crying for you not to leave. I no longer have to rush home at 5 p.m., get dinner on the table, baths done, pajamas on, put kids to bed, try to get in some quailty time, all before bedtime at 7...this is how it used to be. One day I will go back to work, but for now...this works for ME...so this is what I will do.

Second...as mentioned above, Parker started school a few weeks ago. I did not put C on school b/c I still had a nanny at the time that would watch him full time while I was at work. But since the recent developments, I have let the nanny go and got C in MDO on Monday's. I have the old nanny watching him on Tuesdays at our house while I am at work and P is at school. P is doing ok at school. Drop offs are hard. He cries when we walk up, but his teachers assure me he stops very soon after I leave and is great the rest of the day. Mrs. Rosa and Mrs. Collette say the P is their little helper. He helps hand out snacks, helps push the stroller, and never leaves the teachers side. He does not nap on his nap mat, but then again I think they are completely MAD for trying to make a room full of almost 2 year olds stay on a mat with toys in close proximity.

speaking of naps...This past Friday while P was supposed to be napping he was concocting a way to get out of his crib. He came up with a brilliant plan of "just climb out of it". And that he did. I found him standing at the door...not in his crib. So, that was that. The end of the crib. He was moved to his Big Boy Bed that night and did GREAT! He did not fuss, he did not scream, he only got out of bed twice, but went right back into the bed and fell asleep within an hour. Naps are a bit more challenging, but we were able to get him to nap on Sunday. Sweet baby Cooper now has his own bed and has graduated out of the pack n' play.

on to Cooper...He WAS sleeping through the night, but as of the last week we are up at 4 or 5 a.m. He eats, then goes right back down until about 7:30 or 8. I should let him cry it out, but I do not dare let him make a single peep in fear of him waking up Parker in his new "environment". So for now, I will get up, feed the baby (cause he needs more food? CHUNK) and stop complaining about it to all of you.

We made our first road trip with the boys down to New Braunfels over Labor Day weekend. We had so much fun seeing Loli and Pops and Damma. Andy and I also got a chance to go out every night while we were there and meet up with some friends.

Last but not least...The newest (and last, if I had to guess) member of the FAB 5 (also known as the cousins) was born last week. Samantha Joy was born at a whopping 8 lbs 11 oz. She is the sweetest baby girl and I am so lucky to be an aunt to 3 of the most beautiful princesses in the world. Aunt E is gonna spoil y'all rotten!!

our computer is broken, so I don't have any pictures right now. I promise the next few posts will be pics only, but I had to blog all of our "events" cause this sleepy momma was starting to forget the last few weeks.

until then...