Progress report...

Just a quick update on my boy and his escape artist ways... We took the side of the crib off and then put a twin size mattress on the floor right next to it, complete with Blue's Clues sheets, of course! Noah was very excited about his "Boo's Coos" bed. We also put a tall gate on his door to prevent his night wandering. I wasn't sure how he'd react to the gate so we keep calling his room a "clubhouse". He gets a kick out of that. He still woke up quite a bit the first few nights crying for me, but the past 3 nights, he has slept all the way through until @ 6am. yea!

Bedtime is getting easier too. It's only taking about 30-45 minutes for him to settle in now compared to the hour to hour and a half earlier this week and he's not crying when I leave the room. Now the next step is to take the crib out completely. It's kind of sad to think about putting the crib away. We've had it up for four years. Geez...they really do grow up so fast. I've been trying to think of some fun ideas to redecorate his room too. He's getting a little old for Classic Pooh bear dust ruffles and wall borders. He's all boy - any kind of ball, dinosaurs, cars, fire engines, trains...so many choices! Stay tuned to see what I come up with...I'm sure I'll have to enlist my brother and my dad to help with a cool mural of some sort. There are definite advantages to having artists in the family.

Wordless Wednesdays

My sweet kiddos...too cute for words!

*This is my first "Wordless Wednesday". I found it on 5 Minutes for Mom. I can't believe how many posts there are for this! It's fun seeing all the cute pictures. "Try it. You'll like it." :)

My little "fishy"...

After 11 years of teaching dance to almost two hundred children, this year I finally got to teach my own little girl! It's been so much fun having her in my 3 year old class. Technically, she was in classes with me when I was pregnant with her. :) I remember working backstage at one of the dance concerts with the hip hop music blaring in the background. All of a sudden, I felt Abby's little feet groovin' and movin', kicking inside my belly. I remember thinking, "I think she's going to be a little dancer..." and I was right! She loved dancing in the recital this weekend. She was smiling from ear to ear and didn't miss a beat! We danced to one of her favorite songs "Three Little Fishies". I've been singing it to her since she was a baby so I was really excited that our recital theme was "Under the Sea". The "fishy song" (as Abby calls it) was the perfect choice! She was the cutest little fishy ever!

"Roomba" is a girl's best friend!

Forget about diamonds, ladies. This is the best present I have ever received, hands down. I had never even seen one before until I was watching Regis and Kelly during their C-mas giveaway week. Long story short, I had written several letters to get my mom tickets to the show (She LOVES Regis!)and my mom and stepdad were in the audience that day. They ended up getting TWO Roombas! So to show her appreciation, my mom gave me the 2nd one. I didn't even realize what a great gift it was at the time. I had no idea that I would come to love this little irobot like my own child. hahaha! Something that vaccuums for you? What's not to love???? And as an extra bonus - it's so quiet that you can turn it on while the kids are asleep. (I sound like an infomercial) Like I said, I lucked out and got it for free, but I think they run @ $300 or so. $300 WELL SPENT if you loathe vaccuuming as much as I do! In fact, it's been vaccuuming as I typed this post. Talk about multi-tasking!

Kids say the darndest things...

I'm making lunch for the kids today while they are pulling pots and pans out of the kitchen cabinet. (It's keeping them out of the refrigerator, at least.) Abby's trying to get my attention and says something you'd never expect out of the mouth of a 4-year-old...

"Look, Mama! I'm a pothead!!!"

Yikes!!! Definitely not a phrase I ever thought I'd post on my blog, but it was hilarious. My camera was right there so I had to snap a picture. :)

Laughter is the best medicine!

You might have noticed a new page element I added - "Motivation for Moms". (I found it on Jennifer Applin's writer mom blog, www.managingthe motherload.typepad.com.) Today's message is about laughing with your kids. Nothing cracks me up more than to hear my kids really start to belly laugh! So here are a few pics when I caught 'em in the act...
All wet at Pooh's Thoughtful spot (Disney 3/08)

Peek-a-boo, Mama! (He thinks it's so funny to sit in the blocks bucket 5/08)

Watch out for that giant hermit crab, Abby! (summer '07)

Their puppy dog towels always make them giggle... (4/08)

even when they were itty-bitty...although Noah's not too sure in this picture! (8/06)

These puppy dog pictures are my favorites!

TAH-DAH!!!

This morning I hear Noah calling out, "MaaaaaaaaaaaMaaaaaaaaa", like usual. I'm still half asleep when Pat nudges me and says, "Kelli, did you go get him out of his crib?" I'm still pretty disoriented (stayed up too late watching LOST, The Office, and Grey's Anatomy that we DVRed...I love how you can fast forward all the commercials...) and I say, "Not yet," as I'm still trying to open my eyes.
Pat says, "Well, he must have climbed out."

"WHAT???" and as soon as I sit up, Noah run around to my side of the bed saying, "Mama! Mama! Mama!" He runs up right next to me and throws his arms out to the sides like "TAH-DAH!!!! Here I am!"

It was so funny. I was pretty much laughing and crying at the same time...I'm not ready for this yet. Abby never climbed out of her crib (I know I got lucky), but this boy of mine is quite the climber and into everything. I figured it was only a matter of time... What's even funnier is that last night when Pat went in to check on him, I peeked through the door and thought to myself "He's so cute all snuggled up in his crib. I'm so glad he hasn't figured out how to climb out yet." That sure back-fired on me! He did stay in there for his nap though...so far so good. We'll see what happens when he wakes up. I guess I have to start looking for toddler beds...darn it!

My crazy little boy snoozing away. :)


Abby at Noah's age... geez, they grow up so fast!

"Snotty!!!"

Abby has shrieked, "Snotty!" at least 65 times and it's not even 11am. Instead of grabbing a tissue herself(which I've asked her to repeatedly), she stands there with a distressed look on her face waiting for me to wipe her nose. Pat actually laughed at me this morning before he left for work at 9am. (She had said it about 25 times at that point.) "Man, what a fun day you are going to have..." he said, still laughing. Hmmmm.... Just a tip to the dads out there - It is not wise to laugh at your wife's misfortune and then waltz out the door, especially if you're not even planning to come home at the usual time because you have a softball game after work.

Mom Question - Do you give your kids Benadryl during the day to help with runny noses? I give it to them at night, but I haven't done it during the day since it makes them drowsy...but maybe that's not such a bad idea. hahaha! :)

P.S. As I was typing that question, I had to stop and grab a tissue while Abby was yelling "Snotty! Snotty! Snotty!"(...66..67...68) followed by "Hungry!" At least, she's varying it up a bit.

Here's hoping all your kids are "snotty" free! :)

Little Snuggle Bug

Can I tell you how much I love to snuggle my little boy? Today when I was putting him down for a nap, he just wrapped his arms around my neck and snuggled in as close as he could. At the risk of sounding cheesy, that kind of stuff just makes my heart melt. Those sweet moments erase the craziness and frustrations the day might bring and remind me of how blessed I am to be a mother. I hope you Moms out there get treated to a little pampering and lots of snuggling this weekend. :)

It Worked for Me ???

I submitted a "tip" today to Parents Magazine for the "It Worked for Me" section. Any of you ever read Parents? I've been reading this book called "Writer Mama" & one of the writing exercises is to write "tips" and submit them. An extra bonus is that you get paid $25 if your tip is published. Nice, huh? So here is my first attempt (you have to send in a picture too)...let me know what ya think!

PARTY TIME
To personalize my daughter’s birthday invitations and thank-you notes, I ask her to help decorate them. When Abby was two, she just added a few stickers to her party invites and cards, but now that she is 4, she really gets into it! She draws pictures, adds glittery stickers, and loves to use (washable) markers to write her name. Abby’s friends love receiving their “embellished” invites, and she actually looks forward to helping with thank-you cards too!

Happy Birthday, Abby!

I'm feeling sentimental so I put a little something together with cute pictures of my sweet girl. Four years old....WOW! She's growing up so fast. Can't we slow things down a bit? Before I know it, she'll be driving...aaaaahhhhh! :) We love you sooooooooooo much, Abby!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Hear ye! Hear ye!

Hear ye! Hear ye! Presenting Princess Abby's castle cake for her Princess & Pirate B'day party! (A BIG THANK YOU to Diana for helping me with this cake idea!) Abby was so excited for her "guests" to arrive. She came bouncing into my room at 6:45am on Thursday morning saying, "Mama! Today is my Princess & Pirate Party! When are my friends coming?"


It was so neat to have Diana and Sam here all the way from Arizona! The girls had so much fun this past week. (I just wish AZ wasn't so far away!!!!!)



Princess Abby peeking out of her royal castle that "Papa" made for her. We used it for a little bean bag toss game. We also made princess tiaras and necklaces, pirate hats and swords (gotta love Foamie craft kits), and even had a little treasure hunt outside! The kids had a great time. They were so cute all dressed up in their princess and pirate outfits. It was a lot of fun! (I'm going to make a smilebox with more pictures! I took a ton!)

I just can't believe that Abby will be 4 years old in 4 days... sniffle, sniffle...