So I had us all come up with a few things we’d like to learn. It started off with our reading of Little House In The Big Woods. The boys were fascinated by this book, which made me so happy. By around the middle of it, Sam started saying he wanted to learn to sew. And this isn’t the first time he has talked about wanting to make clothes. So I figured, what better time to learn a new skill than the summer?

Robby wanted to “become a singer” and work on his swimming. He also hopped on board with the sewing. Hubby and I are doing Couch to 5k and are about to start week three.

And I’ve found that just having these few goals has provided a lot to do to keep the days rolling. There are trips to the library for sewing books, reading time, music/piano practice, yoga/stretching with mommy, outdoor time and gardening, and the pool. Most importantly, it gives me an answer to the dreaded, “I’m bored.”

And Matt has set his sights quite high: he wants to learn to walk.

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Sam: “Robby, is 50 odd or even?”

Robby: “yes.”

Me: “Good answer!”

Sam: “No! It’s one or the other. Robby, you have to say it’s odd or even.”

Robby: “Otter.”

Awesome.

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So I spent some time reading last night, reading right here, on this old little blog I had. And I saw pictures I’d forgotten existed and stories about Robby and Sam that I didn’t remember at all. Little notes about our days that were all part of that hazy time.

And I realized I should start again, for no other reason than to document what is happening here with a new addition to our family and three boys who get older each day.

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“But are you counting today?”

“Yes.”

“Are you counting the day he is born?”

“Yes.”

“So really it’s less than six weeks. It’s more like five weeks . . .”

Sam is a very literal, very specific child.

Anyway, during this discussion he referred to his brother by a name. It was one we’ve discussed, all of us, over the past few weeks. It was one that is on the narrowed down “potential name list.” I guess he just chose the one he liked the most and went with it.

Then a day later, Robby started doing the same thing. So now when they talk about our family’s baby, he is not nameless anymore, not “the baby,” or “our brother.” He is very specifically, very decidedly named.

And while I’m not ready to commit to it just yet (we usually try and have a few names in mind until we meet our baby, and then we just trust that we’ll know what his name is), I can say that I just found myself on a table watching an ultrasound take place, and thinking of this boy by that name. The name his brothers have given him. This baby who already has fat roles that are clearly visible (I told you he was freaking huge) and a head of hair that is also visible, had a name in my mind, too.

And his brothers are ready to greet him and tell him what it is.

See, they’re ready.

In about six weeks . . . or maybe it’s more like five.

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And it’s a boy, our third.

And he’s FREAKING HUGE!

And whether or not that explains my unexplained absence, I don’t know. I think we’ve been in survival mode over here for the past several months, if that makes sense.

So I want you to know that I’m sorry I disappeared, and I hope this is enough to bring me back, just sucking it up and writing a short post to say hello.

Hello . . . I’m freaking huge.

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Maybe it’s no so difficult to imagine - you probably have a bookshelf like this.

Now, picture, please, a water pipe bursting in the ceiling directly over this shelf (above the valve that leads to the outside hose, so this was not technically our fault). It happens in the morning, but because no one ever really goes down into this office/mancave, the steady stream of water that is pouring down the wall and from the ceiling is not discovered until around 9:00 that evening.

And now you’ve successfully envisioned what my husband and I were doing at 9:01 through the wee hours last night.

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Then one of the nurses came up front carrying a small box and a clear envelope that had a small amount of hair clippings in it. She asked the receptionist if she knew where the urns were.

So I guess this day could have been a whole lot worse.

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Naptime was lost, and I’d say that was a key factor since naptime was always blog time for me. Getting the dog, another factor since I had to figure out how to take care of kids AND a dog. And it’s always hard to start up again after so long. You feel like you have to have some wonderful post in order to warrant putting something up after so long.

I don’t have a wonderful post.

But I suppose this is the first step to starting up again, just putting something up so that ohmygosh it hasn’t been three months since I blogged!

To follow up on those last few topics I left hanging in the air:

On the subject of dogs being walked to school - I did continue to walk Kiki to Sam’s school, that is, until recently when it just got too darned cold. Eventually the school sent out a notice to everyone confirming that they are dog friendly, saying that bringing along our pets is just fine as long as they are on a leash. It was clearly a notice in response to some people bringing non-leashed dogs with them, which I consider rather insane. In my very short time as a dog owner, what I can say is that even if you think you know your dog and what it will do, you DON’T know all the kids going in and out of the school and what they will do. Many of them clearly have no experience with dogs, and I would argue that even if one knows their dog well, putting them into a situation where there are so many kids running around, not to mention other dogs in the area, a new situation could arise in which you have not yet seen how your dog will respond, and you best have them leashed so you’re ready.

Anyway.

Sam is in Kindergarten. I still feel my stomach drop just a little when he walks through the gate by himself every day. Since I’ve recently started driving him I’ve had the added bonus of experiencing the complete aggressive chaos the beautifully fair and just system that is “the carpool line.”

Holy crap. Carpool drop-off and pick-up sucks. It’s almost, almost worth walking really freaking far in extreme freaking cold in order to avoid it. Almost.

Yesterday I was chastised by the carpool line patrol for getting out of the car to help Sam out and hug him goodbye. See, apparently I, the driver, am not supposed to get out of the car at all. Let me just point out though, that there is a separate spot for Kindergarten drop off that is just past where every other kid is getting dropped off. So typically when I drop him off there is no one behind me at all because there are fewer kindergartners, and the line for everyone else is about 50 yards back - that’s where the jam is.

When the woman had words with me about not being allowed to get out of my car because I was blocking the line, I was able to turn to the area behind my car, where there was absolutely no one. As in, NO LINE to be blocked.

Let me also point out that my kid is in a carseat (no, dwell not on the fact that my kindergartner is still small enough to be in a carseat. Let it go.) and cannot physically get out himself. And I’ll also throw in that he is in KINDERGARTEN, and I’m simply not ready to just pull up by the curb, have him get out himself lugging all his stuff and walk away from us just yet. The kid gets a hug, ok? That’s all there is to it.

So now I park and we all get out and walk up to the gate together.

Anyway.

What else?

The boys are all about Star Wars now. We had A Very Star Wars Christmas.

We also had our entire yard dug up right around Thanksgiving because they were replacing all the gas lines in our neighborhood. Nothing like standing at the window watching dudes with dozers digging really, REALLY close to the two Magnolia trees that had huge bearing on our decision to buy this house in the first place. Yeah, these ones.

Oh! and speaking of Thanksgiving, we hosted it this year for the second time. And my kitchen sink got utterly clogged first thing that morning (peeling of the sweet potatoes, my fault, my fault) rendering it totally unusable. So I got to prepare Thanksgiving feast while stepping over my husband and my father and the huge pool of water in the middle of my kitchen floor and with no sink. I washed the turkey in the bathtub.

No, seriously. I did.

And I think I’ll leave you with that, for now (and hopefully not for three months).

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When we thought about getting a dog I always envisioned walking her to school with us when we took Sam to kindergarten and picked him up. So by the second week that’s what we started doing. Kiki walks right next to me on leash and stays with me the whole time. Often kids come up and ask if they can pet her. I have her sit and then they do so.

To me, this all seemed like a win-win for everyone. Kiki got two extra walks a day. Kids that like dogs can visit with one before or after school if they want to. Sam gets to have her with him longer and he seems proud to have his dog there, particularly when it is clear other kids love her.

Several other walkers bring their dogs to drop-off and pick-up. None of them are ill-behaved and all us dog owners just kind of keep them away from each other so no one gets riled up. To me, everything’s been good.

Then today, after we dropped Sam off, Robby, Kiki, and I were waiting at the traffic light to cross and head home. Coming from the other direction a woman and her daughter came up onto the sidewalk. When this mom came to my other side and saw that I had a dog sitting there (and yes, Kiki was sitting right next to me waiting for the light along with everyone else), the woman made a horrible, angry face and proceeded to pick up her daughter by the arm and swing her past us. The as they were walking away I heard her daughter asking her mom why she picked her up that way. I was not privy to the response, unfortunately.

Ok, so I’m not worried in particular about this weird woman who is swinging her kid around by the wrist. She was clearly running late and was flustered. Whatever.

But it did make me wonder if there are other parents out there who are frustrated by those of us who are bringing our dogs to school. I only have interaction with the kids and parents who actively come up to us. What I am not having, is interaction with the non-dog people, so to me, things have seemed great.

Like I said, Kiki is well-behaved, even more so than at home. She sits and lets kids pet her. Other than trying to eat Sam’s backpack when he comes out she is calm and obedient (but seriously, what is it with the backpack? Shes crazy for it.) When at school I try to keep us off the path so as not to get in anyone’s way or freak out kids who might be afraid of dogs. When waiting at the light I usually keep us a bit back instead of moving into the crowd. But is that enough?

For people who don’t like dogs or have kids who are apprehensive, am I making it more difficult for them just by being there with one? Please tell me, especially non-dog people. Is it annoying to you when other families bring their dogs to drop-off and pick-up? Is it disrespectful? Does it make your day harder? Dog owners, do you bring yours with you to places where there are kids (assuming dogs are allowed)?

And I’m not even saying I’d change what I’m doing necessarily, at least not as long as Kiki is doing nothing wrong and seems to be making lots of kids pretty happy. But the way this woman looked at me, it made me wonder who else is scowling around, potentially complaining about “that dog woman.”

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