Who's that sleeping in MY bed?

So I'll admit that I'm pretty strict when it comes to kids sleeping in our bed. Mainly, I don't allow it. It's totally a personal decision, but I'm one of those people who thinks Mom and Dad should have their space apart from the kids. I'm sure it has something to do with how my own parents felt about it, because that's always how I remember it being in our house growing up, too; I can't ever remember climbing in bed with them. I know, too, that I need that space away from them. The days are long and tiring, and when I am able to get some sleep, I like it to be entirely mine, if that makes sense!

BUT...I totally break the rules when Brad's not home. And I have to say, I absolutely love little nighttime visits from my girlies when Brad is away, love snuggling with them and showering them with unexpected kisses during the night, and love waking up to find warm, squishy kids laying next to me. Brad's been away all week, and two nights ago it was Maddie who came in at about 3 AM and asked if she could sleep with me. By 6 AM, I had both Maddie and Sienna in with me, and then by 6:45 Lyla had joined the crew. This morning we made it until about 5:30 before I ended up with both M and S in bed with me again. What great snuggle time! Don't get me wrong...I can't wait for Brad to get home. Mostly because I've missed him, because honestly it doesn't phase me that much anymore to do it all myself. The kids are a bit older, the baby is much more self-sufficient than she used to be, and we've got a good routine going. But even though I can't wait for him to get home, I'm definitely ok with one more night of my sweet little guests.

They grow so fast...

Tonight I put a shirt on Sienna that used to be one of Maddie's. Increasingly, Madelyn's clothes are going directly from her drawers to Sienna's, since Si is quite a bit taller than Maddie was at this age. So it reminded me that this shirt was, in fact, the one that Madelyn wore on her first day of preschool last year! So tonight I was just messing around on the computer and decided to call up Maddie's first day of preschool pics from last year. Wow has she changed a lot in the past year! Where has my baby gone?? Reminisce with me...

Then and Now:

Little Ears are Everywhere!

Now that the kids are getting a little older, I really have to remind myself that little hears can hear a whole lot! It's amazing how much the kids pick up on, and even more amazing still when they might decide to drag up some of the information they know or have heard.

Sienna has been the source of a lot of laughs lately with what she comes out with -- all of which serve as reminders that even little kids DO listen...at least selectively. We were in church yesterday and the minister was giving the sermon, talking about a scripture lesson that included a man named Jonathan. While doodling on the bulletin we gave her with a pencil from the back of the pew, Sienna all of the sudden whispered (very loudy!), "MOM... he's talking about JONATHAN!" and I knew immediately that she was referring to out next door neighbor. I told her that she was right, he had been speaking about Jonathan - but it was a different Jonathan than her friend next door. A minute later, the minister went on to say '...and Jonathan was killed." Ok, a bit above the two year old, I thought. But Sienna stops drawing once again and turns to me with huge eyes and says, "MOM!! Jonathan was KILLED???" I didn't know whether to be amazed that she was actually listening to the sermon or concerned that she was hearing things a little over her head in church, but in the end it made me laugh.

I got my second little Sienna surprise of the day when we were driving home from church and all of the sudden Si started singing the following:

"I kissed a girl, I kissed a girl! Taste of her Cherry Chex..." repeat, repeat, repeat....

Obviously Sienna has taken in (in very short order!) the lyrics "I Kissed A Girl" by Katy Perry, which comes on the radio sometimes while we're driving. She hasn't got it quite right, but close enough! (You can tell that Chex is one of her favorites, LOL.) Last week I was fairly flippant in my response to a question about whether that was the kind of song I would let my girls listen to. But something about hearing your 2 year old singing does just sort of bring the topic front and center, huh? Another prime example of little ears picking up on everything!

Maddie gave me a good reminder today that even if some kids stories are funny to me, it may not be so fun for the kids to hear me recounting them to people. Last week at Sunday School Maddie was told all about the kids in foreign countries (India, Haiti, Kenya) that the Sunday School is going to be sponsoring through their donations, which will go to helping kids that are not as fortunate as those in her class. At the end of class, I asked M what she had learned and she handed me the info. sheet, answering "You're going to have to spend a LOT of money!" It totally cracked me up, and I've told the story to my mom, etc. and recounted it to the Sunday School teacher today. I just thought it was cute, and yeah, funny to that the prime message she took away seem to be that Mom and Dad were going to have to pay a lot of money...somehow I doubted that was the primary message! In any event, it must have been bothering M to overhear me telling the story, because this morning she got a bit sulky and when I asked her what was wrong, she said, " I don't want you to tell everyone that I said you were going to have to pay a lot of money! I don't want you to tell people that story, I don't like it!" I instantly felt bad and wanted to acknowledge that she was right, and I was wrong -- I didn't mean anything by telling the story, but I did tell her that I was sorry and that I would not tell people again if it bothered her. She does seem very concerned that people are going to laugh at her for some reason, and I definitely felt bad. At 4.5, she is certainly old enough to know and appreciate when she is being talked about! So key lesson learned: Mom needs to be a little bit more careful when telling stories around little ears!

Potty Obsession

Lyla is completely fascinated by the toilet. I know kids tend to have a natural curiousity about it, and we definitely had a few instances with Madelyn and Sienna where we had to tell them not to get into the potty, let's stay away from the toilet paper, etc. But Lyla has a crazy interest in all things toilet related!

Last week, she put blocks in the potty, along with some Little People. Fun to get those things out and all, but no big deal - they went right in the dishwasher, then back into the toy rotation. A couple of weeks ago, she blocked the whole toilet up by putting about a half a roll of TP in the potty at once. Annoying, but again no big deal. This morning? Madelyn's brand new Stride Rite back to school sneakers. Yep, right in. GRRRRrrr!

I swear we do watch her, and we try to keep the bathroom door closed. But this stuff happens in an instant - she is SO quick! Add to that the fact that a toilet lock isn't really an option with a recently potty trained 2.5 year old, and you can see where we get into trouble. Hmmm...too bad this fascination with the toilet isn't a sign that she's ready for some potty training!

Back to the Routine

So I haven't posted anything in a while (again!) and lately I really feel I miss blogging. Time is just flying by so fast, and I feel like if I don't write something down here every once in a while, I'm going to forget just about everything!

We're trying to get settled back into a fall routine, and so far it's going mostly ok, with a glitch or two here and there. Madelyn started her first full week of Pre-K this week and really just seems to be loving it. I didn't really think I would notice a difference between preschool and Pre-K, but I definitely do. There are three new kids in her class that weren't in the preschool class last year, and she's happy to come home and tell me all about her new friends. Last year, she was the oldest in the class; now, there are a few others older than she is, which I think is good for her. I keep warning her teacher that she seems to have turned into a teenager over the summer (with all the sass and attitude that comes with it, ugh!). After her first day, the teacher told me that they were reviewing the family pictures that the kids were asked to bring in, and half way through Maddie said, "Umm...excuse me Miss K. I really think that, um, now that we're, you know - OLDER - we should really call our mother's "Mom" instead of Mommy or Mama." All the while she's doing her hand new teenager-style hand gesturing thing, of course. Miss K told Maddie she thought it was ok if the other kids still wanted to call their Moms "Mommy" or whatever. But Maddie said, "Well, you know. I just think since we're four, we should probably call her Mom, you know?" What a character. The teacher said she was perfectly nice and polite about it, and really seemed like she thought they should have to graduate to calling their mother's "Mom." Where does she come up with this stuff??

Pre-K is three days a week...the rest of the weekly schedule is now taken up with gymnastics for Maddie and Sienna on Saturday mornings, then Music & Movement for Sienna on Monday (the babysitter takes her during the day while Maddie is at pre-K, and Lyla watches), and year two of dance for Maddie on Wednesday. She's in the 5-8 yr. class this fall, a bit early but she seems to enjoy the challenge and since at this age it's mostly about following directions, that class is a better fit for her than the 2.5-5 year old class.

As for Lyla, she's going through a tremendous language spurt right now, mimicking more and more words and jabbering up a storm. She's in that adorable phase where she'll throw out what seems like an entire sentence of gibberish, and then end it with a very real word like "puppy" or "baby" or "up." It's so endearing! She's cut all four molars in the past few weeks, which has made for a bit of a clingy baby. But since they've all finally come through, she's back to her fairly independent and strong-willed self. Her favorite thing to do right now is to look at books, practice climbing up and down stairs (and chairs, etc.) and push around the baby stroller with a doll in it.

15 months (or 16, as the case may be!)

Lyla had her 15 month checkup on Saturday, though she was actually almost 16 months. I guess it's fitting that the youngest is also the peanut of the bunch, and Lyla continues to be very petite for her age. At 16 months, she's only 20 lbs. 10 oz. and 29 inches long -- which puts her in the 13th percentile for weight and the 7th for height. Her ped thinks she's perfectly proportioned, but that she is definitely in a slow growth mode right now. While she's not worried about it, she thinks Lyla may be exhibiting a "constitutional growth delay" where she may get fairly behind in her growth for up to the next couple of years, and then all of the sudden shoot up to a different growth curve. She said it's actually not all the uncommon for kids her age, but of course it's just one more thing for mom to worry about. Anyone who knows me knows that I had such a hard time with my small height (personally) during my school years, so obviously I really hope that my girls end up taller than my petite 5' 1/2" adult height. Her ped said it's a bit early to tell and they'll have a better idea at age 2, but that it's not likely she'll end up shorter than me. Phew!!

But of course, in the end height is a small thing. And as long as my baby stays happy, healthy, and as gorgeous as I *of course* think she is, we'll consider ourselves lucky no matter how tall she ends up. Hopefully we have a nice growth spurt to report at 18 months. The ped was really very surprised by her height measurement this time around, so much so that she thought the nurse had mis-measured and felt the need to do it again. No such luck, but I swear the next day she looked like she had grown overnight. So maybe we just missed a growth spurt in there!

It's so crazy how different all of my kids are in this department. We've got Maddie who's very average height and always in the 50th percentile, Sienna who is the biggest of the bunch and is more like 70th percentile for height and always seems tall for her age, and now Lyla who's at the opposite extreme. I'm so curious to see where they all end up in relation to eachother and to Brad and I! Maybe Sienna is like Daddy, Lyla is like Mommy and Maddie is the true mix, height/build wise. Funny.

Hose Her Down!

What kid doesn't love a nice, messy bowl of spaghetti? Lyla seems to be no exception...you give that girl a bowl of spaghetti and it's a recipe for instant mess. Not much news to report on this front, but last night she was so cute stuffing spaghetti and red sauce in your mouth and wearing half a bowl down the front of her. When all was said and done, I had no choice but to throw her right in the bath -- and sink the sink was handy, we opted to put her right in the sink for a bath so as not to trail pasta throughout the house on the way up to the bathroom.

She loved being in the sink -- probably because she was guaranteed to have the space all to herself, with no possiblity of having to share with her sisters! But even so, Sienna stayed close by and was happy to help shuttle soap bottles, toys, etc. to make Lyla's bath more enjoyable.



I had taken Lyla for her 15 month appointment yesterday morning, a bit late since she'll be 16 months tomorrow! She is still very much a little peanut, and has dropped even more in her percentiles. She's only inthe 7th percentile for height (which explains why everyone wonders if she's really old enough to be walking) and in the 13th for height. So very proportionate, just petite. Not too surprising given the short genes that her mother donated to the mix! The ped isn't too concerned at this point, but hopefully she'll have a growth spurt soon to catch up a bit. She's right on track or ahead with all of her other milestones, so she's doing great overall! She's been a bit cranky today after having several shots yeterday, but I guess that's to be expected. She's also working on her one year molars and her eye teeth, so I guess we'll forgive her crankiness a bit.

Can I just say...

That having ONE child in diapers is such an improvement over having TWO kids in diapers?!! Yes, Sienna is officially potty trained now... YAHOO!! We still have an occasional accident here and there, but we've gone days without one. And last night, I put her in undies even for bed, since she's been napping in them, waking up to go potty when she needs to, and waking up dry in the mornings. This morning...dry undies! Hooray Sienna! With prices of everything so high these days, it's really nice to be getting a break from having to buy double the diapers each month!

The End of the School Year

Maddie's preschool wrapped up for the year last Thursday, finishing with a cute end of year celebration: an animal fashion show. Miss Kate went all out and rented a tent for the Pre-K graduation and the preschool refreshments after the show. The kids had each been assigned a particular animal and had to do homework assignments concerning that animal over the past couple of weeks. Madelyn had chosen a lion - and had been going around the house practicing her roar for at least a few weeks! (Funnier still is that she's also had her sisters practicing, so Sienna and even Little Miss Lyla have gotten their ROARRRs down pat!) Miss Kate had taped each of the kids describing key facts about themselves as the animal, which she played while each child was walking down the "runway." It was so adorable to hear Maddie's cute little recorded voice saying, "I am a lion. I live in Africa. I weigh 500 pounds. My enemies are: buffalos. Something special about me is: I only live in Africa." She had her face lightly painted and a posterboard lion placard that she had painted and decorated hanging from her neck. Some of her friends were frogs, panda bears, tigers, etc. and they were all just adorable.

After the fashion show was over, the kids sang some songs and then we headed to the tent for refreshments and socializing. It was a very nice end to what has been a great year. It's amazing the difference that a great school can make... Madelyn has truly flourished this year in Miss Kate's class, and has so thoroughly enjoyed it that I really wish I could send her every single day, just because it makes her so happy to go. The amount of things she has learned in one year just amazes me, and she's had such a nice opportunity to grow her leadership skills and to make some good friends with the other two girls in her class. Her end of year report indicated we should continue to provide her with opportunities to do higher order math (addition, subtraction, word problems, etc.) and to sound out words, etc. These are things she loves to work on -- she amazes me with her ability to do math in her head at age 4! If you ask her what 7 minus 5 is, for example, she can usually answer without hesitation and get it right. I think she has inherited her daddy's mathematical mind -- because it surely does NOT come from me. The thing about Maddie is that we're never trying to encourage her to learn this kind of thing - I'm all for kids being kids, knowing they'll spend plenty of time over the years in school, etc., etc. But Maddie usually begs for this kind of exercise and just really has fun doing it. So we figure we might as well encourage it. She probably won't enjoy word problems and homework forever!

I give it max 2 weeks before Madelyn is begging to go back to Miss Kate's. One thing is certain, she will definitely get bored around the house this summer with a less structured weekly schedule, so I need to find some ideas for Rachael. Bored kids = trouble for everyone around!

Maddie Knows Best

Maddie is 4.5 going on 30. More specifically, she's a preschooler going on being a mother. Her most favorite activity is to boss her sister around and "discipline" her as if she's a parent. She is driving us NUTS with this. Poor Sienna gets told how to dress, what to sing, where to dance, what she should go to time out for, what color cup she should drink out of, what to build with the mega blocks, etc. etc. Seriously, it's amazing that Sienna even knows what she wants at all or has an opinion on anything, given that Maddie seems so willing to impart her wisdom on every aspect of Sienna's thoughts and actions. As ridiculous as it seems, I often find myself trying to defend her and speak up on her behalf. I have such a hard time just sitting and watching her get told which play food to put in the play oven, for goodness sakes!!

The flip side of it is that even though her bossiness seems to have reached a new level lately, she really is a good protector of her little sister -- and sometimes with Sienna, you're really grateful that Maddie's always got her eyes out for bad behavior, LOL. Maddie's the first to let us know when Sienna is getting into trouble, and also the first to help keep her out of trouble when we're out and about. So I guess there's a positive side there somewhere.

The other day I had had enough of Maddie acting as if she was Sienna's mom (she was telling her she was going to have to go to time out for some little thing) so I said, "Madelyn, PLEASE stop telling her what to do. We have enough parents in this house!" Without a moment's pause, she shot back, "Moooomm! We ONLY have two!" Didn't even have a response for that one!

Sienna takes a lot of it in stride, but does get ticked off every now and again. And her repsonse is usually to squeal or yell back and say "NO Maddie! I'm NOT doing that!" or "No Maddie! I NOT going to time out!" And then every once in a while, she tries it out on me and sends ME to time out...because who wouldn't want to copy big sister? Gotta love it. I've already spent more time in time out as a mother than I can remember spending in TO as a kid!

This is one of those lovely behaviors that I'm really hoping is a phase...

Sweet Summer Evenings

On Thursday, the weather was just so beautiful and perfect that when 5 PM rolled around and we finished work for the day, we just couldn't imagine *not* taking advantage of it. Brad and I talked it over and decided to quickly grill dinner, feed the kids, and head down to the waterfront for an ice cream. Actually in our world, having an ice cream out means stopping at McDonald's for a soft serve - since it's pretty much the only allergy-friendly ice cream option we have for Sienna in terms of restaurants. But even soft serve vanilla from Mickey D's tastes great when you're sitting by the harbor on a beautiful night (and when you're a toddler/preschooler and ice cream of any sort is a treat!).

Brad looked at me a little strangely when I suggested the idea, because I think he thought it was odd that I mentioned going down to see the boats in the harbor as an activity. But that's one of those things we did plenty of times with my parents as kids, so I have fond memories of it and seems like a real summer thing to do. The tourists must feel the same way, as the harbor and waterfront was really busy - in a good way! The kids were so well behaved and so many people stopped to smile or say how cute they were...which always has a way of making me feel so proud of them. Maddie and Sienna had fun climbing up a little tree, and checking out the boats (even spotting the pirate ship that they went on last summer, which was obviously a huge hit!). Little Miss Lyla was walking all over the place - and was very mad that she didn't get her OWN ice cream and had to share with me.

It's taken us a while to adjust to a new life since moving from Chicago, but this was one of those nights where it was fun to see this town from an adult perspective, and from the standpoint of now enjoying it with my own kids instead of just calling on my own memories of it growing up. We hit one of the gift shops before leaving (potty stop!) and picked up a couple of town t-shirts for the 4th of July for $5. Hard to believe they'll be wearing them soon! An all around fun way to kick off summer, though.

I'd love to say that the evening finished really sweetly and all, but hey - 3 kids, an extra dose of sugar, pushing a late bedtime, an unexpected delay in departure due to the (LONG) potty stop Maddie needed to make, and you figure we were headed for some meltdowns. Sienna and Lyla both had had their fill of fun summer activities, and after some major tantrums, both passed out in the car on the way home.

Well...

The Fish
It didn't take one to lose one... sadly, we had a ceremonial toilet flushing this morning to mourn the loss of "Lyla's Little Orange Fish," who hadn't even been with us long enough to get a real name. Though it's not really funny, I seriously think that the reason poor little Lyla Jr. died was because the other - bigger - two fish in the aquarium were terrorizing the poor thing. Brad and I had a feeling the orange fish wouldn't be with us too long, because by day two the poor fishy was hiding out under the pirate ship, with "Spotty" (Maddie's big spotted black fish who loves to eat and seems a bit aggressive) always standing guard on either side and looking like he might be getting some enjoyment out of it. Hmmm...does this seem to reflect our lives at all? Any symbolic meaning here??

The newest members of the household are...

FISH! Yep, as of tonight we've got a cute 10 gallon tank set up with three little fishies in it. The kids are so excited to have "pets," and I think that even though they're really young they definitely understand that Mommy just isn't a pet person and this is the closest they're likely to get to having animals in the house!

The fish are the result of a successful round of the chore chart, which we labelled "The Fishy Chart" in honor of the reward at stake. The chart was honestly for Sienna... we told her she could earn a fish if she had no accidents for five whole days. We couldn't really do this for just Sienna, and since Maddie has been asking for a fish for a long time, we told her that if she cleaned her room - and kept it clean - for five days, she could also earn one. Lyla earned one by default if the other two did, but I guess that's the benefit of being the baby! So Sienna took a couple of extra days, but she did in fact earn the fish -- she's not exactly 100% trained because she still hasn't got the pooping in the potty thing down, but she's wearing underwear all day long and doing really well even out in public. She's waking up mostly dry, too, so I'm hoping we'll get rid of the nightime pull-ups soon. But even still, it's nice to be getting back to only one in diapers!

So Madelyn picked a black and white spotted fish; Sienna picked an all-black Molly. And Lyla got a red/orange fish with a black tail, picked by Mommy. The girls are still contemplating names, but so far Maddie has tossed around Spotty, Speedy, and Miss Caitlin (in tribute to her and Sienna's dance teacher, and enthusiastically seconded by Sienna - but I told them I wasn't sure if Caitlin would consider it a tribute to have a fish named after her, though we can ask tomorrow at dance!), as well as the very descriptive "Black and White Spotted Fish." Stay tuned for the final decision...

Hopefully the fish survive the introduction into the H household. Sienna has already been asking if she can pick the fish up in her hand tomorrow (um, NO!!) and Lyla has already gone straight for the tank a few times. But it's great to see them so excited, and proud of their accomplishment in earning those fishies!

A taste of summer!

We really got a taste of summer today, with hot humid weather and lots of sun. Yay! Of course, our neighborhood is really close to the ocean and seems to always run at least 10 degrees cooler than the center of town (today we were about 14 degrees cooler than it was at the next exit north - crazy!), but it was very nice and it just made you want to get out there and dig out the kiddie pool. I won't post pics of everyone since I don't have their permission, but our yard seemed to be the place to be today among the neighborhood kids. As my mom said earlier today, it doesn't take much to keep little kids entertained...and that was certainly true today, with 7 kids in a kiddie pool! They ranged in age from 6.5 down to Lyla at 14 months, but they all had a ball playing. We've gotten more use out of our Little Tikes kiddie slide and swing combo as a slide into the pool than we ever did when the kids were smaller.

Maddie is really into digging, making mud pies, and collecting bugs lately. So she and our neighbor, Ryan, spent a decent amount of time digging in the backyard along the tree line, and making things to eat. Maddie's favorite menu item of late is "Raspberry Sorbet" which totally cracks me up -- she's never even had it, so I have no idea where she got that idea for her concoctions.

Other that the fun in the backyard, Maddie had soccer and Sienna had gymnastics today. Sienna's gymnastics class is gearing up for a little show in a couple of weeks, which I honestly could care less about. This is all new to her, so getting her to "perform" is the furthest thing from my mind.... and with the dance recital just ending, I think we've had enough shows for a while! But Sienna is enjoying it and she actually follows directions really well, for the most part, so it's been a lot of fun to do with her so far.

"Drek-shuns"

Sienna has a habit of running into my walk-in closet as of late, and trying to get into my craft stuff. Generally, I keep a doorknob lock on our bedroom door and that does the trick. But those have never kept Maddie out, so if she opens it, or if I forget to shut it for whatever reason, Sienna tends to go right for the closet while we're getting the other two ready for bed. Tonight I was handling the bedtime routine on my own while Brad was out, and she made a beeline for the closet while I was finishing Lyla's bath up. Which was guaranteed trouble...even before Madelyn headed right in after her. Not two minutes after they went in, I heard muffled giggling coming from the closet. I went running in with a big 'ole "Sienna ABIGAIL!" and found the two of them hunched over a big pile of tiny colored eyelets from my scrapbooking supplies; I keep them in a little divided plastic organizer case and Sienna had opened it and dumped them everywhere. GRRR. Needless to say, I wasn't happy about it and had them in bed less than ten minutes later. They were overdue and I was worn out!

I went in to kiss Sienna goodnight, and she looked up at me with her huge eyes, sort of batted a little eyelash at me with what I think of as her "How on earth can you resist this magnficient cuteness?" look, and said: "Momma, I'm sorry I didn't do your drek-shuns (AKA "directions"), but I just don't CARE about drek-shuns!"

OMG, I nearly peed my pants. How much more brutally honest can you get? LOL. I think I'm headed for trouble. If she doesn't care about my directions now, I shudder to think how she'll react to the "drek-shuns" I'm going to give her when she's 16!

Her sweetest milestone yet

Yesterday, Lyla started giving me hugs. She took a few steps towards me, reached out, and put her head on my shoulder. Awwww!! So sweet!! I don't remember when the other kids started doing this, but I know it was later than 14 months (yes, she's 14 months old today -- how did that happen???). Now, when I ask her for hugs, she reaches out and snuggles her head on my shoulder. And then...as if that wasn't just the way to make my entire day...today she actually started saying "hu" "hu" when she does it. Seriously, my heart could just melt. She's not really a snuggler, so to speak, so this is such a nice new development for us!

Madelyn's Recital

Madelyn's dance recital was so much fun. Really, truly, one of my favorite things this year. Despite all the complaining I did over the past month or so about the time required, the fact that we had to spend our Saturdays and Sundays rehearsing, getting into full costume, driving her back and forth, etc. -- in the end it was so worth it to see how much fun she had and to see her adorable little personality up there on stage.

I have worried that Maddie wasn't having all that much fun in dance, and that she didn't want to continue; I have told her many times that she doesn't have to take dance, that it should be fun, etc., and offered to take her out -- but every time, she assures me that she does want to do it, that she likes it, etc. But I think I've really seen how similar her personality is to mine through this whole process (and sometimes I wish it wasn't quite so similar, because you never want your child to have some of the same faults or tensions you do!), and how hard she can be on herself. She wants to be really good at something right from the start, and when she has to practice something over and over she can get a bit frustrated that she's not "getting it" as fast as she thinks she should. She has complained a couple of times that she's "not as good as the other kids" - which is to be expected, since the other 4 kids in her class all have taken dance for at least one more year than she has. I've really tried to explain to her that it's for fun, but at the same time I'm also trying to explain to her that sometimes, you have to work hard at things and try, try again; this doesn't mean that you're not "good" at it, it just means you're learning and challenging yourself. We had a good talk last week about the fact that some of the things you work hardest at are the things that make you most proud of yourself...because when you finally do figure it out, you have a great sense of accomplishment and it makes you feel really good about yourself. Again, emphasizing how it makes HER feel, how her efforts pay her off for HERSELF -- vs. making her "as good as" others.

Needless to say, I felt really good when I put her to bed last night and we talked about dance, the recital, etc. We were going through what a busy weekend it had been, and how the recital was so exciting (and tiring!), etc., and how proud I was of her. I asked if she wanted to take dance again (the next session starts in another week), and she gave me a very emphatic "Yes! I love dance! I want to learn a new dance!" Then I asked her what her favorite part of the whole dance recital was, and she responded, "I liked that I did a good job and it made me proud." Sometimes, I think they really do hear what I'm saying. So now I'm not only the proudest mommy around because of her very good performance this weekend, but because I think she did come away from the experience feeling really good about herself. What a great kid!

Ahh...Quiet!

Here is one of my favorite recent stories; I'm starting with this story because it leads perfectly into one of the strangest - yet very nice - aspects of our Memorial Day Weekend:

Lyla is in the clingy phase...teething up a storm, severe stranger anxiety, freaks out whenever Mommy or Daddy leaves the room or even puts her down. In other words, that really fun phase. So our days over the past few weeks have pretty much consisted of her crawling or cruising around behind me, wherever I go, screaming or yelling at me because I won't pick her up. If I stop for a second, she climbs up my legs; if I don't then pick her up, she yells even louder. It's obviously VERY loud.

This means that putting Sienna in Time Out for hitting Madelyn could nearly put you over the edge, since the volume level more than doubles. But that's where she ended up the other day after getting a little too agressive. So, she was in Time Out (in a small hallway off the kitchen) screaming that she didn't want to be there. Lyla was crawling around behind me in the kitchen, screaming because I was dealing with Sienna and wouldn't pick her up. Thank goodness Maddie wasn't really hurt by the little incident with Sienna, and therefore was NOT crying and was instead satisfied by Sienna going to time out. Lyla managed to crawl her way over in the general vicinity of Sienna's Time Out spot, still yelling and screaming at me. Sienna momentarily stops carrying on enough to shake her little index finger and Lyla and yell, "HEY! NO, Lyla! I'M CRYING!! You don't cry!!" I had all I could do to keep the tears from running down my face. We've reached a new level...they're fighting over who gets to cry!

So back to this weekend...my parents offered to take Sienna overnight after Maddie's dance recital, so that she could have a special night too, in the midst of all of the fanfare over Maddie's performance. Since we've been getting so little sleep lately with her waking up at all hours, we were looking forward to a night of sleep and some time with Maddie and Lyla. Maddie was pretty upset about the arrangement, so my mom and dad ended up taking Sienna on Saturday night, and then Maddie on Sunday night. It really gave us some time to spend a little more in-depth time with each of them. But the thing I noticed most? It is SO much quieter at our house with only two children! I missed them both terribly, but we found ourselves appreciating just a bit of quiet SO much. Obviously we love the loudness and the chaos and pretty much everything about our three kids, but sometimes it's so loud I can't think straight!

So we did some fun things... while Sienna was at Grammy and Grampy's, we took advantage of having no allergy worries and actually going out for breakfast at Percy's Place. OMG, it was delicious! Maddie, Brad and I all had EGGS and loved every bite of it! And little Lyla put away so much pancake I thought she might seriously burst. Then while Maddie was gone, we took Sienna and Lyla to the duck pond and the Grist Mill for a picnic lunch. It was a gorgeous weekend, weather-wise, and we took full advantage. I missed each of the kids tremendously while they were gone (it was especially weird not to have Maddie around after spending so much one-on-one time with her over the past several weeks at dance recitals, rehearsals, etc.), but I think it's always nice to get a little more time to focus on each of them - especially if it's a little quieter and less chaotic!

Okay, okay...

The anonymous poster who keeps "whispering" in my blogging ear has won out...and I'm dragging myself back to update after a two month break! I just can't seem to find time in the days anymore, and once you've been out of the habit for a week or two, it just seems easy to let it go. But that said, I have no shortage of stories and updates these days, so I'm going to try to keep it up. I'm not sure how many people even read this... so if you're out there, please do post and let me know you're here! :-)

I swear, the kids have grown so much since I put up the three pictures on the top of this blog that even *I* barely recognize them. Lyla has of course turned one since then, and is now 13 months old and heading straight into toddlerhood. She's not walking yet, but she's extremely mobile and get very much into the climbing stage. She says a few words -- mama, dada, more, up, clap, buh-bye, no -- but not too much yet. She's got a pretty funny sense of humor and is most amused by her sisters, but she has an awful attachment to Mommy that results in a whole lot of screaming if I step more than two feet away from her in any direction. Hopefully this separation anxiety phase will pass soon...but it's been going on for a while now!

Madelyn and Sienna are very busy with activities this spring. Maddie is totally immersed in rehearsals for her dance recitals, which are coming up on Memorial Day weekend. That will be a whole other post, though... Sienna started gymnastics this weekend and just loved it. She's already asking when she can go back again.

I will definitely post more soon, including hopefully some updated pics. But for now, this post should at least serve to say the blog is not *entirely* dead!

They're Curious

Curious George seems to be the preschool show of the moment in our house. Both Maddie and Sienna are pretty fond of the little monkey, and it's inspiring all sorts of interesting activity. Tonight at dinner we had lots of water experimentation, after Maddie filled up one of the clear plastic block buckets and wanted to experiment with how heavy it was, how it changed once you took some water out, etc. This led to a fun little tea party where she poured out cups and saucers full of tea and "soup" for her and Sienna, accompanied by a fun little ditty where she sang "It's a SOUPY day, it's a soupy day..."

Last week, Brad brightened my business trip by sending me these pictures of the girls and their latest adventures in curiousity...

A couple of comments about these pics:

- In case you couldn't tell, the girls were making a robot.

- Yes, Sienna has wacky rain boots on -- her choice, she is crazy crazy about shoes.

- Yes, Daddy did dress her while I was away...'nuff said.

- Yes, our sliding door is in fact an artwork gallery for Madelyn's creations; she tapes everything up there herself and gets very upset if anyone touches it. The newest sign reads "No Dragons. Keep Out." and she is pretty much insistent that it stay up.

So science is the thing these days. Continuing on with the kick, Maddie told Brad last night at bedtime that when she gets older in a couple of years, they were going to go to Home Depot to buy some wood to make a rocket ship, so they could take a trip to Mars together. What a fun thought!

Baby Talk

Even though it hasn't been all that long since Sienna was in this phase, I had forgotten how unbelievably cute the "baby talk" phase is. Lyla is constantly making noise these days, using all sort of consonants and different mouth positions to get as many interesting sounds out as her little mouth will allow. She says a couple of simple words, one of which is her name! It's very cute to hear her copy you and say "WhhhhhyyWaaa." Not as reliable about Mama, but she'll use the word pretty liberally when hungry or wanting to be changed! It's hard to believe that she's going to be one in just a few weeks. Where has a year gone??

Speaking of turning one, I need to get on the arrangements for her birthday celebration. Since we'll be in Aruba, I'm thinking of having a little get together around the pool. Very casual, but maybe some hamburgers and hot dogs and - of course - a fun tropical beverage or two. We'll be in Aruba with a number of people that we know, so it will be fun for L to have people to celebrate with while we're there!

Two weeks already...

That's how long it's been since my last post. Didn't I resolve to be better about this in 2008? (Maybe that's why I shouldn't bother with resolutions...)

Hmm...what's been going on with us?

- Madelyn has been working away at her dance recital piece, and I still don't really get to see any of her classes. Bummer. But they did schedule her recitals, and they are taking place May 24th and 25th. I'm so excited to see her! We had to order her costume a couple of weeks ago, and we got to see pics of it. She's going to be adorable! They're dancing to that old song, "Lollipop" (think "Stand By Me") and have frilly pink tutus. I don't know if I can handle that much girly-ness! LOL.

- I went out for a girls night out with my good friends Allison and Kristen this past weekend, and we had a great time. We went out for fondue at The Melting Pot and had the most interesting, relaxing night. No kids, a nice glass of wine, and yummy cheese, coq au vin, and dark chocolate raspberry fondue. Mmm, I'm drooling just thinking about it again! :-) As much as we all love to get our kids together - since they are all girls and are all relatively close in age - it was so nice to go out and just have some adult time without the 7 little princesses. Definitely gotta do that again sometime soon!

- Lyla is growing up right before my eyes. I can't get over how much she's changed, even in the past month. She's pulling up now, and even letting go and standing unassisted from time to time. She seems desperate to walk, and it all totally freaks me out because she's still not even 16 pounds! You look at her and think she's 5 months old or so, and then you see her crawling across the room, pulling up and trying to cruise/walk/stand. It's too funny. She's also eating more finger food, waving, and chattering away. She does her own little version of dancing when the put music on and go to town. I'm biased, but I think she's just adorable.

I need to post some videos and pics at some point, but for now that's all the news that's fit to print!

Our little librarian

Sienna seems to be showing a real love of books and reading already. I know Maddie was interested in them, but Sienna spends so much time just poring through books of all sorts, carrying them around the house, reading them to herself...and oh yeah, destroying them as well. She has a bit of a destructive streak in her (ok, maybe more than a bit), and while she loves books she also loves to write in them, draw on pages, and even tear them from time to time. I've already got one library book that I'm going to be paying for this week that she managed to get to before I hid Maddie's books from reach.

Despite the "improvements" she seems to want to make to them, she is really adorable when it comes to her books. Yesterday, I was cleaning and organizing our walk-in closet in the master bedroom. To keep tabs on her, I brought in her Dora castle and people, and we pretended Dora was hiding away with her friends; Sienna thought it was particularly funny to pretend Dora was sleeping in the closet and kept whispering to me loudly, "SHHH! You need to be quiet!" But while in my closet, she found a paperback novel I finished recently. She must have spent a half hour sitting next to me while I sorted and organized clothes, flipping through the 200+ pages as if she were reading it. No pictures or anything, just words. She kept calling it "my book" and when I asked about Dora and how her nap was going said, "You don't take away my book!" (she's in a very possessive phase right now where she thinks everyone is going to take things away from her -- I think this is a direct result of having to fight to keep her stuff from Maddie all the time these days!). Finally, she put down the book and looked at me with the cutest puppy dog eyes and shook her head, saying, "Nope. I can't read the book. It's too hard!"

Awwww! I felt so bad for her...but it was oh so cute!

Here's to a new year!

Happy 2008! I missed posting on January 1st by a few minutes, but have been reflecting the past couple of days on what my resolutions for the year should be. I'm so-so when it comes to keeping my resolutions. I pretty much never forget about them during the year, but I definitely go back and forth between really keeping them and just totally ignoring them. Still, I do think that the first of the year is a great time to set some goals for yourself, try to frame up what you want the year to be all about , what you'd like to accomplish, etc. So with that in mind, here are a few I've come up with:

- Getting and staying fit. I've been on a diet/weight loss/exercise kick for a while now, and am just about at my goal. But now that I've lost a decent amount of weight, I really want to get in great shape. Brad gave me a number of things for Christmas to help me keep up with my exercise at home (things I asked for!), so I have no excuse. My motto: "Fab shape in '08!"

- Planning meals in advance, and eating together as a family. This is a tough one for me -- three young kids at dinner time can really make it difficult, if not next to impossible, to find something we can all sit down, eat together, and actually like. Add to that the fact that we both work full time and 5-7 PM is sort of the crazy time in our household, and it gets even more difficult. But Maddie has really been into the idea of us all eating together lately, and I don't have any good explanations for her as to why I can't make that happen. So this is one I will make happen this year. I also want to be better at planning more effective grocery shopping trips, so having meals planned out in advance should definitely help.

- Having more patience to get through the toddler/preschool phases the kids seem to continuously throw my way. I don't really know if this one is a resolution, or a plea for a total personality change on my part, LOL! It falls into the category of annoying resolutions for me, because it's very vague and hard to put an actual plan behind. But it's something I'm going to work on.

- Visiting a financial planner and getting a solid plan in place for retirement, college savings, etc. Having just turned 34, I'm thinking it's time for a bit of a "master plan," so to speak. No more flying by the seat of our pants! Honestly, even the thought of paying for three weddings has been freaking me out lately! (And will that even be in any way customary by the time my girls get married? Not even sure how I feel about paying for their weddings, but it's just one of the many expenses I know *could* be on the horizon.)

So there you have it. I'm hoping that by "writing" them out here, I'll have to hold myself accountable a little bit. Stay tuned... I'll report back my progress next year.