One of the Best Gifts I Ever Got..

We said it was for the kids. We lied. It was for us. My kids are having SO. MUCH. FUN! with the new play set. They want to be outside playing on it all the time. I'm sure the novelty will wear off but for now we're all enjoying it (and the neighbors kids too). Thank you Paul for agreeing to this treasure. I will forever be indebted to you for the joy it's given to the kids and the peace it's given to me.

Purplicious

On the way to the pool...

Car Seat Safety

Sunday night a friend called to tell me that her cousins got in a car wreck. The little boys (both under 5) were riding with their father in an open top convertible when they got in the wreck. The tragic thing is that neither child was in a car seat. Both kids went out of the car. One boy had to have a bunch of stitches in the back of his head..the other boy was in a coma initially but is doing much better now though still in icu. The dad was treated and released with minor injuries.

My heart is so heavy for this family. How awful and tragic and just sad for all of them. I don't know all the details of the accident like why they were out but you imagine they were going for a quick trip so perhaps the dad didn't think it necessary to buckle the kids in the carseats. But, accidents happen any time. Any time. You can't help but wonder if some of the injuries could have been prevented had the kids been in their car seats. You'd think the boys wouldn't have went out of the car, especially if the seats were installed properly.

So, dear friends, I urge you to revisit car seat safety..you never, never know when an accident might happen and you know they say most accidents happen when you are close to home. If you are unsure about the car seat laws in your state then find them out. In NC it's 4 and 40 lbs before kids are supposed to be in booster seats and 8 or 80lbs before they can be out of a booster seat. I know it's a pain to have to buckle kids in but you just never know what's going to happen and better to be safe than sorry.

Jacob 9(ish) Months

Here is the latest picture of Jacob. It's supposed to be his 9 month picture but we won't mention that he's really 10 1/2 months. His 6 month picture was late too so I guess to keep it all even I'll do his 12 month picture late too. Shhh...don't tell...

The Mall & Tax Free Weekend..

go together like oil & water. Or maybe it's me + the mall + tax free weekend that go together like oil and water. I had a total brain lapse and thought it would be fun to go fall clothes shopping at the mall today with big girls. It's tax free weekend here and apparently everyone in the greater triangle area was so desperate to save a whopping 7% that they too thought it would be fun to go shopping at the mall. I should have turned around when I saw the number of cars leaving the mall but since Emma had remarked to me that "I just like clothes that come from the mall" and I was armed with coupons from Gymboree and The Children's Place I soldiered on. 15 minutes and 1 crappy mid level parking lot deck spot later we got into the mall. I kid you not there was a line outside the Apple store - about 20 people deep - they had bouncers watching the door telling people when they could go in. I guess since Macs never go on sale saving 7% is a good deal but good grief. A line. In August. Seriously?

To make a long story short we got Emma a couple shirts and skirts and that's about it. The mall was really crowded and it just wasn't that fun. Plus we were really looking for pants and long sleeves and there really wasn't much of that where we went Turns out Emma has a lot (A LOT) to say about what she wears but she really doesn't like shopping for clothes. She just wanted to watch the movies at Gymboree and Crazy 8. We had better luck at Walmart where we got some pants. I never dreamed my 6 year old would be so picky about what she wears. She certainly has her own ideas of what she likes and how she likes it to fit/feel. I can't begin to imagine what the teen years hold for us..nor do I want to. Thank goodness Lily isn't quite as picky and Julia doesn't care. Yet.

Almost Done!

The new house is coming along quite nicely. I've unpacked all the boxes I can - I have 2 boxes of kids books and 1 box of office stuff left but I have no where to put those right now. Losing the storage space we had in our built-ins in the other house has been a little tragic but we're making it work. I guess we need to get a computer desk soon and another book case. I didn't realize how many kids books we had! Paul needs to hang some curtain rods in a couple of the kids rooms and their rooms will be 100% done. I need to put up some pictures and we still need some window treatments downstairs but that will come in time. We are feeling pretty settled though I'm having a hard time remembering where I put stuff in the kitchen! I'm tired of doing house stuff and not seeing my friends (since the last few weeks I've been so busy working that we haven't done much social stuff) so I'm looking forward to getting out now that things are good! And looking forward to having people over to the new house!

Sooooo Tired

I might be the most tired I have ever been in my life..and let's not forget I've had 4 babies. Also, every single muscle in my body aches. Every one. Every single one. BUT..The unpacking is almost done - the kitchen, all the bedrooms and bathrooms, laundry room, toy room, linen closet - all done. The only thing left is the dining room and the bonus room (which will be a pain because we have no storage in there..). It's been non-stop since Friday. That's the day the packers came. They packed, we moved some small stuff and painted 2 bedrooms in the new house. Yesterday the movers came. They moved, I unpacked and Paul cleaned. Today was a full day of unpacking. Thank God for the grandmothers. They kept the kids all weekend - 2 to my moms, 2 to Paul's moms. They were so wonderful. They allowed us to get so much done! So I'm sitting now for the first time all weekend. And I might fall asleep typing. I'll post some pictures tomorrow.