Sleep!!!

It is no secret that sleep has never come easy to our little one.  When she was a baby she had to nurse to sleep.  Had to.  Every time.  No bottles, ever.  She hated those.  Then one day she decided bottles were cool and she never wanted to get rid of them.  Then one day we managed to find a non-leaking sippy cup that she could have in her bed.  We tried countless times to get rid of the milk in the cup, dilute it down to water, go cold turkey and every time it ended in disaster.  The screaming at the top of your lungs until you nearly get sick kind of disaster.  Then there was the phase where one cup of milk was not enough.  Then the phase where she woke up more in the night than she did as a newborn and you were not getting out of her room unless she was coming with you -- to your bed.  While I love snuggle time with my babies, I also really love to get a certain amount of sleep.

A couple of weeks ago we just decided to go cold turkey on the no milk thing.  I am not going to lie, the first few nights were rough.  I have heard my daughter scream, "I don't like water any more"more than I care to hear.  After three days of water in her cup, she no longer even asks for her cup at night.  She doesn't scream...she might tell you she doesn't like water, but it is done in a calm voice.  She goes in her room and goes straight to bed (after she gives you 10 "big girl hugs" and 27 kisses on your "chicks").  She has not been up in the middle of the night once, except a couple of times when she had to go to the bathroom.  And guess what...those times that she did wake to go to the bathroom she went and ran right back into her bed and went back to sleep, on her own, without us in the room, without a single tear.  A miracle has happened.

The boys really spoiled us with sleep.  They went to sleep on their own so easily from a very early age.  Owen had a phase around the time the pacifier went away that was challenging (he would not stay in the bed at the beginning of the night), but it was nothing compared to this little lady.  Ryan has always been a dream with sleep...he wakes up super early but he has always just gone to bed.  He could be playing and decide he is tired, tell you and go put himself to bed -- easy.  

I am so thankful that bedtime has become a little less stressful and now our biggest issue is who gets bedtime cuddles last (they think the last person gets the longest cuddles) and who gets to choose the first story.  

SIX!!!!

Today my biggest boy turns six years old.  SIX.  I can't believe it has been six years since he joined our family and forever changed our lives.  The moment I first saw his face I knew love that I had never known in my life.  I was a mess of tears, just like I am now...thinking of the fact that he is six whole years old!  Turning 5 was hard for me but I am actually really excited about six.  Every single year so far along this road of parenthood has been a little more fun and magical than the year before.  Seeing him develop, seeing how he is slowly becoming more aware of the world around him and watching him grow is really one of the most incredible things I have ever been a part of.  :)

Continuing what I do every year, here is my yearly interview with my now 6 year old.
What is your favorite color? Red
What is your favorite toy? Legos
What is your favorite fruit? Cherries
What is your favorite treats?  Ice cream, chocolates, cookies, gummies....on and on.
What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?  pancakes
What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Grilled cheese
What is your favorite game? Bowling
What is your favorite snack? fruit bars (similar to a fruit roll up...but made with fruit, supposedly)
What is your favorite animal? Dog
What is your favorite song? Everything is Awesome -- Lego movie
What is your favorite book?  Bubble Bath Pirates (the book he selected at school to donate to the library), Stuck
What is your favorite cereal?  Cinnamon Toast Crunch (just tried it for the first time this week)
Who is your best friend?  Charlotte, Owen, Nathan, Shane, Chase, Libby, etc etc etc he pretty much started naming his entire class.
What is your favorite thing to do outside?  Ride my scooter, bike, go to the play ground, play with bubbles, play sports (he kept going on and on here too)
What is your favorite drink? Gatorade
What is your favorite holiday? Summer
What do you need to take to bed with you at night? My monkeys -- they are all named and are all characters from Curious George.
What is your favorite restaurant?  Outback - they have the best grilled cheese, and Uncle Julio's Rio Grande Cafe -- they have a cool tortilla machine
What do you want to be when you grow up?  A fireman.  And like my dad.
What is your favorite movie? Planes, Despicable Me
If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? Great Wolf Lodge, Disney World, Busch Gardens, Texas
What is your favorite thing to do with Owen? Play Wii, Play legos.
with Emily? Play legos
Daddy? watch shows and sit on the couch
Mommy? cuddle (omg..I might have smiled really, really big when he said that)

Where to start?

Since it has been so long since I last blogged, I am not even sure where to start.  I am going to start with a few phone pictures from the past week or so and then work to go back and catch up on some older favorites...and hopefully, keep up with the current stuff as we go.  :)

I have also been working (sort of) on a 365 project.  Sometime around mid-January I stopped uploading the pictures to the computer...YIKES!!  I have to go back and upload and edit about two months worth of daily pictures for the project (and find a few filler images for the days I was just plain lazy as well).  Hopefully I can tackle a full week at a time.

Here is a week in review --

we have reached the stage where if she naps in the car there is no hope for a regular nap that day.

took o and e to Build a Bear for the first time.  They LOVED it.  Ryan too.  

Cat in the Hat day at school.  Loved this! 

101 day of school celebration

kissy faced selfies.  

working on his homework..for now he enjoys homework (most of the time)

My workout buddy -- we did an Insanity class on my 32nd birthday.  

sis loves the rainbow loom but gets frustrated when trying to make bracelets.  

birthday dinner -- Ryan told everyone that it was my birthday and the kids were SO excited when they sang happy birthday to me.  

It finally happened -- no sister in my room

we got a much, much needed night out.  And my 4 year old picked out those earrings for my bday..aren't they great?!!

they can't bring treats for their birthday but get to donate a book to the library -- this was the one he chose and the kids love it.  He gets to be the first to check it out and gets to keep it for three weeks, he is very excited.  :) 

a very rare nap, in my bed of course. 

if she spots a "cado" then you better believe she is going to dig in.  She LOVES them..and salsa. 

Trying again..

I really want to get back into blogging on a regular basis.  I feel like I have so many wonderful little stories from when Ryan was a baby but I haven't done nearly as well documenting the lives of my other two children.

2014 is off to a really great start…hard to believe it is already nearly mid-March and nearly a certain someone's 6th birthday!!!  Really, it is just unbelievable.

There are so many things that have been happening lately that I truly do not want to forget…the way Em says musmic instead of music.  The way her hair curls up on the back of her neck.  The sweet way that Owen asks for cuddles every night before bed.  The way Ryan screams my name with delight and arms wide open as he runs off the bus each day.  I know that all of these moments will be gone in a moment and I don't want to forget them…ever….so it is time to be a better blogger!

:)  Looking forward to lots of updates and pictures to come.  xoxo.

Horrible Blogger

Ok -- so I am a terrible blogger.  I have a bunch of things that I do not want to forget so here goes..

We often ask the kids what was the best part of their day.  R recently told me, "Well that's easy, just like every day.  The best part was when we were at home and I got to spend time with you."  My heart melted. 

O - calls the UPS truck the UP-Mess truck.  I love it. 

E - potty trained in December and it was pretty much the easiest thing ever.  Thank goodness she came after the boys or I would have been wondering what in the world was wrong with the boys! ha!

R - has been in occupational therapy for fine and gross motor skills since the beginning of September.  His progress has been really incredible.   He loves to draw pictures now, mostly just cards and things for me (he is the sweetest).   Kindergarten is going really great for him.  His teacher is awesome, his school is great as well!  He is really becoming a good little swimmer, he is starting to take more responsibility and initiative around the house.  He could live off grilled cheese and fruit..with a side of carrot sticks and broccoli.  His favorite toys are anything electronic, Legos, science stuff, drawing stuff and anything outdoorsy (sports equipment, exploring equipment).  He is so much like Jeff in many ways.  He loves to cuddle and loves his little stuffed monkey, George. 

O - loves his preschool class and teachers.  He is the most emotional of my kids and is either super happy or super unhappy most of the time.  He is in a phase now where he wants to choose everything.  By that I really do mean everything.  He wants to choose my coffee cup each morning, my clothes, his brother's underpants, his brother's socks, all of the groceries, the parking space in a parking lot, our next house…you get the idea.  We are currently learning that it is ok for him to make some choices but every choice for everyone else.  ;)  Another of his favorites is being my personal trainer.  He encourages me to exercise every day and asks if we are going to the gym or doing movies at home.  If we are doing movies, he wants to pick them (of course) and always tries to sneak in a second workout.  He loves to wrestle, loves to try and get under his brother and sister's skin, but at the same time his love for them is fierce.  He loves to play, has an incredible imagination, loves Legos, needs lots of attention, has a never ending appetite and has almost caught up to his brother in height (there is maybe an inch separating them today).  He is like me in a lot of ways -- except I don't think I do the tantrum thing (usually).  

E - this girl is growing way too fast.  She is so sweet and loving during the day.  She is really just in a pretty great stage right now.  She loves to do whatever I am doing, working out with me, cooking dinner, shopping, taking pictures, etc.  She is very in to pretend play and loves to be a Doc McStuffins or a chef the most.  She loves Sofia the First and the color pink.  She is particular.  She only likes to wear bows to bed.  Really, she will scream in her bed for a bow if you forget to give her one.  She has an outstanding vocabulary and can carry on quite the conversation.  At night…well let's just suffice it to say that she does not like to go to bed at night and lots of nights there are lots of tears and screams.  It does seem to be improving but we still have the occasional (a few times a week) difficult time.  She likes to dance, is fearless, strong-willed, determined and loves sneaking up on you to give you the biggest, strongest hug and kiss ever.  She loves to build..blocks, legos, anything.  She loves to draw and color.  She loves her brothers so, so much and really looks up to them.  

Hopefully I can start doing a better job of keeping up with this blog.   Each week of this year I have been adding in something positive.  One week it was doing daily Bible studies, another week drinking more water, another week cutting out sugar, another week starting at the gym…so far so good!! I am keeping the changes I made the week before and hoping to make this year and the future better and better!  

Until next time! 

Oh Yesterday...

Yesterday was not fun.  Two kids woke up sick...with different things going on.  Owen has a cold...no big deal, kids get them all the time.  Ryan had a fever...a nice high fever, especially for a kid who never ever has a fever.  He also was complaining that his belly hurt around his belly button, a lot.  I gave him meds and they did nothing.  Nothing at all.  Fever went higher.  I called the doctor and she basically told me to take him to urgent care for a strep test.  So I did.  It was negative.  Did I mention I had all 3 kids with me?  Yeah, and no iPad, coloring, or anything at all to entertain them -- oh and they had not had a snack -- oh and it was 4pm.  So then they do blood work.  The doctor tells me I need to get to the ER, they are concerned about his appendix.

A great friend meets me at the ER to take the other two kiddos and Ryan and I wait around for a bit.  Finally, we are seen and they do their thing there, he goes for an ultrasound, check his urine, review blood work, etc and finally we are released with a diagnosis of some sort of virus.  Thanks urgent care for scaring the crap out of me.

Oh and did I mention that my Mother-in-law had a stroke this week?  She is better now, thank goodness!  Did I also mention that my 91 year-old grandmother also had a stroke this week?  She is still in the hospital recovering.  Oh and her house was robbed.  Seriously, this week is nearly enough to push a person over the edge.

I honestly do not remember the last time this happened.

pitiful. 

While I was helping with keeping Ryan entertained while they drew his blood, Owen snapped 178 pictures of my butt.  Thanks kid.

Kindergarten

Ryan's first day of school was a few weeks ago.  I was a mess the days and weeks leading up to the start of elementary school, but now that we are a few weeks in, I am ok with it.  In some ways I am super happy that he only has school half of the day (granted, the time isn't the most convenient thing ever).  I think 3 hours is a little short for Kindergarten but I am glad that he isn't gone the entire day just yet either.  

Those of you that really know Ryan know that he isn't exactly the best at filling in all of the details of his days at school.  Most of the time I am lucky to find out what he had for snack and if he played with anything cool.  Here are all the details my 5 year old gave me about his first day of school. 

He rode the bus to school.  Riding the bus was the most fun part of his day.  He sat with two of his friends that live across the street from us.  When the bus got to school they waited outside with their teachers until everyone arrived and then went inside the building.  Their backpacks go under their desk.  The first thing they did was sit down at a table and cut out bears.  Then he found out that he was the "Honey Bear" for the day.  That means he is the line leader.  At some point they have to choose if they want chocolate milk or plain for their snack.  Ryan chose plain (we asked him to choose plain every day except Friday and shockingly he has done exactly that --- even though most of his classmates have chocolate every day).  He opened his milk all by himself.  It was good.  Then they went outside for recess and played with chalk, balls and hopscotch.  They weren't allowed to kick the balls though but he didn't know why.  His teacher honks a bear horn to signal the end of recess.  At the end of the day a voice comes out of the speaker in his class.  The teacher walked him to his car and his day was done.  

The first thing out of Ryan's mouth when he got in the car was "Mommy, I am starving!!!"  I guess that is the drawback of afternoon kindergarten.  Ryan also made a friend the first day of school, Chase.  

Ryan's first day of Kindergarten -- September 3, 2013.  He wants to be a fireman when he grows up.  

I totally expected to be a sobbing mess when the bus drove away for the very first time with my baby on it.  I was not expecting O and E to immediately burst into tears.  They provided just enough distraction for me to not shed a single tear.  For the record, they were more upset that THEY didn't get to ride the bus too rather than being upset that Ryan was gone.  The three hours Ryan was at school seemed to drag on forever that day.  I could not stop wondering what he was doing the entire day.