September in bullet points...

Where has the month gone? Has it really been a whole month since I've posted anything? I've been a terrible blogger lately. Is anyone even still reading it? I'm just consumed with the details of our life and our daily routine and feel busier than I can ever remember being. I honestly don't know where the day goes and I go to sleep each night with more items added to me 'to do' list than I've crossed off. I've been a terrible friend and haven't been good at returning emails or phone calls. I just don't have an ounce of energy left at the end of the day. Here's a quick recap of what we've been up to...

• We're still making the 40 minute trek each way to/from school every day. It's driving me nuts. I feel like we're living in our car. Tate would rather be home napping than driving and he often cries on the car ride down (he's been great this week - hopefully I'm not jinxing it) which really keys everyone up and starts the day off bad. Every day Wyatt asks if he can just ride the bus. We will be so grateful to get in our house and be 5 minutes from school. Hadley, Tate and I have been doing a little story time at the library one day a week and she really seems to enjoy it.

• Speaking of school, it's going great for Hadley. She loves school - storytime, playtime and especially the crafts. They sing a sweet little prayer song before their snack (Wyatt informed us his school doesn't pray, just use hand sanitizer and eat your snack). She's fiercely independent and insists on doing everything by herself, reminding everyone she's a "big girl now". Her teacher keeps telling me she's smart as a whip, an excellent listener and so sweet. There was a little girl in her class who doesn't speak much English and having a really rough time, crying every day. The teacher told me Hadley went over to the girl and quietly took her hand and gently led her back to the circle to be with the other kids, totally unprompted. I was so touched that she'd do this. Of all the things we try to teach our kids, I hope mine will always be kind to others, especially those in desperate need of a friend.

• Wyatt has mixed feelings on school. He doesn't love it. He fluctuates somewhere between liking it "ok" and telling me he doesn't like it at all and doesn't want to go. The Kindergarten curriculum here is much more intense than we're used to and I suspect this is part of where the protesting comes from. "Playtime" is over and school is about work now. He has homework every day which shocked me. He had his first spelling test a couple of weeks into the school year, which he aced. Gone are the days when you learned colors and shapes in Kindergarten! The good news is his teacher says he's really smart too she's not worried at all cognitively, we just have to get him to buckle down and focus. He loves library day and gym day, just finds the rest tedious and frustrating. We'll press on and hope as the routine solidifies he'll settle in more.

Hard at work!

 

 

 

• Tate. What a sweet little peanut that guy is. He's got to be one of the happiest babies around, always smiling, giggling and babbling. He thinks Hadley hung the moon and he happily lets her man handle him whenever she likes. He's maneuvering around like crazy and moves from his belly, up to sitting and back to his belly again in no time flat. He's got all sorts of silly tricks - our fav to watch is when he goes up on all fours rocking back and forth and then pushes up into Down Dog pose. We call it his baby yoga and he's quite proud of it. He just figured out how to shuffle his knees and actually move when on all fours so he's officially crawling. Let the fun begin!

• Dayven had a whirlwind 5 day trip to Vegas for work. Apparently there was a lot of important business to be conducted there, in between pool time, a golf outing, swanky dinners and a private Keith Urban concert just for Caterpillar. We won't feel too sorry for him. My mom flew up to help out with the kids and it was wonderful to have the extra set of hands. She stayed home with Tate every day and I madly cranked through my 'to do' list while the big kids were at school. She also played with the kids a ton, something I haven't had nearly enough time for lately. We didn't have time to do much while she was here but we did make it to the Carnegie Science Center one day which was really fun. It was so great having her here and the kids were really sad when she left. 

•  Our house is coming along and we're set to close October 31. The crew is madly at work over there. I try to stop by every day after I take the kids to school to check out the progress and see what questions need to be answered or decisions made. I've been marking rocks for the landscaper to save and taking measurements, making notes. The rough grade has been done on the yard and they're going to pour the driveway next week. They're working on finishing details inside now. The trim and interior doors are almost all in and the kitchen team is there now hanging cabinets. It's really coming together and we're so excited to finally see it after looking at it on paper for so long. 

I'm sure there's more but I can't think about it at present and I'm losing valuable sleep time while blogging. My house is dark and silent and everyone else is asleep which means I should be too. This crew rises early!