Our cable and internet were out last night so I wasn’t able to publish the blog. It’s become such a Sunday night routine for me that I wasn’t sure what to do with myself.

Have I mentioned that Megan is pregnant? Yes! A baby is coming our way in late December/early January! (Well, Megan’s way. But our way, too.) There have been a lot of conversations in our house about whether Megan is having a man baby or a lady baby. Though, regardless of gender, Amaya has named the baby “Taco” and I am on board with that. This is pretty much as close as I’m going to come to another baby and I am living vicariously through Megan. It’s been so much fun to see the kids react to Megan’s growing belly and what that means. On Friday, Amaya wanted to give Taco hugs and kisses in Megan’s belly. <3

Monday was the day Megan found out the sex of little Taco and, while my mom was still in town, we were all able to meet up for lunch by my office for a gender reveal.

Megan brought cupcakes and Sammy was very, very happy to dive in and tell us if Taco is a man or lady.

Lady baby!! Megan is having a girl!!

Sammy devoured his cupcake. It’s quite the big event when I serve cupcakes and especially before lunch. I think he knew it was a moment to take advantage of.

Amaya, celebrating Lady Baby Taco.

And Steven, who not only couldn’t be bothered with his cupcake but wanted to be sure none of the green icing touched anything in his space.

He was very pleased with his mac & cheese and broccoli, though. (Note to parents: Chili’s has a great toddler friendly menu. I was really impressed with the options.)

We love you, May May!!

On Tuesday, Nana was expected to be back in NY but the Delta computer meltdown meant that we got to keep Nana for an extra night. I know it wasn’t ideal for my mom but I was really glad to get the extra time together. I know Steven, Sammy and Amaya were, too.

Morning storybook time with Megan on Wednesday.

I got this caterpillar stuffed animal a while ago and SSA are finally at an age where they get it. Sammy actually did a great job working the button and Amaya was threading fabric through a loop to velcro it closed. I love their little concentration faces.

So, on Wednesday I came home for lunch and planned to eat my sandwich. I offered a bite to Amaya which led to a bite for Sammy and then a bite for Steven. Next thing I knew, they were passing around my sandwich and, bite by bite, it was gone. Jason often says the best way to get them to try something is to attempt to eat it yourself. The good news is we’ve now added ham & cheese sandwiches to their lunch rotation.

Wednesday afternoon was a trip to Northville for frozen yogurt. Sammy and Amaya loved theirs. Steven was, once again, distracted by the trucks driving by. He’s nothing if not consistent (and doesn’t seem to have much of a sweet tooth).

Thursday morning was Crazy Hat Day in the Land of Cheltenham! You’ll notice it involves a lot of trading.

The weather has been rainy and muggy which calls for trips to the mall play space.

These days, nighttime in the Land of Cheltenham means Daniel Tiger.

Friday morning was a play date with Ben and Sam and two other friends. I’m told it was shockingly calm for this many kids.

In the afternoon, we had a visit from Grandma Sunshine!!

Our day ended with some Olympics, DVR’d from the prior night. Here’s Steven letting us know which way the swimmers are swimming and which way they’ll go next. He was running back and forth in front of the tv anticipating each turn around.

And here is Steven (and co.) mastering their floor routines. One, two, three, go!

There were big storms on Friday night and the power went out shortly after midnight.  Jason and I both woke up and so did Amaya who was upset that it was so dark in her room. Since I didn’t know when the power would come back on, I took her into bed with me. I think I’ve romanticized sleeping with the kids because the idea was much better than the reality. Aside from randomly waking up in the night, Amaya was wide awake singing from about 3am to 4am.

And, of course, once we were up for the day and power was restored I found that I was smart and put emergency lights in their closets. What wasn’t smart was completely forgetting they were there.

Sunday we had a play date with Liam, Kayla and Mckenzie and their mom, Bethany. The kids are definitely still more into parallel play than playing together but we were joking that we hope we’re all still getting together through their high school graduation parties.

Here’s Steven this week!

“The orange plane is up in the skyyyyyyy!”

Sammy this week!

Sammy was sleeping so peacefully until the flash went off. Sorry Sammy! He didn’t wake up but I really don’t want to cause that look on his face.

He looks so old here.

Amaya this week!

Notice Baby Jenna on Amaya’s back? With each passing day, she’s more and more into caring for her baby doll.

That magnatile creation is an Amaya Original.

Wearing daddy’s backbrace. She held up the baby monitor and took a picture of herself. Then she sent it to me. Their grasp of how we use technology is amazing. It’s going to blow their minds that for my entire childhood, Polaroids aside, you couldn’t see a photo until after you took the film to a store to be developed.

Someone was changing Baby Jenna’s diaper and got a little over enthusiastic with the diaper cream.

That’s it for this week! No blog next week because I will be on a girls’ trip to Iceland with my friend Erica! Whoo hoo!