Musical Rooms

Emma and Matthew have shared a room for the last 3 years, 4 months, and 12 days....basically since the first night we were home from the hospital after Matthew was born. At first it was out of necessity- we only had 2 bedrooms and I can't sleep with babies in my room. As they got older and we moved to our 3 bedroom home, they wanted to keep sharing a room. We tried to give them each their own room, but they cried and pleaded to let them share. So, we let them. They are best buds, partners in crime, and they sleep better together...until recently.

After Matthew's latest hospital stay he was put on Qvar, which is a steroid inhaler. It makes him have tons of extra energy, a big appetite, and a hard time sleeping. Every night, we put the kids to bed around 7:30. Emma is ready to fall asleep immediately, but Matthew is up, wide awake until after 9. It was really starting to affect her during the day, especially at school. In the meantime Ellie was having a hard time sleeping too, mostly just naps during the day, because her room is connected to the play room. You have to go through her room (or the kitchen) to get to the playroom. But it's a lot more convenient to go through her room...so basically the kids were always running in there to go play and she was getting woken up.

So, we decided to switch Matthew and Ellie's bedrooms. Matthew went into Ellie's much smaller room by himself and Ellie went into the big room with Emma, who was ECSTATIC about getting to share a room with Ellie. Everything was going smoothly with the switch, everybody was sleeping, we had gotten all the furniture switched and rooms rearranged. Emma seriously thought she was the luckiest girl EVER to get to share a room with the baby. Until we got bunk beds for Matthew's room...and now life has gotten fun.  :)

We had been wanting to get Matthew out of his toddler bed and into a twin, and figured this was a good time. We put bunk beds in his room in case we needed to let Ellie cry it out, or for when we have guests, etc. We got the bunk beds after the kids were in bed and got them set up that night. Then we put Matthew in his new bed. When he woke up he was surprised.  :) When Emma saw the bunk beds she immediately claimed the top bunk as her own and moved all of her bedding in. She did NOT want to sleep in a room with Ellie. So, she has slowly moved into Matthew's (MUCH SMALLER) room. And now we're in this weird bedroom limbo. Both kids are in the bunk bed room, but all of Emma's stuff is still in the other bedroom. There is random stuff everywhere, and now we have to figure out how to rearrange everything all over again. We've somehow got to figure out a way to squeeze all of the kid's stuff in their small room, and then figure out how to fill up all the empty space in Ellie's huge room. AND I have to make 2 more curtain panels for her much bigger window. Blah! But on the upside, Ellie has been sleeping 10 hours at night again (from 8-6)....and now I'll go knock on wood!

So, for those who have asked, here are the bunk beds that have caused all the commotion.  :) We got an AWESOME deal on them on Craigslist and are really happy with them.

So, anyone out there who loves rearranging and decorating, please feel free to stop by and put my house back together.  :)

Lately

Some recent quotes:

Emma: (picking up her swimsuit) Oh, this is the swimsuit Jenna gave me. It's so....romantic.

I put Emma in time out and she started yelling about how angry she was. Then she yelled" Mom, you're not the greatest anymore....well, actually you are, but I still don't like this!"

Matthew: I need to give Ellie a beautiful kiss, because it will make her heart so happy.

And some other recent happenings:

Matthew is still loving preschool...and it is still a battle to get him to leave. Today he was sitting on his teacher's lap and refused to get off or let go of her because he wanted to stay at school with his teachers forever. I don't know if I should be happy that he's loving preschool so much or sad because he would rather be with his teachers than me.

Emma is also loving school still. She is so excited about all the things she is learning. She loves doing math centers, reading, coloring, and counting. We went to back to school night last night and her teacher was showing the parents some of the projects the kids have done. There was a big paper on one wall where she had written what each kid likes. We were scanning the paper looking for Emma's and saw lots of "I like Barbies, Hot Wheels, my family, my dog, etc". All of a sudden I saw Emma's name and next to it, "I like unicorns and jaguars". I laughed so hard. That is SO Emma!

Both kids have become very affectionate lately. I get a lot of unprompted "I love you" and "You're the greatest mom ever" from them along with lots of very wet kisses. Emma usually comes to me and tells me she has a secret and then whispers that she loves me. Matthew likes to curl up on my lap and wrap his arms around my neck. I don't mind if they keep this up forever.  :)

Ellie is growing like crazy! She seems so much bigger than the other kids were at this age. She's probably not but it sure feels like it. She puts EVERYTHING in her mouth, is very ticklish, and has an adorable laugh. Sadly she gave up her 10 hour stretches of sleeping, but is doing 5-6 hours, so I can't complain.

Sunny Days

We've been enjoying the warm weather we've been having lately. I love this time of year-cool mornings and evenings, and warm, sunny days.

The kids have played in the water every day this week...at least 2 hours a day. The picture titles are what they told me they were in each one.

Buddy the water fountain

 Emma the cat

Buddy the cat feeder

Buddy the fire hose sprayer

And Ellie the observer. She LOVED laying on the grass watching the tree branches above her.

Days Like Today

It's days like today....when there is too much crying and not enough napping, too much little kid energy and not enough quiet, too many movies watched and not enough one on one time, when I feel beat up and worn down, and just want to put myself in a time out all day....it's these kinds of days, days like today that I am also forced to step back and look at the big picture. And I am reminded how special each of these kids are. Because even in the midst of all the craziness they still give me sweet smiles and hugs and tell me they love me and that I am the greatest mom ever. They are quick to forgive me when I lose my patience. I love these three little ones, even on days like today.

Then and Now

I just thought it would be fun to put up some comparison pictures of the kids at similar stages and ages.

Then...Emma and Matthew

 

and now...Matthew and Ellie

Then (Emma at 4 months)

 Now (Ellie at 3 months)

This is also Emma at 4 months...just had to throw this one in because it cracks me up!

Emma at 3 months

Another one that makes me laugh every time

Matthew at 3 months (I see a lot of Ellie in this one)

 This has always been one of my favorites

And Ellie at 3 months

I see similarities between all of the kids, though I can't really pinpoint exactly what. I do think Matthew and Ellie look the most alike, though all three kids are definitely their own individual selves. What do you think?

First Day of Preschool!

Matthew had his first day of preschool yesterday...FINALLY! Emma started school 3 weeks ago, so it has felt like we have been waiting forever for his to start. Anyway, the big day came and he was really excited. He is going to the same preschool that Emma went to for the last two years. It's at a Lutheran church and the teachers are four super sweet women who volunteer their time to run this school. Amazing! Especially considering that the newest one started about 15 years ago and the oldest one has been there 40 years....since her oldest child went to preschool there. They take 10 kids and keep the same class for 2 years. We love the teacher-child ratio and how close knit the group becomes over the course of the year.

When we got to school, Matthew ran right in and started playing. Most of the kids there are kids he knows from church and he is very familiar with the school since Emma was there before. So, he felt right at home. They did some fun stuff the first day- painted apples to hang in the windows, did a cutting project, and had lots of play time. When it came time to go, the teachers told the kids to come sit at the table so they could go when their moms came. Matthew ran the opposite direction, into the play house and told them he wasn't leaving because he wanted to stay at school.

In the meantime I was waiting outside with all the other moms. One by one, the kids came out smiling and happy. When the last kid had come out, they looked at me and said, "He says he's not leaving. You might need to come get him". What??? So, I went in and sure enough he was hiding in the play house repeating over and over that he wanted to stay at school and he wasn't going to go home. Ten minutes and lots of struggling later, we finally got him out the door and in the car. I love that he loves school so much, but I sure hope we don't have to go through this every time!

The teachers commented to me that they were very impressed with his painting skills and that he was a little boy who knew exactly what he wanted and was going to make sure he got it. I'd say that's pretty accurate.  :)

After school, the kids and I were eating lunch. Emma was telling us about a new boy in her class who has really long hair. She was fascinated with this kids hair and didn't understand why a boy would have long hair, so I finally said, "Some boys just like having long hair". Without skipping a beat Matthew piped in, "yeah, and some boys just like staying at school". Haha!

I hope our little Buddy continues to love school. I really am so excited for this year!

"Matthew, smile!"

"No Buddy, give me a REAL smile."

Ah, this kid cracks me up!

Adventures with the Farrells

We are lucky enough to live about 45 minutes away from Jon's family. I LOVE IT. I love that my kids know at least one of our families well. And I love being close enough to spend time with them....sometimes only once or twice a month....sometimes every weekend. Now if only we could figure out a way to live close to BOTH families...

August was one of those months that we were able to spend a lot of time with the Farrells. Jon's brother, Jason, got married August 12 (which also happens to be our anniversary) so the whole family got together. It was a long day with the sealing in the morning followed by a luncheon, and then the reception that night. It was a beautiful wedding though and we're excited to have Lindsay in the family now!

Waiting outside the temple after the sealing

waiting and playing with the baby

waiting...

still waiting....

There they are!

I married into such a fun family!

The bride and groom at the reception

The next day we met Jon's mom and sisters for a day at the beach. It was warm, but super windy.

After the beach, Debbie took the kids home with her so Jon and I (along with Ellie) could go on a little anniversary date....another reason I LOVE living close to family! Afterwards, we went back to their house for the rest of the weekend.

There are always plenty of willing hands to hold the baby

And Sunday naps are a must

One of Buddy's favorite thing about Grandma's house is the cats. He would play with Sasha all day if she would let him. He went outside to eat his peach and insisted that he had to sit next to Sasha. Every time she moved, he would get up and move with her.

We went to the Farrells again the next weekend so we could spend a little time with Jason and Lindsay before they went back to Provo. Friday night the adult siblings went out to dinner and frozen yogurt. It was such a fun night. Saturday morning we went to Rock City, one of our favorite places in Danville.

That night Jason and Lindsay painted the kids faces. 

Emma was a beautiful butterfly

Owen was a super cool Spiderman

and Matthew was....I'm still not sure what.  :) He wanted to be a cat, but ended up looking more like a mix between Hitler and a mad mathematician