Three Kids...Three Grown Ups

I've been saying ever since we found out that we were pregnant with Lauren that I had no intention of getting outnumbered by children. And I still don't. In fact, I was so thrilled when my mom decided to accompany Libby and Brooke to spend the day with us on Saturday so that there wasn't a chance of Libby and I being outnumbered (not that we couldn't have handled it, but we would have spent the majority of our day chasing after one or more of the small people). We had three children, and three grown ups. Perfect proportions if you ask me. We didn't always take care of our own children---- it was a bit of a free for all. Everyone was asking, "Do you have her?" "Are you OK with him?" "Did he eat?" "She might spit up." "I think that potty chair might need to be emptied." "She might need a diaper change." And whoever was closest was the one who handled it. I'm becoming a believer in communal living after having spent the day with my mom and Lib. There were even moments where I had NO children pulling on me or being held over my shoulder. The freedom was just what the doctor ordered.

I almost didn't want to let them leave to go home. The thought crossed my mind to hide my mom's keys. I decided against that on the principle that it just wasn't nice....but I really was considering it out of my own selfish enjoyment of their company. Living an hour away makes me so thankful for the time that we do get to spend together. We're already looking forward and counting down to Thanksgiving for our first "road trip" to Nana and Pap's house, and a few solid days to spend with everyone. It's going to be awesome.

Here are a few pictures...

Joshua and Nana with one of at least 11 lollipops that he opened, licked and then threw away.

Drum time. Joshua's theory on sharing is "What's mine is mine. And what's yours is mine." So he was having none of letting Brooke play drums with him. Aunt Meg to the rescue with a big soup pot and a wooden stick. Voila...a second drum. Brooke seemed just fine with our makeshift solution. It was loud, but they were happy.


Here's Brooke taking an early interest in potty training.

And...after Nana gave Joshua an early bath to help me so that I didn't have to juggle both kids at tub time, Aunt Libby was giving him some loving. And as usual when Aunt Libby is involved, there was much giggling!

After they left, I had promised Joshua a special night with Mommy while we waited for Daddy to get home from the Penn State game. He was so exhausted from playing hard all day that he was asking to go to bed at 7. Knowing full well that that was going to mean that he'd be up raring to go at 3 am, I managed to hold him off with a little movie party (Horton Hears A Who) and a nice ice cream treat. We giggled and had a grand time. Daddy arrived home around 8:30...just in time to play a little football with Joshua and then cuddle with Lauren while I read two pages of a book to a very sleepy little boy who quickly drifted off into dreamland.

We did not manage to get to church yesterday---- schedules just didn't allow it. I hated to miss it, especially after we had such a great time with everyone at the spaghetti dinner on Friday night, but will look forward to getting back next week. We did some work around the house yesterday and I took the kids outside for a while to enjoy the unseasonably warm November weather. Our outside time even included a walk around the development with Joshua in the stroller and Lauren in her sling. It was wonderful, knowing how lucky we are to have a few of these nice warm days just before we fall into the depths of the cold cold cold weather which defines winter in central PA. I personally love winter, but it's a whole different challenge with a 3 year old who doesn't understand the concepts of frostbite and pneumonia.

It was a great weekend! This week is a little busy, which I'm loving. I think we have something to do every day except Wednesday, which will allow me to focus on the chores that day (hopefully). I'll try for lots of pictures...