Birthday Conversation With Chloe

Chloe is a funny girl to have conversations with. It is that time of year that I start thinking about her birthday and Christmas. Since her birthday is in November I try to lay out what she is getting for both her birthday and Christmas so I don't accidentally give her something too soon.

This year we had an actual party for Levi's birthday and that was hard because we have never had a big party for Chloe. All her prior birthday parties we celebrated with family, but not her friends. Now granted for her 3rd birthday we were in Indiana so she loved that and she has never asked for a party, but being a mom who is determined to be fair with both kids it was hard. This year with Jillian's due date being so close to Chloe's birthday I didn't want Chloe to get shafted again so I am trying to have her help plan her birthday party to make sure it is special even though I'll be 9 months pregnant.

I've given her some options and we will see what she chooses, but I thought that while I was talking to her I would see what she wanted for her birthday. So here is our conversation about what she wants for her birthday.

Me: Chloe, what do you want for your birthday?
Chloe: I can't tell you.
Me: Okay, do you want any new toys for your birthday?
Chloe: Yes, just one toy.
Me: Okay, what toy do you want?
Chloe: I can't tell you.
Me: Well, don't you like opening gifts for your birthday? What do you want in those gifts?
Chloe: Oh yea, princess stuff like me and Daddy gave Evelyn.
Me: Okay, what else do you want?
Chloe: I can't tell you.
Me: Okay, do you want anything else?
Chloe: A white horse.
Me: Okay, do you want a little horse like your white horse or do you want bigger horses like the ones you play with at Mama's?
Chloe: Just a white horse.
Me: You want another white horse like the one you already have?
Chloe: No, I just want one white horse.
Me: So do you want another horse or just the one you already have?
Chloe: The one I have, that's all that I want.
Me: Do you want any new animals?
Chloe: Yes!
Me: Great, what type of new animal?
Chloe: I can't tell you.

So needless to say she doesn't know what she wants, which is a great thing because she will still like anything that she gets. When she says that she can't tell me that means she doesn't know. Zach laughed at me when I told him this conversation because he was like why did you keep going she obviously didn't know what she wants. I just want to remember these little things.

First Day of School

Ahh...finally, it was time for school to start again. I had been preparing Chloe all summer because she was not quite understanding that when school was going to start that she would not be in Mrs. Beth and Mrs. Mary's class anymore and that she may be in a class with new friends and not the same ones that were in class with her previously. Levi on the other hand was a different story. Whenever we would talk about going to school he would just say "No, school". He was coming around, but it was still a little bit of a sensitive subject for him so I focused on getting Chloe prepared for school.

The night before Chloe picked out her clothes and I set out their backpacks and nap mats. I thought I was pretty prepared, but unfortunately I woke up about 15 minutes or so later than what I should and we were still moving at summer pace. We were all dressed and it was time to pack up. Levi would rather sleep with a book than an animal so I told him to pick which book he wanted to take to nap with and that is when it all went downhill. In order for him to take his book to school I wanted to write his name on the book so he wouldn't lose it. Well he lost it, not the book, but his mind. He was so upset that even Chloe was trying to tell him that he needed to have his name on his book so he could take it to school. It was a lost cause and we had to go.

So we scurried outside and I wanted to try to get a nice first day of school photo. Levi was still throwing a fit walking out the door so that was a lost cause. Chloe didn't want to go over by the tree because of the bugs and she didn't want to smile because in her words "mommy, sometimes we say cheese, but not today." While I am buckling her in her seat she decided that she wanted to have her hair braided because mama braids Sydney's hair. So I caved. Right there in the truck I quickly threw together a French braid and finished buckling her up and off we went. Levi was still fussing, but in the five minute car ride it takes to get to school he had calmed down and was now excited to go to school.

We went in and Chloe wanted to drop off Levi first so we took him to his class and he put his backpack, nap mat and snack away and walked right in. No issues. I was quite surprised. I dropped Chloe off and she did the same thing. No issues there, which I wasn't surprised at since she was a pro last year at school. You would have never known the chaos that happened just minutes before we arrived at school. They did great!

Now day two we were back on our regular time and ready to go. I got pictures of the kids smiling and Chloe kept wanting to take more when we got to school. I thought I had this down no problem, but then the meltdown came. Levi decided he didn't want to go to class and he didn't want to put his stuff away and he didn't want to do anything. So I scooted him in the door and walked away as he was crying. He wasn't crying for me just crying that he didn't want to go to school. Oh, that boy. He can be so dramatic and emotional sometimes. It was like the days flip flopped and we started out great, but then when we got to school it all fell apart.

We are just finishing up our fourth week of school. I can't believe that! We have adjusted better and every morning before school while we sit in the car we talk about what is going to happen. We have started taking turns on who gets dropped off first and I confirm with Levi that he is going to be a big boy and not cry when he goes into class because there is no need to cry and he will have fun. Knock on wood it has worked the last two weeks. He even is calling his teacher Mrs. Mary by name and will tell me that she is tall and will stand and open the door when he goes in.

The kids both now love school. They sing songs all day at home and both of them do the motions and recite their Bible verse for the month. I have even noticed that on non-school days they play a little better with each other. It is like they need this break from each other so when they are together they actually enjoy playing together and they aren't trying to get in fights. I love school season.

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea...

So baby number 3 is coming and we only have 3 dedicated bedrooms in our house. We do have a miscellaneous room that is our office/guest/playroom, but there isn't a latching door and it is too close to the family room to be the baby's room. So I saw this amazing idea online. See below.

We could totally do this in Chloe's room and have her and Levi share a room. BRILLIANT!

We went with a modified version that didn't have the storage shelves under the bed or on top of the box in-between the beds because that just seemed like something the kids would play in too much and the under the bed storage we could use just regular totes under the beds. This way it would be a little easier and quicker to complete since Zach was working 50+ hours and finishing school. So we all went to Lowe's and all the other stores to purchase the goods to build this most amazing bed ever that would solve all our problems. The kids enjoyed "helping" daddy put it all together as well.

They were so very excited to sleep in the same room. Levi had his batman bedding and Chloe had Sofia the First bedding. Zach  had told me while making this that he didn't know if it was a good idea and that he thought they would climb on the box and jump off of it, but what did he know? I had told him that they wouldn't do anything like that and they would be fine...I should have been thinking "what do I know". 

Clearly I give them more credit than I should because after three weeks of trying this out and trying different tactics it never quite worked. They would take over an hour to fall asleep at night and then wake up super early in the morning, then at nap times if they slept it was only for an hour or less. We tried staggering their bedtimes, sitting in with them until they fell asleep, threatening to take out animals, and about everything in between. For each thing that we did they were one step ahead. Sitting with them worked a time or two, but then they would trick us and act asleep but within 5 minutes of us leaving we heard them jumping up and playing. When we would stagger their bedtimes Levi would just lie awake waiting for Chloe to come in so what we were doing was just prolonging the inevitable. Oh and the climbing and jumping off the box comment Zach made...well he was 100% right. That was one of their favorite things to do. This idea that I thought was so brilliant was just a big flop. They weren't ready to sleep in the same room and with school quickly approaching we decided it was best to separate them again because if you have been around Levi you know he needs his sleep or he is a terror. For those three weeks he was only getting 8-10 hours of sleep in 24 hours when he normally has about 12-14 hours. He was not a happy camper.

So back to separate rooms they go. Levi's new room was the office/miscellaneous/guest room and Chloe stayed in her room. Jillian will be in Levi's old room. Now things are pretty much back to normal and they actually sleep at night and nap time for the most part. Well we tried, failed, and then adjusted.

I put Levi in time out for something and this is how I found him a few minutes later. He was suppose to be sitting in time out, but he decided to take his nap that he hadn't taken because he was playing rather than sleeping at nap time.

Chloe had zonked out on the floor while she was playing because she hadn't taken a nap.

End of Summer

This summer was quite different from any that I had previously. This was the first summer that I was home with the kids all day everyday. It was great and exhausting all at the same time. By August the kids were definitely ready to be back on a more consistent schedule and I was ready for school to start back to have that little bit of a breather. Not to mention I found it extremely miserably hot! I lived in Arizona for many summers, but it wasn't the same. It could have been the fact that this is the first time I was home during the hot times of the day whereas when I worked I only really experienced the summer on the weekend and evenings when it wasn't so terrible and I didn't have two little toddlers going stir crazy.

All in all we had a great summer. We took our trips to Indiana and spent a lot of time with family, we went to the park as often as we could before the sun was too strong, went swimming at least once a week and we had a lot of play dates so the kids could run out their crazy energy.

Levi likes to check out all the "tractors" at Lowes

Chloe and Levi enjoy playing in the rain, and of course Chloe is in her "beautiful dress"

Chloe was excited about her skates. She said she was just like Sydney (we gave Sydney real skates for her last birthday and Chloe had wanted a pair since then).

Back Home in Indiana....Again!

 

 

 

 

 

The kids and I were just in Indiana for about a week, but I just didn't feel like it was enough. We had so much fun. So about halfway, or maybe not even halfway home from our May trip I told Zach to just think about a second trip back. I knew that my sister and her family were coming in for almost two weeks in July over 4th of July. So I had already calculated how much time Zach could take off and how we could make it work, but I had to have Zach on board because it was going to have to be a quick trip since we really didn't want to use a whole lot of vacation time with the baby coming at the end of the year.

I think Zach said something to the effect that it didn't matter what he thought because it sounded like I was going to make it work and get back to Indiana over July regardless of what he said. That wasn't entirely true because I wouldn't have felt comfortable if Zach wasn't on board, but I was making a pretty strong case for him to see that it was a good idea. And we made the trip for the second time and spent some time all together. All my sisters, their husbands and all the kids were there. Of course we had a lot of fun.

We were there over the 4th of July and this would have been the first time that Chloe and Levi have ever seen fireworks. Chloe may have seen them when she was about 8 months old, but I can't really remember if she actually had seen them prior to this year. And I know that Levi hadn't seen them before. So before we went back to Indiana we had looked up where the fireworks would be because I didn't want to go downtown with the crowds. It ended up that there was going to be a fireworks show at the high school so we decided to go check it out. All the kids had a great time and really liked the fireworks. I was a little nervous that Chloe and Levi would get scared from the noise, but they did good and actually enjoyed looking at the different colors in the sky.

We had a great time in our short few days there. Besides going to the fireworks we also went to a parade for 4th of July. The kids had a lot of fun because during the parade they had candy thrown out by all the floats and so of course the kids thought that was great. Chloe would only pick up candy that she liked, while Levi would pick up anything. A trip to Pizza King was also needed. It was probably the best Pizza King pizza that we've had in awhile, even Christina said it was good. There was a lot of kickball played in my parents backyard and a time or two at the orange park and of course at Tina's house to jump on the trampoline. All seven of the cousins played really great together which is always just amazing to see.

As I reflect back on our trip I have to say that it truly is amazing to see how our family gets along so well and genuinely enjoys and loves each other not because we have to, but because we want to. We live in three different states, have different type of jobs and do different things during our free time, but the one thing we have in common that makes it all work is that family is our priority. I must say it all trickles down from my parents who have made it work and have many times bent over backwards to make sure we are able to spend quality time together.

June Fun

June was pretty much full from the time we got back from Indiana. I believe we had birthday parties almost every weekend for the kids' friends. It wasn't too hot out yet and we didn't swim a whole lot because of that, well I didn't swim a whole lot. The kids did, but it wasn't quite warm enough for me to get in. Enjoy some of our June photos.

The kids love to play in Zach's closet. He hates it, but the kids love it and they decided to pile up all his shoes against the bathroom door. He was thrilled...not really.

Chloe likes to dress herself and of course we let her, but here she wanted to go outside to play but she had to have her gloves and hat on so her head and hands wouldn't get hot...I think she has that backwards.

Zach's grandfather's 90th birthday party

All the cousins minus some spouses from the 90th birthday party

We Are Pregnant!

So yea, we are pregnant again. Third baby on the way and it will be another girl. Thank goodness because I don't think I could have another wild boy like Levi. Chloe is very very excited and will talk to the baby in my belly and ask when the baby will come out. I don't think she realizes it won't be a full grown toddler to play with, but either way she is excited. Levi doesn't really know what to think. He acknowledges the baby, sometimes, but not like Chloe does.

We have decided to name her Jillian Mae. No specific reason for Jillian, other than the fact that the name has stuck out to us since we were pregnant with Levi and the fact that Zach wouldn't take my other names like Ella Belle, Lilly, Stella or my sister's favorite Gwen. It's probably for the best because I think Jillian is the best out of them. Mae does come from Zach's great-grandmother. Zach doesn't remember a whole lot about her because I don't believe she was alive for many years after he was born, but what he does remember is that he would go into her room and play with his toys while she was sitting in bed because I believe, or what Zach says, she was on bed rest pretty much. He remembers having this little relationship with her even being just a few years old. And I also heard a story that his great-grandmother would not respond to very many people, but as soon as she would hear Zach's voice she would always respond to him right away. So we thought Mae would be just a great middle name.

Come the end of November we should hopefully have a healthy little baby girl. She will be our first Texas baby, but don't expect the big hair or bling everywhere, I'm still trying to shield my kids from the Texas crazy for as long as possible. Although, Chloe has become quite the accessorized little girl. She loves to wear headbands or bows with her necklaces, rings, bracelets and pretend shoes. So we shall see what 3 kids will bring...I'm not sure I'm ready for this.