Legoland on the Fourth!

The Fourth of July is definitely my favorite holiday, so even though we are living in England we decided to still celebrate! We took Jacob out of school (terrible mother, I know!) and surprised the boys by going to Legoland for the day. The weather was unbelievable good, which is rare here. We had a blast riding the dino dipper rollercoaster, but Jacob wanted to go on "the big one." So, Tom and him waited 1 1/2 hours while Jeb, Aiden and I headed to Duploland to ride on some smaller rides. Jacob, surprisingly, loved the rollercoaster! We headed onwards for 'the great dig', which let the boys dig ball using an small excavator (Aiden was in his element!). A few more rides and then we ended with the Viking water ride, which we all got soaked on (except Tom and Jeb who watched and laughed!). Tom has been dreaming of going to Legoland since he was a kid, so we spent an hour in the Lego village where different parts of the world were miniturized using legos. We left the park with a bag of new Legos (they get you every time!) and 3 knackered boys (2 parents too). A fourth of July to remember. Oh, and we even saw a few fireworks at night here in town!

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.