Blue buddy has died(?)

Adam has a very vivid imagination. Along with it comes a lot of imaginary friends. They are mostly named for colors, such as blue buddy, red buddy, but he also has a few others like flame buddy. His buddies usually fight the bad guys with him and generally keep him company. They have personalities, birthdays, likes, dislikes, everything a person would have. They have come and gone over the last couple of years, I think they first appeared 2 Decembers ago when I stopped working before Noelle was born and he no longer had a friend to play with on a daily basis. So anyway, we are leaving this morning to go to the store and Adam is suddenly hysterical and in tears crying saying Blue Buddy (his original and favorite one) has died and how sad he is and how much he loves him. He was being very dramatic and I have to admit I was having a hard time controlling my laughter so Adam would not be offended (he is very sensitive lately, we can't even tease him without causing tears). I was waiting to see if he was just pretending or what, he does that sometimes and after a minute or two is done. He was serious this morning, he actually had tears running down his face. Of course I explained to him that since Blue Buddy is pretend he can only die if he wants him to but he was sad for a while afterwards. I LOVE Adam's imagination but this was a bit much. I am fine with the buddies going away because he doesn't need them anymore, but dying? He seems to have forgotten about it for now fortunately.

Decorations and a new look

Justin and the kids finally finished making snowflakes and hanging them up. I think they made about 30 total! It does look neat though. Adam seems to have a knack for cutting them. I think being a kid he just cuts instead of thinking about how it is going to look if he cuts here versus there. Also he just folds them however instead of being exact about it like adults tend to be. I made a few, but Adam's were by far the best ones!!



Clearly I have changed the look of the blog. The pink was really bugging me and I couldn't figure out how to change the colors so I just did a whole new template. I really like this simple one. Also I am hoping to get my new scrapbook pages up today! So don't forget to look for them at the bottom!!

The next installment of The Noelle Bedtime Chronicles

After the crayon incident at work last Tuesday I decided it was time to get tough about nap/bedtime. (Side Note: We have actually been trying to get Noelle to stay in bed at night since about February or March when she originally went to a toddler bed. We have yet to succeed with it for more than a 2 week period. For instance when I put her in the bottom bed of the bunk bed a little while back she did fabulous, for 2 weeks. Right after I blogged about it she quit staying in bed and behaving at sleeping time. I don't know what it is about the 2 week time span, but that's always what she gives us.) So last Tuesday, the 3rd, we starting putting her back in bed every time she gets out and turning her body if she kicks the wall. It has taken 35 to 90 mins every night since for her to fall asleep. And I say fall asleep because as long as her eyes are open she is defying us in some way, whether getting out of bed to spin in circles (seems to be her favorite one), kicking the wall, or trying to open or close the door (that we are most likely standing right by). When she finally gives in she is asleep instantly. We are leaving the kids with their Uncle Derrick next Monday night and I am so afraid that she won't go to bed for him. I do know that we can not afford to break the routine of putting her right back in bed every time she gets out. I am really hopeful that she gets better before then. Normally I would just not go out in the evening until she was staying in bed, but this is Justin's company Christmas party that I have been looking forward to for months and there is no way we are missing it. I have to say that I am So So Thankful that I have a husband to share this bedtime battle with. We take turns putting the kids to bed so whoever does her bed routine is who deals with her till she falls asleep (including if she wakes during the night and when she gets up in the morning if it is a weekend). I really don't think I could handle this if I had to do it alone every night or if Justin were not supportive. But it is still so frustrating!! I swear the kid lays there thinking of new ways to irritate me. I wrote a while back that she has to wear onsies to bed, well now she has to wear them backwards so the snaps are out of her reach. Anyone want to take bets on how long it takes her to figure out how to unsnap them?

And then there is Adam. He tells me today that he wants to go spend 2 or 3 days at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Sounded like a good idea to me, when can I drop him off!! Then he offers up that he wants to do it so he doesn't have to listen to mommy and daddy AND so he doesn't have to eat his fruits and veggies first!! I was seriously dumbstruck. I think I actually needed to push my jaw back up. Is this how he really feels about us? I take this to mean he thinks we either talk to much or he just doesn't like what we say and we torture him with fruits and veggies. We did of course shattered his hopes by telling him that his rules are the same no matter where he is. I think this one will keep me laughing for a while. I remember him telling me another really funny sentence right before his 3rd birthday. His words were, "I finished my oatmeal before you beat me." I promise we do NOT beat the kid when he doesn't eat, contrary to what he wants you to believe.

I am hoping to post a few more decoration pics soon, so don't forget to check back!

Homemade Christmas

When we moved into the apartment last May we packed a 5x7 storage pod completely full, including every Christmas decoration we own. The pod is right down the street from us, BUT the Christmas stuff is on the bottom in the back, and it was one of those 'hold the last thing in and close the door real quick' deals. In hindsight I realize I should have at least kept out our stockings, which are very special to us. Every year we each add a charm to our stocking to commemorate the year. We always make a special trip to the store just for the charms. I'm sure we will still pick them out this year, just won't be able to add them till next year.

The whole point of this is that we have NO Christmas items. I did go ahead and buy a 32" fiber optic tree that changes colors constantly. A little cheesy, but hey at least it is a tree. We joked for a couple weeks that we would cut out a tree from green paper and tape it to the wall, then we could just pile the presents by the below it against the wall. We had a pack of small ornaments that were given to us recently that were just the right size for the tree and we have each made an ornament out of craft foam as well. Justin and the kids have made a very long paper chain that goes all the way around our living and dining room space. It's a start anyway. I do hope to find a few inexpensive decorations. Oh, I almost forgot about the angel. We all made an angel for the top of the tree out of craft foam. She has a glittery halo and very glittery wings!

A busy few days...

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! All the food turned out great and we had a fun relaxing day at home and visiting with Justin's brother and sister, who joined us for dinner.

I got to go Scrapbooking with a couple friends on Friday night and had a great time. I have printed all my pictures up till last week and can't wait to get it all scrapbooked. I have been trying to do a couple pages every few nights so that I can have Noelle's album caught up by her birthday in January. Should be pretty easy to do since I am already to August of this year.

We all went out Saturday morning to play in all the snow we got overnight. We probably had about 2 inches here at the apartment, even though other areas barely had any. We had a great time having a snowball fight! Its been a long time since I took part in one of those. Justin and I couldn't figure out why we were both so sore the next day, it actually took as a while to realize it was from the snowball fight. I guess we need to get out more! LOL Justin and the kids made snow angels and then we went inside to warm up with warm spiced cider. Adam loves the snow, always has. Noelle is still a little wary, I don't blame her though, I'm not much a fan myself.

Saturday night we went up to my sister and brother-in-law's house for dinner and to just visit. They made a very yummy kid friendly dinner of fried chicken tenders, mac and cheese and homemade biscuits! My whole family loves the mac and cheese which is a homemade recipe with lots of Velveeta. The kids helped Stef decorate her tree while we were there and Adam found a PlayStation game that he fell in love with and brought home to practice so he can beat Uncle Steve at it next time they play.

So far this week has been a doozy and I am really looking forward to the end of it. Yesterday Noelle found some crayons in the closet at work while she was supposed to be sleeping and proceeded to eat them, draw on the wall and carpet, and generally make a mess. Neither my boss nor I had any clue they were in the room or we would have taken them out. It was my very first experience with this in all my years as a nanny and mom, I am very careful about keeping art supplies out of reach when not in use. Monday night I got the news that Adam's daycare would not be re-opening under the current owners and would be sold and hopefully opened up in January some time through a new company. I decided it was time to pull him out and asked my boss if it would be okay to bring him with me. They very generously said that would be fine and I am SOOO thankful for it. It really takes a load off my shoulders, as well as saves me $120 a week. That day, Tuesday, was his last day at daycare and he will be with me from now on. I plan on looking into the center when they re-open but am sure they will be even more expensive than the old one. I am also hoping the change will improve some of the awful behavior we are seeing from him recently.

Thursday we are heading up to Westminster for the Tree Lighting at the fire station by my parents house. I am looking forward to it as it will be my first year, even though Adam has gone for several years. Then Friday night is my MOPS Christmas party and Saturday I will be going to a paint your own pottery studio with MOPS and then to lunch afterwards.