I'm not sure how or when I'll get to taking them, let alone posting them, just as I'm unsure how I'll be getting a lot of things done this week, including: locating one Halloween costume and making another, lugging all three kids to a Halloween-themed play date, eradicating the last vestiges of cat smell from the basement, and finishing up the hardly-begun planning, cleaning and organizing required to pull off the birthday/baptism combo celebration that we have planned for Abby and Mia this weekend.
I had a thought, at one time, that we might get to carving those pumpkins we bought. That thought has long since vanished.
Tom and I got a really great head-start at the beginning of the week on all of the preparation thanks to contributions from Nana and Aunt Ali, however once they'd gone we were quickly bogged down in other goings-on, like the follow-up appointment for Gracie and subsequent passing on of her care to my sister, minor plumbing and electrical problems, and dealing with Mia's continuing nap-striking, mood swings, and tummy issues.
There have been other distractions as well, as Abby has begun experimenting with breaking her binky habit, and I've begun feeling overly-sentimental since my recent realization that I've managed to keep breastfeeding Mia for longer than I lasted with either of her two siblings.
Even over the course of the day today, it's been tough to keep momentum. I started off strong, but overly-focused on minutae. It's true that I could probably have held off on worrying about the crayoned walls until I was sure I had spare time to deal with them (they are the walls of a children's playroom, after all), but I was feeling overwhelmed by the larger picture, and had to start somewhere. Thus it was that I found myself armed with a magic eraser and a bowl full of water and baking soda, scrubbing through the ache in my right shoulder to Abby's latest reprise of "But why doesn't crayon belong on the wall, Mama?"
My later attempts to work a bit on the room itself only brought on an allergy attack. Suffice it to say, I didn't get much done today, and have been left in a veritable panic over all that is yet left to be done. Can someone just fast-forward me to Sunday already? I'm gonna assume it all gets done somehow and I'd dearly love to skip the paralyzing anxiety that's bound to fill the in-between.
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| Crafting with Aunt Ali. Who knew she was so meticulous? |
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| Few things are so exciting as a new pair of shoes... |
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| Mets girl loves to color. |
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| Getting to see Michael in sleepers again is more than worth enduring the chilly drafts of coming winter. |
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| Keyboard solo. |
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| She does duets, too. |
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| My sweet little sickie. |
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| Bookworms at the gate. |
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| Last glimpse of Abby's wall art before Mommy took it down. |
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| Someone's figured out that strong towers require a sturdy platform and a wide base. |
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| Unfortunately, Little Brother has also figured out that the platform makes a fun little push-toy. |
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| All tuckered out after a long, hard day of being seven months (and dealing with a relapse in teething discomfort). |
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| "Mermaid." She made it herself. |
Overheard this week:
Between Abby and Me
(After she attempted to put a foam cut-out in Mia's ear)
M: "Abby, we never put things in anyone's ear."
A: "But, we take the temperature..."
M: She got me there- "Well, but that's a thermometer. That's a special case.
A: "That's not a case. That's a suitcase!"
Michael
"purple"
