Bedtime

Last night, we tried a new strategy to get Emily to sleep a little faster. I went through her room and removed everything that could cause a potential distraction. No more butterfly lights, no more pots and pans, no more excessive stuffed animals, no more table and chairs, no more tea set and only 10 books!
Emily's room was stripped down to the bare bones last night and voila, she was in bed asleep in about 15 minutes. I heard the cupboard door open and close twice and when I checked on her a while later, she was in bed sleeping.
Hopefully, she'll get caught up on her lost sleep and get rid of the cold that she's been fighting for the last few days.

Also, I'm pretty sure the Louie will be wanting a toddler bed soon too. He thinks it is the greatest thing ever to climb and jump on! It is a little indoor play gym for he and Emily everyday.

Part 4

Everything seems to be going well with Emily's transition to the toddler bed. She is really enjoying the independence of it. Sometimes, enjoying it too much.
The last couple of nights, she will be very quiet in her room for a while. The fun begins after about 30 minutes, we'll hear the clanking of her tea set. On Saturday night, she was was having a tea party with Snoopy at the table. Then, fell asleep sitting up in the princess chair.
Sunday night, she had another tea party but did end up asleep in bed just a short time later.
Her stretches of playing are getting shorter. The novelty of playing after the door closes is wearing off. We're ok with it all because she's not trying to get out of her room or laying on the floor in front of the door crying. She's always been good about sleeping and going to bed at night.

Big Girl Bed, Part 3

Well, when we finally got Emmy settled down and into her bed, it was quiet. I guess too quiet.
She was VERY busy in her silence.
I checked on her a little later, she was sound asleep in bed. However, EVERYTHING from her dresser drawers was in bed with her. She had a HUGE pile of clothes on the bed and was sleeping right in the middle of it.
But, she was asleep and stayed there until morning.
Today, it's off to the Lynch's to play with the kids while Dan refs a football game at St. Thomas.

Big Girl Bed, Part 2

Well, last night went way better than expected. Emily went straight to sleep her first night in the big girl bed. She woke up crying once, but I think it was just due to unfamiliar territory. This morning, she was laying in her bed talking to her doggies and loving life. She wanted to eat her breakfast in bed this morning. We're so happy that she seems to have adjusted ok far.
Naptime today didn't go as well as last night. When I got home from work every book in her room was on the floor in her room and her shelves were cleared off. I did hear that she actually might have slept for an hour though.
Tonight, she was very over tired and cried and cried in bed. She got up for a little while, took some cough medicine and then went back to bed after reading the Rainbow Fish, her favorite book.
I think she might have gone to sleep already. So far, so good.

Emily's Big Girl Bed

Well, the day finally came when our daughter tried something daring, climbing out of her crib. Her attempt didn't go too well, she fell on her head. We thought that it would have scared her enough to not attempt that again. Not so. Today, during her nap she attempted to climb out. This time, not falling on her head. However, I did hear her in her room yelling, "Dan, I stuck!!" over and over. The DAN was getting more and more frantic. She was stuck alright, hanging upside down with her foot stuck between the rails on the outside.

So, we decided to take the big step and get her a toddler bed. Rather than jumping right into a really big girl bed, we opted for the teeny, tiny toddler bed. We made the evening trip to Wal-Mart and picked it up. Emily really had fun watching us put it together and trying to help.
When it finally got moved into her room and we put the mattress on it, then it was all good.
She climbed right on and tried it out.
It's the first night, she's been in her room with the door shut for 30 minutes and there's not a peep coming from her room. I even went outside to listen outside the window. Nothing.
It does seem too good to be true that she could have gone right to sleep??? Tune in tomorrow....

Let's Eat Cake!

The birthday boy, ready for his party to get started! The pictures say it all . . .

The delicious Scandinavian Strawberry Torte - since Dan and I also celebrated out 5th anniversary this week, we had the same cake we served at our wedding for dessert, it was so delicious.

After the cake it was time to open presents. He got trucks, a fun puzzle, a train, a toy chainsaw with safety goggles and hard hat.

Lou was too excited to sleep, after Emily went to bed, he got up and played with all his new toys, all by himself. He had so much fun, driving the trucks around, trying to figure out how to make that truck noise with his mouth. He walked around the house with his chainsaw running too, that's going to be without batteries very soon!

Thanks everyone, I had a really fun party!!!

We all scream for ice cream!

Waiting with money in hand for the truck to arrive. Emily had no idea what the money was for. Finally, it's here!
A delicious rainbow push-up.
Lou didn't like it when his was all gone.

Louie's Birthday!

We had Louie's favorite for breakfast yesterday, scrambled eggs with bacon and cheese, toast and watermelon! He LOVES fruit, especially watermelon.

Emily loves to make Lou laugh when they are at the table eating. She was playing "peek" with him and he was busting up laughing.

Last night, Uncle Joe, and cousins Patrick and Katie stopped over. They were deliverying a couple of tables for Louie's birthday party. Joe and Patrick are going hiking with the Boy Scouts on the Superior Trail and Katie is taking a trip with a friend to the American Girl store in Chicago this weekend. They're going to miss the party. But they brought Louie his first birthday present. We're going to go to Barnes and Noble and get him some books for boys. He loves to read books. He really loves to sit in the chair and read them himself.

Justin Lee Jansen

Here's a couple of pictures of the little bugger. He sure is a cute baby, nice chubby cheeks. I can't even believe the hair that he has. Dan and I are pretty sure that he's got more hair then Emily . . . I wonder if they'll stop for a haircut on the way home from the hospital??

Happy Birthday to Louie!!!

One year ago today, I was recovering from pushing out the 10+ pounder, drug free!
It is hard to believe that it has been a whole year. Time is just flying by.
Louie got a great birthday present today, he has a new baby cousin!
Justin Lee Jansen was born this morning in Orlando! He was 8 pounds, 11 ounces and 21 inches long. All is well with Auntie Stacy and Justin. Congratulations!
Uncle Mark was very excited to have another set of twig and berries at their house!
Hopefully, we'll see pictures of him soon.