Christmas Pictures

Our Christmas was so nice this year. We have got 2 cute girls. 

(I'll blog more details later)

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Leah's sleep troubles

Ok, friends, here it is: all of my problems layed out for you. Ok, just my biggest onek Leah can't put herself to sleep. And it's driving me crazy. 

When she was about 7 months old we started sleep training. A full week of screaming for an hour or so each night, and I quit (Addie seriously took 3 nights; it was beautiful). We did get her sleep trained soon after, but soon came a trip, and it was all thrown off. We got home and tried again. Same pattern (inserting teething, colds, or other trips) happened 6 times. 

Which brings us to present day. 

Leah can put herself to sleep for her nap. We have some milk, cuddle and sing, I lay her down and she might fuss for 5 minutes, max. It's great. 

Then comes bedtime...ugggg. I hate bedtime with Leah. We do baths, milk and a short movie, cuddle and sing, then I lay her down. And she screams. And Screams. And SCREAMS. It is awful. She will do it for an hour, non-stop. We've tried everything. She hasn't used a pacifier since she was 5 months old, and I gave her one tonight out of desperation. It hasn't helped. Mike is rocking her to sleep right  now. We started her bedtime at 9, just including the crib part, and it's just after 10. Maybe we are missing her sleepy window, but I'm not sold on that yet.

Ok, seasoned mommies, give it to me. Tell me your best tricks. I am almost to the point of giving up until she is old enough to do a sticker chart or something like that. But as much as I love cuddling with her, I also want my evenings with Mike back. 

Thanks in advance! 

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What is a clean kitchen?

"Addie, what are you doing?"

"Just making hop stickers for dad. Just two hop stickers."

Pot stickers are sounding really good right now..... 

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Watercoloring

Today Addie painted this beauty with her watercolors. She spent about 20 minutes on it, too. 

"Addie, what's this a picture of?

"The temple. That's baby Jesus and there is Moroni." 

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Sunday

Sunday has me missing Saturday. 

Date with Mike to see the King Tut exhibit. 

Breakfast with Santa and Frosty

But Sunday has some perks. 

Primary.

Naps. 

Cooking together.

Cuddly goodness (see top picture).

One downside to today: bedtime. Why is it a surprise every night that we go to bed after baths?

Also, my almost 18 month old still can't put herself to sleep very well. Tips? Tricks? 

Looking forward to this week, though. Some fun things coming up! 

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Good morning

I love Leah in the morning. We cuddle and I admire her crazy hair. 

Off to the doctor. Addie's ear is leaking. Yup, leaking. 

Also, Roxie ate off of Leah's high chair. I hate how it smells when Roxie eats people food. 

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Reality Check

So, it's amazing how small your problems can seem when some of your closest friends are going through some major challenges. Today, I' fine with the sick girls I have. 

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December So Far

December so far has been snotty, cough-y and fever-y. 

The girls have been happy, despite being sick. Addie got a fever two weeks ago and it lasted until I gave her some Tylenol and it kicked in. Then the following Thursday, Leah got a fever after lunch. Honestly, she didn't seem to bad, so we did some things, like the Museum of Flight with my dad, the Festival of the Nativitys, and the zoo. By last Sunday, I thought we were doing ok, until 30 minutes into church when Leah needed a nap. She ended up taking 2 two hour naps that day. 

This week was going to be nicely busy, until yesterday at 4. Addie woke up with a fever. She was up in the night. She came in crying and super  sick. She took some ibuprofen and watched Doc Mcstuffins, then fell back asleep. She woke up at 8, and fell asleep at 9 and just woke up at 10:30.

But we have done a few fun things! We saw Santa at our ward Christmas party, we've been doing lots of baking and lots of dress up. 

I am anxious to get out of the house this weekend and I am hoping that the girls feel well enough to be left over night. 

In other news, Addie came to Primary for the first time on Sunday. We had the soon-to-be sunbeams come in for singing time. I am so excited to have Addie in Primary with me. 

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