We’ll we’ve officially entered our crazy time of the year. Trying to squeeze in some last minute summer fun. Getting ready to go back to school. Working on registrations for the new year at the dance studio. And, because of the baby’s impending arrival, pre-planning for both the boys’ birthday parties {which will never happen if I don’t go ahead and do all the legwork now!}. I’ve hit the point of major exhaustion during the day and insomnia at night, which has made for an interesting lack of ability to get anything done. Luckily school starts in just a few short days, so I’m praying I can actually accomplish a few things once the kids are out of the house for a few hours a day!
A few weeks ago, while we were at the beach, I made a Target run and took my little boyfriend. It’s always fun to have some one-on-one time with each kid, and while I think I’m probably just making his transition to having a new sibling harder, I’ve been spoiling him like crazy lately. Oops. 
Recently, when I’ve asked Boland, ‘are you a big boy?’ his response is, ‘I a BABY!’. Even though he claims to still be a baby, he’s definitely growing up and doing big boy things like helping me unload the cart.
We headed down to Murrells Inlet for Boo’s birthday dinner and enjoyed some time on the boardwalk before our reservations. Emory’s new doll, Kit, goes everywhere with us and she requested a silly picture with Kit.
The boys loved seeing the boats. 
And while the boys were terrified of him, Emory wanted to take her picture with Drunken Jack.
We took a look at the animals on Goat Island. Peacocks and goats, of course. Their favorite was the goat named ‘Oreo’. 
A little birthday crème brulee for Aunt Boo! And her favorite niece {which we might only be able to say for another eight weeks! maybe.} helped blow out the candle.
Emory’s been working hard on her summer workbook. The first half was easy. The second half started getting a little difficult. Addition, subtraction. Even reading comprehension! Then I noticed we had the 1st grade edition. Except so does our friend. So I’m not quite sure if they’re meant to do this one or not. Regardless, we are now struggling to complete our book in time for school to start!
Kat and I gave Boo a starter sewing machine for her birthday to see if she would really like sewing. We had a burp cloth 101 at the beach, and since then she’s been sewing up a storm for Baby Mak! 
Amongst our crazy wave of rainstorms this summer, its been nice to see a little sunshine.
As I took a little {read: two hour} snooze, Emory was so kind as to babysit her brothers for me. No worries, I was in the same room, and hopefully would have awakened if someone needed me.
Lunch of champions. He started with one bite of his cupcake, put it down, ate his sandwich and blueberries and never touched his cupcake again. Interesting. {I finished his cupcake for him. I hate to waste food.}
More spoiling of the baby…letting him have his paci and lovey outside of his crib.
While I am quick to complain about all the heat this summer, as soon as it turns a little chilly I’m gonna miss our naked dance parties on the deck after dinner. 
We usually try and make a new homemade ice cream each week during the summer. Turns out, it’s already August and I hadn’t made a single batch. So Aaron picked up some fresh peaches and I {the machine, really} whipped up some peach ice cream. And I remembered how much I love having homemade ice cream and proceeded to make a batch of cookies and cream, then a batch of chocolate mint. Then I ate most all of it myself. 
The kids are pretty used to being together nonstop this summer, and for every time they are telling me that a brother or sister is doing something they don’t like, there’s another moment of pure can’t-snuggle-close-enough and it {kinda} makes all the bickering worth it. 
With dance registration in full swing now, nap time is for working. Not sewing, or cleaning, or crafting or watching whatever smut is on Bravo. But Boland will have none of me paying attention to anything but him. He’s in for a rough October.
We can no longer have anyone brush their teeth within eyesight of Boland. He spots a toothbrush or toothpaste and incessantly asks, ‘teef bwush? teef bwush?’. 
I still haven’t conquered the pregnancy insomnia. And there’s only so much you can do at 3am that won’t wake the other 4 family members, so I now have a handful of smocked inserts just waiting to be made into something cute. {or sissy, if you ask my husband or my dad.}
And the sewing projects that I finish during the daylight hours get a trial run on Emory’s Bitty Baby. She has already claimed all girly things for her dolls if we have a baby brother. 
We headed to visit Ms. Kelly for our back-to-school haircuts! The shaggy crew before…
And then the new school do’s after. Emory begged to get her hair cut like Kit’s, which meant chopping three inches off. Three inches is a whole lot when you’re not even 40 inches tall. I was sad, but she was over the moon and has told approximately 84,000 people that her hair is like Kit’s since she had it cut. 
Ms. Kelli filled us in on a great new app for the iPad for Emory. We’ve had a hard time finding educational games that are geared for her age. Everything is either way too babyish or much too difficult. Somehow I can never remember the name. Something about a Monkey and a Lunchbox, maybe?? Whatever it’s called, she loves it. 
Daddy took Boland out for an early morning ride on the lawn mower. 
Watson realized this and had a small panic attack and then rushed to get his shoes so he could join. 
I’ve never wished Aaron was a hunter until very recently, because Watson is into all things tractor-, camo-, gun-, animal- related and I think it’s a hobby that he would enjoy. I’m still terrified of the idea of my husband and children being around guns, but luckily Aaron and the boys get to visit Papa at the hunt club whenever they want!
We’re trying to ease our way back into our ‘no tv’ rule as school is just around the corner, so the kids have all been glued to the iPad in the mornings when we won’t let them watch cartoons. 
Another day, another baby gown hot off the press sewing machine. I’m a tad obsessed with making them. 
I’ve tried really hard to start early on making the kids’ fall clothes. Most of the stuff I tend to buy for them is stuff I could make, it’s just a matter of not having the time to make full wardrobes for all three kids. In starting a little early this year, I’ve been able to go without buying anything at all. I got another huge batch of fabric that, once it’s sewn, should complete the fall/winter wardrobes for the three big kids! {Emory wears uniforms to school, and Boland has a lot of Watson’s hand-me-downs, so it’s a ton of sewing for Watson, but just some supplemental stuff for the other two.}
This week’s insomnia-induced activity: costume planning. Can you guess what theme Emory chose this year?!?
No cartoons in the morning equals more reading time. 
Daddy was at work late, so mommy had bath duty. Confession: I HATE bathing my children! Judge me if you will, but I’m not a fan. Especially while pregnant and it’s impossible to bend over the side of the tub. Bath time is Daddy’s thing and he’s got his way of doing it, so the kids always complain when I bathe them anyway. If ever Daddy is out of town, I usually go to major lengths to keep the kids from sweating, eating sticky food, doing art projects that require scrub downs or anything else that forces me to bathe them. I’m not kidding. Again, judge away. {I’m not really sure what possessed me to bathe them this night now that I think about it.}
All nice and clean, we piled in Em’s bed to play a few rounds of Zingo.
Emory visited the dentist for the first time this week. Our dentist actually encourages parents to wait until children are four or five before going, so even though I felt like I had put it off for too long, they said her teeth looked great and that we had done a great job taking care of them! That made me laugh a little because I’d say 7 out of 10 days we either rush out the door in the morning or are rushing to get them to bed and only get one of the suggested two daily brushes. Whoops. We were shown how to begin flossing, so we’ll see how often we get to that!
After looking at all the tools, Emory just leaned back and watched cartoons while Ms. Tricia counted her teeth and ‘tickled’ them. She was terrified of the water sprayer and suction tools, so instead they let her rinse and spit with little cups. Otherwise she did great and when we left said, ‘mommy, actually that was fun!’. So nice to have that first visit under our belts!
And as backwards as it probably is, her treat for behaving at the dentist was a cookie. A free sugary treat is better than a costly teeth-friendly treat anyday, right?!? {Side note: I went almost five years without my kids ever realizing that they got a free cookie at Publix. Now they ask for one every time. I hate it. Partly because we usually shop first thing in the morning and I don’t want my kids eating that at 9am. Mostly because I always want one for myself.}
Next Insta-Friday will include back-to-school pictures. Hallelujah!! We’ll miss the freedom of summer, but we do MUCH better with a scheduled week. Can’t wait to get back in a routine!
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