Good-bye Maternity Clothes

Tonight I said good-bye to my maternity clothes. Three pregnancies over 11 years worth of maternity clothes.

Gone.

Out of my closet.
Out of my life.

I kept a few favorite pieces. Like the very first piece of maternity clothing I ever bought, back in the summer of 2003 when I was expecting RR. A jean-jumper. Which I will be honest, I wore last weekend strawberry picking.

I kept a holiday themed shirt that I wore often in my pregnancies with TT and ERP. It reads "Baby the Gift that Keeps On Giving".

But the rest of it; which honestly and sadly seemed to have more style to it than my everyday clothing; is gone.

Off to see another mama through her third pregnancy. After her maternity clothes went missing.

My maternity winter jacket I had passed on this past winter to a friend.

Off, out, and gone out of my life.

It's a little sad.

It's a turning point.

But I like to think of the new people wearing them. Of the other new beginnings they will see.

Super awesome swimsuit - GONE

The dress I wore to so many weddings - GONE

This well loved outfit from TT's birth - GONE

Had this shirt through three pregnancies - GONE

This is one I had to keep.

And this one.

Also gone - but look how cute?

And it's worth it... because I have these three guys and this stud muffin to show for it.

Summer Vacation

School is out!!

RR's summer vacation officially started on Monday afternoon. TT has been out of school since mid last week.

And so far... it's been a pretty good start to the summer. Now, if the weather would cooperate that would be great.

The boys are all signed up for the summer reading program and have eagerly dived into the books they got at the library today. Well, expect RR; he has like 5 new books on his Kindle. So he's diving into that. It doesn't have the same ring... but you get the idea.

This summer we are avoiding the "Summer Bucket List". We did this last year and in the end it made me depressed for not "doing anything". Seriously.

And with not having a list we've already done more items on last year's list than we did last year.

I made gummie bear popsicles. Yeah, I'm cool like that.
We went for a hike already.
We've been to several playgrounds.
We've been to Six Flags a couple times. Yup, got the boys season passes for Christmas.

And really I figure, between the season passes, the new park in town, the hiking club and the new pool and the summer reading program... really... what else do we need to do. Oh yeah... the weather to work out so the pool can get set-up.

School is out! Summer is here!

And oh yeah; summer surgery. Surgery for my partial thyroid removal is set for July 29. Talk about big and happening summer plans.

This summer is going to fly by. Between all of the things above to do. RR going to camp for a week in July. My surgery. And then heading to Maine to see my mom in August. It will be back to school time before we know it.

Here's to a great summer - can you see me raising my glass - now if only I can squeeze in a few coffee dates with my girlfriends.

18 Months!

A few days ago the baby, aka ERP, turned 18 months.

How did that happen?

Oh I know. I blinked.

Don't blink.

Ever.


I often forget that he is not a baby anymore, but rather a toddler.

This also leads me to forget that TT isn't a toddler anymore, but rather a preschooler.

And when did that happen?

And don't even get me started on the biggest boy, and his hairy upper lip and deep baritone singing voice.

Anyhow, I digress....

ERP is still a little squirt. I call him Bird. Husband calls him Mouse. He has his 18 month check-up next week and he may finally weigh 20 lbs. He is certainly going through a growth spurt these days.

He may look a lot like TT and have some of RR's mannerisms, but he is certainly not his brothers. He has broken the mold in every way possible. From his blue eyes and curly hair, to his temper and all of those teeth. He is one tooth shy of having all of his first set of molars, and then on to cutting his eye teeth.

And that temper I mentioned. Oh the temper. He pitches the biggest fits. He bites toys and furniture. He turns beat red. He throws things. He just gets so mad. It takes all of mine and Husband's strength not to laugh at his over the top pint size melt downs.

He is still nursing. Which is another post in itself. I recall being so happy with reaching this milestone with TT. These days nursing is the same as breathing. It just happens.

ERP has a total disgust for getting wet. And as we found out the other day, when we went to the park; he also hates sand. Really hates sand. As in "clean my hands every time it touches me" hates sand. He should be a ball of fun at the beach this summer.

So the water thing. He hates it. Unless it's the dogs dish, a small puddle or his water table. Water he has to get into. Forget it. When he has to be bathed, it's a two person job. One to hold him down and the other to wash him. He totally looses his shit. Seriously. And he tries to escape from the water like it was on fire. He will scale you like a cat climbing a tree to get away from a dog.

Actually he tries to climb me a lot. He is without a doubt a "worn child". He is also a mama's boy. He likes Husband enough, until I'm around. When I am around, everyone else if chop liver... assuming you don't like chop liver.

Food. Food is all over the place. Some days he's eats, and eats a variety of stuff. Other days he turns his nose up at everything.

He's all about doing what his brothers do. He loves hanging out with them. He likes RR to take him for walks in the stroller, and he loves playing play-doh and coloring with TT.

But he doesn't plenty his brother's never did. He climbs. Oh, he climbs. On everything. He likes to stand on chairs. He races from one side of the couch to the other. And it's not like we endorse these activities; they happen in a blink of an eye. He certainly keeps us on our toes.

And for everyone that ask - how's he's sleeping? He's not. We'll just leave it at that.

And now... the photos.