Out of the Crib

The time has come for Emma Mae to make the big move. She is about 18 months and it's time to move out of the crib and into the bed. I realize that 18 months may seem a little young but she and Madi share a pretty small room and since we got the bunk beds there is just no room for the crib anymore. Madi was forced out of the crib at 19 months when Emma Mae was born and Jackson moved out of his crib when he was about a year because he was climbing out of it. Jonathon (in case you just started reading this blog) slept with us until he was 3 so he never even saw the inside of his crib.

Well, this has been one trying week. (Please ignore my sad busted up rail on the side there that has been through 3 toddlers at my house and was previously used by my MIL.) You can see that the rail doesn't go all the way down to the end so there is a little unprotected spot at the end. Also, if you'll notice in the above picture that there are pillows in the crack by the wall so she won't fall into the hole. We have tried this a couple of different ways. Without Madi in the bed.

And with Madi in the bed. You can't see her? She's over there under the blue animal.

There you go. I moved the animal. Both of the girls seem to have done better with each other in the bed. Except when it's time to go to bed and they want to sit up and talk and play. There are pros and cons to moving her to the bed.

Pros

She's outgrowing the crib.

More space in the room for the girls to play.

Cons

She can get out of the bed anytime and she pats on the door until I come get her.

She has, unfortunately, fallen off the bed.

She and Madi keep each other awake.


Oh well. There are a more cons it seems. But Josh took the crib down and I don't think it's coming back. Although, in the middle of the night the other night, he said, 'We never should have taken that crib down.'

She's been doing much better and I only slightly feel like an abuser because of this post. I'm a little hesitant to even post it. But really the fall (or maybe falls, if I'm honest) aren't very far and I promise she won't have any permanant damage. Madi fell a few times, too and she seems fine. Oh, my gosh. I'm a horrible mom.


P.S. I would like to thank those of you who have made an effort to make me feel like I am a good mom. It means the world to me. I feel like I live in a world that is judging everything I do to and for my kids. I mean at the grocery store when the kids act up I get looks like 'that kid needs a spankin' and then if I do give them a spanking, I get looks like 'that woman is totally abusing her kids'. Why are people so hard on moms? I realize that there are moms that do abuse their kids but the majority of us are just trying to discipline our children while trying to guide them through life. Being a mom is a tough job. I think no matter whether you are a spanker or not, whether you breastfed or not or whether you stay at home or not, if you are there for your kids and you have their best interests at heart you're doing a great job and you should keep it up!! Good for you, moms out there!! I've got nothing but love for you all!

First Day Official Pics

Off to school. Jonathon started the 2nd grade and Jackson started PreK. Everybody was very excited but when it came down to it, Jackson seemed really nervous. He didn't really say much and kept that same look on his face while I walked him in.

I asked Jonathon if he wanted us to all walk down to drop of Jackson and then walk him back to his class or if he wanted us to all walk to his class first. He said, 'I'm just gonna walk to my class by myself' and I snapped this picture as he was hurrying off. Can you see how happy he was to turn around and let me get a picture?

I had to quickly wipe away the tears and pain of being uninvited to walk Jonathon to class and get Jackson to his class.

See, still with that look. That's his teacher Ms. Chapman. She seems really nice and very organized. Which will be great for Jackson, just what he needs. I had to ask for his lunchroom pin number because I didn't take care of it on Sunday like I should have and she looked at me like a deer in headlights. I can see that she is not a go with the flow kind of gal like I am. Like I said, though, that kind of structure will be great for Jackson.

Milestones

Yesterday, I came out to the living room and Jonathon said, 'Look mom, Spiderwick Chronicles is on tv.' Now, Jonathon has just started wanting to rent movies, so I have been paying attention to which kid movies are coming out and when. I'm thinking that movie just came out on video a couple of months ago, how could it already be on tv? I grab the remote and start checking to see what channel it is, because I am starting to get the sneaking suspicion that he has ordered a movie from pay per view. Yep, that's exactly what has happened. I explain to him that he has ordered a movie on the tv that we have to pay for. That it costs money to watch that movie. He is sitting back with a look on his face that tells me that he had a funny feeling about what he was doing when he did it, but he's realizing that he made the wrong choice. So, I sit down and start watching the movie with him. Hey, we've already gotten it, why not enjoy it? A few minutes later he says, "I didn't have to pay anybody anything..." Then I have to explain that I will have to pay when the bill comes and that it is much less expensive to run to our little movie store up the street. After a while I get up to do my load of laundry and am really over the whole thing because, between you and me, him ordering a pay per view movie ain't the worst thing I'm going to have to deal with all day, if you know what I'm sayin. A few minutes later as I'm bringing more laundry into the living room he says, "Momma, I'm really sorry." It caught me a little off gaurd. He's a good kid so he's apologized many times (mostly when prompted) but this was the first time that he has genuinely shown remorse on his own. Remember, I was already over it, so, I said, "Oh, honey, it's okay, you just can't ever do it again and it looks like we've bought a whole day of seeing this movie, so be prepared to watch it, all day." Which we did. They layed out their blankets on the floor in front of the tv when it was time for bed and watched it one last time.

The point to this whole story is that my baby is growing up. He may not look like a baby, but he is my baby. He's the baby that slept with me until he was three, the only one of my babies that slept in a bassinet in my room, the baby that I held 24 hrs a day because I didn't know we could lay them down on something besides a lap, my very first baby. And he is not a baby anymore. And I'm okay with that. As babies grow older, they learn to do more and more things that show you their own individual personalities. The first time your baby can say, 'I love you' or 'I'm sorry' makes it all okay.

He'll be starting 2nd grade today and although it's a little bittersweet to see my baby being a little boy, getting to watch this boy become a man will be one of the highlights of my life.

What's for Dinner?

Chicken, that's what. And doesn't it look tastey. I could feed an army with what is usually left on my oldest kids' plates. But not Emma Mae. It seems that my girls are going to be the eaters in the family. What is in Emma Mae's hand is in our family very lovingly refered to as a 'bone'. Whenever we go to a fast food establishment that serves chicken my kids always say, 'I want the bone, momma'.

Can you tell how good it is? Josh bbq'd a bunch of chicken legs and the kids ate them up.

I think Jackson had 4. He loves 'bones' the most of any of the kids.

Two peas in a pod. And isn't it a good thing that I don't get really upset over messes?

New York, Here We Come!!!

Ladies and Gentlemen, it's what you've all been waiting for. I have finally made my arrangements for the trip to New York in October!! We are leaving Brunswick on Friday morning and will arrive in New York on Friday afternoon. We will be staying here...

If you have stayed there and it was the worst experience of your life and bugs crawled all over you all night, please do not mention it to me because it has already been paid for and cannot be changed. If it was really horrible just lie to me and tell me it was the nicest, cleanest place you have ever stayed. I am not too worried about it because I don't plan on hanging out there very much. I've got some New York fun to have!! I've got to see it all. The statue of Liberty, the Empire State building, that big toy store from 'Big', and most importantly, maybe Jill and Meg will be on a walk. Then on Sunday we have tickets to this...

Have you got it figured out? Oh, you need a little more help. Okay, here you go.

No, you are not dreaming. I am going to see GREASE on Broadway!!!! Can you believe it? Can you believe that big, burly, masculine, hunting, handsome and wonderful man o' mine is going to see Grease on Broadway with me? I'll tell you why. I think it's because on our anniversary the other night we went to see Mamma Mia and he had the worst time ever, (of course I loved it) so, he said as long as we don't go see that on Broadway, he doesn't care what we see. So, I picked Grease. How great is that?

The only bad news is that we will have to go home late Tuesday afternoon. It's bad news because I had hoped to spend a little more time with Sue who is coming all the way over from Austrailia (just kidding, Sue), I mean New Zealand, to celebrate with us. Oh well, I'm just very excited to meet her and hang out.

Now, on to the most important part. I'm sure there are still rooms in and around the New York area to be had. I feel pretty sure you can go online to orbitz.com and pick yourself up a little package that includes tickets to Grease, too. Who's coming? Anybody else? Do I have to name you all? If you read my blog you are invited. Except for my poor, sweet, wonderful mother in law who I would love to have come, but has a previous obligation to watch 4 wonderful, sweet kids, who I know will be well mannered and behave the whole time their parents are gone. Okay, here are some names I'm going to throw out there, Sass, you HAVE to come, Tara, you're not very far, just a little trip and you could be at Grease, too, Callie, please come it's been too long, Gigi, I know you have previous obligations, but I will miss you, Leah and Echo, how can I watch Grease on Broadway without you two, Dad and Sandy, come and have fun, it would be great, ok so there are way too many to formally invite everyone, but please if you are reading this and it sounds like fun, join us.

Last Trip of the Summer Final Chapter

I know that is a really poorly taken picture, but I thought it would help answer the poll that went with the last post. Yes, I left Emma Mae sitting on the bed and got locked out. And, yes, the kids had to take turns talking through the window to her. Before you go thinking you need to call in the child protective services, we were able to get back in fairly quickly, thank you very much.

On with the trip. We said goodbye to dad and Sandy at Blizzard Beach and I checked into Pop Century on my own. Very shortly after the 'locked out' episode, my mom showed up to the hotel. She and I had plans to do a couple more days at the water parks. When we got up the next morning, I was so worn out from everything we had already done that I just wanted to hang at the hotel. So, we went to the pool and came back to the room for a nap. That reenergized me so we headed to Downtown Disney, which is basically just a bunch of shops where you can blow all of your money. But to my surprise they did have some fun things going on down there.

Such as a little train they could ride around in circles. The younger ones really enjoyed that.

Jonathon, not so much.

I have no idea what Emma Mae was so excited about right there. I think it either had something to do with that sucker or maybe that fun train ride or it could be that she is just excited to not be locked up in a room on a bed.

I really don't think he liked that train ride at all.

There's my little princess with a princess.

Can you find all of my kids in that picture?

This little playhouse was just outside of the Lego store and I swear the kids played for at least 45 min. They loved it.
I think Jackson loved it the most, though.

While the little kids played, Jonathon put together some legos. He also bought a Star Wars starship that we have just finished putting together a week later.

I was really surprised by how fun it was there. As we were leaving there was a dance party going on that we just HAD to check out.

I guess good dance moves run in the family.

The next day we went to Typhoon Lagoon. That was tons of fun. No pictures of that, though. I was a little too busy wrangling kids that day.

After all of these fun times at the water parks, what did I come away with? Did I learn anything new on my trip? Well, not yet but I was hoping I could get some answers from all my bloggy buddies. While I was at the water parks, there were an alarmingly high number of men in speedos. While I love the self confidence that it must require to put one of those things on, I just wonder about the motivation. That's all. I just wonder if it's a comfort thing or maybe they think it will help them to go faster on the slides, not sure what it's all about. If any of you have a man in your life that prefers the speedo, please help me out. Just curious.

10 Years

I can't believe we made it past the first one. Gotta run, going out to celebrate 10 years with my man. Happy Anniversary, Sugar Bugar!!