Taydens Sleep Story

A few weeks ago, Tayden stopped staying in his room at night. He has never been a great sleeper, but the problem was getting obviously worse. I am normally not a 'rewarding' kind of mother, but thought maybe if I did something new it might be fun and Tayden would be more willing to participate. So, we went to Walmart and picked out a super cool transformer. The deal was, if he stayed in his room for 5 nights, he could have his toy. 

The first night he stayed in his room, we came downstairs and colored in a square on my super cool sleeping chart. 

After I colored in the first square, I went upstairs for something. When I came down he declared he was ready for his new special toy. I explained to him again he had to wait until all the squares were colored. At that he remarked, "But mom, they are all colored!" and handed me his sheet.

The darn kid had colored in his squares so he could get his new toy.

I love this story because

A.) T doesn't have the patience for coloring. He never has. He doesn't like to sit still if he can avoid it. But he sat and colored each individual square. It may be scribbles, but it made this mama proud.

B.) He totally thought it through. He knew what had to be done to get his toy and seriously thought he was tricking me.

Man oh man I love this little boy.

So, did it work? Yes and no. It worked for the 5 days, but he was up again the next night. I think its going to be an ongoing battle with him. I am so grateful for all of the things he is good at, but really wish he was better in the sleep department. 

Any suggestions?

Monday Morning Hike

Mondays are a great day at the Packard house. Its Scotts last day of his 3 day weekend. We had planned on going to the childrens museum, but turns out they were closed. The weather is beautiful here, so we decided to get out and get moving.There is a hill(ish) mountain, with some fun hiking trails about 5 minutes from our house. We loaded up the kids and went off to, in the words of Tayden, climb a mountain.

 Funny story about this shirt. He calls it his reindeer shirt, because you wear camouflage when you go hunting to shoot deer. I was explaining to him its called camo and he looked at me said, "No mom! Its not a camel shirt! Its for deer!". haha

 Loved walking the dog.

 Such a beautiful view of the strip in the background. We only made it half way, the stroller wasn't exactly hiking material!

At the base of the mountain was a fun park. It was huge and Tayden had a blast!

 See the little girl at the bottom? She and Tayden got married in the stagecoach earlier that day.

It was a fantastic morning! Followed by a nice long family nap. Dinner at Red Robin, that was comped by the manager due to wait time for our food. And finished up with Neilsons frozen yogurt.

Great start to hopefully a great week!

Laundry Love

If only I loved the laundry as much as Beckett...

...it might get done more often!

Star Command

Tayden got a new bedspread and room decals for Christmas. (Thanks Aunt Jo) He loved them in the box, but loved them even more when we put them up. We also decided when we put the decals up to move Beckett into Taydens room. I have been toying with the idea for a few months and decided it was perfect timing. We converted B's old room into a play room, which is a huge success. I have been promising my mom pictures of 'star command' (the name of the boys room) for a few days now. 

 Scott got some smaller decals to match. We let Tayden decorate is closet door.

Since we are renting we haven't really wanted to put too much on the walls, so this is perfect. It makes it feel like a cozy little boys' room now. I love it.

I have attempted to take pictures of the new play room for a few days, but it is always a mess. The boys absolutely love playing in there, so its hard to clean it up with them around. Which is fine by me. That's the whole purpose of the room and its helped keep my house clean. Its a win/win for everyone. We didn't want to worry about T breaking the closet doors to get to his toys so we took them off to allow for easy access. We still need to hang curtains and do a few things to liven it up, but here are some pictures of the progress.

 It is also the new home to Taydens art.

Its been a crazy few days trying to get everyone settled in their new space. But honestly, the boys have done fantastic. I think they feel a sense of security having each other in the same room while they sleep. Tayden has never been a good sleeper. He does alright, but usually comes in to get me at least once a night. With the big change, he's slept through the night two nights in a row. A big success for us. Beckett no longer cries as he goes to sleep, but just chats with Tayden for a few minutes and drifts off. It's been wonderful.

It's weird, but something about them sharing a room melts my heart a little bit. 

I can't put my finger on it.

But I love it.

Sleep Talker

I crawled into bed late last night. As I did Scott started shouting, "OH NO! OH NO! That is not good."

I asked, "What Scott? What's not good"

"If I can see them, its not good. Not good at all."

With a little more force and concern,"Whats not good Scott?"

 Almost hysterically, "The ants they are all over! All over on our bed!"

He went on about the ants in our bed for about 5 minutes. 

I asked him how the ants got there and he told me, "That darn Santa was bringing those fancy worms!"

I can't even tell you how hard I was laughing.

It sure is amusing sleeping with a sleep talker!

Christmas 2011

Christmas was awesome this year! Christmas eve we added some new traditions. We made reindeer food for Santas crew and got a new nativity book that we read as a family. And as always, we opened PJ's from Grandma Mennear. 

Beckett showing off his new walking skills! 

I love that Christmas was on Sunday this year. I love the opportunity to go to church to worship and remember the true meaning of Christmas. It was great teaching opportunity for Tayden and I loved having the spirit with us the rest of the day. Also...my boys looked dang handsome in they Christmas outfits. (Thanks Aunt Ashley.)

We tried our hand at a taking our own family picture. It turned out okay, but the flash didn't go off so they are kind of dark. We decided if you could take Tayden and I from the top picture and insert it in the bottom picture, it would have been perfect. 

After church, we changed our clothes and opened gifts. We had gifts from both sets of Grandparents to open as well as our own, so it seemed to take all day. We are lucky enough to have modern technology and had the chance to Skype with our parents as we opened gifts. The boys are so blessed to have so many people who love them. They had a blast. As did Scott and I.

 Old Woody and New Woody

 Dancing to Mom's new Glee CD!

Big Buzz! I could not get Tadyen to put Buzz lower so I could see he face. He was memorized by his jet pack.

We cooked our first Christmas dinner together and it turned out great. We made ham, (and have about 8 lbs left over) rolls, mashed potatoes and corn. It was delicious. Beckett really enjoys mashed potatoes!

We spent the rest of the evening cuddling in our new hoodie blankets and playing with all our cool new toys.

It was a different being away from our parents this year, but it was so great sharing the day as a family. It was great having our boys around us, cooking together and spending the day with each other. 

I am grateful for this time of year and all that it brings.

This year is also bringing my mom and grandma! They are coming in tonight and are probably landing right about now. So, I'm signing off, heading to the airport to pick them up.

Hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas.

I know we did.

Did Your Toe Fall Off?

I've had the same set of Jamberry's on my toes now for about 6 weeks. (For those of you that don't know what Jamberry Nails are- They are an awesome nail shield/decal. Click HERE for more info.) I decided it was time to switch it up and took them off this morning. 

Tayden came in the bathroom a few minutes later. We were having a nice little chat when he says, "MOM! What HAPPENED to you?!" 

I look at him a little confused. "What?"

 The got the most disgusted/worried look on his face. He slowly looked down at my feet without moving his head... "Did your toe fall off?". 

No buddy. I still have all my toes.

Thanks for your concern.