life lately 9.7.18

you guys. what a month.

both of my kids started school, one broke a hand and lost her first tooth, and maybe i guess that's it but it feels like a lot.

for the rest of august i tried to pack in as much summer as i could before school. i usually am begging for fall at this point but this year i was desperate for summer to last. i'm still mourning the end of summer. i unpacked the pool bag the other night and almost cried. it's pretty pathetic. finding places to put the sunscreen and washing their little bathrobes and putting away the water guns and goggles. it was hard. and the week before school started we had a cold front, which again, i would normally have welcomed, but i wanted desert heat for splash pad and pool weather to pack it all in, and it was kind of a waste of a week. it was a bummer. i could have used one more week of summer vacation. i can't even believe it's september. usually, september 1st rolls around, and i whip out the pumpkin spice candles and look for halloween costumes but this year i am just stuck in summer mode. the transition is hard! maybe it's subliminally wanting my kids to stay little forever. starting kindergarten for bea and ollie's first year of preschool is big. i don't have babies anymore. that chapter of my life is done. i don't think that's been brought to the forefront of my brain at all and it's just shown up randomly in random bouts of weeping. i'm sure other moms have been there.

but school started and bea was so ready and she loves it. she already had a friend in her class and she's made several more. the only bummer is that the second day of school she broke her hand while brad and i were at back to school night. it's her right hand so she can't really color or draw or write which is basically all you do in kindergarten. i forgot i guess that all you really do in the beginning is trace letters over and over. so essentially right now she is learning to be ambidextrous. i just hope that in 5 weeks (*sob*) when her cast comes off, she'll get back in the swing of using her right hand again. she has the BEST attitude. whenever she gets a little teary about not being able to do something fun, she bucks up and says "i gotta look on the bright side mom! gotta have a positive attitude!!" she is just an amazing girl and i am so lucky to have her.

also, the other night at dinner, a day after she broke her hand, we were eating dinner and she looked over at me and said "mom i think i cracked my tooth". having cracked a tooth before, i told her "honey if you cracked a tooth, you would KNOW. it would make you cry really hard." she took another bite and BURST into tears and cried "mom i think my tooth is loose!!!" i came over and wiggled it and sure enough it was super loose and bloody and ready to come out! i asked her if i could pull it and wasn't hopeful because she usually doesn't even let me pull off a bandaid but she said "yes yes yes mom just get it out please mom it hurts it hurts!!!" so i gave it a twist or two and it was out! and her new tooth was behind it half in! we had NO idea! after it came out she was giddy and totally back to normal. so crazy. last week was seriously a doozie. i'm glad ollie didn't start preschool until this week because i probably would have imploded or something from stress and feels and baby mourning.

ollie started preschool on tuesday! we went to an open house last friday and stayed for a while and while we were leaving he was like "mom, next time, you can't come." hahahaha i brought him in on tuesday and the whole ride over, he kept reminding me that i couldn't come. he went right in and hardly looked back. he had an amazing time. today was the same. he loves saying "at my school" and "my teacher says". today was slightly different because we got to the door and a cat walked by outside and it spooked him and he didn't want to go in, so i stood and visited with the teacher for a minute and then he wandered off and i sneaked out and listened outside for tears and only heard giggles. he loves school! it makes me so happy. almost happy enough to want to send him 3 days a week instead. but not really. i love my alone time with him on the other days. he is a delight. when he's not beating up his sister.

his potty training is going really well with hardly any accidents ever. he is becoming more and more self guided which is great. we're just working on aim..... i need to strip him down completely to take him potty, or pee. gets. everywhere. it just shoots straight up and out of the toilet no matter how much he tucks. a feat of humanity. so each potty trip takes 5 paper towels, 3 clorox wipes, and 15 minutes. its frustrating but at least he's using the toilet.

brad is loving work right now with a lot of exciting projects in the works. video games are fun. he is having to travel a lot (he is gone right now) but i am getting used to handling things on my own and working on finding things to do after the kids go to bed since brad is gone. i'm running out of reality tv on my dvr so i need some real productive activities ;) if anyone has any hobbies to recommend throw em at me lol

i'm trying to get back in the swing of things with getting to yoga class now that we are more or less on a schedule. the first week of school was rocky to say the least, and brad is gone this week, but i'm hoping that next week i can get back in there! yoga is, at risk of sounding cliche, my passion. i love it. it keeps me grounded and feels amazing. i actually really want to get a teaching license but it's a big investment and i want to be able to make a real time commitment to make it worthwhile so it will probably have to wait til both kids are in school. i also have been toying with the idea of also picking up boxing...! a new boxing gym opened up in town and it's been tempting me. orange theory sounds cool too but like super expensive. another thing that may have to wait until paying for preschool is over.

speaking of budgeting, i added another thing to my budget which is.....cleaning ladies! having biweekly cleaning help is invaluable. it has changed my life. i didn't realize how much stress the impending need to clean was bearing down on me until it was lifted. i was struggling a lot with stress in july and so when my mom found some cleaning helpers for me while i was away for my health i came home to a PRISTINE house and just did a deep exhale. i don't think i'll ever go back.

this was probably way longer than necessary but once i start i can't stop. so that's what's going on with us right now. hopefully things calm down for us a little bit and i can get into fall and pumpkin spice soon!