Mommy Hell.

This morning Shamus puked on the bus while we were taking Chance to school. It was impossibly quiet. Chance and I were mid-conversation, I looked away, and when I looked back he was covered in his own vomit. We were only halfway through the first bus ride (It takes two buses to get there). I can't believe I missed how hot his forehead was. It was one of those every-mother's-nightmare kind of scenarios. I have no idea how I didn't freak out through all of that.

As much as I'm complaining, I am also pretty grateful too. Thank you to the old ladies who rushed over with napkins to help. Thank you to the bus driver who kept driving (even though they are legally required to immediately pull over, evacuate the bus, and call for a new one when someone throws up. I know this because when I was pregnant with Shamus I threw up on the bus several times). Thank you to the second bus driver who didn't say a word when Shamus climbed on still visibly puke-y. Thank you to the guy by the school lost-and-found who turned a blind eye while we borrowed a sweatshirt for Shamus to wear home. Thank you to the lady who ran and got me a plastic bag for his nasty clothes. Thank you to the people on the very crowded bus home who gave us their seats and pretended not to notice how AWFUL we smelled.

Getting Chance to school on time was a universally team effort, but I'm glad we made it.
Mama needs to hurry up and master freeway driving so she can get her license already.

New Hair.

The color, anyway. Not the hair. The hair's all mine.

Chance's been at his dad's all week so we're all missing him. Shamus is like a tiny, manic cyclone. I hear, "Look, Mom! Watch me, watch me" every five seconds. Baby Jack is like The Blob, consuming anything that gets too close. I think he gains a pound a day, he's getting so heavy!

We're all excited for Chance to get back and for us to leave for our Thanksgiving vacation. (Both happen tomorrow). I haven't packed yet. That's always insane. Not one of us can pack light. Even the baby? ESPECIALLY the baby.

Suffocating in the Stuff.

Full disclosure: I love STUFF. I come from a long line of women who have too much stuff. I guess the problem isn't owning all the stuff, it's when it crosses that line to owning you. That's been the theme of my week, "There's too much stuff. Let's get rid of some."

It's daunting, especially my night stand. James built it for me last year and it's been accumulating crap ever since. Homework, read books, books I want to read, my precious magazines, random lost makeup, hair bows... It's insane. Sometimes I find myself just staring at it. That happened last night. It was a very long and tiring day. I decided it would be a good idea to poke something near the middle of  the heap to see what would happen. The top of the pile immediately tipped onto the floor, but everything else seemed to hold, and then there it went. Pounds of stuff came down in a giant avalanche. All over the floor, the bed, everywhere.

With a sigh of resolution, I went and got a trash bag and spent two hours sorting (and tossing). I did the same thing in the dining room two days before. I already feel better. I think the junk is a physical manifestation of how I'm feeling. Overwhelmed. Unappealing. Cluttered.

It's my obsession this week, trying to get it dealt with before the holidays come and I have even less time on my hands. If only there were three of me so I could clean each room simultaneously...

Dia De Los Muertos In Pictures.

We had two, a big one in our neighborhood the Sunday before and an even bigger one in SF the actual day of. It's our favorite yearly tradition, but I don't think we've ever gone to both in the same year.

This was the first year Shamus let me paint his face. The first Dia he smeared it pretty quickly so I got smart and used different tools the second time and it survived a lot longer. Chance threw an unfortunately timed tantrum just before his turn to get his face painted so he couldn't get any, which I was disappointed about. There's always next year.

Fruitvale-

Got to wear my awesome WWII zombie girls dress. It fits, hooray!

SF-

Both kids passed out before the night was over. Shamus in his stroller, Chance at the restaurant.

Nothing funnier than a child asleep at an inappropriate time!

Halloween In Pictures.

Technically we had two Halloweens as our friend in Pacifica had a kid-friendly Halloween party the Saturday before. Shamus wore Chance's old Frankenstein costume since his wasn't actually finished yet. I was Miss Piggy. There's no pictures somehow. The blonde wig was itchy so I kept trying to take it off but every time I did Shamus would insist I put it back on. I think he prefers blondes.

 Halloween was crazy but fun. We procrastinated like champs this year so we were literally hot gluing and sewing things together the day of. We finished, picked Chance up from school, and drove straight to Benicia. It rained for the first block we trick-or-treated and then, thankfully, it quit for a while so we were able to keep going (though the baby had to stay inside after that).

Pterodactyl and Bat. (Jack was a bat too). 

 Punkins.

Shamus' is an owl in a tree. Chance made a "Skylander that shoots fireballs". Mine and James' are pretty self-explanatory.

Dinosaur Picnic At Little Farm.

October is my second favorite month of the whole year. It's hard to contemplate but James and I were both home for the entirety of it. We had a brand spanking new baby and all that that entails (erratic sleep patterns, a three week long cold that would not die, annnd some colic).

We also had a lot of fun.

Chance turned six in October. He's had some elaborate birthdays in the past but I was hesitant to do one of those this year since there was going to be an infant around. Luckily, he was on board with taking a trip somewhere and only inviting a few school friends. He wanted it dinosaur themed (no surprise there) and he wanted to have it at Little Farm inside Tilden Park.

Chance woke up the morning of the party and dressed himself in a dress shirt and tie. I had completely forgotten he even owned a tie. We'd bought it in January for a funeral and hadn't used it since. I tried to talk him into something more comfortable but he insisted he wanted to be "fancy" for his party. It was a totally heartbreaking moment when Chance was running and tripped in the dirt and howled, "NOOOO, MY SHIRRRRT!" (I was pretty puzzled until a few weeks later when I met another classmate, a very cute little boy who wears dress shirts and ties to school every day. I like the influences at this school!)

Besides a little stain on his shirt that was easily fixed with a stain stick, and the little detail that most of the party guests got lost and we had no phone reception inside the park, it went pretty smoothly. Chance had a great time, I didn't make myself absolutely crazy trying to get every detail just right. That's all that matters.

The invitations we made. The desserts were all dinosaurs and the "favors" were dinosaur fact cards. Chance approved.

To throw a little Flashback Friday twist in-

A picture from his last birthday at Tilden Park (his third).

They're so big now! Where does the time go?