My Futile Attempt At Sleep

A few nights ago every person in our house was tucked safely in bed at 8:19pm.    If I hadn't been so completely exhausted I would have been estatic.  After sending my friend a quick text professing just how pathetic we were (refering to Earl and I) for turning the TV off and going to sleep before 8:30, I closed my eyes and dreamed of sweet slumber.  Per my calculations I would be able to sleep at least 3 hours before Kinley woke up, five if I was really lucky.  I even let my imagination wander...what if she slept all night.   Oh how I would rejoice at a full night sleep.    The rest of my night went something like this :

8:40 - I felt like someone was standing beside me.  I was correct.  It was Cooper.  He wanted to know if he could sleep in our room.  Umm...No.  I ushered him back to his bed and tucked him in.

9:01 - I hear Cooper coughing and crying.  I get out of bed to see what he needs.  He asked for a drink and for me to lay with him.  I agreed to both but only because he was so pathetic.

9:30 - Kinley is awake.   In an effort to keep her from waking the entire house I sprint to her room to replace her binky.  She turns her head and seems to fall back to sleep.   I decide that since I have sucessfully fled Cooper's room I will go back to my own bed.  BUT before I do, Kinley is crying again.  I decide that instead of playing this game all night I will go ahead and feed her and hope that I won't hear from her again until morning. 

10:00 - I head back to my bed and on the way find who else, Cooper, curled up in a blanket on the floor.  I'm too lazy to move him back to his bed so I just let him there.

10:40 - Cooper is awake and coughing again.  Earl is restless beside me.  Cooper has got to go back to his room.   I wake him and nudge him back across the hall.  He pathetically asks me to lay with him again.  I reluctantly agree again.   He says, "I love you to the moon and back, Mom."  It's all worth it.

11:00 - I've had enough of Cooper's bed and slink out and finally back to my comfy bed that has waited so patiently for me.   It's now 11:05.   For those of you keeping track that's approximately 2 hours and forty minutes since I crawled in bed the first time.

Since then we've actually had a few great nights of sleep.  Last night, in fact, after a bit of a rough start Kinley slept all night and I had to wake her at 7:30 this morning.  My new tactic is to feed her baby food for supper and then again before bed.  Hopefully we have turned over a new leaf!  But I won't be dumb enough to think I'm going to go to bed again at 8:19 and sleep for any length of time.

Read Across America

Lately, I feel like there has been a lot of talk about Kinley on the blog.   She's growing and changing so much these days that she sometimes seems to steal the show.  But not today.  Today was a special day for Cooper.  Today was the kick off to Read Across America and all things Dr. Seuss leading up to the great authors birthday and the release of The Lorax in theaters this Friday.

To celebrate, Cooper's teacher invited parents to come to school to read a Dr. Seuss book to the kids.  We were extra lucky in that Daddy had the day off also.   Daddy had to the privledge of reading to the kids.   He probably picked the most complicated book when he decided on "When I Ran the Zoo" but I have to admit that he pulled it off rather well.

Cooper was so proud of his dad for coming to read today.  And I think Earl and I enjoyed it just as much.   What a great way to kick off Read Across America Week.

Kinley, You're 6 Months Old

Well, of course we knew it would happen.  But, it came up pretty quick.  You've officially been here with us for 1/2 a year.  Wow! 

 You continue to grow and change at an almost alarmingly quick pace.  Your 6 months clothes are very snug but your size three diapers are still fitting you.  You are now eating both rice cereal and apple sauce.  You LOVE applesauce but will NOT eat cereal unless it is mixed with some applesauce.  I can't believe it is already time to start you on baby food.  Your well baby check isn't for another 2 weeks so it will be interesting to see how much you weigh.  The last time we checked you were just over 14.5 pounds.  And though you seem so big to us you're right on track with where McKenna was at your age.   You had your first cold this month but you came through it with flying colors.  We had a couple of long nights on the couch but really I can't complain.   What I could probably complain about is the fact that the GI bug and cold that you had have set us back some in the sleep department.  You still tend to get up one and sometimes 2 times each night.   4am seems to be your favorite time.  You aren't necessarily hungry - you just want to play.   And though I consider myself a morning person I have to draw the line somewhere and it's not at 4am.  You're really starting to notice things around you.  You reach for anything you might possibly be able to get your hands on

  

 This is how most of the pictures looked today.  Once you discovered you could pull that sticker off you were completely mesmerized.

 Almost got it!

 This picture makes me laugh.  This was one of your "finds" the other day as you were watching me cook.  You leaned over the edge of the Bumbo seat to get my phone.   And it seems that you know just what to do with it already.  Lord help us.

 Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt your call.

 You hit a major milestone yesterday- you rolled over for the first time.  And I must say, so much for staying home and being able to watch you do things for the first time.  I put you on your mat while I ran upstairs to get you a new outfit.  When I came back down you were on your belly.  I missed the whole thing. 

 I had to include this picture just because it makes me laugh. 

 And this one because your long hair continues to be the topic of conversation wherever we go.  It is now down to your shoulder blades in the back and shows no signs of slowing down.

 With your six month birthday comes your first sippy cup.   Sad, but true.  You are eager to try to get a drink from it but it doesn't always work out for you.    We'll keep working on it.  You'll get it. 

 You're still Pappy's girl.   Hopefully someday soon you'll cut poor Mimi a break.  She's really fun if you just give her a chance.

And so are McKenna and Cooper but I don't have to tell you that. 

Kinley, thank you for making all of us smile every single day.  We love you so much and we know that the next six months can only get better.  

Surprise!

I have to laugh a little when I re-read my previous post.  Earlier last week my dad said I needed to update my blog.  I agreed and said I just hadn't had time.  It wasn't a lie, the thing was, I was too busy finishing up final details for his SURPRISE retirement party to be on the computer blogging. 

Over the past month my mom and I have schemed, lied, dodged and planned a get together for my dad to celebrate his retirement.  I think he was beginning to think that we completely overlooked this important event in his life.  We didn't.

Last evening we gathered at the Victoria House with about 40 friends and family to celebrate.   Before my dad arrived people kept asking if I thought he suspected anything...

 He didn't.

 Luckily after he got over his initial shock he wasn't too mad at us.

Dad, I am so proud of you and all that you have accomplished.  You are one of the hardest workers I have ever met.   I appreciate all the hours you spent working both at the office and away on trips to make sure we had the things we needed and things we just plain wanted as well.   Thank you for displaying that hard work really does pay off.  And thank you for reminding us always how fortunate we have been.   Last night one of your cards said something about making your time your own now.  We laughed because since you have officially retired you have spent more time helping all of your kids than anything else.  Don't think that lesson is lost on us either.   Not only do we appreciate the time and energy you spend helping us but we love having you around so much too.

So happy retirement, Dad.  We love you and hope you enjoy your new found freedom!

What Do You Do?

What do you when you're dad tells you that you need to update your blog?  Well, you update your blog.   I've been horrible about making time to blog lately.   By the time I get to sit down in the evening I'm too tired to put together a sentence let along a blog post.  Couple that with a recently sick baby and a recently sick mom and I have been completely letting this blog go.   I've even been pretty bad about taking pictures lately.  But I do have a few to share.

I never get tired of seeing them all together.  Especially when they are all looking at the camera.

Cooper got a special surprise a couple weeks ago...Mimi had an apron made for him.  Prior to this he could be found sporting McKenna's Tinkerbell apron.  Some day he will be embarrassed that I shared that.

Judy made his new apron.  Notice it has firetrucks on it.  Definitely more appropriate.  I think she's going to try to recruit him for the food line at carnival this year.

I have no idea why I took this picture but after I saw how cute it was I had to include it.    Now that I think of it, he just might be eating his favorite lunch of ham salad and macaroni.  Healthy, I know.  But hey, it could be worse.

And of course, Happy Valentine's Day!   I took this picture at 8:40 am as I was trying to get the kids out the door to school while the Sears repair man was coming in the door and the dog was barking out of control.  It's amazing that it turned out half decent.

We couldn't let Valentine's Day pass by without some silly lip pictures.   These aren't the fake lips I remember that were made of wax and tasted bad.   Nope, these are plastic and have a gigant lollipop on the other end.  Sounds much more appealing...but just as cute. 

We have a busy weekend and equally as busy week up ahead.  Hopefully that will mean not so much time between posts and even more fun pictures.   Have a great weekend.

iPhone Photo Dump

I had a goal this year (2012) to make it a point to upload my iphone pictures on a regular basis.  I'm not very good about plugging my phone into the computer very often.  Probably because I'm on it all.the.time.

Anyway, the other day ask I snapped a picture with my phone I noticed that I had 500+ pictures on my phone.  Not all of them turn out great and not all of them are share worthy...but plenty of them are.

 Any time I can get the three kids to sit together I try to snap a picture.  They never turn out great...but they are all there...in the same frame!

I had to snap this picture because I have one just like it of Tucker and McKenna.  Unfortunately, it's not a digital picture and would take more time to scan in then what I have right now.   So you'll just have to trust me that they look very similar.

I love the look on Kinley's face. 

McKenna took this picture of Kinley a few weeks ago as I was getting Kinley out of the bathtub.  We laughed since you can't even tell Kinley's in there but only see a duck with cute little baby feet!

All bundled up - one of the few times this winter.  It is winter, isn't it?

Extra credit points if you can spot McKenna in this picture.  Okay, she's the teeny, tiny one standing in the back in the pink shirt.  This was at a field hockey clinic about a month ago.   I kept my fingers crossed that she would emerge with all of her teeth.   She did.  And she had a great time playing with those big girls.

So, there it is, the first of hopefully many more iphone phone posts.   Hopefully!