Paper Towels

Today I decided to take the kids for a story book walk.  I had read about it in our community magazine and thought the boys would enjoy it.  Plus the walking path led to a park, so I figured the boys could play for a while there.  But like anything at this point in our life…there is always a problem to solve
{3 kids-2 seats in the double stroller}------what to do?  I came up with several options that would make only the "best" moms turn their noses up at me…so I decided the best option was to use my ergo carrier for Blakely (even though she doesn't make the minimum 12 pounds yet!) and the boys in the stroller.

And just like with anything and everything we do now…strategery is required.  I have to put the kids in and out of the van and strollers in a certain order…I can't lift two babes at the same time.  And because I was using the carrier with Blakely, she was the last out of the van.  Riley in the front seat of the stroller and Tate in the back…extra key in pocket…water bottle…sun glasses…phone…pacifier...we were ready!

As I expected, the boys loved the story book walk.  The book was The Mitten, a little boy who loses his mitten in the winter and a variety of animals snuggle inside it while it's missing.  There were 20 posts, each with a new page…we would stop and read each page along the path.

Like I said earlier…the plan was to continue on the path to the playground, what I didn't mention was that the playground is 1.6 mile from the story path (I am well aware, that means 1.6 mi there and 1.6mi back)  But I wasn't worried, I haven't been the gym in a while and I needed a good kick in the rear. 

And were off…

I was getting a lot of double takes from passer-bys and one man pushing his toddler in a stroller said "Holy! Cow! That's Incredible!"  I would assume he was talking about me walking with 3 kids and not my fantastic physique.   Everything was grand, until we got to a hill…it was a long hill too.  I literally had my head between my fits pushing the stroller up this insanely steep hill.  Riley kept saying "why are we going so slow!?"  We FINALLY got to the park and I let the boys out to play.

I took Blakely out of the carrier (which she loved-slept the whole time) and laid her in the back seat of the stroller.  We played for about 20 minutes before Blakely started fussing.  I went and checked on her…she pooped and not just a little poop, an up the back, out the sides poop.  So I went to grab a diaper…where are the DIAPERS!?  I swear I packed diapers…CRAP!  Again, like the stroller dilemma…I had to come up with an idea that those "perfect" mom's wouldn't even consider.  Do I wash her off in the drinking fountain?  Do I wrap Riley's shirt around her?  Maybe I could take Tate's diaper off of him and put it on Blakely…oh decisions…decisions…then-

LIGHTBULB!

I checked the bathrooms at the park,  and sure enough there was a roll of paper towels.  

I took off the dirty diaper, wiped her clean with a damp paper towel, then fashioned a ghetto white trash diaper out of paper towels.  

The diaper {of sorts} worked and since I was so sweaty from the 1.6 miles to the park and the 1.6 miles back to the van, I hardly noticed her peeing all over me!  :)

Preschool

Riley started preschool today.  It's a new school this year (Indianola Preschool Inc.) He goes Monday, Wednesday and Friday 8:20-11:15.  Last night was orientation…I stayed home with Tate and Blakely…and Ryan took Riley.  All the kids were getting their pictures taken for class…some kids weren't cooperating and some kids were crying, Riley walked right up…gave a wink and smile and went on his way…

He is in a class of 3 and 4 year olds…which leaves him on the older side.  The class description says the curriculum this year will consist of:

1) recognizing his name (Riley can recognize, spell and write his name ***SHAZAM!!!**)

2) identification of some upper case letters (Riley knows his whole alphabet big and small, can write all the letters, can tell what sound they make and is starting to sound out letters to spell words**BooYAA!**)

3) Reinforcement of colors (Please…we've know this since 18 months!)

4) verbal counting to 20 (CHECK!  he can count to a hundred…though he does skip 28-99, he can also recognize and write numbers 1-20 )

5) Basic Shapes + oval and rectangle (he knows them all…including octagon and crescent ***how do ya like them apples!***)

6) correct pencil grip and scissor cutting (ok, they've got me here…I have never given him scissors)

7) cutting a straight line (again I don't give my boys a potential weapon…thanks to kung fu panda)

He was really excited to go…he has a cold and isn't feeling the greatest.  Luckily it was only a half session today, to make the transition easy on the kids... so today he went from 10:05-11:15.  

So my morning went like this:

6am-feed blakely

7am- get boys up and eat breakfast

8am-Tate nap

9am- feed blakely

9:45- get riley dressed and in van (with movie playing of coarse)

9:50- change blakely's diaper and put in van

9:55- get tate up, change diaper and in van

10am arrive at preschool

I brought an extra set of keys…so I could lock the van and keep it running while Tate and Blakely wait for me to drop Riley off (I really can't come up with a better solution, I hope no one calls DHS on me)  I park right in front of the preschool and walk a short side walk to the building.  Riley walked right up to the door, didn't look back at me once…hung his back pack up under his name…and found a toy.  When I picked him up he said "Thanks for picking me up mommy!"  

He told me he played candyland, dinosaurs and trucks.  He stood on a line and went potty. 

He had fun!

Daddy Has Hair!?

{picture taken October 2006}

I was searching through some old photos and came a crossed Ryan and mine's engagement photos…Sigh…..I didn't even recognize myself, I zoomed into see NO WRINKLES…NO BAGS UNDER MY EYES.  All I saw was a 22 year old girl who clearly got 10 hours of sleep at night.  The longer I looked at the picture, the more depressed I got.

Then Riley came over to the computer,  I for sure thought he wasn't even going to know that was me in the picture or say something about me looking different.

But what he said was…"IS THAT A PICTURE OF YOU AND DADDY!!???? HEY! DADDY HAS HAIR!!!!!"

Whew!  I guess it's not so bad after all :)

Girls are more fun...

To dress
I am loving dressing this little beauty every morning.  While she looks fancy, the rest of us stay in our pjs

AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!

Today was the BIG DAY!

The day we had been talking about since Tate's birthday party…

Riley's Avenger Party!!!!!

Here is what the invite looked like…it's always a challenge to come up with new ideas for invites…I find most of my inspiration from Pinterest and Etsy.  Then once we come up with the template, we take some pictures and put it all together in photoshop.  

The next challenge is becoming organized enough to plan this party…and by plan I mean, finding time to decorate and shop…

but somehow, just like the last couple birthday bashes…we pull it off minutes before the kick off.  

This years theme was Avengers, obviously…and there were 4 different "stations" with themes: Captain America, Thor, Iron Man and The Hulk.  

Of coarse it's not an Avenger Party without Captain America himself.  

Ryan grilled 3 different kinds of brats- sweet chili, bacon & cheddar and pineapple…delish!

We also had chips and fruit

Riley gives the best reactions to opening presents…he even reads the cards…it may be a made-up story, but at least he takes the time to "pretend" to read it

 4 Years old Already!!!!!! Delicious cake from Wal Mart

 This was the best!  We got a pinata from Wal Mart, filled it with treats and prizes and let the kids whack it!  Riley went first-failed….then Caliegh-failed…then Reese-failed.  So we got a baseball bat-Sucess! Everyone stayed a safe distance away on the deck :)

Lafrenz Family ASSEMBLE!!!!!!

What a great day it was,  Riley is such a lucky boy to have so many people who love him!

Thanks to everyone who came and made Riley's Avenger party the best birthday bash to date!  

4 ROCKS!

Yesterday was Riley's birthday…we started the day by opening presents and eating waffles...

We wanted Riley to open presents from Mom and Dad on his birthday…

Every year we try to get Riley one really special gift, and every year we FAIL.  Harley Hot Wheels.FAIL. 4-Wheeler.FAIL. T-Ball set.FAIL.  So this year we wanted to get him something he didn't have to share with Tate (or Tate wouldn't be interested in)  and something to encourage preschool.  We decided on the LeapPad iPad. We weren't sure if he would like it…cuz if you ask him what he wants he says…trucks or diggers.  Well, he loves it!  Whew!  And he calls it his iPad…which is funny because my mom brings hers when she visits.

Birth

4 Years Ago Today…We had just spent our 2nd night in the hospital.  I was comfortable for the most part…numb from the belly down.  At 10am we got to 9cm and I was told to start pushing *cue Ryan's happy dance*  I could not feel a thing…so I just randomly pushed…and pushed…and pushed for 2 hours! I really thought this baby was never coming out!

But at 12:38pm, after an episiotomy and a strip of cloth wrapped under baby's armpit to help pull him out…I heard "It's a BOY!" and then silence for a couple seconds and then the noise that makes any parent come to tears…their baby's first cry.  I was so light headed and delirious from the pushing…I have no recollection of what went on after that…all I remember was feeling Riley's bum fit perfectly in the palm of my hand.  He was 8 pound 4.5 ounces and 23 inches long…he was everything we didn't know we needed...