Night #2

So Matthew didn't sleep all through the night last night. Around 3:30 am he came in our room calling Mama so I made the mistake of picking him up and putting him in our bed. Around 4 when I couldn't take the squirming and him kicking me (on accident) anymore I had Jordan take him back to his bed and lay down by him. Jordan came back about 10 min. later and then Matthew came trotting back about 10-15 min. after that (I knew he was going to do that because he couldn't have gotten into a deep sleep by then). I had to stifle a laugh because Matthew had brought everything with him-his pillow, blankets, and bear. That's a lot for a little kid to truck around the house.

I took him back to his bed and also noticed it was a bit cold. Of course the heat wasn't on and the house was at 72. We've found that if it's too cold it wakes Matthew up in the middle of the night. I turned the heat back on and laid down by Matthew. I put him under his covers and he went to sleep pretty easily and I tossed and turned in his bed until around 6:30 and finally headed back to our bed to get a little more shut eye.

I knew tonight was going to be tough because Matthew took a nap today with the babysitter. He finally had the lights turned out close to 10 pm (way too late) and Jordan laid by him for a bit before leaving his room as we don't want that to become a routine. He came out about 10 times and laid down by his door a couple of times. Finally I went in and tucked him under the covers and we turned his music on. That seemed to do the trick or maybe he was just tired because it was about 10:30 by then. Anyways, he's out and I'm making sure the heat is on before I go to bed because I really need some good shut eye tonight before I leave for out of town tomorrow.

One side note (I love my sidenotes):

I read my bookclub selection Sunday night. Super quick and easy read. It's called "The Invention of Hugo Cabret". It's a cute little story and looks thick but has tons of drawings and some pages are only 1/4 full. I think in total it took me about 2 hrs. I have bookclub on Tuesday after I get back so I wanted to get it done before I left. Just thought I'd share if any of you are looking for a good book to read. If nothing else it's a great read for your kids.

Night 1 of Big Boy Land

We got a mattress this weekend (pretty comfy) and strapped it to our roof and managed to get it home in one piece. I was pretty stressed out as I didn't trust Jordan's tie job (and he wasn't too confident in it either) and it had slid some by the time we got home. I was just worried it would pick up air and rip out of the straps and fly down the freeway.

We picked up some sheets on Saturday while doing errands and I washed them and got them ready today for the big night and Jordan put together the bed when he got home. We've really been talking up the big boy bed for the last several days so I was hoping he would be excited. He took a bath tonight and then was all over helping Daddy put together the bed. It was pretty cute! He loved playing with the drill (no bit). We did get some side rails from someone at work so one side is on so he doesn't fall off the bed in the middle of the night.

Of course the first thing he did was start jumping on the bed before we even had the sheets on. Such a typical 2 year old BOY! He thought that was super fun so I'm sure there will be nights of that ahead of us. He didn't take a nap today because 1-he went to bed late last night and woke up late this morning, 2-I wanted him tired for the big night and 3-I was washing his crib sheets to get ready for the baby since he was going to transition tonight anyways.

My plan worked pretty well. Once the bed was together and the sheets were on Jordan read him books in his bed and then it was time to go to sleep. He wanted Mommy and Daddy to lay by him and so Jordan went in there with him and laid down by him (there is no way I could get his pregnant body out of his bed once I got in-it's too low to the ground). He conked out in about 10 min. I could tell he was tired by the redness around his eyes.

So our first night was relatively easy, but I know it won't be like this every night. Poor Jordan is facing 4 nights on his own as I leave on Wednesday for San Francisco for 5 days for work. We'll see how it goes while I'm gone. He thinks I did it on purpose, but really I just want to get the baby's stuff in the room and ready once the walls are painted (should get done while I'm gone). I didn't want to be doing everything in one night and Matthew really needed to transition. His crib was starting to get confined.

I love this camera-it takes GREAT pics in the dark! Don't you love his little "pee-low". It's a little travel one we found for him that he just loves. He really isn't much of a cover kindof kid so we keep him in warm pj's at night.

2 sidenotes:

1-Matthew loves to take our pillows off our couch and make a big mound of them on the floor and snuggle up into them. He was looking so cute today so I took some pictures with our new camera. He of course wanted to see the pics and was like "so cute!". He then wanted to take some pictures so I helped him take a couple and then he wanted me to take pictures of his toys so I took a couple. Even if I get frustrated with some of the things he does, days like today when he's generally pretty good and does some fun things makes it worth it. Love my boy!

He likes to put some of our big pillows on top of himself. He's so funny!

Super snuggled in.

I just love this pic of Matthew and his smile and squeezable cheeks. So cute!

2-We've been having lots of problems with Matthew eating proper food and not just crackers or chips. I decided to draw a hard line and not let him snack in between meals. Yesterday he did pretty good, but today he did really well. He's not a big eater at breakfast and so by the time we ate our late lunch I think he was starving. He ate a hot dog (1st thing), some pudding, 1 1/2 bananas and then I let him have some crackers. He didn't eat many of those because by then he was pretty full. At dinner he wanted some chips but we told him he had to eat his quesadilla first. He ate most of it and then we gave him some chips. He ate a few but not a ton once again because he was pretty full. I guess I'm just going to have to be a meanie if we're going to get him to eat properly. I knew we had gotten into a bad habit of snacking but didn't realize how bad it had gotten. Just goes to show that if he's hungry enough maybe just maybe he'll eat the things I want him to.

Bed Shopping

Shopping in general is always an adventure with Matthew along. You never know the mood he's going to be in and if he's in a bad mood watch out. He's been off and on with afternoon naps lately and didn't take one yesterday by the time we left to pick up Jordan from work and head to Ikea. He promptly fell asleep in the car and got about a 30 min. nap in before we got to the store.

He woke up in an ok mood when we got to Ikea and did pretty good while we were shopping. He petered out by the end and wanted to be pushing the heavy cart by himself and was whining and throwing fits when we didn't let him so I finally decided enough was enough and bribed him with a treat. We got a $1 cinnamon roll and he did great. We were sharing and his eyes got huge and he was trying to stuff the rest in his mouth that was on his napkin so he could have the last little bit and he was getting worried I was going to finish it and told me to put the last part on his napkin. Man I really wanted that last bit, but gave it up for my cute little 2.5 yr. old with his big eyes staring at me. What parents give up for their kids. Good thing he didn't want my yummy take-out Thai noodles. He hasn't learned what ALL good food is YET!

I pretty much knew what I wanted to get furniture wise, but hadn't decided on a size for a bed. A queen would be too big, a single might be too small if we needed to use his bed for visitors and then we went back and forth if a full was too big for his room but ultimately decided that a full frame could help with additional visitors in the future. He also needed a chest of drawers to match as we are moving both his crib and his current drawer set to the baby's room. I liked the Malm line-pretty simple and clean and not too modern and the bed frame is low to the ground so we got the following (black/brown color):

We still need to paint the stripes in the baby's room and get a full mattress for Matthew's big boy bed and then we're ready for the big leagues with Matthew. I found fabric online that I like so I need to get it ordered and get to making his quilt too.

As a side note-it's now 10:00 pm and we put him in bed at 9:15 pm and he is in there singing to himself and jabbering. The night process keeps getting longer and longer especially on days like today when he actually took a nap. I'm scared it's going to be even longer when he's bored and can get out of bed and come out of his room and ask us "what are you doing?". I'll let you know in a few days.

Quick Utah Update

I don't have any pictures to share since our new camera hadn't come by the time I left for Utah :(. I do have pictures to get from my mom and sister so who knows when that will be.

Trip Highlights
-Matthew loved going on the "hairplane" and was pretty good. I love portable DVD players.
-He loved playing at Grandma & Grandpa's and woke up from every nap and every morning asking to "play with toys"
-He saw so many cousins and had a great time at the Children's museum in Ogden and eating "choclate ice cream"
-He loves, loves, loves his cousin Colby (who is 20) and they had a great time together along with everyone else at my sister's house. He had the whole family running around playing games and they were just as worn out as he was at the end of every night.
-Going out to eat with Heather and James at Costa Vida. He was very good at sharing his "choclate cookies" with James. Too cute!
-Seeing Daddy after a week of being away!

No snow playing while we were there. A lot of snow had melted and most of it was crusty icy snow which is no fun to play in. Such a bummer for Matthew. It was cold though and we wore coats all the time. It was so cold the morning we went to the aiport to leave. It reminded me why I LOVE living in the warm winter Arizona sun. It really makes the hot summer worth it. In fact it was super warm Wednesday when I landed. I was dying of heat in my jeans and long sleeved shirt and couldn't wait to get home and change into a short sleeved shirt and my capris.

My favorite was eating at Crown Burger twice while I was up there. It's so yummy and the fry sauce is delicious! Good thing I have In-n-Out to tide me over in AZ. We stopped and got it on the way home from the airport on Wednesday after Jordan picked me up.

It always is hard to mix work and playing whenever I'm up in Utah and have to work. Too short of playing time. It was good to see family and friends, but I was ready to get back home. It's hard being pregnant and the only parent on duty for a week. Jordan was a trooper though and got the baby's room mostly done. I can't wait until it's finished and then I'll post pictures.

We're off to buy a big boy bed and new dresser tonight for Matthew's room as we're moving all of his furniture to the baby's room. It's still hard to believe he's never climbed out once out of his crib. I'm sure this baby won't be the same. I'll let you know how the transition goes. I'm sure he'll be excited for a "big boy" bed.

Good deals and on the go!

Good Deals
We went on a date night on Saturday night to dinner and then went to the mall and picked out paint colors for the baby's room. At the mall I stopped by Ann Taylor Loft to look at their maternity clothes and found out they were phasing them out in their stores. They led me to a miniscule rack and said, the good news was everything on the rack was $4.99 and an additional 25% off on top of that! Sweetness!

I found a pair of pants and a levi skirt for a total of $7.86 or something like that. The pants alone were originally over $50. Now who could pass up that sweet deal? (well maybe those of you that aren't pregnant!)

Next door to Ann Taylor Loft is a super cute children's clothing store called The Pumpkin Patch. It's pretty pricey though so I only shop the sales rack there as I'm not going to spend $30 on a jacket that will only last 3 months. They were also having a killer deal that everything already on sale was an additional 30% off. I found 3 shirts for the little lady and a cute jacket for next fall/winter. She's pretty ready clothes wise for the first 6-9 months of her life.

On the Go
Me and Matthew are heading up to Utah this weekend to see family and for work (me not Matthew). I had a last minute meeting to support in Salt Lake next Tuesday and decided to head up early and work from my parents since my boss was going to be gone this Thurs/Fri anyways. Plus we are using miles to fly Matthew up and it would have cost me an additional 12,500 miles to fly Thurs or Friday. I'm pretty excited to see everyone and we have a few fun things planned with my parents and siblings. Jordan is staying home and holding down the fort and thankfully painting the baby's room while we are away. I'll be excited to get her room done!

Jordan asked me the other day if I was nesting. Well, I don't think so as that usually happens close to the birth of the baby, but I do feel the need to get things ready and done. We have a lot to do in the next few months. We need to get Matthew transitioned into a big boy bed (and get some new furniture), make Matthew a quilt to match his room, get him potty trained, he is off the binkies now-including sleepy times, we need to get the baby's room finished-walls painted and I am painting 3 big canvases to match her bedding and we need to buy a few more things like a double stroller, etc. I don't want to be doing all of that while I am 8 months pregnant and extremely uncomfortable so I feel the need to get everything done now. I also have 2 big events in February and will only have 2 free weekends in February to get things done. I'd really like everything done by the 1st of March so we're ready to go in case I run into pre-eclampsia like I did with Matthew. I shouldn't because that usually only happens with first babies, but I'd like to be prepared instead of caught off guard with Matthew. I am already getting pretty swollen ankles so we'll see how it goes.

Anyways we are off shortly to the freezing cold weather. Matthew will love seeing his extended family and playing in the snow for the first time. I'm hoping we can squeeze in a bit of sledding w/me watching and someone else taking him down the hill. Should be a fun weekend. I'll post pics and updates this weekend. Wish me luck as the crazy pregnant lady in the airport with a 2 year old. Let's just hope lots of snacks, a movie, and a short flight makes this flight easy.

Cheesecake Factory

I swear my whole world does not revolve around food, but I do love it so I guess that's why I talk about it often. I have a vendor that I work with closely on all of our customizable clothing and merchandise. He comes down about every 1-2 months and we usually go out to eat and then meet for 2-3 hrs going over all the projects that are going on. The Cheesecake Factory where he lives is always crazy busy so it seems like we always end up going to the one by my work which is only about 5-8 min. away. He came yesterday to review some things for our big event next month and to get started on our merchandise for Celebration in August.

We usually stuff ourselves with appetizers and lunch and never have enough room for dessert, but we did manage to save room yesterday for some cheesecake. We got the Banana Cream Cheesecake which was divine. While I was looking over the list I got to wondering if they make the Cheesecake there and if they make all the flavors every day and if they throw away all the unused Cheesecake at the end of the day? I asked the waitress all of these questions because I'm nosy and wanted to know. I found out that their Cheesecake is delivered from California and made in a factory there. They usually have about a week of goodness from each Cheesecake. Interesting huh! I always assumed they made them onsite. Makes sense though so there isn't as much waste and I'm sure they know which cheesecakes sell the best.

We can't always afford to go there on dates so I feel fortunate that I get to go there for free with my vendor often. I adore their avacado eggrolls and my favorite entree is the stuffed chicken tacos, but I try to force myself to not always get that every time. I'm rarely disappointed by their food and if I ever am then it's usually when I'm with Jordan and I just switch with him because he's a good husband like that and isn't picky about what he's eating.

Anyways, just a tidbit of knowledge I thought I'd pass on. Jordan wrote a blog about his Top 10 fruit list and so I'm thinking of what my Top 10 Restaurants were for 2008.

Belated Merry Penguins

Matthew started saying Merry Penguins instead of Christmas when we tried to get him to say it a few weeks ago. Now it's a big joke in our house and he says Merry Penguins on purpose and laughs and we laugh and then he says it again and again. So we hope you all had a Merry Penguin!

Just a few videos and pictures of the things we did around here. What a fun break and we're just sad it's over so quickly and we are back to the grind of work already.

Opening Presents Part 1-who thought a little boy could take 2 hrs to open a few measly presents?

Opening Presents part 2


LOTR Nerd-a-thon with about 8 kids and 12 adults at our house-craziness!

Temple lights

Matthew was getting "shocked" by the star

Matthew's cousins Abby and Drew came to visit. Matthew and Abby were 2 peas in a pod. He had a ton of fun while they were here.

Abby and Matthew boxing on our Wii-hilarious!

At the Phoenix Zoo. The kids were so excited to go! We bought a membership and Matthew is free until next Christmas-yay!

Matthew gets into these moods lately where he kisses us like we kiss him. All over. It's super cute!

I love this one that my brother-in-law took. Matthew was so good to get in and out of his stroller that day. We did a ton of walking. Too much for this pregnant lady!

At one point Matthew was walking around with his hands in his pockets. It was hilarious and about three guys that were behind us thought he was so funny!

Our "new" sweet Mexican/Chinese place to go eat. I saw it on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives and we had to try so Skylar and Chrissy went with us. So yummy and we can't wait to go back. We're 2 for 2 eating at recommended places from that show.

We went to the Phoenix Children's Museum on the 2nd. Pretty fun and I thought about getting a membership, but it's too far to do that yet. Matthew loved putting these balls into this tube like thing that forced air through it and they would go all around and then pop out randomly. He could have done this for 2 hrs.

This was also taken at the Children's museum. They had about 500 or so water noodles hanging from the ceiling that you could walk through. Matthew loved this even though he was reluctant at first to go with Jordan. Unfortunately he was being silly and knocked the camera out of my hand right after this and the lens is broke so now we have to get a new camera. Not what I want to be buying right after Christmas....ergghhh...