Caleb's Second Bedroom

Dear Caleb,
The hours of 11 pm until 7 am are for sleeping. 
I think you've forgotten. 
Just wanted to remind you.
Love, Mommy

Our dear, sweet, dimpled #4 is not the best sleeper and has been that way since infancy.  For the first 6-8 months, it didn't bother me much because I actually cherished the nighttime feedings.  It was the only time of day where I was able to consistently hold and nurse him in peace and quiet (I mean, we have those older 3 around most of the time and quiet is NOT their thing).  K would calmly and quickly nurse and head back to sleep. I know what he wanted and once his belly was full, we were all sleeping again.

In February, he completely weaned himself at night and started sleeping straight through the night.  Much later than our others, but he is my last baby so I didn't stress about it.  I know that these moments are fleeting and that his needing me and needing to eat in the middle of the night would not last long.  And now, just 6 months later, I have already forgotten the feel of cradling him in my arms and nursing him.  I remember it in theory but I don't remember the actual thing.  And the snuggles and cuddling are few and far between now that he is on the go, Go, GO!

That's life, especially as a mom.  The stages are intense and they seem to be all-or-nothing.  The intensity of feeding a baby around the clock seems daunting at times and then before you know it, they are  holding their own bottle/cup, picking food up with their fingers, and you blink their eyes and they are in school.

That being said, I was spoiled.  The twins were sleeping 12 hours straight by 3 months and have never had ongoing sleep problems at night.  I use to joke that God knew we couldn't handle the days if we didn't get good sleep at night.   If your kids sleep like that and you're annoyed reading about  great sleeping, then don't read about Aaron. 

Aaron was the easiest baby ever!  He slept 6 hours straight his last night in the hospital (at 4 days old) and our first night at home he slept for 8 hours straight (granted it was 2 am to 10 am, but I took it).  Since then,he has NEVER slept less than 10 hours unless we've put him to bed late.  Seriously.  My mom use to worry that there was something wrong with him because he would easily sleep for 13 hours a night and still take a daytime nap.  I'd often have to wake him up at 9 or 9:30 in the morning so that we could get going somewhere.  At 18 months,  he slept like a college student if I would let him.  All that to say, he REALLY spoiled us.

Now that Caleb has decided that he frequently likes to get up and party during the middle of the night, I am less than thrilled.  If he actually needed something (like to eat or go to the potty, it would be more understandable in my book).  I don't have an official journal, but it feels like he really saves this special all-nighter treats for when Jon isn't here or we're on a trip without Jon.  Or, if Jon is around, its usually the night before our long runs when we go to bed even earlier so that we have the energy to run 20 miles.  But Caleb has other ideas.  He wants to play or scream.  Maybe he is trying to make our marathon training extra "special"?  He definitely makes it more challenging when we get less sleep. 

I feel like we've tried everything to no avail.  We've tried the "cry it out" method that we used with the twins (note: it worked within 3 days with them).  However, one of Caleb's personality traits is that he is stubborn and determined.  He rarely cries when he falls or hurts himself.  But tell him no or make something off limits and you are guaranteed a good tantrum and cryfest.  So cross that method off the list as he can outcry my limits of what I can handle hearing everyday.

We've tried the rocking him to sleep but if I hold him, he only lays for about two minutes, then he starts laughing and thinks its time to get up. 

We've tried giving him his paci again and laying him down.  He is usually standing up screaming before we tiptoe out of the room.  We've tried giving him a bottle (maybe he's thirsty?).  Sometimes he takes it, other times he doesn't.  And it doesn't seem to make a difference.

I read some articles on sleeping and I tried the method where you go in and pat them on the back while they lay in the crib.  Well, first you have to get them to even lay down. The article doesn't give suggestions on how to do that.  We failed on that part multiple times.  Then when I did get him to lay and patted his back, as soon as I moved away from the crib, he was up again.

Usually we end up giving up, bringing him to the living room and putting on a baby video.  Sometimes he'll go back after a 20 minute video and sleep.  Sometimes he won't.  When he doesn't, we resort to sending him to his second bedroom.  Yep, he has a second bedroom also known as our laundry room.  Before you judge, when I use to visit my grandparents in their apartment, I slept in their hallway closet and I turned out totally fine. 

Back to the laundry room aka Caleb's second bedroom.  We put the pack n play up, and for some reason, it pretty much always works that he lays down and goes to sleep.  If we're doing laundry and the washer or dryer is running, even better.  Maybe he likes the noise? The change of scenery?  Being squished between my favorite dustpan and the old refrigerator?  I don't know.  I just know it works and after being up from 1-3 am, I don't question things that work. I just do them even if they are a bit unconventional.

Waking up in the laundry room

Unfortunately for me, it did NOT work last night.  After being quiet for 15 minutes in the laundry room, the screaming resumed.  I did eventually get him back to bed, in his real bedroom, by 3 am (you may not think that's impressive but the last time it was this bad, he stayed up til 5 am, so this was a huge improvement). My mom told me today that you cannot have four kids and not expect one of them to have sleeping issues.  That may be true, but it doesn't mean I have to like it, right?

His non-sleeping nights are so hit or miss and he always goes to bed easily, so we don't know if its teething, nightmares, or getting sick.  If only he could talk.  Unfortunately at this time, K's vocabulary (milk, up, off, daddy) is not going to solve the mystery for us.  Thankfully this is not an every night occurrence, so I really shouldn''t complain too much (just a little).

I am going to end with a final plea to Caleb (even though he cannot read, I think he can appreciate this).

Dear Caleb,
Please, for the love, do not pull any more all-nighters until after the marathon next week. Please, I beg of you.  Mommy & Daddy are gonna have enough trouble finishing the race without being sleep deprived.  Please, if you will just wait until at least one day after the marathon (so we can recover), we will not complain when you want to have a party from 12-3 am. 
Love,
Mommy

Why I follow recipes

I love baking (as pretty much everyone and their mother knows).  But I am typically a "follow the recipe" baker.  If I am making something for the first time, I follow the recipe precisely (no real alterations) and then make adjustments the next time I bake.

I can't even count the number of times I've made fruit crips or cobblers.  I always pull a recipe out and follow it or make slight adjustments.

This week I got overconfident and decided to make a berry crisp without any recipe at all.  And, to complicate it, I used frozen berries and didn't wait for them to thaw, even though I've done that every other time.  They were rock solid frozen when I put them into the oven (First big mistake)

I made a crisp topping with random amounts of flour, butter, sugar (I was being lazy.  How hard is it to get out your cookbook?).  I threw it in the oven.  After 45 minutes, the topping didn't look crisp (and Jon really likes the top brown and crispy).  So I thought broiling it for a minute or two would help.

Boy was I wrong.

The top did get crispy, but the inside/middle of the "crisp" topping was the consistency of raw sugar cookie dough (weird and not right).  And the berries were really runny (that was actually okay just not pretty).

That didn't stop us from eating some of it, I mean we had to try it.  It was edible, but not worth the calories.  It was definitely my worst effort at a dessert to date.

I took a picture of it. The picture doesn't make it look nearly as bad as it was.

I threw the rest of it away.  Good riddance!

Tonight I felt like I needed to redeem myself from this terrible baking attempt, so I decided to find a recipe that would use the buttermilk I happened to have on hand.  I went to pinterest and typed in chocolate buttermilk bundt cake and came up with this recipe from Joy the Baker. http://joythebaker.com/2010/05/the-making-baking-and-consumption-of-the-best-chocolate-bundt-cake-ever/ I followed it almost exactly (I did leave out most of the coffee from glaze, I just wasn't sure that the boys would like it, but that was my only alteration).

And I ended up with this.

And all was right in the world (ok, maybe all was right in just my baking world).  I am reminded why I follow recipes when baking.  When I do, the results are good, consistent, pretty and delicious.  Everything my cobbler attempt wasn't. 

Part of the reason I like baking (other than the fact I like eating) is that it appeases that "type A" part of me that likes to accomplish something that turns out correctly in a short amount of time.  The realization of a goal (in this case a cake) and doing it well helps me be more laid back with the kids.  It might seem silly but in my day to day life, I am working on 4 growing goals (named James, Andrew, Aaron and Caleb) and when I have outlets like baking and running where I can push myself and challenge myself in areas that have NOTHING to do with mothering, then I am a better mom.  I become more patient, more willing to live with the mess and plastic toys, and better able to just be. 

Tonight, I made something tasty and pretty and tomorrow I will run (maybe an extra mile or two after having had a piece of said cake). 

Now to find someone to take half of this cake off my hands.  I don't know what I was thinking when I baked a giant cake while my husband is away on a 3 day work trip.

100 Books

Tuesdays are our one day a week that we don't have to be anywhere all day (well, at least not until soccer practice at 5:30-but that's only for another month).  Nobody has school, preschool or therapy.  Hallelujah!!!  This is the day for us to stay in our pjs until dinnertime.  The day for me to catch up on  housework.  Its the day for the boys to play, play, play.

By 9 am yesterday, it became clear that we were going to need a goal for the day.  We read pretty regularly but the busier it gets, the less reading we do.  So, I suggested to the boys that we have a day where we see how many books we can read if we spend the day reading.  Wahoo..does mom know how to have a good time or what?!?!  I mean, she really gets WILD.

And I should confess, the goal wasn't just for the boys.  I needed some structure to the day.  A way to not turn into the mom who goes crazy seeing how messy the house is getting or loses it when confronted with tattling for the 80th time. 

We decided to try for 100.  I quickly printed up a 10 x 10 grid for us to fill out.  Our plan was that every 10 books, the boys would earn a "treat" of some sort.  This might be getting to play something special (like going outside for 30 minutes), something to eat or drink, or getting to watch a tv show they don't see often.

When the boys were having their play breaks, I was switching out the laundry, making lunch, cleaning up lunch, etc.  It made for a busy day but it also kept the arguing (and scary mommy) at bay.  Before I knew it, it was 4:45 and time to get ready for soccer practice (for the biggest boys) and playing at the park for the littles.  We got to 77 books.  Pretty good in my opinion.

I did all the reading, but the kids had lots of questions and comments about them.  Our reading list included some worn-out favorites like Go Dog Go!, In the Castle, The Kissing Hand, Corduroy, and Where the Wild Things Are.  It also included lots of superhero books, books about pirates, Curious George and other preschool favorites.

The grand prize was getting to go to Culver's superhero night after soccer.  We are always looking for new places and reasons for wearing our superhero costumes  Here are a few snapshots from superhero night.  It was hard to get them to hold still in between all their superhero posing.

Before bed, the boys kept saying that they wanted to finish the book chart and read the remaining 23 books tomorrow (Wednesday).  Now Wednesday is our busy day.  The twins go to school all day (they leave at 8:40 and come home around 3:40).  Then, all three boys have Awana at 6:30. So, that doesn't leave us much time to play, eat dinner, get ready for Awana, and read 23 books.  I figured they would forget about it and that would be that.  We might not have reached our goal of 100 in one day, but I was more than content with 77.

However, the boys were not.  As soon as they got in the car after school today, they asked "mom, we're gonna read the 23 books, right?"  So we did.  We read 13, then took a break to make and eat dinner.  While they were finishing up dinner, I read 6 more books to them. Our usual dinnertime entertainment involves spilling things, spinning around and mom repeatedly saying 'sit on your bottom"  Tonight we switched it up and read books instead.

By this time dinner was over, it was 5:55.  Grandma was picking them up at 6:15 to take them to church.  So, while they got their shoes and Awana vests on in the front hallway, I read the final 4 books.  Yep...we had to multitask to get these done.  And during this time, Caleb was gated into the living room and peering at us over the gate every few minutes (don't worry, I'll give him some attention later).

Before we read the last book, I suggested that we should jump up and down and shout "100 books!  We read 100 books" when we finished the last book.  Andrew say no way, that was embarrassing.  
When we finished the book and crossed it off the list, I immediately got up and jumped up and down and yelled "We did it!  100 books!!! We read 100 books!"  Too bad we don't have video of that.  Ha!

The twins giggled shyly and Aaron laughed.  It took a few tries, but I did get them to do it too and grabbed a few pictures.  In addition to celebrating, I also figured they needed to get some wiggles out before heading to Awana for the night.

I love Caleb's confused peering over the jail, I mean gate.

Now they're getting into it

Let's hold hands and jump!

Then we tried out the self-timer (I've just recently started using this setting on my "new to me" camera) so that I could get into the shot.

After I sent the big boys off to church, I got to spend some precious one-on-one time just playing with my very littlest.  We built and knocked over towers. 

Then I taught him how to make the biggest bucket into a hat.

He thought it was very silly.

Then I tried out the self-timer.  In order to get him to stay, I had to restrain, er I mean snuggle, him.

Run to Read

Ever since Jon and I started training for the Chicago marathon, our boys have really gotten into running.  When we get back from our runs, they always ask us how far we went, how the run went and which one of us ran faster?  I think its pretty cute.  They are embracing our hobby and the idea that it takes months of training to prepare (what a great life lesson!)

A few weeks ago when I was talking to the boys about the future, I said something about how they would grow up and leave us and it would just be Jon and I in the house.  Andrew informed me that it wouldn't be empty because his kids would be there when he needed us to babysit.  James chimed in that we'd be babysitting his children while he and his wife trained for a marathon.  Ha ha!  I love it!  I'll be honest, a big part of my motivation to run is to set a good example for my kids, so I love that they are getting so into our training.

In the past few years, we've had the boys participate in several toddler dashes and kid races. 

This is from the twins' first race back in April 2008, they were only 21 months old.

 They did a 1/2 mile race back in June and have been begging to do another one, especially Andrew.  I think he was a little disappointed by how short today's race was.  Afterwards, he asked if we could find a 1 mile race for him to do sometime in the next year.  Maybe we have a cross country athlete in the making?

Aaron decided that he should stand in the middle and put his arms around his big brothers all on his own.

Today our school district had a "Run to Read" 5k and kid races.  So we signed the boys up.  On our walk to the start line, we ran into James' teacher, Miss Grady.  He was so excited to see her.

A few minutes later, we also ran into our school's principal, Mrs. Stochl, who was there with her son.  The boys were shocked that she recognized them.

Before the race, a few gym teachers had the kids do stretches and jumping jacks to warm up.  I got a few pictures of it.  Aaron took this part very seriously and did a really good job (he's on the far right int he black hoodie).

Aaron went first for the 100 yard dash which was for 1st graders and younger.  I thought they'd release all the kids at once, but they were really smart and did separate heats for the different age and gender groups.  Here is a shot of the 4 year old boys' heat. 

You can't even see Aaron, just a touch of his head peeking out to the left of the boy in the red hoodie.

Jon took Aaron to the start line and I was waiting for him at the finish.  I'm not sure what went wrong, but by the time he got to me (halfway through), he was crying.  I'm not sure if he was confused about the start or sad that he wasn't running with his brothers.  At any rate, I hopped in and helped him finish, so I have no pictures of him running.  At the end, he received his medal and I guess that made whatever was wrong all better.

Next up was the 400 yard dash which was for 4th graders and younger.  The twins wanted to run this one and were probably the youngest kids out there.  Here's Andrew (who would have been faster if he hadn't had to stop briefly to hike up his pants that were falling down).

Andrew is focused.

And here's James bringing up the rear.  He told me several times that he wasn't the last as there was at least one person that finished behind him.

Here are all three post-race with their medals.

And here is a quick shot of me with the boys before we loaded them into the car so we could pass them off to Grandma & Grandpa and go do our 15 mile run for the day.

And a quick one of a bundled up K who was a sweetheart during all of the above chaos.

We woke this guy up, dressed him in a hurry and strapped him into the stroller for a chilly 30 minutes outside when he didn't really understand or see what was going on.  I promise it will get more fun Caleb when you can participate too (maybe in another year or so).

What Will It Bee?

Today was the baby shower to celebrate the impending arrival of a new baby Shogren later this fall. My sister-in-law Sonja is due at the beginning of November with their firstborn.  They chose to be wait to find out the baby's sex, so we won't know if its a boy or a girl until he (or she) is here.

I decided to do a bee-themed shower after searching pinterest for ideas.  Thank you again pinterest for the never-ending supply of inspiration and over the top crafty ideas.  And since most of my time is spent with little boys who are messy, loud, and wild, I love throwing showers even more than I did before kids.  Getting dressed up in something other than jeans and a hoodie, actually wearing jewelry, and spending a morning visiting with girlfriends in a clean home (we went to my mother in law's since this isn't possible at my home) with food that my husband and children would not think of eating....fun, fun fun!!!

We started with this "What Will It Bee?" Banner made out of craft paper from Michaels.

About a week ago, I was strolling through Walmart loading up on cleaning products and my daily quotient of kids (and their parents) screaming & throwing tantrums when I saw this baby bee costume.  Somehow it made it into my cart.  It wanted to be part of the shower.

My friend Stacey (who couldn't attend the shower) made some awesome diaper cakes.  Here is exhibit A.

Exhibit B:  Another beautiful diaper cake along with another "bee" sign made from scrapbook paper and stickers (and picture frames I had around the house already).

Then we found some bumble bee fabric and Stacey made runners for the tables.

We had a pretty tasty spread of food for the brunch.

The food included a few of my favorite recipes including the Pioneer Woman's Best Coffee Cake Ever (http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/06/the-best-coffee-cake-ever/), Banana Nutella Bread (http://lemonsandanchovies.com/2012/08/banana-nutella-bread/), and the Pioneer Woman's Chicken Salad (http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/04/grilled-chicken-salad-with-feta-fresh-corn-and-blueberries/).  We also had veggie tray, tomato/mozzarella/basil skewers, fruit, individual egg bakes, and a cheesy hash brown casserole.

After we chowed down, we played some games. 

First up was "What's In Your Purse?"  It was a checklist of things that you may find in your purse.  The more random/unlikely the item, the more points you got.  Here they are digging deep to see if they have any more items to gain points.

I forgot to take a picture of the game table with our two other games set up on it.  The first one was a large jar filled with honeycomb cereal and we guessed how many honeycomb were in it.  For the record, there were 839 (and yes, I actually counted them all while my husband and I watched TV the other night).  The second game was a baby version of "The Price is Right" where we guessed how much each baby item cost. 

We had one other activity before presents and that was each guest writing a message to the mom on a diaper so that when she is changing the baby's diaper later on (maybe in the middle of the night?), she'll have a fun little note to read. 

Then it was time for gifts.

While presents were being opened, we did hit up the sweets table for some dessert.

Chocolate cupcakes with a ganache filling.  Frosted with buttercream and topped with bumble bees made out of lemon tootsie rolls and chocolate.

We also had each guest vote on whether its a boy or a girl.  At the end of the shower, it was a tie.

Here are a few shots of the guests.

And one of the 4 Shogren Ladies.

Then we sent the guests off with some chocolate (because you can never have too much chocolate, right?).

It was a fun morning of socializing, eating, and celebrating the excitement of these two becoming parents for the first time.  We are so excited for Mike & Sonja as they venture into this next stage of life!  They are going to awesome parents! They've already gotten lots of practice during the many hours they've logged over the years helping us with our brood who adore spending time with them.

And while we had fun guessing boy or girl, we know that it doesn't really matter.  We are just praying for God's continued blessing on this family during the final weeks of the pregnancy and delivery.  There is nothing like holding your own baby for the first time. It may be a cliche, but it is really is a miracle.  We're thankful that we get to share in the miracle of this new life.  We cannot wait to meet this new baby that is already loved and cherished by so many friends and family. 

The Daddy and Mommy "To Bee"