the crew

Every time we all spend time together as a family, the noise and stress level eventually gets to a point where you either have to laugh or cry. It's just a busy place with the three boys living under one roof.


I love to close my eyes and listen to the chaos around me. Usually, Thomas is on the TV (Chris rigged one of our old laptops so that it's constantly looping Thomas DVDs, so we essentially have a Thomas channel), and Ben is either singing along or reciting the lines. Ryan is usually crying - he doesn't cry much, but when he does, it's a shrill sound that really gets your attention. Sophie is always, always barking - and Chris and I are usually (mildly) verbally abusing her for it. We boss her around so much that Ben now says, "Sophie, get in your chair!"

And I love it. I love that I have a partner in life who I can laugh with. I love that we feel so much better with Ryan than when Ben was a baby. The second time around has been much better so far, stress-wise. I love my boys.

Ben looks like me, but I think Ryan is a spitting image of his dad.


Ben playing with his trains. He is so precious. He gets so into it.