Success! Christmas Photos are done!

Every year I dread taking the kids' pictures for our annual Christmas photo card. This year was no exception..... I thought for sure it was going to be a complete nightmare trying to get 3 crazy kids and 1 very busy toddler to stop to smile at the same time..... Boy was I wrong! I got each one dressed right after they woke up from their naps, and took some solo pictures. Emma was first and she was a complete ham. She could not stop smiling as she sat proudly in her "big kid" chair. Then came Kylie who is usually my monkey of the group- but today she couldn't wait to get all dressed up and to have her hair done and she happily posed by the tree. Ethan and Kaitlyn then joined us and had their solo pictures taken too but Kylie kept trying to hop in for a group picture so their individual pictures were a bit rushed.

The group photo session went really well, too. These pictures speak for themselves:

A Quiet Weekend....

Emma and I have had the house to ourselves this weekend!

Ethan went down to the Cape with his Grammy Thanksgiving night and JP took the girls down Friday morning. I haven't been alone with just Emma overnight since we were in the hospital after she was born-and we certainly weren't all alone there. It's been really nice and so easy! I've never known what it's like to only have one baby to take care of from morning to night..... Well, it's certainly peaceful. The house has been really quiet without the kids racing around and bickering with eachother (or with me).

Friday I finished up some design work for a new Client that I'm meeting with on Tuesday. I still have some handsketching to do over the plans but I need to have them plotted out at Staples on Sunday or Monday. Emma and I then played together in her play area and she enjoyed some freedom following me from room to room as I began decorating for Christmas. I definitely got a lot more done when Emmma was napping- she loved snooping around into all the kid's toys and I spent most of my time chasing after her making sure she wasn't putting anything in her mouth that didn't belong there. Emma is definitely reaching the point where she wants permanent freedom but I'm not ready to disassemble her play area yet- I need a safe place to put her once in a while when I can't be by her side. She did manage to escape once last week- I'm still not entirely sure how she did it but she wandered up to the kitchen to see me and was very proud of herself. After she's been out on her own for a while, she screams when she gets put back in her play yard..... Maybe after Christmas the play yard will come done when there aren't so many things for Emma to get into- I'm just not ready yet.

Today I finished decorating the inside of the house and got most of the outdoor garlands and lights up. Ahhhhh...... Tomorrow we'll go get our tree after JP gets home with kids. It's such a fun time- the kids loved the adventure of looking for the tree and cutting it down last year. This year should be a bit easier now that Emma can walk, too.

I'm especially excited to see the kids tomorrow! I've talked to them on the phone several times over the last two days but I still miss them so much. I've enjoyed the peace and quiet but I've missed their hugs, kisses and smiles. I wish I could bottle up this feeling because I know as soon as they get home it will be like they were never gone and we'll be back to business as usual. I'm completely caught up on laundry, the kitchen counter is cleared off, and all the toys are pretty much put away. It will only be a matter of minutes tomorrow when all that will change....For now, I'm just happy that the house is in order!

The Trials and Tribulations of 3 Potty-Trained Preschoolers & a Baby aka A Crappy Day

The last 24 hours have been filled with some laughter, some dismay and some sheer frustration all revolving around pee and poop......

Last night fifteen minutes after the kids went to bed, Ethan & Kaitlyn pulled their usual "I need to go potty" routine although they had both just gone before getting into bed..... I was downstairs and said "Fine- just go....." figuring taht of course they would take turns as usual. Well, 2 minutes later Kaitlyn started screaming out in tears. I raced upstairs to find that Kaitlyn had been the first on the toilet but that didn't stop Ethan from doing his thing. Poor Kaitlyn's underwear, pajama bottoms, and legs were covered in Ethan's pee. Ethan's response- I couldn't wait. After a quick lecture on the importance of taking turns, assuring Kaitlyn that the baby wipes would clean her up sufficiently and that she wouldn't smell like pee- both headed back into bed.

A while later, I was doing some computer work in our bedroom and overheard some very funny conversations between Ethan & Kate. (Kylie was asleep as soon as she hit the pillow.....that's what a day of troublemaking will do to you!) Both kids had to go to the bathroom again- I don't know how it's possible- but anyway Kaitlyn learned her lesson before and let Ethan go first. While he was doing his thing, she commented that she wished she could have a penis to which EThan replied that she did have one. Kaitlyn explained that "no" she didn't" because she's a girl and girls don't have penises only boys- Ethan just said "oh" and went to bed.

Just before falling asleep, Kaitlyn proceeded to lecture Ethan on how he needs to be sure that someone isn't on the potty before he uses it because it's not nice to pee on people. She said that she had just had a tubby before dinner and that now she was stinky because he had peed on her and that she was very upset with him. To which Ethan just replied "oh" and went to sleep.

Then there was today.......
Yesterday I changed everyon's bed sheets. This morning while making Ethan's bed- it was soaking wet. He only ever seems to pee in his sleep when he has a freshly made bed. Maybe I tuck the sheets in too tight so he can't get out in time? Who knows?

This morning while Emma was at the table for breakfast, I was racing around (putting clean sheets on Ethan's bed, emptying dishwasher, filling dishwasher, doing laundry, folding laundry, putting it away, and picking up the house so that the housekeeper could actually find a floor to vacuum, and also getting ready for the playgroup we were hosting- I was busy....) Emma seemed happy and I was hoping she'd poop before I put her in her play area so that I could change her first so I just kept giving her Cheerios to munch on and a third cup of 1/2 water, 1/2 apple juice to keep her happy.
She never pooped and Lisa needed to clean the kitchen so I moved Emma to her play area. I started making pumpkin muffins with Ethan and heard the Kaitkyn and KYlie calling me from the family room. They said that Emma had thrown up.....no it wasn't throw up- it was from the other end and was all over the floor blanket, up her back and all through her clothes. Muffin making was postponed as I collected another load of laundry and headed upstairs to give Emma a bath.

Finally, the muffins were made and were baking, playgroup began and things were back in order. Then Kylie prances by me while I'm chatting with my friends in the kitchen and says that she has to go potty. I, as usual, say "well go ahead- you don't need to ask permission". Two minutes later, Kylie walks out of the bathroom..... with a smirk on her face- not good, I thought. I went in there to find that she had decided to pee in the wastebasket instead of the toilet. That gave her a ticket to her room for a 15 minute time out.

The next 4 hours were relatively uneventful :)

That is until Kaitlyn comes downstairs after waking up from her nap and walks into the kitchen with her undies and jeans down around her ankles and tears streaming down her face. I couldn't make it to the bathroom she says as I trace her steps back to a huge puddle on the dining room rug. I cleaned her again, changed her undies and pants and had a flashback to last night.....

On a comical note- because I need to find humor in this or else I will lose my mind eventually- while writing this post (and enjoying a big glass of wine while I do so), I have been called to the bathroom twice to wipe butts after Ethan & Kaitlyn pooped and I have been called into the family room to clean up 4 piles of poop that our dog Anna decided to contribute to my day's chaos. Fun, fun, fun.

And that isn't even a full 24 hour snippit yet. Fortunately, I'm getting chauffered to a friend's house tonight for an Italian potluck dinner.I just can't wait to get out of this crazy house! :)

A Social Experiment gone terribly awry......

Every year, the stress around our house builds up just after Halloween. Why? Battles over CANDY....... Last year we let the kids enjoy their Halloween spoils after lunch, at snack time or after dinner. There were many tears over who got which candy and why they couldn't have more of it at one time.

This year, Jacques and I thought we had the solution- just let them eat it when they want (within reason) so we could get rid of it as quickly as possible. So much for that idea.... I became fed up of coming downstairs in the morning to find half-eaten candy bars and wrappers strewn all over the house. The chocolate bar behind the warm heater in the play room was particuliarly unpleasant. Enoug was enough. A new rule went into effect- no candy in the morning. The witch's brew pot was set up high on the kitchen counter and was declared off limits. Last year, this technique worked just fine- This year not so well.

Tuesday morning, we come downstairs to the same mess we encountered Monday morning. The kids had climbed up on the counter and helped themselves. After a lecture about breaking the "off limits" rules, we moved on. Tuesday night I hid the candy in our bedroom. All was well the next morning. When we got up the kids asked where their candy was and I told them it was in Mommy & Daddy's room because they had broken the rules the day before. Well wouldn't you know, Thursday morning the little buggers woke us while having a discussion outside our bedroom about who was going to sneak into our room and get the candy. Kaitlyn was desperately trying to convince Ethan that he should do it because she quite clearly didn't want to get her hands dirty. Mind you this conversation is occurring at 4:30am- yes these kids have decided that that is there new wake up hour. We broke up their theft plans and set them on their way downstairs.

Last night, I forgot to bring the candy back upstairs to our room and left it in the kitchen again. Before falling asleep, I commented to Jacques that I was probably going to regret that decision in the morning but that I hoped the kids would obey the rules and not touch it. We then both figured if they did get into it, maybe they would just finish it off so we could be done with the post-Halloween candy antics.

This morning I came downstairs, to candy wrappers strewn all over the house and a HUGE mess in the bathroom of all places. They've been experimenting with water lately (which is another post all in itself). In the bathroom on the floor, there was a pumpkin filled with water, several empty cups, Kaitlyn's pajama top and the hand towel which were both soaked, and water everywhere. To make matters worse, there were melted M&M's in the water on the floor along with more half eaten candy bars and crushed animal crackers.

Mommy was not happy..........After a stern talking to about obeying the rules and being trustworthy not to break them, a few spankings, and many tears, they were all sent up to their room so I could cool off.

I'm happy to report that the Halloween candy will no longer be an issue this year because it has now all been thrown away. My blood pressure is still a bit high and I believe I may have given myself either an ulcer or a hernia from yelling so loud this morning, but at least tomorrow at 4:30am we know the kids won't be eating candy (although they will surely find something else to keep themselves occupied......)