Dylan is such a wonderful big brother. He loves to play with the little kids and has so much fun making life fun. He was playing with Ashlyn and I just had to take a picture to capture the moment.
For Lauren's Valentine's Day party I asked her if she wanted me to try to do a heart in her hair, she was so excited!
At first when Devon asked her if there was anything else she wanted to do, she said no. As they talked about it more she decided she wanted to go to Smith's to look at toys and get a treat. At Smith's they got a box of Chocolate to give Mom for Valentine's (a secret) and got one for Lauren to have that night. Then they looked at the toys. While they were looking at toys Lauren would see something she liked and get excited and would say "I want that. Can we get it? Just kidding... I know we aren't buying anything." And she would go along to the next thing she liked and say "I like this. Can we buy it?" Devon would say no, and she would say "I know, we aren't getting anything. That's ok, Dad." She did this over and over. What a funny girl!
When they went to Costco, Devon picked out a bouquet I would like. Lauren kept telling Devon that the roses were so pretty, so they should get some for me. So, he decided to get a bouquet of roses for her. He remembered I liked other flowers more than roses (which I don't remember telling him... I feel like I love any flowers, roses included... but so sweet of him to remember what I have loved), so he was telling Lauren that the one bouquet was for me, and the roses for her. She kept trying to convince him he should give me the roses "because they are so pretty." I'm guessing part of why she wanted the other flowers was because of a heart stuck in the arrangement. When they got home, I was putting kids to bed, so I wasn't around immediately. By the time I came down, Devon was somewhere else in the house. Lauren was so excited to show me the roses they had bought for me. And she told me the other bouquet was for her. She was so enthusiastic in telling me how pretty the roses were for me. And she was very excited for the other bouquet for her. We cut the ends and got them into vases. I had heard part of her and Dad's conversation as they had come in the house, so I was laughing in my head at her persuasive skills. I told her we would just put both bouquets in the kitchen so we could enjoy them both. She wanted her flowers on the table, and we put the roses on the window sill. They were beautiful!
While we cut the flowers, Austin came in asking me if he could have some of my chocolates. I immediately guessed that Lauren and Dad must have gotten me some for Valentines, but just told Austin I didn't have any. I could see the box of chocolates for Lauren on the counter. I said Lauren had some, but not me. He walked away for a minute, and then came back asking again to have some of my chocolates. I again said I didn't have any. He said that Lauren said they bought me some. Lauren responded "Well, I was just joking!" (Oh, my goodness, I just about died laughing in my head about how smoothly she was covering up! And I took a mental note of how she can be trusted with a secret. I also noted at how smoothly she can talk her way around things - both with the chocolate and the flowers! I will have to keep that in mind in the future!!)
Ethan had fun making his own box for Valentine's Day. The kids don't make them as much as they used to. Often time the teacher just has them make something at school, often just a sack. I think its fun when they get to make a box. Ethan designed and created his castle, all on his own. Then on Valentine's Day morning, when Jayden wasn't sure if he needed one, Ethan and Dylan quickly put together this tank for him. He didn't end up needing it, but I thought there actions were very sweet. Happy Valentine's Day!!
On Valentine's Day, Devon and I tried to deliver valentines to the kids. In the past we have usually just done the front door, and delivered the valentines one at a time. We would knock, then hide while they get it. Of course after one or two, they just start looking out the windows and watching for us. We decided to be really sneaky and have him do the back door, and I would do the front door. We figured if we staggered it just right, they would run from one door to another and we could be sneakier. Our timing didn't quite work, and they ended up watching for us from the windows still. Ashlyn's ended up being the last one delivered, and with them trying to catch us, it made it take that much longer for us to successfully deliver them all. Somehow we were able to get them all delivered without them seeing us, and got back into our room just in time.
After that, Austin had fun delivering notes for me and Devon.
I finally did it. We made the leap. Ashlyn's binkies are now officially broken. She was so sad! I have been meaning to wean Ashlyn off her binky for a while. It just seems to me that as time goes by she is getting more attached to her binkies, and that it will only get harder and harder to get rid of them. With Lauren I remembered the Alicia had clipped the ends of Breanna's binkies and showed them to her how they were broken. It worked amazing for Lauren. She used them for a few days, and then was just done with them. It was so easy! With Ashlyn, it worked fairly well. She was sad they were broken. She would put one in her mouth and try it, then say "broken." Then should would try another one, and say the same thing. I think I felt a little more sad for Ashlyn. I think it was harder for her. She really loved her binkies. They have made putting her to bed so easy. Often I would just say "Want to get your binky and go to bed?" She would be so happy to lay down with her binky and go right to sleep. Well, we also made the mistake of moving her out of her bed just a week or two before. She had transitioned to the bed pretty easy, but when her binkies were broken, it was like she wasn't sure how to go to sleep anymore. Add in the fact that she could get out of bed, and it made bedtime tricky! We would tuck her in, and she would just look so sad and say "Mommy!" in the saddest voice and her bottom lip sticking out, ready to burst into tears. Oh! It just made my heart hurt for her. I think that without her binky, I was the next big source of comfort. She did not want me to leave her room. For several days I had to sit by her and sing to her and stroke her hair as she fell asleep. And this often took a while because she was so sad. I was so worried about starting new bad habits, especially when she has been so easy to put to bed, but I did'n't feel like I could just leave her there when she was so sad. After a few days, we started to try to get her to relax on her own more and go to sleep without us. She didn't like it, but eventually we got her to let us sit on the floor, or by her door, and then eventually out in the hallway. She would get sad and say "stay here." We would tell her we would be just out her door, and sometimes she would be ok, and other times she would still cry and say "stay here." Its been so hard for me. I don't want to leave her when she needs me, but I feel like as time goes by, she needs to figure it out and not rely on me to go to bed. What a sad little girl! If I didn't have the bigger picture in mind, I would just go find a good binky for her and let her suck away on in to her little heart's content. Unfortunately, it seems like the longer she is using her binkies, she is getting more and more attached to them. She used to just use them at bedtime, but in the last month or two, it seems like she always has one in her mouth. Sweet girl, I love you. Things will get better and easier soon... I hope!
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