20/21 of 52

post by Courtney

playing catch up. once again. Casey is wayyy more interesting, but maybe one of these days I'll post something worth reading.

20 of 52

a portrait of my children, once a week(ish), every week(ish), in 2017

the three oldest helped at Smith Bros (our family owned business) customer appreciation

pizzas on the grill. yum!

avoiding candid photos is her job

pretty preteen

that one on the left is a lover

when they sit in the pretty light to play

another artist

chicken face. literally sucked the chicken wing bones clean.

he woke up that way

still smiling

anddd 21 of 52!

looking less and less like a boy and more and more like a handsome young man

participate or else

over dramatic about something life altering. 

like not getting up by 6 am. or having to clean the entryway before the bus.

eating like a man.

when your baby looks huge!

she came home "sick" twice last week. I think she just needed a nap ;)

contemplating life. looking at a spider. who knows.

always with the tongue

SaveSave

the makings of the 'perfect' bump photo.

post by casey.



both Jacob AND Homer do a pretty amazing job at helping to capture quick photos that I need, especially, in the rare case that I feel it necessary to be IN the photo! 
Jacob's found that just clicking is the approach to take: start clicking before being asked and don't stop until I'm able to grab the phone away from him;). It works:)

i'm 20WKS PREGNANT, today!!! Half-freaking-way!! Like I said in my earlier baby update post - HERE - there have been some slight hurdles and so only over the course of the last few weeks, have we been able to really start to relax and enjoy and be truly excited! I haven't been feeling great over the past few days and I plan to get an official photo from Courts this week - I have a baby appt. on Thursday. So I'll update you and go on and on a bit more about where I'm at mentally andddddd physicallyyyyyy in a couple days!

but in the mean-time...wanted to leave you with these photos that Jacob took of me at the game we went to the other day - SO.FUN...more to come on that as well!. 
He just captured so perfectly exactly what it is to have him help me with photos! Oh, man. Real Life here, folks;).

- lets go over here...

- wait...let me take my sun glasses off...

- try another one with my arm down over (what feels like, to me) my large thigh...

- smile without teeth...

- smile with teeth...

yeahhhhhh, it's that annoying;). I'm so appreciative that Jacob humors me:).

#nailedit

#the52project Week20

post by casey.


jacob and I are headed to a Brewer Game tomorrow morning. It's slipped my mind over the last week, since planning it. But now it's finally here and ALL I can think about! Some time away, alone, with Jacob...WHOOOOO HOOOOO!!!! Homer's regressed a bit in the attitude/sassiness department and so I'm worn.out. Apparently, Jacob told him that if he was scared of something (like bad dreams or a 'monster' under the bed), he could "beat the crap out of it". And soooo Homer took that information and kinda ran with it and has been informing everyone that will listen, that he will beat the crap out of them, it, us, you and your dog. ARG;)

BUT this weather. And flowers. And sun. And daily walks:).


my good stuff: 930PM solo grocery runs. warm May days:) a dry nap for Theo!!

a portrait of my children, once a week(ish), every week(ish), in 2017

homer - always bored. always annoyed.  (always = mostly;) 

theo daisy - her goofy self is bubbling screaming to the surface:)

rockyp - he doesn't often fall asleep randomly...this was the sweetest surprise:)

what to do when your kid's the only one crying.

post by casey.

anddddddd other questions I don't have the answers to:

- how to discipline (DISCREETLY) in the shoe/ANY isle at Target

- how to discipline (DISCREETLY) in the produce section of the grocery store after your kid rams the back of someone's ankles with the mini-cart

- how to explain that it's not only WHAT you say but HOW you say it

- how to not enjoy watching your children physically fight, see also: how to make yourself want to break up a physical fight between siblings

- how to not yell at them or in general

- how to not feel like you're failing

- how to convince yourself your child isn't going to completely bomb at being a good human

yesterday I took the kids to the Spencer Bike Rodeo in Spencer, WI. This is our 2nd year attending and it's such a great event that the local Fire/Ambulance Department hosts - and that my younger sister, Pigg, is a part of. They give out free helmets to all the kids and raffle off about 10 bikes or more! We have hot dogs and juice and then head out for a bike ride/walk/my kid cried/whined the entire time because he was 'losing' in this nonexistent race!?

homer was the one struggling and yet he's still able to pose for a photo looking like a complete...sociopath?!;)

we walked away, having won, 1 trike, 1 20" bike, a bunch of small door prizes, stuffed with hot dogs, an upset stomach from the cheesecurds (ME) and a crying 5YR old (ME;).

some things that I noted at 123AM, when I should have been sleeping but instead was thinking about the Bike Rodeo anddd death anddddd Pizza Hut;)

so Homer was or so it seemed, the only one crying about having not won a bike. Prior to going to the event, we talked in length about winning and losing and being happy for anyone that wins. And we talked about how he already has a really nice bike and there are a lot of kids that don't have a bike at all and we hope they win a bike. I, basically, told him several times that we weren't even going to WIN a bike. That wasn't even a possibility. None of the bikes are yours or will be yours. And thennnnnn we get there and he immediately falls in love with a bike and had his heart set on it. Even offering to give away his own bike in order to get this new bike that was way better than the 'junk' he's currently being forced to draggggg around town;)

long story short...it was disappointing. It's WAY more fun when it's not your kid;) And it always seems way easier when it's not your kid...not only because it's NOT.YOUR.KID and so you don't have to deal with it but when it's happening to the mom and her 'shitty;)' kid in the isle over...it's SO easy to trot on by with your - quiet at the moment but that was you last week - kids and think that you would have done 'this or that' to shut that shit down immediately...

I've walked into Target and walked back out within 5MIN. I've had another mom walk into my isle while I had my face in my kids' face and pinching their arm. I've sweat to the point of looking like I had a pretty committed relationship with all.the.drugs - specifically, the sweat inducing ones?!;). I've just barely made it to the van and called Jacob sobbing about how awful and embarrassing they just were during their dentist appointments.

DISCLAIMER: these are only the bad parts. Which make me appreciate those days/outings of good behavior SO much more:) I take these cats with me everyyyyyyyy.whereeeeee and I'm always weirdly excited to see how things shake out;)

i gave Homer a break cause he's FIVE and is in this 'stage' of wanting ev.er.y.thinggggggg and struggling to come to terms with winning and losing. 

Is it too much to ask to want my 5YR old to come up with ideas for giving and being generous and caring about others more than himself and picking out toys in Target for anyone but himself and wanting to clean-up without being asked and not just doing anything resembling a good dead because he thinks it'll 'get him something' and go to bed concerned about World Peace!?!!??!;) Too much?! Yeah...maybe we'll just shoot for him not being a jerk 72% of the time;).

i don't want people to judge my kid on the small glimpses they get of him - at least not the negative ones;). And I'm going to do better about remembering that when I see someone else's kid having a 'moment' as well:)

kids will be kids!! Right?! Amirighttttt?!?!!? Hi-fiveeeeee...manic laughterrrrrrr;).

my biggest concern as they grow has been wondering how to put them to bed at night having gotten through to them, having helped them learn something, having made a positive impact on them but also reiterating to them that they're flawless to me...

fucking kids. AMIRIGHT.

theo, can I get a picture of you with your helmet on? #nailedit

theo daisy: 36 months and rocky peyton: 17 months

post by casey.


digging deep here today. I've got a saying hanging in the living-room: These Are The Days. Trying to stay 'in the moment'...but I've also got 6 kids at the house. There's nothing wrong with having 6 kids in the house - a lot of times I'd like to have 6 kids in the house - MY OWN 6 kids. Anyone ever watch Louis C.K.'s Other People's Kids...even just the first 1-1/2MIN.?! Worth a watch, if you have a semi-dark sense of humor;).

so yeah. 6 kids. 1/2 of which are not mine. 1/2 of which cry at the same.damn.time;). My hats off to anyone in a profession of caring for other people's children. 

okay, I feel better now that I got that off my chest anddddd since the crying has stopped;)

so here are 2 of my 3 children! And starting in August/September, I'll be home alone with just the 2 of them! Homer will be in school and I feel like our entire lives will change in those few short weeks before the baby comes in October:)

theo daisy is 3YRS and almost 2MO:) She still thinks screaming/shrieking/whining will get her somewhere in life. Her and Homer wake up fighting. I wonder if they fight in their sleep - they share a room...which has actually gone really well!. She's sassy and adorable and full of questions and wonder and the obsession with her parts seems to be here to stay for a while. And that's been disgusting for everyone;). 

if you spend any time with her at all, you'll be fooled into thinking you want to take her home with you;) Baby girl, you are a disgusting riot:)

rockyP. Rocky is so random! He's quiet as a mouse, except for when he isn't:) He's got such a quiet but quirky personality! Lately, he's been stuck to mom like glue. Teething or sensing a new baby coming, maybe a little of both, but I'll take the cuddles:) He's not really a talker but it's obvious he's playing us for fools cause he knows what he's doing;)

he's learning to hold his own with the older 2 punks and he still loves milk above anything else. He's handsome and a good sleeper, we've got him sleeping through the night - for the most part:). He likes to play catch and turn the pages when we read books.

i'm having a hard time coming up with other things that he actuallyyyyyy does and not that I just tell the Doctor he does so that they don't want to enroll him in some sort of ridiculous program for 18MO olds who don't speak in full sentences yet - *EYE ROLL*. 

rockyP, you're a cool cat:)

including his 18MO photos here, as well...we're behind. SHOCKING:)

My babies are old and I'll be happy to bring back that 'new baby smell' in October:):)

all photos courtesy of Courtney Smith Photography:)