New beds!

• The transition is complete!! Seth now has the crib and rocking chair in his room and Ben has the big BIG boy bed. It's so big he needs a two-step stool just to get on it! He probably fits on 1/16th of the bed but oh well.
• We're on Day 3 of Ben's big boy bed. So far, so good. The first time he slept in it was naptime on Friday. This has been the most difficult day so far. I tried to read him a story before nap and he didn't want anything to do with it...he didn't even want to be ON the bed. Hmm...not a good sign. So I figured, forget it, why delay the inevitable. I placed him back on the bed, said goodnight, put the gate up (love that gate!) on his door, and shut the door. WELL...he got right down off that bed and ran over to the door. Cal and I were standing outside it and I was holding the knob with my hand so he couldn't open it. Ben was screaming bloody murder...so much that it scared Cal and HE started crying too. He pleaded with me, "Mommy, please, PLEASE just let go of the door. Just let him open it!" So obviously no one was going to be calm for this. I decided to let Ben just do what he was going to do and go downstairs with Cal to calm HIM down. After explaining to Cal that Ben just needed to get used to his new bed, Cal said to me, "But mommy he was crying SOO hard." Yes, well...what can you do? Luckily, after 5 mins I heard muffled crying which meant Ben had moved away from his door. (His door won't stay open on its own - which used to bug me but now it's a good thing!) And within the next 2 mins it was quiet! I went up to check on him 15 mins later and there he was, cute as could be, sleeping on his bed.
• Nighttime has been fine. I think he's more inclined to stay in his bed when it's dark :) Morning has also been fine. It's still rather dark and he's used to quietly playing when he wakes up until someone comes to get him. Yesterday's nap went smoothly. He got up and opened and then shut his door a couple times. I guess to make sure nothing was going on in the hallway :) Right around 4pm yesterday I heard him open his door when he woke up and it was so adorable to go up and see him peeking out his door waiting for someone!
• We had a bit of a struggle today for nap. He cried at his gate for 20-30 mins today. I thought I heard the gate fall off so I went up to check which prolonged the crying I'm sure. Won't make that mistake again. It's 2pm and I'm pretty sure he's sleeping now. So all and all we've had success with the new bed. He's much different from Cal though. I don't think Cal even realized he could get off his bed for the first month he had it! Nope, not Ben, that little bugger was off first chance he got!

One more thing...

• SLEEP UPDATE: Seth is doing well in his own room. I had started to force a schedule on him until MY schedule got in the way and I had to keep readjusting for an appt here or a pick-up there. Plus Cal had the whole week off this week so I decided to let Seth remain flexible "just until this week is over". Famous last words, right?!

• We're hoping to have GrampaBob come up on Friday to help us move the crib out of Ben's room and into Seth's so he can stop sleeping in a pack n' play....which means...big boy bed for Ben!! I haven't talked too much about it because Ben doesn't seem thrilled. When I ask him if he wants a big bed like Cal, he just says NO MOMMY! Hmm...too bad! Wish me luck!

• Cal has been adjusting to new nap rules very well. Better than the last go-around. He isn't gated in anymore so no pull-up which means he COULD get out of bed whenever he wants. He's supposed to wait until at least 2:00pm to go pee (if he has to but he informs me he tries anyways) and then I come to get him at 3:00. I think we've done this for a week now and he's actually napped 3 of the days - woo hoo!!

The boys with GrampaBob

Never too late...

I do realize that this is almost a month late, but to be fair to me, Cal didn't have his birthday party until Jan 10th....so I'm not THAT late. We had his 4th birthday party at Chuck E Cheese. I have to say CEC is a whole lot better at 4 than at 2 when we last had a party there. Cal had a blast with all his friends!! Below is the chosen cake made by mom- an orange dinosaur!!

So at 5:22am this morning, I awoke to Seth talking and laughing to himself. This is rare...he doesn't normally cry when he wakes up since I usually hear him stirring and go in before he can make at peep. I went in to see what was going on and there he was on his back starring up at me! He had rolled over for the first time and seemed VERY excited by it!! His little arms and legs were swatting all over the place - he couldn't keep still. Hooray for Seth - almost 19 weeks old and JUST rolling over...never too late!

Happy New Year!

Among other "new" things I forgot to mention in my last post. My children are addicted to the computer. Ben has recently taught himself to use the mouse and can now navigate like a pro! Thank goodness for Fisher-Price's Easy link. It allows them to get to kid-friendly websites on their own. We do have to limit this "winter activity" though or else they'd sit here all day!

Seth is also blowing raspberries and can roll up onto his side...a semi-improvement! I even moved Seth into his own room last week (sniff sniff). No more little baby in a bassinet sleeping at mommy's bedside (sniff). He's doing well though. This is the first step in a major sleep overhaul. Wish me some SERIOUS GOOD LUCK with this. Once the baby has a more set nap and bedtime schedule I am going to break down the gate (literally) and let Cal have free roam during nap/bedtime which means he probably won't nap. For the first time ever he'll be able to get out of his room at night. Hmm...I've never had the pitter patter of footsteps in the middle of the night before?! And Ben will be moving into a big boy bed just as soon as I can get someone to help take down his crib and move in the other bed. This is the equivalent of major upheaval for all concerned! More on that as the transitions take place...!!!

Knight dress-up clothes the boys got for hanukkah!


NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS, ANYONE?!

While I'd love to think of myself as NOT the type to make resolutions, I'd be kidding myself. I feel like lately I've been finding it difficult to strike a balance in almost ALL areas of my life and it's something I think about on a daily basis. There's barely enough time in the day to keep my house clean and play with my kids - how am I supposed to do anything else?!?? So in the interest of saving time, let's just get to it! Here's the list:

• Re-organize our time - Eric and I had a long discussion on how to change things up a bit so we can both have more time to do things we want to do! Step 1: Stop TV addiction :)
• Make connections - Meet new people, visit old friends, strengthen existing friendships, that kind of thing.
• Don't leave important things unsaid - No more shoulda, woulda, coulda's
• Start and stick with a hobby - You know, actually knit a blanket, write that anonymous blog, or finish an arts and crafts project?!?
• Exercise - This might have to wait until later in the year when I might possibly have 2 children in preschool and the other one napping in the morning!!! I get goosebumps just thinking about it!

I'm having a brain freeze at the moment so can't think if I made any other resolutions off the top of my head. Have to write things down these days or they never get done! Hope everyone is having a happy, healthy start to the New Year!

...and the rest will follow

Are you talking to me?

Hey! What's it to ya?

• I was re-reading one of my previous posts that said I hadn't gotten a lot of holiday cards. They did eventually come in hoards right on up until and after Christmas. I love getting them. It's the one time of year I get to see how everyone's kids have grown and read about what's gone on in each family throughout the year.

• I got a lot of comments on our card and the fact that the boys are all looking straight at the camera. Yes, this took a lot of work. I decided the picture MUST be taken in one afternoon and we would stop at nothing to get a good one. This led to crying, bribing, pushing, pinching, singing, eating, threatening, promising...you name it, I did it to get that darn picture! As you can see in the ones I've posted here, I had a hard time with Ben. He's either looking drunk, like rico suave, or a wise guy! I went through different themes as well. Cal wearing the reindeer antlers, Seth with a bow, the boys holding dreidels in a box wrapped like a present...I think it came down to "simpler is better".

• Since we don't send out a yearly update with our cards, here's our family 2008 happenings: We started 2008 off with a bang, finding out we were pregnant on January 11th, which also happened to be the 6th anniversary of our court-date wedding. This might be news to some of you :)
• In April, my hopes of a girl were dashed by yet another ultrasound tech saying...It's a boy! I allowed myself one shameful millisecond of disappointment before hitting the books for a boy baby name and being grateful we wouldn't need to buy any new clothes or go through that nasty teenage stretch with a girl :) Boys really are easier, aren't they?!
• The summer is somewhat of a blur. Cal successfully finished his first year of preschool and went to a day camp to keep him busy. I scurried about trying to get things in order for the baby. We went through a MAD frenzy of buying and building in the house. I can't remember a week when there wasn't a random worker here. There were so many that Cal just started addressing them by their job instead of by name (carpet guy, plumber, electrician). Somewhere in the middle, Ben went from baby to toddler, with virtually no help from me! It's probably also the reason for his very, very minor developmental delays (late walking, late talking). Depsite delays and sickness though, he is no less of a social being. I think he takes his cues from his older brother. Ben is warm and happy and full of life and captures a part of my heart that is reserved just for him so he needn't be worried about being the middle child, even if he does get forgotten once in awhile!!
• By Sept 12th, the baby's due date, I was more than ready to meet that little guy, and we decided to go ahead and be induced. I labored (haha) long and hard over the decision about HOW to labor and deliver this child. The first time - you don't have a choice, you just want that baby out! The second time - I thought a nice, easy, pain-free delivery would be optimal. I was wrong. No satisfaction there - I felt like I missed out. The third time was a charm. I had the right balance to make it the experience I was hoping for.
• The last quarter of the year has been the best. Even before Seth was born the older boys had started to bond the way only brothers can and they've become the best of playmates. It's sweet to see the way Cal nutures Seth as if it comes nautural to him and Ben has suprised us all with his tolerance and curiosity of the baby. I thought Ben would be a clingy, whiney mess once Seth arrived but he's instead become very independent!
• The year draws to a close with Cal turning 4 - oh my! He's able to write almost all of his letters and is very into "making up" stories that are quite believable! Ben just turned 2 at Thanksgiving time. He has an uncanny knack for jumping, loves to sing with his new-found words, and can properly cut using scissors. Cutting is his new obsession...while wearing his clown hat and slippers, of course. Seth is four months old now. He's not able to roll over yet, but we forgive him because he's just so darn cute! He babbles, coos, grins ear to ear, and I think I've even heard a giggle or two.

More outtakes!