Three Strikes

I am getting pretty tired of the gate that keeps the boys out of the kitchen. It does not keep them from throwing all of their things into the kitchen, thus making it harder to keep the house looking somewhat lived in rather than , we live here and never go anywhere!! Because of this I took the gate down while the boys were napping and left it down when the woke up. Now that they can get out of bed on their own, I just waited to see what they would do. First thing they did was head downstairs. That was okay for a few minutes, until I remembered that nothing beyond the living room is totally baby-proofed. Which means there are remotes and games and phones, you know, everything we put in another room so they can not reach it! When I found them downstairs they were actually just playing! Go figure! Next, they came back upstairs to the kitchen and sat at the table and had a snack. Each little person had a cinnamon roll Addy and I made from scratch. Yes, from scratch!! Everyone who has been telling me for years that they are not too hard to make, you were right! After snack time they rode their firetrucks around the house and seemed to be enjoying the extra space provided by the gate being gone. Soon after, one of the boys remembered he knew how to open the refrigerator and brought a pint of blueberries. Although it was a great choice, I wasn't too pleased that they were helping themselves to the food in the fridge. Needless to say they ate all of the blueberries. With all the energy from their snack they thought it would be great to make the cat's food more accessible for her by dumping it onto the floor, along with her water! This was Mom's last straw and guess what? The gate is back!!

It's Official!

Over the weekend Matt and I put together two toddler beds and took down one crib. Which means that we are no longer in babyhood and now officially in toddler hood! The crib was the very last thing that symbolized baby at our house. Putting together the new beds was easy for me, it was taking down the crib and moving it under the stairs in the basement that was hard. As soon as the last screw fell out of the crib my heart sank a little. There are not so many times in ones life where transition is so prominent. Usually change takes place more gradually. This just seemed to hit me like a ton of bricks, my babies are not babies anymore...at all!! I guess that crib was more important to me than I had known. It is funny to me how women form attachments to objects much more than men do. Matt was so fine with taking the crib down and getting it out. He just wanted to make sure it didn't interfere with the football playoff games! But, when I started to shed a tear or two, he was very good at consoling me. I was even a little embarrassed about how I was feeling. After all, moving the boys into their new beds was my idea. I got to decorate their room and find new bedding, both things I love to do, it just feels like it all came with a price. A piece of our family history is done with, forever! That feeling of such finality can be overwhelming. Now, I am trying to look forward to the future and what will be in store for all of us with three toddlers in the house.

Night With the Boys

Last night was really nice. Matt went to the Harlem Globe Trotters game with his three dates, Apryl, Alexys and Addysen while I stayed home with my little men. I had already been out and about during the morning with Matt and the boys, and by the time the game came around I was ready to stay in and watch a movie. I still don't have an abundance of energy, and sometimes I end up pushing myself too much, so staying in was just fine with me. Besides, they didn't get home from the game until after ten. Also, I actually had a couple of hours all to myself. I watched Toy Story 3 with the boys, very cute movie if you have not seen it. Our little guys have new beds now, which only one is put together, it is in the living room and that is where they sat to watch a good portion of the movie. After a while they both came over to the couch and the three of us snuggled together and the boys pointed out all of the Toy Story characters throughout the rest of the movie! If you have not seen the movie, maybe make your first time without two year old little people... that is if you want to hear it! When the movie was over it was past their bed time and both boys could not quit yawning. They went to bed without a hitch. Tonight however will most likely be a different story seeing as how we will have their crib gone and their toddler beds in place. I am thinking of dragging them around the neighborhood until they drop before their bed time, that way they won't want to get up! Everyone keep your fingers crossed for a smooth transition!

Closeness

I feel that my kiddos and I are very close. They are also close with their Daddy, and even close to one another. There are those times however when I am ready to take even the lowest bidders offer and send them a kid or two! Today is a perfect example of our "closeness". I have begun taking showers with our little guys because of how chaotic bath time became. Of course the boys don't notice anything different about their Mother yet, and I assure you when they do, they will be back to bathing alone! I find showering with them to be ten times easier! There is much less flooding, which the basement thanks me for. Also, it is less time consuming. The boys enjoy taking a shower so much that I have to wait to even bring up taking a shower because they will want to take one right away. Both boys can play with their cups and other bath toys again without having to worry about getting water everywhere. Washing their hair is even easier and faster. Addysen decided to take a shower as well, and there was no fuss from her about having to take a bath. I think the only downfall would be the lack of room with four people in one shower. Then there was the goosing from my youngest son, that was a bit of a shock. He thought it was so funny. There have also been a couple of times when they accidentally turn the hot water off. You know when you get that first hit of ice cold water and you can barely catch your breath. Yeah, that is also a downfall of allowing two year olds to shower with you.

A-D-D-Y

Yesterday I began the hunt for a pre-school for our youngest daughter! Registration for pre-school begins on the 18th of this month, so it was not too soon. Looking for a pre-school can be as arduous a search as looking into colleges. I remember the mountain of paperwork to fill out when Apryl and Alexys started pre-school. I was able to speak to one of the potential teachers over the phone, and she was extremely helpful. She reminded me of all the papers I need in order to send my baby girl off to school! Which by the way, I had forgotten to get her birth certificate! That is now being processed as we speak. Getting her birth certificate was not very easy either. In order to obtain a copy, they have to verify I am who a say I am...her Mother! I am okay with the amount of security in order to get my hands on this document, I just wished I had been prepared to remember every old address and phone number I have ever had!! After I am done answering all of the on-line questions, they tell me I still need to be identified further. Long story short, I ended up calling and actually talking to a real person! She was very helpful, and assured me I am who I say I am, and is sending me Addys' birth certificate. Now, I also need to get a copy of her shot record. As well as the doctors office knows me, that should be a piece of cake! The only obstacle left is convincing Addysen that school does not start for her for a few months still. After she and I were done looking at schools on the computer, she went and found her backpack and told me she was ready to go! Each morning her older sisters are getting ready for school she is so disappointed when she can't go with them! I only wish that enthusiasm for school lasted until they graduated, Apryl thinks school is boring! If Apryl is not working on some nuclear science project or reading Shakespeare school is boring.

Play Time

As you might have guessed, we do a fair amount of playing at our house. During Christmas break I used many different strategies to keep our kiddos occupied. This day in particular I was thinking about building a fort with the kids. The more I thought about a fort the more it felt like work rather than fun. With a fort there is a much greater chance of it falling down, especially with our guys. Also, putting away a fort is a good amount of work since there are so many blankets and tables or chairs involved. Not to forget the "weights" you have to use in order to keep the blankets from falling down. We usually end up with books and heavy pots on every corner. Then you have all of the arguing that happens when someone accidentally pulls a wall down. So, I opted to not go this route at all and bring a tent into the living room. It was a really good idea, and since I do not have many good ideas, I was tooting my own horn!! The girls gathered pillows and blankets to toss in the tent, and went crazy from there. Each little person added their own touches to the tent, stuffed animals, cars, whatever they felt needed to be inside. They enjoyed having their lunches in the tent and watching movies from inside there. We were able to leave the tent up for a few days, and it really kept them all busy. That is until Apryl was pretending to be a bear, growled at the tent and sent Garhett running for his bedroom! I guess she does a really awesome bear impression, but I knew it was her all along!

A Little Left Out!

Ever since we have had little girls, playing with them has been like second nature. I didn't have to think about what might be fun for them, I just knew. Now, I have two little boys who do not seem to like most of what is in my bag of tricks. Yeah, I also get down on the floor and play blocks with them, but my goodness, they are much more impressed by whatever it is their Dad is doing! Yesterday, while they were napping, the girls and I rounded up all of their trucks and cars, anything with wheels. I had decided we were going to have a truck rally of sorts when the boys woke up. Both of them had fun with all of the "boy" toys out, and seemed to even be okay with Mommy's truck sounds! I admit I have been laughed at before for my truck and car sounds! Then, we all played Batman. This was a first for me as well. Garhett and Brenden have Batman's cave with a Batcycle. They also have Joker's house and Riddler's car, along with all the action figures. There are enough figures for everyone and a couple of people get to be two things. I was Batman for a while. Brenden is partial to Mr. Freeze and The Riddler while Garhett likes Robin and Joker. I tried my best at coming up with a good voice for Batman, but apparently did not do good enough. My Batman duties were soon stripped, and the boys moved their things to the window hoping I would not follow. I did try again but this time I was subjected to being the "girl". I tried to kiss Batman, and Garhett looked at like I was insane! He then grabbed my girl and put her in Joker's jail! He looked at me for a few seconds after that and I could tell he was telling me to leave them alone. Naturally I felt a little insulted! I will try being Batman again, and I will stay far away from anything too girlish. I guess I could always throw some things across the room to fit in!

Birthday Boys

This year our littlest people turned two!! I was as surprised by this as anyone else. Everyone kept saying, "I can't believe they are two already!" I thought the same thing. Then there are the days where I can't believe they made it to their second birthdays!! Well, I wasn't able to be home for the birthday party, so the pictures were all I got as well. From what I could see and also from the few updates I received, they seemed to have had a really good time. At this age though, they aren't sure why everyone is there, and not too certain why they are being allowed to eat with their hands! I think they did better with the candles this year. It is always amazing how fast time seems to go. I wish there was a way for me to go back and be able to hold them when they were little babies. It is so hard for me to remember those times. I do not want them to be little babies again, that is for sure. I am definitely done with "babyhood". I am happy that our youngest can sleep through the night and help feed themselves. They are even almost out of diapers. All I want is a refresher of the things I have forgotten! I guess everything is all jumbled up because of how chaotic it felt when they came home. Now, I have a hard time remembering most things about them as babies. Thank goodness for pictures. Anyway, the boys received a lot of cool presents, they have their own mini-quads now! It will be a riot trying to keep them from riding where they shouldn't or running into people! I think the quads will be great for camping! Oh, and did they ever get the best p.j.'s!! Bronco jammies rock! They also now have cornered the market on footballs! So, if anyone needs one you know where to look!

Catching Up

At our house we have been very busy, like most other households during this time of year! For whatever reason someone thought it would be a good idea to add a pair of birthdays into the mix. Oh, and to also make me feel like crap for a few weeks! Now that we are settling down again, I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a great New Year! I know our kiddos had a really nice holiday season! They were spoiled beyond belief, as usual! It was so nice to see them getting excited when they opened their packages. It did take Brenden and Garhett quite a while to get around to opening everything. It was also nice to have all morning to hang out with the kids and eat breakfast before having to go anywhere, the boys even finished napping before we had to leave. Santa was very good to our group this year. So good in fact, Apryl and Alexys had a hard time thinking of something to spend their gift cards on! I kept urging them to wait a while to spend them, but you all know how kids are when they have money to spend! All in all, we had a real nice day. Christmas Eve started it all for the kiddos when they went to "uncle" Jim's and came home with a bunch of loot! That kinda put our Christmas Eve pajamas to shame!! In a good way though. Lots of catching up for me on here, and around the house. I know it's late but Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone we weren't with and Happy Birthday to Grandpa Mike who now has to share his B-day!! Happy Birthday to Grandma Nora too!!