Bedtime Routine

Bedtime is one of Cliff and I's favorite time of day.  When we tell people this, they usually guess it is because we finally get some time to ourselves, but really it is because we have our little special routine and family time.  The kids go down around 8 and we start our bedtime routine around 7:20.  Ryla and Aidan each get to choose two books.  Then we head to Aidan's room.  We had the bunkbeds designed for story time but we always end up on the floor.  We start by reading our books.  Ryla gets pretty bored with Aidan's choices so she will wonder around the room during his story time (as you can see from the pics below).  Then she will crawl in one of our laps, whoever is reading, for her book time.  Aidan enjoys her books as well.  Noah is usually with us but has recently been taking up a 7  o'clock bedtime.  After the books we have singing time.  We sing one to two a night.  Again the kids get to choose but it almost always roll the gospel (ryla's) and whatever song Aidan has learned at preschool that week.  We then have prayer time.  We ask the kids what they want to pray for.  Ryla will say "esus" and Aidan will list off everyone in our family and usually something regarding his day.  For example, the other night he asked for God to watch over his toilet. :)  We take turns on who prays and then the kids head to their beds.  If Noah is still up he will go with one of us to put one of the older kids down.  I want to note that right now we put Ryla in her bed and then rock in her glider for about 2 minutes until she falls asleep.  This is important for us to remember as she was an even worse sleeper than Noah and now she goes down and sleeps beautifully.  Whoever has Aidan will climb up in bed with him and "cuddle" with him for about 5 minutes.  The whole thing takes about 45 minutes and we cherish it every evening!!

Two peas in a Pod!

It has been so endearing watching Aidan and Ryla's relationship grow.  I have been used to relying on playdates for Aidan but in the last several months Ryla has been able to join in on the little kid fun.  For as young as they are I have been really surprised at how well they get along.  Aidan is always welcoming her into his imagination and Ryla loves being the center of attention. ( I wonder who she gets that from :) Noah is getting close to joining in on the fun.  He has been getting on all fours and rocking back and forth....so close to crawling.  Can't wait until they can all play together.

Picking Pumpkins!

We went to pick our pumpkins on Sunday.  The kids had a great time!  I especially enjoyed the little cold front that came through for the weekend.  Made it really feel like a true fall outing.  

Noah at 8 Months!

My little one is 8 Months now!!  Isn't he a cutie!!  Right now he is in 6-9 month clothes, size 3 diapers, eating solids three times a day, nursing ALL the time, sitting up, rolls everywhere and refuses to sleep well...LOL.  We are working with him.  It is our fault more than anything.  With each kid it has gotten harder because there are too many schedules to go around.  With Aidan I didn't have two others to worry about so it was all about him.  Poor Noah has a sister who gets into everything and a brother who needs picked up from pre school and so forth so it is difficult to give him a good routine.  We will get it though.  Right now he is waking up several times a night which I know is his schedule because before we moved here he was only waking up once a night.  Other than sleep though he is the easiest baby ever.  He loves to be loved on and we LOVE loving on him!!!!

Dinner 2012

Cliff and I have been talking a lot lately about what it will be like 6 or so years from now for our family.  It made me wonder if in 6 years we will be able to remember the day to day things that go on in our family right now.  Not even necessarily the bigger events but just the day to day happenings.  So I have been trying to capture a few of those moments on film.  In this video I look at what it was like in 2012 at our dinner table. 

Snuggle

Sometimes all you need is a good SNUGGLE!

Aidan's first day of Preschool

Aidan's first day of preschool was last Tuesday.  I think I was a lot more excited than he was but after he finished his first day and understood what preschool was, he was excited to.  He is attending Westover's preschool on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30- 1:15 which works out really great for Cliff and I.  Cliff takes him with him when he goes to work and picks him up at 1:15.  He then gets to go to Daddy's office (which he loves) and watches his TV show on the IPad until I pick him up at 2.  This allows for both of the younger two to get their naps in without being interrupted.  Perfect!!  

Aidan did pretty good his first day.  He was a little confused on why he was going to a different classroom than his Bible class but it was okay.  He didn't recognize any of the other kids there and got pretty sad when we left.  Cliff checked in on him a couple of hours later and said he was loving it.  He came home with a homework assignment to pick out 5-6 things to bring in a bag to tell people about him.  He chose a Lightening McQueen car, his helicopter from Papa, his bear, a whisk to tell people about his mad cooking skills, and our last Xmas card (okay maybe mom chose that one).  We feel very blessed to be able to give him this opportunity.  He doesn't get as much time from me as I would like due to the other kiddos so this works out perfect.