the sweet sound of silence

is not something I hear on most days. I take that back. I am lucky enough to get three 2 1/2 hour breaks each week when the kids are at school and Jacob is at school but usually that is my time to pick up and do odds and ends that Mommy's do. But I digress...

I put the boys down for their afternoon naps and asked Elizabeth if she would play quietly in her room while "Mommy rested." (I have been dealing with a headache since Monday that I just can't seem to shake. It isn't horrible - just annoying.) Elizabeth very eagerly complied once I told her she could play in her doll house that is in her room.

As my eyes fluttered open, I realized I had dozed off and then quickly looked around to make sure the house was still standing around me and that all kids were okay. How amazing my discoveries were when I realized that the boys were still sleeping and I walked into Elizabeth's room to find her curled up sleeping under her blanket with her dollies in their cradle sleeping right next to her. What a peaceful sight!



Oh the sweet sound of silence!

dancing babies

Lately, our nightly routine has come to include dancing to party music. Most of the time, the kids strip down to prepare for tubby time and then their dancing skills come out in force. I thought you might like a little taste of what we see every night. Enjoy!

birthday party at the cheese....

Yesterday was our friend, Grace's, birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheese. The kids had a lot of fun playing all of the games. Jacob even got into skeeball - well, he actually just hung onto the ball and tried to throw it every once in a while. Happy Birthday Grace - we hope you had a fun day!

the pizza must have been amazing because they gobbled it all up...

trying to be a big boy

riding with the Teletubbies

playing some soccer

making the switch

So, what have I gotten myself into???????

In the interest of potty training, I have made the switch to cloth diapers for the boys. I must admit this is an intimidating process for me but so far so good. With the inspiration of many great moms out there, i.e., Shelley, Sally, Amy, Erin and many more - I decided to give it a whirl. I decided to try the Kissaluvs diapers in the interest of keeping the boys wet. I know that sounds weird but I want AJ to at least feel when he is wet and know what peeing is. Unfortunately they run a little small so I had to return the ones that I haven't washed and am waiting for a different type to arrive since the Kissaluvs don't do any bigger. In the meantime, these are working good so far. AJ is funny because he keeps saying they are "squishy". Miraculously, this morning he went straight into the potty to pee and poop before school and decided he wanted to wear his training pants to school as well, so maybe this switch will help him after all. Jacob doesn't seem to really notice a difference - or at least he is not expressing it. I am so excited because the covers I am using right now, Bummis, come in the cute pattern of frogs and for those of you that know me - I LOVE frogs! I can say I now understand why people get addicted to different diapers - they are all so cute and let me tell you the boys little bottoms look so cute when they have these one because they are big and fluffy.
I will let you know later on down the road how things are going and what our progress has been. Wish me luck!

If you are thinking about cloth diapering or making the switch, please check out Shelley's new site - CuddleBugBums. She has patterns and all of the materials needed to make your own as well as some premade ones.

San Francisco

This weekend I decided to whisk Mike away to San Francisco without kids. My parents (THANK GOD FOR THEM!!!) took care of the three bambinos from Thursday until yesterday! Thursday night Mike took me out to dinner in town to Big Tune - mmmm, sushi - and then the next morning we were off to San Francisco. We stayed at the wonderful Marine Memorial Club & Hotel, (that I would recommend to anyone)! Once we arrived and got checked into our room it was off to buy a cable car pass and then we headed down to Ghirardelli Square and Fisherman's Wharf. We hung out there for a while and then headed back to Union Square are where we ended up having dinner at Scala's Bistro. After a nice dinner we turned in for an early bedtime (what is that???). On day two we had a great breakfast at our hotel and then headed to Union Square for some shopping and of course we had to find some trinkets for the kids. Once the quick shopping was done we decided to do some exploring and climbed one of the steepest street in San Francisco as well as paroosed the Cable Car Museum. We were then picked up at our hotel by Tower Tours for a 4 hour tour of Muir Woods and Saucalito. It totally amazed both of us that Muir Woods even existed so close to the city. This place was such a wonderful place to visit and we hope to go back to hike it next time we are in S.F. Saucalito was beautiful and full of very cute and quaint shops. Anyway, we ended up back at Fisherman's Wharf after our drop off. After fighting the crowds of tourism, we ended up having dinner at a restaurant on Pier 39. I must admit, skipping Fisherman's Wharf and all of the tourist crowd would be on the top of my list for next time. I guess I am just not one for crowds. After a late night it was back to the hotel. On morning three we had another great breakfast at our hotel and then checked to head on our way back south. We decided to take the scenic route home and drove some of the Pacific Coast Highway as well as the 101. I must say this was WAY MORE scenic than our drive up. One can only take the smell of cow pastures for so long. But anyway, we headed all the way down to my parents house to see the kids. After 10 hours on the road it sure was nice to stretch out and be embraced by children that can hug like they have never seen you before. I think I must be crazy but I always want to get some time away from the kids but sure enough when I get the opportunity to, all I do is think about and worry about them! I am so glad that Mike and I got to have some time to ourselves amongst all of the stress that TPS brings and I am very thankful that my parents were able to watch the kids for us. Thank you guys! Hopefully next time we can take the kids with us and let them see a little bit of the sites!

princess

I found a pattern for a no-sew tutu and the little princess that Elizabeth, I decided I would indulge her by making one for her along with a flower crown. As soon as I was done making it, she quickly put it on and we went out for some photos. Here is one for now and I will post some as soon as I get them edited.

dance baby dance

Our friend Debbie took this video at the Super Bowl party that they hosted and I thought I would show you all the dance moves that my little man has.

lounging in the morning

The mornings around here are usually filled with a little lounging until I can get enough caffeine consumed to be able to function. This morning, Jacob was in ultimate lounge mode with his blankie, sippy cup and some good TV shows on. It is amazing how the crease in the pillows of the couch fit him just right. Must be comfortable.

super bowl party

Better late than never, right? Anyway, thank you to Debbie and Kirt for such a wonderful Super Bowl party. They some how managed to fit 44 people into their house and we all still liked each other after the game was over. Kirt made the most wonderful wings and all of the kids had a great time playing as well. The girls spent most of the time around the table devouring the wings while the others were watching the game.

who's leg is that?

Wrestling with Daddy has long been a night time ritual in our house. Now that Mike is gone so much, when the opportunity arises, all the kids pounce on him like he is a jungle gym. The other night I had a hard time figuring out what body part belonged to whom. They have so much fun when they get to wrestle.

laundry basket train

In my attempt to get caught up on laundry today, I had a few laundry baskets laying out and of course they quickly turned into toys as far as the kids were concerned. They came up with the train game and Jacob was made the passenger. He sat in the basket and the other two pushed and pulled him all through the house. They kept themselves entertained for quite a while so I was able to get some of the laundry folded. And I promise, I did get them dressed when they were done. :)

flying Daddy's helicopter

Last night the kids partook in a little helicopter piloting as Daddy showed them how to fly his tiny little remote control helicopter. I'm not too sure if it is more fun for the kids or for Mike. You have to look real close in the pictures for the helicopter (I told you it was small.)

sick little boy

I thought I would clear up some confusion about AJ's sickness last week. It always amazes me the rumors that get started and what they escalate into. Anyway, Sunday morning AJ woke up vomiting at a very rapid rate but no fever. The persistent vomiting lasted for about 4 hours and slowly subsided. By the next morning, he appeared fine and we were off to Orange County for a couple of days. By the time we got in the car to leave, he had started itching quite a bit. He has eczema so I didn't think too much of it at the time. When we got down there, I had to leave the kids with my mom and it was off the the dentist (again) for me. When I got home, my mom told me about how AJ was itching all over and uncontrollably. With his dry skin, she had put lotion on him but this didn't seem to help so I gave him some Benadryl whey I got home. We were then off to dinner for my sister's birthday. At dinner he started itching again and when I got to looking at him, I found a red raised rash all over his entire body that was very hot to touch. I gave him some Motrin and then I noticed that the rash was spreading to his face. I was worried about his respiratory tract being affected to I left Elizabeth with my parents (to go line dancing) and took the boys and was off to urgent care. When we got there, they got us right back. It turned out AJ had a fever of 101.3 and hour after the Motrin. After looking him over from head to toe and confirming his respiratory tract was not affected, the doctor decided it was some sort of spider bite that had caused this reaction. All said and done, I am not too sure on that diagnosis but he is much better now despite the scratch marks that he has from itching so much. I hope he doesn't ever have to go through that again - it was horrible to watch!

first friday

So this week there has been a little cheating going on but who can resist birthday cake. It was my sister's birthday and of course I had to go out to dinner and have cake - didn't want to offend her, right? :) Anyway, I figure a .5 gain over last week isn't that big of a deal and hopefully I will make it into the 150's next week.