Spring has arrived!

It has been one of those "seasons". Spring has finally arrived and with the arrival of Spring came the departure of most of my winter blues. Upon investigating the source of my mild depressive state I came upon a fun little fact that I have to keep in mind before diagnosing myself clinically crazy. There is a such thing as weather induced depression. I think I was suffering in a major way from this SAD mood of mine (SAD:Seasonal Affective Disorder).

With the warmer air, and snotty, allergy driven colds running amok in my household, I'm beginning to feel slightly more...Normal. Is there such a thing for a stay at home mom of three kids under the age of 5? I'm not sure. Either way, my mood has improved, and so has my motivation. 

This must be the source of "Spring Cleaning". People (a.k.a. women, because we all know men are perfectly content with their surroundings, no matter how filthy) rise up from the ashes of their winter induced 'motivation coma' and realize that they have been slacking. That the trash has piled up, and the fans have a layer of dust half an inch thick. The refrigerator, which you previously couldn't see into through the murky haze of gloom and doom, is in dire need of a cleansing purge. The bathroom, well we won't go there. So a frenzy takes over. 

"I can't invite people over for a warm weather BBQ with my house looking like this!"

"I might die from the pile of laundry threatening to swallow me alive!"

"Is that sticky substance on the kitchen counter new, or has it been there all winter long?"

"Holy crap, did dust just fly out of my t.v. speakers when I turned the volume up a little higher???"

"I don't remember cooking a green and fuzzy...Oh, wait..."

And thus, the birth of Spring Cleaning. That's how it happened, true story. 

So we begin to look a little like this:

We start to feel better about our life, and act like mature responsible adults. Kind of like this:

And that's what is happening around here.

I have (finally) gotten the hang of having three children. It's not as difficult as I thought it would be, although in some aspects it is definitely more trying than I might have anticipated. The boy is WAAAAAY different than his sisters were, and ya know, Thank God for THAT! But really, it's great. So many things are happening with my kids that just really spark a fire of joy in my heart.

Monster S starts kindergarten in the fall, and NEXT WEEK (*sobs into her baby blanket*) she has Kindergarten Kickoff, which means we will get to go take a tour of her school. Pretty awesome. Luckily we also have her physical scheduled for the day before, and I will be able to get things rolling with the registration process. Can anyone say "Heck yeah you're a grown up!" because it's hitting me that I really am an adult.

Monster L has FINALLY starting talking in full blown paragraphs. While she still slurs her "R's" a bit, I can usually understand most of what she says. This is major progress, and genuinely warms the cockles of my heart because it feels like a breakthrough. Who cares that I'm the only one (besides her sister) who knows what she is saying? She also has taken on the role of my toughest child. Here's a delightful story for you. Yesterday being one of the first days that we spent All Day Long outside, was also the day for our first skinned knee of the year. Normally this would include crying, soothing Popsicles, and a lot of kisses from Mama. Not Monster L. She came in from outside declaring her boo boo like it was a trophy. 

"Mama! I has a boo-boo."
"What, where??"

" 'wight here. On ma legs."

"Oh my gosh what happened?"
"I falled by the porch. I got a boo-boo on my knee. It has bloods on it. But I no cry Mama, cause I'm tough."

"Well, do you need a bandaid?"
"Nopes, I just has a boo boo."

"Did you cry?"

"Uh, no Mama, I just got my boo-boo with bloods on it, and I want to tell you."

"Well...Ok, do you want me to kiss it?"
"No. Bye! I go play now!"

Well Alrighty Then. And off she went. Like I said, she's tough. Monster S cries if she gets scratches her arm on a blade of grass. Whatever.

Monster D-man is also growing in leaps and bounds. He can laugh like a champ, something I think amuses him and me to no end. He likes to laugh at me in particular. Something about my face either makes him ridiculously happy, or it just plain cracks him up. I'm frequently asking the girls if I have something on my face. Monster man also reaches for toys, eats baby oatmeal like it is going out of style, and has an affinity for hair pulling. He is a fairly happy baby, with a severe tendency to be cranky after 7 p.m. despite his ability to fight sleep until At Least 10 p.m.

So that's an update on our crazy, cooky family. We're all thoroughly in love with the the change in weather, so you'll have to excuse me. It's time to go sit back outside in the sun. I prefer my tan to come from that rather than the computer screen. :)