Pumpkin Time

My 5 year old

Big monkey turned 5 on Saturday.  I can't get over the fact that he is already 5 years old.  Such a sweet boy.  He really is, I mean sure we have our problems here and there but he is always the first to give his mommy a hug or just let me know how much he loves me out of the blue.  I hope he stays this sweet.  Some woman is going to be a VERY lucky woman one day in the VERY far off future if she snags him.  He does still tell me often that he wants to marry me.  Though last time he also mentioned marrying every girl he knows, but not the strangers!

Lately he has gotten very silly.  Just like most little boys apparently do at this age (and maybe some stay that way forever!).  He cracks up at his own jokes, which are not really jokes but more like "funny" words.  

He is the best biggest brother ever.  I love to watch him with his little brothers, it warms my heart.

We had a riding toy party for him at the local skating rink.  It was so much fun.  Huge place all to ourselves for the kids to ride and ride and ride.  And for me to skate and show my lack of talent on 8 wheels and 2 stoppers!  

Big monkey was pretty good on his skates, here he is dancing to Boom Boom Pow!

Pirate theme all around you scurvy dog!  Great cake from Publix.

And here we are, my first born.  5 years old.  He is just like his mommy, type A personality and all!  Now where is that pause button?

6 months old

Littlest monkey is just over 6 months old now.  Wow has time FLOWN by!  I just can't believe how fast it has gone.  This, while I am planning a pirate skating party for Big monkey's 5th birthday this weekend!  

Look at these monkeys..

Man, am I blessed.

Could they love each other any more?!

Littlest monkey is sitting up on his own now.  We still have a tumble here and there when he reaches for something or just gets distracted.  I really think his chunky legs help him prop up! 

He is also getting up on all fours and rocking!  I could not believe it when I saw it.  The other two were around 7 months when they did this.  I guess being the third he is just ready to get up and go chase those boys.

What a sweet little face.  I could just reach in there and squeeze him, and I do often at home!  He is eating his solids like a champ.  I made prunes last night (really gross thing to try to make by the way) and he tasted them and did not even make his usual what the heck is that you just put in my mouth face, but I did!  

I have not even tried to put him in his own room yet, and I promised myself to do it at 6 months.  I am just having separation anxiety!  I will work on it soon, maybe.

As I mentioned, big monkey is turning 5 on Saturday.  We are having a riding toy party at the skating rink.  I think it is going to be SO fun!  We get the rink to ourselves for 2 hours and the kids can bring whatever riding toy they want to.  DJ, strobe lights, disco ball, I mean what else could you ask for?!?!  Oh, I found glow in the dark swords and masks for the kids.  I think I may be more excited than big monkey!

2557 Days

Okay everyone, only 2557 days until my 40th birthday (or exactly 7 years from today).  So get ready for this...

And this..

And of course this..

Can't. Wait.

But until then, I am looking forward to my trip at the end of the month here..

Think Pink

This past weekend I did the Atlanta 2 day breast cancer walk again.  This year I only walked Sunday because of the baby.  I still did 10 miles (Saturday is 20 miles) and it was so great to be a part of it all again.  My mom and her friends have done this for 3 or 4 years now and it makes me so proud to be part of their group.  

We really get to see some great parts of Atlanta.  This year we ended up at the zoo and my dad met us there with the monkeys.  We ended up spending part of the afternoon there and I decided to play hookie from work Monday since I was so tired by Sunday evening.  

Here we are at the finish line holding on tightly to the monkeys (they were ready to go see the animals at the zoo!).

We sent the bigger monkeys off to the zoo with grandad while we rested with squeaky.  Cutest baby ever!

It was obvious that the recession has hit in many places, and unfortunately it hit the walk too.  Seemed there were less walkers this year, but we still managed to raise over a million dollars to go towards breast cancer research.  

My dad had a great time with the monkeys.  He did such a good job taking care of all three.  I honestly was not worried about them, maybe him a little!  I was glad littlest monkey took a bottle from him.  He seems to be picky about who gives him his bottles, he prefers the nanny!  If you notice the picture, he does have his onesie on backwards.  No biggie!  My dad thought for sure the buttons should go in the front.  It was a good laugh.

Beautiful Noise

This morning was a typical morning, although I did not manage to oversleep due to numerous snooze button pushes so maybe it was not so typical.  I usually get up around 4:30 am or I am in bed with littlest monkey nursing him while half asleep and trying to make myself stay awake so I don't oversleep.  I go about my business and get ready for work, last minute things ready for big monkey and school, or for the nanny and other two monkeys.  

But this morning I woke up to three monkeys in the bed with me.  It was quiet (other than the low hum of the cool mist humidifier we use as white noise) and it was a morning full of beauty and happiness and innocence.  

After my shower I came back into the room and stopped when I noticed all three monkeys in the bed with some part of themselves touching the other, kind of like a reassurance that they were not alone in the world.  It was beautiful.  The only sound was a soft snoring from each one of them and sweet soft sighs coming from littlest monkey.  It warmed my heart.  

It was something much needed and I am glad I had the opportunity to not only witness it, but recognize it.  I will take that with me on my run today to help push through the tough parts, and to my doctor's appointments this week where it will be much needed.

Eventually one by one they woke up and made it be known that they were awake.  I had to fight with big monkey to put eye drops in his eyes (he does not have pink eye but one of his friends does at school and we tend to get it if the disease is even mentioned, so I gave it to him as a preventative measure).  He is not easy to deal with when it comes to medicine.  Little monkey's first words every morning are that he is hungry so I had to deter that until the nanny got there at a decent time for breakfast.  I had to quickly nurse littlest monkey being as I was very near being late by this point.  So things were back to normal, full swing and full of noise.

When putting littlest monkey back in his own bassinet, he made the best noise ever.  You know, that baby babbling noise that sounds like angels singing.  It made my heart warm and happy again.  I wish there was some way to bottle that noise.  I think it would be so wonderful to be able to share it with people in need of an extra push during a stressful time.  To remind us of how simple things really need to be and how much love there is in the world.  I would like to bottle it up and save it for when my babies are grown up and I am missing them.  

Going Green

Okay, so I am the first to admit that I am not the person that is known as the "nice girl".  You know, everyone knows someone who is just labeled as the sweet, nice girl.  And I am just not that person.  Not that I think I am incredibly bitchy or mean (I do have my moments), I am just not overly nice 100% of the time.  No big deal.  Really.  

There are a couple of people at work that really annoy me.  I mean REALLY annoy me.  I try to give everyone a fair share of chances before I just write you off as annoying.  I know that sometimes quirky can come off as annoying at first.  

One coworker in particular makes my stomach churn every time I hear his very loud breathing and shoe shuffling self come in the door (my office is near the front entrance).  I tried to be nice to him.  I work in a scientific field and realize that there are some pretty big nerdy type people in the science field.  My good friend from graduate school and I used to marvel at how cool we were (really just compared to the goobers in our classes).  Somehow we missed the nerdy memo when check marking "biology" as our majors.  But I digress...

This guy drives me crazy because he is so insincere.  At least I am sincere in my bitchiness.  He is a jerky nerd.  Not so nice.  Another coworker is a guy that everyone knows as being quite the recycler  hoarder and trash diver  and he is a nice guy.  But he just came in and offered me an "unused" set of disposable chopsticks.  Yes. Really.  The wooden ones you get for free from the chinese take out.  

This is my Monday!

No cheeseburger in paradise

Okay, so we had our costume showcase and here is my costume for this upcoming season..

We are gypsies.  I am not impressed by this costume.  I am afraid the headband is going to give me a migraine.  I don't understand the random pieces of tulle tied onto the shirt.  At least it is a two piece.  It could have been so much cuter.  It could be worse...

Why would another woman ever purposefully make another woman wear this much cow print?!?!  Women can be so cruel to one another.

And yes, she is carrying a cheeseburger on a platter.  Steak and Shake anyone?

Being as I am still nursing littlest monkey, these flowers would have made my boo-bees look like air balloons. 

There are a couple more that are even worse but I did not get good pictures of them.  A lot of unhappy women after our meeting.  But in reality, they will have consumed so much liquor that it won't matter what they have on!  The worst part is that the president has picked Jimmy Buffett songs for every single float during call outs.  First, I can't stand the music and second, how can you dance to Jimmy Buffett music?!?!  I know he is from around these parts but so what!!!  

Now I need to find some cheep gold heels, but not too high or I might break my neck.  Nothing like breaking your neck with Jimmy Buffett playing in the background!

I've got a feeling

I belong to a Mardi Gras society here in the deep south.  I think this is my 5th or 6th year doing and it is usually lots of fun.  We ride in a parade the week before the actual Mardi Gras.  Our season lasts several weeks beginning some time in January and running until midnight on Fat Tuesday.  My favorite part is the ride.  It is SO much fun throwing junk at people and it is amazing how excited they all get... even the adults!  

After the parade we have a huge ball that takes up the civic center downtown.  Lots of food, booze beverages, music, and revelry to be had that night.  You may remember I was pretty far along in my pregnancy with littlest monkey last Mardi Gras and could not ride.  And then had to endure being sober, swollen, tired, and cranky with a bunch of drunks around.  I still had a resemblance of a good time but am looking forward to the ride this year.
 

So why am I talking about this so far out from the February ride?  Because tonight is our costume showcase!!  We get together and each float has a model show up dressed in the costume we will be wearing for this year's parade.   Up until now, it is supposed to be a secret between our board members and ball chairmen.  I have to admit the secret has been let out and I am a little nervous about the theme and costume.  

Costume showcase usually starts up the exciting buzz about the big night.  My good friend (she is also a member) will be coming into town and I am even more excited to see her.  I will be taking pictures so I may let you all in on the sneak preview too!

Hello World

Okay, seems I took a little break from blogging without realizing it.  I did not mean to, I guess life just got in the way.  Things have been pretty tense at the house of bananas and monkeys for several months and I guess it all just caught up with me and I had a couple of weeks of pity partying.  Well as much of pity partying you can do with a 4 year old, 3 year old, and 5 month old!  But I am working on getting my life back and it started with my voice and is continuing with my fitness (yes, still doing the shred).  Part of me wants to shout out all my problems to the world, but I keep changing my mind, so just bear with me. 

Let me give a brief update on all the monkeys.  Big monkey is still loving school.  He has a "girlfriend" and tells me all the time she just drives him nuts!  Apparently she got into some trouble for kissing him on the cheek.  The funniest is that when she did, he pretended to faint to the floor.  I have no idea where he got this from - so dramatic.

Little monkey is more clingy than ever with me.  Not sure why, but getting up every night with him is getting old fast.  He has really been enjoying soccer  this season, though he would rather just play soccer tag.  

Littlest monkey is not so little.  He has to weigh at least 20 pounds now!  I normally wait until 6 months to start solids but he has been begging for them lately so we caved and I gave him some whole grain brown rice cereal last week.  LOVED. IT.  I could not spoon it fast enough.  He has developed the cutest laugh and does it every time someone comes into the room, or I am doing the jumping jacks during my Shred time.  I could just eat him up.

I have made an executive decision to go to Disney for Halloween.  It may be just the monkeys and me meeting my parents and some other family down there, but that is okay it will be a blast.  I needed something wonderful and fun to look forward to and this popped into my head.  I  have a cousin that lives near there that is like my big brother and we have not seen each other in years so I can not wait to see him and his family.  My aunt and uncle live there and have never met the monkeys so I look forward to that too.   

A Monday to look forward to

Oh, another weekend gone.  But, the best part of today is that it is PAYDAY!  We only get paid once a month so there is one day that I REALLY look forward to at work each month.. PAYDAY! (Of course I also like birthdays because we get cake and ice cream)  

We had a great weekend at home.  Very busy.  Went for a run Saturday morning, then soccer team pictures, then errands, then birthday party.  I was exhausted, but in a good healthy way.

So my voice is wavering.  I figured it would take some practice using it to keep all of the BS going on down to a minimum.  I did not figure it would start to waver already.  Apparently it will be a constant struggle.

One of my best friends in the world has started a blog.  Go check out Trish, she is so cool.. really!!

Stuck at work

I have to complain about being stuck at work on a Friday.  I don't usually work on Fridays so this is like torture for me.  I have been staring at ALL of the crap/clutter in my office and it is making me anxious.  So I have been getting up every few minutes and throwing stuff away.  I can't even tell I have done anything.  I don't understand where all of the crap came from!

The nanny brought the boys by to see me, so it was nice.  I love showing the monkeys off to people.  

Last night I found my voice again (figuratively speaking of course).  I seem to have lost it some time ago between diapers and work and whatever else going on at the time.  But I have found it and I think my friends in real life will be happy to hear that.  I know I am.  I was loud, I was stern, I was angry, I was heard.  It is a good thing.  I feel empowered again.  I feel like Shanna again.  I am going to fight to keep my voice heard, and I will fight hard.  I have the best support system and they are the reason I found my voice.  And I will use it to shout how thankful I am!

On another note, I am already having "why in heck did you do that" conversations with myself over signing on to do Sarah's shred challenge in September.  That starts Tuesday.  I am already coming up with excuses to get out of it.  Don't worry, I will at least give it the old college try.  You all should too!

Finally first day pictures

Okay, so finally I have the pictures from big monkey's first day of school.  He was so handsome if I do say so myself!

He took this toy as his first show and tell!

What a little poser... we have about 20 "posing" pictures.

Little monkey looks like he is about to hurt someone!

And just for good measure!  Littlest monkey gets up on all fours for a very short period of time.  He was worn out by the time I pulled out the camera.

I was home  yesterday watching all four in the last picture.   Four under 4 and 3 of them under 2!  It was not too bad really, the babies were hungry and tired at the same time though.  I hope the nanny gets out of jury duty today or I may be repeating this scenario tomorrow.

Important announcement

I have made the executive decision to go to the Greek Isles for my 40th birthday, any of you want to come?  I will be 33 in October so we have PLENTY of time to save up for an over the top experience.  I am sure that by the time I am 40 I will be ready to leave the monkeys for more than an overnight experience (sort of a joke, sort of).  So I am thinking 10 glorious days traveling around Greece.  Imagine the food, the scenery young and hot greek men , the culture tan bodies , the drinks, the fun times to be had!  Oh, this is what is going to get me through life's difficult times for sure.  So, sign up!  I am not sure if husbands are invited at this point or not, but I will get back to you on that one.

Hello catholic school

Today was the first day of school for big monkey.  Well officially it was his half day evaluation day, but still, I had to drop him off and leave somewhere new.  I will have to say I held it together in front of him.  I was really surprised by the fact that I had to bite the inside of my cheek really hard to keep from bawling tearing up. This started in the van on the ride to school, continued while walking to the classroom, in the classroom, saying goodbye, in the van ride home. I finally called my mom and I lost control (plus my cheek was hurting pretty badly by this point)!  He, on the other hand, was so excited to go to school.  All morning while getting ready he kept asking if it was time to go.  I am so proud to be his mommy!  I hope Friday is not as difficult for me him since it is his actual first full day.

Littlest monkey had his 4 month check up yesterday (just a week or so late).  He is a whopping 16 lbs 11 oz and 26 inches tall.  BIG BOY!!  He has moved up into the 80-90th percentiles for growth.  She said he looked good and his hemangioma on his lip is looking good still.  He got so angry when she looked at his eyes with the little light.  I think he was more angry with that than his vaccinations!  I had to hold him pretty much all night, and no I did not mind one bit!

Little monkey is being  the big boy at home this morning for the first time.  I have noticed that he has been a bit clingy lately and I think part of it has been his anticipation for the big boys being gone and part of it is he is getting closer to 4 and they seem to turn into royal turds at age 4!  I think he will have a good time with his nanny though and really look forward to seeing him grow on his own without big boys to monkey after!!

I like me

Okay, this took a LOT longer than it should have but here is my list of things I like about myself.  I got this idea from Amber and the Extreme Makeover : Me Edition that I seem to have dropped out of for the time being.  I am doing this to look back on when I am having a bad day.  It seems I have let my self confidence slide and am in need of a major makeover in this area.  

1.  I am a good mom.  I love my boys and I think that is something people can see right away about me.  I am constantly thinking about them and have their happiness in mind.

2.  I am a good friend.  I may not always call when I should, or send cards on birthdays, but I do think about my friends quite often and would drop everything if they needed me. 

3.  My legs are quite nice looking.  I especially like their form since I started running again a couple of years ago. 

4.  My teeth are pretty.

5.  Organization skills.  I am a pretty great list maker!

6.  I am a pretty smart person.  I have some good brains up there and usually can use them pretty well!

7.  I am a good person.  Yes, I may gossip at times, but I do genuinely care about people.

So, lucky 7 I guess!  I will probably be visiting this post quite often to remind myself why I should like myself.

Bald is beautiful

I have finally reached that point post partum when my hair starts falling out, and I mean REALLY falling out.  I know that it happens to all moms, but it does not make it any less annoying.  I run my fingers through my hair (bad habit I have) and there is a huge wad of hair.  Wash my hair and there is a hairball the size of a small rodent in the bathtub.  Comb my hair after getting out of the shower and cleaning up the small rodent of hair, and there is a mass in my comb.  My hair is EVERYWHERE!  I have it all over my clothes, van, office, house, kids, I mean EVERYWHERE.  Thank God I have a Dyson!

School Shopping

Friday, the monkeys and I went school supply shopping for big monkey.  Our first school shopping experience.  I think overall, it went quite well.  We ventured out on Tax Free weekend, but got out pretty early Friday morning trying unsuccessfully to beat the crowds.  I did not do my usual bargain hunting.  We simply went to target and got everything we could off of the list.  I let big monkey pick out his backpack and lunch box/bag to help get him excited about the whole idea.  He picked G.I. Joe even though he has never heard of G.I. Joe before.  He wanted the soldier one, sort of made me proud considering I am an ARMY brat and all!  I am going to have to pull out some pictures of my dad in uniform so I can really impress the monkeys.  

I did manage to get some pretty good bargains at Gymboree, using gift cards earned on my Gymboree Visa, coupons, and the big sale.  I love coming home with a bag full of clothes for barely over ten dollars.  

Saturday morning I had to go to a soccer coach training session/breakfast.  The first 20 minutes or so were spent listening to church propaganda, which is how this usually goes down.  The program is so good though, it is worth the time... besides who doesn't benefit from some extra time with God?!  I did however, realize that Tuesdays are about to get incredibly hectic around here.  I also found out that our head coach (I am just the assistant) is a woman again this year and I am happy for that.  Why do I let the men intimidate me so much?!  We are the wolverines.  Big monkey was excited about that while little monkey said he was not going to be a wolverine... great start to the season!

What I did on my summer vacation

We all had a great time at the beach last week and I wish it could have been longer.  Why is it that vacations go so quickly?!  The monkeys had a blast.  Lots of playing in the water and digging in the sand and all of us being spoiled rotten by grandad and gigi!! Big monkey tried to convince me to buy a house at the beach the entire trip home Wednesday.  I will have to say I would in a heartbeat if it was feasible.  There were many firsts that came with our vacation.  Littlest monkey had his first trip to the white sandy beaches, first swim in a big pool, first nap on a lounge chair at the beach, and first laugh (score another one for grandad).  Both big and little monkey jumped into the pool without anyone catching them for the first time, had their first go cart ride, had their first "surfing" experience (ask big monkey and he says he is a GREAT surfer), fed an alligator for the first time, and big monkey even ate alligator for the first time.  I can't say enough how great the trip was and how much it was needed.  

We enjoyed spending time with my uncle, aunt, and cousins.  Big monkey was quite the entertainer, it was confirmed even more so how much little monkey looks like that side of the family, and littlest monkey was in heaven being held the entire time!  We were all very sad to leave for home, but looking forward to going back soon.  Here are some great pictures of our fun times.

Big monkey buried in the sand - they love to do this!

Little monkey covered in sand - he may be eating it here!

Cousins in their hole to China.

Squeaky slept like this for a long time!

This past weekend we went and had pictures taken of all three monkeys.  They turned out pretty good.  I will have to say I was dripping in sweat trying to get the stinkers to all cooperate at the same time - thank goodness I was not in them!  Big monkey tried to take the background down, little monkey refused to pose the way the photographer wanted him to (apparently he had his own way), and little monkey was on the verge of nap time.  It was a bit hectic, but we made it and here are a few of the results.

Big monkey.

I could not get this to stay rotated correctly, oh well.

Little monkey.

Squeaky.