They're back!

For almost two months we were night terror free.  Then. . .Bam! . .they are back.  Every night now, for the past two weeks, Paige has been waking up between 9:30 and 11:30pm (usually twice in that time frame) with night terrors.  I truly believe that they are terrors and not nightmares.  We have been very diligent with putting her to bed at the same time, with the same routine, nothing new.  She is always in bed with lights out by 8pm and falls asleep quickly.  Everytime we go in the room during one of the episodes, she is sobbing/screaming staring at the same spot, rigid, and won't talk.  One night I even found her standing in front of her shelves, batting at them with her hands screaming, "no, no, no".  It really is frightening for Mark and I.  We just go in, reassure her that she is safe, we are there, and pray with her.  We never leave until she responds to us, in a normal way, so we know she is awake and still not in the midst of the terror.  She always appears awake, but won't talk or respond to us until she actually is awake.  Please pray with us for her, that these will stop and she can have peaceful sleep.  Does anyone have any other suggestions for us?  We would welcome any advice.  Thanks!

The Jumpolene Ball Pit

Right now we have a new piece of furniture in our living room. . .The Jumpolene!  My girls got it and 300 play balls for Christmas from their Aunts and Uncles on my side.  Well, 300 play balls didn't even cover the bottom, so we figured we needed about 2000.  I checked into it, and they were 50% off at Target.  There were 150 balls in a bag and still too expensive, as I needed a LOT of bags.  So I waited and when they went to 75% off, I bought 10 more bags.  We now have 1800 play balls.  But it is so much fun and the girls just love playing in it.  Storing them is going to be the big issue, which is why I'm sure Mark was less than thrilled when I came home with the extra bags of play balls. 

Alaina ready for dive in. . .Literally!

I just love this picture of Alaina.

The girls also think it is hilarious to throw the balls at Mark and I, and we throw them back at them.  By the end of play time we have about 300 balls to pick up around the house.  So much fun!

Love My Lips!

Cute Cupcakes!

Today at MOPS we had a fun meeting where we got to make a couple meals to take home and also got to practice icing cute cupcakes for our kids.  Here are a couple of the cupcakes I brought home.  Aren't they adorable. (The cupcakes, too!)  The girls loved them.

Random Catch Up Post

I know, I have yet to post cruise pictures and stories. . .believe me, there are many.   They are coming!  Just to wet your appetite here are some headlines. . .out of gas at a toll booth, the egg brothers play family feud, sea sick at Tzar's, and snorkeling in rough water.   I just have to compile pictures that others took with my own.  Stay tuned!

Miss Alaina with a random Lucky Charm on her nose.  Probably from dunking her face in the bowl. . .

with this as the result.  This is always how breakfast turns out for us.

Paige flying the helicopter with Daddy.  She actually does a pretty good job.

We have a nice, tall room to fly in.

The "Mosquito".

This is the little guy I watch on Mondays and Wednesdays.  The poor guy has to deal with being smothered by my girls.  Paige loves to give him his bottle and Alaina loves to do anything that Paige does.

I think he's pleading with me to rescue him.  He is getting so big.  It's fun to watch the girls bring him toys and to see his huge smiles for them. 

We got the bouncy seat out for Payton, but guess who thinks it's hers?  She gets herself in there and notice she is even buckled in.  The ironic thing is that she never wanted to be in it when she was a baby. 

She sits there and reads the mail she grabs out of the shredder. 

This is Paige in her element.  She gets to cut, draw, play with blocks, be where we are, play with her babies and Alaina, all at once.

I love how she put Elmo in Alaina's booster and put the bouncy seat on the chair for her baby.  This is the most imaginitive I have ever seen her.  Paige isn't a kid that will play with toys.  I used to joke that we could get rid of them all because she wouldn't play with them.  Alaina does play with them, and therefore, Paige now plays with them.  Paige has always needed another person around to play with.  It used to be me, but more and more, she and Alaina play well together.

Here we are at the Children's Museum.  One of our favorite places, especially in the winter.  We love to meet friends here, go for lunch, then come back or do some shopping, or both.  We LOVE the airplane room.  They have some really neat stuff in there.

Here they are waiting for the balloon to fill up with hot air. 

And watching it rise to the ceiling.  It really is a great place to take your kids.

Close Your Eyes!

Paige thinks it's wonderful to surprise us.  And it is.  She wants to surprise with picking up her toys, eating all her food, getting herself dressed, etc.  The only thing is, she wants us to close our eyes for all of it.  At all of our meals we hear, "Close your eyes Mommy, close your eyes Daddy" and we do, but she wants us to keep them closed for the WHOLE meal or at least until she has eaten all of hers and gets upset when we open them.  If we are in the basement playing and she wants to pick up (don't get me wrong, picking up her toys is a GOOD thing), we must close our eyes while she does it.  So right now we are living in the dark. . .a Paige imposed dark, that hopefully she will soon tire of.

It's a. . . .

GIRL!  My brother Patrick and his wife Kathy are going to have a baby girl in July!  (I hope you didn't think I was announcing!)  I'm super excited to get another neice and for my girls to have another little girl to play with.  Four granddaughters for my parents in about as many years.  How fun!  Congrats Patrick and Kathy!

All Things Paige

Today at Target Paige told me to "Wait up" when I got too far ahead of her. Seriously, this girl is growing up so fast.