A New Day...

As I have posted before, Eliott has been around the house at least twice in terms of where his bed is located.   Our room, the office, Madison's room, our room, office (which turned into his room), ...  A couple of weeks ago, after he decided that staying in his crib wasn't necessary and scaling his crib wasn't that big of a deal, we had to change his crib into a toddler bed.  I feared that, but it actually went incredibly smooth.  He has been a fantastic sleeper the last couple of weeks rarely getting up.  A couple days ago, my Dad brought over the bottom of the bunk bed that he made for my brother and I when we were little tikes.  We set it up and tonight, for the first time, my two kids are asleep in the same room in big boy/girl beds.  I feel like it was just yesterday that I was in the middle of many consecutive sleepless nights.  I remember asking Matt, how long can you survive without a single night of good sleep... 6 months, a year, ...  I'm not saying the night will be perfect but soon there will be no more transitions for these two... 'sigh'.  Madison was soooo excited for 'T' to sleep in her room.  She has been waiting this day for quite some time.  She also did not come our of her room for one more potty or drink... 'sigh' #2.  Praise God for those two crazy cats (and I now hear Madison saying to me, 'Mom, I'm not a cat!)...

ps... I played Hi Ho Cherry-o with Madison today at the kitchen table while TT napped.  After I had clearly explained the rules and told her why landing on the 'spilling bucket' was not a good thing we started to play.  She went and then grabbed the spinner as I was about to go.  When I told her that it was my turn she started to cry and yelled, "I don't want you to get all your cherries off your tree!"  A little competitive spirit in that little peanut.  If so, that will be quite a mix with her sensitive side that doesn't want anyone to feel bad... :)   Fyi, she won two games in a row.

Gone Fishin'

The kids and I prepared all day to head out for our evening fishing outing after Dad got off work.  'We' got the food ready and loaded up the car.  We seriously could have stayed for a couple of days if we would have packed a tent :).  Matt got home, we broke out the new 'Diego' pole, stopped and got some worms, and headed to George Wyth.  It was very fun.  Madison was very excited to get her pole in the water and once she did, she was impressively patient (even for her) as she stood very serious watching and waiting for her bobber to sink.  After a few 'false alarms', she reeled in the big one.  Soon after, they were headed up to a different spot... which is one of my favorite pictures.   You can see her and Matt trucking it up to the top... Matt several steps ahead.  Another favorite of mine is the look on Matt's face as he casts the Diego pole... his 'serious' look just like he is casting his pole into deep water.  I love that he tries just as hard (if not harder) to help Madison catch a 3 oz fish as he does when he's fishing for himself. So fun.  T-man didn't hold the pole although he was very entertained with the worms, dirt, touching fish, and the snacks.  He actually sat on my lap for quite some time at the beginning enjoying just watching... this doesn't often happen with this little man.

We caught a few little ones and grilled some burgers.  There was a guy (about our age) fishing up on a 'rock' beside us.  I felt a bit bad the whole time as we were a bit of a crazy crew for a guy who was probably just trying to have a quiet evening out with his pole.  Anyways, while we were eating, Madison says, "Mom, how come he's not eating?  We should give him a cheeseburger".  I loved this 'faith like a child' comment.  It's a great example of why God wants us to have faith like a child.  It was so simple and obvious to her... 'we are eating, he doesn't have any food, why don't we take him some food'.  I thought of the verse about Jesus saying, 'For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in...".  Now obviously this guy isn't starving or homeless... but he may have been hungry... and that's all it says.  Anyways, us adults make things so complicated... it's actually pretty simple.  Never wanting this simplicity to leave her, Madison and I carried our extra cheeseburger up and offered it to this fisherman.  He happily accepted it and we were on our way.  Love it when my kids teach me more than I have taught them...

Sleepy and Sweet

Eliott has now discovered how easy it is to climb out of his crib.  Unless he is practically sleeping before you lay him down, he thinks it is quite the fun game to climb out, bust through the door with a dramatic entrance as if he is saying, "Here I am!".  With that said, we have tried some different sleeping arrangements... this is Madison's favorite.  She is always asking if TT can sleep with her and today, it was just too sweet to turn her down.

Happy Easter 2012!

Holidays are the BEST with little ones.   Here's a few moments of the big hunt at Aunt Karen's... and a comparison picture from last Easter.  So fun!