A totally normal day...

...but certainly not planned. So here's why I can never get anything done around the house anymore. Nothing ever goes according to plan anymore.

6:30 am - Sean wakes up screaming and won't calm down until he's walked around the house. Now he won't go back to sleep and he's awake for the day. I guess we're starting off this day an hour earlier than "normal".

8:15 am - Caityn finally wakes up nearly an hour later than usual. Time to get ready for preschool.

9:00 am - Out the door for preschool dropoff at 9:15

9:30 am - Back home and Sean goes down for an almost hour nap. Now I can clean the bathroom. I spend most of that time scrubbing the tub and washing the floor. You'll see later why this was a waste of time.

10:20 am - Sean wakes up. No more cleaning. Got to entertain and feed the baby until preschool pickup time.

11:30 am - Pick up Caityn from preschool. Teacher pulls me aside to tell me that Caityn has been pushing/hitting another kid. Lovely....that's another story all together.

12:00 pm - Back home for lunch. Ask Caityn if she has to go potty. She says no, so I start lunch. She pees on the clean bathroom floor. At least lunchtime is typical - chicken nuggets and apples slices for Caityn, banana/blueberry mix for Sean.

12:40 pm - Time to read some books and get ready for nap.

12:53 pm - Caityn to bed. Does she stay there? Nope. We play the get-out-of-bed game for 10 or 15 minutes.

1:10 pm - She's staying in her bed, but she's not asleep. Back to Sean, but he's put something in his mouth and is now gagging. I pat his back and he vomits all over the floor. Nice...now my pale green rug has purple stains all over it. Bring him to the bathroom and he vomits again all over my clean tub.

1:11 pm - Back to the living room to try and clean up the purple stains. Caityn comes out of her room. "Mama, I pooped"...in her underpants. She goes to the bathroom to take off her underpants, and poop is now on the bathroom floor. Guess I'm cleaning the bathroom again.

1:15 pm - Caityn back in bed, Sean nurses to sleep. Are they actually going to nap at the same time? Look like it.

1:30 pm - Caityn still not asleep, but talking and playing quietly in bed. Sean sleeping away.

1:55 pm - I hear a loud "Peekaboo!" Please tell me it isn't so! It is. Caityn has woken up her brother from his 1/2 hour nap.

2:00 pm - Caityn continues the get-out-of-bed game.

2:15 pm - Put Sean in the swing. He looks like he may fall back asleep watching Sprout.

2:30 pm - Nope, he screams to be let out. Caityn still not sleeping.

2:45 pm - It's been quiet in Caityn's room for a while. I go to check on her, but she's not in her bed, not in her room, not in the bathroom, not in my room, not in the living room. Where the heck is she? I find her in her closet playing with baby wipes. Good lord!

3:10 pm - After getting out of bed many, many more times, she finally stays. I try the swing again with Sean. He seems really tired now. No luck with either one.

3:30 pm - Mom finally gives up :(. Both kids awake, no naps, and we still have another 5 hours to go before bedtime.

4:00 pm - Mom gets on the blogger.com to post her fun, fun day :). Oh...I need something chocolate! The fake oreos are half gone, but they just aren't cutting it. But they're organic, so I can eat as many as I want, right?

...to be continued

Our mini-vacation at the beach

Last weekend we stayed at the beach (just one night) at my grandmother's upstairs apartment, Mariner's Lookout, and the kids had a great time. Mom and Dad didn't get much sleep because Sean was pretty fussy all night, but the weather was great. Not too hot, not too cold. The water, however...brrrrr. Caityn swam anyway :)

Here's some photos I took of our fun weekend.

Since it was still pretty cool and cloudy when we first pulled in Sat morning, we decided to take a walk to the park at the end of the bay in hopes that the fresh air would help Sean sleep. It worked! He fell asleep in the stroller on the walk back.

After Sean's nap, we camped out on the beach for some fun in the sun. Sean enjoys his tasty carrot flavored wagon wheel, but later decided a rubber mallet was more fun.

Caityn braved the chilly water, and spent a lot of time perfecting her sand castle.

Here is the view from the apartment window. It turned out to be a beautiful weekend once the clouds burned off.

The kiddos took over the big bed, sending Abel to sleep on the floor. I had a small section of bed on the other side of Sean.
Abel still looks a little tired after a long night with Sean. Ummm....I think I was the one who was up walking him around!
Caityn can't resist walking along any wall that she sees, including the sea wall on the boardwalk.
Sean is just happy to ride in his stroller. No falling asleep in the stroller this morning. Oh well.

Off to the beach!

This weekend we will be staying at my Grandma's beach apartment for some relaxation and end of summer beach fun. Hopefully the weather turns around and we will have a bit more sunshine Sat and Sun, or else we'll be wearing jeans down by the water :)

A morning sunrise view from the apartment

Afternoon Playdate

Yesterday after naps, Caityn and Sean had a good time playing together on the floor with the Little People. Caityn has been pretty good about sharing her toys with her brother. There are a few special toys that she doesn't really want him slobbering on, but she has learned to give him a substitute toy to keep him happy.

Sean sneaks a sip of Princess water, while Caityn peers through the dollhouse door.

Playing nicely :)

Later Caityn was busy coloring her school bus from preschool, while Sean was busy doing whatever it was that he was doing.

Caityn's first day of preschool

Today was Caityn's first day of preschool. There were some tears, but we both survived the whole hour and 15 minutes. She cried just as we were leaving after dropping her off, but we didn't turn back. I arrived about 10 minutes early to pick her up and didn't hear any crying, but as they were cleaning up and singing the goodbye songs, I did hear her crying again. Then when she saw me come in the room, she burst into tears AGAIN and ran to hug me. But then she was fine, and talked about the snack they ate, and she was excited about the piece of paper that had her name written on it. I'm not sure if she realizes that she's going back, so we'll see how it goes on Wed.

Getting ready to go to school. Zoe hitches a ride in the backpack.

Walking towards the school.

Now running towards the gate. Maybe she IS excited!

Looking a little worried now.

The last of the smiles before the tears start.

Fall 2007 Photobook

I just figured out that I could post our photobooks from Shutterfly. This was the most recent one I finished. I'm a bit behind :)

Click here to view this photo book.

Kisses for Sean

Yesterday, after Sean woke up from his nap, Caityn climbed up the side of the crib to give her brother a big kiss. She is always so sweet and gentle with him, and Sean just adores her. I love these moments, because I know a time will come when the kicking, pinching, biting, hair pulling, toy stealing phase will be upon us. For now, I am enjoying watching these two loving siblings.