Checking in...

Is this thing still on?

Yeah, so much for jumping back on the blogging bandwagon. There's just not enough time in the day! The kids are keeping me very busy. And to add to it, we're building our dream home! Because you know, I didn't have enough going on already. Why not throw that into the mix?

Anyway, if you want to follow our home building adventures I've started a blog for that. You can find it over here, http://www.OurVeniceDream.blogspot.com. I promise I'm better at updating that.

I never posted pictures of our newest terror joy, Bryn. Here she is (with some Luca and Avery pics as well)!

I can't make this stuff up.

Most days with three kids aren't too bad. Sure there are chaotic moments like when I'm nursing Bryn and Luca screams from the bathroom that he needs to be wiped. That's always fun. Yesterday was not one of those "not too bad" days. It started out pleasant enough. We played some Tumblin' Monkeys and Candy Land, had lunch, and everyone was in for naps/quiet time. Avery had a nasty cough that was getting a bit worse so I scheduled her for pedi appt. at 4:30pm. I knew she needed some Prednisone or we'd end up in the ER by midnight as is typical Avery fashion. I had a feeling that leaving for this appt. would be one of those chaotic moments so I prepared as much as possible. That's become my new normal as a mom of three. Always think 15 steps ahead or be prepared for the wrath of screeching children.

So here it is, 4pm. Bryn decides to wake up from her big afternoon nap at 3:45pm and is screaming like I haven't fed her in 2 days, which clearly I have. Homegirl isn't even 2 months old yet and has almost doubled her birth weight. I'm able to nurse her quickly on one side but have to pull her off to get her in the carseat so we aren't late. But it's all good. I've already brought shoes and coats upstairs. I'm prepared, remember?!?! Yeah, not so much. I left the carseat downstairs so Bryn had to lay on the hardwood floors for a couple minutes. Of course, she didn't like that and her screams let the whole neighborhood know it too.

Oh but it's not over yet. Not even close. While I frantically get the older kids shoes and coats on, Avery is frantically coughing. And when Avery frantically coughs, she barfs. So what does Avery do? Yup...barfed. All I heard was the splat on the floor. Didn't even need to turn around to know what happened. But seriously?! SERIOUSLY?! So I have a screaming newborn laying on wood floors, a hacking toddler and a pile of barf. Oh and Luca, not to be outdone, starts harassing me about wanting to bring his FULL SIZE Eagles helmet with us to the doctor. Um, yeah...NO.

I now have everyone safely in the car and am on my way to the doctor. Bryn screams the whole way but that's nothing new. It's amazing how much you can tune out by the time you get to baby #3. I was totally that Mom at the doctor's office. The one you cast judgey eyes at. I was yelling at the kids while making a bottle for Bryn while paying the co-pay and praying that Avery wouldn't barf all over the other kid in the sick waiting room.

We finally sit down and I start to feed Bryn her bottle while she is still strapped into her carseat. If I take her out then I lose both arms. This way I still have a free one to clean up barf if need be. All of sudden I see milk coming out of Bryn's nose and she's turning red and shades of purple. She's choking on her spit up. Awesome. Of course all the coats are piled on top of the damn carseat so I couldn't get in to unstrap her. Now I'm panicking and screaming at the carseat. Again, that mom, right here. While I'm screaming, 'Jesus Christ!' at the carseat I have Avery smacking my leg telling me that she has to pee. Now. And any Mom knows that you do not make a newly potty trained 3 year old wait to go pee. I finally get Bryn out (she was okay by the way...just likes to be dramatic...who would have thought?) and take Avery into the potty. With one hand I'm able to get her in and out fairly quickly.

PS people - WE HADN'T EVEN SEEN THE DAMN DOCTOR YET!!!

Needless to say I got home and poured myself a nice whipped vodka and OJ with a splash of cran (thanks for that concoction, Michelle! It's delish!) right away. It did its job really quickly (a little too quick actually) and I was able to laugh it all off with Big Poppa. So Avery is home from school with me and Bryn today. We've already been through Aladdin and we're on to The Little Mermaid now. The fireplace is warming us up, coffee is next to me and I'm having a ginormous slice of cannoli cheesecake for breakfast. Until Avery starts coughing and barfs again and ruins my appetite.

No better time to try this blogging thing again...

I've been wanting to jump back into blogging for a while now but, well, time just kind of got away from me.

Let me bring things up to speed...ready?

Luca is now 4.5 years old. He LOVES sports, particularly hockey. He plays it all day long and if he's not playing it, he's watching it. He starts ice skating lessons this week in preparation for hockey. He's in pre-k and is writing writing and singing and playing like a normal, hyped up little boy.

Avery is 3 years old and still a huge diva. She's taking dance lessons and absolutely loves it. As of this week she is officially potty trained (hell to the yeah). She loves playing with her dollhouse and My Little Ponies and still doesn't like to be outside for more than 10-15 minutes max. She's my little homebody.

And now for the big news...we had another baby! Bryn was born on November 10th at 3:16pm weighing in at a whopping 5 lbs, 13 oz. She's the sweetest baby and we are SO in love with her. Luca and Avery have been amazing with her too. I'm really surprised with just how great they've been.

We moved last December....back out to PA. It was a quick move so we're in a rental for a couple more months and then will likely buy our forever home. At least I hope its our forever home cause I'm sick of moving!

Big Poppa is doing well. He started a new job in September and is learning new stuff and taking on new challenges. It's a really long commute but hopefully our move in a few months will alleviate that.

I'm doing awesome, surprisingly. I thought I'd be losing my marbles with three kids by now but I feel like I'm actually thriving in this situation. There are tough days and I'm pretty delirious from lack of sleep but I expected all that so it's been easier to deal with. Coffee has become my new bff these days.

So that's the quick rundown on the updated 2012 version of the Cav family. I'll come back and throw some pictures in here as soon as I can get Bryn settled down for longer than 20 minutes!

Toots.

It's bedtime and I was saying goodnight to Luca while he was trying to watch hockey. I did what any reasonable mom who was being ignored would do. I stood in front of the TV until he gave me a kiss goodnight. His reaction?

"I can't see, toots!"

Thank you, makers of Toy Story 3 and Mr. Potato Head. You deserve all the credit for this one.

I have a problem with my ears.

Let me set the scene...Luca and I are sitting at the Pediatrician and he has a toy from his doctor kit. He is looking in my ears when this conversation goes down:

Me: "How do my ears look, doc?"
Luca: "Hmmmmm...yup, you got lotsa crotches in there."

This could be a very serious condition for me.

I'm officially "that" Mom.

I got the Parent Volunteer Form for Luca's class and was asked to check off ALL the ones I was interested in.

- Room Mom
- 3 year old Pre-School Representative (requiring me to attend board meetings and "represent" the 3 year old class)
- Willing to assist in helping the teachers prepare for classes (cutting/stapling/etc. for their lessons)
- Willing to make things at home to bring in to class to help the teachers (play-doh, etc.)
- Willing to come into the class and share a talent (i.e. cooking, music, etc.)

I checked them all off. And made up a talent.

She's alive!

Ah, what a beautiful evening it is. I sit here reflecting on how terrible of a blogger I am as I chug a bottle of Skinnygirl Margarita. It's just been one of those days. You know...the kind where Luca doesn't have an accident for the entire 2 hours that we're out running errands but as I stand at the front door trying to unlock it he pees his pants (all while Avery was having a fit on the front lawn...a note to my neighbors: please do not call DYFS on me today. They will just give her back to me and walk away). And also the kind where Avery has a 7 hour temper tantrum. You know...just a ho hum kind of day. Hopefully it should only take one bottle of Skinnygirl and one yittle (yes, 'yittle' is my new word for little) bottle of vanilla vodka to recover from this cluster fuck of a day. Oh and did I mention that Avery only took a 20 minute nap? Haha...I must have left that fabulous tidbit out. Ah, wait....it gets better. Big Poppa is out of town. FABulous! Doesn't he pick the most convenient days for these business trips of his?!

So, it was a good day in the Cav house. And you know what? Shit is deceiving sometimes. I thought, without a doubt, that today would be a great day. The kids actually slept in until 8:15am! That's an AMAZING start to any day, right? Wrong. I should have known that because they were nice enough to sleep in that by mid-day mid-morning they would give me a big old 'fuck you' and rebel. And that's precisely what they did.

In better Cav news, Luca just turned 3 on Monday. Where did my baby go? He had 2 fabulous construction themed birthday parties. Yes, parties, plural. Because one party just isn't enough for a measly 3 year old. And Avery? Well she's Avery. She just turned 22 months and I've come to realized that I'm fuuuucked when she hits the 'terrible twos.' Like, the thought of it frightens me because I feel like we should already be 9 months into the terrible twos and she's still 2 months away from them. I love her. She's so damn cute. I think that's part of the problem though. She knows she can get away with murder. You tell her no and be prepared for a solid 30 minute tantrum. She such a typical girl already. Can't say no to her. Ah, her mama's daughter.

Alright, I need another margarita. Or maybe some sort of vodka concoction. And I need to put the kids to bed still. Oh what? You thought the kids were already in bed and I was drinking up a storm? No, no, no silly readers. Remember...it's been that kind of day!