Busy First Day

Yesterday was a busy, busy day. It was the first day of school. Monday night, Jeff gave all the kids a blessing for the new year (including Kyla, who will be starting preschool in two weeks) and I put a drop of lavender oil on their pillows to help them fall asleep (they wanted it, not that I thought it would really make much of a difference). Because they had gotten to bed later than I wanted, Allie hadn't had time to wash her hair, so I told her she needed to be up by 7:30 so that she had time to shower before school.

When I went in to wake her up in the morning, she was not well rested. She started crying, "the lavender didn't work!" I could tell it was going to be a tough morning and that first day excitement wasn't going to be enough to carry her through. She promptly got back in bed and I went downstairs to start breakfast. A few minutes later, I came back and told her she needed to get into the shower. Her response? "This is not what I expected!!" I tried to stifle a laugh long enough so that I could explain that a warm shower would wake up her body and she'd feel better. I guess she decided to believe me and we got her washed and clean and ready for school.

After breakfast, Damon helped her make her lunch (by "help" I mean "told her exactly what she could and couldn't take for lunch") and we sat on the front porch waiting for the neighbor who was taking them to school. We had enough time to take the obligatory first day of school photos next to the front door. Allie was first. She was in love with this zebra shirt so that is what she chose to wear. She has only earned a few of her school clothes (in fact, if she wants something new to wear tomorrow, she's going to have to do some work for me today), but at least she got her favorites. Her attitude was suddenly much better and she had no problem heading off to her first day of 1st grade (which is in the Dual Language--Spanish and English--classroom).

Next, I had Damon pose for his picture, but Carter couldn't let him have his moment alone. He stood there saying "cheese" before I even had the camera ready, so how could I exclude him?

Then I got all the kids in a shot. What a group!


After school, the real fun began. Allie had her first soccer game at 4:30 (I picked up the kids just after 3:30), so I tried to rush them through an afternoon snack and changing so that we could go. Of course, McKay used that opportunity to have a huge blowout that required me stripping him naked and furiously wiping him down with baby wipes. I also had to tell Allie, who appeared to be in no hurry at all, that there was no time to listen to her playlist on the computer. Finally we were ready to go at 4:25. Jeff called from the soccer field to ask where we were and I told him we were on our way. Her game was all the way across Provo, and we were 10 minutes late (which Damon kept reminding me at every stoplight). I dropped Allie and Carter off with Jeff and then took Damon all the way back across Provo to his soccer practice, which was starting at 5:00.

Kyla, who had been sleeping in the car, woke up when we pulled into the other soccer field and asked, "where's Allie?" We waited in the parking lot until 5:20 for his coach to show up and then I had to drop him off so that I could take Kyla to a meeting/training for the UPSTART program (a computer based preschool program she is doing this year). We got there at 5:30 for her testing/training and I took McKay in with me (he had also been napping in the car). After Allie's game, Jeff went to pick Damon up from soccer and we all met back at home around 6:45. Damon had pack meeting at 7:00, so he and Jeff headed up to the church when I got back. Allie, Kyla, Carter and I ate leftovers for dinner and then I took the boys up for a bath (remember McKay's blowout? He needed one.).

I got both boys in bed by 8:00 and got most of the kitchen mess cleaned up before Jeff and Damon got home. Damon then had to do some math homework and the girls got ready for bed, we prayed, and sent the kids to their rooms. Sheesh! What a crazy day! Luckily Jeff was able to help, otherwise there is no way I could have done all that by myself.

In other news, McKay is now five months old. He's getting bigger, more active and happier every single day.

He now spends quite a bit of time in his saucer, playing with toys. That is, when Kyla isn't taking him out and carrying him around the house (which happens to be nearly every time I put him down).
He is also starting to sit up for a few seconds at a time. It goes like this:

Sitting and happy

Not so happy

Tipping over

Repeat

No solid food yet. Maybe next month (unless he starts acting like he's starving). Carter still loves his Bubba more than just about anyone, even though he tries to sit on him in the bathtub. McKay has yet to roll from his back to his tummy, but can get on his side, so it's probably close. He drinks 5 bottles a day (usually) and ends up about 30-32 oz a day. I think that's just about right. We are still working on a consistent nap schedule during the day, as I would like to have him take a morning nap from 9:30-11:00 or so and then go down with Carter at 12:45 (after we drop Kyla off at preschool). I have two weeks to get that in place. Wish me luck.

And please wish for no more days like yesterday. Busy is one thing. Crazy busy is another.