What Is Everyone Staring At?

Today was interesting at school drop off. As usual, the boys go to play while we wait for the school doors to open. I am immerse in conversation with a friend when I notice all the boys are laughing at something in the middle of the bushes. I then notice all the parents looking and smirking. I thought I'd take a look and get in on the fun. No. I look and see Aiden. Pants around his ankles, peeing away. Nice. I hand off Jeb to a friend and run to sheild Aiden from the crowd and me from further embarrassment. Days like these that I feel like I should be the poster child for moms who shouldn't have three kids!

Jeb at 9 Months!

 
I can barely believe it, but our baby is 9 months old! Jeb got his 9 month check on Tuesday and he is doing well. He is still small: 15 lbs, 7 oz (1st percentile! A drop from 2nd!) and 27 inches long (25th percentile). The doctor isn't too worried about it though. Jeb eats so much, so we're guessing that he has his daddy's metabolism plus the metabolism from my side that eluded me as a child, but was very apparent in my older brother (why does it always go to the men?!). Jeb is sitting up and seems to want to crawl, but every time I lay him on his stomach, one of his brothers rolls him over or puts him in sitting position. Oh well. His legs are strong, so he may just skip crawling and walk. The slower the better, I say. Three boys running around may just put me over the edge! For now, we have a very happy, little peanut!

What Happens When Your Exhausted (with kids)

Yesterday we spent the afternoon in Oxford. It wasn't so pleasant. Aiden whined about 80% of the time, so while the sights were great, the company wasn't. Although, when Aiden got in the car, he had a huge grin on his face and told Tom, "that was fun!" (Not really for us!)

Anyway, we got home in time for dinner and Tom told me to sit and he'd get the kids ready for bed (6:30, mind you!). Not long after, Jacob comes in and asks me to read him a book. I do so, but fall asleep (accidently!!) only to be awoken 15 minutes later by Tom, who looks like he has just woken up himself. Jacob and Aiden are sitting on the couch across from me and Tom says, "Joy, I put both of them down 20 minutes ago!" What?! And the two boys sit there grinning away. So, sly! It doesn't end there. I take Jeb and ask Tom what is on his face. Tom answers, "I let him play with a magazine while I was sleeping." (Yes, parenting at its best!) I freak out and ask Tom if he ate any of it and he didn't know. Tiny peices all around his mouth...Tom checks in his mouth. Oh yes, a little ball of Car and Driver stuck in the roof of his mouth. We'll find the rest in the diaper tomorrow. For now, maybe everyone needs to go to bed- especially us!

The Empty Chair at the Table

This week has been a bit quiet and at times I've felt a little lonely. Aiden is off in the states with the grandparents while Tom works in Chicago. I definitely think that God knows what He is doing when it comes to easing you into parenting. I really never noticed how much busier life got when Jeb came along, we just rolled with it. But, now that I'm down to just two boys, I realize just how much time it takes to parent two vs. three. It's nice to have a break and kind of relax this past week, but I sure miss Aiden. I miss hearing him play by himself and seeing his imagination at work, I miss his cheeky little smile, I miss his little legs that are always running, and I miss his morning hug. I'm so glad that I could share all those things with my parents and Tom's parents. But, I really want him back. So do his brothers...we need to see tractors all over the place, we need to run to try to find a toilet to make it in time, we need to hear the screams of in-fighting. We need the empty chair at the table to be filled!

Look out for next weeks blog - I'm sure it will be all about how I'm so exhausted from having three boys! Women are never happy are they?

Sunday in London

Since Daddy and Aiden went to America, we told Jacob that he could do whatever he wanted for a day. He chose to go to the Natural History Museum in London (of course!). So, yesterday we left the house at 8:30 am and were on the train by 8:50. The tube was a bit of a challenge with its endless escalators and Jeb in a stroller. But, my biceps are so ripped (yeah right!) that I had no problem lifting the whole lot!

Anyway, we got to the museum as the doors were opening and went directly to the dinosaur exhibit. Jacob had been talking about this for weeks (he had gone a few months ago with Daddy, so he wanted to show mummy). We walk into the exhibit and you could hear the robotic T-Rex. Jacob started wimpering immediately. I told him it wasn't real, but he said that he didn't want to go. Now, remember I said that I lugged the stroller up and down those long escalators? I wasn't about the turn around and go home - we were going in! So, we sped past the dinosaur, which was admittedly, a bit scary and on to the dinosaur bones. Much safer. I'm not one for reading everything in a museum, but I do like to skim. Not the case with Jacob. We were done with this pretty huge museum in 2 hours and 30 minutes. Including lunch, a baby feed, toilets and a diaper change. I felt like I was pulled through it at an alarming speed. Good thing all museums in London are free!

It was a spectacular day in London so we headed to Hyde Park, which is the size of Central Park. We sat at the Princess Dianna Memorial fountain and dipped our feet in. Jacob dipped his entire lower half in. It is such a fitting memorial for the "People's Princess". No other fountain in London allows you to put your feet in, so it was great to see the memorial surrounded by people. We then went to the playground where Jacob played with kids from all over the world. Seriously. Kids don't care what you look like or what you sound like. You don't need to speak English to play on the merry-go-round. It was very neat to watch.

At the end of the day, Jacob said he had fun. I asked if he liked the park and he said "yes, but it was just an ordinary park." Someday maybe he will think that these "ordinary" experiences were a little extraordinary!

The Coffee Can

Jacob is going to kill me someday for this, but it's so classic. Let me set it up: after 9 hours and 50 minutes of traveling home from Ireland and 10 minutes from home, Jacob screams for us to stop. I'll just give it to you as we heard it.

Jacob: 'I have to go to the toilet'
Tom: 'I'm not stopping the car, we are 10 minutes from home'
Jacob: 'I can't hold it!'
Joy: 'Here is a bag - just poop in it'
Jacob: 'What?! I can't do that in my seat'
Joy: 'Just lay on your side'
Tom: 'I'm stopping the car'on the side of the motorway, get out the coffee can'
Jacob sits and a stench fills the van: 'I have diarrehea'
Aiden (continually): 'Can I see, can I see?'

Tom and Joy are laughing histerically while it is all happening. Jacob gets up to wipe while mooning everyone on the M40 trying to get home from their holiday break. This would only happen to us. Thank goodness I was a girl scout and prepared with the Costco coffee can and Ziploc bags. With our luck, it will happen again.

Our Trip to Ireland

Well, it's been two weeks since we left Ireland, but it is still fresh in our minds as one of the best holidays we've taken! Wow, the scenary was so great and we did have the luck of the Irish as it didn't rain! (It sure did back home in England...surprise, surprise!)

We took the ferry over to Ireland. It was a fun experience for the kids, but it was a long journey - 11 hours in total. So we were glad to reach our cottage and sleep a bit before exploring the Southeast coast of Ireland. We spent Sunday driving the coast and visiting the world's oldest working lighthouse. It was extremely windy, but that didn't stop us from going to the beach and getting nice and dirty (I'm getting used to it - the boys are just draw to anything that will lead to me spending time with the washing machine!).

The next morning we took off early for the West side of Ireland, where most people say the prettiest views are. They are right! We explored the ring of Kerry all day. First we hired a horse and trap to see the Gap of Dunloe. A gap between two mountains carved by a glacier. Loads of abandoned houses from the potato famine of the 1800s when half of the Irish left for the US. The boys enjoyed it, but their favorite part was watching the horse poop. Yes, we pay good money to keep them entertained! We did a bit more sight seeing before landing in a pub for my first Guinness (YUM!!).

Tuesday was the Dingle Penisula. A rainbow invited us into the Penisula, but sadly no pot of gold was found. But, it was green and lush with sheep grazing everywhere - just as you would imagine it to be. We had to stop at a beach for the boys, but they were excited to also hike up a semi-mountain with absolutely no fencing above the high cliffs that led straight into the blue water. Yikes, was I nervous! No problems thought, so their reward was the hotel pool (probably the highlight of the trip).

Wednesday we headed back east and stopped at Blarney Castle. Tom and I kissed the Blarney stone to try to gain the gift of eloquence. Not quite sure if it worked or not, but it is one of the 99 things the Travel Channel says you should do before you die. It was pretty cool.

The rest of the time was spent at our cottage in Dunmore East relaxing and spending time at the beach. The weather was sunny and somewhat warm, so the boys had a great time. We were sad to leave on Saturday, but eager to get home to a regular routine. Ireland is one place that we hope to return to someday - it is so beautiful!