Random thoughts...

I remember when Aiden was born and I thought... how could I EVER be mad at this sweet, precious gift from God? By the time the twins came around, I thought... how long will it be 'til these sweet, precious gifts from God start pushing my buttons!!!

Life with boys is, well, interesting. Coming from a houseful of girls (dresses, bows, affection, the occasional hair-pulling fight, and of course drama)... it has been nothing short of a wake-up call as I adjust to being the only female in our household. My days are filled with, "No don't touch that;" "Stop sitting on your brother's head!;" "No you may no

t put a rock in your brother's cereal." (True stories, all of them!) Of course my boys are very affectionate (with exception of Cameron's few moments where if you touch him you get the look of evil and daggers). I love when Aiden says "Mommy, I love you" out of the blue, for no reason at all. And times when one of the twins runs at me and wraps their arms around my leg tight, smiles, and then runs back to play with their brothers. Those moments lend me some sanity and relief in an otherwise chaotic, testosterone-driven day. :)

I remember setting a few long-term goals for myself before the twins were born: finish that degree I had put on the back burner several years ago, volunteer my free time somewhere worthwhile [whatever happened to that free time?!?!], add many new entries to my neglected passport... All of these goals are still there [the degree being the most within-my-reach at this time, yay!], howe

ver, I think I will consider myself pretty accomplished if one day I can join the "Moms who survived raising boys” club. Actually, I don’t want to just raise them, I want to bring them up in faith, to know and love the Lord, to respect women (and others), to be loyal and trustworthy, to be confident leaders, to always love and cherish their family… and that I, in the end, escape with my sanity and a few good years left to enjoy with Matthew, is that too much to ask? ;)

Speaking of traveling (and how traveling with 3 young boys is FAR from the traveling I had envisioned in my pre-children years)…. this past weekend we travelled to Pittsburgh for my cousin’s wedding (it was beautiful and such a great time!!) The car ride was just about 4hours long and went without a hitch on the way there. The ride back is a whole other story that we won’t talk about in detail. Aft

er the trip, I thought of a few little snippets regarding car trips with children that I’d like to tuck away in my mental notes, and I thought I’d share them before I go (in no particular order):

1. The $$ store is great for small little trinkets to hide in a bag for the car ride and introduce throughout the trip when little ones get antsy.
2. Napkins and wipes should never be put under the seat where they are difficult to reach – particularly when you are trying to hold the sippy cup and lid your toddler removed, as well as using your other hand to attempt to catch the juice dripping off your toddler’s leg and onto the carpet.
3. Juice is not a good drink for toddlers in the car
4. It is important – scratch that -- MANDATORY, to always have an empty cup with a lid available for the inevitable moment your 4 year old boy tells you “I have to pee, I can’t hold it!” [He couldn’t hold it… as soon as we pulled over, it was go time, thank goodness for the cup!
5. Sometimes it’s necessary to stick your head out the window like a dog and just let the wind smack you in your face – I call it “a Mommy timeout.”
6. Do not give your toddler a ball to hold in the car… it will eventually be propelled, with full force, to the front of the car.
7. It is totally acceptable to make funny, childish faces at the car next to you when you pull up to a stop light, your children are screeching in the back seat, and the person in the car next to you is giving you that “control your heathens” glare.
8. If you can’t get them to stop screaming, join them… for some reason it’s far less appealing to them when Mommy does it too.
9. You will inevitably yell your husband or dog’s name when attempting to scold 3 rowdy passengers.
10. Elmo is very car-friendly. I don’t know if there are subliminal messages or a hypnotic component to the DVDs, but it buys several moments of silence almost immediately, this makes Mommy & Daddy happy.
11. Pray. A lot. And I mean – a LOT.

And a few pics of our trip this weekend...

This is what happens when you arrive 4 minutes late and all of the seats are taken, your loving cousin snaps a pic :)

And this is what happens when the reception is outside, and there is a horseshoe pit nearby... boys love dirt :)

The happy bride and groom's first dance :)

And Then Life Happens...

So remember that post just shy of 2 years ago proudly stating that I was breaking my way

onto the blogging scene? Yeah, me either. Well, with little-to-no assuredness, I am making that claim again. There are times in my life where I think my life could be a reality show -- or, at the very least, an extended episode of America's Funniest Home Videos. I am convinced God's purpose for my time here on Earth is to amuse as many people as possible by trying to survive antics that only 3 McGovern boys could provide.

For instance, there was a little episode with Aiden, baby powder, and a bottle of lotion, when he was supposed to be napping in his room...

Or the Case of the Missing Diaper during our first week of potty training with the twins (it was in the toilet). Tyler also decided to pee on the carpet that very same day. We have since taken a short hiatus on the potty training adventure since clearly Mommy is far more ready for it than the twins are!

I can definitely say that there is rarely a dull moment in our house! So just to catch you up to speed a little bit (since the last 2 years have felt like 10!)....

Aiden (now 4), is the size of a 7 year old with inquisitiveness that just doesn't quit -- I mean seriously, when ISN'T this kid trying to take things apart to figure them out, or trying to master technological devices that I still struggle with? Aiden had a big year... he finished his first year of preschool in May and just finished his first t-ball season last week (Go Dodgers!!).

Tyler and Cameron are 2 and the literal definition of trouble squared. Our house has sort of become a "monkey see, monkey do" kind of atmosphere... so if Aiden does it, you can guarantee one of the twins want to do it. Tyler is my little perfectionist. He likes things done a certain way and in a certain order (poor kid got my OCD tendancies). Cameron is our helper of the family. Is there is something that needs to be picked up or put away, Cameron is first on the job! (usually)

I just started up my Summer semester of school a few weeks ago. Needless to say, downtime is even farther from my vocabulary than usual. But I am just one more semester from closing this chapter in my life; nearing the end of this long journey I like to call "finishing my Bachelor's degree before my kids." :)

In May, I attended a scholar recognition ceremony, which recognized students who had been nominated to certain honors societies and received various scholarships at different points in their degree pursuit at UMUC. Kind of cool.

Matthew has been working hard at his job and most likely starting school up this Fall. His travel time has been reduced drastically for work lately, which is great, and the boys are so happy to see their Daddy more often. Although, Skype makes travel time a lot easier for everyone!

So, in an attempt to reenter the blogging world and provide a little comical relief for those who dare follow this... I will try to update this a little more frequently than every 2 years. But that, as with most of my best laid plans, remains to be seen... after all, have you met my children? ;)

And then there was no sleep

Ok so... the little boys are right around the corner from being 8 months old. It is such a fun age, they are almost crawling (got the army crawl down pat), laughing and cooing all the time, starting to interact with Aiden..... there is just one catch -- WHEN WILL I GET SOME SLEEP???!!!!!!

I won't be naive and say that I expect babies to magically become amazing sleepers by 2 months of age, but I don't think its wholly unrealistic for me to be expecting a LITTLE more sleep by now. Apparently we were severely spoiled by Aiden who started sleeping through the night at 6 weeks old. So if he is the "abnormal" one... what is normal? Because if one more person tells me "Oh, 7 months isn't too bad, they'll sleep eventually," I may just snap and start throwing my kids' toys at them. (Mature isn't it?) Add to the mix that there are TWO non-sleeping babies on different sleep schedules and you've got one fun night ahead of you. I would dare any one of those know-it-alls to come spend a night in my house.

So as I sit at work wondering how I am even functioning on a combined total of 4 hours of broken sleep from the previous night, I contemplate crawling under my desk for a quick siesta. I envy those of you who can drink coffee because I just can't bring myself to do it and instead rely on good old Coca Cola for a temporary pick-me-up and guaranteed energy crash shortly thereafter. I am starting to consider a pillow, soft blanket and alarm clock to be a must-have in the Explorer so that I can spend my lunch break sleeping in the back.

I know they are only babies once, and perhaps I will look back in a few years and consider these the "easier" days... but until then I will walk around like a zombie and OD on some caffeine. On the upside... these are the faces I get to go home to every day, life isn't all THAT bad! :)

And so it begins....

I have given in to blogging... and it feels good! So many people I know are bloggers and I thought, I certainly have nothing of interest to blog about. And then I realized, I have 3 boys... I have PLENTY to blog about! So I decided to give it a whirl... although I find myself concerned that maybe blogging is reserved for the grammatically perfect that tell stories with such imagination and creativity.

That being said, I begin my blogging and hope that any who read will enjoy a glimpse into my life as a McGovern. :)