So late, so sorry. I’m going to be taking over the linky for Amy since her world is a little crazy right now, so I promise to be a little more punctual in the future.

Sunday:

Family walk to church

FOUND IT! Too bad it’s not very good.

He’s very nonchalant about murdering animal crackers

Monday:

Morning parenting skills: LEVEL AWESOME

Afternoon parenting skills: LEVEL SEND HELP

Tuesday:

Whoa, what is this place??? (Walmart)

We took this stroller in the car for preschool drop off, even though we never got out of the car.

Caroline has a sleepover with her friends every night

Wednesday:

I should have just left them in the this cage, er, crib all day

She’s worried because of the sound of a rabid cat being murdered coming from the next room. It’s just her brother having a tantrum.

So peaceful. So unlike my life.

Thursday:

Asters, asters everywhere.

We had a playdate to pick up acorns. Then Caroline sat in her friend’s new carseat in the living room. Kids are weird.

Hey honey, you’ve got a little something right there. It looks like a growth.

Friday:

Really happy to be dropped off for school.

Pet stores – like having pets without any of the work!

My salad, right before I abandoned it and chased two naughty children out the door.

Saturday:

Bloggy friendz in mah state!!!

Really happy kids with $4 worth of yard sale toys

FOLIAGE, Y’ALL.

Today is a holiday even for the Navy so we’re going to do ALL THE FALL THINGS we didn’t get through this weekend – cider and chowdah and pumpkin picking and hayrides. The number of photos I’ve taken already verges on ridiculous, so I’m aiming for ludicrous by tomorrow night.

p.s. I am ALSO going to head over to my friend Jenna’s blog to enter her giveaway for the new Tinkerbell movie and some swag from Disney. My pixie child AND my 3 year old are totally obsessed with fairies and we’ve already seen The Great Fairy Rescue waaaaay too many times.

Link up with your camera photos – one day or ALL the days – below! You can put the code on your own blog so more people can join if you want, but please at least link back so people can find us if they want. I’m late this week but I’ll have this up by Saturday night in the future!

I took fewer pictures (200 compared to my usual 400) this week, especially when we were out and about. I don’t think that number will ever be zero – these posts are too important to me, since I can literally look back on every day of Caroline’s life so far – but I’m learning the difference between capturing a moment and capturing every second of the day.

Sunday:

The Magical Fort of Healing

The plan was to take beautiful family photos for a friend in front of this fountain. It was off and some sort of carnival was happening around it. Photo fail.

Getting a jump start on some holiday knitting

Monday:

But Mommy, how can Caroline take a nap without her dolly??????

Eyelashes McGee

Tuesday:

My son’s pedicure is in better shape than mine.

When you’re trying to keep a child quiet, you read them the same book every time they ask, even if you’re two seconds from losing your mind.

Bedtime snuggles

Wednesday:

Because doesn’t everyone carry a cow and an elephant around with them?

NOM NOM NOM ON YOUR FACE

Well sure, Mom, you almost lost your sanity making me that Tinkerbell dress but this old sheep outfit I found in the dress up box makes a MUCH better Halloween costume!

Thursday:

Mommy-Caroline time at the grocery store seems like a VACATION compared to bringing 2 kids.

Obviously taking the orders to keep quiet very seriously.

Beautiful night for an evening walk

Friday:

Yo, duck, sup?

DEAR GRANDMA AND GRANDPA, THANKS FOR THE GIANT COOKIES! LOVE, TWO EXTREMELY SUGARED UP CHILDREN

Ermagerd! Fresh Beat Band!

Saturday:

This game is called “Someone is going to end up in tears so KNOCK IT OFF”

Much better.

And this game is called “Let Mom think we’re being good so she’ll turn her back for 5 minutes”

We’re trying to have quiet time today (so far it’s at about a 30% success rate) with a nice nature walk this afternoon to celebrate the first day of fall and to find some pinecones (the internet LOVES pinecones). I’m also going to attempt to take a shower, if I can remember how. It’s been a while. It’s not pretty. Wish me luck.

Our last week of summer went out with a bang (and a few naps).

Sunday:

This is her “I didn’t like anything all day but as soon as you tell me it’s time to go home I’m going to cry” face.

CARS ON BOATS ARE WEIRD

Thinking about how nice his mommy is for buying him an orange soda.

Monday:

9:30 am

1 pm

Grape thief

Tuesday:

One story before Daddy goes to work

Birdwatching

This is how she feels about bubbles

Wednesday:

Ready for some high bars

Searching for books about fire trucks, obvs

Mommy needed a rest from pushing the stroller up the hill on the way home, so we sat on someone’s steps.

Thursday:

I DO NOT CARE FOR THURSDAYS.

We saw the amazing sunset…from the car.

Paleo fried rice is not actually rice – it’s cauliflower. I liked it, E did not.

Friday:

Caroline insists Evan’s new fall sweatshirt is hers.

I wouldn’t mind bribing them so much if Caroline didn’t make THAT FACE.

Peek a boo! I have impetigo! Let me rub my face on you!

Saturday:

SNo one gets to sleep past 9 am in this house.

I’m on a boat!!

Aaaaand time for more naps.

E’s command realized that the guys were all pretty close to losing it with their crazy schedules, so they got the weekend off. I’m torn between over scheduling the crap out of all of us – the beach! the fair! walks! shopping! hayrides! – and just sitting on the couch for 48 hours watching Disney movies and letting the kids jump all over him. So far we’ve sort of split the difference – boats this morning, naps alllllll afternoon – and I’m loving it.

Did you take any camera phone photos this week? Link up with one or lots using the linky below and grab the code (so it shows on your blog too!) over at Amy’s . It’s really fun!

You know what the cure for a sad-for-myself kind of week is? A so-busy-I-barely-sleep week.

Sunday:

Daddy attack!

Jam thief

He is very suspicious of those blue things in his pancakes. Mommy never does anything that fancy.

Monday:

Evan: Uh, Mom? Someone took a bite of this Styrofoam apple. Caroline: My bad.

Dropping off some more money for safekeeping at the marina. Too bad they don’t ever give it back.

Don’t hold my hand Mommy, I’m a big kid.

Tuesday:

Caroline’s new favorite book: The Sailor Dog

He insisted I buy the BIG carrots and couldn’t even wait until we got home to eat them.

I’m sorry, I can’t hear you over the sound of my empty uterus crying.

Wednesday:

My nice healthy lunch – before Caroline stole it and ate the whole thing.

Peek a boo

Where we go when the kids request the aquarium at 6 pm.

Thursday:

Loves

That’s Caroline’s “WTF Whale?” face

Peace out, Connecticut!

Friday (Sesame Place!):

Helping a friend

Elmo’s World Live was the best day of her life (also, proof I didn’t actually torture her the ENTIRE weekend.)

I command you to buy season passes! (OK)

Saturday:

This was the farthest away the characters were for this entire show – usually they were literally touching distance.

Hot, super tired baby did NOT like her beloved TV characters 7 feet tall.

We accidentally watched the parade for the 3rd time. Now I will NEVER get the song out of my head.

Despite Caroline being pretty miserable for large chunks of the trip we had an amazing time with Kim and her boys. I’ve already decided we’re going back ASAP. But after playing “family of four” all weekend I might be rethinking this third/fourth baby situation.

Oh wait, I just went to link with Amy and the pictures of her tiny, squishy newborn made me totally forget all the hard parts of my week. Carry on with plans to expand the ginger army (eventually).

Our lives are upside down right now, or maybe sideways, trying to revolve around E’s crazy work schedule. He’s not at sea – it would be a poor choice to try to take his submarine out into the ocean, since half of it is still a just twinkle in the shipyard’s eye. And for that I’m thankful. But he’s Very Busy And Important at his job in a way he has never been in the past and handling everything about the kids, the house, the cars and our life is starting to wear on me. Especially because although there is an end in sight, things are going to get worse before they get better – and “better” is still going to suck.

I feel the need to insert a disclaimer every time I talk about my life as a Navy spouse to head off the eye rolling. I am 100% aware of my privilege in complaining about my life. There are billions of people across the world who are worse off than me, millions in America who would kill for a stable job and steady income and amazing, free (socialized!) healthcare, thousands of families whose loved ones are deployed to battlefields and war zones and much more dangerous conditions that an office in Connecticut and probably two dozen other spouses stationed right here on E’s boat who are dealing with problems much worse than mine. But just like someone who goes from making $100,000 a year would have a hard time adjusting to making only $25,000 a year, I’ve gone from having a husband around 50-60 hours a week to one I only see 4 or 5 hours a week. Total. And the kids see him even less. We’re adjusting.

ALSO, since I’m already on a super-tangent, I am not in any way comparing my single-parenting of my kids while E is at work to an ACTUAL single parent. It’s not even kind of close to the same thing. A paycheck magically shows up in my bank account every 2 weeks even if all I’ve done all week is take Instagram photos of my food and buying crap at Target and having random bits of my body removed for fun (yah healthcare!) so my life is pretty good.

And just like that I’ve written a whole post about why I shouldn’t even both to write this post. I would suggest to myself “Self, quit while you’re ahead!” but I don’t actually feel ahead. I feel forever behind.

I’m torn between trying to fill our days with as many things as possible and holing up in a blanket fort on the couch to watch Disney Jr all day. I don’t want to take the kids out to the zoo and the aquarium and the park and lunch only to find out E got home early and we missed our only chance to see him. If we stay home to see him there’s a huuuuuge stretch of morning when the kids are awake and bored and I start to lose my temper because I know we’re only going to get an hour with Daddy anyway. The worst was trying to split the two – we got home JUST in time to watch Daddy walk out the door. Both kids were hysterical for an hour.

In some ways, life would be easier if this was a deployment. There would be regular family support group meetings giving us updates. Our bank account would be in better shape thanks to extra pay and E not having to eat unexpectedly on the run or drive back and forth to work. I could use that cute DVD Sesame Workshop sent me to explain to the kids Daddy was gone for a while but would be back. I would feel much less guilty about planning fun family trips and vacations and outings without E. Right now I worry I’m abandoning him, being unsupportive of his job, excluding him from our family (or at least I worry HE feels that way) when, no. I’m not doing it. The NAVY is doing it.

It’s a life I enjoy, mostly. One I signed up for willingly and knowingly after growing up in a military family. But right now? It freaking sucks.