a real effort

ok, so my children are actually playing (nicely) together and in the spirit of being a better blogger, i am actually writing a post what like only 2 days since my last one! There is a lot of scary stuff going on right now in our lives...scariest of all is that i scheduled my boards-the tests that i have to take to be a licensed pharmacist. Right now I have just been working as a graduate intern-same idea but no responsibility...oh and less money too! :) Anyway, there is a ton of pressure on these exams b/c they cost like 1000$ to take not to mention you have to wait a month to take them again if you fail. Trust me when I say that my boss is not going to wait another month if I fail-OUCH! Besides that, Avery is cruising on everything!!! Crawling up stairs, walking along furniture and basically getting into EVERYTHING! We have become a household full of gates and safety locks. Which never was a big deal with Xander but this time, we have him to lift over all the gates-and man that kid cannot sit still! He is always asking to be lifted, help with a shut door etc. The third scary thing is my student loan bills have arrived! YIKES! I really had no idea I had borrowed so much money! It is almost upsetting when I think of all the baby clothes I will have to sacrifice just to make that monthly payment...that reminds me of another point of discussion...I was recently reading this blog and she was discussing her obsession with purchasing children's clothes-even included a photo of a stuffed closet! I totally can relate! My kids are so over prepared when it comes to clothes. I can't help it...I used to love shopping for myself and always overdid it. Now that I am not crazy about my bod and shopping for myself has become more of a chore, I use all my energy to focus on the TONS of ADORABLE children's clothes that are everywhere. Although recently I have promised my husband to be "good" and spare our checkbook any more damage. What is this obsession? Does it have its hold on more than just me and Nicole? Just wondering...

Here are some recent photos of a fun playdate with some good friends at our house-you can tell they had fun by all the toys everywhere in the background! And of course this is how Xander spends all playdates-fighting over toys-UGH!

Trying to get all four to look at the camera!!