Roomies

Well, I'm happy to report that we've made it two nights in a row with the new roomies in their bunkbeds. Barely ... but we made it. I wish I had a video of the setup process. They were SO excited about the move (in case you can't tell from the picture above). Jon was trying to set up the beds, I was trying to put on the sheets with my big pregnant belly, the boys were in and out of the room trying to be helpers. Once we finally got them in bed, all we could hear on the monitor was, "Hey Tanner, I'm on the bottom bunk. You're on the top. I'm on the bottom, Tanner!" Landon did try once to scale the ladder up to the top bunk, but Tanner put a quick stop to that. There was a lot of chatting, but surprisingly, Tanner fell asleep first, after about 20 minutes. (It WAS 10:00 at night by then ... so pretty much the time he normally passes out). Landon was sleeping soon after and the best part was that I didn't have ANY little bedbugs visiting me in the middle of the night.

Last night was quite the drama-fest. I read to the boys and put them in bed around 8:15. Soon afterwards, Landon started crying, saying he didn't like the bunkbeds. (You have to know that when Landon cries, it is SO sad! He totally breaks your heart.) He wanted to go back in his own room. I told him that he couldn't go back in there because it was the baby room and he is a big boy now. Then I said that maybe we could move him into the guest room if he REALLY didn't like being in the big boy room. By this time, Tanner was bawling. He said his feelings were hurt that Landon didn't want to be his roommate. Then Landon felt bad that he hurt Tanner's feelings. It was just all so SAD!!!! (BTW ... if you know Tanner, you know how much of a cuddler he is, how much he LOVES to be around other people. Jon and I remarked the first night how we thought Tanner was probably much more comfortable going to sleep in his room with Landon in there.) Finally, Jon went in there and settled them both down enough to get them to sleep. By then, it was nearly 9:30. Oh Lord! The good news is that both boys stayed in their bed ALL NIGHT again, which is huge.

Yesterday, Tanner and I had a "date." Well, I'm not so sure how good of a date it was ... we basically went to a bunch of stores and ran some errands together. But, we did have ice cream at Costco, which was definitely the highlight for the little man. It was so great to have time with just him and me. One of the things we did was go to the Disney Store so that Tanner could pick out a gift to give Landon for Christmas. I told him he had $10.00 to spend. It was so fun to see what he picked out, and he is on pins and needles waiting to give it to Landon.


Landon stayed home with Daddy and took a nap. When we got home, I gave the kids a bath and Landon said. "I missed you, Mommy! I missed my brother!" As a mom, I don't know if there's anything that makes me happier than knowing my boys love and enjoy one another. I just can't wait to have another little boy in the mix!

BFFs

Usually, I wait to write a new post until I have pictures to go with it, but as you can probably tell, I haven't even touched my camera in the last month. Partly because I was a little burnt out from all of my Oct/Nov photo shoots, but mostly because it gets dark here at, like, NOON!!! Okay, maybe a little bit later than that, but it sure seems like noon! Anyway, my flash and I don't really get along very well.

We've had a pretty good few weeks around here. It is COLD COLD COLD outside, so we've been staying pretty cozy at home most days. I've been really praying lately that God will help me say NO to the things that don't matter in my life and that I'll be able to just relax and spend quality time with my boys during this holiday season. I love to be busy, I love my hobbies, I love being out and about, but it sure has been nice to just be at home and have time to play, read, bake and snuggle with my favorite little people. Actually, it's been more than nice -- a little taste of heaven I think.

My boys have become best buddies as of late. They literally play together from the time they wake up until they go to bed. Upstairs, downstairs, in the basement. They are constantly entertaining one another. Usually, this ends in a huge mess of some sort. Tonight they TP'd the bounce house with a brand new huge roll of paper towels. Awesome. Yesterday they entertained themselves for a quite a while with all of the lotion, shaving cream, deodorant, dental floss, and band-aids they could find in my bathroom. The day before they were having a lovely time in their own bathroom emptying a container of bath bubbles all over the floor and having a "car wash" in the sink with all of their hot wheels. Jon always says the same thing ... "why weren't you watching them?" (I can't help but roll my eyes just THINKING about that last comment -- You're right babe, I definitely should NOT have been eating bon-bons on the couch, watching the Kardashians and painting my toenails while the kids destroyed the house.)

Despite the daily disasters, I am finding so much joy in watching them play together. They fight, of course, but growing up with 2 sisters totally prepared me for this, so I'm not quite as bothered by it as I would be otherwise. Landon just worships Tanner and if he loses track of him for a minute, you're sure to hear "Where's my brother?" The other day, Jon gave Tanner a spanking and Landon pointed at him and yelled "Don't spank my brother!!!" So dang cute.

This weekend, we're moving Landon into the "big boy room" with Tanner so that the little buddies can become roommates and we can start setting up the nursery for Kellen. The boys are just beside themselves, they are so excited (by "boys" I mean Jon, too). Of course, I can hardly sleep at night I'm so worried about the change. First of all, we're bunking the beds because there's not really enough space for two twin beds in the room. Secondly, Landon is the BEST sleeper, and Tanner is the WORST (sometimes still awake even when Jon and I go to bed!!!) I keep telling myself that families do this all the time and they make it work -- and we still have a few months to make it work before the baby gets here. I guess its just one of those new experiences in parenting that I have to get through -- like taking away the pacifier or moving a toddler from the crib into a bed. It all works out in the end.

I'm feeling really good right now in my pregnancy. Unlike when I was pregnant with Landon, I'm really not nervous at all for this baby to come. (Maybe I should be???) Sometimes I feel like things can't get much crazier around here. And this baby is so lucky ... 2 parents and 2 brothers SO excited to meet him! He will be well-loved, that's for sure! It seems like there was a lot of preparation going from one baby to two. For this baby, I feel like we already have everything. The only thing we need to do is set up the crib and get out the bin of newborn clothes to wash them.

As of today, I'm 27 weeks. On one hand I feel like I've already been pregnant forever. I found out just after 4th of July, which seems like SO LONG ago! But, on the other hand, I'm in no rush for March to be here and I'm cherishing these last sweet months with just me and my two oldest boys. I love watching my belly grow ... but hate seeing everything else get larger as well. I get so much joy out of every kick and little movement I feel. To me, this is the BEST part of pregnancy ... being able to feel a little LIFE growing inside of you -- what a miracle!

We've all been really enjoying the Christmas season. Fritz (our elf) made his first appearance shortly before Thanksgiving and has been keeping an eye on us ever since. If I had a nickel for every time I've heard "YOU'RE NOT GETTING PRESENTS!!!!!!!!" I'd be so rich. They say it to each other. They say it to me. The other day, Tanner got in trouble and yelled to me "You're not getting any presents, Mom!" By then I'd already heard this 5000 times and said back to him, "Really? Like, were you going to get me something?" He said no, of course. Then Landon comes into the room and says "I get you a present, Mom! You CAN get presents, Mom! You're a GOOD mom!" Seriously? Melt my heart, Landon. Melt. My. Heart.

Okay, it's way past my bedtime, so this update will have to end for now. Hopefully, I can fit in a few more before Christmas. WITH pictures!