Sleeping Solo

I have been happily co-sleeping with my baby since he was a newborn. I decided early on after bringing him, our 4th baby, home from the hospital, that if I were going to be able to function I was going to need sleep. By having P sleep with me, he could nurse as needed over night and I could get some much needed rest. Aaron and I have shared our bed with 3 of the 4 kids when they were babies. I have no regrets.

Lately P has been more difficult at night. He would rather crawl around than lay down next to me. He would rather jabber than nurse. He isn't settling in for sleep the easy way that he used to. I think this means that it is time for P to get used to sleeping in his own bed. Over the past few months, P has slept in his bed for several hours on occasion. But, he has always been sound asleep when I put him there.

Tonight, I am trying to let P put himself to sleep in his bed. If he would lay still and nurse, or let me rock him, I would gladly do it. But, he is Mr. Fidget, so I decided we would try the cry it out way. It's definitely not my style to let my babies cry it out. I hate it. I really hate it. I just want to grab them up and snuggle with them. So, I sit hear and listen to him cry. Somehow, blogging about it makes it easier. Maybe because I have something to do.

I remember when C reached the age, right around 6 months, that he was done with co-sleeping. I tried rocking him to sleep but he would fuss and arch his back. So, one night, I just laid him down in his bed, sang him a song and left the room. C laid his head down and I didn't hear another peep. He went right to sleep. Ever since that day, C has been my easiest sleeper. Even when we moved him from the crib to a toddler bed before P was born, C was so good about going to bed.

I also remember when K was right where P is tonight. She wouldn't lay still, she didn't want to nurse, she didn't want to rock. K wasn't easy like C. I had to let her cry it out. I still remember those first couple times of letting her cry herself to sleep. It was so hard. But, after a night or two of crying, she decided sleeping in her own space wasn't that bad after all.

I know that P will get the hang of sleeping solo too. I hope it's soon. Tonight he only cried for about half an hour. He's quiet in there now. But, you know something? It's not only the babies that have to adjust to this change. It's the mama too. I miss having them with me, snuggled up next to my side. They grow up so fast. So, so fast.

Before we had children, Aaron and I were never going to let our kids sleep with us. But when you actually have kids, there are a whole bunch of things that change. Both Aaron and I love to have the kids come and snuggle. We keep saying that we need to get a king size bed since several nights a week we have an extra person (or two) in bed with us. I'm glad that even though all the kids eventually go to their own beds, they still come back in and snuggle once in a while too! I know that someday they won't want to do that, but until then, we'll continue to snuggle 'em up!

Works For Me: Food Chopper

The Pampered Chef Food Chopper is what's working for me. If you've been to a Pampered Chef party, you've surely seen them demonstrate the food chopper. You can chop almost anything with it from nuts to onions to chocolate. However, the way the Pampered Chef chopper works for me is in preparing food for my littlest people.

Here is an example: Turn the chopper upside down and put in spaghetti noodles and some sauce. Place the lid on the chopper, turn it right side up, and chop away. You might bang the noodles off of the edge a couple of times. And then, voila:


You have finely chopped spaghetti in a matter of seconds!

My youngest son, P, is 9 months old and just starting to eat some table foods. I've been using my chopper to get his food into itty, bitty bites, and it has worked great. I hope that this idea works for someone else who is tired of cutting spaghetti noodles with a fork!

Head on over to Rocks In My Dryer for more Works For Me fun!

Poems by my son

N decided to join in on the poem writing action. N is almost 9 years old. He's my firstborn. There's just something special about that!! N is a very smart kid. He has a huge heart and makes me laugh a lot. N loves cars. When he was just 3 years old, we could walk through the parking lot at the mall and he would name the cars we were walking by (Honda, Ford, Chevy, Lexus, Mazda, etc.). He is also a pretty good artist. Guess what he likes to draw?? Cars, of course!!

He hopes you'll enjoy his poems about his little brothers.

My Lil' bros.

My Lil' brother C is cute.
He's sometimes a brute. But
usually actin' cute.
Wait, not cute, adorable!

My Lil' brother P is a can of sugar.
He's sometimes a booger, but usually cinamon and sugar.

I'm loving these poems the kids are writing!

N also drew a cool picture of the Nebraska State Capitol tonight.

Happy Monday!

Poems by my daughter

My daughter, K, wrote a couple of poems tonight. They are so sweet, so I thought I would share them on my blog. K is 7 and a first grader. She is a petite little thing, but her zest for life is huge!! She smiles and laughs and loves big. K loves to read, especially Junie B. Jones books. She is quick to make new friends and is quite the conversationalist. She's my only girl and I'm so incredibly glad God gave her to us!

All About Me!
Im cute pracktickley adorable
Im incuriging I Love my Big Bro
hes cute deffintley adorable very
funny he Love cars sometimes hes
mean...But...the best part of
all my Life is I LOVE GOD
***********************************
My Little Brother P
hes sweet like candy. :)
I love him very much.
hes cute!
***********************************
My Brother
We offten play.
When we fight theres a big knot betewen us.
But...when we get along its all better.

I didn't edit these for spelling or grammar. (Ha, I'm terrible at grammar, so of course I didn't!)
On this poem she drew three pictures. The first one they are smiling and playing cars together. On the second one they are both frowning. K is saying "dont" and N is saying "why" and his face is red (from anger, of course). In the 3rd picture, they are smiling and holding hands.

***********************************
I Love my mom
My mom is nice she cares for me.
I Love her and she Loves me.
She speshil olways to me.
Shes the Best!

I think her poems are pretty awesome! I hope that she'll continue to write poems. She LOVES to write in journals. I wish that poetry and journaling were things that I did consistently. I journal from time to time, but not as often as I would like to.

**Doh! I have no idea why the second half of this post is small. It looks right when I edit it, but it ends up all smallish here. Oh well. I'm not too smart at all this computer stuff.**

Limerick Fun

Shannon over at Rocks In My Dryer is having a limerick writing contest. At first, I couldn't remember quite how to write a limerick. However, Shannon had links to some sites that explained it. I decided to have a little fun with it. If I wouldn't have had so many things to do today, I would have written more, because honestly, I was having a ball! Here are some of mine...

My son won't get ready for school.
With his toys and his siblings he fools.
I plead and I yell,
It's not going well.
Does anyone have tricks or tools?

(For real, friends, we have serious ADHD morning routine issues. If y'all have ideas, leave me a comment!)

There once was a mom with four kids.
And too many bowls without lids.
Lots of laundry undone,
But she had much fun
In her crazy, busy life with four kids.

There once was a friend named Dee.
Who was sweet and caring as could be.
Though not good at art,
She had a big heart,
And could make me laugh 'til I peed.

I had so much fun with those. And, if not for running lunches to school, helping with a school party, making supper, taking care of the kiddos, and going to see this incredible woman in concert for FREE, I would have written more. I'm off to fix supper because the doors to the concert open at 6:30!

Have a great weekend!

Thanks for the Simple Things

Tonight I'm thankful for...

*sweet baby laughs (especially when all I did was sing his name to him)
*the fun friendship I see developing between my little guys
*Cinnamon Dolce Latte from Starbucks (mmmmm...mmmm...mmmm!)
*some time alone to go to the library
*a sink without dishes
*a challenging message from my pastor this morning
*no sick kids this week!
*blogs that make me laugh
*blogs that inspire
*good music and good books
*a pleasant and relaxing weekend
*that the reason my laundry baskets are overflowing is because I have a houseful of kids and we have plenty of clothes (because I'm really not cheerful about the laundry, I'm trying to look at the bright side) :)

What are you thankful for today?

Apparently I'm a 50's Kind of Girl

You Belong in 1952

You're fun loving, romantic, and more than a little innocent. See you at the drive in!

What Year Do You Belong In?

Couch to 5K

I'm on a mission. I want to be a "runner". My original thought was to try and run the half marathon in my town, which is the first weekend in May. My husband has been trying to tell me that he doesn't think I should bite off that much when I'm just starting to run. I was like, "Oh, honey, everyone I talk to says that if I start training in January, I can surely run the half by May."

Well, yesterday was my first walk/jog experience in a really, really long time. I'm not sure I've actually run since I was in highschool. Yikes! I took my almost 9 year old with me. He loves to run and is a pretty energetic boy. I figured he'd be complaining that his old mom couldn't keep up with him. We walked about 10 blocks to the beginning of the bike path that we were going to run on. Then we began our run for 90 seconds, walk for 60 seconds intervals. We did that for 10 minutes and then we were to turn around. My intention was to do the same thing for another 10 minutes and then walk the rest of the way home. N was too tired to run anymore, so reluctantly I agreed to walk the rest of the way home. Ha-ha-ha. Actually, I was secretly relieved. I was also feeling pretty tired. We walked home and stopped along the way to watch a construction site for a few minutes. We also played a little game to see who could shout the make of the next coming car first and correctly. If you know N at all, you know that I didn't have a chance of winning that competition. It was a fun experience and I'm glad N was willing to go with me!

Now, here is the part where I have to admit that my hubby was right! I'm going to persevere with this running thing, but I'm not going to go crazy and kill myself trying to get ready for a half marathon in just 16 weeks. My new and much more reasonable goal is to run a 5K this spring. That is something that is attainable but still something that I will have to work towards. I should go running again tomorrow, but my legs are KILLIN' me today. I may have to wait until Wednesday. I mentioned the sore legs to hubby and he asked if I had stretched at all (like he told me before). Um, no, I didn't. Gee, why does he always have to know what he's talking about??!!

Stay tuned for further Couch to 5K updates. And someone please say a prayer that I'll be able to walk normally tomorrow. :)

Housekeeping Mission Statement

I want my house to be clean enough to be healthy, but "dirty" enough to be happy. I want our front rooms to be warm and inviting, and clean enough to invite drop by company in without hesitation or embarrassment. In order to tame the laundry monster, I want to develop the habit of doing one load of laundry each day. Above all, I want my family to be able to relax and enjoy our home (and always have clean socks and unders).

A Birthday Party

Daughter had a birthday party last night. She will be 7 on December 19th. I think she's been talking about her Birthday party since March. Who will come? What will we do? How many people can she invite? Finally, in June, I told her we would have to wait until November 1st to talk anymore about her Birthday. Frankly, I can't think that many months in advance!

About the middle of November, I told her I thought that we would have a smaller birthday party this year. I told her that she could have a few friends for a slumber party. When I said smaller, I was thinking maybe 3 friends. Or 6. Whatever works. :)

So yesterday evening about 6:00pm, her friends began arriving. I put the pizza in the oven and let them make foam door hangers with foam stickers on them. The girls sat on a large picnic blanket and devoured their pizza and pop. There was definitely a buzz of excitement in the air! We had birthday cookie and Daughter opened her gifts. They ran, laughed, screamed, and played. My husband chased them around the house and then let them put makeup and even kiddie fingernail polish all over his face. My best friend came over with her two children to help keep me and Hubby sane and she painted all the girls fingernails. Then, we had a limousine take us around to look at Christmas lights. Honestly, I'm not really sure how many Christmas lights the kids saw, but they had fun being silly in the limo! After the limo ride, the girls played some more and watched High School Musical 2. A little before midnight, the girls all got settled in their sleeping bags on the living room floor, said their prayers, and giggled a lot. I turned down all the lights and opened my laptop to read my daily blogs. By the time I finished my reading, the girls were all sleeping soundly. I took my tired body to bed.

About 8:00 this morning, I began to hear little girl voices. I got up and made a breakfast of chocolate chip muffin cake, bananas, and milk. The girls got dressed, gathered their things, and then watched more High School Musical while dancing and singing along. Moms began showing up around 10 to claim their little girls.

I was pretty nervous about how well a slumber party with 7 girls who were mostly 6 & 7-year-olds would go. Really, once I got past the loudness, it was great! The girls had such a great time, everyone got along very well, and they were very polite and respectful. I was very thankful for my husband who entertained the girls so well, and for my friend, D, who came to keep my sanity in place. All-in-all, it was a great party, and I'll do it again sometime.

Daughter, I hope you had a really, really wonderful time! You have some really precious friends.

Works For Me: Toddler Panties

Little boy underwear are pretty self explanatory. The part where the "little door" is, goes in front. When my daughter started wearing panties and trying to put them on herself, she had trouble. She would have them on backwards, creating a "wedgie", or she'd have her waist through a leg hole. To help her get them on right (and therefore comfortably), I took my sharpie and drew a smiley face on the inside of the front of her panties, right along the waistband. Most of her panty problems were solved!! I feel a little strange blogging about underpants, but it worked for me!

Head on over to Shannon's for more great ideas!!

For Boomama's Soup-tacular

Boomama is hosting a Soup-tacular. After today, I'm sure I'll have several awesome new soup recipes to get me through the cold winter days!

The soup that I'm going to share with you today is ridiculously easy, but I really think it's wonderfully delicious. And, at my house, simple is good.... really good! So with out further ado, here is the recipe for Easy (but delicious) ChickenTortilla Soup!

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• 1/2 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
• 1 cup frozen corn kernels (I usually add more)
  
• 1 cup chopped onion (optional)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 cup chunky salsa
• corn tortilla chips
• shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• you could also add black beans if you want
  

In a large pot, saute the chicken in the oil for 5 minutes over medium heat. Add the garlic and cumin and mix well. Then add the broth, corn, onion, chili powder, lemon juice and salsa. Reduce heat to low and simmer for at least 20 to 30 minutes. Pour soup into bowls and add chips, cheese and some sour cream. Enjoy!!

Works For Me: Chicken and Pasta

I haven't written a post in forever, but I had something worth sharing for Shannon's WFMWTWDIFE, so I decided to go for it.

This is a super simple meal that gets rave reviews at my house!! Everyone eats it, no one complains, and we very seldom have any leftovers.

I cook up some bow tie pasta, drain it and rinse it in cold water. Then I toss it with either Kraft Zesty Italian dressing or Kraft Raspberry Vinaigrette. I serve it with grilled chicken breasts (outdoor, George Foreman, or even just in the skillet). My kids and I love Kraft Catalina dressing on our Chicken. I usually warm up some corn or green beans too. Easy and delicious!

And, here's another one my kids love that is pretty easy.

fettuccine
breaded chicken patties or nuggets
jar of spaghetti sauce
mozzarella & parmesan cheeses

Cook the pasta, heat up the chicken and the sauce, layer it all up on a plate, and there you have easy (but quite yummy) Chicken Parmesan.

Enjoy!!

Works For Me: Cold Coffee Recipe

Caution: This recipe is NOT for the calorie conscious!!

I love, love, love fancy cold coffees! But, at $4 each, I have to make it an occasional splurge. I have discovered this recipe that is inexpensive to make and so delicious. It may not be quite as good as Starbucks, but when I have a mad craving for a cold coffee, I can whip this up at home. And that definitely works for me!!

2 T. instant coffee (I use a little less)
3/4 cup warm water
1 can Fat Free Sweetened Condensed milk
1 tsp. vanilla
4 cups ice.

Dissolve coffee granules into warm water. Pour into blender. Add sweetened condensed milk and vanilla. Blend. Gradually add ice until you reach desired consistency.

You could also add other things to fancy it up a bit more: chocolate chips, chocolate syrup, caramel syrup, etc... Make it your own!

Head on over to Rocks In My Dryer for lots more ideas!!

Need a Good Book to Read??

I am a huge Karen Kingsbury fan!! My dear friend, Lisa, got me started reading Karen's books last summer. Lisa knew that I would be spending many hours on my couch while nursing my new baby, so she loaned me several of Karen's books. Little C. nursed to his heart's content while mama sat and read chapters at a time of Karen's books.

Last summer, I rediscovered my love of reading fiction books. I have to be careful, because when I get started, it's difficult to put the book down. I am tempted to neglect all of those really important things moms must do, like feed the children, and do the laundry. :-) When involved in a really great book, it's not unusual for me to stay up WAY too late. But, that is better than actually neglecting the above mentioned duties!!

What would I recommend?? Well, I've now read most of Karen's books, and honestly, I love them all! But, to get started, I would recommend her Redemption series. You will probably be able to find them at your local library. Or, since we are nearing the anniversary of the tragic events of September 11, 2001, I might suggest reading her September 11th series.

Post a comment and let me know if you pick up one of Karen's many great books! And, if you are already a Karen Kingsbury fan, let me know that too! I bet we'll both be reading her newest book, Found, very soon!

Happy Reading!!

Women...according to my 7 year old

Yesterday we were getting ready to go to the park. I overheard N (7 yr old boy) and K (5 1/2 yr old girl) having the following conversation.

N: K, why do you want to wear those Nemo sandals? I thought they left marks on your feet.
K: I don't care if they leave marks, I still like them.
N (with a sigh): Women are so complicated!!

It just cracked me up!

This is my first time to participate in Menu Plan Monday. I've not always been a menu planner, but am realizing that it really does make life a little simpler. I list a meal for each day, but if something comes up and I need or want to change it, I do. No more standing in front of the fridge at 5pm wondering what to eat for supper. Cheaper grocery bill too...it's a win-win situation!

Monday: Crescent Roll Taco Pie
Tuesday: Tuna and Noodles (I'll post a recipe for this sometime for 5 ingredient Friday).
Wednesday: Aztec Quiche (I grabbed this one from someone's blog, but I can't remember who. Sorry!!) :( It's a new recipe for us, I'm anxious to try it out!
Thursday: Spaghetti
Friday: Chicken Breasts and pasta
Saturday: Leftovers
Sunday: Stroganoff (of the Hamburger Helper variety. We don't do a lot of HH, but we LOVE this one!!)

Head on over to orgjunkie's place for more great menu ideas!

Baby is Getting Brave

Yay!! Last night, Gitchy started taking a few steps. He is the 3rd child and is sooo laid back. He didn't crawl until he was nearly a year old. Now, he's almost 14 months old and last night he decided he could give walking a try. He walked back and forth between me and the couch several times. Big brother and big sister were sitting on the couch and would clap for him when he made it. He was so adorable. He would get to the couch, stop and then clap his hands while trying to still keep his balance. It won't be long now and he'll be readily walking. And then, I will really have to keep an eye out for him.

I had a great time playing hooky from my to do list yesterday. It was already miserably hot and humid by the time we got to the zoo, but we enjoyed it anyway. Gitchy was really watching all the animals and even petted the llama. I love babies excitement over the animals. We came home for lunch and put the pool trip on hold until after supper. Hubby stayed home with the baby and I took the big kids to the pool. I had so much fun swimming with them and going down the big water slides with them. I usually hang out in the shallow area and play with baby. I think N & K like it when they get mom to themselves for awhile! I even managed to do up the dishes and get a couple of work things done yesterday. So, I guess I didn't completely neglect my household duties!! :)

Have a happy Saturday!

I think I will rebel today!

I have a long list of things that need to be done. I have plenty of laundry, some dishes, vacuuming, dusting, a couple of bathrooms that could use some help, and a stack of paperwork a foot high. I also work from home part time and need to put in a couple of hours at my desk. We're getting ready to list our house on the market and need to do some decluttering and organizing for that.

But, you know what I've decided?? School starts in 11 days. I only have 7 weekdays of all 3 children being at home with me. The things on my list? They aren't going away. They will still be there tomorrow and the next day if I don't get to them today. So, today, I'm going to go have fun with my kids. We're going to go to the children's zoo this morning (before the heat is unbearable). Then after we come home for some lunch and a short nap for baby, we're going to go to the pool! I'm going to forget about the things that need to be done (for now). I'm going to enjoy my kids and these last days of summer!! If I can figure it all out, maybe I'll post a couple of pictures later.

What are you doing today?

Thirteen things on my August Calendar!

1. Today my daughter has an eye doctor appointment. Apparently it is now required to have an eye exam before entering kindergarten. Did you know that 1 in 5 children have an undiagnosed vision problem??
2. Later today I'm taking my baby in for his 1 year pictures. (Never mind that he is almost 14 months!!) I can't wait to get his cute little curly head pictures framed and hung up!!
3. Meetings, meetings!! It seems like at the beginning of the school year there are lots of wonderful meetings!
4. The annual back to school picnic. We're excited about this one! We get to go eat and hang out with friends from school that we haven't seen all summer!! Too bad it will probably be 100 degrees while we're trying to eat our potluck food outside!
5. The 2nd Annual Back to School Luau!! My friends Jen and Ryan are hosting this. We had a blast last year. They have lots of fun activities for the kids and lots of good food! And, of course, Hawaiian attire if you wish!
6. August 22nd is my son's first day of 2nd grade!! He's excited to see which friends will be in his class. We already know that one of his best buddies will be!
7. August 23rd is my daughter's first day of Kindergarten!! She is so excited!! She has the same teacher as my son had 2 years ago so she'll feel comfortable right away. Plus, the girl is NOT shy at all!
   
8. August 24th is so special!! My hubby and I are celebrating 10 years of marriage!!!
   
9. August 25th.... Something special is happening today but I can't say what just yet. I think hubby might be reading my blog!
   
10. Swimming! It's my goal to get the kids to the pool as many times as possible before school starts. This week the weather hasn't been very cooperative. But, I am soooo thankful for the great rain we have received!
11. A play date or two. How can it be the end of summer already? There are so many people we should have tried to have a play date with. We'll try to squeeze in a couple among all the swimming we'll be doing.
12. A little more back to school shopping. My oldest just informed me that his shoes are already too small. His little toe will be poking out of the front soon if we don't get to Payless! I'm pretty sure daughter will need tennies too. She'll probably want about 5 other pair to go along with that, but we'll stick with the necessary for now.
13. Days at home with only one child!!!! Poor little Gitchy will probably miss his big brother and sister. I am so excited to have some one on one time with him though. And, I get to take naps with the baby!!!