Dinner parties & My Dining Room

This is what dinner looks like at our house.

Okay.  That's not totally the truth.  This is what our dining room table usually looks like.  In fact, its what it looks like at this very moment.

It is the dumping ground for papers and other items I'm not sure where to put or don't want to deal with yet.  It also doubles as my home office.  Right now, I'm working on a project of scanning in all a bunch old photos so now its covered with a borrowed scanner and boxes of pictures

Every once in a while, I get fed up with it and spend a few concentrated hours clearing it off.  Or, better yet, we have people over for dinner and we need the space.  The motivation of having a real dinner with friends inspires me to finally tackle the always buried dining room table.  Consequently, I decided that we probably need to have people over for dinner at least once a month (maybe every other week) so that my table doesn't go buried for 2-3 months at a time.

A few weeks ago, we had some good friends (Drew & Claire) in town for Claire's college homecoming.  We decided while the big boys were at Awana, it would be a good time to have an adults only dinner party.  We did included our littlest guy Caleb (who is too little for Awana) and Drew & Claire's twenty-month old daughter and two other couples.  After dinner, these two played quietly and watched a baby video.  Sadly, I didn't think to take a picture when they first arrived and the kids were fully dressed and alert.  Here they are in the process of getting into jammies and clearly getting glassy-eyed.

Jon made two kinds of lasagna rolls and a salad (He is the cook).  I made some fresh bread and a blueberry crisp (I am the baker). 

I was excited about making the blueberry crisp because it was a new recipe.  Even more exciting to me was that I had been given the opportunity to do recipe testing for one of my favorite writers, Shauna Niequist.  If you aren't familiar with Shauna's writing, I highly recommend her.  She has two books out (Cold Tangerines and Bittersweet).
 
I love, love, love Bittersweet.  I read it after a difficult season in our family life and felt so much of it resonated with me.  I love Shauna's honesty about life and her ability to be real yet ultimately hopeful through painful seasons.  I recommend this book to all my friends and I know that many have felt the same way that I did when reading it.  Seriously, I could go on and on about this book.  The things I've learned from it.  The ways it helped me put into words the thoughts and feelings I had been having.  It didn't hurt either that I got to attend both a book club and a catalyst breakfast at our church where she spoke about this book.  One of my favorite things that she had us do at the book club was to write a list of all the things that we don't do (and don't apologize for it) and the things we do "do."  You can't do everything and in a world where there is pinterest and moms comparing each other, its nice to write have the freedom to admit, I don't do that.  Its not my thing and I'm not gonna beat myself up about it.  See....I digress already. 

I also love how Shauna has found a deep, life-giving community through her monthly cooking club with her girlfriends.  After reading Bittersweet, some friends of mine & I began our own cooking club.  I loved our Cooking Club.  We had monthly themes, tried new recipes, got to make all sorts of things ours husbands wouldn't eat, and spent hours talking uninterrupted over delicious food.  Sadly, we only meet for a year or so before we had a lot of scheduling conflicts and took a break.  I'm hoping that I can be a part of another cooking club at some point down the road.

In addition to reading her books, I follow her blog (http://www.shaunaniequist.com/) and I get to "see" her regularly at our church where she often speaks or does announcements.  All of these things make me feel like I know her more personally than I actually do.  Really, when you read someone's blog when you don't know them personally, you feel a bit like a cyber-stalker. 

A few weeks ago, Shauna made a plea on facebook for some volunteers to test her recipes for her.  I know I'm not her only fan as the responses were overwhelming and within an hour, she was saying that she didn't need any more volunteers.  Her next book, Bread & Wine, is going to have lots of recipes in it.  I had emailed back right away and two days later, I discovered that I got lucky.  I was super excited--I mean, I love baking, I love reading, and I'm a huge Shauna fan.  Could this get any better?

The recipe is gluten and dairy-free so it was different from the crisp I usually make, so I was a bit skeptical.  The topping was great though.  I definitely plan to make it again.  And I cannot wait until the spring when her new book comes out and I can try some more recipes.

Last week when my friend Lindsey was visiting, James informed her that "my mom gets to practice making a recipe for someone famous who is making a book with recipes in it".  Apparently, even James picked up on my excitement.  Love that my 6 year old is bragging on my behalf!  Ha!

26.2 miles--Am I a "real" runner yet?

People who met me since I've had kids think I've been a runner my whole life.  Those that knew me before kids know the real story.  I use to joke that the only time I would run is if something was chasing me. My friend Mary likes to remind me of this regularly.  I think she is still shocked that the girl who would NEVER, EVER run a mile just did a marathon (which just shows you that really, anyone can do a marathon).   I use to work out in college and during my working years, but I don't think I EVER ran an entire mile during that time.  I would hit the bikes, elliptical and weights.  Anything but running.  I thought people who ran for fun were delusional.

Then I had kids.  Since kids, I've been running.  As we've added more kids to the family, I've started running more and more (this is not a coincidence my friends).  Apparently, it took having a 4th child to inspire me to lace up my shoes and complete a marathon.  Prior to Caleb's birth, I told anyone who asked that I would "never do a marathon."  Famous last words.  Seriously.  Never say never (yes I'm talking to you Jaime Patrick and also to you Wendy Payne).

Over the past 6 years, running has been a lot of things to me.  First, it started off as an easy way to shed those remaining baby pounds that the twins so graciously bestowed up on me.

July 2007--My brother Dan & I after my first 5k (he did the 10k).

Our good friend Mark (whose wife Laura also ran) watched the twins while we ran my first 5k.  Here is a picture of them cheering us on (I don't think the twins really cared too much).

However, as soon as I had lost the weight and worked myself up to running my first 5k and 10k race, I found out I was expecting Aaron and my running took a hit.  I saw the positive pregnancy test as a sign to stop exercising and start eating. 

After Aaron, I figured it would help me lose the baby weight again.  When he was about 3 months old, I did a few 5k races with my husband.  They were terribly awful.  Running when you're exclusively nursing, out of shape, and overweight is excruciating.  I remember during one of the races Jon was especially chatty about the gorgeous homes we were running past in Wheaton (we were doing the Homecoming 5k).  His cheerfulness and general ease with running completely irritated me.  However, I was so out of breath that I couldn't say coherent words, instead I grunted displeasure at him signaling him to be quiet.  I did finish that race, but I thought about quitting every single step of the race.  I am not joking.

A few months later, we had a really difficult season in our family.  We had 3 kids in diapers, Jon was on crutches after tearing his Achilles tendon, and I was recovering physically and emotionally from a miscarriage.  Running became therapeutic for me.  I signed up for my first half marathon.  I started training the first day I was allowed to run after having had my D & C.  It was February and it was bitter cold.  I forgot to wear gloves and barely was able to eek out 2 miles.  Over the next six months, I pushed my body to run further and faster.  I apparently wasn't able to keep myself from becoming pregnant and I couldn't control having a miscarriage.  I could make my body run though.

A 15k race I did in Altoona, PA with my brother Dan when we were home visiting my parents.  You can see I'm struggling here (hunching over, out of breath) while he is smiling and easily running it.

After the race, Dan & I did the 15k, Natalie did a 2k and Jon did a 5k.

A lot of my runs that summer were very emotional.  For the most part, I was on my own for those training runs as Jon was still recovering and I didn't have any girlfriends nearby who were into running yet.  The first 10 mile race I did that July was the most emotional run for me.

This is me finishing that race.  Jon (as always) was there to cheer me on and encourage me.

After the race, pretty sure I couldn't get up.

I wanted to cry almost the whole last two miles and I couldn't shake the thought that I shouldn't even be there, I should have been 7 months pregnant.  I did finish that race and my first half that fall. 

Here I am crossing the finish line of that first half.  Not the most flattering picture, but it is what it is. 

The following year, Jon joined me in training for his first half marathon (my second).  Suddenly, running had been redeemed from an individual therapeutic coping mechanism for me into something we could do as a couple.  We ended up doing 4 half marathons that summer. 

May 2010: Rockford Half Marathon with my beautiful friend Mary.

Rockford half marathon May 2010: Jon's first one

We also had more friends doing races and running.  Suddenly, running was getting very social.  We had friends to do short runs with and to carpool with to races.

September 2010, After the Chicago half with our good friend Cheryl (it was her first half marathon).

When I found out I was pregnant with Caleb in the fall, I kept running until I was about 8 months pregnant with him. (On a side note, I did read an article saying that moms who exercised during the pregnancy had more active children, so maybe the running is to blame for Caleb's intense gross motor skills and nonstop motion right now).  After he was born, I was able to jump back into running so much easier.  When he was four months old, I did another half marathon (13.1 miles). 

I wouldn't have admitted it aloud, but by this time, I was starting to think about a full marathon.  In fact, I convinced Jon that we should try running 15 miles just to see what it was like.  I was starting to think when I got to the end of those 13 mile half marathons that I could probably run another mile or two.  Those thoughts wouldn't go away.  When I saw I could do 15 miles, that was it.  I knew I was going to sign up for a marathon. 

By now, running had morphed yet again.  Now running was a way for me to achieve personal goals.  I was no longer doing part-time work outside of the home.  While I love being a stay at home mom, I need to have an outlet that doesn't involve the kids directly.  Hobbies that allow me to be someone other than "mom."  Running became a way for me to set a goal, push myself and achieve it.  It was a way for me to de-stress after long, difficult days with the boys.  It was a way for me to keep from pushing the boys and becoming "scary mom."

When you're raising kids, the job can be overwhelming (whether you're a stay at home mom or a working mom).  Its hard to measure progress when kids aren't "finished" for so many years.  Its hard not to take things too personally.  Obviously, you should be personally invested in your children.  I'm talking about overly-invested.  The kind of parent who takes every single one of their child's failures and successes as their very own.  The kind of parent who cannot separate themselves from their children.  I don't want to be a one-dimensional person, only known as a "mom."  I don't think its healthy for me, my marriage or my children. 

Recently, I reconnected with a college friend who has a blog about her home decorating and refinishing projects (http://measureonceandcuttwice.blogspot.com/).  I was amazed by her ability to wield power tools and do amazing projects around her home while having 3 young children.  Her response to me was something along the lines that the projects allow her to be more laid-back with the kids and not turn into a mom who is micromanaging the kids and getting worked up about all the little details.  When she said that, it resonated with me.  Her redecorating projects and art classes are the same thing to her as my running is to me. 

I figure that running will continue to be all sorts of things to me in the coming years.  Right now, I'm training for another marathon with my husband.  So, the next two months, our dates will consist of training runs, gu packets, and chatting over many miles.   I'm also training with my friend Jaime for her first half marathon this fall.  Our weekly runs are a great way for us to catch up without the interruption  and chaos of our 7 lovely children, who are usually around when we hang out. 

Running and talking about it are also a great way for me to stay in touch with my brothers (both of whom came and ran the Chicago marathon last week too).  My brother Dan is basically my running coach.  He texts or calls me regularly to see how I'm doing with my training and he is who I go to for my advice about how to step up my training or what to do when I'm at a loss.  With 20 marathons under his belt and a few 50 mile ultramarathons, he is my personal expert.  Its fun to finally share in one of his hobbies, even if its from a distance (he lives in Texas and I live in Chicago). 

My brothers (Dan & Travis), me and Jon after the Chicago marathon on October 7, 2012.

I'm not sure what the future holds for me as far as running goes, but you can be sure that I have lots of short term and long-term goals and that as long as I'm able, I plan to run in some capacity. 

A running shot of all 6 of us--August 2012.

The Boys Meet Harvey

My nephew, Harvey, was born on September 2nd.  I was the only one (from our family) that was able to fly out and meet him right away.  When I returned from visiting him, the boys had lots of questions about their newest cousin.  At the time, I promised them that they would get to meet him soon. 

Harvey fell asleep during his tummy time.

A month passed and then it was finally time for Aunt Natalie, Harvey and Uncle Mack to come visit.  The boys were BEYOND excited about heading to O'hare to pick up Aunt Natalie & Harvey.  Sadly, Uncle Mack had to work and wasn't able to come until later in the week.

On the way to the airport, I reminded the boys that Harvey was tiny--way tinier and more fragile than Caleb.  I knew they had forgotten what a newborn was like because I can barely remember it now that our "baby" is a full-fledged toddler and into EVERYthing.

After we picked them up, the boys studied Harvey from their seats in the back of the van.  I asked them if they thought Harvey was smaller than they expected.  James told me "yes, he's way smaller and way cuter than I was expecting."  Ha ha! 

I asked Andrew what he thought of Harvey and he responded by saying "I don't know, I haven't seen his legs yet."  Apparently, he needed to see his legs to make a judgement call.  Natalie & I were cracking up.

A little while later, James saw Harvey without the newborn hat on that he had been wearing and right away James exclaimed that "Harvey is even cuter without a hat on."  Again, Natalie and I had a good laugh.  Who would have thought a 6 year old had such strong opinions about baby clothing?

Later that day, Grandma Mary showed up and showed Harvey off to the boys.  After seeing his legs (out of his sleeper), Andrew also declared Harvey to be "cute."

Let us see his legs!!!

 Aaron was quick to remind me (in case I had forgotten) that we "probably shouldn't let Caleb wrestle with Harvey yet."  I'm not sure why he thought I would condone Caleb wrestling with anyone since he's only 15 months old, but I did affirm him that he was right.  No wrestling for Harvey...at least not yet. Clearly the boys are looking forward to the day that Harvey can join in their roughhousing. 

Kisses from Aaron

Aaron saw me snuggling with Harvey in the recliner and wanted in on it.

 And for the record, not only did we not allow Caleb to wrestle with Harvey, we didn't really allow him to be too close to Harvey without constant supervision.  Caleb was intrigued with Harvey.  He tried to share his paci with Harvey, but was even more interested in testing Harvey's pacifier if we left it unattended for even two seconds.

Caleb checking out Harvey's legs and paci.

 At any rate, Harvey was a big hit with our boys.  James was beyond miffed that we couldn't tell him exactly when we'd be seeing Harvey again.  One month?  Two months?  Before Harvey is 2 years old? On her way out the door, Natalie reassured James that he would see Harvey before too long, but right now, we don't have an exact plan.

Saying goodbye to Harvey.

 Aaron was the most devastated though when I took the Shane family back to the airport to go home.  According to Jon (who was with him while I made the airport run), Aaron cried a good twenty minutes straight about them leaving before he finally fell asleep out of exhaustion.  I'm not surprised.  All our boys love having our far-away family visit, but Aaron is by far the most attached to Aunt Natalie.  It might have something to do with the fact that she lived with us the summer I was pregnant with him and was here for the first month after he was born. 

Love at first sight: Aaron meets Aunt Natalie just hours after being born.

Beach vacation with Aunt Nat in Aug 2010.  Aaron wouldn't let anyone but Natalie carry him.

Who knows?  All I know is that Aaron LOVES to see Aunt Natalie.  And when Aunt Natalie is around, the rest of us are chopped liver.


However, I do think Uncle Mack is providing some real competition to becoming Aaron's favorite. Mack easily won Aaron over this summer playing silly games with him in the pool on our family vacation. 

Mack & Aaron, June 2012

Later in the summer, he took Aaron out for some mini-golfing (without the big brothers along) which Aaron thoroughly enjoyed.  And, Uncle Mack was initiated into parenthood a little early (before Harvey's arrival) by helping Aaron with a trip to the potty.  So, he quickly climbed the ranks not only for being fun but for being willing to help with the less than glamorous potty scene.  For now, we'll call it a tie between Aunt Natalie and Uncle Mack.

And who knows, Harvey may surpass them both in the coming years when he is able to be a full-fledged playmate and cousin.

The Shane Family

How Much Can You Fit in One Week?

Whew!  Last week was insane.  It was a week that I've been planning for and anticipating for months (since February 2012 when I first signed up for the Chicago Marathon).  It seemed like it took forever to get here and then blink, it was over and done.  I'm still trying to remember what all happened last week.  If you think I'm joking, I'm not.  Jon asked me if I remembered running past the United Center (where the Chicago Bulls play) during our marathon and I said no.  Clearly I was still a bit "out of it" during the race and so focused on finishing that I missed out on some of the big landmarks along the way(there is an analogy for life there, but I'm too tired to take the time to unpackage it right now).

Some people (like Grandma Mary) think our "normal" weeks are a bit hectic and crazy with two different school schedules, therapy for the twins, soccer practices & games, our training runs and multiple church commitments.  

Last week was all that plus a few airport runs, a doctor appointment for a sick child, several trips to the pharmacy and target for medicine, a trip into the city for the marathon expo, a sick mom, a dinner party with 3 other couple friends (one visiting from Oregon), 8 family members visiting, and then literally running a marathon.  Needless to say, some of its a blur.

I was more than a bit disappointed when I came down with my first cold of 2012 at the beginning of the week.  Quickly, I began downing Vitamin C and D like there was no tomorrow.  I went to bed as early as I could, but by Thursday, I was a mess.  I was up all night Wednesday coughing and was starting to lose my voice.  I got antibiotics and was hopeful that they would kick in and help me feel better before Sunday morning's race.

It took trips to two different pharmacies to get my medicines and while the twins were complaining about how long it was taking (even though they were watching a movie and eating snacks in the car), I started to lose it.  I tried calmly explaining that I needed medicine to feel better and didn't they want me to feel better.  Andrew's only response was "why does your voice sound weird mom?"  Um...that's laryngitis boys.  Thanks for the sympathy.  My speech on how I take care of them when they are sick by taking them to the doctor, going to the pharmacy and cleaning up their vomit fell on deaf ears.    

Thursday night, I got the mother of all migraines.  Clearly, the stress was getting to me.  After having a good cry/pity party for myself and the timing of getting sick, I reluctantly went to bed at 8:30 pm.  I was sad to miss out on hanging out with my sister on her first night visiting.  But I realized I was human.  It was time to slow down.  Cut out anything nonessential (hanging out late, keeping the house tidy, showers (okay maybe not the shower thing). 

I woke up the next day without a migraine and feeling much better.

The medicine did the trick and by Saturday, my sinus infection was under control, my cough was diminishing and I got my voice back.   I tried to be smart and I skipped out on attending the Homecoming Football Game at the college I attended as well as the boys' soccer game to stay inside where it was warm and to rest up for Sunday.  Again, I was disappointed to miss out on running into friends I only see at that annual football game, but that's life.  Sometimes you have to stop.  Sometimes you have to miss things.  Good things.  Fun things.  The world doesn't stand still or fall apart when you get sick.

While I was re-learning this lesson, Andrew was being introduced to it as well.  On Friday afternoon, he came down with a fever and a trip to the doctor on Saturday morning confirmed it was Strep.  He missed his soccer game that his Uncles and Grandparents from out of state were attending.  He also missed out on going into the city on Sunday to watch the marathon (including taking the "L" for the first time) and spending the day with his super fun cousin Lauren and grandparents who live out of state.  Instead, he went to his other grandparents' house with his 2 little brothers.  To make matters worse, his twin brother James got to do all those things: play in the soccer game, hang out with Lauren, and go to the marathon.  James didn't go out of his way to rub it in, but I would think it still smarts a bit.   He handled it great. He didn't shed any tears.  It may be because he felt so sick, but I'm still proud of him.

And the next day while we were all at the marathon and I felt a little bad that Andrew was missing out (since he is even more into the running scene than James), Andrew was at a McDonald's play place getting a new happy meal toy, which apparently takes the sting out of missing out on something you've been looking forward to all week.

I don't have a great picture to go with this post (mainly because in the craziness, I pretty much forgot to take pictures last week).  Plus, who wants to see pictures of me being sick, trips to the pharmacy, or how messy my house got? Here are a few picture highlights from last week.

Caleb checks out Harvey's feet.

Grandma Mary gives Caleb a toy broom since he loves pushing things like brooms & mops.

My main man meeting his youngest nephew, Harvey.

Jon helps Harvey do some 'Tummy Time' and K joins in.

Cinnamon Rolls

A few years ago, my sister-in-law Rachel introduced my family to homemade cinnamon rolls at a Walmer Christmas Gathering.  Specifically, she introduced us to The Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls.  They are AH-mazing!  Since then, I have periodically made these cinnamon rolls.  My boys all love them.  The recipe is delicious but it makes 7 pans worth of rolls.  Consequently, I only make this recipe when I have space in my kitchen to freeze 6 pans of them or can give several pans away to friends.  I still love this recipe and its great when you do want to have lots to share or freeze.  But I also find it to be a little time consuming and messy (rolling out the rolls takes LOTS of space and usually ends up with flour all over my kitchen).  Here is the recipe if you do want to try it:  http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/cinammon_rolls_/

This past February, my husband surprised me (for no particular reason) with this lovely, fancy-schmancy mixer.

I love it!  We never registered for a stand mixer when we got married 9+years ago.  I have spent the last years making things with a hand-held mixer or sometimes actually stirring it with a spoon.  I have friends who were flat out stunned by this revelation and were slightly aghast.

Getting this mixer has encouraged me to finally venture into the world of baking with yeast.  Since I got the mixer, I have mastered pretzel rolls, french bread, cinnamon bread, breadsticks and pizza dough.  It also has made doubling my chocolate chip cookie recipe easier.  And it really came in handy this summer when I had 3 birthday cakes (and all that frosting) to make in a two day time period.  I can't wait to put this mixer to use this winter for holiday baking!

Today I had the idea to make some cinnamon rolls around 2:45 pm, but I didn't want to be done finishing them at midnight.  Then I remembered that my wonderful friend Jaime had shared a great website with me (www.ourbestbites.com) and that they had an everyday (aka "fast") cinnamon roll recipe.  So I tried it.  They weren't kidding.  It is way faster.  I started making them at 3:15 and they were out of the oven by 4:40 and that included me allowing them to 'rise' an extra 20 minutes because I got busy doing homework with the twins.

Here is the finished product.

Now that I now how to make a quick, one pan version of this, I will never be tempted by Cinnabon again.   This recipe makes just 12 rolls, but they are big rolls, so you really don't want more than this because then you will start gaining all sorts of weight.  I thought the rolls were really good.  I followed the directions precisely including the part about cutting the dough rolls with dental floss (super easy way to cut dough without smashing it).  Here is the recipe if you're interested: http://www.ourbestbites.com/2010/06/everyday-cinnamon-rolls/

The boys loved them.  They had one before soccer practice and one after.  Good thing they are so active and have naturally high metabolisms!  And lest you think I only serve them sugar, they did have vegetables and fresh fruit with it.

The Playroom

If you're like me, you look through catalogs or pinterest and see amazing decorating ideas for your home.  For example, playrooms that look like this.
                                                                                                
Or like this:



           
Great options if you have more time, money, energy and space than we do.  For us, having a playroom at all has been a saving grace.  For the first four years of the twins' lives, we did not let them in our basement family room.  I'm not joking.  Pretty much the only time they came down there was for Christmas because that is where our stockings were hung (the only fireplace) and our tree was set up down here with all the presents because we didn't want it in the room where the boys normally played in (the living room). 

The 3 big boys thought the only thing that the basement was used for was celebrating Christmas since that was the only time they were allowed down there.  Haha!  We wanted one room that was for us--  free of plastic, board books, and many, many "guys' that have infiltrated our house in the last several years.  If you're a mom of boys, your son(s) undoubtedly plays with 'guys' of some sort.  We have multiple pins of "guys" pirates, superheroes, rescue heroes, toy story, robots, etc. 

When I was pregnant with Caleb, we tore out the bar in our basement family room to give us more play space but we still had our nicer furniture and TV downstairs and only allowed a few toys. After Caleb began to crawl, we reassessed our house setup.  In February, we switched around all our furniture and sort of reclaimed our living room (which is the only carpeted area of our house and has been where the kids played).  We put our nice furniture and TV up here and all the toys downstairs.  We repainted the living room and only have a few toys in here that are for Caleb. 

As Caleb has gotten good at going up and down the stairs and mouthing toys less, we have him downstairs in the playroom more and more.  I hope to fully reclaim my living room by moving all of Caleb's toys out sometime this winter.  Yay!

The downstairs playroom is nice because the boys have a big open space to play in.  Its great for me because I don't see the mess all day long as I am often upstairs in the middle level.  So I stress less about having it clean and tidy 24/7.  It may not be pottery barn worthy, but we were able to come up with a system of organizing it without having to buy many organizing bins, we just used things we already had in the house.

So without further ado, this is our playroom.

I'm sure your first thought upon looking at this was "the one thing that room really needs is some more plastic or primary colored items in that room!"  Okay, maybe not.  But I thought we needed some playroom "art" and I saw a canvas painting idea on pinterest that I thought my kids would like and all 4 of them could do it.  Although, I have not had the energy to let Caleb do his yet as I think its going to need to be done in the bathtub while he is naked so that he can immediately get hosed off.  I'll let you know if I work up the courage to let him do it.

So, the idea is to take canvas and write your child's name with masking tape on it.  Like this.

Then you let them fingerpaint the canvas. 

Once its dry, you take the tape off and their name is in white.  I bought a pack of canvases at Michaels.  we did the 9 x 12 size and we just barely were able to get our 6 letter names to fit (hence the reason that they are off kilter). 

And then we did one with each boy's handprint.  I haven't figured out if I want to write their names under each handprint or just leave it as it is and label their hands on the back.  We'll see.

Getting Caleb's handprint on the canvas and not everywhere else was definitely a challenge.  And getting him to keep his fingers spread apart wasn't either easy.  He thought the paint was funny and was making a fist with it.  So, that being said, I think it turned out pretty well.

And they fit in great with our playroom's design (bright colors, mismatched toys, and things my boys enjoy).  Here they are lined up against the ledge.  I may hang them eventually, but for now this will do because I'm lazy. 

 And here is Aaron who LOVES fingerpainting and long after the twins had given up on it, he was still at the table making handprints and painting with Qtips.  This boy loves arts and crafts.

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