Big Girl Bed.

On Monday night Kenzie was looking for her Nuk and crawled out of her crib.  I was sitting in the living room watching Dancing With the Stars when I heard a loud THUD followed by blood curdling screaming and crying.  When I opened the girls' bedroom door I found one little munchkin on the floor crying and one big munchkin in bed horrifically screaming.  I immediately picked Kenzie up and then jumped in bed with Kadence to comfort her.  I think Kadence was more scared than Kenzie about the whole ordeal.  I have never heard her cry like that before.  So, after some extra snuggles we gave Kenzie her Nuk and put the girls back to bed.  I said a little prayer hoping that would be the only THUD we heard that night.  And it was.

Ryan and I had literally talked about switching Kenzie into a bed on Sunday and now we had no choice.  We made a quick trip to Target to get some sheets and a quilt and rearranged some furniture.  We were set!  Kenzie was not.  We tried to get her excited about her bed or to just play on it and she wanted no part of it.  I thought she would be happy to be more like her big sister!  We knew it was going to be a painful night and it was.  As it turns out, it wasn't the bed she didn't like but the fact that she couldn't have a Nuk in the big girl bed.  I pained through almost an hour and a half of screaming (Ryan would have given in so he was downstairs running on the treadmill) and she finally gave in.  When I went downstairs to run and tagged Ryan in, she stopped screaming after less than 5 minutes.  I was glad because she has him triple wrapped around her finger and I was afraid I would come upstairs after my run with him telling me he gave her the Nuk and she was sleeping.  She never got out of her bed one time the entire night-even through all the screaming!  Although, she woke up at 5 am and never went back to sleep.  That could be painful for awhile but I'm hoping she'll learn to go back to sleep eventually.  I was not surprised because she woke up about that time frequently and we would just give her her Nuk and she'd sleep until the other kids woke up.  I laugh because Kenzie still had her Nuk this long for our convenience and not for her.  We were not quite ready to give up sleep again.  I still am not ready but am holding myself accountable because I really don't want a 2 year old with a Nuk-which is only one short week away.

Kenzie only whined a few minutes at nap and then slept 2 hours!  So, I'm hoping we experienced the worst of it the first night!  Love that strong-willed little stinker!

On a side note, we don't have a crib in our home.  Weird.  

Gymnastics.

I started taking Kenzie to a gymnastics class Monday mornings while Landon and Kadence are at school.  I had been taking Kenzie with me to run errands at that time because let's face it, it's far less painful with one child versus all three.  I decided that although Kenzie likes those times with just me and her that we should do something a little more fun for her.  It is a 50 minute class at the American Gold Gymnastics here in town.  The class is somewhat structured with some instruction by 3 coaches but allows for some free play and "go at your own pace" technique teaching.  Kenzie screamed the first 10 minutes of the first class until she realized I wasn't going to leave her there.  We had our third class today and Kenzie is loving it.  She's still a little reluctant of doing things with anyone other than me, but I think she is warming up well.  Hopefully by the end of the session she will have made some good social improvements.

I love being able to take her to run off some energy when it is cold outside.  I snapped these shots with my phone and found out that she apparently sticks her tongue out when she is concentrating really hard.  Hilarious.  I did gymnastics with Landon and Kadence when we lived in Sioux Falls and I can honestly say that the program here is much better and is actually teaching them some base skills.  I chuckle because generally I struggle to find things I like better here than Sioux Falls!  Love watching this little lady grow.

Snow Day!

The weather was pretty yucky and rained pretty much all of yesterday and into the evening.  That turned to ice and it began snowing around 3:30 am today.  We woke up to a blanket of white this morning.  Landon knew immediately when he woke up and came in excited as ever to tell us to wake up and come look out the window at the snow.  They were all excited about the snow and begging to play outside so we told them they could go outside after we got home from church.  It was pretty cold with a brutal wind so I knew that it was probably going to take longer to get them all dressed than they would actually spend outside but thankfully Ryan reminded me that it didn't matter because they were so excited.  So we bundled them all up and they were off to help Ryan shovel.

 Kenzie thought playing outside was the best thing ever.  She looked so adorable in her snow pants and her hat over her eyes that I just couldn't stop taking pictures of her!

Kadence rarely gets cold outside and had a blast.  She is just a flash of pink and I love it.  The funny thing was that she was wearing snow pants and shoes that were 2 sizes too small for her (we went shopping for some boots and snow pants this afternoon for the poor girl.)

 So.Much.Fun.

 They were out longer than I would have guessed and came inside looking adorable with the cutest little rosy cheeks.  Nothing a little hot cocoa doesn't cure...

The first of many treks outside to play in the snow!

NDSU/SDSU Game!

Ryan and I were fortunate enough to go to the Bison/Jackrabbit football game.  This town is absolutely insane about the Bison so it was pretty fun.  Ryan's boss gave him 2 of his tickets and they were awesome seats!  I forgot to snap photos with my phone unfortunately.  The seats were at the 40 yard line 3rd row up right behind the SDSU bench.  The seats were so phenomenal that I never lost interest! It was a great game with the Bison winning just 20-17.  Ryan wore his blue SDSU shirt and I kid you not he was the only person in the entire section without green and yellow.  He stuck out like a sore thumb!  Some people we knew that were at the game texted him and said they could see him because he was sticking out so much and they were clear across the stadium!

Landon had a family project for school last week where he had to "disguise" a turkey.  Ryan came up with the idea to disguise the turkey as a Jackrabbit.  It actually turned out pretty cute and Landon was excited about sharing it with his class.  Although, he kept saying NDSU instead of SDSU which was driving his dad insane!  I'm guessing this disguised turkey is also driving a lot of people insane on the wall at school since this town is so obsessed with the Bison!

Ryan and I met up with some friends after the game and ended up having a great date day away from the children!  They were at home and did awesome with a new babysitter...I think they were actually a little disappointed when we came home!

Happy Hat Day Friday!

Today was Hat Day for Kadence's school today! She was so excited to wear her hat that she was asking if it were time to go all morning.  It was a fun way to kick off the weekend!

 This little girl probably has more fashion sense than I do at age 4.  I think I may have some problems when it comes to shopping when she gets a bit older.  I was cracking up because these were the poses she was giving me when all I asked was to take a picture of her.  She has such a fun little personality already.

Kenzie had to get in the picture of course.  It was adorable she was looking at Kadence and trying to pose just like her.

Then she gave me her gymnastics "Ta-Da!"  What a ham! Have a good weekend! :)

Pretty Girl.

This little girl had a big big day today.  She has been having some separation anxiety for a couple months and the school drop off has been painful.  I actually went and talked to a children's counselor about the anxiety.  I have had 2 meetings with her one with Kadence and one without.  The meetings have gone extremely well and we have changed some ways in dealing with Kadence that appear to be working.  She has not referred us to anyone and thinks Kadence is just experiencing some attention-seeking behaviors.  This makes me feel so much better!

Today when I dropped Kadence off at school we had NO TEARS.  She was just as proud of herself as I was!  Kenzie and I made a trip to get the new Tinker Bell movie after the drop off to have a surprise for her when I picked her up.  Kadence was happy and still proud of herself.  She is such a sweet, smart little girl and I just don't want her to struggle anymore!  I hope the new behavior continues!  Love this little princess so so much.

6.

I say this all the time and I am going to say it again.  I can't believe my boy is 6 years old.  The time just keeps going faster and faster.  This little boy is the sweetest little boy ever.  He has the biggest heart in the world and the biggest brown eyes ever.  His smile literally lights up my day.  We started out his birthday day with a birthday donut.  Landon was very happy and excited to have his first "school" birthday.

Landon wanted to wear his Vikings outfit from Aunty for his birthday.  When he came home from school he was wearing his birthday crown and was ecstatic to show me his little birthday trinkets from his teacher.  He brought treats to school and could hardly talk to me he was so excited to say he got to pass them out himself.  Landon was excited when his birthday balloons from Grandma and Grandpa arrived literally 10 minutes after he walked in the door.  I let him pick what he wanted for dinner and he chose: grilled cheese, apples, and carrots.  He's pretty easy to please! I made them dinosaur shaped because I felt bad he was having grilled cheese for his birthday dinner-even though it was what he picked.

Life is good!

A couple things I want to remember about my little buddy that have happened recently.  First off, he doesn't like it when his friends get picked on and he is confident enough to step in and try to stop the people doing it.  He knows right from wrong and is so sure of himself that he doesn't cower to those who may not.  I pray everyday that this trait sticks.  I am so proud of him.  On a less serious note, I think he thinks he is pretty tough.  Anyone who knows Landon knows his love for playing rough.  One night while he was supposed to be getting in the shower, I walked in to my bedroom (he was going to shower in our bathroom) and he was standing buck naked in front of the mirror flexing his muscles.  Hilarious.  I could not do anything but bust out laughing.  Then a couple nights later when he was supposed to be getting in the shower, I again walked into my bedroom to see him doing naked pushups on the floor.  Yes you read right naked pushups.  Again, I could do nothing but laugh hysterically.  Where do they learn these things?!  This guy is getting quite the personality and a great sense of humor!

Happy Birthday Landon Gary.  Love you to the moon and back sweet boy!