I've been a little quiet lately

It's a hodgepodge update. And it's pretty insignificant. Just giving you fair warning.

(ps. you're welcome for not including the picture of Robbie's pee and poop in the baby bjorn potty. THAT is what we've really been up to!)

We joined a gym. For the last week or two I have tried to go every day, with the exception of Sunday. The kids were unsure of the childcare area so the first few trips were brief - 30 minutes - just enough time to allow them to explore and gain confidence but not so long that they wondered if I was coming back. Plus, after 3 years or so of nary a legitimate workout, 30 minutes at a time was all I could stand! (HA) The group exercise is free to members and I'm loving the yoga class. It's pretty much my happy place... corpse pose at the end of class with acoustic Free Fallin' by John Mayer playing? Excellent. I have also fallen in love with the eliptical machine. This ought to replace my love affair with croissants, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

One day, on the way to the gym. Yes, I am happy. It feels good to move without a person or milk inside of you. Too much information?

This picture below must have been our first trip because I left Maddie home for it. I knew it would be dicey and it was, so best to limit the number of children in tow to the number of hands I have. (I also love this picture because it reminds me of my favorite recent Robbie-ism: "Mommy, this car is like our house!" Right on, little man - we eat in it, nap in it, change diapers in it, watch movies in it, and even pee and poop in it, thanks to the portable potty that sits between the front and middle seats. Kind of a gross combination of activities, but whaddayagonnado? Embrace the life you are living. One day no one will be pooping in the car, but today is not that day.)

We also still feed the baby bottles. And since that activity takes a little bit of time, and requires me to sit still, sometimes I get out my phone and take our picture. I'm real easy to entertain these days.

Maddie's getting stronger. She can play for extended periods of time on her belly, roll front to back and back to front, and most recently started grabbing for EVERYTHING (including my coffee - get your own!). She brings things intentionally towards her face and mouth, and sucks/gums everything with great enthusiasm.

Oh, punkin.

I'm letting the kids cook. This day they made scrambled eggs. Well, they took turns stirring the yolks and I took it from there. Some days they don't want to eat their eggs... but when they help 'cook' them? Suddenly eggs never tasted so good. Hmmm... duly noted.

Please note Ellie's patiently-waiting posture (we practice and work on it). Love.

I kind of love croissants right now. For breakfast and for lunch, but not both in one day and not one every day (but I could!). Whole Foods makes the only ones worth buying. Is it gross that making a ham and cheese version for breakfast is my favorite? I pretend that I'm back in Paris and in my mind that legitimizes it (all that's missing is warm yogurt). This is highly incompatible with the gym - in particular, with my yoga pants. More on what's in that mug later...

We replaced our front door. I can think of 1,000 fun ways to keep 3 little kids from napping all day, and this isn't one of them (much as I hated our old door and LOVE the new one). Plus, we couldn't leave the house for obvious reasons. All's well that ends well, but they almost ruined our front steps in the process. Can you tell I hate home improvement projects? Why is it that they never go as simply or smoothly as you think they can/should?

Mid-project: a huge hole. This kind of made me panic and I had to stop watching. {COME ON IN!}

I had a 24 hour bug. (No picture, but I looked like death x's 100 and way more miserable than when I was in labor with my babies.) We went to the park that morning with my mom after shopping for the kids' fall shoes, and I took this picture of them resting between playing. By the evening, I couldn't even stand up straight and thought I was going to die of chills/fever/body aches and stomach cramps. Thankfully my mom stayed through the afternoon and watched the kids until Rob came home early from work. I felt better the next day.

I am in love with this coffee! I found it by chance and it's so wonderful I usually indulge daily. I think it's better than my hazelnut DD's coffee and that's saying something. Plus, don't you love the packaging and the name? Yes, you do.

Not pictured:

- thrifting and selling at our favorite local consignment store

- a lovely brunch and shopping trip with Megan recently (just the 2 of us!)

- family trips to the park