Church Carnival

Big girl

My feisty three-year-old was still in a crib up until a few weeks ago.  I know that's a little on the older side, but it was easier to stick with a crib because she didn't try to get out.  We didn't switch Angel to a toddler bed until she climbed out at 2 1/2 years, and Lovebug was forced out at three years when we needed the crib for Sunshine.  So I didn't see any reason to move Sunshine out too soon.  A crib is much easier in many ways, or so I thought.

But with a beach trip coming up, and her being too long for a pack 'n play, we decided to give a toddler bed a try.  I would have preferred to leave her in the crib a wee bit longer, but this seemed like a good time to experiment with a toddler bed.  When Sunshine caught the first glimpse of her new sleeping arrangements, her face lit up!  She was very proud of her new big girl bed.  She happily climbed in as we read a goodnight story and prayed together.  She was so protective of her newfound big girliness that she wouldn't even let me lay my head on her pillow with her.  She said, "No mommy, you too big.  You need sleep in your bed.  Dis my bed."  Well ok then, point taken.

I was concerned that the freedom of a toddler bed would give her the ok to come out of her room throughout the night.  So I did what any self-respecting mama would do ... I bribed her with a cookie in the morning if she stayed in bed all night.  Doesn't everyone do that?  :)  But as I closed her door, I was convinced we'd be up all night anyway.  I held my breath listening for bumps and movements.  But wouldn't you know, there were no sounds.  No kicking.  No whispering.  No playing.  No rolling around in the bed like she had been doing every night for the past six months.

Almost a month has past since we moved her to the toddler bed.  She goes right to sleep every night, and has yet to fall out despite her interesting sleep positions.  She never gets out of bed.  This is a stark contrast compared to the shenanigans of the six months prior.  I thought she was going through another sleep phase.  She's been through many of them since we brought her home two years ago.  Too many to count.  But the kicking, whispering, playing, and rolling around had been going on for a long time, and she was missing hours of sleep every night.  Then she'd take shorter naps as well because she was overtired, creating a sleepless cycle.  You get the picture.

I'm not sure why her behavior changed so drastically after switching beds.  I could come up with multiple reasons, none of which may be correct, or all of which may be partially correct.  Or, maybe she was simply trying to tell us she was ready for a big girl bed?  Either way, the results have been wonderful and I am kicking myself for not moving her sooner.  I don't even need to bribe her with a cookie anymore before bedtime!

A first for me

A first for me on Monday, I finally put a kid on the school bus!  I didn't think it would ever happen with private school, and now homeschooling.  But Sweetie gave me the privilege.  I would prefer it not be at 6:40am, but hey, I'll take what I can get.  She is doing so very well.  I know I am not her mama, but oh my I'm proud of her.  Watching her bloom and come alive right before my eyes is beautiful.  He is good.

Chinese Dumplings

I should preface this post by writing that I cannot tell you how to re-create these dumplings :-)  Having said that though, these were a lot of fun to watch come alive.  When Sweetie asked if I wanted her to make dumplings for us, I practically jumped up and down with excitement!  We took a trip to the Asian market and stocked up on essentials, and then she went to work.  She was so very patient with Angel and Lovebug while teaching how to put them together.  We froze the dumplings and then cooked and ate them a few days later at the beach.  What a super special treat!  The expression on Sweetie's face as she bit into the first dumpling was absolutely priceless.  Having never made them on her own before, she was thrilled to find out they tasted exactly as she was hoping for.  It was a beautiful moment, and I was SO proud of her!  We are having so much fun with our girl!

Soaking up Sweetie

Soaking up as much as we can of our sweet girl before we send her off to school on Monday!

Arrival

I'm so excited to say that we picked up our exchange student on Saturday from the airport!  She is such a sweet girl, and we really think she's going to fit in with us just perfectly.  I think I am going to call her "Sweetie" on the blog, because it describes her perfectly.  We are excited to share each other's cultures (and languages!) and I know that He is going to do big things this year.  It is all in His hands!  She starts school this coming Monday, so we have been running around like crazy fools to make sure we get everything taken care of before her big day.  Lots of shopping, many "firsts," several very funny miscommunications, a surprise trip to the eye doctor, and a visit to school to pick classes.  Yes, it's been an exciting and very packed few days!

Catching up

I have so much to catch up on, especially because our super-sweet exchange student, Yana, arrived on Saturday.  But that was after a super-duper awesome week of this (well sort of).  More to come.

Ready to rock

It's VBS week here.  This year's theme is "Turn It Up!" and we have been rocking out the last two nights!  That includes crazy-colored hair, blue and green makeup, and fishnet gloves.  Oh yeah, totally reliving the 80's punk rocker days!

iPhone selfy with the kiddos

Sisterly love

Love how these sweet girls love each other.  Angel tries so hard to include her in everything she can, and Sunshine is happy to be one of the gang.  I just adore how all three of my littles love one another so well (on most days anyway).