ordinary life

Katie is started to exert her 18 month old will. She wants to pick out her own clothes. She doesn't want to wear a diaper or get dressed in a timely fashion. She says "Mine" about everything that her little buddy, Zack touches. And she doesn't sleep.  If she naps past 3:30 pm, she will be up till 11. If she wakes up in the night she is up for at least 2 hours. She screams and screams if I put her in her bed awake, which is turning into screaming when I am rocking her prior to putting her in her bed. I am wondering if she is ready to give up naps. (Ana did at 18 months also.) But driving kids to and from places isn't very conducive to cutting out naps. So, I'm trying to figure it out.

Despite her lack of sleep, she is pure smiles! The other day, Ana was crying at bedtime. Katie and I were downstairs and Katie looked at me with concern in her eyes and said, "Ana sad." Then she perked right up and said, "Loves" and crawled off my lap to go give Ana a hug. Every time we pick Jack up from school she says, "Jack" and runs over to give him a hug. She is so cuddly and sweet, except at bedtime.


So, what are we doing to occupy ourselves on these cold, wintery days? You can bet it involves making a mess.

Zach is the king of mess-making. But we love having him around.

This project was slightly more frustrating than we anticipated, but he was still happy with result

Katie and Zach like to pull all the toys out of the locker to play.

Today I gave Katie some beads and a pipe cleaner. She liked the project, and didn't object when I went upstairs to shower.

Ana has this week off of school, but our fun has been slightly curbed due to colds and Ana's stomach bug. Hopefully we can see the sunlight at some point this week.  I do love relaxing at home though. That is priceless!