Well here it is!
LIfe has been so crazy that I wasn’t able to get started on the project as early as I would have liked, but I like the way it turned out. She seriously cracks me up. My personal favorites are her answers to what she wants to be when she grows up and what super power she would have.
And at the very end, I started to feel like I have my own personal AT&T “It’s not complicated” commercial.
And so…on to the video…
Kindergarten Parent Information Night:
Thursday May 16, 6 – 7 PM
Childcare will be provided
As soon as I read that on the flyer we picked up at the Kinder Round-up pre-registration day I played out the night in my head…
Pick up the girls about 5:30 PM from daycare. There won’t be enough time to go home before that so we’ll head straight to the elementary school, but we’ll end up being there 20-25 minutes early. That means Reese will miss her typical car nap she squeezes in between 5:40 & 6:15 every night. And since we’ll be at this meeting during Reese’s dinner time at 6:30, I guess I can feed her her babyfood in the back of the Jeep while we’re waiting in the parking lot. Then we’ll rush home and get her ready for bed. I know the “provided child care” will be for the incoming kinders only and not for my busy-body almost 10 month old.
“Maybe we should just get a babysitter.” I say.
“No, I’m sure it will be fine.” Andy says.
So there we are…sitting {actually standing} at this parent info night.
The pre-meeting rush went exactly as I had anticipated. Reese didn’t fall asleep on the 5 minute drive from the girls’ day care to the elementary school. We got there 25 minutes early. I fed Reese her dinner while she was still strapped into her car seat. Only flinging baby food throughout the back of the Jeep twice. Andy called to say he’d been stuck in traffic and to just go in without him as he may be a few minutes late.
I sign in. Take Rylee to the gym and after some unexpected tears from her, she’s off to play. As I’m coming back into the meeting area with Reese, Andy is walking in. The meeting is about to start.
Reese starts humming happily through her binkie. It’s cute. Some parents look over and smile. She’s the only baby there.
I pull out some puffs and start feeding them to her one-by-one, trying to keep her occupied, but quiet.
The meeting has started. They’ve introduced the teachers and are starting to go over the “kindergarten readiness” list.
Wait…what did they say their names were? I missed that.
Reese decides she over her puffs and is crawling all over me. I walk further back. Shushing her as I walk. But the further back I walk, I can no longer hear what the teachers are saying.
I peek into the gym.
Rylee is with a bunch of other incoming kinders, a few she knows from pre school. They’re coloring, playing duck-duck-goose and just generally having a good time.
I bounce-walk back to where Andy is. Reese starts humming again.
It’s no longer cute. It’s just distracting.
Between walking back & forth and trying to keep Reese quiet, I can’t hear anything they’re saying.
I finally concede. I walk over to Andy. Grab my stuff, tell him I’m taking Reese home, and try to sneak out the side while Reese continues to loudly hum along.
As I drive home, by blood pressure rises. I’m missing this meeting.
I look back and Reese is passed out.
We should’ve got a baby sitter…
Next time, we’re getting a baby sitter.
You’re all familiar with the Throwback Thursday meme running around the interwebs, yes?
Well, things around here are busy. Rylee’s 5th birthday is this Saturday. And to top it off, we have kindergarten information night at her soon-to-be school.
Cue the mama nostalgia.
And cue the uncanny timing for a Throwback Thursday post.
2008- Fresh Baked Rylee
2009 – First Birthday
2010 – Second Birthday
2011 -Third Birthday 
2012 – Fourth Birthday
How is it possible that these last 5 years have gone by with little more than a blink?
I really try not to use the word busy to describe my life in a conversation when someone asks how things are going. Because as a family with two young children, two working parents, a dog, two houses and 12+ acres to take care of, that’s just life. Our reality every day. There is always something that is going on or has to be done. I’m sure much like yours. We are a culture of go-go-go.
But it seems like starting around mid-May life gets kicked up one notch further. This year, despite my best efforts to “keep things simple”, is no different. Well, actually that’s a lie…it is different than previous years but not because we have any less going on…in fact this year we have even more going on than years previous.
Because on top of the Mother’s Day, Andy’s birthday, Rylee’s birthday and end of the school year junk like graduation, classroom clean-up and what not we always inevitably deal with, we’re throwing a memorial weekend camping trip with friends into the mix. Then there’s also Andy’s trip to New York for his best friends wedding and we can’t forget about our family trip to Hawaii for my sisters wedding the week after that. Oh yea, and my sister’s shower/bachelorette party.
I was looking at a calendar the other night and we literally have something going on every single weekend until mid July.
On top of the weekends being booked, I’ve got extra work stuff happening after normal work hours that I’ll being doing on some nights during the week.
So right now? I think I can say we’re busy. But at least we get to top it all off with a week in Hawaii, right!?
So yea…if you need me in the next few weeks and I’m not at work or with my family, I’ll be one of two places…either standing outside at 6 AM with a hot cup of coffee watering my flowers trying to relax before the day even begins, or sitting in a corner making to-do lists like a crazy lady making sure we don’t forget to pack our kids along with our pillows for our camping trip.
YAY SPRING!!
Mother’s Day is right around the corner…such a great time to reflect on mothering and motherhood and junk…
Well, Rylee finally figured out the theme she wanted for her birthday party this year. Angry Birds won out over Dora, but I don’t think by much. In order to keep the momentum going toward AB, I started planning right away and made sure to keep her involved as much as possible. And so, 4-ish weeks before the date of the party we worked on the invitations. I downloaded a free AB invite from here and when filling in the info, I let Rylee choose the colors. We printed them out the next day, I let her do some of the cutting and she glued the invites onto colored backing.
That same night, I went into our “office” to look for the extra 5×7 envelopes I keep on hand for occasions just like this only could not find them anywhere. I figured, no big deal, I’d go to the store and pick some up on my lunch break or something.
Then a week came and went and those invites continued to sit.
Then with less than 2 weeks until party time, I hit a stroke of laziness genius. I snapped a photo of the invite on my phone and texted it to our friends with the following message:
“Soooo…do me a favor and pretend that you got this in the mail and that I’m not just too lazy to go buy envelopes. Deal? I hope everyone can make it!
P.S. this is a group text because I’m also too lazy to send this individually.“
Not exactly what I had planned, but it got the job done.
Then a couple of days after that, I was looking through my crafting stuff trying to think of creative ways to make this life size Angry Birds game I’ve promised Rylee. While I was thinking about whether or not just wrapping up different size boxes in birthday wrapping paper would come across as lazy or festive I found the 5×7 envelopes I knew I had…
Sitting in a pile of crap on our desk…
half-addressed for family and friends…
not yet stamped…
sealed up with Reese’s 6-week/newborn photos.
Six.Week.Photos. She’s NINE MONTHS OLD!
So…my reflection for Mother’s Day…mothering? Yep. I do it. Kinda.
I saw a photo floating around Facebook last weekend and I think I’ve found my new motto…
World’s okayest mom!
Happy almost Mother’s Day!
