Occupying Our Days

I think the most important thing to get us through this summer is going to be me filling up our days. Jaelyn needs structure and and purpose. She struggles the most when "there's nothing to do" and she's "bored." (You must go back and read the quotes in an extremely whiney voice to get the full affect)

Yesterday was swim lessons in the morning and our playdate in the afternoon. Caden pitched a huge fit about going to the pool that was totally out of character. He undressed in the living room - just stripped naked right there saying he wasn't going to wear his bathing suit. I made him get dressed and then he did it again in the car before he got in his seat. He was standing in the door for the world to see (good thing creepy man moved). He got himself a tough love pat on his hiney to help encourage him to get his bathing suit back up. I don't know what got into him, but once he calmed down as I was driving, he told me he was crying because he wanted me to sit on the side of the pool and watch him (which I've been doing everyday). Why he flipped out, I have no idea. Crazy!!! They both enjoy the lessons. Allie is really learning how to swim and Caden loves it. He is doing so well with going underwater. At the end of their lessons, they let the kids jump off the diving board if they want. A bigger kid in front of Caden ran down the diving board and did a cannon ball. When it was Caden's turn, he did the same thing (not so cannon ball at the end), but he ran down the board and jumped. Both life guards dove down for him - neither was expecting him to do what he did. I knew he was safe, but I think he scared us all. He swam all the way to the ladder underwater with the life guard's help. I'm impressed. I'm definitely signing them up for the last session of the summer.

Today, I occupied Jaelyn with a puzzle and MANY games of Sequence. I have to play just as aggressive as I would play an adult and she can beat me about half the time. She is so smart. I love to see her focused like that. We bought 2 more bags of sand for the sand box and then had a playdate at a park with friends from Caden's preschool class. We got there about 20 minutes early so the kids got to play a little, but right at 2, when everyone else was getting there, the sky opened. We've had lots of rain in the last few months, but no downpours like that. Oh my goodness - solid sheets of rain. Two of the moms followed us home and the kids had a ball playing in the basement. Not exactly as much fun as the park would have been, but fun and friends nonetheless.

In addition to all the other entertainment, Jaelyn has rediscovered an old game: Beauty Shop. When the girls were little, we'd spend hours putting all of our bows in and out of their hair. They loved to be "done up." Jaelyn runs the beauty shop these days instead of me. I am the client. I think the object is to put as many barretts and clips into my hair as possible. Since a picture is worth a thousand words...

What do you think? Am I ready for the ball???

Visit with Friends

I've been looking forward to this afternoon for a long time. My dear friend, Jenn, and her family drove through Maryland on their way home from New York to Florida today and stopped to see us. I met Jenn online of all places as we were both struggling to deal with infertility. We've been blessed to see each other many times over the last 6 years. God did pretty good, didn't He?
Between us, we now have 6 children: 3 children adopted from Russia and 3 unexpected biological children. Who would have thought? It was wonderful to get to spend an hour with Jenn, her husband Bob and their 3 adorable girls, Lina, Lydia, and Lila. Thank you so much for stopping to see us!!!!! It meant the world to me!

The Life of my Cat...I'm jealous

We have about 6-7 weeks before Dan comes home and I'm convinced now those are going to be the hardest of all. If only I could be like Zoe and lounge around the house all day. I honestly thought the summer would zoom by, but after last week (our first real week of summer just the 4 of us), I'm not so sure. 24 hours a day 7 days a week is a lot of togetherness, even when I did get to escape for 4 hours (that's 4 hours out of about 90+ awake hours). We did have a good week and stayed very busy with doctor's appointments, the pool, and swim lessons, but the busyness added to the tiredness which when added to Jaelyn's issues equalled a whole lot of tantrums this weekend. I'm not driven to tears easily, but I was today. I'm just tired. Sweet little Caden told me I could lay in his bed after I tried to explain to him why I was crying - maybe I did need a nap.

~~~

P.S. I should probably share that at least are bedtime issues are evening out. No more tantrums or screaming once Jaelyn is in bed and Allie has been staying in bed. I'm still rocking Jaelyn while Allie settles quietly in her bed with a book. Then I rub Allie's back for a few minutes. Thankfully, Caden goes easily to sleep without needing a lot of help from me (all that time of sleep training as a baby has finally paid off). For the last few nights, I haven't had to sit in the hall with a book. They've gone to sleep pretty easily. Of course, next week, everything could change, but for tonight, it's not quite 8 and all is quiet!

Pool Backwash - Bleh

All the kids were sitting on the side of the pool dangling their legs in and giggling with each other. The instructors were making their way towards the pool to start lessons. Then...the pool pump had a major issue and started spitting all of the nasty stuff from the filters back into the pool. It looked like someone had a major case of the runs all over the pool. Ewwww! Needless to say, swim lessons were cancelled for today. Bummer!

Our First Week of Summer

This has been a fun week.

Caden and Allie started swim lessons on Monday while Jaelyn and I sat on the edge of the pool and watched. Caden is in level 1 and Allie's in level 2, thankfully at the same times. I'm excited to see Allie attempting to learn actual strokes.

Tuesday, we grocery shopped in the morning. I was scared to take all 3 kids to the commissary. I made Jaelyn a scavenger hunt bingo board to find things as we shopped. Jaelyn enjoyed the game, but the other two were more interested in running in circles and hopping from one tile square to another. They thankfully, calmed down at the check (with the help of yogos to munch on) and received 2 compliments. Crazy. We spent the afternoon at the pool. I love going to the base pool. It's practically empty. There were a few teenagers playing on the diving board, but we had the rest of the big pool and the kiddie pool to ourselves. We stayed about 3 hours, which was probably 1 1/2 hours too long. Caden ended up with a pink back - he inherited his skin from his parents, poor guy. With the help of vinegar in his bath and aloe vera, the pink was gone the next day. The girls are already developing their deep brown tans - even with 70 sunblock on. Everyone slept so well that night.

Jaelyn is working on staying dry at night again. She's gone to bed without pull-ups about 5 nights now. Tuesday night was the 1st night she stayed totally dry. I would love to take the pull-up money out of my budget!

Wednesday, we headed to Target first thing to buy a swim shirt for Caden. The girls somehow ended up with new bathing suits too. I guess if we spend several days a week at the pool, they should have 2 suits each. Swim lessons went well again. The level 1 class is so large that they are making a level 1/2 split class and moving some of the more advanced kids to it. Caden is the smallest of the bunch. The kids got to jump off the diving board at the end of class. Some of the kids in Caden's class, trembled as they walked down the long scary board. Caden hopped right up, did a little jump at the end and went flying into the life guards arms. He has no fear of the water. After lessons, we had a picnic under a huge oak tree and then went back to the pool. He jumped right in to 3 feet of water before I got his water wings on. I heard the splash and jumped into the pool to get him. Talk about get used to the cold water quickly. He scared me, but it didn't phase him. Jaelyn enjoys floating around on a noodle and walking in the shallow end. She has no desire to learn how to swim. One day I'll push her, but for now, I've learned pushing is not the way to get her to do something.

Today, we started with a trip to the orthodontish for our consult. Jaelyn is getting her braces on July 9th. She got spacers today. She was tough and didn't cry or wince at all. She keeps telling me they feel funny, but with the help of tylenol, hasn't complained about them hurting. We are heading to our last day of swim lessons for the week (still have 2 more weeks to go) and then our babysitter, Anna, is meeting us at our house and I'm escaping for 4 hours of lonely time. Dan used to suggest to the kids that I needed "alone time" when I was stressed and would take them off my hands for a while. Somehow, Jaelyn turned "alone time" into "lonely time." So, I'm going to spend my lonely time with a neighbor at lunch and then wander around the mall or spend time with a book at Barnes and Nobles. I can't wait!

Swim Lessons and the Orthodontist

We started the morning with swim lessons. I thought I could talk Jaelyn into trying them and they offered her a free class, but she refused. Instead, she sat beside me dangling her feet in the pool while we watched Allie and Caden have an absolute ball with their lessons. While Caden got to practice blowing bubbles and dunking his head, Allie got to learn actual strokes. She was learing how to do the breast stroke and back stroke. Now, she's going to need a lot of practice, but she wasn't just flailing around in the water like she was last year. We'll do 3 weeks of lessons, 3 days a week, take a break over the middle session and then I might sign them up for the last session of the summer. Maybe between now and then I can get Jaelyn comfortable in the water. She has a huge fear of getting her face wet and going under. They really scared her two years ago when they made her jump into the deep end of the pool at the Athletic Club.

We picked up lunch on the way home and ate quickly until Kelley and kids came to watch Allie and Caden while I took Jaelyn to the orthodontist. I loved Dr. G! When we signed in there was no one at the reception desk. Dr. G walked by it and noticed us. He signed us in and took the paperwork, making sure I'd filled everything out. I don't know about most doctors, but I'd say from my experience it is not the norm to have a doctor help out behind the front desk. He was friendly and patient with Jaelyn and he suggested we do exactly what Dr. Karen has been telling me she'd do. We have another consult scheduled for next month, but I'm going to cancel it. He pretty much sold me on his practice the second he stepped up to help behind the reception desk. We did records which involved pictures, an xray and molds. We'll go back next week for the consult and then Jaelyn is going to be a very unhappy girl as they put in a RPE (rapid palatal expander) and braces on her top teeth. We need to expand her arch to correct her cross bite and move her front teeth together to get room for her lateral incisors to come in. Fun, Fun, Fun!

Danny's Playtime

Dan sent us a video this morning. They blew up a motorcycle at the bomb school and thought we'd like to see it. And of course, I thought you might to see it as well.

It's going to be tiny in the little window, but look for the tiny motorcycle in the background and watch it go ka-boom. The kids enjoyed watching.

A Few Extra Snappies

One of the many perks of having Grandma and Grandpa visit - spare change!

Allie playing with her new dollies.
Jaely and Allie - they can be so sweet sometimes.

Caden playing "Press Nose" with Granpda. Caden says whoever presses the hardest wins.

Me with the kids

Baba and Grandpa with the kids.

Baba helping Caden (aka Tattoo Boy) learn how to hula hoop.

Caden's getting ready to "get" somebody. They better watch out.

Baba and her girls.

The Grandpa Effect

I don't know what it is about my Dad, but my kids have always had the same reaction to him. It's the craziest thing...I call it the Grandpa Effect. All he has to do is be in the room and they go insane. He doesn't have to talk or interact with them in any way. He can sit on the couch to read a book and the kids start bouncing like someone pumped sugar into their veins. They scream and climb all over him like he's a jungle gym. Poor Dad - I keep trying to tell them he's getting fragile in his old age :p (totally kidding, Dad), but it doesn't matter, they can't control themselves around him. They make him mad sometimes, but secretly, I bet he's loves the extra attention.

Happy Birthday Dad and Jaelyn

My Dad's 64th birthday was Thursday. Since my parents won't be back for Jaelyn's birthday in July, we combined their birthdays and celebrated together with a VERY delicious chocolatey cake (that I've eaten way too many pieces of w/o a visit to the gym in between).

Anyway, we had a fun party and got to open a few presents. Jaelyn got a new ipod shuffle which she's been wanting. I've been letting her use mine as a calming technique when she feels anxious and it seems to help. She likes having her own so she isn't constantly asking to borrow mine. The kids also all got money that they enjoyed spending at the store. Jaelyn and Caden have no problem picking out toys, but Allie has the worst time deciding what to spend her money on. Toy departments have too many toys! No one had enough money for what they wanted, but thankfully we'd brought Baba with us so she floated everybody loans - which I'm sure will be repaid in hugs and kisses.

The Chicken Dance Hula

At Least They Are Temporary

This is what happens when you let big sister and little brother play with temporary tattoos unsupervised. At least they are bad quality and will come off in the bath tonight...right??

Fun Times with Baba and Grandpa

My parents came on Saturday and we are having a wonderful time. We've been on the go for the last 2 days with Allie's recital yesterday and errands today. First thing this morning (after I slept in till 8 - sleeping in used to be defined as 11 or noon maybe - now 8 is LATE for me), we took the girls to get hair cuts. Allie has wanted her hair cut short for months, but I've been putting her off because she had to have her hair in a bun for her recital. She got an incredibly cute bob this morning. Jaelyn just had her hair trimmed. She wants to grow it to her waist and then donate it to Locks of Love again (she has a good heart). After the hair cuts, we went to Sears and everyone got new shoes ~ even me. Thanks Baba and Grandpa. Next, we stopped at the library to sign the kids up for the summer reading program.

The highlight of the day for me was a trip to the dentist. My mom seems to have instilled a love of the dentist in me. I'd go once a month if my insurance would pay for it. I love the feeling of nice, clean teeth.

In the late afternoon, we took the kids to the school to ride bikes and play on the playground. Allie has the balance, steering and stopping down. Now, she needs to work on starting by herself and going downhill. She doesn't like to go to fast (who would have thought Allie would be scared of speed?!) She's almost there.

We finished off the day with the slip n slide and wacky sprinkler in the backyard. I'm hopeful that everyone will go to sleep easily today.

Check out Allie's hair and her snazzy outfit. Her tap costume is now in the dress-up bucket and a neighbor dropped off a hand-me-down bag that had these shoes in it - va va va voom!

(Unfortunately, the shoes caused a major issue between Allie and Jaelyn. They are now in the Goodwill bag.)

Domesticating Jaelyn

Jaelyn has always been a wonderful helper. She's been doing even more to help around the house now more than ever. She makes the beds most mornings for all of us. She loves to help fold laundry and dust. Lately, I've been letting her clean the bathtubs and shower with baking soda and vinegar.
She's starting to help more in the kitchen. Not only can she crack eggs, she's learning to scramble them herself as well.In the last few weeks, I've been letting her chop vegetable for salads. She's being very careful with the knife....no injuries yet.

Allie's Recital

Allie's recital was today. We've only semi enjoyed dance class this year, and honestly, I'm glad it's over. We will never again do an activity after school. Anything we do will be on Saturday, at least until the kids are bigger. It was just too much structure at the end of a long day. Allie's class was ballet and tap. They always started with ballet and you can tell watching the video. Allie was done with class by the time they put on their tap shoes and didn't know the routine very well because she was always too busy playing to pay attention. Her teacher's name was Miss Elizabeth and she wrote me the sweetest card about Allie. She said "I am glad I had the opportunity to work with Allie ~ she has reminded me of the importance of imagining and dreaming :)." So true...

Allie with Miss Elizabeth in her ballet costume.

Allie with Baba in her Tap costume.

The Day of Baba

Jaelyn woke up this morning (at 5:30, but that deserves it's own post..grumble, grumble) declaring "Today is the Day of Baba." She added in Grandpa as well at the end. Their plane lands at 4:38 this afternoon. We are excited!

My Friend Knows Me So Well

The mailman left me a box of my doorstep yesterday and this awesome shirt was inside. I think my friends know me a tad bit to well!!

Encase the writing is too small, it says "Chocolate: Here today - gone today."

Bye Bye Earrings

We pierced Allie's ears about 2 1/2 years ago. She loved them and they were so cute on her. BUT they have also been a major pain. It took a full year for the holes to heal. Since then, she's had several infections in one ear. The other night I noticed there was blood around her earring. Her ear was so swollen and puss came out the back when I took her earring out (yuck - sorry, TMI). There is no way she will let me put it back and I don't really want to try. Allie and I have talked and decided to let her holes close up. If she wants them pierced when she's older, we'll try again, but for now, bye bye earrings.

A Little Teary Eyed

I don't know what's the matter with me. I've been looking forward to this day for months...the last day of school. But I got all teary eyed this morning as the girls got on the bus. I'm silly. They went to school as Kindergartner and 1st Grader and are coming home as soon to be 1st Grader and 2nd Grader. I guess I'm a little sad to see them growing up. And boy have they grown this year. They have learned so much, they have grown more mature and they've grown bigger. I miss my little baby girls, but I do love these new big girls!

The first day of school 2008-2009The Last Day of School 2008-2009

Prayers For Mrs. H

I would love prayers for a family friend. I only know the basics so can't give you a ton of information. Mrs. H is the mom of Dan's best friend. She is a kind, caring, wonderful Christian lady and we love her. I just found out she has lymphoma. She's in the middle of 6 rounds of chemo. Would you please join me in praying for a healing miracle? Thank you.

Hunting a Dr. Karen

My mom worked for an orthodontist for a few years. Every time we are in Pensacola, we go in and visit Dr. Karen. The kids love to get in her chair and let her look at their teeth. We've known Jaelyn would need her cross bite fixed since she was about 3 or 4. We've just been waiting to see if it would shift itself when her 6 year molars came in. It didn't and they are in now. Jaelyn doesn't do so well at the dentist. She'll let them clean, but it really upsets her. We have 2 orthodontic consults scheduled in the next month. Could either of them be as nice and comforting as Dr. Karen? I'm praying and hoping so.

Allie is going to be right behind Jaelyn needing expansion as soon as her baby teeth start coming out. Her mouth is so crowded with her tiny teeth. I can't imagine her with big huge permanent teeth. She's 6 years 2 months and not a single tooth is loose; so we have time.

I'm afraid Caden will follow in both the girls' footsteps. My 4 1/2 year old is STILL sucking his thumb. He's got a weird bite thing going as well.

We are so going to need that raise Dan is about to get. Orthodontics is so expensive - even with bad insurance.

Set for Summer

I have been worried about how I would manage all 3 kids 100% of the time while retaining my sanity this summer. My babysitter called me back yesterday and she's going to be able to help me. 1 day a week , 4 hours, I am going to get to escape. Not sure what I'll do during this hours - probably grocery shopping because that's just not fun with 3 kids - but whatever it is, it'll be alone!

I bought our pool pass today and signed the kids up for a week of VBS. We have our bowling coupons being emailed to us daily and the free movie schedule is posted on the frig. Add in a few morning at the gym and a breakfast at Ikea here and there and I think we are all set!!!!

Major-ly Excited

The Major's list came out today and Dan's name is on it. The list still has to get approved by Congress and the last article I read said promotions should start by the end of the summer. So...Dan will be a Major in the fall. Very cool! I'm proud of him and of course, I'm thrilled with the major pay raise :p!

Last Week of School F-I-N-A-L-L-Y

I wasn't sure this week would ever get here. While Allie has enjoyed school even through her struggles, Jaelyn has been done with school since day 1. She came home that first week complaining about having to go and telling me she'd finish 1st grade, but that was it. No more school after that. We've obviously had our other struggles this year. Just recently there's a been a call from the assistant principal about inappropriate language one day and a note home about hitting another day. Sigh...but in 5 days summer will officially start and we can forget about school for a few months. This week is busy with Allie's space camp, class picnics, a good news assembly, dance class and recital dress rehearsal. Saturday, my parents come. Don't you just love the word "reinforcements?!?!" Allie's recital is Sunday and then we are done with scheduled activities! Our summer plans consist of play dates, pool time, bowling, picnics and free movies. And of course, we'll wrap summer up with a wonderful homecoming...2 MONTHS...we can do this!

Jaelyn's Dinosaur

Jaelyn has been working on story writing. They've spent time writing story beginnings, middles and endings and then they put them all together into a complete story.

When I came home from the bus stop a dinosar had stept on my house. It hapend on the first day of school. I started to criy. I cote a dinosaur and made a dinosaur house in my back yaord for hime. He liket it so much. He did not come in side to eat. So I need to punish my dinosaur. I am going to let my dinosaur come out. He is going to eat.

A Fun Saturday

The day started out at 7. That might not be a big deal in your world, but in my world, where I sometimes am awakened by 3 kids at 5:45 (always on a Saturday), it's a big deal. I was in such a good mood that I fixed the kids cinnamon rolls, minus the icing. I might be happy, but I'm not crazy. The couple came and picked up the kids kitchen first thing - I've been trying to sell it on Craigslist for months and finally found someone to buy it. We are using the money to buy scooters. I'm still on the fence as to whether or not that's a good idea with Evil Knievel Jaelyn and Fearless Allie. At least Caden's scooter comes with 3 wheels like a trike.

We got to webcam with Dan twice today. His connection has improved drastically since April. Being able to see and hear him and just stare at him if I want does me lots and lots of good. We've been playing games together on msn. Apparently, I'm much faster at puzzles, but he kicks my butt in trivia. For someone, who's main love language is quality time, separations are hard. The time we've spent IMing lately has been wonderful.

This afternoon, we went to a birthday party for one of Caden's friends. His mom was sweet and invited all of the kids, not just Caden. It's was a warmer, sunny day and they had their big, inflatable water slide set up. It was sooo much fun. It almost made me wish I had a bathing suit, but not quite. They have a big yard with a play set, sand box, play house and lots of toys. I told the kids, 2 houses from now, we will have a big yard :p! Most of the kids from Caden's preschool class were there plus one older brother who's in Allie's reading class so it made the day fun for everyone. We got home from the party just in time for baths and bed. After rocking and rubbing backs, all is quiet. I didn't even have to do my 10 minute recheck. I'm going to have a nice quiet evening all to myself! Peace and silence....I love it!

Validation

For anyone who's cup is empty from giving, giving, giving...watch this short movie. It's a little long, but really cute and has a great ending.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cbk980jV7Ao (encase the embedded video doesn't work)

More Flower Pictures

I'm having an "in need of validation" day because my cup is on empty. Yesterday took everything out of me. A friend suggested I get out and enjoy nature to recharge. Pick some flowers, she said. I didn't pick flowers, but I did take pictures. Not much is blooming in my back yard other than the vegetables. Soon, however, I'll have shasta daisies, day lilies, astors, black eyed susans, hibiscus and hydrangea. I can't wait. Anyway, I took my camera out front and snapped a few pictures inbetween pitching a baseball to Caden.

My salvia - I planted this the first spring we lived here, not realizing it was a perennial. I was so excited to see it came back after that first winter because I think it's so pretty. I had lots of little babies this year that I was able to transplant to other areas in the bed.

I have no idea what this is. It was in the $1 section at Lowe's because it's hanging basket had a small crack in it. The plant itself is fine and looks beautiful sitting in a stand beside my front door.

I love Lantana. It's sold as an expensive annual up here, but it's worth every penny I paid for it for it's pretty, sunny flowers. It makes me happy.

Artwork

The girls are starting to bring home their artwork from school that they done throughout the year (7 more days!!!). Here are some of my favorites:

Jaelyn's fish - still trying ot figure out how to display it. I'm hoping to find a plate hook that'll let me hang it on the wall.


Allie's very hungry catepillar


Allie's landscape. I love the swirls in her sky. It reminds me of Van Gogh's Starry Night. I don't know if this was modeled after that painting or not, but it sure looks like it was.

Good Sleep Does Not Beget...

...good behavior. Jaelyn slept 11 hours yesterday. Well rested does not always equate to well behaved however. I was helping her with her homework and it was taking 20 minutes to do something that should have taken 5. She was being silly in a not funny way and I told her I would help her when she was ready to be serious. Ka-boom. I did not see it coming at all. It makes me feel tired, very, very tired. Her excuse later when she was calm..."I exploded because I miss Daddy." Yeah, okay - that makes everything better.

Three Peaceful Nights

Jaelyn has really struggled with sleep. She's always had trouble going to sleep, but it seems like the problem got way out of hand in the last few months. Bad sleep begets bad sleep and it just builds and builds until everything explodes (literally in her case). The rocking is helping her some to relax, but turning her brain off to go to sleep is almost impossible for her some nights. I'm talking two hours of her crying "I'm tired, but I can't go to sleep" with me trying everything I can think of to help her go to sleep. We've now had 3 good nights for different reasons.

The first night was Saturday and we were busy all day long. We rode bikes around their school and played on a new playground at the library in the morning. The girls did gymnastics mid-day. They played outside in the afternoon and then we met friends for a picnic at a park in the late afternoon. I rocked her to sleep in 10 minutes that night. She was beyond exhausted. While I don't mind tiring her out to help her fall asleep easier, I do mind the hour of whining she did between leaving the park and the beginning of our rocking.

Sunday was a pretty normal day activity wise. I've been researching melatonin and while it's not something I want to give her every night, I would love to have something to help her when she's had several nights of bad sleep in a row. I gave her the melatonin at bedtime, rocked her for 10 minutes and she was asleep within 2 minutes of putting her in bed. Again, not something I want to do all the time, but I'm glad to have something that seems to have worked in my bag of tricks when nothing else is working. She got 10 1/2 hours of sleep Sunday night. 11 is optimal for her, but 10 1/2 is so much better than the barely 9 she's been getting.

Today was again a normal day. She went to school and played outside when she got home. We had long baths and settled down with books on beds. Jaelyn moaned a little after rocking and I was afraid she was going to start the crying, but she didn't. I was proud of her. She was asleep within about 15 minutes of being in her bed. That's a big deal compared to what she has been doing.

I've been trying to help Allie to settle and go to sleep easier as well. Allie is so active and seems to need to bounce around in bed before she finally settles and is still. Once she's still, she's out instantly. It's just getting her to that point that's hard. For the last week, I've been letting her leave her lamp on to read while I've rocked Jaelyn. She turns it off when I put Jaelyn in bed and then I rub her back for a few minutes to give her that one on one time she sees Jaelyn getting. She loves it and is going to sleep much quicker.

I would so much rather invest the time in rocking or rubbing backs to get them to sleep rather than spend my time going up and down the stairs dealing with the playing and crying. Bed time is my most stressful time of the day. Of course, as with all things with parenting, once I have all the kinks worked out of this system, they'll change and I'll have to reach into my bag of tricks, or my friends' bags ;), and find something new. For now, however, we are sleeping happily!

PS I guess I should mention Caden's sleep habits as well. Now that he's not napping, he goes to sleep so easily in less than 10 minutes as long as I remember his "bumps." Think knuckle bumps, but we bump feet and noses and ears and elbows and knuckles - basically whatever pops into his head to bump. It's quite the routine some nights. Dan started it before he deployed (thanks Dear) and I have been required to continue with the bumps before I kiss him goodnight.

Bloody Noses Need Bandaids, Mommy

Allie has had a few nose bleeds at night, but we've never had a nose injury that caused a bloody nose...until yesterday. The kids were playing on the slide and Caden fell, landing on his nose. He started crying immediately. I didn't know what had happened and was reading so I told him to come to me. He turned around and blood was just pouring out of his nose like a faucet. I sent the girls in for towels and ice while I calmed him down and pinched his nose. I was worried about it being broken, but Dan assured during a webcam session (yea) that he wouldn't have let me touch it if it had been broken. Anyway, with a pressure and ice, we got it to stop bleeding. The whole time though, Caden was crying at me saying "mommy, I just want you to put a bandaid on it." I think in the end he was more upset that I wouldn't put a bandaid on his nose than by the bleeding. It was cute in an I'm sorry you are hurt sort of way.

Thankfully, he woke up this morning with no bruising. He did bump it tonight and started the bleeding again, but it was more of a trickle rather than the pouring from yesterday.