Torture Rack!

How does this . . .

. . . turn into this?
(I couldn't get this photo centered. Sorry!)

We have been trying to train our youngest to sleep in a "big boy bed" for many months now. I got the great idea to train him now since we will be needing the crib in a few months for our new little sweetheart. However, this turns out to be one of the worst ideas that I have had in a while. In the beginning it was hard to get him to stay in his bed at all so he usually ended up back in the crib anyway. We have finally moved up to only having to get him back in his bed a couple times before he stays there. It is so sweet to listen to this little boy put himself to sleep. He sings, he imagines little conversations with his cars or animals he is sleeping with, he even said a blessing on the food perfectly the other night (something he refuses to do without help at meal times!), and just generally talks to himself. Don't let that sweetness fool you! We are now facing the problem of getting him to stay in his own bed all night long. He is in love with his mommy right now and every time he wakes up in the night he comes to "sleep wis mommy." Being pregnant, very large and extremely exhausted I usually allow him to stay because it is so hard for me to carry him back to his bed (though I sometimes do--I am not a terrible parent) and Paul is either too tired to wake up enough or ignores the situation if it isn't directly affecting him (which is easier now that we have a kings size bed.) So we often get up in the morning feeling like we have been tortured on the rack with no energy for the day. I have sometimes laid down with him in his own bed and tried to get him to go back to sleep there but that is no better for me in the torture department (but Paul likes it because it spares him some agony--not that he ever makes me sleep in there : )!) Therefore, we are still at square one because to save our sanity we make him sleep in the crib for a few days after a few days of torture. We don't know when this will all be worth it. We have never struggled this much for this long to make any of the other kids stay in their beds. I hope that I survive. I have an even foggier brain than my normal prego brain and have absolutely zero motivation due to this small tikes antics. Of course he never seems to feel it. He wakes up bright and cheerful, smiling and talking and laughing and even singing! Do any of you have tips for me? Help!!!!!

How can such a sweet face be the cause of so much trouble and agony?!
(Those of you who know him probably aren't surprised, huh?)

Easter Photos

Easter has come and gone and I wanted to share a few of the pictures that I took while we celebrated this weekend.


We will start with the Easter egg coloring that the kids count down the days for and I dread! It all went well in the beginning. Everything was pretty much ready and set up by the time the older two came home from school. However, we discovered that I didn't cook the eggs enough when one of them was dropped and it looked like Elmer's glue was seeping out all the cracks! I do not know how I managed to do this. I generally overcook them! I guess it is just my pregnancy brain at work and trying to do too many things at once. So we put them all back in the pot and reboiled the eggs. Of course all the dye was gone after this process so the kids had the fun of dying the eggs twice so it all worked out in the end. Here are a few pictures of the fun.

This one does everything with a gusto--even smile!

The older ones loved coloring their own designs on with the white crayon before dying the egg.


He found the egg dye to be delicious! I don't where he gets his taste for vinegar. He did this almost as much as actually dying his eggs.

He loved having a colorful tongue.

He was into multi-colored eggs. You can't tell from the picture but he is showing off a blue and yellow egg.

This is a typical Emma shot. She rarely has a big smile for the camera anymore. I don't know why because she is generally a happy kid--though more quiet and solemn than her older sister.

This is typical Hannah! She and Joshua seemed to have a greater love for the camera and hamming it up than the other two!

Now we have the fun of hunting for the eggs on Saturday morning. Oh, the fun! the joy! (Sarcasm. I do enjoy the egg hunt more than the egg coloring but I guess I am an Easter scrooge masquerading as a fun-loving mommy who provides all these glorious experiences for her children and sometimes my scrooginess peaks out too much : )! )

A good action shot!


Some golden finds!


This is the first year that he really got into the egg hunt. It was so cute to watch his excitement over each find--even if he had kept us up for most of the past four nights!

Here is Hyrum so you didn't think that he wasn't involved or that I neglected him!

Last of all we have the glam shots of the kids in all their Easter finery. I feel bad that this year Hyrum didn't have anything new to wear, but he was still handsome and doesn't really care too much about clothes (especially church clothes). At least Paul got him to wear a tie which is usually not done because Hyrum doesn't like how they feel. He is going to have to get used to them soon because he will have to wear one when he turns twelve and passes the sacrament. Maybe he will like a real tie better than a clip on. Anyway, enough of my rambling tangent.

My handsome boy.

Sweet Emma!

Vibrant Hannah!

My firstborn. I can't believe he is getting so old and tall. What a handsome kid.

Group Shot. The girls are actually the only ones with new clothes to wear (thanks to Nama). But the boys are looking very handsome with some ties added to celebrate the season in style. What a beautiful group of kids! I am one proud momma!

Well that is all. Sorry for the length, but most of it is pictures so I hope that it wasn't too onerous.