{last} Weekend fun and daycare move

We had a fun and buys weekend (again!).  And I'm finally just posting about it...now that the next weekend is here.  Just go with it - it's been one of those weeks for sure.

And in other news - I FINALLY think I figured out a fast and easy way to get the pictures from my phone to my blog - wahoo!!!  Jimmy has been sad that I have slowed down blogging, so here ya go, babe!  Back at it.  And be prepared for Christmas recaps - ha :)  Oh and a 2.5 year old and 4.5 year old post that I owe to my oldest two babes.

Ok, back to last weekend.

Friday night was filled with neighbors, pizza, movies, playing and bundt cakes (thanks to Christine - totally ruining any chance of healthy eating that night! ha!).

Here's the thing - we are busy.  We all are.  We are tired.  Lots of times, Friday rolls around and we just want to sit there.  However, I told Jimmy that we need to continue to spend time with our friends, neighbors.  Charlie had been talking about Kate (his bff and neighbor) and we haven't seen them in a few months - so I texted their mom and BOOM.  A date was made.  Kids played, adults chatted and it was a fun and easy night with paper plates.  No frills and just how we liked it.  She and I both mentioned, it was good for our souls and while it's hard to take time to do these things, how important it is.  So glad we got together!!  Anyone else seem to struggle with actually setting up plans and getting together?!?

Watching a movie that Emma brought over - the only time they were sitting down!

The next morning was filled with CHAOS.  Workout, shower, pack up backs, pack healthy snacks and then we were OFF to gymnastics and then basketball.  In good news, Maddie is doing better at gymnastics and Charlie at basketball - an hour is a little long (he loses interest about 40 minutes in!), but we are getting there!

ROAD trip snacks!! 

When we got to Wichita, we headed straight to Lauren and David's house and because David knows just what Jimmy likes - he had the KU game DVRed.  Needless to say, the result was not in Jimmy's favor (lost to ISU), but David was super nice to DVR it AND delay himself watching the K-State game (which ended in a win!).  And I think it's safe to say that our kiddos are converted to KU fans.  They couldn't get enough!

We had some delicious tacos (made my Lauren - thank you for always being the most gracious hostess!) and then lots more time to play and watch basketball and just hang out.  Love nights like these.  When it was time for baths and bed time, our kiddos couldn't get enough of Landon.  For real.  They followed David into the bathroom and sat there while he got a bath and then Maddie spent like 5 minutes drying his hair.  HA.  So cute!

The night was well...interesting.  Ha.  Jimmy slept in one bed with Maddie and I slept with Charlie with Mikey on the floor in the dock a tot.  Poor Mikey didn't nap well, so come 12AM, he wanted to party.  And it's bad enough that he rarely does this, but worse when it's not at your house.  I sat in bed with him for like 45 min and then found Jimmy and handed him over.  They stayed up and watched TV for a bit until he woke up angry and wanted to eat!  Not the best sleep, but worth the trip.

Charlie was up at 6AM and we all got in our Sunday best to head to the doughnut shop downtown Wichita to have Ali take Mikey's 6 month pictures.  We had to reschedule because she couldn't make it to KC the day we originally scheduled because of weather, but after the shoot (while we had a few meltdowns - as expected), I'm SOOOO excited to see the pictures.  Sweet Mikey got a few by himself and then we had some adorable ones with everyone loving on him!

We grabbed some doughnuts for the Hart crew and headed back to hang out and pack up.  And then we had to snag this picture of this crew - they are so cute!

The drive back wasn't as easy as the drive there...the way there, the kids were zonked out almost the whole way because they had gymnastics and basketball before, so we only had to make one stop.  This time we were making a stop like 20 minutes into the drive.  Seriously, kids and their bladders!!!

But overall, it was uneventful and we made a quick stop at Aldi for groceries on our way back into town and then had my parents and sister/BIL over to eat for the Superbowl.  By the way - after all that's gone down...I'm a Lady Gaga fan.  

Monday came with some BIG milestones for all the kids too!

Mikey:

 Finally out of his dock a tot and I'm happy to report the transition went great!!  I was guessing he would do fine - which I'm glad I guessed right.  This wasn't really planned - but more out of necessity because I washed the dock a tot cover when we got home and it was still line drying, so just decided to do it!!  He is a tummy sleeper for sure, but still sleeping good!

Big kids:

Third daycare center move in three years.

yep, you read that right.  Are we the worst parents, or what?!?  But hear me out.  The first school that we moved from, it was because I had a very bad experience with the owner and the way she handled the situation did NOT sit well with me.  Nothing relating to the well being of our kiddos, but she was VERY sketchy financially and when I questioned something - immediately went on the defense.  Not a good sign if you ask me, especially when child care is the largest expense we have each month, I wanted to feel great about who was getting that money and how they were using it.  So we moved in August 2015.  The next school we were at (and just left) was FANTASTIC.  We loved it because it was very laid back and we loved the Montessori classrooms.  Charlie and Maddie both loved the structure of their days and the teachers and friends.  It was a little further from our house (but seriously, like 12 minutes away versus 6...so still not far), but the price was right and we felt good there.  We even referred several friends there and stick by that referral.

So why the move?  Well, Charlie will be 5 this summer and while we are not sending him to kindergarten yet (his bday is July 31), I have been thinking a lot about when he is there and how to manage this whole "kids in school" thing.  You know - summers, winter breaks, days off for conferences, holidays, in services, you name it.  I feel like at least once or twice a month, the girls that I work with are having to take off work or arrange child care for their school aged kids - let alone the stress of finding something for the summer.  I know, I know, most people are like "just get a nanny".  But that's not how it works because at most day care centers where we live, you can't just take 2 months off and they will hold your spot...so then you'd be paying double.  Anyways, after thinking about it and talking with a friend that has kids the same age and had moved to this other center last year (after being at the other two with us), I decided we needed to just go tour Primrose.  It has the before/after school care option if we want that, they have summer programs for kids 5-12 and are open on most days that the schools are closed (minus major holidays).  I had a feeling when we went to look, we'd love it.  So it came down to price - as you know, three kids in day care ain't cheap :)  But to my surprise, the price was VERY comparable and just a few dollar more than we were paying for month.  So we decided to do it.  It's crazy because looking back, there wasn't a whole lot of debate to it.  I was so so sad to tell our old school goodbye - as were our kiddos.  They were excited for lots of reasons for a new school and have done great this week!  But five days in, I think it's settling in that this is "forever".  You know like when you first start work out of college and the honeymoon period is over.  HA.  Drop offs have gone well and they are loving the activities and all the fun centers that they do during the day. I'm loving the pictures we get too because it makes the "how was school?" conversation at pick up a whole lot easier when I can ask them at least about stuff I saw them doing throughout the day.  Plus, Charlie is in the same class as his friend Addie and another Charlie, so it has been a good transition for him.

I'm also really glad these two have each other.  They are best beds and inseparable, so the thought of Charlie getting to come back here with him sister (and Mikey - we will probably move him from his awesome in home when he turns 2) once he's in school, makes me really really happy.

I love them and how adaptable they are.  And while yes, I feel back for moving them, but we talked about it a lot and prepared them as much as we could.  And I'd say they rocked it.  And looked damn good doing it :)

Now if they could just keep sleeping at night - but I guess with every transition, something has got to give!!

So there you have it - our fun last weekend road trip (can't wait to get our pics we took with Ali) AND all my deep thoughts and reasoning into why we moved our kids AGAIN!

Soaking in the weekend

Lists, early wake ups, kisses goodbye and hugs hello.  That's what our weekdays look like now that I'm back to work.  It was a pretty amazing 11 weeks off...and while we are all adjusting...going back to work makes the weekends that much sweeter for all of us.

There was a whole lot of this going on.

Which I love!!!  Maddie is a little momma to Mikey. 

We decided indoor soccer wasn't our thing...so we made our own outdoor soccer fun Saturday morning.

Pretty sure Jimmy and I had more fun kicking the ball to each other, showing off our "skills" and chasing after Maddie and Charlie trying to get them to dribble than our kids did.

That might have been because a huge playground was tempting them....

It was a gorgeous fall morning and it was so nice to be outside and soaking in the cooler weather (but not too cool!).  My mom and dad came and met us too since one of our favorite parks is right by their house...gotta love some nana and papa park time!  I'm not sure who leaves more exhausted!

When we got home...I busted out the rusty baby gear sitting in the basement for this little guy.  One because let's just say that time hop when your kid's birthdays are all within a few weeks of each other (2 years apart...) it makes for an easy reminder at what stage the other kid was in at this time.  

So when I saw this old picture of Charlie come up from 4 years ago...

Mikey got to have his own fun!!  He did ok and it's hard to believe he's big enough for this already (well kind of- he has a pillow underneath his legs!)

Saturday after naps our older kiddos went over to nana and papa's house for a slumber party.  My mom has been asking and when the kids started saying they were wanting to go - there done and done!!  And Jimmy and I went grocery shopping, out to eat and to Walmart with Mikey.  Relishing in the days when we just had one kid one second and then missing our older two kids like crazy.  Even though it wasn't very glamorous, it reminds me just how great this guy is and thankful for time with him to have some meaningful conversations!

But I did get to eat this delicious blackened shrimp salad which is my new favorite and I'm wondering why I can't whip something like this up of my own.  Looks like 1.5 greens (maybe 2!), one red, 1/2 yellow (corn) and an orange.  (Can you tell I'm trained in beachbody container eating??!)

Sunday morning, little Mikey slept in because he's the #bestbabyever and then we all went out to breakfast.  I went into work for a few hours while Jimmy held down the fort and Maddie napped because #grandparenthangovers are real.  She seriously took a 4 hour nap!!

While the Chiefs played at 3:30, we got ready for that and our neighborhood Halloween/fall party.  

Everyone wears a Jamal Charles jersey under their Elsa dress, right??

Love these girls on the mom's council that I'm lucky enough to call neighbors.  Fun crafts, snacks and candy!!  And super fun games this year too!!

Even better--- fun with friends!! I can imagine these three boys will be up to no good someday!!

We celebrated a beautiful night with dinner on the patio and mini ice cream cones.  And we sat there laughing at Charlie and Maddie and talking with our neighbors.  Wondering how we got so damn lucky.  Seriously, weekends like that are nothing special but everything I need.  Laundry, lists, meal prep, cleaning up--- all baked in there.  But it's all worth it.

Hope you had a great one too!! 

October weekend fun and Pumpkin patch 2016 trip

Oh my - October is here and what a first week of October it has been for our family!!

First things first.  Never take 3 kids to the dentist alone.  Ever.

Second, after our adventure on Monday with the big kids and then a quiet (last) afternoon together, Tuesday morning, I went with Jimmy and dropped this little man off at daycare.  He is going to an in-home and the lady watching him is just amazing.  And my new favorite.  She is a little older than my parents and has been watching kiddos for over 40 years now.  I love going to pick him up because she feels like a grandma...she is asking me how my day is, telling me about his day, etc.  His first day he did great (me not so much..but I kept busy...and then the next day I went to work!)

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While Mikey was at daycare, I finished painting the table that is going in the nursing room at my work to put my pump on and my bag underneath - Jimmy put it together for me and it looks amazing!!

And I made 8 freezer meals with some chicken breasts I got on sale (more about those recipes on my fitness blog here).

And then guess what?  Wednesday, October 5 came and I got up, worked out, got ready, packed up my stuff and the kids stuff and went to work for the first time in 11 weeks!

And thank goodness I do not drop off everyday....because I would be a mess.  Again, thank God for Jimmy in my life.  Walking out the door at home versus dropping them off is so much easier.  And it helps that I love my job and my coworkers and there is PLENTY to keep me busy and distracted at work.

So yeah.   Wednesday - Friday we went back to the grind and I quickly remembered how much I am literally TIED to the pump.  Sheesh.  Worth it, but always pumping it feels like!!

On Friday, my sweet grandma that we just visited last month turned NINETY!!!  It also marked three years since we said goodbye to my sweet grandpa (her husband).  While we didn't get to be there to celebrate with her, we did get to Facetime with her since my dad was up there and we sent her a pretty fun photo book with some pictures of the kids and pictures of our visit.  My dad said she loved it and I'm SOOO glad!

Saturday morning, we headed out to our annual pumpkin patch trip with the Matlock family.  It's crazy to think that our first trip in 2012, we only had Jack and Charlie and look at this motley crew now!  We love Schaake's Pumpkin Patch just outside of Lawrence because it's not super crowded (especially if you get there early), it's free, plenty of stuff to do AND we always take our crew to eat on Mass Street after.  Awesome!  I won't detail you the drama in getting there (we were 40 minutes late - sorry Emily!).  From forcing people to get dressed, getting lost, just a typical morning in the Carter house...crazy chaos right?

This girl though.  Completely melts my heart.  Even if she is a little crazy.  Crazy good.

Afterwords, we went to Jefferson's and while I did enjoy a few fried pickles, I didn't eat wings there.  AHHHH!  I know.  It wasn't because I didn't want the fried wings...it was because the blue cheese dressing is really what I love and with avoiding dairy due to breastfeeding- I figured I might as well just eat a salad.  And guess what?  It was delicious!

Kids woke up from naps and it was time to try out the new toy that Jimmy found on Craigslist for Charlie.  Long story short, a boy down the street had this car and Charlie loved it so Jimmy decided to hunt for it for a Christmas present.  You read that right...Christmas.  Yeah.  Well, he found it for like $60 and got it and of course (in true Jimmy fashion), he was so excited and gave it to Charlie early.  SUCH a sucker.  But the good news is - they completely loved it.  Duh, why wouldn't they!?  In the mean time, Mikey and I chilled in the shade.

Love this little man!

Around dinner time, we headed up to our church for the annual fall festival that is always SOOOOOO fun.  This year it was even better!  They had 3 bounce houses, so many fun games, hamburgers and hot dogs, trunk or treat, petting zoo...and ended the night with FIREWORKS.  It's always a hit or miss with fireworks for our crew, but Charlie told us he could handle them this year.  And while Maddie was double fisting her suckers...we all enjoyed the awesome fireworks.  So happy that our neighbors came with us too - they have a little boy that is the same age as Maddie and they had a blast too!

Sunday, I was up and at em to get in my yoga work out - because I was hoping for a little bit of quiet time (you know, deep breathing, relaxation, yoga...).  But these kiddos popped in and wanted to join in my fun.  I swear - they crack me up.

Before church - this little lovie was all over her little brother.  I'm not kidding, she melts my heart when she's this sweet.

Mikey decided to puke all over himself and me at church...so he got naked in the church bathroom.  #babylife

After church we split up.  Jimmy took Charlie to urgent care as he's had a nasty cough for like 2 weeks now (turned out an upper respiratory infection) and then me and Maddie and Mikey went to Aldi.  At least we just needed the basics. After lunch and naps (Maddie took a long nap...while the two boys took cat naps while I folded the bizillion loads of laundry...see pic!) we headed over to Jimmy's parents house for some awesome beef stew and homemade rolls!  And brought the Lightning McQueen car (of course).

(He really is happy!!)

It was a fun weekend.  I'm a little in denial that I have to go back to work FIVE days a week.  Sheesh!  I hope I will make it.  I know I will but I'm exhausted just thinking about it!  Hope you had a great weekend too- cheers to October week #2.

Visiting Great Grandma

This weekend we finally bit the bullet and decided now was as good as time as any to go visit my grandma.  It's been something we have wanted to do since even before Mikey was born, but obviously had to wait a little bit until he was a little less "new" version of newborn.  My grandma is in hospice, so while the days are numbered, we prayed that we would get to make this visit and we are so happy, despite the challenges of traveling with a 4 yo, 2 yo and almost 2 month old, seeing her was worth it!

We set off on Friday morning because it's supposed to be around a 6 hour drive...but we knew it would be much longer than that.

With the addition of Mikey, all the kids took up the middle row in the van and I got the back seat.  We have so much stuff...but somehow we crammed all the luggage and people in there. #thankgodforminivans

On my road trip must do list??  Address Mikey's birth announcements (that I've now had for like a month- ahh!) and write thank you notes.

One thing that we were not short on this trip was constantly stripping down- the kids, not us, thank goodness.  Maddie was the first to pee on the side of the road, Mikey pooped on his outfit and had to be stripped down and Charlie had to make a roadside stop on the way back (along with Maddie on this one...).  If someone invented some sort of car seat pan (instead of a bed pan) for kids and road trips, they would be rich.  SO.MANY.STOPS.

But after many potty and feeding breaks, and some lunch at Panera in Council Bluffs...we were finally "almost" there!!!  Gotta love these Iowa views when there is nothing for miles but beautiful crops and sky.

Our first stop (btw, we didn't make it until 5pm...left at 9am so it was 8 hours versus the normal 6ish), was to see my grandma.  Maddie was hapoy to be out of the car at her nursing home, despite her ridiculous outfit and high pants.

Mikey and I went in first to see where her room was, while the big kids played on the playset that was out front to get some energy out.  She was SO surprised because I guess no one told her we were coming to visit.  My uncle told my dad that she has been constantly asking the nurses how the baby is and telling them that he's probably gotten so big.  They had no idea who the baby was or if she had even met the baby.  So you can imagine she was absolutely over the moon and crying when she saw Mikey.  What a special moment between these two.  She couldn't stop touching his little hands and feet.  It was amazing.

The older kids and Jimmy came in to say hi for a bit.  She had to eat and so did Mikey, so we hung out in the other room and when she was done eating we said our goodbyes so we could feed our clan.  Small town Iowa doesn't have the most options, so we order pizza while we were in the waiting room and picked it up on the 25 min drive to Okoboji where we were staying.  According to Jimmy, it was a momentous moment because it was the first time in his 32 years of life that he had ever eaten pizza in the car.  Bummer for mom because no dairy diet while breastfeeding = no pizza. Boooo.

We completely broke routine because all the kids were talking about since Thursday when we told them we were going to Iowa was SWIMMING! So even though it was late and way past bed times, we headed over to the awesome indoor water park at the resort we were at (we stayed in a vrbo house on the Bridges Bay resort...it was awesome and came with 6 daily water park passes).

The heater was broken (of course), but they were still happy to be there!

Extra bonus: I think I finally understand snap chat (I'm slow!!).  I had a lot a fun using it this weekend- way more than I thought I would!! So find me and I'll follow you!

Bedtime isn't easy in general, but for reals---- so much more complicated outside of your own house. My parents and sister weren't coming until the next day, so we had the whole place to ourselves...but let's just say we played revolving beds like all night.  Even Mikey moved from his quiet closet location to the upstairs loft with me in the middle of the night.  (PS I'm obsessed with dock a tot- post on that coming soon!). The biggest disaster was that I forgot Maddie's pull ups. I picked some up at the grocery store (went after kids in bed)...but it was too late as she had a poopy mess that poor Jimmy got to clean up. 😷💩

After an early 5am wake up for Charlie, I somehow convinced him to stay in bed playing iPad games until 6:30, I got up to make breakfast, make some coffee and hang with my boys while we waited for dad and Maddie to wake up.

The morning weather was AMAZING.  It was literally the perfect fall day.  I wish I would've brought some of the new sweaters I have been dying to wear.  We ventured out to explore the resort and the lake.  First stop was the playground right across from our house, then we made it down to the dock of the resort.  They had a cool water taxi thing that was like a ride--- even though they said only use once, we broke the rules and did twice! 

The resort was awesome but it was also dead because a lot of stuff closed down Labor Day weekend, but it was still awesome and kind of nice because it wasn't crowded!

Our best find? The doughnut and coffee shop in the resort!! Maddie and Charlie were thrilled!

While we were going to visit my grandma after the rest of the family got there, we knew she was more alert in the mornings, so we packed up our crew, got some flowers and headed back to visit her before *attempted* naps.

Maddie and Charlie were so excited to see her again AND bring her flowers!

It was a quick but good visit because we still had to get everyone fed, but she was feeling more alert and lots of smiles!!!

Poor Jimmy. He attempted nap time with the big kids; they requested to sleep together in the loft bed.  Well...that didn't really go well.  I'm pretty sure they went back and forth (while I fed/held Mikey) for an hour. I even suggested that my parents and sister and her husband go on a drive because Maddie was going to flip out if she saw them.  Charlie finally went to sleep while Maddie didn't.  Eventually, we gave up and just say outside to enjoy the gorgeous weather while Maddie entertained herself. That girl.

When Charlie woke up, we all went to visit her again and got this awesome picture.  Seriously so thankful for this visit and these people.

When it was time to say our "so long for now" (as my grandpa would say, instead of goodbye), the kids gave her a kiss and she didn't want to let go of Mikey.  It was just amazing to see her interact and dote on them.

We went to an interesting bar on the water for dinner. It was outside and fun- awesome because there was a playset and toys right next to our table- but the food was concession stand food- which we weren't expecting at all.  Or the fact that the bathroom for women was called an "Octo-pussy".  Ewwww.  But I did get a Bloody Mary, the kids were entertained and it was a super fast dinner...

And watch out, the Barefoot Bar had signs like this. Hahahha!

After dinner, we went swimming again. No pictures because I left my phone at the house.  But I will say, the easiest (but possibly grossest) way to get your kids out of the pool when they really don't want to is have someone poop in the water. Long story, but some lady told me she saw someone doing it, so I told Jimmy immediately to get out...and the lady's husband told the worker...who eventually closed the pool.  Duh. Gross.

So after baths and major scrubbing...we didn't operate on normal bedtime in hopes for a) good night of sleep and b) some car naps for Sunday.  We were all 5 going to attempt to sleep upstairs in the open loft area that had 3 full sized beds.  Charlie was in one, Maddie and Jimmy in another and then I was in the third and close to Mikey (who was sleeping in the dock a tot on the bathroom floor...again, this thing is amazing).  It wasn't as horrible as I thought...but when I said that to Jimmy he rolled his eyes because apparently our children like to sleep perpendicularly...sorry Jimmy.

While we thought it would be a super early morning, everyone slept until after 6:30...which was nice. After we packed up, it was around 8 when we left.  The kids did awesome for the first 2.5 hours (after a road side pit stop for Maddie 3 minutes after we left the resort).  And then Charlie didn't want to wake up when we got home.  He kept napping while I unloaded the car and then I was still asleep so I just took him to go get gas with me. Silly kid!!

Of course at the very end of the drive all kids were asleep and we could barely believe it!! (Charlie put that blanket over his head- weirdo!!)

However, this kid gets the best traveler award.  Never once did we have to stop specifically for him.  He would start to cry and then calm down.  No blow outs in the car seat!!  And he slept so well in the car and at the house.  Seriously love him.  Can't believe he's going to be 2 months tomorrow.

So so glad we got to make this trip and that my parents and sister and husband came too.  While it wasn't long, it was fun to be together and most importantly, I think it's safe to say seeing Charlie and Maddie and meeting Mikey sure put a smile on my sweet Grandma's face. 

Now it's back to reality with two month shots tomorrow!!! Hope you had a great weekend!!!