At the risk of getting too personal on your viewing screen, this is our last baby and knowing this makes every week's passing bittersweet.
Obviously we're big fans of big, stocky boys around here, but if someone were to invent a newborn growth stunting machine...I'd be tempted to keep the celery stalk legs, slit eyes, and pterodactyl squawks around for a little while longer.
Beck turned 3 months on Father's Day (based on is actual due date he's only 7 weeks) and he has a few tricks to show for it. He smiles occasionally, cries sometimes, mastered a poop schedule and flails his t-rex arms about always.
His first smiles were exclusively for Rhett, although how much Rhett claimed Beck shot a grin his way you'd think that Beck had a perfectly timed perma grin that turned straight faced as soon as anyone rushed in with a photo taking device.
Beck's first months were full of constipation ("they're sharing poop stories now....? Ew.") which was no bueno for him (and selfishly us). So we are thanking our lucky stars that his rumpus-endus finally hit it's stride. One particular diaper change, Beck decided he had a little more to get out mid diaper change. Jake was on duty (har har har) for this particular change and has he waited for Beck to finish getting his business out he said "I don't feel like I've know you long enough yet to share this with you..."
Well it made me laugh.
Also worth documenting:
- He has grown out of his newborn clothes and it's breaking my sappy heart.
- He weighs somewhere around 10 lbs based on our scale. Which means he has over doubled his birth weight and has the man boobs to prove it. We get a kick out of everyone telling us still how tiny he is because to us he's now gargantuan.
- Still eats every three hours. So tired. Such big dark circles.
- Beloved sleeping postion: on Jake's chest.
- General mood is very chill. He still sleeps like a newborn during the day, but he is awake from about 2 -3:30 every afternoon and it's his favorite time to practice being extra needy. So he blogs with me while Rad naps and Rhett has quite time.
He proofreads my posts. (Wink...if you catch all my typos you know I need to hire a legit proof reader.)
Happy 1/6 of a year, Beckett. You're the best in the west.
*And if you care... Rhett and Rad at three months.
^^^ Rhett
^^^ Rad
*And making up for failing to blog about his glorious second month of life...two pictures of his tiny status.
I didn't think there was anything more annoying and sticky and gross to clean up than formula. But there is! There always is, isn't there? Try finding a used, ultra crust bottle under your bed and realizing that's where that smell was emanating from. Then you decide to clean the foul BPA free beverage holder you discover that formula can grow legitimate mold.
Bleeping Discovery Zone around here. Learn something new every second and all of THAT.
But I'm not here to teach you about all things gross. No, I'm here to tell you about the kindness and generosity of others because combined with our 5:30 AM wake up sessions courtesy of Beck and a lack of any form of date night respite, Jake and I have been feeling a little desperate for some R&R but after this past weekend I think we might just make it another 3 months at least. We just might.
Anyway, Jake's dad let us come and visit for Father's Dat at his house with this pathetic little backyard...
It must be hard to have such a sad little oasis. So hard.
If you wanted to know our odds of ever having a girl, I present the two pictures above ^^^ for your statistical analysis. 1 girl...8 males...I can feel my XX chromosomes having a good chuckle.
Anyway.
Rad was terrified of water that touched above his ankles unless he was pressed up fully against an adult. I was shocked that he was such a little lady about the pool but then I realized most of his recreational water experience is with splash pads, not chlorinated bodies of water. Either way it was just fine with me for the time being.
But thanks to grandpa, he eventually warmed up to the idea of actual swimming.
Sort of.
The boys LOVE Jake's dad. Rad ran right into his arms which is something he doesn't even do to me unless he's suffered a life threatening injury like a dirt on his hands and Rhett won't stop pestering us about grandpa's whereabouts and when we're going back. Maybe grandpa would be interested in running a little summer camp for toddlers? Wink.
Usually Rhett is Team Mom but when it comes to anything pool related, Team Dad rules the roost.
I can't figure out why...Jake is so uninvolved.
But for Rad, anyone who will splash is his favorite.
Which works just fine for me and my happy perma-perch on the side lines.
Yes, yes, you are right...I could just as easily be replaced with a water happy dog.
Behold the nerdy pool boy.
He's rip roaring ready to walk the pool perimeter and get nary a drop of water on his flippers.
And we were totally spoiled with and amazing selection of grilled goodness. Jake was so happy to have real, not-the-cheapest-option meat that he ate a brat, and hamburger and chicken. After all, it WAS Father's Day.
Ever since I learned that rogue crocodiles are occasionally are found in people's pools in Florida (1000 miles away... makes no difference to my sound logic) that I am now 120% convinced I might find one in one of the many pools in AZ. But I don't dare voice that fear to my kids because...well, I am slightly smarter than a rock. But I always check the water before they get in justincase.
Beck was there too and I do love him...but there was always someone else willing to hold him which I also loved. Big time.
It was one of our funner weekends as of late and we can't thank Grandpa and Co. enough for letting us descend and invade!
And now we're back to the grind. Formula crusties and all.
We need to bite the bullet and and buy a new air conditioner because our house is really bleeping hot. We knew it was an old unit when we bought the house and that it would need to be replaced or have major maintenance done on it, but when you're presented with a house that doesn't reek of cat urine or cigarettes like the previous houses you looked at did...you don't care to think that far ahead. But! When you're stewing in your own sweaty juices by 8:10 every single morning you start to think that far ahead while lingering in front of the open freezer. (We had some friends over a few weeks ago and the poor husband parked himself under our living room's ceiling fan after dinner and left with a very damp neckline on his polo. So sorry! Come back soon...??)
So...we go outside and live it up poolside until lunch and naps most mornings.
Maybe I should've sprung for the $18.99 dollar pool instead of buying this $10 dollar wonder. Whatever. This activity combined with a six minute trip to the playground (crawling with helicopters spraying their young with SPF 180 and following their every blink and whine) this morning better guarantee that Rad's nap will go until Jake returns home from work at sundown and the the Netflix Nanny with entertain Rhett for at least an hour. Or at the very least this summer activity, combined with hose-use privileges will launch me into the running for Mother of the Millennium...and beyond.
Jake always says Rad is such a bully but I don't know what he's talking about.
And let's talk about how NOT naked my nudist lovers are. I wrangled up some swimsuits for this jaunt in the backyard (I have been known to let the kids do a little backyard naked time with the hose, as only true southwest white trash can) and I could almost hear the roars of approval from our neighbors. I'm sure my kids frequent streaking has some negative effects on their home equity.
C'est la classiest life.
Sometimes Rhett pulls a faux nap to get Rad to leave him alone which works about as well as you'd imagine it might.
When Rhett grabs the hose head and gives the holder a stare of death you know he means mean business because (shockingly!) everyone in the backyard wants that seven spray-options "water blaster". It's an intense political drama daily.
And when it's not Rad's turn to be the hose master he tries to shut the hose down hard. We raise nothing but the sweetest of hearts around here.
If Beck is awake he joins me at my lifeguarding post...
Judge not...I stripped him down to his skivvies right after this pic to avoid overheating.
And Jake is asking why I haven't yet blogged about his tomato plant(s).
Hey JULIA, it's been a hot minute since you've typed us to sleep with one of your picture filled recaps"
It has, hasn't it?
Let's rectify that.
Right now.
I was going to only do a dozen photos but I scrounged up almost two dozen instead...so, welcome to your unlucky day! It's a pretty one.
Enough! To the races...
We've been meeting Jake for custard and fries after he gets done with work. It's too hot to cook (my favorite go-to excuse) and growing up, my parents started something they called a "Bojangles dinner" which meant going out for ice cream sundaes for dinner. A child's dream and a mother's dream too for earning those fugitive popularity points.
Happy hour captured by the classic selfie.
A VERY happy hour for the eldest. Someone spiked the fries. Clearly.
We went up to the counter and the waitress asked what we'd like to order and as Rad took a handful of straws to horde, before Jake and I could answer he looked up and very seriously said, "Wadder and I-ceeem, pwease."
Oh, is that only something that parents find to be remotely cute?
Don't worry...he turned into a gross tongue mauling ice cream eater shortly afterward and we found it completely gross to think about sharing his cone when he generously offered it.. Always such a pleasure to watch you eat sweet Rad.
Parenthood is highly skilled at drawing out the best and most refined senses of humor. Pre-parent Julia is staring at this like, "what?" and current parent Julia is staring at this and laughing like a giddy hyena. (PS the goggles were from the boy's building workshop at Lowes. When I asked Jake to see pictures (he took them) and he was all "I was supposed to take pictures?")
He (Rad) got that look from his effervescent mama.
No shame in my grainy selfie game today. No shame ever, come to think of it...
Actually, there's a story behind the selfie (if that doesn't sound like a Lifetime special...) At a Walmart self checkout while pouring our savings into preemie formula, a VERY teenage boy struck up this convo:
Boy: Mam?
Me: Yes.
Boy: I really like your hair.
Me: Oh...thank you.
Boy: I like that it's short but I really like that it's curly.
Me: Well you're really sweet. Thank you so much.
Boy: (whispering) and...I'd flirt more....but my mom is standing next to me.
I got a good chuckle out of that (after I was well out of range). Thank you Walmart boy. Even SAHMs need a little Walmart checkout admiration. Winks.
If the Costco employees wonder why we frequent their premises so often (as we learned on this last trip...they had our food order memorized. Errr...) they can wonder no more! It's because of the big carts that can comfortably fit all three chickens. It's because of the generous samples that entertain 2/3 of the chickens. And of course it's because we eat a lot of strawberries, Rhett need his goldfish crackers to survive, the youngest 2 boys go through a lot of diapers, and we go through a lot of bananas, avocados, Life cereal and candied pecans. I don't buy everything every week but it's a nice outing, and had my former self known that I would have ever called going to Costco a "nice outing" she would have flared her nostrils and been like "you lie".
And since we can't seem to ever have enough food for the boys we also like frequenting the grocery store. Use the pictures to paint yourself a picture of how much they love seeing us haul in from the parking lot.
Pink eye 2015 hit us good and hard last week. But it didn't slow down the wrestling. Thank goodness.
The night before last was a nightmare and was proceeded by a daymare with Beck. He wanted to be eating 23 hours of the day and only paused to play possum for about 11 minute intervals before he was back to his needy self. I contemplated putting him in his bouncy seat and his bouncy seat in the corner for a well-deserved time out but then remembered that he is only 11.5 weeks old and is still learning the ropes of humandom.
And cacti for his nursery? Sure. Who says parenting standards change for the third baby?
And going along with the cacti, I've really been enjoying keeping my other potted babies alive with my sidekick the Naked Horticulturist.
You know what rhymes with alive? Thrive. Which clearly this hibiscus is doing both of in it's $2.74 planter. I keep the clearance sticker to remind Jake is was a $2.74 well spent for this little lady.
We are so winning this summer time because the boys have had their goggles for a full 8 days and we. HAVE. NOT. LOST. THEM. It's either because of Jake's revolutionary idea to keep the pool bag stocked with the necessities OR because the boys wear them all the time, water or no water.
A little footage for the grandparents. (Click HERE if the clip doesn't work.)
Overheard on a Thursday:
Rhett: Hey Dad
Fake Jake:
Rhett: So how's your day at work?
Fake Jake:
Rhett: Oh no! You dropped a French fry?!
Fake Jake:
Rhett: Okay, we'll be there soon to help you pick it up.
Rad really appreciates a good breeze and a little off roading. Sans pants. Always.
Not pictured: Rhett on the sidelines tattling that Rad had shed his cotton poly skin.
If Target was a church then yes, Rhett was definitely feeling the Holy Spirit.
I can't wait till I can shower without ^^^ trying to hand me a half eaten Poptart. And we're working on teaching Rhett it's not really appropriate/necessary anymore to be the bathroom bouncer.
This. ^^^ I just smile silently, pat myself on the back, and think this moment is a, "I must be doing so very many things right" moment in the life of the very best mom.
I trust you have them too.
And. We're. Done!
Ciao for now.
And maybe next time I'll spice things up and throw down some emojis for good measure.
