Snow day!

Hooray! We finally got enough snow to have a SNOW DAY!  I wonder if students know HOW MUCH their teachers hope for snow days.  We were delighted to have Daddy home -- he took the "big kids" out to lead the charge in playtime!  Mommy was glad to photograph the fun and admire from the window while Alaina slept.

The view from our apartment:

Happy Snow Day!

Alaina's 100 Day photo shoot

 Woo-hoo! 100 days old! And we celebrated... what a photo shoot! (surprise, surprise..)

I guess she's had enough.  Happy 100 days, Alaina!  Now on to the next milestone!

Look who's 2!!!

Emmalyn turned 2 years old and we partied with friends and balloons!! :)

 Marc helped us decorate some before he went to bed.. but even he was surprised by all that we did while they were sleeping.

Emmalyn had three little girls and one little boy over to our house to play, slide, color, shoot hoops, dance, and eat!

Emmalyn blew out her candle AS SOON AS Jarrod put the cake down, and I MISSED it! So here is the re-enactment:

AND the aftermath:

Family Presents! The delight!

This little girl stayed busy the rest of the day!

Happy Birthday, Emma!

3 Months old!

Alaina is 3 months already!! She is more and more alert, and found her hands! She interested in looking and batting at her toys, but LOVES eye contact and flashed a genuine smile every time she catches you looking at her.  Alaina was moved into her new bedroom at the beginning of this month and - gasp - has begun the dreaded sleep training.  She is proving... stubborn.  But we are working it out. :)  AND now, for her PICTURES!

What a beautiful 3 month old!

Sleep training, once again...

It is official, Alaina is not a newborn any more.. she has grown into size 3 month clothes and doesn't
sleep all day, anywhere, any longer.  She has put herself on a 3 nap/day schedule and naturally wants to go to sleep around 6-6:30pm for the night.. up twice during the night to nurse and then waking between 8-9am.  It is a great schedule...  and most would say, "why are you complaining about that??"  Well.. I'm not.  

But she is pretty attached... so she requires ME to go to sleep, and to stay asleep. That isn't all bad.  I love the snuggles, the bond... except, we both don't rest well when we are together.. she wakes me up, I wake her up...  AND I honestly don't think I have been without this child for any extended amount of time since she was born.  I need some time alone.  I will be a better mother when I get some time alone. 

It is time.  Tonight, she is learning to sooth herself to sleep.  And I am blogging about it to keep myself distracted and out of her room.  I have been dreading the sleep training, but I love the results... with Marc, we waited until he was 6 months old... and had a terrible time getting him to sleep every night until we finally bit the bullet and trained him to soothe himself. He became a different baby (not overtired and crying so much) and it really helped all of us.  With Emmalyn, we trained her at 3.5 months, and she took to it much easier.. and it really changed my life: going from struggling to keep her asleep vs stimulate her when she wakes every evening until 11 or 12 at night to her going to sleep well at 6:30 and sleeping soundly for the night.  They both came through it all right, and I was a changed Mommy having the evening to myself once again.  

So here we are again, praying for our girl as she takes some of her first "steps" toward independence.  Alaina actually tricked me tonight... I did the nighttime routine (nurse, pray, rock, sing)... and put her in her bed.. and she went right to sleep for 30 minutes before realizing she was in her bed without her Momma by her side.  But then she woke up, and instead of rushing in for another session of soothing, I am waiting through this intermittent crying for her to learn how to sooth herself and go back to sleep.  

It is not easier this third time, but when is letting go ever easy? I know that it is worth it... and it only gets better from here.

The Great Room Swap, take 2

A little over a year and a half ago, we had the first great room swap.  It was the time when we moved Marc into a new room and a toddler bed, while moving Emmalyn out of our room and into the nursery and Marc's crib.   Yesterday - after all the festivities and nap time - the great room swap commenced once again: Emmalyn moved out of the nursery and into the "big kid's room", and Alaina moved out of our room and into the nursery, and Emmalyn's crib.  

Here are pictures pre-room swap:

The Nursery - aka "Emmalyn's room" 

 The Big Kid Room - aka "Marc's room"

Emmalyn didn't really understand what was going on until it happened, but Marc was so excited about Emmalyn moving into his room... and he was even making a space where Alaina could sleep. He is such a great big brother. :)

The move in progress!

It's done!  The swap is complete! Aren't they cute in the "big kid room"??

Emmalyn still has a quasi-crib... we didn't want to give her complete freedom yet to climb in and out (even though she can easily do it), since she isn't even two yet (could have fooled us!) this is kind-of a stepping stone to a toddler bed.

 And Alaina's Room:

 Now to read a story before a good night's sleep!

Yes, sleep.  I know you are wondering about that.  Last night (the first one in the new rooms) was rough.  We have a new strategy to get the kids down well tonight, and are praying that they cooperate!  This is a learning process for Jarrod and I, and I am thankful he has another week and a half off of school for us to figure it all out!