My daughter got off the airplane at midnight and home about 2:30am. Lucky for me, dh is the dropper-picker-upper at airports. I don’t like the traffic and he doesn’t mind much.

So this morning Pierce went up and jumped on her to wake her up   He’s so happy his sister is home. And she’s happy to be home. There have been a few changes since she left (Dean’s walking, new swingset, the carpet ripped out on the stairs and some other little things) so he had fun showing her around. Gab said she felt like she was getting a tour of her own house and it was fun.

So our family feels normal again! It’s amazing how much difference one person can make.

Dean loves beds. As in nice mattresses and big fluffy pillows. He gets on beds and rolls around, laughing and is just generally hilarious.

Every night we put him in his crib. And you know how cribs are…firm, flat mattress, nothing allowed in the crib other than baby.

So every night he would wake up in his crib and want to come to bed with me. And I need my sleep. I’m pure evil without enough sleep. So I would take him to my bed where he’d snuggle up against a pillow and sleep very well. After months of this, I thought I had spoiled him.

I was wrong. He just loves beds.

We got a mattress, put it on his floor (put the crib away), put a side rail up (even though he’s only inches from the floor), put it against a wall with his toybox at the head and another wall at his feet. So he’s kinda boxed in but can get out easily.

The first 2 nights of this I went in when he’d fuss at night like normal. Except I layed down with him in HIS bed instead of mine.  He fell back to sleep and I went back to my bed.

The last 3 nights he’s slept all night, on through until morning. 8am. No waking up. Nothing.

So at 13 months, we’re done with the crib. When he’s a little better at climbing and not falling, we’ll set up the rest of the bed for him.  But for now, YAY!!!!!!!

Today is registration for fall soccer. Gab missed the deadline last year but she played the 2 years before. She’s excited to get back in the game.

And the extra-exciting part is, Pierce is old enough to play!! He made the age cut off by 6 days…we were so close to not getting him in this year. Good thing he was born 2 weeks early

I’m totally stoked for this. The little tiny kids are always so cute on the little field, swarming the ball like a bunch of moths to a flame. And Pierce is such a complex kid…I could see him pouting on the side or right in the middle kicking the ball.

This fall will be plenty busy, for sure. With 2 of 3 kids in soccer, we’ll constantly be at the practices and games. But it’ll be so much fun. Can’t wait to see them play!!

Baby boy is 10 1/2 months and I’m finally getting him off the bottle. I’ve tried before a few times, just giving  him a cup, but this time I decided it was final.

Last week I put apple juice in a cup and still let him have the bottle for milk. After a week of getting used to the cup, I gave him his cup with milk in it Tuesday evening and it went ok. But he still got his bottle at bedtime.

Yesterday he only got the cup up until bedtime, when he still got his bottle. He didn’t drink nearly as much as normal, but he ate more. I remember Pierce doing the same thing every time we switched (bottle to cup, cup to straw). So I know it’s just a passing thing. Not worried.

So today is day 2 of no bottle (except bedtime). Hopefully he’ll drink a little more today and be more used to it. He’s not a fussy kid or high maintenance (unlike his brother) so I think this will be a relatively quick transition.

Dd was gradual with the switch. I did it by 11 months with her. Pierce liked his cup at 6 months, so we switched by 7 months.

Just the first of many transitions and changes! Off the bottle by 1, off the pacifier by 2, potty trained by 3.  One big thing a year is enough

It’s Friday. Not Monday. Which is good. Fridays are good. Not as good as Saturdays, but better than Mondays.

We have a family movie night at church tonight (Johnny Ling0-which was originally an old Mormon movie, but redone to modernize it–it’s out to rent). So that’ll be fun.

Due to Pierce’s nightmare issue, he is now sleeping in the baby’s room on a futon mattress. He flat out refuses to sleep in his room anymore.  Apparently he doesn’t have nightmares when he sleeps in my room on the floor or in his sister’s bed (during the day when she’s not home).

So last night at 9:15 pm, dh and I decided it’s not worth it. If he’s that scared, he can sleep somewhere else. A phase is a phase and he’ll grow out of it. And if not, in another year, baby Dean will be moving up to his room in bunk beds anyway and Pierce’ll want to go with him. So problem solved. No more screaming fits at night!

So today’s Friday. I’m so glad it’s Friday.

Baby boy learned how to crawl up stairs today!! I was sitting on the floor and knew he was there, but didn’t realize he was 2 stairs up getting a bag of plastic Easter eggs.

I took him down, and of course, up he went again. And giggled at me. “Hah, mom! Look what I can do!”

Oh, and now ds1 is calling him “Bean” (rhymes with Dean)

We had our Passover dinner last night with a friend and his daughter (she’s 18). His wife couldn’t make it unfortunately but I was happy they came. We had the typical Passover foods…fruit & nut mixture (haroset), bitter herbs (maror), roasted eggs (beitzah) and unleavened bread (matzah).  I lit candles and we sat on the floor. His dd had to leave after a bit and then I sent Gab and the boys upstairs and the 3 of us just talked for awhile. It was really a nice night.

They’re coming back tomorrow (Saturday) night to have the Jerusalem dinner we always do the night before Easter and go over the scriptures/stories for that. We’re having fish, chicken, cucumber salad, cheese, olives and grapes. All of which are typical foods eaten 2000 years ago at meals.

Tomorrow morning I’m in charge of and egg hunt at church for the kids. 2 families aren’t gonna make it, so I only had to buy and fill 20 dozen eggs (one for each kid).  Other wise it would have been 29 dozen I was smart and delegated the food and invitations out, so I only have to do the eggs.

Hopefully tonight dh and I will be able to get out without the kids to get their Easter bunny stuff.

I love this week before Easter…it makes the day that much more special and fun.

A couple days ago I posted writing was getting dry.

Life, however, has been so busy.

Yesterday I had to take dh an hour away to a doctor…minor thing, but he was in the hospital (to get the procedure done) from 7:45 to noon. We left the house at 6:15 am. We grabbed lunch on the way home (he wasn’t supposed to eat before hand) so we were starving. We had a 2-hour respite then I was off again. I picked up dd, took her to band, went grocery shopping, then picked up dd. We grabbed dinner and came home for 20 minutes. I left ds1 with dh and took the other 2….dd had a church activity.

In the midst of this, I was battling a migraine. I came home at 7:30 and took a percoset. Then it was bedtime for the boys…clean ds1′s bedroom, make his bed, read, etc. Then ds2 diaper change and pajamas. Then dd came home (luckily a friend volunteered to bring her home) so I had to direct her in getting ready for bed. The whole “go wash your face now” etc. type of thing.

Monday was the same way, just different stuff.

Luckily today is a day off.

Tomorrow will be crazy.  I wish I had more percoset!!

Ds was playing with his drums this morning. Nothing big and major, just little kid ones.

I guess he got bored and thought it would be fun to push them down the stairs.

He went down one section, then laughed and got ready to push it down the next section.

He then pushed and looked at my dh and said, “Look, Dad, drum roll!”

Goofy little squirt!

I’ve mentioned in the past that ds has been having nightmares.

Last night was interesting.

He came down and I asked him, “Did you have a nightmare?”

“Someone tickled me!”

“You had a dream someone tickled you?”
“Can I sleep with you?”

He didn’t confirm it had been a dream, so I was curious. This morning I asked him about it again. I asked if it was a bad dream and he said no, a light on  his bed tickled him. I asked if it was his lamp on his shelf. He said, no, it was on his bed. He did say it was pretend this morning, that it was not real.

Very strange one this time.

I have a firm belief that it should be banned. It’s unfair, sexist, and cruel. I’m very sensitive to this problem and it’s frustrating to see happen to myself and other women.  Men don’t understand and, therefore, it’s really not a big deal to them. Which makes this even more awful!

Moms shouldn’t get sick! Like we don’t have enough to do. Add a sore throat, congestion, sleepless nights, and fatigue to an already busy schedule. Plus just taking care of kids all day long. There’s no such thing as a day off or a sick day when you have take care of your kids and house! It’s a 24/7 job!

What happens if we don’t take care of our responsibilities when we’re sick? If we just act like men and lay on the couch moaning and being sick?

It all adds up and multiplies like bunnies in the summer. One dish turns into 50. A slightly dirty carpet turns into No Man’s Land. Toys get scattered and tossed around like they’re alive and restless. Laundry stacks up, coming out of infinite closet space and dresser drawers. Kids look like they’ve lived in a barn for a year, and smell like 2 years.

Oh, yes, ladies. Something needs to be done about this issue! There needs to be a rebellion, a revolt! We need to band together to picket congress and our husband’s workplaces! We need equality and fairness! Whatever happened to womens equal rights?

No more sick! No more sick! No more sick!