Classin Up the Neighborhood

Our pool might be a hot mess, but we have clean diapers.

I'm sure our neighbors love us on both counts.

Goettsch family, keeping Anderson Heights classy since 2011.

(PS these diapers drying outside in the sunshine really do make me embarrassingly happy.)

Sister, Sister

Just a quick early-morning post for anyone else who's up super early on a Friday and in need of some heart-melting.

Every time I look at this it gets even better. *swoon*

(Brought to you by Another Nathan's perfect cameraphone timing.)

Grocery Buddy

From the time Anneliese was just a few days old, she's been my angel of a shopping buddy. Rarely one for pitching a fit in public, she's spent our shopping days either sleeping sweetly, or managing to charm almost anyone we encounter.

At first the grocery store meant snuggled in the bjorn, sleeping. Then facing outward in the bjorn, smiling at Nathan. Then in the car seat hooked to the cart while big brother was in school.  Then in the seat of the cart, sitting up like a big girl.  Then in the seat, playing the big sister role to Charlotte in the bjorn. More recently, standing on the front rung of the cart, hanging on and pretending she's the one pushing it.

And now, this week, purshing her own little cart without wrecking it or needing much help from me. She has officially stopped pretending to help me shop, and is actually helping me shop.

I've gladly shopped without Nathan while he's in school, and gratefully left Charlotte home sometimes too, but it's a less sunny day for me when I do groceries without Anneliese's cheerful face. All shoppers should be so lucky for a grocery buddy like this one.

Jumperoo Fail

Hey remember that time Charlotte fell through and out of her jumperoo?

Your daily Charlotte

So sad.

If by sad, I mean hilarious, while feeling guilty for finding it hilarious, because it's sad.

Which, obviously, I do.

Imitation and Flattery... or Something

We have established that Anneliese has a picture face which is... less than attractive.

Remember this?

Sadly, even as as her picture face has gotten a little better over the last year...

... the rest of ours have gotten worse. And unfortunately, doing an "Anneliese face" has become a habit which means my camera is full of this whenever I dump it. Most get deleted but I'm capturing a few for posterity.

Mommy, Nathan, even Asher... it's sweeping the nation.

We're sexy and we know it.

(Anyone who wants to text or email me pictures of themselves doing the Anneliese Face, she'll get a huge kick out of it! And I probably won't post them on the internet. *Ahem.*)

Instagrammy Charlotte

I used to (lovingly) (ahem) mock people who were all up in instagram, hipsters and artist wannabes and the like. Oh people. The 1970s are laughing at you, and so am I.

But then my best friend got an iphone, joined the instagram revolution, made pretty pictures of my children, amongst other things, and I am now secretly jealous. (Don't tell the internet.)

Your daily Charlotte

I'm working through my pain by demanding instagram-everything. Including Charlotte. Laugh on, 1970s. But instagram-lashes and instagram-smiles are for sure a win.

Brownie Batter Baby

Sometimes Anneliese likes to pretend she likes to help in the kitchen. But really, she doesn't.

She likes the apron part. And the being with mommy and brother part. But while Nathan will measure ingredients and read oven temperatures and count eggs and stir patiently before delving into his batter reward, Anneliese goes straight for the good stuff, no cooking effort attempted.

Your daily Anneliese

Ann-eese helping cooking too Mommy!

Um, okay sweetie. Notsomuch, but okay. Adorable wins.

Get off Dr. Mayberry

There are some pictures you should probably never take of your children, let alone post on the internet. I have decided not to follow either of those rules today. 

Backstory: one of the more infamous ErinAshleyBrad childhood games was all of us piling on top of each other then squealing and laughing and yelling (and here's where it turns from being an every-kid game to a real Bumgarner treat) get off dr. mayberry! I have no idea why. (Dr. Mayberry was our dentist.) (Yes, at first our parents were appropriately concerned about this game.)

Is it wrong that it makes me happy to see similar nonsense manifesting in the next generation? 

(I decided not to tell them about the Dr. Mayberry part.) (Sorry, Ashley and Brad.) (You're welcome, mom and dad.)

Yarfy Girl, Frog and Puppy: A Story in Texts

A story of a yarfy girl, frog and puppy, in texts sent from my phone:

10:13am Morning! My gym plans got derailed by Anneliese waking up covered in vomit and sobbing. I've finally got her bedding sorted and in the wash. Floor and bed frame scrubbed and clean. My own gagging and vomiting seem to have abated. Anneliese is in the tub. Whoa. Happy Saturday to me.

10:15am In related news, after this morning's cleanup, I don't think I'll be in the mood for Sonic again for a while.

10:16am Also Hattie is ready for her cycle in the washing machine but Jingle didn't fare so well either, and I don't know how to clean him. Going to try to take him apart so he's machine safe. Anneliese is very sad and concerned that he needs a bath too. Aw.

10:33am Ugh and OF COURSE the whole time I was doing that, Bowden was emptying the trash can in the kitchen and dragging sh!t* everywhere. There are now bits of cottage cheese and milkshake and yogurt paper all over the house OH MY GOD.

10:34am And Charlotte has been screaming the whole time and Anneliese is still in the bath waiting for me and it's prob cold now and okay I am starting to feel a bit panicky. It's too much! I can't do it all! I just need to cry. But I won't. Okay bathtime.

11:06am I've done what I can as far as starting laundry and cleaning and washing babies and such. Everyone is now dressed. It's mainly Charlotte's NONSTOP FOR HOURS screaming that's making me feel frazzled now so I'm going to use 'soothing car ride' as an excuse for Starbucks and fresh air.

11:21am Yeah I'm okay. Luckily I feel good** today. Sadly I don't think Jingle survived. He's soaking now so I'll check when we get back. But he got the worst of it and he can't go in the washer. :( N and A are all abuzz about how if he doesn't feel good he should go to the hospital.

11:22am I think I'm going to take that scenario and run with it. He's "at the hospital." Anneliese keeps saying he's crying. Sad.

11:23am I know she needs a new one but she can't KNOW it's a new one. I called around and no Hallmark stores in town have him anymore. But there are tons online. I can pass off a new one as the original, right?

11:24am Unrelated- god this coffee tastes like f&ck!ng heaven. What a morning. We're going to go buy A a new pillow and then I'll shower my grossness away. Come pick me up after 1?

11:37am Well we have more yarfing. In the car this time. Super. I just stopped to clean her up and didn't notice til I was done that where I had stopped was a maserati dealer. #ClassicErin?

11:51am Cut to Anneliese topless in Dillards.

12:05pm The other pillow was so gross it wasn't worth washing (the $8 replacement is money well spent) and ended up having to buy her a new shirt too.

12:15pm Aaaaaand she just did it AGAIN. Not sure what's wrong with her. We're on the way home now, I'm not going to let her eat anything for lunch. Poor baby.

12:58pm She's settled in bed with lots of towels. Getting her down to nap without Hattie and Jingle was not awesome, especially when she doesn't feel good. Hattie is in a pillowcase in the washer, and Jingle just had another round with the diaper sprayer. He officially he did not survive. Cause of death: asphyxiation by sonic vomit. #sadface

{Best friend collects me for a round of sunglasses shopping, and random but lovely vespers worship service*** at a church in Cary. Day is improved significantly.}

{And we probably didn't even get lost in Cary. Ahem. Anyway we both have cute new shades.****}

6:17pm Hattie is in the dryer. To me it looks like she's having some kind of medical scan. Why did she leave Jingle at the hospital?? A is mostly just concerned that she's naked. :)

{After no more vomit and another awesome night-night without her loveys, Anneliese and Hattie were reunited the next day. And we expect Jingle "home" from the "hospital" sometime next week.}

And that's the story of how we went to Dillards half naked, gave Hattie a dryer mri, and secretly laid Jingle to rest. All in one day. The end.

Oh except the part where the van windows were open to let the yarfyness air out but then it stormed and I woke up and panicked and went outside at 2:30am in a torrential downpour worried they would be open (not that it wouldn't have been too late at that point anyway) but they weren't because Mark had a rockstar moment in closing them before he left for work for the night because he pretty much always knows the weather forecast. Okay. Forrealthistime. The End.

*Yeah. I cuss when I'm stressed. You have been warned.
**In reply to a checkin about mental health status. A daily thing. At least.
***Things that happen when your best friend is Another Nathan.
****I'm convinced this is 90% of the reason he wanted to get contacts.

Baby's First Modern Art

The other day at the airport, when Charlotte was gnawing on my phone (not that I let her do that *ahem*), she somehow managed to take this:

No, your eyes do not deceive you. This indeed is the most beautiful amazing perfectly-blurred photo of the sky, in the history of photos or the sky. It's... art.

Yes, that's our Charlotte. She's a genius. A baby artist genius. A BABY CELL PHONE PHOTOGRAPHY ARTIST GENIUS.

What can we say, she does amazing work. She has already far surpassed her sensei Nathan, clearly.

I might or might not* enlarge it and frame it and hang it in my house.

*I might or might not be dead serious.

Another Day, Another Airport Playdate

We took Nathan and his school friend Peyton Rose on a playdate to the airport last week.

With Mark there, juggling four kids was like... nothing. It was actually kind of an easy morning, aside from the few raindrops and the fact that I was freeeezing (I swear it was like eighty at our house and sixty-five at the rdu) (it is a little-known Raleigh truth that it's always ten degrees colder at the airport).

Anneliese tagged along after the big kids and was thrilled when she got to share some of Peyton Rose's goldfish.

It was Charlotte's first time at the airport! (I think?) (I feel like I should know that but I totally don't. I'm pretty sure it was her first time though.)

She seemed to like it. Or at least like having all of mommy's and daddy's attention to herself for a few minutes!

Oh, the airport. What would we do without you, beloved RDU?

Teething Bites

Poor sweet Charlotte is somewhat of a... violent teether. I wish there was a better word to describe it but right now I can't think of one.

She's teethed early -- first tooth at three and a half months, three by her half birthday, and four a few weeks after that. What seven-month old has four teeth already? At this age Nathan didn't even have one! Charlotte's got a whole mouthful.

And she teethes fast -- I'll see not even the first glimpse of a gum bulge, then suddenly there's a line of white dots, and then overnight a legitimate tooth bud. Her last two teeth have come through so fast they actually seem to tear her gums, and the poor girl has a bloody mouth for a while.

It's my bloody tooth and I'll cry if I want to!

Blood on her gums, her lips, her hands, my boobs. Is this normal? Because it did not happen to Nathan or Anneliese.

So, yeah. She's been pretty sad the last few days, and we're assuming the newest bloody chomper is probably the reason. (Although, considering how intense this has seemed for her, she's still less of a baby about it than her big brother or big sister.) Lots of wanting to be held and snuggle.

You know what? I don't care if it's teething or if she's just being high-maintenance. These snuggles are rare enough that I'll take em how I can get em.

Pink Toes

Besides her first haircut last week, Anneliese has also been begging for me to make her toes pink like mine.  So, we did.

Adorable side note: she thinks that when she puts on socks and shoes, her pink toes go away, and she wants me to make them pink again by taking her socks off. She should be well-versed in object permanence by now, which makes the whole thing a bit cuter.

Burping Song

Sometime when Nathan was an infant, probably near the holidays but let's be honest who really knows, I started singing about burping to the tune of Sing We Now of Christmas (like you do). And it stuck. All through his babyhood and then into Anneliese's, and now into Charlotte's, pretty much every time I nurse and burp a baby, I sing this song.

Since I nursed Nathan for twenty months, and Anneliese for fifteen, and now Charlotte for seven and counting, that's like forty-three combined months (so far!) of nursing and burping and singing and, um*... whoa. Needless to say, the song has become a staple we barely notice anymore. So obviously the kids have picked it up, and they now sing along too.

Yes, we have family carol sessions about burping, multiple times a day. For like five years. Wow it didn't seem that weird til I put it in writing. Ah well.

This will go down as a Thing, so in the interest of memory-capturing, Mark filmed it one night. As you can see, Anneliese doesn't somuch understand the words as just sing sing sing burp burp burp sing burp sing sing. Which, you know. Good enough for me.

(You can also see that I'm desperate for a haircut and Anneliese has some sticker on her face that I don't have a great explanation for. Sorry.) (But if you wait til the end you get to hear me ask which kid smells like poop, so... you're welcome?)

I present to you... The Burping Song.


If you can't see the video embedded above, click here to watch it on YouTube.

We're pretty much the next Von Trapps. Everybody says it.

*Also explains the mom boobs. Sigh.

I Cringe

So last month, Another Nathan and I switched phones.  Well, kind of. 

Basically he wanted an iPhone but wasn't eligible for an upgrade yet, so we used our upgrade to get an iPhone for Mark's line, then traded Nathan that iPhone for his old (but new to me) touchscreen Droid which we activated on my line, then re-activated Mark's original Droid on his line, which he's content with til the one he really wants goes on sale. At which point we will use Nathan's upgrade to get it.

Clear as mud, right? Don't worry about the details, we all have the phones we want, and the lady in the Verizon store totally loved us (not sarcastic, we make friends wherever we go), so... yeah.

ANYWAY.

All that is just a long way of saying that I ended up with Another Nathan's phone, which somehow retained all his pictures even though we put my sd card in it (and dude is a picture hoarder) and y'all! Look at this vision of heinous I had forgotten about* til I sorted through the masses of pictures on his phone! (I mentioned the hoarder thing already, right? Just making sure.)

If only Charlotte were in here too, it could be an Awkward Sibling Photo of truly epic legend.

In a related story, my children think going to Target with Another Nathan is pretty much the best thing ever. I wonder why.

*repressed. I was there that day but didn't remember this happening til I saw the picture. You know how that goes.

The Keys, C Haz Them

An annoted progression of my key territoriality. (Is that a word? I don't know. I'm too lazy even to google. So, just go with it.)

With Nathan I never let my keys into his line of sight, much less let the jingle be music to his ear or (horrors!) put them in his grubby little baby fist.

With Anneliese, I occasionally resorted to it if she was reeeeeally fussy in public or something, all while claiming I never did it. 

Denial, oh how good you feel.

With Charlotte?  Yeah. 

pretty baby pic by Merritt

She can hold them, she can jingle them, she can chew them, and even though I know when she learns to push buttons I'm going to totally regret it, I can no longer pretend those keys aren't hers, pretty much whenever she wants.

Background: I have a thing with little kids into grownup stuff.  (The thing being, I don't like it. That was obvious, right?)  I cringe when I see little ones holding markers, wallets, trying on parental sunglasses, flipping through papers and grownup books, opening drawers, etc. In babyhood it's innocent enough, but then suddenly you have a toddler who thinks she can control the remote and, um no. People who let their kids play with their phones completely confound me. I mean, I get in theory why they do it and why it's distracting and whatnot, but for me? Hell to the no. We all have our parenting and pet peevey things, that's just one of mine. There are other kiddie habits that I let fly without two blinks (runny noses, flushing every time) but for real - git yer ass outa my purse. I'm territorial like that. I just need some of my grownup stuff to be grownup stuff. (Except when I have this key fail thing, apparently.)

Hot Mess

I'm not sure quite what to say about this.

So, presented without further comment... your daily Anneliese.

Remember When 'Joyride' Meant Something Else?

Hey remember that one time Another Nathan needed to do a test drive with the church bus the night before some conference or another and, because he is a thoughtful and somewhat indulgent friend, he drove it to our house and let us come along?

pre Anneliese haircut. pre Nathan new shoes. obvs.

Yeah. It's the small things like going for a ride on the church bus! that can make any evening with preschoolers better.

(Also, remember how Nathan wanted to wear a sweater like Another Nathan's, and then Anneliese wanted to wear Nathan's other sweater to match too?  Speaking of fashion role models.)

A New Scarf and a Fashion Role Model

Nathan had been bugging me for months for a scarf of his own (both he and Anneliese like to take mine and wear them) (usually whichever one I am already wearing *sigh*) and now, just on the verge of warm spring weather (I hope, I hope), we finally found one that met both his style approval and my cheap-preschooler-wardrobe budget.

He wanted me to take a picture to text and show Mr. David (who, after orange shoelaces and two coveted shirts from our beach weekend, is now his fashion role model? okay), so we did.

Ten minutes later we got a text back from Indiana. Guess who not only approves of the new scarf, but has one eerily similar himself.

OF COURSE HE DOES.

Anneliese's First Haircut

We had our baby girl's hair cut for the first time today.

Hold me, internetz.

In our family's second battle in the War Against Mullets (remember the first?), after several weeks of hair! bugging me!* we decided none of us could take any more of Anneliese's sweaty tangled mess.

I don't know, I thought it was still sort of pretty. (Apparently I was the only one.)

She was a champ. Uncharacteristically quiet and nervous, but after watching Nathan go before her, and making sure she got to also wear a penguin cape and sit in a police car chair, she climbed right up, put on her "big girl serious" face, and didn't fuss one bit.

My biggest fear about this haircut (besides the tantrum that never happened) was that she would lose all her sweet curls, and with them, her clinging-to-babyhood look. But... nope!

After the cutting was all done and it started to dry, they just sprang right back up! Maybe even more than before!

So she's still my sweet curly-haired baby-faced little girl. Now with no mullet.

Love.

Oh and she also now looks more freakishly like her big brother than ever before. Yes?

*My mom and dad just read that and melted. #ashleythrowback #bugginme

Charlotte at Seven Months

Baby Charlotte is seven months old today! Lucky seven. Which means she's well on the way to being not an infant anymore, but I'm pretending that's not the case because (again!) with the baby, with the growing up, with the way too fast can I keep bringing this up every month?  Because it keeps being true!

And it's also true that she's more beautiful, and has a more beautiful spirit, every time I turn around.

Anyway.

Here is Charlotte's report card at seven months old:

Sleeping -- I totally shouldn't tell the internet this, but Charlotte is officially, once and for all, for sure definitely sleeping through the night (*holds breath waiting for lightning to strike*). No seriously. She goes down at 7 and usually isn't up til 6 or later the next morning. It's earlier than I want to get up, but I'll take it.  (And let's be honest, the 6am waking has always been, and forever will be, Daddy's.) B

Socializing -- We have a very smiley and curious baby on our hands, folks. She's interested in the world around her (and by "world" I mostly mean "whatever Nathan and Anneliese are doing"), she giggles when poked, she's incredibly flexible being out and about to run errands and stuff, usually happy even when it's her naptime. However, she is starting to get a little screamy at the gym and in the church nursery when I try to leave her when she's tired. (I only let her take one nap a day, which yes I know is horrible, but it works best for our family schedule so just... deal, internet, deal.) Apparently in those moments, only mommy hugs will do? Healthy attachments to loved ones are great, but other people can be super too. Even when you're tired.  Let's work on that, Squeaks. C+

Eating -- She nurses like a champ, and we still haven't had to enter that annoying baby food stage where I have to remember to pack food and bibs and spoons and whatnot, and then watch her make a slow mess of it while I inevitably lose control of what the big kids are doing in the meantime. (Yeah. Not a fan. Dreading that stage. Can you tell?) But she still nurses well enough and often enough, she's growing great (finally! we have a thriver!) so in my book, the continuation of this simple feeding option is a solid A+.

Bathing -- Charlotte, you still have only had like three baths. In your life. Well, four if you count the day I came home and in a fit of ocd took a foot scrub and a comb to your scalp in the hopes of removing your cradle cap.  (Which I mostly didn't. And every second of which, you hated.)  Let's totally count it though, okay?  And seriously girl, you've gotta jump in the shower more often! Hello! Personal hygeine! F

Strengthening -- So apparently the third time's the charm, because Charlotte will actually (wait for it)... bear weight on her legs. I KNOW. She also rolls (and rolls and rolls) and is trying to use her torso to sit up a bit, but I don't care so much about any of that other stuff because the fact that she will bear weight on her legs is the tiniest bit earth-shattering* in these parts.  I don't... I just... I can't wrap my brain around it. (*For those of you who aren't properly impressed with a Goettsch baby being only four months behind on gross motor skillz, just... shut it.) B+

So once again I did my fancy mommy math and this whole thing averages out to an A+ baby.

(Basically the fancy math amounts to this: you sleep + you smile = you pass.)

Love you, sweet Charlotte.

Bonus Room Wagon

You know that thing where you take a box of legos and put it in your doll stroller, then tip it over and connect the handles to the piano bench which is also tipped over, and then fill that with pillows removed from the couch and climb in as if it's your own custom-designed furniture...?

... and then insist your brother push you around in it while you yell WAGON! WAGON! PUSH WAGON!

... and then wake up the next morning (and the next, and the next) and do it all over again? You know?

Oh... no?  That's not a Thing in your house?  So it must just be a Nathanneliese* thing. Okay.

* #seewhatIdidthere (get on board)

Betsy's Wedding: Superlative Wrapup

I've just returned from a super weekend away in Greenville for my sweet friend Betsy's wedding.  Betsy was one of my earliest friends at Furman (we were on the same freshman hall) and we were roommates our junior and senior years.  I can't even describe how sappy and wonderful everything about this weekend was. Some of the "best of" moments...

Best use of a million people in a wedding party! (Just kidding there were only twenty-six of us. Only.)

Best bride photobomb... baby Charlotte!

Best purple stripey scarf that I only suddenly just now realized I need... Merritt!

Best use of a plunger story in a bridesmaid speech which accidentally-on-purpose made the bride cry... me!

Best pairing of a patterned shirt and patterned tie (in purple, no less!)... Marky!

Best (only *ahem*) sword arch ceremony I've ever seen... the dude who slapped Betsy on the butt with his sword and said "welcome to the marine corps, ma'am!" Um, win.

Best last-love belltower pic ever (and I mean ever)... David!

Best-looking groom I've seen in a loooooong time.... Mastin! (#hott)

Best reuniting of all four roommates for the first time in a decade... J-306!

Betsy, Emily, Sarah and me... reunited and it feels so good

Best post-wedding date sonic-drive-up-in-a-minivan-with-a-baby order.... us!

(It was a blue coconut slushie and some sweet potato tater tots and a large powerade. You know you were dying to know.)

Best best wishes to Betsy and Mastin, we love you both!

For more pics of the weekend, click here for the photobucket album.

Charlotte in the Bubble

We've been in Greenville, at Furman specifically, for my college roommate Betsy's wedding.  Before the festivities, I had to do that thing (again! for the third time!) where I drag my baby out of her car seat and pose with her in front of the belltower, while pretending not to secretly hope she will be recreating a similar moment with her spouse-to-be in a couple decades.

Your daily Charlotte: the requisite belltower shot

And with that, I have officially become one of Those Moms I used to find so annoying when I was a student.

Who cares. Let 'em roll their eyes. She's precious and DANGIT THIS WAS MY COLLEGE FIRST.

Oh and go Paladins and stuff.

(PS Did you know that the Furman belltower is the most photographed spot in South Carolina?  True story.  And it wasn't even Charlotte that tipped the scale.)

(PS who puts PS's in a blog post? *sigh*)