tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11874966083909018502024-03-14T04:55:14.984-04:00The Fox FactorTalking Points, Most Ridiculous Item of the Day, and Unsolved Problems - A Commentary on Parenting Three Small BoysUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger127125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1187496608390901850.post-77229653663968855702012-12-06T22:42:00.000-05:002012-12-16T22:51:23.517-05:00Merry Christmas 2012Dear Friends and Family,<br />
<br />
While we can’t say things are exactly slowing down around here, we do feel like we’ve fallen into a pretty chill rhythm of life after 8 consecutive years of babies, new jobs, and moves. We’re pleased to report that we have no new major news to report in 2012.<br />
<br />
That’s not to say that life is quiet. We’ll remember 2012 as the year Josh graduated from being “Baby” and officially became a Fox brother. This year, he was jumped into the gang and can officially run as fast, hit as hard, eat as much, and smell as bad as the other boys. There is now constant and relentless teasing, mocking, racing, and roughhousing, but Josh seems to be able to hold his own well enough given that he’s still half the size of the other two. Joshie is enjoying his last year of preschool and took a brief foray into soccer this fall before deciding it wasn’t for him.<br />
<br />
Drew is in 2nd grade and the theme of his year has been athletics. He discovered basketball last spring and soccer in the fall and now happily goes from one season to the next without a break in between. He’s a model citizen at school, and after school he does things like free-hand maps of the world for fun, so when he’s not playing hard, he’s geeking out pretty hard.<br />
<br />
Cade is in 3rd grade and the highlight of his year is that he’s in a classroom that is piloting iPads for each student, leading to a relentless campaign for an iPad at home (thanks, school district!). Cade took up guitar last year and has built up quite a repertoire. Aaron is teaching himself piano, so the two of them enjoy jam sessions when they are able to master the same selected songs (mostly Imperial March or Carol of the Bells). Cade’s sport is swimming, and this summer he completed his first Kids Triathlon. We thought he might expire before crossing the finish line, but he did it!<br />
<br />
Aaron is still at Dell and has mastered his role there such that he has enough free time to coach Josh’s soccer team, lead Cade’s Cub Scout den, serve as Head Cheerleader for Drew’s basketball team, and manage two fantasy football teams. He’s also running a half marathon in January.<br />
<br />
Cara survived her first year as Executive Director of The Christi Center, an amazing Austin nonprofit that provides free grief support services. Even with her increased job responsibilities, she’s been able to maintain the usual volunteer commitments (Cub Scout leader, room mom, Sunday School teacher, Junior League of Austin, gala committee for school district Foundation, etc.). Cara is running a half marathon on a daily basis.<br />
<br />
We squeezed in a fair amount of travel this year (skiing in New Mexico for Spring Break, Chicago area (twice) for weddings of cousins, and a planned post-Christmas trip to Disneyworld. We made some updates to the house (visitors welcome anytime!) and begrudgingly committed to a new minivan when ours conked out prematurely this summer. We’re feeling pretty middle aged, but we can’t complain – life is very, very good for the Foxes.<br />
<br />
We hope the same is true for all of you, and we wish you a wonderful holiday season and a new year filled with all of the blessings you deserve.<br />
<br />
Love,
The Foxes<br />
Aaron, Cara, Cade, Drew and Josh
<br />
<br />
PS - To get our awesome status updates all year long, find us on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/cara.fox.50">Facebook</a>.<br />
<br />
<div class="sflyProductPreviewWidget" style="height: 494px; width: 425px;">
<div class="sflyProductPreviewWidgetTop" style="background-image: url(http://cdn.staticsfly.com/img_/share/preview/msc/widget/top.gif); height: 6px;">
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="sflyProductPreviewWidgetCenter" style="background-image: url(http://cdn.staticsfly.com/img_/share/preview/msc/widget/bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-y; height: 482px; padding: 0 6px 0 6px;">
<div class="sflyProductPreviewLogo" style="height: 34px; padding: 14px 0 0 14px; width: 105px;">
<img src="http://cdn.staticsfly.com/img_/share/preview/msc/widget/logo.gif" style="background: #ffffff; border: none; box-shadow: none; padding: 0;" /></div>
<div class="sflyProductPreviewContainer" style="height: 350px; padding: 0; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=1GasnLdk0cm&cid=SFLYOCWIDGET&eid=118"><img src="http://images-community.shutterfly.com/prs/v1/1GasnLdk0M/1GasnLdk0NxY/p/67b0de21b3127d902548/JPEG/1351996497000/0/" style="background: #ffffff; border: none; box-shadow: none; padding: 0;" /></a></div>
<div class="sflyProductPreviewMessageContainer" style="background-color: #f4f4e9; height: 55px; line-height: 19px; padding: 15px 0 15px 0; text-align: center;">
<div class="sflyProductPreviewTitle" style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-seris; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold;">
Stationery card</div>
<div class="sflyProductPreviewViewCollection" style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-seris; font-size: 13px;">
View the entire <a href="http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery" style="color: #6666cc;">collection</a> of cards.</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sflyProductPreviewWidgetBottom" style="background-image: url(http://cdn.staticsfly.com/img_/share/preview/msc/widget/bottom.gif); height: 6px;">
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1187496608390901850.post-49930135885983729532011-12-17T10:20:00.004-05:002011-12-17T10:43:13.348-05:00Return of the Fox Family Christmas LetterDear Family and Friends,<br /><br />Those of you on Facebook are up to speed on the minutiae of our every day life – as far as the rest of you know, we fell off the planet, since we couldn’t get it together enough to do a Christmas letter last year. Yay for sorely neglected blogs that allow us to avoid tracking down holiday paper and formatting margins so we can actually get the letter out (up?) this year.<br /><br />In case you missed it, in 2010 we moved from Georgia back to Texas. That whole transition, while fairly seamless, was a lot bigger transition than we expected, and included a lot of fun things like our Georgia house not selling due to the sucky economy and us temporarily living in a too-small apartment and then renting a too-small house in Austin. But it was all worth it to be closer to family and also have our kids in super-great schools. As a bonus, we both ended up in jobs we really love!<br /><br />Lest we allow things to stay the same long enough to get dull, we bought a house in July of this year and moved over 4th of July weekend. The new house actually has a similar look/feel to our Georgia one – it must be our “type”. It’s got a nice big backyard, which the boys LIVE in, and lots of little custom touches throughout the house. We have some cosmetic renovations to do and eventually, when the boys get big enough to complain about privacy (or lack thereof), we will probably add another bedroom, but there are no time-sensitive renovations to be made, which made the house quite a find for our budget in this area.<br /><br />The kiddos are doing great. Cade is in 2nd grade and Drew is in 1st. Their interests can pretty much be boiled down to 2 things: LEGO and Star Wars. Because we make them interact with the outside world, Cade has taken up guitar and Drew is playing basketball this year. Both are in Cub Scouts, forcing Cara to learn her way around the den mom world and even (gasp!) camp. Both boys do really well in school and save up all their orneriness for home, so we can’t complain.<br /><br />Joshie, who will be called “Baby” for the rest of his life, is rapidly losing all semblance of baby (mostly because he is three now and not a baby at all anymore). Last year, we were worried because he was a man of such few words – now he NEVER. SHUTS. UP. He is under the impression that he’s at least 6 or 7, so he has us in stitches all the time with his precociousness. He’s super naughty but so darn cute - he has us all wrapped around his little finger.<br /><br />Aaron is happy in his current role at Dell. He is managing a team of folks in several countries, and was excited to go to Brazil for the first time this summer. Cara loves her job at The Christi Center, a nonprofit that provides grief support and is a lot less depressing than it sounds (think angels on Earth). <br /><br />Every year, we’re surprised to look back and realize that in addition to all the running around town to work, school and activities (plus the occasional trip to see the grandparents in Houston), we’re able to squeeze in a little travel as well. This year, various combinations of us hit up Disney World, San Francisco and Napa, a grand tour of Texas for spring break, the Kentucky Derby, Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri, Palm Springs, CA, New Orleans, and Brazil. Whew! We hope 2012 brings as much fun!<br /><br />We’re definitely counting our blessings, and you’re among them. We hope all of you have a wonderful holiday and a healthy and happy new year. Our door is always open, so if you ever find yourself in ATX, stop on by!<br />Love,<br /><br />The FoxesUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1187496608390901850.post-21105308314609581572010-10-17T14:35:00.003-04:002010-10-17T15:12:41.489-04:00A Return to Normalcy - Whatever That MeansAs a follow-up to my last <del>vent</del> post, I'm delighted to report that things are finally starting to calm down a little and we had our first fun-filled family weekend since moving to Austin. <div><br /></div><div>The past two months have been absolutely consumed by moving-related activities and honestly, it's difficult to focus on much else when you're drowning in cardboard boxes filled with your life's possessions. It turns out that unpacking five people worth of stuff takes longer than one (including me) would think. We've been lucky enough to have my sisters and parents to help with the kids, which has been a HUGE blessing, but I've been feeling pretty guilty that while other people seem to be having lots of fun with our kids, we haven't felt like we could take the time to have fun with them.</div><div><br /></div><div>This weekend, we'd finally had enough. We shoved the last few unpacked boxes into the garage to be unpacked at our leisure and mapped out a fun-filled weekend, kicked off by Pizza Night on Friday. On Saturday we checked out a fabulous little family-friendly Oktoberfest at a local microbrewery. Talk about a perfect afternoon - gorgeous weather, beer that surprised us by not sucking, and just the right amount of games and other activities for our crew. The afternoon was further sweetened by a surprise Texas win over Nebraska and a trip to one of my favorite college haunts for Mexican food for dinner. The kids surprised us by being on their best behavior all day long - until about the last 15 minutes of dinner at the restaurant. God love the little guys, they can only stand wearing their human costumes for so long. </div><div><br /></div><div>Despite all the fun things on the list for the day, the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Bigs</span> cited their favorite activity as "playing Mario Brothers" on our old-school NINTENDO that Aaron discovered in the unpacking process. Yes - we are the only family in the <del>neighborhood</del> world that doesn't have a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Wii</span>, but can still rock <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Mappyland</span>.</div><div><br /></div><div>Sunday brought more play. I'm <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">embarrassed</span> to say that while finding a good women's Bible study was at the top of my list when we moved here (check), I had yet to report anywhere for Sunday services. I finally got it together enough to check out a new church this morning, and was comforted by how much it felt like the old one I loved so much in Smyrna. Afterwards, the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Bigs</span> and I met friends at a playground while Aaron suffered through a haircut with <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Joshie</span>, who has been sporting the Cousin It look for several weeks now. In the afternoon, the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Bigs</span> and Aaron headed to a kids <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">improv</span> comedy show, while I tucked <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Joshie</span> in for a nap. While reading his <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">nap time</span> stories, I realized that it was the first time in weeks that we were laughing and snuggling together and I wasn't fretting about needing to be doing something else - which felt really, really good. </div><div><br /></div><div>Perhaps it's because I jumped back in the church saddle this morning, or maybe I'm just finally feeling like I have a little breathing room, but I was particularly grateful for this normal, average weekend as a family - with everyone in good health and good spirits.</div><div><br /></div><div>Of course, never let it be said that there is a dull moment around here. In the afternoon, the church kindly sent a welcome committee member by with a welcome packet and a coffee mug. Aaron answered the door, with black grease and debris from fixing our grill smudged across his forehead, and directed the man to me. As I chatted with him, in the background the boys were panicking because somehow Josh had managed to eat the yellow color tablet from their science experiment. I <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">hurriedly</span> thanked the poor man for stopping by and hustled him out down the front walk, right past the boys' pumpkins, painted with robot faces and decorated with green feather boas and little pink cowboy hats (don't ask!). As he left, I apologetically said, "Thanks so much for stopping by - it's a little crazy right now." I wanted to add, "It isn't always like this."</div><div><br /></div><div>But that, of course, would be a lie.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1187496608390901850.post-40999358735917908932010-09-20T23:14:00.005-04:002010-10-11T22:23:54.546-04:00On the MoveSince about 2004, the only constant for our family has been change. It seems that each year has presented a different challenge that makes life seem a little harder than it should be. The past six years of our lives have featured such themes as "Have a Million Babies in a Row" or "Heading Back to Business School Without Spousal Buy-In" and my most recent favorite "Consulting: The Fastest, Most Sure-Fire Way to Wreck Your Family Life". The theme for 2010 is definitely "Moving Sucks". <div><br /><div>It was January of this year when we first starting kicking around the idea of moving back to Austin to be closer to family and awesome, free public schools. If you had told me back then that it was going to take nine months of strategic plotting and planning to somehow get all members of our family and a houseful of furniture to Austin with at least one person securing a steady paying job, I <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">might've</span> said, "Thank you very much, but Atlanta works just great for us!"</div><div><br /></div><div>And Atlanta did work great for us. But Austin is already working better. The PROCESS of getting settled in Austin, however, is well...a process. A process involving a lot of change. And it's starting to wear on me a little.</div><div><br /></div><div>First came the process of getting the (still unsold) house on the market. Then came the job search process. Thankfully, the job acceptance process came with a whole <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">lotta</span> benefits to make moving easier (thank you, God, for relocation packages), but we still had to make the actual move. Aaron came first, followed by the kids and I a week later. Since relocation benefits included 2 months of furnished corporate housing, our furniture stayed in Atlanta to keep our house "staged" and (presumably) <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">sellable</span>. We settled into the temporary housing, while looking for more long-term housing. We secured long/mid-term rental housing, designed to buy us some time to figure out where to buy long-term. We returned to Atlanta to pack up furnishings, moved them into the Austin house, and are now in the process of getting unpacked. </div><div><br /></div><div>Somewhere in all that change, we got three kids settled in new schools as well as t-ball, chess club and cub scouts, and got Aaron settled in a new job. Thankfully, my job remains the same, but the mechanics of continuing to do it while moving a household, as well as accounting for the hour's time difference between me and my partner and clients throws a few wrenches in the works, just for good measure.</div><div><br /></div><div>The good news is, nothing has really gone any differently than what I expected. It's just that what I expected is a lot harder than I expected. I'm tired of living in transition. I'm tired of meeting new people (not a good thing, when you're in a new city). I'm tired of turning utilities on and off and registering for tags, titles, and licenses. I'm tired of missing my Atlanta friends while trying to make new ones and unpacking a house while owning one in another city that sits empty. Most of all, I'm tired that my Blackberry broke and I haven't had time to get a new one so I'm using an old-school flip phone with no email access - in a part of town with crappy cell coverage.</div><div><br /></div><div>On the bright side, we love Austin. We love being closer to family. We love the schools. We love our new (slightly downsized) house with a fenced-in backyard in a great neighborhood in a great central location. And did I mention the awesome, free public schools? So I know that all the change will be worth it. But I'm just ready to be past it - so we can move on to next year's change. </div><div><br /></div><div>Which, God help me, better be something as simple as getting a cat.</div><div><br /></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1187496608390901850.post-71937926840686133962010-08-31T14:45:00.003-04:002010-08-31T15:03:17.967-04:00If You Can't Beat the Heat, Join ItOne of the very few things (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">ok</span>, the only thing) I dreaded about our move back to Texas was the heat. Granted, I grew up in Texas heat and Atlanta ain't called "<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">HOTlanta</span>" for nothing, but Georgia is not nearly as hot as Texas and I'm convinced that you lose heat tolerance really fast. And with actual temperatures close to or over 100 in Austin in recent weeks and the heat index soaring WAY beyond that, I was pretty much convinced I was gonna melt as soon as I crossed the state line.<div><br /></div><div>But it actually has not been bad - I've learned that you've just got to modify your lifestyle. Just like it actually makes a difference to wear a hat and layer in the winter (I speak of other places - Texas, of course, doesn't have a winter), there are a few things you can do to mitigate the heat here. Things that have worked so far for us:</div><div><br /></div><div>1. <b>Keep all shades drawn at all times.</b> Sure, I have Seasonal Affective Disorder all summer long, but losing my mind is preferable to suffocating from the heat.</div><div><br /></div><div>2. <b>Run all fans on high at all times.</b> You may feel like you're about to blow away every time you sit/stand still, but that's better than sweltering in stillness.</div><div><br /></div><div>3. <b>Run all errands in the morning</b>. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Joshie</span>, who has a vocabulary of like 2 words, added the word "hot" about 2 days after we got here. That would be to describe the buckle on his <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">car seat</span> after sitting in the sun all morning. It's really best to stay away from your vehicle from the hours of about noon to 9 pm.</div><div><br /></div><div>4. <b>Shade helps.</b> Parking in shade will lower your internal vehicle temperature about 10,000 degrees. Standing in shade will not lower your body temperature at all, but it will delay heat <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">exhaustion</span> by a good 10 minutes or so.</div><div><br /></div><div>5. <b>Drink lots of water.</b> Every family member has a water bottle and I fill it up before we go to the park or outside, but it never seems to be enough water. I'm getting ready to install a water cooler in the van.</div><div><br /></div><div>6. <b> Wear lightweight, light-colored, breathable fabrics</b>. I'm totally bummed that my spandex catsuits aren't going to be getting much use here, but I'm probably getting too old for them anyway. It's cotton sleeveless shirts and skirts for me all the time now.</div><div><br /></div><div>7. <b>Humidity matters! </b>In Houston, where it is 100% humidity year-round, you need another shower the second you step out the door in the morning. But Austin has more reasonable humidity levels and it's amazing what a little less moisture and a slight breeze will do for you. Just another one of the million reasons why Houston sucks and Austin rocks.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1187496608390901850.post-90999317152290431942010-08-19T10:10:00.002-04:002010-08-19T10:23:08.775-04:00Move to Austin: Week 1.5It seems that I must update my status on Facebook a lot more than I think I do, because several friends have emailed in the past few days wondering if I am ok because it appears that I went out to buy lunchboxes and never came back.<div><br /></div><div>All is fine here, it's just been a little bit of an adjustment and a few things are making it hard to communicate with the outside world on a regular basis. </div><div><ul><li>We're currently temporarily living in a 2-bedroom apartment. This has the kids' sleep schedules all out of whack because they are in one room - they are up early, go to bed late, and naps are a crapshoot. Because of this, if they do nap, I am freqently napping as well because they exhaust me so much. </li><li>Also, they are not in school yet, so ALL THREE CHILDREN ARE WITH ME 24 HOURS A DAY. This is the main reason why you haven't heard from me. Honestly, don't be surprised if you come to see me and find my unresponsive corpse at the bottom of the apartment stairs - they are eating. me. alive. </li><li>Finally, the apartment has spotty cell phone coverage and we can't get the wireless internet to work. This means that I have to be either standing on the balcony to talk or within 3 feet of a wall so I can plug in the cable modem and type. Talk about old-school. </li></ul><div>Basically, between the lack of space, the fact that it is 1.5 million degrees here all day so you have to keep the blinds drawn to keep the inside temperature at a reasonable level, and the many small children milling about with Constant Needs, I'm feeling a little like a cave woman these days. A cave woman with the granite countertops I've always longed for and a nice pool and fitness center, but still....</div><div><br /></div><div>I think we'll head to the grandparents' house this weekend so we can spread out a little, and school starts for Cade on Monday, so that should help. In the meantime, if you're flying over Austin, keep an eye out for my smoke signal and stop by - I'd love the adult interaction.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1187496608390901850.post-52928099044021598062010-08-17T16:04:00.004-04:002010-08-17T16:36:11.071-04:00Move to Austin: Week 1Although this blog has been largely dormant over the past couple of years, I can totally see it taking on new life as a way to keep our beloved friends in Atlanta (and around the world) updated on what we're up to in Texas. With the bulk of my family now nearby, you will no doubt see the cast of blog characters expand as they make guest appearances in our household on a more frequent and consistent basis. <div><br /></div><div>So far, life in Austin is good. Key highlights/updates:</div><div><ul><li><b>Atlanta/Austin drive</b> - can be summarized in one word - "sucked". My mom was gracious enough to fly out to the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">ATL</span> and help me get our crew to Texas via car, because we decided that as <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">hellacious</span> as that sounds, it would be easier than me getting 3 kids, 3 <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">car seats</span>, a stroller and a plane full of luggage to Austin by myself. During the 2-day trip, the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Bigs</span> were as good as gold as long as they had a steadily rotating supply of electronic devices (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">iPod</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Leapster</span>, DVD player, etc.). Josh fussed and screamed the entire way and was just generally unpleasant to be around. In retrospect, I think he was getting teeth and we should have busted out both the ibuprofen and the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Benadryl</span> a lot sooner than we did. The real hero of the trip was my mom, who tirelessly sang children's songs across all 4 states and even learned to drive faster than 65 by the end of the trip. But in all seriousness, I could not have done it without her.</li><li><b>Austin living <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">conditio</span></b><b><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">ns</span></b> - Our house in Smyrna hasn't sold yet, and we are temporarily in a furnished corporate apartment until we figure out whether we want to buy/rent and where. Said apartment is actually nicer than our house, has amazing views of the Texas Hill Country, AND comes equipped with a fabulous pool and fitness center that we do not have to maintain ourselves. The whole "no-maintenance" thing has us wondering why we ever wanted to be homeowners in the first place. The only drawbacks of of the apartment are A) it only has two bedrooms and B) it is on the third floor. We have circumvented these issues by A) putting all three boys in one room and B) teaching the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Bigs</span> how to be grocery Sherpas.</li><li><b>City of Austin itself</b> - is still fabulous. Did I mention how pretty the Hill Country is already? Austin still has all the same amazing dining options I remember from my college days, only now I can actually afford to take advantage of them without a loan from my dad. What I had forgotten, and what I love MOST, is how laid-back it is here. I took the boys to scope out our Chick-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Fil</span>-A today and was amazed to note that only a handful of moms in the place were wearing makeup. Several were in *gasp* running shorts and t-shirts! The one mom that was fully decked out Atlanta-style in a precious sundress complete with jewelry, blown-out hair, and makeup, looked oddly out of place. FINALLY - a place where I can be true to my low-maintenance tendencies!</li></ul><div>So yeah - all in all, it's pretty good. We still face just a few key challenges to getting settled, which include:</div><div><ol><li>Kids are making me crazy. School starts next week - that should help. Hopefully.</li><li>It is hotter than hell here. Every day this week will be over 100 - no joke.</li><li>Now that they are all in the same room and unsupervised for roughly 8 hours a night, the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Bigs</span> have discovered how to team-lift Baby out of the Pack-N-Play. This means that all three boys are standing in the doorway at the crack of dawn, greeting us with smiles. On the bright side, Baby's vocabulary is expanding to include "'<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Ello</span>!" as a morning greeting. Obviously, a 2-bedroom apartment is NOT a long-term solution.</li><li>Finally, the pesky matter of finding somewhere permanent to live. Do we buy? Do we rent? And where? Only time will tell...</li></ol></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1187496608390901850.post-75069051125115551392010-08-11T23:09:00.004-04:002010-08-11T23:47:07.132-04:00Georgia On My MindWith kids, <a href="http://www.thedevleopment-team.com">work</a>, and <a href="http://www.babybunching.com">Baby Bunching</a> keeping me hopping, it's no surprise that eight months has passed since I last posted on this blog. Started as a way to document and remember the blur that is our life with young children, it seems only fitting that I post on the eve of our last day in our house before we move. <div><br /></div><div>With life calming down just a tad over the past year, Aaron and I saw fit to spice things up by throwing all cards of major life decisions up in the air at once. Our too-small house, too-crappy public school, and too-expensive private school situations coupled with the prospect of a change in Aaron's job forced us to re-examine our living situation. After ten awesome years in Atlanta, we decided it was time to return to Austin to be closer to family and good, free public schools (as well as Longhorn football and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">rockin</span>' Mexican food). The whole concept of "moving back to Austin" turned out to be easier said than done, and it took us seven long months to work it out, but we are finally Lone Star State-bound. </div><div><br /></div><div>Ironically, when we bought this house, we never intended to be in it longer than a few years, much less have kids in it. Three children later, the house is bursting at the seams not only with stuff, but with memories. As first-time <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">home buyers</span>, we closely monitored the construction of the house and labored over optimizing the layout and selecting the right flooring, <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">back splash</span>, paint colors, etc. for our tastes (and potential buyers down the line). With loads of extra space after we moved the contents of our one-bedroom apartment into the three-bedroom house, we filled the extra bedrooms with two cats. As first-time car buyers, we brought home our first major purchase besides the house and kept the one-car garage meticulously neat to <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">accommodate</span> the new vehicle. As first time parents, we nervously carried <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Cade</span> into the house in his infant carrier to introduce him to his "brothers" (the cats). With each new addition to the family, we celebrated and decorated with more baby gear, eventually forcing the car (and the cats) out to the driveway to <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">accommodate</span> our growing collection of strollers and babies.</div><div><br /></div><div>As the boys got older, we explored the park and the neighborhood, taking frequent "family walks" to the Smyrna Market Village and library. We settled at the preschool across the road and joined the church affiliated with the preschool. We joined the local MOMS Club and made a group of good, lifelong family friends. We attended countless concerts in the town square, joined the neighborhood playgroup, and shopped at the local farmer's market. </div><div><br /></div><div>The house, and Smyrna, has been good to us. It's with bittersweet sadness that I say goodbye because it has housed me during what I consider to be the best years of my life. I know there are lots of good years to come and that a house is just a house, and that family and memories will be with us wherever we go - but that doesn't make it any easier to leave the house where our family first started. Because even though technically we're going "back home" to Texas, leaving home in Georgia really sucks.</div><div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1187496608390901850.post-39854911580825504122009-12-30T21:04:00.002-05:002009-12-30T21:08:06.522-05:00A Window into Cade's SoulI am on an organizing rampage and since he is sleeping, I thought I would organize the eldest child's shelves in playroom, which he is EXTREMELY possessive of. Contents of said shelf include: 2 alarm clocks, 6 old cell phones and chargers, a roll up drum set, a globe, his camera, his dice collection, a plug-in flashlight, an electronic coin jar, a 3-drawer box of tapes from the 80's, 2 CD wallets filled with <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">CD's</span>, a card shuffler, a headset, his wallet filled with fake credit cards, a toy laptop, a Lightning McQueen CD player, a tape player with a microphone to sing along, a Halloween tree that plays "The Adams Family", and his latest prized Christmas acquisition: a record player and some of my dad's old records from the 70's. Strange, strange child, that one.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1187496608390901850.post-3864043777995349292009-12-22T19:40:00.008-05:002009-12-24T12:52:43.664-05:002009 Christmas Letter<em>We post this letter on Christmas Eve with many apologies that the Christmas cards that typically accompany it will undoubtedly be late since we <strong>just</strong> put them in the mailbox a few minutes ago. We traveled for a week at Thanksgiving, again the first weekend in December, and left to spend Christmas in Salt Lake on December 19<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">th</span>. It was a whirlwind holiday season this year, and our Christmas cards were unfortunately one of the casualties. You can thank us later for extending the joy of your holiday season by delivering the cards a week late. Merry Christmas to all!</em><br /><br /><br /><br />Dear Friends and Family,<br /><br />Our 2009 letter picks up where <a href="http://foxfactors.blogspot.com/2008/12/2008-christmas-letter.html">last year's</a> left off. We are pleased to report that we did achieve our 2009 New Year's resolution NOT to have another baby this year. While little <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error"><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">Joshie</span></span> has been the light of our lives, the arrival of the third boy in less than five years has made our hearts and our hands feel very full and possible cured Cara's baby fever forever. Life has been so busy, in fact, that you will find this blog sorely neglected. With time of the essence we are communicating "boy stories" via <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error"><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">Facebook</span></span> (with great frequency) and <a href="http://twitter.com/babybuncher2">Twitter</a> (not so frequently) - you can find us there.<br /><br />Beyond "busy", 2009 can best be described as a year of transition for the Fox Family. Our biggest boy started kindergarten this fall, which has been a total family experience. Never what you would call early risers, we've had to adjust from a 9 am school start time at a school across the street from our house to an 8 am start time at a school 20 minutes away. It would be fair to say that <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error"><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">Cade</span></span> can frequently be found squeaking into school at 7:59. Scheduling aside, he absolutely adores his new school and frequently comes home with tidbits of information on obscure topics such as Kandinsky and <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">hoodoos</span>, in addition to ABC's and 123's. Much to Aaron's relief, <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error"><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">Cade</span></span> recently started reading, because God forbid we have an illiterate first-grader on our hands. Everyone has been very happy with <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-error"><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-error">Cade's</span></span> school.<br /><br />Drew has also seen changes this year as he struggled to adapt to the daytime loss of his best playmate, <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-error"><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-error">Cade</span></span>. Fortunately, he has a little buddy at school that even surpasses <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" class="blsp-spelling-error"><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" class="blsp-spelling-error">Cade</span></span> in playmate compatibility, so the two can frequently be found at each other's houses after Drew gets out of <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_8" class="blsp-spelling-error"><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_8" class="blsp-spelling-error">Pre</span></span>-K at noon. Spurred by participation in <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_9" class="blsp-spelling-error"><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_9" class="blsp-spelling-error">Cade's</span></span> homework and his naturally competitive nature, Drew is also reading. It has been a very cool thing to watch the two boys take "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" reading responsibilities off our hands.<br /><br />Josh has had a huge year, tackling crawling, walking, teething and talking. He attends Parents Morning Out one morning a week, which he loves. He spends the rest of his time alternately being babied by mom and doing his best to be a 5-year old in a 1-year old body so he can keep up with the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_10" class="blsp-spelling-error"><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_10" class="blsp-spelling-error">Bigs</span></span>.<br /><br />Cara enjoyed a <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_11" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">successful</span> professional transition this year as she and a <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_12" class="blsp-spelling-error">partner</span> started <a href="http://www.thedevelopment-team.com/">The Development Team</a>, a company that provides fundraising and development consulting for small non-profits. Despite the recession, business has been really good and 2010 promises to even better. Cara's also still blogging at <a href="http://www.babybunching.com/">Baby Bunching</a>, which has such a wonderful and loyal following that plans for a book on the same topic have been derailed a little as we've spent time nurturing the little online community that has developed.<br /><br />Aaron spent the year getting settled in at <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_13" class="blsp-spelling-error"><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_11" class="blsp-spelling-error">Bain</span></span>. 2009 was the quietest year he's had in a long time, transition-wise, and he was grateful for it.<br /><br />We also got to witness the life transition of lots of loved ones this year. We traveled to Indiana at Thanksgiving to see Cara's sister get married, to Texas to see her other sister graduate from college, to Virginia to see Cara's friend Linda's (the other half of Baby Bunching) new house, and back to Texas to see her friend Andrea's new (<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_14" class="blsp-spelling-error"><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_12" class="blsp-spelling-error">ish</span></span>) baby who is the same age as Josh. We also took a huge family trip to <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_15" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">Tennessee</span> for a week where we had lots of aunts, uncles, and cousins to keep us busy. We rounded out the year with a trip to Salt Lake City to spend Christmas with Aaron's mom, "<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_16" class="blsp-spelling-error"><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_13" class="blsp-spelling-error">Bubbe</span></span>". In retrospect, we realized that we get around pretty good for a family with a flock of small children.<br /><br />We know that 2010 will bring more change, as we debate school options for Drew and are forced to finally confront the fact that we outgrew our house two children ago. Since we're at a loss as to how to solve these issues on our own, we pray that God's hand will guide us and also continue to keep us healthy and happy, along with all of you. Merry Christmas to all and best wishes for a stellar 2010.<br /><br />Love,<br /><br /><br />The Foxes<br /><br />Aaron, Cara, <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_17" class="blsp-spelling-error"><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_14" class="blsp-spelling-error">Cade</span></span>, Drew and Josh<br /><br /><br />PS Looks like the online Christmas letter has become an annual tradition because it saves trees and is, frankly, just easier. To compensate for our <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_18" class="blsp-spelling-error"><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_15" class="blsp-spelling-error">eco</span></span>-chic laziness, the annual <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_19" class="blsp-spelling-error"><a href="http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?albumId=218796136805&ownerId=81904131205"><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_16" class="blsp-spelling-error">slideshow</span></a></span> has become a tradition too. Check out highlights of our year here.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1187496608390901850.post-48649621208253689042009-12-07T19:21:00.003-05:002009-12-07T19:23:26.878-05:00Josh TalksTonight Joshie finally spoke his first real, clear word, and it was...<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Daddy.</span><br /><br />Seriously, is it too much to ask to get a little "mama" out of these kids once in awhile?!?!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1187496608390901850.post-35838610351292725572009-11-12T19:29:00.002-05:002009-11-12T19:49:36.600-05:00Adam's Fall From GraceStory time is a magical hour here in the Fox household. No matter how much the boys act like wild jackasses at dinner and bath time, once they crawl into bed and we snuggle up with a few books, they suddenly transform back into humans. While they have a few time-tested favorites that irritate the crap out of us (Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs for me, Thomas the Train for Aaron), for the most part they are willing to explore a wide range of fiction and non-fiction books, paying rapt attention and even intelligently participating in discussion at times.<br /><br />Tonight's selections included a chapter from Mrs. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Piggle</span> Wiggle (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Cade's</span> choice), followed by the story of Adam and Eve in the Children's Bible (Drew's choice). After all, nothing like washing down tales of naughty children with the story of the original sinners, eh? <br /><br />The discussion following Adam and Eve was particularly funny tonight.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Drew (pointing at cartoon Adam's strategically placed foliage costume): </span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Heh</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">HEH</span>! Adam's NAKED!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Cade</span>:</span> That's because he's a Native American! (he is obsessed with Native Americans this week, per the current Thanksgiving unit at school)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Me: </span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Hmmm</span>...I don't think he was a Native American, buddy.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Cade</span>:</span> Oh yeah, I forgot - he's a soldier.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Drew:</span> He's not a soldier! You can't be a soldier with no clothes!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Cade</span>: </span> No he WAS a soldier. Then he ate the apple, so now that's not his job anymore.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Me: </span>Oh really? What does he do now?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Drew: </span> Now he's just a naked guy that does nothing.<br /><br />So I'm thinking this Fox Boy version of Adam's story might make a great muse for Seth <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Rogen's</span> next movie character?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1187496608390901850.post-26345859645037419252009-10-22T19:31:00.003-04:002009-10-22T20:13:41.696-04:00Flu Shot FestivitiesYesterday, after receiving a pre-recorded message from the CEO of Kaiser Permanente that H1N1 flu shots would be available to select priority groups (including children) today, I decided to suck it up and take my crew in ASAP to get vaccinated. While I know there's no guarantee that the vaccine will actually prevent us from getting the flu, there have already been confirmed cases at our preschool and church and I figure we need all the help we can get. Additionally, we were scheduled to get our regular flu shots 2 Mondays ago, but 2 of the 3 boys were running fevers and we had to cancel. Which means that we were due for not one, but TWO shots PER KID.<br /><br />As a veteran mom, I knew this would suck. But honestly, it would have sucked whether we did it today or three weeks from now and in the meantime, we would probably all get the flu(s), so I just needed to do everyone in one fell swoop and have it off my list. I am pretty no-nonsense about shots, probably stemming from the time I was a kid and witnessed a gaggle of nurses literally chasing a screaming kid down the hall at the pediatrician's office trying to pin him down for a shot. My mom took one look at him and told me that if I ever dared to do that, what I got from her when we got home would be far worst than the shot so I'd best just sit there and take it. So I was prepared to take it in more ways than one today.<br /><br />We picked Cade up from school and headed directly to the doctor's office, hoping to beat the after-school/work rush for the walk-in flu shot clinic. When we arrived, there were already a good 7 or 8 people in line (not including the ones already processed and waiting). Step #1 was to determine immunization eligibility and fill out the necessary paperwork. To Kaiser's credit, they were well-prepared and had a staff person helping customers to pre-fill forms while standing in line. Unfortunately, this individual was unable to deviate from the flu-shot-eligibility script in any way, shape or form and the conversation went like this:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Me: </span> Hi - I'd like to get 4 seasonal flu shots and then 3 H1N1 just for my kids, since I don't fall under the priority guidelines.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Her:</span> Have you looked at the priority guidelines?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Me:</span> Yes - at home.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Her (handing me a sheet of the guidelines): </span> Ok, I'll need you to look at this sheet and confirm that you all meet the criteria guidelines.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Me:</span> Ok, well, it says kids between 6 months and 24 years and my kids are 1, 4, and 5, so they fit.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Her: </span> What about you?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Me:</span> No, I'm older than 24 and I don't have any of these health conditions and I'm not pregnant, so I still don't fit.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Her (eyeing the children): </span> Do they fit?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Me (thinking):</span> Well, they have not aged 19 or more years since we started this conversation, even though it FEELS like they have, so YES, they still fit.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Me (speaking):</span> Yes, they fit.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Her:</span> So you want 3 H1N1 and 4 seasonal?<br /><br />She handed me a tall stack of paperwork to complete and then directed me to the receptionist's desk, where the receptionist proceeded to confirm about 50 times that I wanted 3 H1N1 and 4 seasonal shots. After a lengthy wait, during which Josh insisted on exploring every inch of the waiting room on his hands and knees and then promptly pooped his pants (forcing a detour to the ladies' room to change him), our name was called at last.<br /><br />We were shuffled into the cubicle of the poor soul who had the unfortunate designation of Flu Shot Nurse. Even more unfortunate was that she was apparently accustomed to vaccinating nursing home patients on their deathbeds and not energetic young children who grow more and more anxious the longer a shot process takes. The regular pediatric nurses are so quick on the draw that they're in and out before a kid even knows what hit them, but this visiting nurse had all the time in the world.<br /><br />After she confirmed approximately 56 more times that I wanted 4 seasonal shots and 3 H1N1 (WHAT is so hard about the freaking math, people?! I knew I should've just lied about being pregnant!) she began entering the information into the computer. Very, very slowly. And she messed up a few times, so she had to start over. And then she had to line up band-aids, also very very slowly and without great precision, requiring her to start over with those. Meanwhile, Cade was rapidly approaching ineligibility due to aging out and I was about to score eligibility by going into cardiac arrest right there in the little room.<br /><br />When it was go time, Cade chickened out and sent Drew to the guillotine first. I was so proud of him - he just took it like a little man (mainly because he was desperate for the M&M prize I had waiting for each boy at the conclusion of shots). When it was Cade's turn, he went BALLISTIC and even had poor Drew crying for him and hiding in a little ball under the chair. Poor Joshie had limited escape options due to his lack of willingness to walk, so he just had to sit there and get stuck in rapid (or as rapidly as the nurse could move) succession. Cade and Drew both actually tried to leave the room at that point - it was pretty hairy by then. All the while, the nurse was dragging her ass and I was hissing, "Just DO it! Just get it over with! Just stick them!"<br /><br />In the end, everyone left with flu shots and it only cost me chocolate milk and fries and Chick-Fil-A since the lame Capri Suns and M&M snack packs I'd stashed into the diaper bag didn't even BEGIN to make it up to them.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1187496608390901850.post-61470758089968227312009-10-14T12:59:00.003-04:002009-10-14T13:11:12.713-04:00A Funny That Does Not Involve the Children For OnceA few days ago, energized by a <a href="http://www.blogaliciousweekend.com/index.html">blogging conference</a> I recently attended, I was chatting to Aaron about some exciting new technical developments I had on my mind.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Me: </span> It's awesome - <a href="http://monkeybusinesskids.blogspot.com/">Linda</a> totally just told me about how I can post in the notes on the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Atlanta-GA/The-Development-Team/100152074203?ref=ts"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Facebook</span></a> fan page for <a href="http://www.thedevelopment-team.com/">The Development Team</a> (my company) and link my <a href="http://twitter.com/DevelopmenTeam">tweets</a> to the notes post instead of messing with setting up and maintaining a whole new blog for the company - I can't believe I didn't think of it!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Aaron: </span> That is awesome.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Me:</span> Now if I can just get a Google Wave invitation....<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Aaron:</span> Did you sign up for one?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Me:</span> Like the day it was released. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Hmm</span>...maybe I can tweet/<a href="http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/profile.php?id=683282816&ref=profile"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Facebook</span></a> it and see if I know someone who has an invite - I think you get 8 to forward when you get yours. Maybe someone I know already has it and I can snag one.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Aaron: </span> Who are you? I swear, it's like being married to some 14-year old tech geek.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Me: </span> At least now you know how I've felt all these years.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1187496608390901850.post-59914684593965975782009-10-08T23:46:00.005-04:002009-10-09T16:15:29.975-04:00Josh the Energizer BunnyOur children are all what I would politely call high energy. We have yet to have a baby that is content just to laze in the stroller and happily watch the world go by. No, all of ours have to be right there in the thick of things, doing their part to keep the universe off-kilter. I find this interesting because while I am admittedly high strung, Aaron is so laid back that not even a rapidly approaching Mack truck could cause him to quicken his step when crossing the street. It's all good with him, ya know?<br /><br />And yet, when it comes to the approximately 456 gazillion different combination of DNA that our genes can produce, the spaz trait is apparently highly dominant over the chill trait. Which means that we have a 0% chance of producing a child that is mellow, which is apparently exactly the same chance that we have of producing a child that is female.<br /><br />The latest child to give me a run for my money is sweet Baby Josh. Still sweet, but no longer baby really, he is evidently trying to make the case to change his name legally to Hell on Wheels. The kid is EVERYWHERE. If there is a physical challenge that presents itself, Josh is happy to tackle it and will often go searching for it. Recent antics have included:<br /><ul><li>Scaling the baby gates before he even knew how to get up the stairs on the other side of the gate once he got over it. A climber - yay!<br /></li><li>Trying to squeeze his whole body UNDER the baby gate after we raised it a few inches in an attempt to keep him from trying to go OVER it. He was foiled by Drew (who told on him) and his chubby little tummy, which trapped him halfway through, ala Peter Rabbit under Mr. MacGregor's gate.</li><li>Climbing onto the rocking chair in the nursery and rocking the crap out of the rocker (standing, facing backwards) just to the point where it almost tipped over. And laughing the whole time about the thrill of it.<br /></li><li>Attempting to walk down the stairs. Even though he still prefers to crawl on level ground.</li><li>Walking up slides at the playground. Even though he still prefers to crawl on level ground.</li></ul>And the list goes on and on. His complete and total lack of fear or ability to moderate risky behavior combined with my hearing loss means that I literally have to keep my eyes on the kid all day long. Because when he's sky diving off the arms of the sofa, I'm not gonna hear it coming from the kitchen.<br /><br />Even more awesome is the fact that he is quite possibly the world's WORST daytime sleeper (although I suppose I can feel grateful that he is an awesome nighttime sleeper). Whereas most babies his age sleep anywhere from 3 to 5 hours a day, Josh only sleeps in 45 minute stretches, once, <span style="font-style: italic;">sometimes</span> twice, a day. This leaves a lot of hours where he is roaming around in public (i.e outside the safe confines of his crib) and needs to be supervised. By me.<br /><br />Not only does he not sleep, he doesn't seem to need the sleep and rarely melts down over lack of sleep. This week, he has has gone almost every day without napping until 4 pm, at which point he snoozes for about 45 minutes. He then comments for another 45 until I feel bad that he's yapping to himself trapped in a crib and I release him from the <strike>cage</strike> crib.<br /><br />Secretly, I am jealous because I've always felt that sleeping, along with eating, is a GIANT waste of time. When I think of the increased productivity I could achieve if I gave up all forms of refueling, I get positively giddy with excitement. So I'm thinking the kid may have a real gift. Now we just gotta figure out how to channel it....Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1187496608390901850.post-58518240907682260632009-10-06T21:49:00.002-04:002009-10-07T10:20:22.568-04:00Just a Bad Case of the Mondays. On Tuesday.Some days <a href="http://foxfactors.blogspot.com/2008/11/caras-no-good-horrible-very-bad-day.html">suck so bad</a> that you just gotta <strike>cry</strike> blog it out. Today was one such day.<br /><br />It all started with Drew's class trip to the zoo. An annual tradition for the 4 year <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">olds</span> at our school, I attended last year with <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Cade</span> but was wise enough to get a sitter for Drew and Josh (a screaming, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">refluxey</span> newborn at the time). For Drew's trip this year, I figured I would bring Josh along since he had never been to the zoo and might enjoy seeing the animals. I figured wrong.<br /><br />His main problem was that he wanted to crawl all around the zoo (he CAN walk, but won't), preferably in the direction of the zoo exit. His staunch refusal to sit in the stroller escalated into the mother of all tantrums and ended with him being completely and totally inconsolable. After I was sufficiently <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">embarrassed</span> in front of all the parents, a couple of them graciously offered to put an end to my personal hell and bring Drew home if I wanted to leave with Josh. Which I didn't because I didn't want to spoil it for Drew, but it was clear that Josh was determined to spoil it for the whole group if we stayed, so we left. Josh sobbed and hiccuped all the way to the car and halfway home,while I sobbed and hiccuped on the phone to a friend over my mommy guilt for bailing on Drew and screwing up his field trip. <br /><br />And no, I never did discover the source of Josh's mystery zoo meltdown.<br /><br />Once he was calm, I decided that as long as I was down to one kid, I would tackle a couple of errands on my list before it was time to get Drew. I blew past the freeway exit of my house, just in time to receive a call from my cleaning lady. Admittedly, there are language barriers, but from what I was able to ascertain, she was locked OUT of my house, while her things and my house key were locked IN my house. The possibility of accomplishing errands <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">disappeared</span> in front of my eyes as I headed home to rescue her. Trying to look on the bright side, I convinced myself that it was a blessing in disguise that I was now 10 minutes from home and able to come to her rescue instead of all the way across town at the zoo, as I was supposed to be.<br /><br />Unfortunately, the language barrier was bigger than I thought. I arrived home to find a clean house and a key on the table, but no cleaning lady. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">WTH</span>?! Errands apparently blown off for no reason now. Pep talked myself into being grateful that least least I now had a clean house. <br /><br />After an unsuccessful attempt to nap Josh, who was WIRED by this point, we picked up Drew from the mom who was nice enough to bring him home. Out of extreme guilt, I offered to take him to lunch at any place he wanted and he chose (of course) Chick-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Fil</span>-A. I felt so bad about the zoo debacle that he even scored a brownie, plus the nifty little graduated cylinder toy and science booklet in the kid's meal.<br /><br />Off to get <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Cade</span>! Knowing that with the way my day was going that it would be a mistake to take all 3 boys home and keep them cooped up in the house all afternoon, we headed for the park, despite the grey dreariness of the day and the earlier drizzle. Josh happily rolled around like a pig in mud, free from stroller constraints at last. The <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Bigs</span>, however, had nonstop issues. A HUGE science fan, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Cade</span> was beyond upset about not having a graduated cylinder of his own. The boys put it to good use by using it to knock the crap out of each other for awhile until I told everyone we were packing up and going home.<br /><br />STILL determined to turn the day around, I bathed Josh and put him down for a very late nap and settled in to provide constructive activities for the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Bigs</span>. We used the graduated cylinder to do a liquid layering experiment with molasses, oil, and water. The boys, mystified by the layering, began "testing" all sorts of disgusting concoctions in the experiment such as salad dressing/milk/water, whipping cream/apple cider vinegar/juice, etc. When that experiment had lost it's luster, I whisked the graduated cylinder to the sink to rinse it out and....dropped it. Oily Disgusting Concoction splattered all over the counter, cabinets, (previously clean) floor, and my jeans. And yes, in case you were wondering - they WERE my <a href="http://svmomblog.typepad.com/deep_south_moms/2009/04/fancy-pants-draft.html">fancy jeans</a> and not the 5 year old faded <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Mossimos</span> from Target. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Grrrr</span>....<br /><br />This only strengthened my resolve to turn the day around (I really enjoy beating my head against a wall like that). We moved on to an experiment involving baking soda and vinegar explosives, which was really satisfying for everyone, save for the wet toilet paper trails it left in my front yard.<br /><br />The rest of the day passed uneventfully except for <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Cade</span> hitting me and getting sent to time-out and Drew's dinnertime in-depth description of the (fictional?) dead bloody zebra with bones sticking out of it at the zoo. For good measure, I decided to cap the day off with a tiff with an Ann Taylor sales clerk and a trip to the grocery store, which I hate.<br /><br />But as they say, tomorrow is another day. God help me.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1187496608390901850.post-18115181647318304452009-09-28T23:50:00.006-04:002009-09-29T00:22:39.335-04:00Josh Walks. Or So I Heard.Once again, it's been way too long since I've posted updates of the boys' antics on this blog. Truth be told, I am so lazy that I have abandoned blogging for greener pastures where my musings are limited to 140 characters or less (namely, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/profile.php?id=683282816&ref=profile"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Facebook</span></a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/babybuncher2">Twitter</a>). My name is mud all over the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">blogosphere</span>, including <a href="http://www.deepsouthmoms.com/">Deep South Moms</a>, where I'm so delinquent in posting that I'll probably be evicted from the site sometime this week, and <a href="http://www.babybunching.com/">Baby Bunching</a>, where everything I write lately is uninspired and crappy. I am, however, excited to attend a <a href="http://blogaliciousweekend.com/">blogging conference</a> in a few weeks, which I hope will fuel a burst of creativity and reverse my tendency to conduct all communication in the form of perfunctory status updates.<br /><br />The erosion of my writing skills aside, one of the main reasons I started this blog was to capture the milestones that are so glaringly absent in the baby books of my second and third children (and really, the first after about the age of 9 months). So today's milestone of the day is (<span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">drum roll</span>, please).....<br /><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Joshie</span> took his first steps!<br /><br />I would tell you exactly how it went down, but I can't. Because I didn't see it. Yes, the sole living witness to Josh's tentative foray into the big boy world is his brother Drew. What kills me is that I was literally sitting across the table from Drew, right in the same room when it happened, but the dining room table was blocking my view of the Caboose. Who walked for Drew, but refused to walk for me a few minutes later. Not that I'm bitter or anything.<br /><br /><br />See how much more interesting and <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">succinct</span> the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Facebook</span> version of this story is?<br /><br /><h3 class="UIIntentionalStory_Message" ft="{"type":"msg"}"><span class="UIIntentionalStory_Names" ft="{"type":"name"}"> </span><span class="UIStory_Message">Cara cannot believe that Drew just saw Josh take his first steps and I missed it!!!"</span></h3>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1187496608390901850.post-73779616859196971552009-08-17T09:43:00.004-04:002009-08-17T09:56:35.306-04:00Josh is a Fox that Wants to TalkAs if there aren't already enough opinions around here already, Josh is chiming in to register his at a young age. He started saying the usual "Mama", "Dada" and "Bye" about a month or so ago, making noises that could have accidentally coincided with the appropriate use of these words on an <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">occasional</span> basis.<br /><br />But last week he had a vocabulary explosion. At first, I wasn't sure if my claims of his talking could be substantiated. In addition to NOT hearing things that ARE being said, my whacked out ears have been known to HEAR things that AREN'T being said. But I am pleased to announce that I have received independent confirmations from Aaron, my friend Julie, our beloved babysitter Ninny, and both <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Cade</span> and Drew that Josh is really talking! <br /><br />In addition to more pedestrian baby terms such as "Uh oh", here's a sampling of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Joshie's</span> musings last week:<br /><ul><li>Both please and thank you, unprompted (finally, I have succeeded in raising a kid with manners!)</li><li>Cracker</li><li>I like it</li><li>Want it</li><li><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Chugga</span>-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">chugga</span> (as in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">choo</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">choo</span>)</li></ul>And my personal favorite:<br /><ul><li>Big Chicken (in honor of Marietta's famous landmark, which we now pass every day on the way to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Cade's</span> school)</li></ul>Also, upon witnessing uncouth behavior on the part of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Cade</span> this weekend, Josh registered his displeasure by shaking his head "no" and leaning towards <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Cade</span> growling, scowling, and shaking his little raised fist.<br /><br />Yes, I think he'll do just fine here.<br /><blockquote></blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1187496608390901850.post-19529193964129241132009-08-10T23:29:00.004-04:002009-08-10T23:38:02.604-04:00Open Mic Night at the Foxes<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Cade</span> starts kindergarten on Wednesday, so I've been using the bedtime/tuck-in time these past few weeks as an opportunity to really talk up kindergarten. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Cade</span> likes to ask lots of questions about what he will do there, how the day will go, who will be there, etc., etc.<br /><br />Apparently, tonight Drew finally had it with the kindergarten talk. He informed us that we would no longer be discussing kindergarten and tonight's topic would be "Dinosaurs". To that end, he submitted the following questions:<br /><br /><ul><li>Why is a Stegosaurus so small compared to the other dinosaurs?</li><li>Why is an <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Allosaurus</span> so big?<br /></li><li>Why does a Brontosaurus have such a long neck but such a small head?</li><li>Do plant eaters have teeth?</li><li>Why do <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Troodons</span> live on the other side of the sea from the other dinosaurs?</li></ul>He also surmised that a Tyrannosaurus Rex tooth is about the size of a banana, in case you were wondering.<br /><br />Take THAT, kindergarten!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1187496608390901850.post-12068035832874690162009-08-03T14:59:00.002-04:002009-08-03T15:11:15.512-04:00Enough Baby Talk Already, Kiddo!I've talked before about <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Cade's</span> periodic insistence that <a href="http://foxfactors.blogspot.com/2009/07/cades-family-planning.html">our family is not complete</a>. Today at the pool, he suddenly busted out with, "I really think we need a sister, don't you?" <br /><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Ummm</span>....no, sweetie, actually I don't.<br /><br />Lately, I've been feeling more and more comfortable with that "done" feeling - like all of the Foxes are here. For his part, Aaron informed me that he has publicly announced that any future Fox babies would be both unplanned and available to the highest bidder. In case you missed his press conference, consider yourself informed by virtue of this post.<br /><br />While I'm pretty sure that <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Cade's</span> recent fascination with babies and siblings is age-appropriate, I find it slightly bizarre in his case since he has basically done nothing but get siblings since the day he was born. You'd think he would be sick to death of new babies, not hungry for more! <br /><br />Hopefully he's not one of those Damien/Bad Seed kids that can make things happen with his mind. Or if he is, hopefully he will just settle for starting fires or something. Otherwise, bidders get your paddles ready!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1187496608390901850.post-77643706293305909192009-08-02T21:54:00.002-04:002009-08-02T22:01:28.690-04:00And He's Off!I started a post three weeks ago to commemorate the fact that <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Joshie</span> FINALLY decided to get up off his rear and start crawling, but I never finished it or posted it. Such is life for a third child's milestones.<br /><br />Now that post is sadly outdated because as of this weekend, he has mastered stairs. The "up" part he got pretty quickly after just one assisted trip up the stairs. It only took one almost-fall for him to realize that he needed to turn around to do the "down" part, but he had a hard time figuring out how to get turned around to come down backwards. Two straight days of practice and 100 supervised assists in the launch down the stairs and he's got it!<br /><br />Just in the nick of time, too, because before he figured out how to get down, he figured out how to scale the baby gate. In their frequent trips up and down the stairs, the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Bigs</span> often knocked the gate over to about a 70 degree angle instead of it's fully upright position. Josh could handle getting over that no big deal, but on more than one occasion we found him halfway over the fully upright baby gate, clinging for dear life like a little monkey scaling a tree.<br /><br />The caboose has officially mastered stairs and the baby gates are on their way out the door - hallelujah!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1187496608390901850.post-41818614436218894862009-07-20T20:09:00.000-04:002009-07-20T22:18:46.607-04:00Reliving My ChildhoodYesterday I was coloring/drawing with the boys when Drew shoved a blank piece of paper at me and instructed me to "write my childhood". Huh?<br /><br />"What does that mean?", I asked him.<br /><br />"You know, your childhood. Write it. Here's mine." (shows me a rather large piece of paper filled with his signature rows and row and rows of neatly scrawled letters and numbers, frankly a little reminiscent of "A Beautiful Mind")<br /><br />"Look! Here's Daddy's - I already wrote it! His goes "A-M-A-N.", Drew announced.<br /><br />"Uh, ok. Umm. Mommy's not sure what you mean by 'writing my childhood'. Cade? What does that mean? Did you write your childhood?", I asked Cade. To which he responded,<br /><br />"No. I can't remember mine."Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1187496608390901850.post-75869885201452403512009-07-16T22:30:00.005-04:002009-07-16T23:11:07.334-04:00Joshie's First Word!Joshie's been babbling non-stop in an effort to make his voice be heard among the chaos for months. He and I have long conversations where he knows exactly what he's talking about, but I'm totally in the dark. He also frequently shouts and gestures and issues non-sensical edicts to his brothers. <br /><br />I've been trying to encourage his verbal skills by providing some coaching and teaching him to "Say Mama!", but the little bugger just grins at me and says, "DADA!" Since he's never actually used this word in connection with Aaron, I've decided it doesn't count as his first word and it's just his super special way of saying, "Mama" to keep me entertained.<br /><br />But today he decided to start speaking our language!<br /><br />In case you were wondering, his first word was "bye", and not "shut up, you jackasses", as I predicted it would be.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1187496608390901850.post-87328896759431373422009-07-14T23:00:00.003-04:002009-07-14T23:12:29.948-04:00Cade's Family PlanningFairly certain (completely certain, from Aaron's perspective) that our family is complete, we have been on a baby gear purging rampage this week. We've made everal trips to Goodwill and bid adieu to the high chair, Jumperoo, and a big bag of maternity clothes. The Exersaucer is waiting its turn for dropoff tomorrow, and Cade noticed it in the van this morning.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />Cade: </span> Mommy, what's the Exersaucer doing in here?<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />Me:</span> Well, Cade, Joshie is done with it so we're going to take it some place where other children can use it.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Cade:</span> Why don't you just put it back in the closet?<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />Me: </span> Well, because we're not having any more babies in our family so we don't need it.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Cade:</span> Why?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Me:</span> Well, because Mommy and Daddy feel so lucky and blessed to have our three, beautiful healthy boys. We think our family is just the right size and we don't need any more babies.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />Cade (outraged): </span> <span style="font-style:italic;">MOMMY! How can you even wish that! Every day is a chance for a new baby!</span><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />Me (taken aback by his reaction and actually alarmed at the legitimacy of his claims):</span> Uh, well Cade, um, we're out of room for new babies in our house. We can't just keep having more babies - we don't have anywhere for them to sleep.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />Cade:</span> Well, Joshie can move onto the air mattress and the new baby can sleep in his crib.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />Me (laughing): </span> Oh, really? And where would the new baby after that sleep?<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />Cade: </span>There won't be any more new babies after that. There's only one more.<br /><br />Eerily, this conversation reminded me of when Aaron and I were in college and he gave me a trip to the psychic one year for my birthday. I think that was the year after he gave me a WonderBra - he's an awesome gift giver like that.<br /><br />Anyway, the psychic assured us that we would get married and we would both live long, happy lives, with one point of concern - I would have 2 children and he would have 4. I've spent all these years wondering where the hell those other two kids are that he fathered before he met me. But now that I've got 3 kids, I'm wondering if her vision was a little cloudy...<br /><br />God help us all.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1187496608390901850.post-48565342208242276732009-07-11T20:09:00.007-04:002009-07-11T20:38:06.762-04:00Cade's Mini-MeAs the youngest (and up until now, least vocal) child, Joshie doesn't seem to get as much blog billing as the other boys. But I have a feeling that is seriously about to change. <br /><br />Physically, Josh has been Cade's mini-me from very early on. Early baby photos are pretty much indistinguishable and it looks like it's gonna stay that way.<br /><br />Interestingly enough, it's starting to look like they're going to have very similar personalities as well, save for the fact that Josh is a much more mellow kid than Cade ever was. But now that Josh is officially on the move (he started crawling about a month ago)and able to express preferences by crawling away from things or slapping them out of your hand, we're experiencing a little bit of dejavu. For example:<br /><br />-Josh has no use for baby toys. Zilch. He is not fooled by the authentic-looking Parents toys key chain and he will let you know (loudly, with fists clenched, Cade-style) that he prefers the real ones. Blocks? No, thank you. Shape sorter? Are you kidding me? Please pass the markers (NOT crayons!) and the Hot Wheels. <br /><br />-He is single minded in his focus. If he is trying to crawl across the yard and into the street than he will do it, by God, and no amount throwing toys in his path or redirecting him is going to distract him from his goal. The only thing that will stop him is when you carry him away (howling, fists clenched) inside.<br /><br />-He has a strong preference for electronics and moving parts. His latest fascination is bike wheels. We got sick of peeling him off his brother's bikes for fear he would fall during outside play time, so when not in use, we tipped them on their sides. This is OK with him - he is content to spend countless minutes spinning the bike wheel first in one direction, then the other, mesmerized by the motion. If no bike wheels are available, he will settle for a cellphone, a calculator, a cordless phone, a TV remote, or some equally age-inappropriate contraption.<br /><br />-He has no fear. If we're at the pool, he wants to be "jumping" off the side or splashed, preferably in the face. Crawling across the driveway? C'mon - make sure there's some acorns for him to crawl over and scrape his knees on - where's the challenge in concrete? Sitting on the sofa is for pansies. He prefers to scale it, crawl right off the edge, and dangle by a toe from the coffee table.<br /><br />Yep, the two are so much alike that we often find ourselves wondering how we ended up with the genetic anomaly that is Drew. I once jokingly suggested to Aaron that it would be fun to keep having kids as a little statistical experiment - just to see all the variations of children we could produce.<br /><br />Yeah, he didn't think that was funny either.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0