Last week, three out of the five of us were on Spring Break. The boys' break at preschool is this week, and if we had had any great plans to go anywhere, we would have just taken them out for a week. Sadly, we had no plans beyond my least favorite pastime...cleaning. So, they went off to school and my mom, husband and I tackled closets, baseboards and dusty ceiling fans (okay...they wouldn't let the pregnant lady on the ladder, so I got out of cleaning the fans). My mom and I washed and sorted every single article of baby/toddler/child clothing that the oldest three have out grown and got all of the little tiny baby things ready for the new baby boy. He even has a bed to sleep in set up in the playroom which will be his room eventually. We took about 4 big bags and bins of toys to the Salvation Army, and there are still too many toys to know what to do with, but we are going to go through and purge again one day this week when all three of them are at school. My hope is to get it all down into about 2 tubs or baskets that can be kept in the baby's room and pulled out to be played with when needed.
Other than the cleaning, it was nice to have a break from my doorbell and cell phone constantly ringing (a necessary evil with my job). It was nice to sit down in front of the tv with my husband (he even watched American Idol with me) on a weeknight. He usually spends his evenings after the kids are in bed doing lesson plans or grading, which is fine because I am usually out in the dorm anyway checking in with the girls about the dramas and traumas of their day, so we don't get much quality time during the week as a rule.
Maybe next year there will be a beach calling our names over spring break, but for this year it was nice just to BE. What 36 year-old, 7 month pregnant lady really needs to be wearing a bathing suit in public anyway? Not this one, that's for sure!
Monday, March 19, 2007
Friday, March 16, 2007
Big Boys in Big Boy Beds
So, we finally took the plunge and moved the boys out of their cribs and into big boy beds. They turned three last November, so I guess it was high time! Plus, we had our spring break this week, so we had time to make the move happen. We took down both cribs and set one of them back up in the playroom (soon to be the nursery). I took the other one to the Salvation Army Thrift Store and had a little tear in my eye as I pulled away.
They are sleeping in twin beds that belonged to my step-father's grandparents, and they are just the perfect height for our little fellas. In fact, they are so low that I can't imagine how two elderly people ever got in and out of them. I will come back and post some pictures soon.
Needless to say, the monkeys came out in full force when the boys saw their new beds. We put baby gates on both doors in their room so that we would not have to constantly chase them back into the room. Still, they can get out of their beds and run around in the dark making mischief of one kind and another. The first night, it took them about an hour and a half to finally fall asleep, and when we finally went into the room to see where they had "crashed" we found W sleeping in his bed and D fast asleep (or "fass asweep" as they like to say) in the rocking chair...with his head on the footstool and feet in the air! We moved him to his bed and there he stayed!
The second night they wound down in about an hour and both fell asleep in their own beds. We were so excited...until 3:30 a.m. when D woke up and got the party started. He finally, through great effort, managed to wake W up, too. After we heard them saying "look brother, it's bright outside" and then heard their bedroom door open and a little voice say "it's dark out here," Daddy got up and informed them that it was NIGHT NIGHT TIME. Needless to say, that did not work, and he ended up taking his pillow into their room and lying down in the floor to keep them quiet so that the remaining members of the family could have some peace and get some sleep. And there he stayed...for the next two hours. W went back to sleep pretty quickly, but D didn't give it up until 6 a.m. Weren't his preschool teachers the lucky ones the next day? (I did call and forewarn them.)
So, we were just sure that they would take naps that afternoon because they would be so exhausted, but we were so wrong. Remember the pajama removal issues we faced with them? And how we "cured" them by putting them in one piece footed pjs backwards? Well, at naptime yesterday, they found out that they could help each other out of this situation...literally. They unsnapped the top snap and unzipped each other and voila...they were free. When Daddy went in to check on the status of their "napping" he found them both in D's bed...naked. D's bed had been peed in and W's bed had been pooped in. However, they had both put their diapers in the trash can! Wasn't that thoughtful and tidy of them? I came home about this time, and it was not a pretty sight. Daddy had dressed them and placed them side by side in the rocking chair where they both sat looking extremely remorseful. Actually, they looked so sad and cute and perfectly identical that I really wanted to take a picture of them, but I didn't think that exactly sent the right message. I got some cute video later that evening of W explaining how it all went down. I wish I knew how to load it here, but I don't. So, oh well. While W was telling the sad tale of their misdemeanors, D was sitting in his Daddy's lap...fass asweep. Clearly, all the partying, peeing and pooping had taken its toll on the little guy.
They are sleeping in twin beds that belonged to my step-father's grandparents, and they are just the perfect height for our little fellas. In fact, they are so low that I can't imagine how two elderly people ever got in and out of them. I will come back and post some pictures soon.
Needless to say, the monkeys came out in full force when the boys saw their new beds. We put baby gates on both doors in their room so that we would not have to constantly chase them back into the room. Still, they can get out of their beds and run around in the dark making mischief of one kind and another. The first night, it took them about an hour and a half to finally fall asleep, and when we finally went into the room to see where they had "crashed" we found W sleeping in his bed and D fast asleep (or "fass asweep" as they like to say) in the rocking chair...with his head on the footstool and feet in the air! We moved him to his bed and there he stayed!
The second night they wound down in about an hour and both fell asleep in their own beds. We were so excited...until 3:30 a.m. when D woke up and got the party started. He finally, through great effort, managed to wake W up, too. After we heard them saying "look brother, it's bright outside" and then heard their bedroom door open and a little voice say "it's dark out here," Daddy got up and informed them that it was NIGHT NIGHT TIME. Needless to say, that did not work, and he ended up taking his pillow into their room and lying down in the floor to keep them quiet so that the remaining members of the family could have some peace and get some sleep. And there he stayed...for the next two hours. W went back to sleep pretty quickly, but D didn't give it up until 6 a.m. Weren't his preschool teachers the lucky ones the next day? (I did call and forewarn them.)
So, we were just sure that they would take naps that afternoon because they would be so exhausted, but we were so wrong. Remember the pajama removal issues we faced with them? And how we "cured" them by putting them in one piece footed pjs backwards? Well, at naptime yesterday, they found out that they could help each other out of this situation...literally. They unsnapped the top snap and unzipped each other and voila...they were free. When Daddy went in to check on the status of their "napping" he found them both in D's bed...naked. D's bed had been peed in and W's bed had been pooped in. However, they had both put their diapers in the trash can! Wasn't that thoughtful and tidy of them? I came home about this time, and it was not a pretty sight. Daddy had dressed them and placed them side by side in the rocking chair where they both sat looking extremely remorseful. Actually, they looked so sad and cute and perfectly identical that I really wanted to take a picture of them, but I didn't think that exactly sent the right message. I got some cute video later that evening of W explaining how it all went down. I wish I knew how to load it here, but I don't. So, oh well. While W was telling the sad tale of their misdemeanors, D was sitting in his Daddy's lap...fass asweep. Clearly, all the partying, peeing and pooping had taken its toll on the little guy.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
The Old Switcheroo
For the first 30 months of our sons' lives, only I could definitively tell them apart...even my husband struggled. Luckily, W has a small mole on his lower back for people in the know to check when in doubt. But at a glance, they are apparently very hard to tell apart. Further complicating matters was that they really didn't know their own names. They knew that they were "D & W" but if you asked "where's D?" D was just as likely to point at his brother as he was to point at himself. I blame this on the poor things being called by the wrong names so many times. However, once they started preschool last fall, things clicked and they started to say their own names. Everyone in our family (immediate and extended) and all of our friends were so excited! Now when one was in doubt, all you had to do was ask "what's your name?" and you would get a correct answer. Until yesterday...
Our babysitter was putting them down for their naps and, in order to place him in the right bed, asked W what his name was. First, he said W. and she went to tuck him into his bed. As she did so, he said "No, no that not my bed. I go in the other bed. I'm D." He said all of this giggling and grinning. Needless to say, she finally got them sorted out, but we are all dismayed that the trickery has begun at such a young age. I thought we had a couple of years at least before we had to deal with this.
I am reminded of a story that we heard when we were expecting the boys. We were sitting in the doctor's office waiting for a room, and the most adorable pharmaceutical rep sat down next to us and struck up a conversation. When she heard that we were having identical twins, she told us that she was an identical twin. Then she told us a story that we have vowed NOT to forget. When she and her sister were in high school, they would take turns going home in time for curfew on the weekends. Their parents would always be in bed, but the rule was that they had to go into their parents' bedroom when they returned to let them know they were home. So, one girl would go in and out of the room TWICE, pretending to be both herself and the other sister. They got away with this for a whole year before their parents caught on to it...at which point they were grounded for eternity. Once they were "ungrounded" they always had to present themselves TOGETHER in their parents' bedroom.
So, D & W, here is at least one trick that mom and dad are already wise to. I'm sure you'll think of lots of other things to keep us on our toes, though.
Our babysitter was putting them down for their naps and, in order to place him in the right bed, asked W what his name was. First, he said W. and she went to tuck him into his bed. As she did so, he said "No, no that not my bed. I go in the other bed. I'm D." He said all of this giggling and grinning. Needless to say, she finally got them sorted out, but we are all dismayed that the trickery has begun at such a young age. I thought we had a couple of years at least before we had to deal with this.
I am reminded of a story that we heard when we were expecting the boys. We were sitting in the doctor's office waiting for a room, and the most adorable pharmaceutical rep sat down next to us and struck up a conversation. When she heard that we were having identical twins, she told us that she was an identical twin. Then she told us a story that we have vowed NOT to forget. When she and her sister were in high school, they would take turns going home in time for curfew on the weekends. Their parents would always be in bed, but the rule was that they had to go into their parents' bedroom when they returned to let them know they were home. So, one girl would go in and out of the room TWICE, pretending to be both herself and the other sister. They got away with this for a whole year before their parents caught on to it...at which point they were grounded for eternity. Once they were "ungrounded" they always had to present themselves TOGETHER in their parents' bedroom.
So, D & W, here is at least one trick that mom and dad are already wise to. I'm sure you'll think of lots of other things to keep us on our toes, though.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Grown-ups! Culture! Good Food!
An update on today's surprise date. He had bought tickets to the Louvre exhibit at the High Museum in Atlanta! We toured the exhibit, ate a wonderful lunch in a restaurant without a child (ours or anyone else's) in sight, and then toured the rest of the museum. Plus, we had over an hour on the way down and back to carry on an adult conversation and tell each other all those things we've been meaning to tell each other for the last two weeks. Well, I did call his mother on the way home to catch up on her trip to Charleston with a friend. It was the least I could do for him after all he had done to make the day special for me. Other than that, we just enjoyed each other's company and listening to music that was not solely intended for the under 7 set.
Husband of the Year...right here in my living room!
Husband of the Year...right here in my living room!
She's Got My Back
8:15 this morning. I am trying to sleep. Husband is asleep. Daughter comes in, gives me the lightest of kisses on the cheek and whispers, "Mommy, I want you to sleep just as long as you need to." Moving around to the other side of the bed and no longer whispering, "Daddy, I'm starving." Daddy says, "Hey, why don't I get to sleep as long as I want like Mommy?" To which she firmly responds, "Because you are not growing a baby in your tummy...so get your lazy behind out of bed!" Okay, I made that last part up, but it was clearly implied in her tone. It is so nice to have a six year old on your side at times like these. He could not argue with her logic, and he did not try.
And he did get up and get everyone dressed and fed breakfast. And I did stay in bed for another hour.
Now, he has told me that a babysitter is coming at 11:00, and I need to be dressed reasonably well and ready to go somewhere. And he's not giving me any clues. That makes me crazy.
I might nominate him for husband of the year. I'll let you know when I see where this "surprise" takes us.
And he did get up and get everyone dressed and fed breakfast. And I did stay in bed for another hour.
Now, he has told me that a babysitter is coming at 11:00, and I need to be dressed reasonably well and ready to go somewhere. And he's not giving me any clues. That makes me crazy.
I might nominate him for husband of the year. I'll let you know when I see where this "surprise" takes us.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Funny Boys
One of the boys' favorite books is The Very Hungry Caterpillar (like most kids). W was "reading" it to us at dinner last night (we were waiting on our food at a restaurant...forever), and when he got to the end of the part where the caterpillar has eaten himself sick (I can sadly relate), he said "that night he had a Tummy Cake (a.k.a. stomach ache)." We had to get him to repeat himself like 10 times because it was just so cute (at least to mom, dad, grandparents, and great-grandparents).
(For the record (my record)--They both love to read and be read to. Some of their other favorites are Going on a Bear Hunt, Barnyard Dance, Brown Bear, Polar Bear, Goodnight Gorilla, and Where the Wild Things Are.)
D's latest cute saying is "gimme have it please" when he wants something. I guess it's a combination of "give it to me" and "let me have it please." This is great not only because it's cute but because it shows him starting to assert himself more. He is such a laid back little guy, and I am thrilled to see him starting to make his preferences known!
Every day with these two is more fun than the one before!
(For the record (my record)--They both love to read and be read to. Some of their other favorites are Going on a Bear Hunt, Barnyard Dance, Brown Bear, Polar Bear, Goodnight Gorilla, and Where the Wild Things Are.)
D's latest cute saying is "gimme have it please" when he wants something. I guess it's a combination of "give it to me" and "let me have it please." This is great not only because it's cute but because it shows him starting to assert himself more. He is such a laid back little guy, and I am thrilled to see him starting to make his preferences known!
Every day with these two is more fun than the one before!
Saturday, February 17, 2007
36
I turned 36 yesterday, and I have to say that of all the things I thought about my 36th bithday, being 24 weeks pregnant was not one of them. Each year, God truly shows me in a new way that His plans are not my plans and His ways are certainly not my ways. Having said that, this baby is just one of the best and sweetest reminders of that ever! I never ever thought I would have 4 or even 3 children. In fact, there was a time when we weren't even sure that we would have any children.
In my moments of weakness and self-doubt, I feel so unsure as to why God would choose ME to be their mother. I mean...does He know me? I am disorganized (really)...I don't cook (much)...I fall short every day in so many ways. But in my best moments, I feel so blessed because He chose ME to be their mother, ME to love them, teach them, hold their hands, wipe their tears, read them stories, sing them songs, hear their prayers. What did I do to deserve all this? But then I know that blessings like these sweet ones aren't earned...can't be earned. They are truly good and perfect gifts from above. And I thank Him for them every day.
In my moments of weakness and self-doubt, I feel so unsure as to why God would choose ME to be their mother. I mean...does He know me? I am disorganized (really)...I don't cook (much)...I fall short every day in so many ways. But in my best moments, I feel so blessed because He chose ME to be their mother, ME to love them, teach them, hold their hands, wipe their tears, read them stories, sing them songs, hear their prayers. What did I do to deserve all this? But then I know that blessings like these sweet ones aren't earned...can't be earned. They are truly good and perfect gifts from above. And I thank Him for them every day.
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