Thanksgiving 2011

We had a great Thanksgiving Day with the Henderson crew. Ashley and Chad weren't there, but every one else was, and we still had a pretty big group. Adilyn and Kacy loved "babysitting" Connor, even though they were really just handing him toys. We had 3 at the "kids" table this year - Adilyn, Kacy, and Callie all sat a small table in the kitchen. None of them were very thrilled about that idea, and they kept getting up to come talk to us. :) The food was great, and it is always so nice to spend time with family. I love seeing the cousins play together. My favorite part was playing with Adilyn, Kacy, and Connor. The girls wanted to both hold Connor, but he clearly did not want to be held by anyone. We ended up sitting on the couch together, and Connor was kind of falling on them to be silly. Any time the girls wrestle, their favorite thing to do is body slam each other. So, when Connor was doing that to them, Adilyn said, "Hey, that's a 'baby slam'!" It was so super cute!

Big Bed, Night #3

We moved Kacy to her new big bed on Tuesday night, and things went amazingly well. She never fell out of the bed, never got out of bed, and she seemed to be pretty comfortable with the transition. Then, came nap time today...she got right out of bed, opened the door, and came right out! I put her back in her room, and put Cory in charge of keeping her there. :) He said that it took about 25 minutes for her to stay in her bed and fall asleep. He ended up sitting in the chair in her room until she fell asleep. I didn't think anything of it because I just assumed it was a nap time thing...She walked her cute little self downstairs after about an hour and a half nap, which was not long enough in my opinion. We went to the park and had a fun time, then we came home and ate dinner. She was relatively fine until after dinner, and then the trouble started. My sweet little 2 year old was obviously trying to push limits! She unrolled an entire roll of toilet paper, put her foot in the toilet, dumped out a container of toys that we had just cleaned up, and other annoying actions. I figured she was tired from her short nap, so we went upstairs a little earlier than I had planned. We read a story, sang some songs, and I left. She followed me. I put her back in her bed, and she followed me again. And again, and again, and again! I was trying to read to Adilyn, and she came in about 5 times during one short story. Luckily, Adilyn was being very patient and good! Thank goodness for small miracles. As I was reading to Adilyn, I was also thinking about how I was going to deal with this little bed leaver. I was decided that I would go with Super Nanny's technique, pretty much because it was the only thing that I could remember. I kept putting her back in her bed without saying anything, but it wasn't working. Then, I laid down in bed with her and patted her back for a few minutes. She got still, but I was afraid to move. I stayed there for a few minutes, and I heard her breathing change. I slowly rolled off the bed and tiptoed out of the room...I hit the creaky board in the floor right before I opened the door, and it was over. She was up. I put her back in bed, and I sat on the edge of her bed for what seemed like forever. I started getting uncomfortable, but she was still obviously awake. I slipped down to the floor, and stayed there for even longer. I didn't know how much longer I could really stay there, but then Willow decided to find out what the heck was going on, and she pushed the door open. Again, Kacy popped right up. I changed my strategy, and I went in the hallway. Every time she came out, I put her back in her bed without saying anything. After about 10 more times of doing that, she finally cried herself to sleep. I hate that she is sad, or scared, or just pushing limits, but I refuse to have crazy bedtimes! I do not want bedtime to be a struggle every night, so I will continue to stick to my guns until she gets the hint that bedtime is bedtime!

"Was That the Baby?"

The other night Adilyn and I were watching tv, and my belly growled really loud. She said, "Whoa, was that the baby?" After I stopped laughing, I told her that we could not hear the baby, but the baby could hear us. She was really confused about that situation, but I told her that the baby could hear her if she sang to him/her. Although she thought that was pretty cool, she did not want to sing to the bed quite yet. I am sure that the whole thing is kind of strange for her. She has also asked, "Why did God know that we needed another baby in our family?" Tonight she said, "Mommy, I know why your belly is getting bigger. It's because the baby is growing everyday, just like me!" She also seems really excited to find out the gender, so I hope she stays excited no matter what we find out on Wednesday!

No More Crib, Night #1

Kacy has still been sleeping in her crib because I was trying to wait to see if we were going to move before making the big switch for her. This weekend, I decided that it was time to try her in a big bed. Her crib was supposed to turn into a full bed, but we weren't sure that we wanted little Kacy in such a huge bed. We had an extra full mattress, and no twin mattress...so instead of buying anything new now, we just put the little girl in a big bed. She was a little nervous at first, but after a few extra songs, and a few minutes of crying, she was out. So far, she has not rolled out of the bed, but the night is still young. I know that naps could also become a little challenging, but it's time to face it. Now, we just need to decorate her room a little differently. It's strange to not have the room as the "nursery" anymore. I know that we will need another nursery in a couple months, but hopefully we will have a new house by then!

Anticipation...

The long-awaited ultrasound is in three days! This pregnancy has gone by pretty quickly. I think the fact that I am due in April, when I had my other ones in June makes it seem faster. I am hitting all the milestones 2 to 3 months earlier than I ever have before. It's strange to me to be showing before Christmas time! Better this way that the other way, though! It will be very nice to have the baby before the summer begins and the heat sets in.

Anyway, back to the ultrasound. Of course, since I have 2 girls, most people have been saying. "Bet you are hoping for a boy, aren't you?" I always find it interesting that people will say that they hope it's a boy or a girl. What happens then when you find out that it's not what you said you wanted?!? I mean, even if I really did have a desire one way or the other, I don't think I would say it to anyone but Cory or my mom. Just like with every thing else in life, people have their own way of doing things, and I guess I shouldn't judge.

For us, there are equally as many benefits with having a boy as there are for having a girl. A girl would fit right in with our lives. We have the baby dolls, the barbies, the pink, and the aspects of having a girl down. A boy would bring variety to our lives. We would have to buy "boy" things, experience boy issues growing up, and participate in different types of activities that he may be into. For the future, I think there are also good and bad with having 3 girls vs. 2 girls and a boy. Whatever the gender is, it is what were we meant to have, and what our family was meant to become! The mix will be what it is, for better or for worse.

I thought that I might regret finding out since I will not have the anticipation of the gender to keep me excited through the pregnancy, but I don't think I will feel that way at all. We will see when it's all said and done, but I think finding out the gender will be fun! The girls are going with us, so I hope they are just as excited as we are. Adilyn keeps saying that we need a boy for Daddy since he is the only boy in our family. Kacy says she wants both a brother and a sister. That's one request that I will definitely not fulfill!

What's That Noise? and other Kacy stories

All of a sudden Kacy has become very aware of noises around her. She is constantly asking, "What that noise?" A car alarm goes off, "What that noise?" The buzzer on the basketball game on tv, "What that noise?" Half of the time I don't even hear what she is talking about, so I have to keep listening for anything that is different. She is very persistent, so you can't just ignore it. I just find it funny that she is all of a sudden hearing things differently.

Any time anybody puts shoes on she immediately asked, "Where going?"

Cory has been hunting a lot, and when Kacy wakes up and Cory has been gone, the first thing she says in "No Daddy. Hunting." She says is matter of fact, like she is reminding me and reminding herself.

Kacy is much more independent than Adilyn ever was. She will wander just far enough away not to scare us, but far enough to make her feel like she is being a little rebellious. She also plays very well by herself, when she is in the mood, of course.

Adilyn never wanted me to sing to her at night, but Kacy seems to like my beautiful voice :) I made up a song when she was little, and we called it the "Kacy Song". Now, when I sing it to her at night, she will sing it with me. She only knows the last word, so she sings that super softly and sweetly when I get to the word she knows. I usually hold her while I sing one song, and then I put her in her bed. When I lay her down, she always wants me to hold her little hand. Melts my heart.

Speaking of holding hands, she loves holding hands with people. Her favorite people to hold hands with are Luke and Isaac, unfortunately, Luke is not a big fan of hand holding. It's cute to see her grab little hands with people.

From happy to frustrated in seconds...

It's funny how things can change in an instant. We were outside playing on our little sad baby slide, the girls were having so much fun together. They were being silly, dancing on the "stage", sliding down the slide in funny ways. Then, it was time to go inside for Kacy to take a nap. Adilyn got upset because Kacy took her socks inside, then all hell broke loose. Adilyn got mad at me, and she hit me on the leg. Then, she took it out on Kacy and hit her really hard on the head. After I told Adilyn to calm down, and stop hitting everyone, I scooped up Kacy and took her upstairs. Suddenly, before I knew it I was smack dab in the middle of the biggest battle Adilyn and I have ever been in! She kept coming in Kacy's room while I was trying to put her down for her nap, then she wouldn't stay in her room. When I told her she needed to do something, her response was, "nope" or "I don't have to". She wouldn't stay in her room unless I held the doorknob from the outside (mature, I know). I sat on the stairs, and every time she came out I yelled for her to go back in. I did not know where to go from here. I love this girl more than anything, but she can frustrate me to no end! Finally, I my patience was completely and totally gone. I had to get away from the situation, but I didn't want her to think that she had won. I told her that I was going to take a shower, and that she was to stay upstairs until I was out of the shower. Now, I don't think she actually stayed up there because when I went upstairs to check on her, she miraculously had some "downstairs" toys up there, but whatever. I was so done...I told her that she had to clean her room before she came downstairs. If she listened to me this time, I felt like she had learned her lesson. She returned downstairs about 2 minutes behind me. There were about 20 books on the floor, so I knew that there was no way she was done. She kept saying she was done. I told her not to lie, and she kept saying, "But, Mommy, I am not lying. I promise." Of course, when I went to check her work, not one book was picked up. I told her that she needed to tell the truth, and that she needed to really clean her room. Finally, it was done. Maybe she thought that she had won, maybe she learned her lesson, maybe she did not learn anything...whatever the end situation...it was over! Now, we are sitting on the couch. I am writing this, she is working on her letter sounds in a workbook, we are both over our Battle Royale, until next time. :)