Saturday, January 22, 2011

The Princess turns 4!

My little Princess Megan is 4 today!  Where does the time go?  I still remember vividly my water breaking at 3:45am and driving to the hospital in the snow on un-plowed roads.  When my water broke, I woke Sean and told him and he asked, "what do we need to do?"  I told him first I needed a towel, and then we needed to head to the hospital. You'd think by the third kid he'd know how it all worked, but I guess since I had to wake him up in the middle of the night, I have to give him a break.
Anyway, Megan is the funniest, most loving, neediest little girl. I love her to death, but she wears me down faster than any of the other kids.  This doesn't really surprise me, though; she was born needy.  In keeping with her beginnings, she still the crappiest sleeper.  Thankfully once she's asleep she's fine, but getting her to sleep is a battle every night.  But, I can't say I don't enjoy it when she comes into my bed for a 10 minute snuggle some nights.  She's a great snuggler.  :)
  Megan is too smart for her own good.  I have a feeling school will probably come easy for her, if she can just find the motivation.  If she wants to do something, it's so easy for her, but if she doesn't want to, you can forget it.  You cannot bribe this child.  Until her, I'd never met a kid that couldn't be bribed with something; either a special treat or special activity just for them, but none of that works with Megan.  I'm sure her stubborness will serve her well later in life, but for now it just frustates me most days.
She is loving her dance class with Miss Ann, and cannot wait to starts school like Emma and Nathan.  We will probably put her into preschool in the fall, but I worry she'll be disappointed she can't go to school on the bus with Emma and Nathan just yet.
Megan is such an amazing little girl. She can test your patience like no other, but loves so whole-heartedly, you can't stay angry for long.  She makes each day such an adventure, and even though she makes me crazy some days, I wouldn't change a thing about her.  Happy birthday to my Princess.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Let's Talk...Chore charts

I'm not a list type person.  Hard to believe, I know.  I mean you'd think with 5 kids, lists would be the most important part of my life, but I just don't do lists.  I will often go to the grocery store without a list, and generally I get everything we need, and not too many extras.  How I survive without lists, I really don't know. 
My kids, on the other hand, are list people.  I often ask Nathan how it is possible he can behave so well at school, but completely ignore the rules when he's at home.  His answer, "Because they have signs with the rules on them at school."  Apparently he needs that constant visual reminder that jumping on the furniture is not ok.  Not really sure why telling him not to jump on the furniture for the last 6 years hasn't worked, and according to him a posted sign will work, but whatever.  I'm willing to try it I guess.
So this brings me to my latest consideration, assigning chores to the kids.  I'm at a loss how to start this.  The kids don't really have official chores right now, though I would like to make some.  I'd also like to add doing their homework and reading a book each day as part of their responsibilities, so it won't be just a chore chart.  Any suggestions on making this?
I'm thinking of doing a spreadsheet for each kid.  The left column would list each "to do" item, and the rest of the columns would be one for each day of the month. I'd print it off and the kids could mark off each item they do each day, and we'd set a goal for each week or month and if they meet their goal they'd earn something.  Not sure yet what that something would be though.
Does anyone else do chore charts and have any advice?  Seen anything cool online on this topic?  We didn't do stuff like this growing up, so I'm rather in the dark about this.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Happy New Year 2011!

So do I win for the latest Happy New Year blog post?  lol!  I kept meaning to post about new years, and then the kids went back to school and their activities started, and time just got away from me again.
A few tidbits for now:
  • Mom's bathroom is finally done.  I haven't been over there since my brother finished installing the mirror and stuff like that, so I still don't have an after picture.  I want to go do that this weekend.
  • Emma is going on her first girl scout camping trip this weekend.  She is so excited; I'm very nervous.  I'm sure she'll be fine since she spent the night at one of the leaders' house during winter break.  I can't believe my baby is big enough for stuff like sleepovers and overnight trips without me.  I of course was welcome to go along, but since I can't take Brooklyn, I don't get to go.  Darn those nursing babies!  (just kidding of course)
  • I started dancing again.  It's just a tap class, but it's for adults, and it's something I'm doing that is just for me.  It was very hard for me to commit to doing this.  I know it's important for moms to make time for themselves, but knowing it and doing it are two different things.  I have a hard time shutting off the guilt for taking time for myself.  I know at the end of the day Sean is tired, so I feel bad leaving him with all the kids, plus the class is on Emma's girl scout meeting night, so Sean has to take care of that.  Also we are already so busy I hated to add one more thing to our schedule.  But, when I mentioned it to Sean, he really encouraged me to just go for it, and we'd figure out the rest.  I've only been to one class, but it felt so good to put those shoes back on.  :)
  • I am taking Emma and Nathan for their first orthodontist visit next week.  I know they'll both need braces, so if anyone wants to contribute for that, let me know.  lol!  Seriously, I bet all of our kids will need braces since Sean and I both needed them, but maybe we'll get lucky and the orthodontist will give us the 5th one free or something. 
  • Lastly, I have something big going on this weekend that I can't talk much about, but I'm super excited, and will have pictures to share next week.  :)