School is cool.

A month in to this pre-school thing and I'm prepared to eat my previous opinions on the whole 'pushing kids so fast' thing. I've been the mom helper twice now and it's nothing like how I thought it would be.

They do nothing but play and make crafts and run around and have snack. There's no formal teaching. And I like that. I'm not a mompetitor *snicker*. I figure if he's not doing advanced calculus by kindergarten then I might have to step in. Right now we're cool with numbers and colors and shapes.

One thing though, and this was completely out of the blue. Pre-school has turned my formerly independant and full-of-energy kid into a major lazybones.

Months upon months ago, we got rid of the double stroller. Nicky hated being confined and was mature enough to handle walking next to the stroller without running off and getting killed by a moving vehicle. So now we have a regular 'ol Graco for Josh and it's been so nice to not push around a monstrosity.

Except now Mr. Lazybones has claimed the basket for his own. Which, okay he fits down there. And he's not a heifer so he's not breaking it. But damn. Now I look like some kind of welfare mom who couldn't afford to spring for a double stroller for her two closely-spaced kids with different baby-daddies.

Don't believe me? One of the moms at school stopped me one day and offered me her used double stroller that she has no need of anymore. I sputtered some nonsense about having one and getting rid of it-I probably didn't make any sense. I was a little mortified. I'm pretty sure I flashed my wedding ring so that she would know I was a respectable woman.

So all in all, this pre-school has been a positive experience. My own insecurities aside of course. And the 3 hour break twice a week? Priceless. It's given me a taste of what life will be like in 2 years when he starts kindergarten and Josh is in pre-school too. I find myself very much looking forward to it.

Brothers

It's interesting to watch my children interact with each other. I swear, I could sit and watch them for hours and marvel over how their personalities are emerging.

Except for when Liam is pinning Nicky down and that god-awful screech starts. When that happens I do not marvel. I get pissy.

When Nicky was born, Liam was over the moon excited to have a brother. It was awesome for the first few months when Liam could love on him and Nicky didn't really have much choice in the matter. Babies, after all, are pretty helpless.

After a while Liam figured out that it's also fun to bug brothers. So that started. And so it went like this: Liam would bug Nicky. Five minutes later Liam would want to cuddle him. Nicky, remembering the torture that went on just prior, would protest. Loudly.

As it stands right now, they bug each other, and yell at each other, and every six months you'll find them cuddled up and watching a t.v. show.

Liam tried the same games with Josh but he quickly figured out that the torture doesn't bother Josh as much as it did Nicky. As a result, things are much more friendly between those two. That's NOT to say he doesn't pick on Josh too, it's just that he doesn't get the same reaction so he doesn't do it as often.

And how are things between the two youngest, you might ask?

Nicky would throw Josh under the bus in a New York minute. It's actually the cutest thing to watch, but it's also totally selective. Typical scenario:

They're both in bed and we hear somebody running around the room, turning on lights, pulling out dresser drawers and emptying them, turning up the radio volume. In goes Daddy to give 'em shit and Josh has a huge smile on his face and is nodding his head as Jeff scolds him.

Here's Nicky. "I'm being a good boy daddy. I didn't get out of my bed. Josh is being a bad boy daddy, give him trouble. He needs a spank".

Repeat as necessary for any number of situations. It happens 15 times a day. And I'm pretty sure Josh is not the only one doing naughty things. He just doesn't talk as well as Nicky does yet.

Like I said, it's very interesting to watch their personalities in regards to each other develop. Liam's the bully, Nicky's the brown-noser, and Josh is the scapegoat.

Hm, maybe next time I should write a post highlighting their more endearing qualities? They do have them, I swear.

Holy stinky feet, batman.

Liam has this friend. They hang out every day, so you could probably say they're best friends. Mention that to either one of them though and you'll get a 'look' and they'd say they're just friends.

God, 12 year olds are so weird.

But about this friend. Over this summer puberty has hit him (and Liam) with a vengeance. And along with all those lovely puberty 'things' has come overactive sweat glands. He's got the personal hygiene thing down, but he forgot one little thing.

He can't wear his runners without socks anymore.

I've noticed the stink a couple times in the past month. And I've ribbed him about it once or twice and he takes it with a grin. He knows. And he's taken to wearing socks now.

But DAMN. I think his runners are ruined because he slept over last night and it's all I could smell.

Without hesitation, I filled a bowl up with warm water and grabbed some soap and took it downstairs to him. And he was sheepish about it and I TRIED not to embarass him. But I did explain to him that it was probably his shoes that were making his feet smell like Doritos.

I was pretty close to throwing his shoes outside too, but I restrained myself.

I'll betcha he'll be getting new shoes sometime in the near future. Y'know, with junior high starting tomorrow he's got to make a good first impression with the ladies. And stinky feet is NOT how any boy or man wants to be remembered.

To my Joshy.

This is gonna be quick and dirty, since I'm out of time this morning. Today is blog hop day and it's dedicated to my youngest monster.

Josh. You were 100% a suprise and at first not a happy one. Maybe that's not nice but it's true. Your brother was only 8 months old when we found out about you and I really couldn't see past the scariness of having two kids only 16 months apart.

Then the excitement came, along with the knowledge that things always work out. I started hoping for my long-awaited girl. The ultrasound tech even gave me hope but in the end she couldn't get a good enough shot of your goods to tell me for sure.

I didn't find out you were a boy until you were born and for a split second my heart dropped. Again, not nice but it's the truth. And then came the love. I know boys. I knew I had this one in the bag.

And you would have made a horrible girl. You are a little boy through and through. I couldn't imagine you any other way, with your weekly fat lips, constant scrapes on your knees, and crazy yell.

I'm proud to tell people I'm a mother to all boys. It feels like I'm in a special club. When I think about you and your brothers I just can't imagine any other dynamic for our little family. You guys are rough and tumble and just love each other so much.

So Josh, thank you for being the best suprise and thank you for being you.

**blog hop ladies, I'm out of time for tagging so leave your link either in the comments here or on my facebook page. Lets get some traffic going!

Back from hiatus.

It's official, my last baby is not a baby anymore. I'm not at all sad about this.

In fact, I can't wait until he's a little bit older and calms the eff down already. Although...if we're being completely honest I think that is more to do with his personality and not so much to do with his age. This youngest one is a bit of a party animal. And he's wild. SO WILD.

It's been about a week and a half that he's completely weaned off the boob. Okay, so he'd been down to only in the morning for the past couple months but still. It's nice to be done for good.

One more thing that pushes Josh from baby straight into toddler with no chance of looking back? He's regularily climbing out of his crib. And not even the climbing up to the top and then falling down to the floor version, he scales that thing like a monkey.

Looks like we'll be dusting off the trusty toddler bed this weekend. That $150 purchase 10 years ago has surely been put to good use. Even though it's ugly as hell. But there's no way I could bring up the idea of buying another bed. Because numerous people would agree that I probably have a bit of a problem buying childrens beds.

Liam is 12 and he's had...6? Ya, I think 6 different beds, including his crib and toddler bed.

But now that we've brought up the subject, how cute would matching beds and blankets look in there? I'm thinking IKEA (of course) Malm beds, in a light color to match their dresser. With a bookcase between them...

I should probably go back to cleaning the house now. Best not to keep going down that path.

T-five hours!

Today is the day I'm finally doing something I have been talking about for years and years. I'm chopping the hair off.

Little nervous. Mostly excited.

I showed Jeff the picture I sent to my hairdresser (the talented Monica of Dare Your Hair) and here's what I got:

'You're going blond too? How about red...or black, black would be hot. Like your hair at Halloween...' (and on and on and rawr and blah blah blah).

It's going chocolate brown honey, sorry.

I was describing the cut to Liam, and in typical 12 year old boy fashion, this is what I got from him:

'You're going to look like a boy. I'm not sure that'll be a good look for you.'

Thanks for the honesty kid. How about this. You look like Justin Beiber. Snap.

Stay tuned for the big reveal. I'm hoping I don't look like a big huge idiot that made an unfortunate hair choice.

My time is now precious.

I never realised how much of a cut my time would take, what with me having a part time job and all.

I haven't stepped foot inside of a gym in two weeks and my waistline is SO PROTESTING. One could say that to compensate I should cut my caloric intake. That would be smart. I am apparently not that smart.


Also, my kids are having a hard time with me leaving them a couple days a week to go to work. As I'm writing this, I've come to the realization that their recent whining is a direct result of this. They're used to having my undivided attention every moment of the day and it's taking some getting used to.

That said...I'll be making more of an effort to figure out how to get to the gym at least 3 times a week. Perhaps a bike is needed so that I can get there quickly during the day while at least Josh is sleeping . This is where Liam makes the big bucks with babysitting.

And the kids being whiney little a-holes? That's where me getting down on their level more often will come into play. They just miss their mommy, and maybe now that I understand this it will translate into me being more patient with them. They're just almost 2 and 3 after all. And they need this opportunity to become more independant of me.

I don't think we need to contemplate whether the 12 year old misses me. Especially at this moment when he's restricted to the house after a less than stellar 3rd term report card. Oh the joys of parenthood.

Honestly though, some days it's a joy to walk out the door. I probably need this just as much as they do. Ahhhhh.