crib to bed.

so we all know (well some of you may) that i dont transition from a crib to a bed for a while. if they can get out, i tent. (well, being fully honest, i tent BEFORE they can get out lol i started with aidan bc the cat would sneak into her room. it worked so well, i did it with sawyer, too).

aren't you glad i figured out white balance and focus the past few years? geesh.






and this is what sawyer's room looked like a little over a year ago - soon after we took the glider out, got her a new white dresser, etc.


anyway, when they get a little closer to 3, i give it a chance. basically, when a few months before aidan turned 3, we moved into this house. so we got her this bed



and then let her choose between crib and bed for a while. until she said bed - then we replaced her crb with the dollhouse. then it was fine :)

well, sawyer began to cause, um, trouble with her crib tent. she'd lean on it too much, and uhhh try to SIT up on the ledge of her crib and relax on the crib tent itself LOL so it was time.

sawyer's room is smaller than aidan's so i couldnt fit both a bed and a crib in (like i did with A). we just took the front off of her crib and converted it down.



we put some of her toys in here


and she was happy.


....at first.

she crawled into bed with her blankie and cuddled up. until the storm we're having tonight got louder. she burst into tears (which she'd do even if in her crib) and so i went back in. i read her a book and then tried to leave. nope. "i waaaant you" through the tears. so i brought some toys down from her fun area and tried to get her to play. within mins, she was so scared of the storm, that we had the best/worst idea EVER.

move her to aidan's room.

so now, i have my 4.5 year old and my almost 3 year old in aidan's bed watching madagascar 2. giggling. tattling through the monitor (we swapped the video one in there tonight). and laying in bed <3

we'll they SLEEP there? who knows. but aidan told sawyer not to be scared. that they are best friends. and that "i will 'atect you, sister" (protect. obvs.) so we'll see.

eventually we'd move them together, im sure. and aidan's room is big enough to put sawyer's crib/now toddler bed in so..... ::shrug::

song challenge.

ok this is supposed to be over 30 days. but since im a numbnuts and cant even finish my OTHER 30 day challenge that ive been randomly adding to since november -- im doing it in 2 sections. 1-14 and then 15-30 :)

so get ready to jam. get ready to clap and squuueee out of excitement for songs you forgot. yahooooo!!

day 01 - your favorite song

ok this is hard for me bc i am a super music freak. but this has been one of my favorites FOREVER!

fuel - shimmer (there was no embedded vid for this one)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0QMfK9hzgA

my newest favorite song is parachute - she is love.


i also love howie day - collide (thats where my SN "wrongwordsrhyme" comes from


the kid's favorite song is train - hey soul sister.


and also they love the rascal flatt version life is a highway



and also - this is a HUGE one for all of us. we GET DOOOWN to this at home. no joke.

lmfao - party rock.


day 02 - your least favorite song

i hate a lot of songs. LOL but one that people love that i hate -

sir mix a lot.


day 03 - a song that makes you happy

this can brighten my day at any moment in time.

mighty mighty bosstones - the impression that i get


day 04 - a song that makes you sad

rascal flatts - broken road. it just makes me swoon. and i usually end up crying. i guess it doesnt make me saaaad per se - just teary (a happy teary, though)



day 05 - a song that reminds you of someone

EJ and my wedding song <3 its the name of my other blog, its the tattoo on my back, its my heart.


day 06 - a song that reminds you of somewhere

ahhhh the bar. treff's. where i met EJ. where i had the best year's of college. on monday nights, one of the bartenders and i would act this out - it was poker night, i was cocktail, it was slow, this was like the routine. man, good times.

LFO - girl on TV


day 07 - a song that reminds you of a certain event

well this one is not an "event", but (and don't laugh) justin timberlake's sexy back always reminds me of being pregnant with aidan. it was so popular and i would shake my pregnant bump in the car and it'd make aidan mooooove.



day 08 - a song that you know all the words to

every song LOL im not kidding. its my talent. there's not one song on the radio that i couldnt sing all the words to. sorry. no vid for this one. there's simply too many.

day 09 - a song that you can dance to

hahahaha ::dies:: i dance to EVERY song that comes on the radio. lol our car is like a never ending dance party.

day 10 - a song that makes you fall asleep

john mayer, dreaming with a broken heart. i just adore it.


day 11 - a song from your favorite band

motion city soundtrack - attractive today


im kind of emo. get over it.

day 12 - a song from a band you hate

sorry, EJ. this is his all-time fave band.

metallica.



day 13 - a song that is a guilty pleasure

anything by ke$ha. we're going to the concert (with LMFAO - see vid above) in august. i CANNOT WAIT!!!


fwiw, i have a zillion guilty pleasures. like, my CD case is filled with broadway musicals, hanson (uh yes. they are hot now, yo!!), and other random crap that youd want to flip by quickly.

day 14 - a song that no one would expect you to love

like i stated above - im totally emo when it comes to some music.

ive seen new found glory in concert before. and i have been known to rock out in my car LOL


ok, well i hope you enjoyed my personal music party for the day :) more to come soon!!

when we have company.

i thought id add a little tidbit of "fun" from a few of the past weekends. i wrote a whole post on discipline back late last summer - and for the most part, it holds 99% true now. but, kids change. and kids also change in different situations.

that brings us to aidan. when company is here. ::twitch::

my fabulous friend pam came into town a few wkends ago. i was so excited to show off my adorable, well-behaved children. bc, for the most part, thats what they are. all 3 are great at the store, they walk nicely in parking lots, i could take them all to a sit down restaurant by myself and be totally fine (ok, unless one has to use the bathroom - then its gets a bit tricky). but these are not the things i had to deal with when pam was here... ohhhh no.

i had to deal with attitude. aidan wanted to show pam who rules the roost. or, let me rephrase - who aidan THINKS rules the roost. most of the wkend, she looked like this:


now. let me give examples. she straight up would talk back, ignore me, do exactly the opposite of what i asked, try to go out to the backyard after i said no (which was solved quickly thanks to a nice top flip lock), and even tried to kick me. wtf. but the funny part of that was that our friend catherine was here too and just laughed at her and said "nope. not impressed." bc she knows what aidan was trying to do.

disclaimer: and i want to say -- its not with any company, yeah yeah her age def makes for a kid who wants to show off. we had a friend come over the other day and over and over, aidan would try to get him to watch her "tricks". like "hey! hey! watch me! i can do a somersault!!" or "look!! i put a hat on the dog!!" which is fine -- bc that is 4.5, but thats not the same as out of towners who they dont know or dont see often.

but at night time, when id lay with her in bed, she was my sweet angel again. we'd talk about how she acted was ridic and blah blah blah, then we'd hug and kiss goodnight and that'd be over. by sunday, i cried to my mom telling her how aidan had never acted like the devil incarnate that she had acted like those few days.

then, within mins of dropping off pam at the airport, sound asleep in the car, aidan was back to this:


ahhhh a nice week with my sweet 4.5 year old back. cuddling, crafts, running errands, and being friends.

til we had more company ::twitch:: EJ's fam came into town for reese's bday party (yay! so much fun btw!) and it started all over. but, i had luckily taken a few things from the wkend before, to heart. and learned a few ideas.

1. i had to take her from the situation completely for her to even realize i existed again. id carry her to the other room, talk to her there, and then she'd realize "oh. mom's talking." as opposed to before when she'd look at me and go back to "impressing" guests. this helped focus and relax her.

2. keep the schedule the same. wake up, nap, bed routine --- everything the same. dont skip baths and expect bed just as easy. dont think you cant read a book or lay in her bed for a few mins bc you have guests. just keep it the same.

3. know that its going to end soon lol i was much more "fine. whatevs." the 2nd wkend bc, well, i knew itd be over and aidan would be back to my little sweet girl.

i only write this post to say "we've all been there!!" we've all been embarrassed by the actions of our kids - that kid thats screaming at dinner in the middle of a crowded restaurant, the mom that is chasing her kid in the parking lot, the kid at playgroup that comes up and hit his mom out of no where - the rest of us aren't (usually) judging you... i usually want to laugh and tell a worse story or at least give you a high 5 and say "kids are great, huh?" because, well, they are -- most of the time.


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sisters.

i am truly blessed to have 3 girls. i, myself, only have 2 brothers. i never had that "sister relationship" that some girls talk about.

i know that it consists, later, of fighting over clothes, slamming doors, possible hair pulling, etc but for now....

the girls were taking a nap. sawyer starts crying so I grab some diapers to go grab them all and play in the gameroom. a few seconds after sawyer wakes up in tears, aidan yells from her room "its okay sawyer!!"

by then im up the stairs and grab aidan and head to sawyer's room. sawyer gets out of bed and tells aidan: "i need you. i need my sister"

swoon.

i about melt. aidan gives her a hug and sawyer continues: "i missed you aidan. i need a kiss." aidan kisses her and we grab reese and run off to the gameroom.

they may make each other nuts sometimes, but man.... hearing them talk to each other that way makes my heart pitter patter every time.