Start to the Weekend

I have to just mention that the headband that Rachel is wearing was bought for her by Alex.  I buy them scratch and win tickets sometimes and Alex won $6 this week.  We all went together to the mall to cash in on her winnings at the lotto booth.  Then she took her $6 and looked around in a couple of stores.  Everything she liked was more than $6 so we kept on looking.  Then we went into an accessories store and Rachel fell in love with the heart print headband and so Alex bought it for her.  It was $3.59.  Isn't that so sweet?  And with her change she bought herself a little sparkly purple change purse.
It's Saturday morning.  My favorite day of the week.  The paper has arrived and everyone is still in a chillin kind of mood.  We have a birthday party later in the afternoon and we are thinking of attempting to watch Monsters vs Aliens sometime today.  We will see if we run out of time or energy.
Sophia liked watching her sisters blow bubbles.  She tried to reach out to them and ended up popping them which turned into a big game.  Who could blow the most bubbles toward Sophia to see how many of their bubbles she popped.  Fun times.

We're back from the party and here is a short video of Sophia enjoying the birthday party.  Lots of noise, kids and play areas!

1st Attempt - Unsuccessful

** Just to let you know that Sophia slept in the crib all night for the first time since she was born last night (Wednesday)!  She only woke up twice and then after a short visit from mama went back to sleep...in the CRIB!  We are making some progress! **

I tried to put Sophia to sleep in her own crib tonight for the first time.  It didn't go so well.  She sleeps in her crib for her daytime naps.  But has never slept there during the night.  She has always slept right beside me.  So I knew that the transition to the crib wasn't going to be easy.  It was horrible.  I have been placing a small stuffed animal between Sophia and I while she nurses so that she gets attached to this 'lovey'.  Yes, I'm trying to create a special toy for her.  Yes, that is weird but I hear it works for other moms.  So that she gets attached to this lovey and eventually when she sleeps in her crib she can cuddle this lovey.  I also ran to Walmart tonight to buy the Fischer Price Aquarium.  She loved it at first.  The music, the lights, the bubbles, the fish....until she realized that I was leaving her in the crib with this lovey and the fishey thing and no mama.  So after she got really upset to the point that she started coughing and coughing I caved and picked her up and went and nursed her to sleep in my bed.  I will try and continue to create a bedtime routine and try to ease her into the crib at night.  Or else, I guess the Fishy aquarium will end up at my next garage sale.

I'm Trying Not to Complain

Just some random photos before I start my ranting post.

I LOVE tulips in the springtime.

Sophia is on the move in our house now.  Still haven't baby proofed anything.

She took off from me this morning while I was trying to get her dressed so I could go out to Walmart.

Pawning the sleeping baby off to her older sister so I could run around and try to organize our kitchen.

Naked Sophia in our messy family room.

Let me start by saying I feel very fortunate for my 3 monkeys and the fact that I get to stay home with them everyday.  BUT....sometimes it is HARD being a stay at home mom.  My own mother dislikes it when I complain to her about how tired I am and how hard it is on a daily basis but it's true.  The thought of getting a job that will pay me money, where I get to dress up and act like an adult all day long is quite appealing.  Especially after wiping Sophia's nose for the hundreth time, after breaking up a teary whiney fight with the girls and then having to change a poopy diaper.  I mean all these things seem so much harder these days because it is spring break and the girls are stuck to me like glue AND the fact that Sophia has been a terrible sleeper the last week.  The lack of sleep, the fact that I didn't shower this morning, the disaster state of my house, no groceries in the fridge, piles of laundry that need to be folded, the ever increasing junk drawers and closets that have accumulated are making me feel CRAZY!  I would LOVE to just freeze the whole world for a week while I stayed awake.  The first day I think I would just sleep and lazily read the piles of People magazines and newspapers that I want to read but never have time to read.  Then I would tackle the mess in the house and the laundry and go grocery shopping and get everything that needs organizing organized.  Yes, the more I think about this the better it sounds.  Then I will actually get caught up and we can resume our lives in an organized manner once again.    I saw on Oprah the other day about this guy that comes and cleans/organizes your space and tells you how to achieve this.  Anyhow the only thing I got out of this show was a book he wrote that went something like...Is clutter making you fat?  Because I think the clutter in my house IS making me fat.  The more disorganized I feel the more I reach out for bad foods that make me feel distracted/happy for the moment.  Like the 2 cupcakes I just gulped down (in hiding because they were the last 2 cupcakes and the girls would be MAD if they knew I ate them) before writing this post.   I love my girls, I love staying home, I just wish there were more hours in the day or I could clone myself or I could win the 6-49 so I could hire someone to come help me.....Hey better yet, mom & dad, do you want to come out west anytime soon?

What's New Scooby Doo?

Papa grabbed his camera and took a few pictures of Sophia this afternoon (grubby sleeper and all).  She ate Cheerios for the first time today and loved it.  I love watching her little fingers pick up each piece with such careful concentration and then haphazardly get it into her mouth.  Brilliant!  She got her 2 top front teeth in the last few weeks.  They look pretty large in size and she looks so adorable when she smiles and shows you all 4 of her lovely teeth.  The 2 teeth next to the top front two are coming through too....any day now.
Sophia likes her exersaucer less and less these days.  She doesn't want to be confined to that thing, when she can sit all by herself and play with her toys.  She's lost her balance a couple of times and landed on her face/head which wasn't too pleasant.  She still loves Alex and Rachel and they can make her smile the widest.  My heart just melts seeing them all play together.  When she does something, like crawl forward on occasion, they are her loudest cheerleaders and she just basks in their enthusiasm.  

Another favorite game that Sophia has discovered is dropping things down from her highchair and having her mama bend down and retrieve it numerous times in a row.  She thinks its just the most fun.