Must be a boy thing

The older Caleb gets, the more and more interested he gets in certain things.  I have been looking forward to getting away from  princesses, dolls, and tea parties and getting into cars, balls,  and swords.  What I wasn't expecting, well, at least not at such a young age, was Caleb's love for video games.  He goes CRAZY when it comes to video games.  He will point to the controller and then to  the tv,  then hand me the remote so I can change  the tv over to video game mode.  Of course, I don't play video games and I am sure I could figure out how to set it all up, but I just tell him  no and that  he has to wait  for daddy.....If you want to see how big of a fit  my boy can throw, just tell him No to video games!  Oh my!  Now, this silly boy knows that Daddy plays, so everyday  when David walks in the door, Caleb stands up, starts running in circles,  claps, and points to  the XBox controllers.  It is hilarious!  And it is not enough to just give him a controller, you have to actually turn on the game. 

Oh and don't think that it is just at our house.  Caleb has found his cousin's XBox controller and has turned on his XBox and started "playing."  On Tuesdays, I drop the kids off at my parents while I work and then we wait  until their cousins  come home from school so they can play together.  Caleb has gotten so happy to see Bennie Rey because he  knows he'll turn on the XBox and start playing.  When Ben is not home, he will point to his bedroom door and then to the XBox.  When you ask him if he wants Ben, he just smiles and nods his head yes. 

I can only imagine what he is going to be like in a few years when he actually knows what he's doing!

A little Modern Warfare 3



Video games brings together boys of all ages



For the record, David does not play everyday and when he  does play (usually on the weekends) it is at night after the kids are asleep.  Caleb's obssession started after only seeing David play once or twice.  haha

History of Sammie's Sleep

Let me first say that I have nothing against co-sleeping.  I know lots of parents who co-sleep with their children and I do think it has it's benefits, but  for David and me, we decided  that this was not something we wanted to do.  We started off really well when Samantha was born.  We always placed her in her crib at night.  I'll be honest, there were a few nights in the beginning where I fell  asleep while feeding her,  but once I woke up, I took her right to bed. 

Anyway, by about 6 months, when most babies were sleeping through the night, Sammie girl was still up 2 or 3 times a night.  So, by that third time, I was so tired and in the bed she went.    My rule was that it had to be after 5:00am though, because technically, that was the next day...I mean, it would not be crazy for me to get up and start the day at that time right?  Anyway, this lasted until about 17 months, when she finally started sleeping through the night.  Then at 18 months, the night terrors started and she was back in our bed.  At 22 months, she went into her toddler bed and at 24 months, she learned that she could get out of her toddler bed and crawl into our bed.  This was also the time when I was pregnant and really tired, so needless to say, we let her stay in our bed.  At 27 months, she was potty trained which meant she started waking up at night to go potty and then would just crawl in our bed. And at 29 months, Caleb was born and well, we were trying to get all the sleep we could, so  if that meant she was in our bed at 2am, that's what happened. 

And now almost a year and a half later, Caleb has been sleeping in his bed all night since birth and Sammie still sneaks in to our room.  We have tried just about everything. 

Bribing her with toys and candy

telling her she can't go somewhere because she didn't sleep in her bed

taking her back to her room as she screams and yells

waiting until she falls back to sleep and then taking  her in her room, only to have her wake up and back in our bed within an hour

sticker charts, which we have had hanging on our refrigerator for 5 months with 4 stickers on it

The list goes on and on...

So, a little over a week ago, I was up with my babes at the crack of dawn, because they apparently like to see the sun rise, and Sammie asks to watch tv.  I turn on her show and say something about how Caleb sleeps in his own room all night and he should watch his shows first.  I think I just said it because I was tired and tired of watching the same My Little Pony for the 100th time.  I forgot all about saying it as the day went on.

That night, the kids went to sleep and at 2:00am, once again, Sammie woke up to go potty.  I took her to the bathroom and then started back to my bed, knowing she was right behind me.  She  says, "Mommy, can you lay with me in my bed for a minute?"  I was confused, but was not going to fight this. 

The crack of dawn came around again and Caleb woke me up with a yell.  I took him  to the living room and we sat in the dark.  I was hoping he'd fall back to sleep, but I knew it was just wishful thinking.  15 minutes later, Sammie girl walked out with the biggest smile on her face and said "Good Morning Mommy!! I slept in my own bed last night!"  I told her I was proud of her and she replied, "Now, can you turn on my show first and not Caleb's?"  Yup, that's right, my little comment the day before totally got to her!  It has been more than a week and there  has been no one in our bed kicking us, pinching us, pushing us off the bed.  It has been wonderful!!! 

Three and a half years of trying and nothing has worked until now.  How simple was that?? 

Pumpkin Patch Playdate

I love  fall and all  that comes along with it.  Playdates are one of those things I love.  October  just had some fun stuff going on.  One of those things was the Pumpkin Patch.  Who doesn't like the Pumpkin Patch??

Caleb is still too little to appreciate it all, but he did love all of the running around and climbing he got to do.  He wasn't quite sure how he felt about thepetting zoo, but I think next year, he'll love it!

 Samantha really had fun this year.  She loved the tractor ride and who knew she knew so much about growing pumpkins...she was yelling out all sorts of answers.  And of  course the hay stack climbing was amazing for her.

And it is always more fun with friends...