I'm baaaaaaaaaack

Who even knows where to begin after an absence that unintentionally spanned 5ish months?! I'm gonna pretend you follow me on instagram and you are completely caught up on all my life's happenings. Like.... we live in NYC now, Will is 6 months old (how???), Sam and Molly are registered for kindergarten and pre-k respectively, they started some taekwondo lessons, they might be going to vacation bible school (!!!) and Will started sleeping through the night ON his 6 month birthday.

That, of course, has been completely derailed thanks to him coming down with the croup. Womp womp. Hopefully it's short-lived and he gets back on track quickly. Mama is in desperate need of some beauty sleep. DESPERATE NEED.

Our visit to the doctor for the croup diagnosis was our first visit, since Will's well-baby check is in a week or so. My friend that recommended this doctor (yes, omg, I even have some friends now! Shocking!) prepared me for the fact that he fist-bumps to say hello. I don't think he was prepared to see me, a woman, nursing a baby in his exam room though. He tried saying hello, and then started his spiel and then abruptly, "Ok. I'm just gonna... I'll give him a few minutes to finish. I'll just let him finish up. Ok I'm gonna go." Could have been that Will held direct eye contact with this man whilst my boob was in his mouth. Who knows. I did find it hilarious that it seemed to make him so uncomfortable though. He came back and was lucky enough to hear Will cough. I asked how contagious he was (because it's 4th of July weekend! We've got plans!) and he said, "Well, he's a little baby, so he's only a little contagious." Hmmm... Sounds like an answer Sam might give me. We decided to skip the BBQ and stay home and celebrate. I bought Doritos (thinking we'd take them to the BBQ), so Sam is beyond thrilled about our upcoming "party". I was in the grocery store with all three kids one day when we stopped to get some Greek yogurt. I picked up a pack of peach and vanilla and Sam and Molly both squealed with delight and excitedly announced to each other that "MOM IS GETTING PEACH AND VANIWWA!!!!!!!!" An older lady standing nearby said, "Wow. All you have to do is buy them yogurt and they get excited?" I told her that if you set the bar low enough, you can get kids excited about almost anything. Don't worry, I'm working on my book "The Underachieving Parent; How To Sign Up To Bring Paper Plates To Parties And Excite Your Kids With Greek Yogurt."

Speaking of Greek yogurt, if you have any great snack ideas for two kids that can't/won't eat peanut butter, I'm all ears. I am so beyond tired of coming up with multiple healthy snacks and meals for everyone, every day. It's exhausting. Right now, bananas, apples, Greek yogurt (!), cheese sticks, crackers, granola bars, raisins, strawberries, and carrots with hummus are in HEAVY rotation but the troops are demanding more, More, MORRRRRRRRRRE!!!!! Bonus points if these snacks are able to be opened without adult assistance.

Steve and I have been eating "clean" for about two weeks now. Clean in air quotes because we aren't going paleo crazy or anything, just trying to refrain from all the delicious food being sold on every street corner - cannolis, bagels, pizzas, etc so as not to gain 8,000 lbs in our first few months of living here. This basically means that my entire life has turned into food prep or food shopping. Let me tell you how fun this is. We don't have a garbage disposal, so most of the time, you can find me in the kitchen, bent in half, skinning carrots over an open trash can. Or cutting and bagging raw chicken breasts. Or cutting strawberries (which seem to instantaneously disappear). Or boiling eggs. And when I'm not in the kitchen, I'm inevitably walking to the grocery store up the street with my little parade of people. You would think by some of the reactions we get that I am NY's Michelle Duggar. "Oh wow. Are all of them yours?!" "There's another one underneath the stroller? I saw those two and thought that was it!" Me: Yes. Calm the hell down. It's only three kids. This is fairly average. Are we in China? Although I have to admit, when Sam fed Will his baby food breakfast the other morning, I felt what surely Michelle feels every time a child of hers takes over a new chore that used to be hers. Pure elation. It's a shame he's starting kindergarten in the fall. (And yes, I've considered homeschooling. Also yes, I would be a raging alcoholic before the first week ended.)

Well it appears that Will decided one hour was enough time to sleep tonight, so I gotta go deal with that and swap the sheets in the washer and start diapers and probably skin some more carrots. If you're looking to explore the more *common* side of life in NYC, please feel free to come spend a week or two at my house. I assure you life is far from glamorous.

Pictures from the park today- (I brought my big girl camera out for the first trip in a long time. My entire purse fell through a giant hole in the back of a bench and naturally the camera took the brunt of the fall. Fingers crossed it pulls through!)