The Train To Crazy

Where is that road?

We've had loads of fun this week. Well, not so much. It started with the discovery on Sunday night that our flight was on Monday, NOT Tuesday. Yeah, glad I checked. Then Monday brought a 4 a.m. wake up, 2 hour drive, 6 hour flight, etc. Oh, and the girls were sick. Sick, sick. Sickness continued throughout the week. And adjustment problems for a two year old. Combined with Arthur not getting home from work until at least 9:30 every night made for some rather grumpy kiddos and a very grumpy mom.

It all culminated with a lovely trip to the doctor on Friday. Naomi was writhing in pain so I got her an appointment and packed everyone up, prepared snacks, and headed to the doctor's office. Upon arrival we waited for a half an hour in the waiting room. Annoying, not the end of the world. The nurse then brought us back, took Naomi's vitals, said the doctor would be in shortly. We waited. Naomi cried. Maggie complained that she was missing her nap time. Daphne complained that I left the snacks in the car, there were no toys, she was bored, she wanted to play, etc. Everyone needed a trip to the bathroom. Naomi cried in pain some more. Oh yeah, the air conditioning wasn't circulating in the room either so we were all very sweaty. Finally Naomi fell asleep. Standing. With her head resting on the chair. 

I checked with the nurse to see how much longer it would be. She apologized for the delay. Yada yada. The doctor finally came in. We had been waiting in that room for about an hour and 15 minutes. Insane. The doctor apologized profusely. Yada yada. Tests needed to be analyzed. More waiting. 

After nearly 2.5 hours we were out of there. The doctor was going to call the prescription in so we could run right over to the pharmacy and get her on the prescription right away. Yes, at least something would be quick!

Not so fast. Got stuck in traffic for an hour on the way to the pharmacy a mile away. A water main had broken. Fabulous. Everyone fell asleep so I decided to detour, go through a drive through so they'd have food when they woke up. I didn't want to wake them up at the pharmacy and not have any food for them. So I headed off down the road. 3 miles to the nearest drive through. More traffic. I arrived at the drive through 25 minutes later. Glad everyone was asleep. Bought lunch, Naomi woke up. She had to go potty so we hurried home. I woke everyone else up, went up to our apartment, ate the food, and hurried everyone back down to the car.

As most of you know, it is no small task to get three littles in and out of cars. But, alas, we needed the prescription so we were on our way back to the pharmacy. After unbuckling everyone again we went into the pharmacy, only to discover it hadn't been called in by the doctor yet!! I called the doctor's office and the receptionist said she would do it but it was going to take her another hour before she'd have time. O.K. everyone, back into the car. We drove the 3 minutes back to our apartment and then I got the call. The prescription had been called in. Fabulous... So, back to the pharmacy. 

I think you get the picture. LONG day! Can I say how wonderful the kids handled it though? They did well. We survived and hopefully Naomi is on the mend. 

***

I mentioned that we needed to buy Maggie a new car seat. I thought to myself for a moment and said, "I'll probably buy it online." To which Naomi replied, "Oh, is that a road?" Why yes Naomi, it is a superhighway.

"oh, I love this apartment!"

That's right. We are back "home" after being "home" for the last two weeks. While we were staying in our old house, getting everything shipped out to Boston, the girls kept saying how much they loved that house and missed it. They loved the yard, the space, their room, everything. It made me feel pretty bad taking them away from it all to go back to our apartment. Then we stayed for a while at my parents' farm and they loved it there. They didn't want to leave. They loved everything about it and kept telling me they wanted to stay. I felt bad taking them away.

We got home last night, after traveling for 14 hours (door to door) and the girls ran in and exclaimed, "oh, I love this apartment!" It is good to know that no matter where kids are, no matter how fun or big or grassy the home is where they live, they still love it. I'm sure we all have a lot to learn from kids.

More fun on the farm and THE total

We are officially moved out. As of this coming Monday we will no longer be home owners. This actually makes me happy. Ahhhhh.

We are back on "the farm." We arrived here around 8 p.m. last night and spent the day relaxing and playing. There were trampolines to be bounced on, trees to be climbed, spaces to hide in and hiders to be seeked. 

Life is always more fun with cousins around.

I realized that I never reported the total for the Feed The Forgotten campaign. The campaign lasted for two weeks and over $20,000 was raised!! Since each meal can be provided for 14 cents, that means over 143,000 meals can be provided. Isn't that amazing? Thanks to all of you who helped out.

Also, if you are interested in watching the progress of the roof being put on the orphanage in Liberia be sure to check out the Orphan Relief and Rescue blog. It is being put on right now! 

The best quotes

I realized today that I put some of the girls' best quotes on facebook where they will fade away and become forgotten forever. One of my favorite parts of Domestic Cents is how Nicki always adds quotes and thoughts about her family at the bottom of each post. I'm thinking of stealing that idea. Mostly because I just need to record this stuff and when I print out my blog it will all still be there. I will not, however, be printing anything off facebook... Or perhaps I'll just devote a post a week to all the cuteness. We'll see where I land. 

For today, I had to add this quote:

me: Do not put that eye patch on Maggie.

Naomi: But she isn't Maggie!! She's Pirate Captain Maggie!

Oh, of course she is.

On the farm

We made our way up north to my parents' farm. My brother's house is right next door. Separated by this fence. The girls love his trampolines.

Those moments you think you just might be doing something right

Waking your children up at 5:30 isn't exactly ideal. Especially if you plan to drag them to the airport, through the airport and onto a plane. For 6 hours. I was tired, they were tired. We were all a bit hungry. 

Today was the big travel day. I tried to be as prepared as possible. I think I did a pretty good job. More on that some other day. I tried to pack light as far as carry ons go. In fact, I packed pretty light overall. For 12 days, 4 people, I packed 3 suitcases. Though, 1 was full of gifts I brought with me, 1 full of diapers (I wanted the extra space for the return trip anyway) so really it was just one large suitcase. Not bad. The girls each had their little backpacks and I had my big backpack as well as my camera bag. 

I have to say that I am really impressed with the non business travelers. Very nice, helpful. Those business men, not so much. But I digress... We made it successfully through the airport, checked bags and the girls' car seats and headed toward security. I did my best to remain calm and relaxed. No need to rush even though you have to take off 6 shoes, 3 coats, take out 1 laptop, 1 DVD player, put 4 bags on the conveyer along with a double stroller and a car seat, sans baby. Then carry baby through and coax the others through, one at a time. Ahhh. THEN we have to get everything and everyone put back together. We did it though. No crying, no screaming or whining. And the kids were good too.

The plane ride was, well, it was about as good as it could have been. The girls were brilliant. I had bought a seat for Maggie and I am so glad I did. I am pretty sure I could not have travelled with the 3 by myself if I hadn't. Especially considering Daphne's 3 trips to the bathroom. Daphne was a bit cranky to start but took an uncomfortable looking nap for a bit and woke up refreshed and only a bit whiny. You know, normal. Naomi was happy as a clam with all her activities, she didn't even watch any shows on the DVD player. I'm impressed. Daphne, however, is at a different stage of life and that is O.K. Maggie was, well, Maggie. Happy, happy, happy. 

So other than a few tears, a few dropped crayons, slipping earphones, and those painful ears on decent, we did very well. They got many compliments and everyone thought they were cute. So, today I was proud of my little girls who were awoken at 5:30 a.m., shoved in a car, on a plane and then another car for 2 hours ("It takes so long! It takes so long!") and still managed to hold it together. Did I mention they didn't really eat most of the day either? That's another story as well... 

Saving a tree

Sometimes I feel that having a two year old is the ultimate test of character. Or, possibly, the ultimate character builder. If you're really lucky, it continues on into the threes. 

I finally decided that we'd just put all the unrolled toilet paper in a pile on the bathroom floor and we'd use it. This pile used to be twice as high (2 rolls). I told her if she was older I'd make her re-roll it but since she is just two, we'll use it this way. Of course, this is one of the least frustrating things that happened this week with our precious two year old.

What crazy things do your toddlers do?

Family

This is my family.

Doing family stuff.

Of course, these are from our trip to the arboretum last Saturday where we got these great shots as well.

To see other families check out You Capture.

A wonderful weekend

Sometimes you have great weekends, or great days. But sometimes you have GREAT days. We've had a few of those. We headed back to the arboretum on Saturday. We've been there 4 times in the past month or so. This time I actually remembered my camera. 

We love the hills filled with buttercups and dandelions.

And just hanging out with sisters is fun...

we laughed a lot...

Sunday we went candlepin bowling for the first time. No pictures but we had a blast. The small balls are perfect for little hands. 

And to cap off a wonderful weekend we got an extra day. A beautiful day at that. We spend half the day in the pool. The other half riding bikes or napping. Couldn't have been better. 

Look at the camera and smile

Ever tried to get your kids together and take a great photo?

So close.

The mind of a four year old

I'm not sure if it is the age, the child, or a combination of both but MY four year old has become very independent. I'm pretty sure she was on the independence highway since birth but when she hit four she really stepped on the gas. She is very capable in so many ways. Sometimes I forget she is just four. Especially when she gets sassy! Where did that come from? We had our first lesson in "tone of voice" today. Crazy.

Not only is she independent and sassy, but she is fashion conscious. She now picks out her own clothes. It helps that her new closet has a very low bar so she can get all her clothes off the hangers herself. This is wonderful, and funny all at the same time. She is REALLY concerned about matching. I've pretty much taken a back seat and let her wear what she wants, as long as it isn't shorts in winter. Today I had to draw the line, however. She had this wonderful long sleeved pink and pink and pink striped shirt with a multicolored (orange, blue, green, etc) wide striped capri pant. 

This isn't the first time we've had stripes and stripes ("look Mom, they match") incidents. This is just the first time I decided to make her change before we left the house. The last stripe on stripe outfit was actually incredibly "matching." Oddly enough the striped pants had about 5 colors of stripes and the shirt had those exact same 5 colors of stripes. Different brands, not meant to match, and they didn't really match, but who can argue with her? Fortunately for me, the shirt was getting a bit small so I tossed it in the size 3 bin and we never had a repeat of that outfit.

After telling her she needed to change today I handed her some jeans. She responded, "Mom! These are blue! I need pink pants to match my pink shirt!" This explains all the pink shirt/pink pants outfits. I'm wondering if it is time to have "the talk."

A GREAT Dad

My husband doesn't get a whole lot of face time on my blog. I try to protect his privacy and what not but not today. He's a great dad. No matter how much he is working he always makes time for his girls. We love our computer time and TV time but when the girls are awake and he is at home he is with them.

We went straight to the park on Friday after he got off work because it was such a nice day. We ate our dinner there and played on the playground. He doesn't just sit and watch the girls play. He plays too. He demonstrates how to go down the pole...

Helps them put on their helmets...

(you can just hear her saying "ouch DAD" can't you)

Follows them on their bike ride

And holds their hands when they are a little scared.

Being a great dad doesn't come naturally to everyone. Many guys aren't good at parenting. Or maybe they were just never given the encouragement they needed. This one is good. He's learned how to be a good dad and he's excelled. He is patient when I am sometimes lacking in that department. He is always nurturing and finding ways to encourage their gifts and personalities. I know these girls will always have fond memories of all great times they had with dad during their childhood.

A long walk

Today was Patriots' Day. You've probably never heard of it. Today was the Boston Marathon. It's a holiday. I have to say that watching the marathon was one of my favorite things we've done here so far. Loved it. We watched at mile 20 and I can't believe how fast people were running. Well, I can believe it because if you can finish in just over 2 hours you've got to be sprinting the thing. I'm pretty sure I couldn't run a 400m as fast as they were running during their 20th mile. 

It isn't every day that you get to see this.

Or this

Yes, their packs were full. If I had to guess I'd say they were at least 50+ pounds. They were walking, mostly. I saw a couple of them running but I'm sure they didn't do that for too long. Wow. Wow.

The crowds were great.

At one point one of the runners in the top 200 stopped running. He walked for about 20 seconds and people started screaming and cheering him on and he started running again. The crowd immediately erupted in cheering. It was awesome to witness.

We walked to the race. It was about 2 miles there and 2 miles back. We didn't go straight back though so I'd guess we walked somewhere around 5 miles today with a stop at the race and the playground, a detour for food and to the pharmacy. I had Maggie in the Ergo the whole time so I was pretty tired by the end. I complained a bit on facebook and then was reminded of the men who were walking 26.2 miles with 50 pound packs on their backs and I stopped complaining.

Plus, she's cute. Way more fun to carry around than a backpack of bricks. 

The oldest child

We are reading The Highly Sensitive Child and hoping this helps us understand our biggest baby a little bit better. She really couldn't be sweeter. A wonderful big sister. A bright, active, funny little girl. We love you baby!

The middle child

Daphne has been having a lot of stomach aches lately. We've pretty much ruled everything out except for a desire for attention. It is hard having a baby sister, an older sister, and being two years old. We love you little one.

Six months

It is truly amazing how quickly the last six months have flown by. Maggie is officially half way to a year old. She is blossoming into a sweet, cuddly little baby. 

She is sitting, mostly. She does all the average developmental stuff like grabbing things and putting them in her mouth. She has become a lot cuddlier than she was in the past. She loves to give big slobbery kisses. She adores her sisters. When she sees them she lights up. 

She isn't close to moving around the room yet, thankfully. I can wait on that. We are just enjoying getting to know her. She is the most laid back little baby. She rarely cries, except when she is hungry or tired. She smiles all the time. She's a talker. Loves to hear her voice and loves to giggle.

So happy half birthday little one. We can't wait to watch you grow.

The "facts of life" as told by grandma

My mom has been staying with us for a few days. It has been WONDERFUL having her here. The girls love asking her to tell stories about when Uncle Rusty was "little." I'm not sure how this all started but they really like to hear stories about Uncle Rusty. Maybe because the stories about him as a kid are much more exciting than hearing about Uncle Scott writing computer programs as a kid or Uncle Ric... well, they'll have to ask Uncle Ric to tell his own childhood stories since we don't remember them.

Stories about Uncle Rusty usually revolve around some sort of accident or stitches or wild driving on a big wheel. Somehow the story today turned to bulls. I was eavesdropping on this story when I heard this;

Grandma: "bulls can be mean if you get into the pen with them."

Naomi: "Will they eat me?"

Grandma: "No! If they are mean to you I'll eat them!"

Then, for some reason Grandma continues like this...

"We will take the bull to the butcher..."

Then we heard some more Uncle Rusty stories which segued into stories about chickens. First Grandma told them about chicken eggs and how they can become chicks or how we can eat the eggs. Then I heard this...

Grandma: "When Uncle Rusty was little he used to help Grandpa get the chickens ready to eat." This is when I looked at Mom with the look of "where are you going with this?" And she smiled and said, "What? These are the facts of life!" So she continued the story and then ended with this. "Do you know that when a chicken has no head he keeps running around?" Of course the girls loved this story and kept giggling. I have to admit, I still laugh when I think about those chickens.

When your two year old potty trains herself...

My oldest was challenging to potty train. It was hard for her. We had many, many, many accidents. We finally stopped potty training and waiting another 6 months and tried again. It was a bit easier then. A bit. We've had our ups and downs but I am happy to say that we are accident free for probably 2 months. Yeah!

Our two year old was different. She started pooping on the potty when she was about 18 months old. On her own. No prompting. This was BEFORE her older sister did this... I give her credit for helping train her older sister. I've been putting off totally training her because of all the changes we've had in the past 6 months with a new baby, house for sale, move, etc. I finally bought her some "big girl underpants" though and she was SO excited. We just wear them at home for now because we are out and about quite a bit for the past few days but when we have a few days at home she'll be in them full time. It is SO much easier when they just do it themselves. We can honestly say that we had rarely ever even asked her if she had to go. She just started asking to go. 

Here's hoping number three is as easy! (of course I know it isn't over yet...)

Time flying

I can't believe we've been here for 4 weeks. Wow, time seems to be flying by. Well, except for THOSE days, which are of course slow as molasses. I've been fairly unmotivated for the past couple weeks. With all the illnesses and other setbacks, we've been hanging out inside a lot. We've gotten out a few times though but sadly I haven't had the camera much. 3 kids and a camera just seems to be too much! 

Included on the LIST are different parks and walks I want to go on. We (my mom is in town) went to the Arnold Arboretum Thursday. I love it! It was a beautiful day and the park is beautiful, even when nothing is blooming. We walked for a couple hours until I we were all exhausted. If you are in the area I highly recommend it. I, of course, did not take the camera. Next time.

Happy Easter! I hope you are enjoying celebrating the resurrection! 

The cutest prayer ever

Naomi's prayer before bed last night included this line;

"...and thank you for making shirts with pictures on the front so we know which way to put them on..."

My little dancer

Naomi loves dance. She thrived in her dance class when she didn't thrive in other situations. We miss dance and can't wait until next Fall. 

We move. A lot

Have you moved a lot in your life? I lived in 4 houses from the time I was born until I graduated from High School. I never had to change schools. I really appreciated that. Since I graduated from college I have moved 11 times. In 10 years. We've been married nearly 7 years and have lived in 6 places.

Naomi has already lived in more houses than I lived in my entire childhood. She is 4 years old and has lived in 5 different places and it will be 6 before she has her next birthday. We're not talking about moves across the street either. Each move was a different town. She has already lived in 3 states. THREE states and she JUST turned 4. 

Naomi doesn't handle change well (most kids don't). We've learned a few things in the moves that have helped along the way. These are the most important;

Talk up the move before hand, but not too soon. It is important to give them as much of a visual image as possible about what is about to happen. If you are selling your house and packing up toys and such, let them be involved. Tell them as much as is age appropriate. With our latest move we started discussing that we were selling our house and moving about a week before we started getting our house staged to sell. We'd known for months but telling them so far in advance might have caused anxiety so we waited until a more appropriate time. If they were older we would have let them know sooner. When it came to talking about where we were moving, we tried to let them know what types of things we'd do once we moved and let them know as much as possible. We talked about how big our apartment would be, what toys we'd have, the fact that we'd still play outside and go to the playground, etc., etc. The important things to them. Give them the little details about what is going to happen between houses. Are you flying? Living out of suitcases for a while? You get the idea.

Keep things "normal". We try to make sure to spend lots of family time together during times of transition. Make sure the "special" toys are readily available during traveling and when you get to the new place. 

Get excited! Even if you aren't that excited, or aren't happy about the move at all, get excited for the kids. You don't have to lie, but you also shouldn't doom their move by frightening them either.

Don't plan any new developmental tasks around the time of the move. Daphne needs to be potty trained. She wants to be potty trained. The poor girls hasn't moved on to the big girl panties yet because first she had a baby sister, then moved to a "big bed" then gave up her pacifiers and is now completing a move. It wouldn't have been fair to her to try to train her right before or after the move. We have to give her time to get settled. 

Extra hugs and snuggles. Depending on their age, most little ones can't really tell you what they are thinking or worrying about. Extra snuggles and attention help to soothe them through the possibly scary time.

What has helped your kids during times of transition and moving?

First bites

Some kids really take to "solids", others don't. At least in my experience. This particular baby was crying with impatience between bites during her first feeding.

Look at that! I mean, who likes rice cereal? I guess she was ready for solids. I've been putting it off, for a couple reasons, but the time finally arrived when I couldn't put it off any longer. The girl wants to eat.

In other, mostly unrelated news, I had to crop this photo tight or else be forced to join The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans. I've been successful at avoiding that challenge for some months now and am hoping to keep my exact poundage off this blog permanently. Though, the neighbors are begging me to join before pool season begins.

"No, you won't."

Naomi announced to her dad the other night that "When I turn 13 I am going to have a baby in my belly."

My other bad, bad boy rears her little head

We found Costco yesterday. I should write about how we were apparently a 3 ring circus, or at least that is how people looked at us. Gasp! The horror, children out during the day! How does that woman do it?! In fact, I got more comments about how hard it must be than I have ever gotten in one place. Anyway...

We were at the checkout and a woman came up to me and told me what beautiful children I have. Thank you!. Then she said, "and so well behaved!"

Naomi responded. "I'm a bad bad boy!!" That was our finale. 

The magic of FOUR

Naomi turned 4 last Friday. The amazing thing is, she feels older, she acts older. She really does. She even thinks she is taller! We've been building up "four" for quite a while and it worked! 

We spent the morning at the park while my friend, Sarah Ellen, photographed the girls. I can't wait to see the pictures! We then walked on over to Trophy Cupcakes, because who can resist a cupcake on her birthday? We then topped off the day with a party at Chuck E. Cheese. I'd never been there to my recollection and I'm hoping I don't have to return too soon. The girls loved it though and that is what matters. 

I took a few pictures of the day. Aren't they sweet?

Hello Boston!

We made it! We survived our day of traveling and our first day in our new city. We've had a few bumps in the road but on a whole it has been pretty smooth. 

Bump #1- Flight delayed. Plane changed. Travel to different concourse. Board plane 40 minutes late. Sit on runway for an hour in a hot plane, buckled up with tired baby who wants me to stand. BUT, the kids did very well on the actual plane ride. Especially considering they "slept" in a hotel the night before, were rudely awakened at 6 a.m. and rushed to the airport to sit and wait and wait and wait.

Bump #2- Time change! Kids up until 11 p.m. first night. Boo! We got them down by 9:30 tonight! Yeah!! 

Bump #3- Maggie started spitting up bright yellow this morning. Found a pediatrician and took her right in. No other symptoms, she appears healthy other than the yellow yuck so we are keeping an eye on her.

Bump #4- We live next to an Old MacDonald's. Right next door.

Bump #5- They don't have Signing Times or Magic School Bus on TV here!! What?!? All hell may break loose tomorrow when we break the news.

Bump #6- This place is furnished. They said the kitchen would have cookware and bakeware. I'm not sure what to bake in my one casserole dish. NOT cookies. NOT bread. NOT a lasagna. NOT brownies. Seriously. I don't make casseroles because we don't eat cream of mushroom soup!

Bump #7- The bathroom smells. Bad. Kind of like mildew. Kind of like dead rodent. No evidence of either. Arthur doesn't mind the smell. 

Our clothes, toys, sewing stuff and video games arrived safely today, along with our cars. We can now function because Rock Band is here. The place doesn't feel like "home" but I'm sure nothing would after leaving our awesome house. Daphne is having a bit of a hard time adjusting and even though she says she likes our new house she has asked to go "home" a couple times. Naomi is doing very well. I'm not sure she really understands this whole apartment living thing. She keeps asking to play upstairs.

I'm not very thrilled with our location but I'm going to put on my positive hat and enjoy it while we are here. I mean, not everyone gets to live next door to McDonalds on a super busy 2 lane road it takes 20 minutes to pull on to. We are excited to start getting to know people and learn the neighborhood. For now though, I think I'll stay inside. It is cold. 

Happy Birthday Big Girl!

Kids with no toys...

Yes, cooking their sister.

I love...

...Swedish Pancakes

...baby playing with her daddy. He's gone this week. We love and we miss him.

...family time

...lounging on sick days.

...Grandma loving on baby

There were so many things I love I couldn't choose just one.

Head over to I Should Be Folding Laundry to participate in You Capture.

O.K. Better photos...

For those of you who don't know my family, you may not appreciate the terrible pictures I posted as a farewell to my brother. These are better. One of my other brothers took these.

They still have 17 hours of traveling left! 

My "bad, bad boy" and other tales

Life has been interesting around here lately.  I am pretty sure my nerves are shot and my brain is fried.  Getting a house ready to sell is no easy task with three little ones. We are thinking we should have decorated when we moved in, rather than when we were moving out... but that is another story.

I love to sit and think about my children. Smile about their awesome little personalities (or BIG personalities as it may be) and wonder what Maggie will be like. It truly amazes me that Naomi and Daphne can be SO different.  I can't think of one way that they are alike. Can you? I love them so much.  But on to the shot nerves...

I don't remember Naomi being such a difficult two year old! AAAAHHHH!!!!!! Daphne is such a bear sometimes.  She is bull headed and defiant and willful and mean at times. I'm sure she'll mellow out in the coming year, or at the very least it will serve her well as an adult (not the mean part) but I'm having a hard time waiting for those days to come.

Her thing for the past few days has been saying she is a "bad, bad boy." The boy part isn't new. She has enjoyed calling herself a boy since she figured out what a boy was. I think she does it because it gets Naomi riled up. She will do ANYTHING to get Naomi going. The part that concerns me is that when I talk with them about how they are not bad girls (or boys) and there is a difference between doing something bad and being bad, Daphne smiles and says, "no, I'm a bad, bad boy." O.K. She does enjoy being contrary, but I really do think she enjoys doing bad things too! I won't get into all the "bad" things, but don't rule anything out.

How did you get through the "two's"? 

Naomi's new iphone

O.K.  It isn't exactly what you were thinking.

Saturday morning Naomi made this "eye phone."  Five years ago I would have said, "oh how cute." But now I think it is pretty freaking hilarious!

"It made me cry"

No, I'm not talking about the inauguration, though I did start crying (happens a lot these days).  We had pizza for dinner last night.  Naomi does not like sauce on her pizza.  When we make it we don't put sauce on her portion.  When we buy it we just hold our breath and hope she eats.  This was take out.  Thankfully the sauce didn't show through on this pizza.  She asked me about 4 times if it was cheese bread or pizza.  She's three and knows the difference so I attempted not to lie and said something to the affect that it was pizza with cheese and toppings... she didn't buy it but started eating it anyway.  As she got closer to the crust she noticed a bunch of sauce.  She started crying and screaming, "there's sauce, OH NO, there is sauce!"  She spit out the piece in her mouth and continued screaming.  Being the good mom I am, I didn't point out that the whole piece had sauce and she had been eating it and liked it...  Instead I told her she didn't have to eat the rest of the pizza since there is sauce and gave her a new piece.  She looked up at me with her big eyes and soft voice and said, "it made me cry."  She ate the second piece, until she got close to the sauce at the crust...

Play with your veggies

Fabulous

Sister Love

Family Fun

We got a Wii Fit a few months back.  The girls really love it.  They are super cute trying to do some of the games.

A Big Heart

Here is Daphne reading her "Bible" to Maggie.  She loves her so much.

3 Months!!

I can't believe Maggie is already 3 months old.  Want to meet her?

Her likes;

Long walks, holding hands, snuggly blankets, fingers (preferably her own), singing and being sung to, stories, sisters!, laying on her back, and being held!  

Dislikes;

um, not much.  really.  Oh, doesn't like the "hug hold."  She isn't into cuddling.

Milestones:

She has an incredibly strong neck, always has.  She rolled over once at 13 days and then started rolling frequently at 5 weeks.  She smiles all the time and I have even heard a couple little giggles.  She is a total delight.  Can't wait to get to know her.

I regret to inform you...

...that I spoke too soon. Too soon. Too soon.  Two nights was not enough I guess to start cheering. 

Progress!

Thank you so much for everyone's thoughtful responses to my dilemma with D's sleep resistance.  You will all be happy to know that we have crossed back to the other side!  She still likes her blanket just so when she goes to bed and complains a little but stays in bed.  OR, if she doesn't, she gets her little buns back in bed when Mom says to and THEN she stays in bed.  Progress people, progress.  She has been waking up once a night but I go in and tuck her in and leave again.  Much better.  This I can live with, for now.

As an added bonus, she is much more obedient during the daytime too!  Woohoo!  She has her moment, of course.  She is two after all.  Here she was yesterday before nap.  I wouldn't put toothpaste on her toothbrush.  Mean mama.

In other temporary single mother news, the house is staying clean.  Isn't that amazing?  Well, it may not amaze you but it amazes me.  I thought I'd pat myself on the back for a moment there.

Are you having any progress in your neck of the woods?

Trials.

No progress.  Daphne's sleep issues, which we've established aren't really sleep issues, are continuing to plague our house.  Of course, this is an issue of Daphne wanting attention, control, however you want to express it.

Last night we followed the plan and did a bit of battle.  Bedtime routine went down as usual.  Jammies, teeth brushed, toilet used, chapstick on (yes, this is part of the routine) and books read.  We added our discussion about what kinds of good dreams they'd like.  To which Naomi replied, "I'll dream of good ants."  Poor girl, I wonder if she remembers any good dreams.  So we talked about all the good things she could dream about. Then we said our prayers.

Daphne was tucked into her bed in the room the girls share.  She insisted on the correct way of putting on her blanket.  I obliged and told her I wouldn't be back to fix them when they moved.  It was only a minute later when she began to scream about her blanket not being on right.   Screaming went on for quite some time, maybe an hour.  Then her tactics changed.  Daphne got up.  She came into the hall as if packed for a trip.  She had her dog, her elephant and her blanket.  She put on her sweetest little voice (which is a definite calculated effort for my loud child) and asked to sleep in my bed.  This began what Supernanny would describe as the "stay in bed technique."  I went up and down the stairs transporting her back to bed.  That went on for a while.  Finally she decided to stay in bed and just whine and talk.  After two and a half hours she fell asleep.  Ahhh. 

She slept 7 hours and then woke up, ready to battle.  Screamed for 45 minutes in bed (somehow Naomi slept through this) and then started the getting up and getting put back in bed thing, over and over and over again. Finally at 7 a.m. I called it quits and told her she could stay up.

Nap rolled around and after nearly two hours of the battle I gave up and she didn't nap.  Tonight she is back in the crib.  I'm done with this.  As I write this she just fell asleep on the couch.  AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

Trial and Error

Well, I have gotten tons of advice about this sleep issue.  Thank you for all the comments and emails!  More is definitely welcome because it is FAR from solved.  Tonight we are trying some new things.

A. Both girls will be in their own beds (in the same room).

B. We'll discuss dreams before bed and talk about what kinds of good dreams they'd like to have and then we'll say a prayer for good dreams.  Great idea Kelly!

We'll do our usual bedtime routine and put THE blanket on properly and then let her get it back in place when she moves half an inch and it destroys her zen (which is pretty much what we've been doing).  

I'll let you know how it goes.

Aren't they cute?

The girls posing on Grandma's couch in their new matching dresses.

At the End of Wit

I need help!  I've got two year old problems.  My lovely, darling, little Daphne has, quite frankly, gone crazy.  She's been walking on the other side of compliant for a few months now but yesterday she scared me.  If she wasn't my child I certainly... well, anyway...

Here is the back story.  Daphne has been sleeping all night since she was five months old.  Occasionally she'd wake up at night but only when she wasn't feeling well.  Enter Maggie, one lovely baby sister.  Daphne suddenly needed nighttime companionship.  Being the sensitive parents we are, we complied with that need of hers because adjusting to having a new baby in the house is hard for a new big sister.  Now we are stuck.  We got to a point when she was waking up too much and thus her father wasn't getting enough sleep.  As a parallel story, her older sister, was also having sleep issues and needed sleep companionship.  Arthur and the girls played musical beds for a few weeks.  So, here we are, the father not getting enough sleep.  Change must occur. 

We moved Daphne to our spare room bed and things seemed to perk up.  She liked the change from the crib.  Didn't seem to mind sleeping on her own, for a few days.  Then came the "sleep with me" mantra she would begin to chant at night.  Over and over, each time becoming sadder and harder to refuse.  Tired Father, also being loving father has difficult time hearing these cries and complies.  Tired Mother does not agree with Tired Father's methods but says nothing.  UNTIL, the "sleep with me" chant begins to invade nap time.  Tired Mother allows Emotionally Deprived child to chant all through nap time because Tired Mother cannot actually sleep with Emotionally Deprived child and take care of Baby Sister.  Upon arrival at home that evening, Tired Father hears what Tired Mother thinks of the situation. 

Tired Mother and Father collude to end the "sleep with me" chant with minimal success.  There are moments of greatness and regression.  After much battle, Emotionally Deprived child comes up with a new mantra.  "I need my blanket on my tummy."  Emotionally Deprived child loves her blanket.  No, she is IN love with her blanket.  The tummy/blanket thing was not new.  The chanting/screaming was.  Multiple times a night.  Tired father or tired mother would reenter room to fix said blanket and upon arrival hear in an ever so sweet and sad voice, "sleep with me."  

Back to the current events.  Yesterday the blanket obsession escalated from what was "I need my blanket on my cheeks" (which had been the mantra for a few days), to "I need my blanket on my face."  Tired Mother attempted to comply so that nap time could commence.  Unfortunately, Emotionally Deprived child was apparently not entirely, shall we say, sane.  Emotionally Deprived child writhed and screamed and sweated like a pig with fleece clothing and a warm minky quilt on her head.  Emotionally Deprived child was so wet she had the appearance of having bathed in her clothes.  Tired Mother could make no sense of Emotionally Deprived child's words, nor would she stop flailing and screaming to allow Tired Mother to understand what she wanted.  This went on for nearly 30 minutes.

Tired mother pulled out all the tricks with no luck.  No distraction, hugging, attempting to fix blanket, nothing would work.  There was no other option but to call All Knowing Grandma.  Emotionally Deprived child stopped screaming and flailing immediately and came out from under said blanket with a smile to talk with All Knowing Grandma.  All Knowing Grandma talked about the weather and other small talk.  Then All Knowing Grandma got Emotionally Deprived child to agree that her blanket shouldn't be on her face, but rather on her neck and said blanket doesn't have to be perfect.  Ahhhhh.... thanks All Knowing Grandma.  Nap occurs. 

Bedtime.  "I want my blanket on my neck!!" Tired Mother calls Out of Town Father for backup.  Out of Town Father calms Emotionally Deprived child immediately.  10 minutes later Tired Mother hears, "I want my blanket on my neck!"  All manor of screaming and flailing under said blanket commences and Tired Mother is reminded of how tired she really is.  Things happen, events occur, and Emotionally Deprived child has ONLY 5 night wakings with blanket issues.  Tired Mother is tired and really needs help here.  Parallel story has continued like this; Older Sister continues to have nightmares and comes in to wake Tired Mother nightly and often ends up sleeping with Tired Mother because she is too scared to return to the scene of the crime.  Tired mother is "at the end of wit."  On a lighter note, Baby Sister slept until 6 a.m. this morning!!!

Here are the non-negotiables

1.  Tired Father will be Out of Town Father for another one to two weeks.

2.  Tired Mother needs more sleep.

3.  Emotionally Deprived child cannot sleep in Tired Mother's bed.  

Now, advise me of what to do!!  

This is how we do it

Grandma has a doll house. When we stay there the girls like to wake up and start playing as soon as they can. Like Daphne's hair?

Here is the mom and dad and baby going for a drive.

Maggie has to just hang out and watch. Soon enough Maggie, soon enough.

Better late than never

I got a new camera!! Naomi broke the old one and Daphne fixed it but it just isn't quite as good as it used to be... Arthur bought me a new one for Christmas and I finally found the cord to upload the pictures onto the computer!

So, here is how it went down.... We had snow, snow, and more snow! We were thankfully able to get out of our driveway and our neighborhood to enjoy Christmas with my family. My brother was not as fortunate so we saw him a few days later.

We spent Christmas morning at home. We always open stockings first and then the presents under the tree.

We then packed the car for hours and finally took off to go visit family. We put the snow shovel in the back along with our emergency supplies, just in case. We'd heard that the State Patrol was telling people it would be an 8 hour wait if you got stuck.

Here is my dad with Maggie

Classic Daphne

Aunt Mary was nice to put out crayons for Naomi

My niece, Mattie, put on a little show for everyone. She is just learning to play.

I love this one

This tie is what I made Arthur for Christmas. He calls it his Christmas tie because "I'll wear it on Christmas". Apparently it is too girly for him...

My mom made chocolate peanut butter balls. I'm pretty sure Mattie ate one.

Naomi tried to teach herself how to play the xylophone

The entertainment for the day came when someone drove their car into the ditch. We all watched and laughed from inside while two trucks tried to pull it out.

Then my dad and brothers decided to help. I guess if you have an excavator...

I guess the driver was a girl in her early twenties. We watched her drive off while holding her cell and talking... wonder how far she made it.

My brother, Ric, and his wife, Mary, prepared some games for the kids. I'm guessing Mary actually did the preparing...

Though, I'm pretty sure Ric helped prepare the "open a present with oven mitts" game because my present was covered in tape! I used my teeth but still didn't win. I don't have a picture of that ;)

The girls love their cousins. A little Ring Around the Rosey...

Daphne and Kobe

Christmas was a lot of fun. Just don't ask my girls if Santa visited them in front of your children!!

Perspective

Naomi enjoyed taking some pictures with my camera the other day.

There were some other pictures she took of me that I couldn't bring myself to publish. Ouch, the angle... or maybe it was just reality!

Where did I go wrong?

We work really hard to help our children work through their fears and "scary" emotions. This is a conversation I had with Naomi (3.5) recently.

Naomi: Mom! Look at me!! I'm being so brave!

Me (distracted by something else): Good job honey.

Naomi: I'm touching the stove and I'm not even scared!

Day 22

This storm will just not quit! We've had over a week of snow, which is odd for Seattle. We aren't equipped for snow. The roads stay snowy and icy and people stay home. Well, everyone except those who need to do Christmas shopping. We've had some fun playing in the snow. We had 7.5" of snow on Sunday morning. It was a little deep for Daphne to have a lot of fun in. It snowed most of the day and by this morning we had over a foot of snow. It was WAY to deep for Daphne to have fun in. She couldn't really walk and I had to carry her which means it was too much snow for me to have fun in. As I mentioned, the snow has halted our giving. We won't be going out until Christmas eve to visit family.

Here are some of the things we've been up to while we are cooped up inside...

This was our first snow over a week ago.

Here was Maggie enjoying the snow... from inside.

A pony ride

Smiley happy girl

Making sugar cookies for the neighbors.

7.5" on Sunday morning.

Goofball girl

I didn't take any pictures of the girls in the super deep snow today. Probably because I was carrying Daphne the whole time. She says she wants to play in the snow again tomorrow. Why?