horrible nights

Nights with Camille are going more and more downhill.  It's getting bad.  She wakes up with the bug dreams and then cannot go back to sleep.  She is up for hours and so in turn we are up for hours.  Last night she came in at 1:15.  I comforted her and then tried to put her back in her bed.  That didn't work and J was up so I brought her in our room, turned on the lights, made her a bed on the floor showing her with the lights on there were no bugs anywhere and tried to go back to sleep.  5 minutes later she was back up screaming.  So then we tried the pack and play that happened to be in our room.  She was up and down in that several times.  It was about then that we noticed Jack was not in our room so John went on a hunt for him.  He was not in the house.  oops.  This is the second time this has happened.  When he gets left out he gets bored and wanders.  So John came back up telling me he was going to have to search for Jack.  I said I would go bc I was done dealing with C and I left w no shoes, braless, in pjs wo my glasses.  oops.  My vision is barely bad but I am used to seeing clearly and so when I can't it bugs me.  So here I am driving slowly around the neighborhood with the window down yelling his name.  OMG not what I want to be doing at 2 am.  A car pulls up behind me and I am annoyed and try to turn so they will not be behind me anymore.  They follow.  About this time J calls and tells me Jack is home.  Great.  About this time I realize its a cop behind me.  Oh shit.  Ugh my heart starts beating.  No I am not really doing anything wrong but still.  Finally after following me 4 blocks he pulls me over 2 blocks from home.  UGH!!!!!!!  I have not had a night include a 2 am cop for 8 years.  I am just an old mother, I had been asleep for 4 hours by this point.  hehehhe   He asks for my drives license which of course I do not have.  I try to explain that I live 2 blocks from there and I was searching for my dog.  After a few minutes he seems to finally believe I'm harmless and sends me on my way.  Ugh, I get home and J and C are still up.  At this point I tell J to go to the basement and I will deal with C.  So over and over I am telling her she is fine and go to bed but no luck.  I get up and give her meds thinking her legs her.  Nope.  Finally by 3 I have had it.  I bring her downstairs to the basement and get her settled on the couch.  J is in the guest room.  He comes out to see what is going on.  I wanted her to sleep with a light on hoping she could see there were no bugs.  So I leave her on the couch and him in the room.  At that point all was quiet.  I think it still took us all about 45 minutes to fall back to sleep.  I hope I never have another night like that again. She seems to have these issues every 3rd night so I hope we sleep tonight.  The strategy next time is to let her sleep in on the couch in the living room with the lights on.  I can't wait till she has her own room and can sleep with the lights on.  I so hope this works.  Please have your fingers crossed for me.  If not she is heading to boarding school.  Does that start in preschool????

Easter

We had the best Easter ever!!!!  It included being in the back yard for 9 hours straight!!!  My kids played with my parents in the morning and then J's parents in the afternoon and then friends in the evening.  It was a night to give pain meds bc I knew there would be growing pains during the night.  Look at the kids Easter basket they got this year.

Yes it's a very big Easter gift but they have been dying for one forever!!!!  Until now we really didn't have a place for them to enjoy it (we live on a busy street) and no place to store it.  The new house is on a court and we have a 3 car garage so it's the perfect time to get them one.  Yesterday they enjoyed it in the backyard.  The 3 of them were all in it for at least an hour just riding around loving it.  E had his stone face on but when you tried to take him out he freaked out.  C drove it mostly and was doing a great job.  Av got the hang of it by the end of the day.  My sister had sent Ester baskets for the kids thankfully bc she saved the day on that.  I hadn't made them baskets bc the tractor was enough of a gift from the bunny (from mom and dad and G&PP).  So thanks AA for sending the baskets!!!  They loved them and yes they knew they were from you.  Actually when they got the gift it was the baskets at first that they were way more interested in.  They had fun opening all the different eggs.  ( e was still sleeping)  They loved, loved, loved the baskets!!  They also had bathing suits from G&PP that they loved.

I need to back up though for a minute.  The Easter baskets were outside with the tractor.  C had J and I up a lot of the night so him and I were trying to sleep in a little.  The girls were sorta looking for their baskets but being good and waiting for us.  By the time I got up (8:30) they were ready.   We had them looking all over the house knowing they were outside.  heheheh mean.  By the time they got frustrated we said we heard Jack barking last night and "maybe the bunny was scared by Jack and left them outside."  So out they went to hunt.  Finally we opened the garage and Av spotted it.  They were very excited.

Here are some Easter egg dying pics.

Some of the Easter egg hunt (e was not interested)

 And some great Easter friends!!!

bernheim forest

We spent Saturday at Bernheim forest with my parents.  It was a super pretty day and we had a blast.  We started out with a picnic lunch and then off to play on a very cool "green" playground.  It had several different areas to explore and the girls just loved it and all the attention from all of us.  Then we hiked by the lake looking for the perfect spot to fly a kite.  J and my dad tried and tried but there was just not enough wind to keep the kites up.  It was fun watching them though.  We spent a while in the grass just looking up at the cloudless sky and enjoying the day.  The weather was perfect.  The forest is 45 minutes from Lou but we still ran in to 2 different groups of friends.  Must just have been the perfect day on Easter weekend for a picnic day.

nice day

We have gotten really close to our neighbors lately.  Of course right as we are leaving.  That part really really really sucks.  They are just the nicest people.  Good people, that would do anything for you.  Misty and Kenny and their 2 girls live next door to us.  Her sister Heather who has 3 kids as well (2 girls and  1 boy almost the same ages as my kids) is around a lot.  They are VERY close.  My kids love their kids.  They have another sister who lives here and all their family is close.  They have taken us in and invite us to everything.  Kind of like part of the family.  It's so sweet.  Today they were doing Easter crafts and invited use to join.  We made Easter Egg wreaths, Easter egg flowers in painted flower pots and decorated  cookies.  They put so much work and time into putting this all together and to include us.  They also sent us home with everything so Av could make the crafts as well.  I just can't get over their generosity.  While the girls were crafting the boys were playing.  Really interacting with each other and laughing.  Running and rough housing like the crazy boys they are.  It was a super great afternoon.

total jinx

I have been doing the girl scout cookie bribe for about two weeks now and it WAS working like a charm. Until I went ahead and announced it to the world.  OMG, C walked into my room at 4:20 last night saying, "I don't want a girl scout cookie." hehehehe at least she's funny.  J wasn't home so I moved over and let her in.  We did that last time he was gone too.  He doesn't know that. hhehehh I wait till she falls back to sleep and then carry her to her room.  (I am a horrible sleeper once awake I am up for at least an hour so carrying her back into her room is no big deal).  Last night though she just couldn't fall back to sleep.  Poor thing laid there for almost 2 hours trying.  I have to give her a lot of credit she tried hard.  Finally about 6 she was in dream land.  Even in her sleep she moves a lot so I was never going to fall back to sleep with her there so I carried her back to her little bed.  I am a VERY picky sleeper and having her there with me does not fit the bill.  Usually at 6am I would give up on sleep but since I had been awake for so long I took advantage of one more hour of sleep.  It was super duper hard to get up when it was time but I did it and we made it.  I really really really hope she sleeps tonight.  And no I don't think she had a nightmare.  She was not scared when she came in.  Wish I could figure out what is waking her around 4.  I guess it's another fun phase I have to live through.

the boy

Is a maniac.  Best word to describe him.  He is just the best!! He loves life.  Tonight was I was sitting on the floor straight legged with Camille on my lap he was purposely tripping over mine and Av's legs and laughing so hard as he fell each and every time.  He talk a lot and makes a lot of different noises but when he's got a ball in his hands and is playing bb he talks in his "gremlin"voice.  It is so funny.  He thinks he's funny.  The minute you need want to sit him down to put his shoes on or something like that he runs from you.  He takes off in the other direction and thinks it's so funny.  His cute little laugh is all you can hear.  He laughs all the time.  Loves his "go cards" and his "go state" which he can tell the different.  He knows which is which.  He has learned how to bug the girls and loves to do it.  He can really get a reaction out of them.  He can and does climb anything and everything.  He makes me so happy.  He makes us all so happy.  He really completes our family.  He is almost 18 months.  Where did the time go????

All time parenting low

Is what I have hit.  I have taken to bribing C to stay in bed at night, all night, until there is a 7 on the clock in the am.  It works when I remember.  J has been traveling A LOT.  He was gone all week to Brazil, and then last week to NY and then this week to NJ and in two weeks back to Brazil.  IYIYIYIY Anyway C has started finding any reason to get out of bed several times before she falls asleep and then again in the middle of the night.  She is up 4 and 5 times in the first hour since putting her down and I hit the end of my rope one night.  Told her she could have a girl scout cookie in the am if I didn't see her again.  It worked like a charm.  Im not proud but a mom has got to do what she has got to do.  Yes the first words out of her mouth in the am are "can I have my cookie?"  They are thin mints so they are small.  heehheh at least that's what I tell myself.  That and a cookie can't be worse than syrup or poptarts which my kids don't eat ever.  It also somehow stops the night time waking.  The nights I promise cookies she all the sudden does not have bug visitors or snake visitors.  I will be in trouble when the thin mints run out.  I have also threaten J's life if he touches them. hehehe