may

May was a blur.  

It went by quickly and dragged on forever in equal measures.  There were lots of things going on in May - running through the sprinklers, birthdays, the waterpark - but the biggest development was that Avery moved from her crib into a bed.  And it was not a smooth transition.  There were many sleepless nights.  Many early mornings.  Many many tears.  

It all started on a Saturday night when Billy found her perched on top of the crib railing. One foot dangling inside her crib; the other dangling outside her crib.  A recipe for disaster, no doubt.  So we dragged out all of the furniture she could climb, placed her crib mattress on the floor and put up the baby gate.  And what followed was weeks of crying, waking in the middle of the night and more crying.  

The next morning we bolted all of her dressers to the walls and converted her little crib into a little daybed.  The fact that she was still sleeping in her same crib, in the same spot, on the same mattress, with the same sheets and stuffed animals didn't ease her upset in the least.  She just wasn't emotionally ready for the "big-girl-bed" but was physically able to climb out of the crib.  

A week later, we got a double bed for Jake and moved his single bed into her room.  She watched Dad and Grandpa drag the bed from Jacobs room and into hers with delight.  She was very proud to have Jakes bed.  She made us play sleep in there all afternoon but when it was time for nap/bed she was terrified all the same.  

We shushed, we sang, we slept on the floor, we let her cry, we patted, we rocked, we shushed some more, we sat outside the bedroom door, we reassured; but nothing seemed to help much.  She'd fall asleep (out of sheer tiredness, no doubt) and wake-up in a total panic.  Slowly (as in two weeks later), she started to settle at bedtime better but would still wake two or three times in the night and take a long time to settle back down.  She'd settle quicker if Bill put her down.  We even resorted to lying (which feels just awful!) and would tell her if she lay down quietly, the other parent would come in and give her a hug.  A couple times I found Jake sitting outside her door telling her that everything was okay.  And that's how a whole month becomes a blur ;)  

When we finally felt like she was showing fewer signs of being frightened and more signs that this was becoming habit, we let her cry it out and thankfully the second night she fell back asleep without much crying.

Now we're all functioning much better on more sleep and enjoy snuggling in her new bed.  And how can you not love this smiling girl.   

jake turns four

F O U R

Wow, did that ever happen fast.

Four was ultra exciting because it was the first year Jacob got to have a kids party.  We planned a picnic for his friends and their families, made invitations and Jacob hand-delivered them to each child, planned a scavenger hunt, made mini cupcakes and cupcakes for the kids to decorate, made a picnic feast, Jake filled goodybags, and then... May 10th arrived with rain in the forecast.

Luckily my Aunt offered her house up as plan b and we made a last-minute location change (THANKS aunty Brenda and uncle Mont!).  It turned out to be overcast with just a few drops of rain so we were able to play in the bouncy castle and do the nature scavenger hunt outside BUT picnic and decorate cupcakes in comfort inside.  Perfect. 

The guest list was definitely the hardest part.  I think the smaller the better but there were a lot of family friends to invite and a few of his good friends from preschool.  Plus their siblings!  We ended up with nine kids (four more were away on holiday, phew!), Jake and Avery too, and then everyones' parents. 

But everything went smooth... 

The bouncy castle was a huge hit 

(I can totally see why people buy those things now)

  

Time to picnic

And onto the nature hunt.  All of the kids got a red pail with a printout of pictures of things to find: rocks, flowers, twigs, leaves, pinecones, pine needles and acorns.  

Last but not least, cupcake decorating with a lot of sticky little fingers and happy kids

A party success!  And a four-year-old with a huge grin on his face.  

Kids were sent home happy with their loot-bags and we then popped forty balloons, vacuumed up about a million sprinkles, wiped-up after all those sticky fingers and were home in time for Avery's nap.

    

I had a hard time with Jake turning four, seems so fast and sounds so big.  But we love watching him grow, seeing his sharp little mind work and love that kind heart of his.  These four years have been a dream.  Love him so hard it hurts and always will. 

april and easter

April went by in a flash. 

(I seriously cannot believe that its June already) 

We enjoyed visitors, Easter and welcoming springtime.  Jake continued to love school, we watched Frozen for the first time and Avery was hooked, Jake started to cruise around on his scooter on our walks, soccer classes started, and we found ourselves at the park more and more.   

All in all, a very nice April.

And here are a few of our Easter pictures... 

Jake doesn't even have a sweet tooth but he had been taking about Easter egg hunts all year long.  Let the hunt begin 

                                                             Avery had a lot of help

A success!

Getting both kids to look at the camera at the same time proved to be much more of a challenge than hunting for hidden eggs