Nighttime

We have officially moved Ava to her own room and her own bed. She goes to bed by 8pm and I am officially bored! Seriously, I have never put a kid (while they were toddlers) on a sleep schedule because I just never cared to. I enjoy being relaxed with them about sleeping arrangements and bedtimes when they aren't in school. But Ava was just not going to bed at a decent time and falling asleep at 5pm for a nap and then staying up all night and then I was never getting a break. So I got her a super nice sheet for her mattress, a Twilight Lady Bug night light, and a Sleep Sheep(which she doesn't like, ha) and whichever little doll she wants to snuggle. At around seven we read Goodnight Moon atleast 12 times, Olivia around 5 and finally she yawns and passes out in her own bed around eight. So far as I write this she has slept a whole 2.5 hours without waking up and last night we only got 1.5 hours at a time, so we're getting better. Plus she's totally without a diaper all during the day. Hmm, maybe she is growing up a little, but I refuse to let her grow up too much.

I've been especially weepy lately, probably hormonal, but I have just been noticing little things that I all too often take for granted and it kills me! Like when your little one falls asleep right there under your chin and you can hear their little breaths and smell them and you just wish you could stay just like that forever. Ugh, it just stabs my heart. I know it won't be happening too much longer, but it's something I don't want to forget and maybe that's why we women get "baby fever" when we hold another woman's baby and smell that precious baby smell. It's ingrained in us to LOVE that smell not to mention the soft snuggliness of a baby. Don't worry, I'm not having another one, but I've just been in a reflective mood lately with my kids and certain realizations have hit me and it's kind of sad.

With Hannah, it's just how independent she is now. It's not a bad thing, but when she actually comes to me with problems or just wants to snuggle or talk, I listen and just pray it doesn't stop. She's so smart and funny, but starting to face big kid stuff and I hope she makes good decisions. By the way, I don't think I'm going to ever let her date or leave the house for that matter. Last week while Rusty was out on a business trip, she asked to sleep with me. She NEVER does that. While Mallorie always asks to sleep in my room, it is strange when Hannah does. So...there were four of us in my queen size bed, it was a tight fit, but I am so thankful they were in there. Her new biggest thing is drinking coffee, which I love! She's all about getting the stay hot lidded mugs we have and taking it to church, and I can't help but giggle with how big she thinks she looks. I'm kind of excited about next year. She'll be starting school about an hour later than Mallorie so maybe we'll be able to sneak in a few coffee shop stops before school sometimes. I'll be able to do the same with Mallorie in the afternoons as she'll get out before Hannah.

With Mally it's just seeing her try to branch out of her little shell. She loves her little sister so much and plays so well with her and I just love to see how much better she is with her these days. She's quick witted and makes us laugh so hard when she gets rolling with a joke. Needless to say I love my kids, they are what my day revolves around and I am so glad. I always wanted to be a mommy to a houseful of kids and while I think a houseful in reality is less than what you imagine as a kid, what I have I feel is perfect.Truly I feel blessed!

In other news, after 10 and a half years of marriage, Rusty and I have finally bought our first set of "grown up" furniture. Our living room for the first time ever finally resembles a nice living room with a somewhat dressy feel to it. Not too dressy, but just not embarrassingly ugly anymore, ha! We are weird and have always enjoyed going into to furniture stores to dream about what we'd buy and could never agree on anything, but the stars aligned or something and we found what we both loved and got an entire set-up for a fantastic price! We even went to downtown Atlanta, where we were told of some good stores, however I was feeling like I was right back in the scary part of downtown LA, so we didn't stay there very long and hit up the Ashley Furniture store here in our town. We hit the jackpot and the price was just a little over our budget, but so worth it! We feel so thankful and blessed to be able to finally get this. I did catch Ava trying to color the leg of the coffee table this morning, but I think I caught her before she did any damage.

Rusty's and my birthdays are coming up soon and we've decided that for him we'll be buying a tent and camping gear. No surprises around here folks, I don't even remember the last time we got surprises for each other for a birthday. Anyway, we're actively looking up tents and doing some research since I am so not savvy on the camping gear info. We're so excited to do this! I just hope the sasquatches or ligers don't get us! Not that I would tell my kids any scary stories like that, I'm not mean. No, that will be Rusty, telling me that stuff and scaring the poop out of me! Any sound I hear, even in my back yard puts me on edge. It's sad, but true. We often talk about when we eventually buy a home how Rusty wants to live near woods, but I'll probably need assistance in the form of a pill to be outside after dark, something about an animal being able to see me, but I can't see them. Gah, it bugs me! I think I need a dog. But really, I am looking forward to learning to camp the real way and letting the girls hike and fish and just have fun.

I hope you are having a good week, we're enjoying playing outside as much as possible and the longer days. And I'm starting to see little bits of green popping up within all the dormant grass, which puts my spirits way up!