Catching up......

Wow, has it really been a month and a half since my last blog entry?!?!?  WTH?????  Well, that totally coincides with me going back to school...so it makes total sense.  This time, I'm back for a second bachelor's degree in nursing instead of the paltry ADN I was once going for.  I only needed a few more classes so figured why not go for the big kahuna and get financial aid while I'm at it!  Woo!!!  My summer schedule is Pathophysiology, Organic/Biochemistry, and English Composition II, so now you know why I haven't been on here in forever!

What's new?!?!?  So much!  These girls are changing every single day and if I were better at this, I could surely make an entry everyday about something funny or memorable that one or all of them did.  Let me make one big catch-up.....

Laynie:  Since my last entry, Laynie has finished Pre-K.  She is so excited to go to Kindergarten next year, and I was super lucky to have her get our neighbor Pavlova as her teacher!  She had a bit of a rough time this year, bit I am so confident that all the trials and tribulations she went through are going to make her a strong and more empathetic person.  This year was all about Madi.  Madi, Madi, Madi....that was a name that will be burned in my mind forever!  Madi was an evil little girl who made Laynie's life hell this year.  She is a little meanie-pants, but I think that just by dealing with her everyday, Laynie learned a little bit about standing up for herself.  My little soft-spoken sweet girl was able to say "Stop, I don't like when you do that" and "Don't be mean to me!" like a champ by the end of the year.  While she would NEVER have it in her to be mean to anyone, I think it is so important that she learn to not let others run all over her.  She had a dance recital June 17th, and she is now an old pro at it!  This was her 4th recital!  She did amazing!  After school finished, she had a nice break and then we signed her up for summer camp ALL day at her old school.  It is a long day from 8-3, and mama freaked out the entire first day she was away, but she LOVES it!!!  She is having so much fun doing crafts and water play and movies and playing board games.  I felt so bad not having her here at home until I saw how much fun she had at summer camp.  This week has also been hard because VBS is going on from 5:30-7:45 each evening.  So, we haven't seen Laynie basically all week.  She is falling into a dead sleep the minute her head hits the pillow my little baby.  We miss her around here, but then she gets home and Frankie is crying within the first few minutes....Oh, sisters!  I can't forget to write that Laynie had her FIRST sleepover with her BFF, Carmella in June.  It went so well, we can't wait to do it again.  I also have to write about Laynie's "brownie-juice" stand she made one day while I was at school.  She has really amped up her creativity this summer.  She concocted the disgusting-looking brown bowl of yuckiness all by herself by mixing a brownie with water, then proceeded to set up a stand and charged me, dad and Nana a whole quarter for a drink of that.  Did she have any cups?? Nope, we all drank out of the bowl.  It was surprisingly tasty given the look of it, but really?  When no-one wanted seconds (shocking, I know) she proceeded to write "Closed" on her little sign and hung it up.  She wanted to make it again for a little playdate we had a few days later but I had to put the kabbash on that.

Frankie:  Frankie is fully potty trained!  Can I get a HALLELUJAH!!!!  Only one more in diapers to go!  She is actually doing so awesome she is wearing panties around the clock!  Laynie wore pull-ups until she was probably 3 and a half to get through the night, but Frankie has done it all by herself.  She has woken up crying early in the morning a few times, and when I go in to check on her, I find out that she's crying because she needs potty.  I take her out and to the potty and she falls right back to sleep.  She has amazed me at how "easy" it was to get her all trained.  She is deathly afraid of most other potties besides the one at our house, though.....I think the loud flushes are what frighten her, so I have to plug her ears before I flush and that usually works.  Frankie has also started going to a real gymnastics class.  She is a natural, for sure!  I saw the girls doing these bear walks on parallel bars the first class we went to and thought "Frank's never going to do that" and now she is doing that and more!  She has even swung by holding on to a big rope, is standing on her hands (with help, of course) and loves to jump in "the cheese".  Her vocabulary has just exploded in the last few months!  I jokingly told daddy that she is now a full fledged member of the family!  We can hold full conversations now!  The other day she told me "I don't want to go pee-pee in my panties anymore".  I couldn't believe she had strung 10 words together!!  A funny thing she did, is the other day she wanted Nana to ask her "What's wrong, Frank?" and when Nana did she said, "I going to bedroom by myself!" and crossed her arms all huffily.  Who is this little girl?!?!?  She is too funny, and even funnier because she is so teeny and such a firecracker.  She loves to throw things when she doesn't get her way, and poor Nana has gotten the short end of the stick on that one.  I think Nana even has a chip in her glasses from Frankie throwing something up in the air that hit her.  Frank loves to copy everything Laynie does (which drives Laynie nuts, of course) but it is so darn cute to see her trying to sing and dance just like her big sis.  A current favorite "game" of Frankie's is to pinch our cheeks as hard as she can (see daddy's face, below).

Gabster:  Gabi is still mama's chunky-monkey!!!  She is solid, boy, I tell you what!  Those cheeks and thighs are just my favorite things in the world.  We are still going strong with breastfeeding at over 7 months.  I thought for sure I would be done by now, but that little stinker hasn't really taken to formula!  I've tried a couple of times to mix it with breastmilk (mostly BM and a little formula) and she doesn't want to drink it!  The last couple of days have been rough as she is going through some weird phase where she doesn't want to take a nap!  Today she was literally up ALL DAY and went to bed at 7.  How could that even be possible?!?!  Well, mama did have a Venti Iced Mocha this morning from Starbucks which I'm sure had something to do with it, but geez...all day long??!?!  She is sort of starting to roll over, but really doesn't care much to do so.  At her last doc appointment her doc even said "Well, she's got a little more weight to deal with, so it may take her longer to actually roll."  Oh, my little sweetie pie!!!  She is sleeping all night like a champ, but her wake up time is now somewhere between 5 and 6:30am.  Mama is going to bed at 12:00 most nights after doing homework, so I consider myself lucky if I get more than 5 hours a night.  No wonder I'm such a grouch some days.  Matt calls Gab his "little chubby" and she gives him a smile that could light up all of Las Vegas.  She is so adorable I can hardly stand it!  Poor Gabi is already getting experimented on as a "real-life" doll to her sisters (see pic, below)!

Dad and I had a bit of a rough patch that I am happy to say we worked through.  Being married is hard work (I mean that!!) but we are both committed to doing whatever it takes to be happy.....together!!  Our family is the most important thing to both of us, and everything we do, we do for these girls of ours.  I love dad so much, and I guess you could say dad thinks I am the cat's meow.  Not an easy feat after 14 years together!!  He still refers to me as "his #1" and then each of you is "#2 (Laynie)", #3 (Frankie)" and "#4 (Gabi)".  All I can say is that dad is one lucky man to be surrounded by all these beauties (Nana, too - of course)!

I know there's more I could write, but I am so happy to at least gotten this far.  My goal is to write once a week, so let's see how that goes.  =)

Potty training weekend......

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times....it was.... potty training weekend at our house the past few days.  I recently obtained a fabulous copy of an e-book which detailed this crazy 3-day potty training plan that I put into effect on Friday.  The book specifies that you will basically be on lockdown for the weekend, so I planned ahead and literally canceled (or no-showed) on EVERYTHING!!  The main concept of the book is FOCUS on your potty trainee, meaning...you are basically on them like white on rice.  Me and Frankie are literally the best of friends after spending 36 hours straight together!!

Day 1 - went pretty well.  We had her throw away all her diapers, which caused a little strife, but she let us put on her panties and then proceeded to hold her pee for like 3 hours with an absolutely full bladder.  The e-book said to "watch for signs" that your child has to go.  Frankie was crossing her legs and everything trying to hold in her pee, but when I'd take her...she wouldn't go!  Finally, I think it just got to be to much...she wanted me to carry her and she even started almost crying.  I knew then that she really had to go, so I ran her to the bathroom and she went - a bunch!!!  We had a few minor accidents that day, but I stupidly followed the advice of the e-book that she would be able to go through naptime with just her panties on.  She started crying so loud only minutes after I had checked on her and I went in to find her lying in a puddle!!  The day continued going well and even ended with a cherry on top when Frankie pooped in the potty!

Then came Day 2 - we had more accidents this day!  I was a frustrated, horrible person this day.  The main issue we had was that Frankie would go in her panties....but just a little dribble....like not enough to have drip down her legs, but enough to wet her undies....and then stop.  Can you imagine the bladder control?  Think of a time when you needed the bathroom super bad...now imagine just dribbling out about a second of all the urine you had to get out and then stopping the flow and going on about your day for another oh 15 minutes or so with your STILL full bladder!  So anyway, then a bit later she'd wet her undies again, but when I'd take her to the potty, she still wouldn't go!  Finally, she'd do the above-mentioned crying and wanting me to carry her until I knew she just couldn't hold it anymore and then she'd finally go!  We dealt with this issue all day on Day 2.  After her nap, she hardly drank anything so we went outside with some colored bubbles I had bought.  Another stupid move on my part...these things were a total effing MESS!  They dribbled all over our patio and actually stained it.  Of course I gave Laynie one color and I used the other one so we now have BOTH purple and pink splotches all over.  I got so concerned about Matt getting mad about that that I totally let Frankie just run all over the year without doing a "potty check".  Finally, I helped her go up the ladder to the slide and got a feel of her undies which were of course wet.  We came back inside and I started getting Laynie and Frankie both ready for bed.  I finished up with Frank and sent her to the living room with Nana while I washed up and combed Lane.  Next thing I hear from the living room..."Jess!  Frankie peed on the floor over here!!"  Great.  Turns out the wet undies from outside were just one of her little dribbles.  The full flow came out on the floor!  I was hollering and hooting about how I wasn't going to continue this stupid program for about an hour, until I finally wised up and got real.  I gave Frankie more water, got Lane and Gab to bed, and just spent some one-on-one time with Frankie.  We ended on a good note when she went pee one last time.

Day 3 - not ONE accident today.  I took her and she peed every single time.  Her bladder muscles finally learned what to do.  By the end of the evening, she actually came and told me, "Go potty." and when I took her in the bathroom...she went!  I'm still a little shocked!  So happy I stuck with it, though...onward and upward from here!  So, so proud of my Frankie, and of Laynie for being mama's "helper" the whole weekend. 

Thank God it's over, and yes...it was worth it.

Patting my own back.....

As anyone who has kids knows, any family outing can turn suddenly from a fun-filled time of pure joy into the deepest depths of hell in a few minutes.  Happily, I can report that I have had two (count them...TWO) successful outings to birthday parties with all three kids and just little old me to handle everyone.  I am really coming into my own as a mom, I think, and learning to not stress the small stuff.  I think it's because I literally can't....I don't even have time to do so.

Outing #1 was to our friend Olivia's party.  This one was a good test run, as it was at my good friend's home who is another fellow mom of three girls (shout-out to Lauren!!)  The only mishap happened when I had to take Laynie to the bathroom, during which I got distracted on my way back to the backyard by who knows what and heard a cry I knew could only be Frankie's.  It seems she had walked right into the patio table because she couldn't see it due to a sun glare.  Other than that, I silently praised myself for bringing everything I needed to feed Gabster, getting food for both girls and actually getting Frankie to eat, and even making Frankie wear a napkin bib to avoid getting herself dirty with dripping watermelon.  Those were rookie mistakes I made when I only had two kids...now I'm a pro!!  (Yeah, right...until the next time I forget something and/or get to the scene of an accident too late - you'll see what I mean, below)

Outing #2 (and far more complicated) was to Chuck E Cheese to celebrate Laynie's friend Carmella's 6th b-day.  I wasn't planning on bringing Gabi to this shin-dig, as I wanted to have FUN with Frankie, but since Gabi is on a bottle-strike...she had to come with.  I was so proud that I got Frankie all strapped into a high chair and brought Gabi her Bumbo.  I felt like a real mom as I whipped Huggies out of my diaper bag to clean up pizza and frosting and oatmeal from my girls' faces.  Sure, I lost Frankie for a few minutes, and had to leave her and Laynie to fend for themselves when I had to rush Gabi into the bathroom for a pooped out diaper...but we all survived...and actually had fun!  I thought ahead and brought in the stroller, and even though I got some crazy looks, I strolled Gabi all around the place until she fell asleep.  I gathered tickets and fed them one by one into the ticket machine so we could scram once the party was over.  I was awesome, and so were the girls!

Tonight Nana and I had another crazy outing (with three....they almost all are this way!)  I had promised Laynie I would take her to the Bellagio garden.  I decided we'd all go at the last minute, and though I'm glad I made that decision...it was rough going at first.  Trying to avoid traffic on I-15, I took the airport exit and ended up going through the acutal airport instead of bypassing it.  I then took a series of wrong turns and missed opportunites until we ended up going to eat first..it was getting too late!  We got to In-N-Out at a crazy busy time and my poor mom had to stake out for a table while I went to order food.  We made it through the meal though (I even NURSED whilst eating...go Jess!) and had a good time at the Bellagio.

Other highlights:

Frankie started gym class at a real gym this week!  She is so athletic and daring that I think she's going to thrive!  Within the first minutes of walking into the class though, she wandered over to these little parallel bars they had and toppled over them, landing smack on her face.  I saw this happening from afar, and arrived on the scene seconds AFTER she fell...doh!  She also had her first fall from her swingset this week.  What sucks is that me and her dad were both outside, but thought the other one was watching her.  She didn't get hurt really, though....this time!  We were lucky, and I vow to be more vigilant when she is climbing up that thing!

One of my favorite moments ever happened one night this week when daddy was home.  Me and him and Laynie and Frankie all squooshed into Laynie's bed to sing our lullaby "Johnny's Daddy" together.  Frankie just LOVED it.  She sat up after we sang and said "Friends.....singing." When I asked her who her friends are she said, "Mommy, Daddy, shee-shee, Fa-fee" as se pointed to each one of us. Me and daddy just awwwwed and hugged her. 

We also set up the good old tent this week and told spooky stories when daddy stayed home on Monday.  Frankie was so cute holding the flashlight up to her face and saying "Once...ty-eene" for once upon a time, and then "Beee...ennnn" for The End.  Nothing in between, just once upon a time and the end.  My kinda story!!!

Laynie is finally coming into her own as a big sister.  She guides and holds Frankie's hand wherever we go, and has really been entertaining Gabi.  The other day she was playing like she was going to tickle Gabi while Gabi was on her swing and Gabi laughed like it was just the funniest thing!  It is the best thing ever to see this whole "sister" thing finally happening!  Today Laynie put stickers all over Frankie's legs telling her that they were "badges".  I'll be darned if I could get Frankie to take them off..even for our outing to the Bellagio!  I kinda had to sneak them off one at a time, but she was so proud that she had gotten those! 

Frankie has taken to saying EVERYTHING that Laynie does, and Laynie takes full advantage of it by making her say silly phrases that she just makes up like "Poky wawa"....WTH?!?!?  Frankie has been roaming the house saying this for weeks now and I did not know what she was saying.  Luckily I asked Laynie and she said it was just "something she had made up."  Great.  Laynie also has made Frankie say "tushie" and "poopie" more times than I care to admit.  It is so cute, though!  Again, I am just happy to see the sisterly bond so I kinda let some stuff slide if they are having fun.

Gabi has officially started playing in her Jumperoo and boy does she love it!  She continues to be the best, most loving and happy baby ever.  Only when she is truly tired can I not coax a beautiful smile out of her!  It is readily apparent when she is hungry or tired, because she is so happy otherwise that we know something is wrong when she starts being a crank-monster.  Her little crying face looks so much like Laynie's!  I literally am not going to be able to tell these two apart in their baby pics.  She is constantly trying to sit up!  She loves watching Yo Gabba Gabba episodes, and she still loves to EAT my little chunk!  Daddy has started calling you his little "Chubby", and it is so cute because you ARE and we adore you!

We had a wonderful time last weekend at our church's fair.  Daddy had to work before and during it at times because he was performing community service there for a "no passing" ticket he got in Hoover Dam when Mar passed away, but he still had plenty of time to play with us, and I was so happy we were all together...and at a church function!  God has his ways of answering prayers, I think.

I'll have to make an effort to blog more often so as not to end up with a novel everytime I make an entry!!  Mother's Day this weekend, so I will try to write after the weekend with my thoughts.

Easter 2011

Totally forgot I wanted to write a little blurb about our Easter.  First off, mom stayed up until midnight Friday night shopping for and putting together Easter baskets for all three girls.  Secondly, mom stayed up until 1am on Saturday night finishing up stuffing Easter eggs and going to icaughttheeasterbunny.com to get just the right photo of the Easter Bunny "delivering" the girls' Easter baskets.  It was exhausting!!  I had the best intentions of going to the early sunrise service, but all that went out the window with my 1am bedtime!  So, Easter morning arrives and what does mom decide to do?  Sneak outside and hide all the Easter stuff so Laynie would think the Easter Bunny did it!  I even walked the length of the house on the side without shoes to make this happen.  One day, I'm going to tell her in my best "old person" voice...."I walked one mile without shoes in the cold and through thorns to deliver your Easter eggs to you."  I loved seeing the look on her face though when we opened the door to the backyard and saw all the treats that were hidden for her and Frankie.  Totally worth it!

Frankie got distracted by some squishy colored balls I bought and hid, so she didn't want to look for any eggs.  Laynie's basket was so full of stuff she could barely carry it, but she kept on going.  What a trooper!  LOL.  A later egg hunt proved successful when mom hid the aforementioned balls INSIDE the Easter eggs...go figure.

Dad and I actually got a little time to ourselves too!  I agreed to go for a ride on Dad's motorcycle.  We went to Town Square and sat and had ceviche and beers at a little Mexican restaurant there.  I was scared to be on the back of the bike, and boy did my thighs get sore from squeezing them so tight to hold on while we cruised down the 215, but it was so nice to feel like ME again.  I love being a mom more than anything, but even a little break from it now and then to remind Jessica who Jessica is, is certainly nice.  Bonus that me and dad had a mini-date.

For dessert, I made an awesome rainbow cake.  It was time consuming, but so worth it!

Great, great day!  Next year, Gabi will be joining the egg hunt!!

XOXO

My sweetie pies.....

As things happen, I know I will forget all these little details...so I just wanted to take a minute to write down some of the things from the past few days:

Laynie:
-I bought Laynie some plain Jergens lotion at the store a few days ago because my mom and I just didn't like the smell of the J & J one she was using, but she has become OBSESSED with it!  The other day I came in from who knows where and the whole house smelled like Jergens....even Gabi!  Today I took Laynie to her little weekly playdate with her friend Lexi from dance and as I was chatting with Lexi's mom, Laynie was incessantly buzzing in my ear whispering something I couldn't make out while I was talking.  I finally stopped talking long enough to ask her what she was saying and she says, "Tell Miss Jessica (Lexi's mom) that I have Jergens lotion and that I love it."  LMAO!!!

- This weekend Laynie concocted her own "Hip Hop Moves".  She moves her feet around all crazy-like and jerks her upper body.  Maybe she'll create a future dance craze???


Frankie:
-Frankie is talking so much now.  I have a little song I sing to them while I am bathing her and Laynie to the tune of Justin Timberlake's "Rock your body"....but I say...."Gonna wash your body....." and then I say the name of the girl who I am washing.  For Frankie, I say "Gonna wash your body....Frankie J."  Since singing this to her just a few days ago, she now refers to herself not as Fa-fee anymore, but as the much more grown-up "Frankie J."  I love it!! 

-She also has really started responding to discipline.  She might not listen the first couple of times someone tells her to do something, but once the voice has been raised, she backs off with the cutest "OK".....(i.e Frankie hits Laynie.  Nana or I tell her not to do it, but she keeps on doing it.  Next thing, I finally shout out to stop hitting her sister....then comes the "OK".)

-I turned Frankie's crib around to prevent her from jumping out of it as I know she definitely could, but now she and Laynie have taken to hanging off the side of the crib that was in the back.  It is higher and sort of curves outward, making for a perfect bar to hang off of....NOT!


Gabi:

- Gabi isn't really napping all that well during the day.  She gets super cranky and we know she's ready for a nap.  She even falls right to sleep without us in the room, and just lays in her crib until she puts  herself to sleep (now that she's a thumbsucker).  Problem is, sometimes she only naps for like 15-20 minutes!!!!  I tried even letting her cry it out a few times, until she cried for like 20 minutes with no stopping.  She is my baby after all, and only a teeny 5 month old, so I give in.  I feel so bad to see her with tears streaming down her cheeks!  Breaks my heart.  So, we get her up and deal with her crankiness until a sufficient 1 - 2 hours has passed and she's ready for another 20 minut-er.  It makes for a hard day for me and Nana!

- Sad to admit, but Gabi loves Yo Gabba Gabba.  Frankie has us watching two or three episodes (Flying Saucer, Camping and Jungle Adventure) over and over and over and over and over, so my poor baby has become accustomed to this as background music.  She laughs and laughs when the music comes on and at random places during the show.  We lie her on her side and she turns her little head right on over and WATCHES the whole thing.  I feel bad that my 5 month old is already a TV-aholic, but on above-mentioned days that she is a tired, cranky mess, a few Yo Gabba Gabba episodes can get us from one nap to another.  =)

Catching up

It's been awhile since my last post, and in this house, LOTS can happen in just a few short days!!

Laynie is now READING!  Woot-woot!  I was berating myself for slacking on working with her on reading when I decided to head to the library for some easy readers.  I picked out one that was really easy for her....."Sam ran up the bag....", etc, etc... and her confidence just took off once she saw that she had really read her very first book.  Poor baby, she started driving us all crazy reading her one book over and over and over, but we all happily obliged because she was just so proud.  Needless to say, mama and Laynie headed back to the library the next day to procure a few more books.  I am one proud mama, and hope that Frank and Gabster are just as interested in learning as Lane has always been.  We are still working on getting Laynie to listen, which has turned into a huge task.  I gave her the (seemingly simple) goal of not yelling at Nana or getting in trouble for not listening for three days in a row and I promised a trip to Circus Circus.....we are now 5 days into it and not one day has gone as planned.  I think I need to adjust her goal a little, but it seems like something a 5 year old could handle, que no??? 

Frankie.....oh, my Frankie.  This little girl is my firecracker fo' sho'!!  She is a typical 2 year old who is just wanting to assert her independence.  She has changed so much in the last couple of months.  It seems like she has grown up since Gabi joined us, which makes me a happy, but a little sad.  I hope the whole "middle child" syndrome doesn't happen to her.  She is a much treasured and adored member of our family.  In fact tonight I asked Laynie to give me and Frankie just a half hour to spend together.  It's a rare day when Frankie and I get time to ourselves, and though Laynie wasn't thrilled, she actually agreed.  Frankie and I had so much fun just jumping on the trampoline and looking up at all the airplanes.  I found out tonight that she is afraid of bugs, because she kept on thinking all these little flying around leaves and odd sticks stuck in the trampoline netting were bugs and she would just hold on to me so tight until I would show her that they weren't bugs at all.  Frankie now loves the pinching cheeks game made famous by me and my mom.  She actually laughs the harder I squeeze and then wants me to tell her "I'm sorry" right after.  Ain't no sorry coming from her when she pinches the holy heck out of mine though...LOL!!!  She is obsessed with all the airplanes that fly over our house and calls all the jets/airplanes that leave that trail of smoke behind them "rockets".  I have officially given up on potty training for at least a couple of weeks.  She doesn't even want to try and cries for her diaper when I want to put her on the potty :::sigh::: so what can I do?  I know it'll happen all on "Frankie time".

Gabi continues to grow and change much to my chagrin!  I want her to stay a baby forever since she is my last baby.  We've taken to calling her "little bitty" which Laynie says in the funniest voice, I hope I record it so I never forget how she says it.  Gabi is now sleeping at the very least from 8:00pm until 4:00am.....what a Godsend!  A few mornings she has even made it as late as 5:15 or 5:30.  It is so wonderful, as only other moms who have gone without sleep can know.  Gabi does the CUTEST thing when she is getting tired or trying to put herself back to sleep and she rubs the back of her left hand back and forth across her forehead.  Oh, how I love it!!  She has taken to sucking her thumb, and I don't care.  We use the binky still, but she usually spits it out in favor of the thumby.  Now we're talking Jessica's familiar old stomping ground!  Finger and thumb sucking girls are my specialty!!! I honestly don't know what I was thinking trying the binky......I love to tickle Gabi and make her do this half laugh, half holding her breath thing.  Her body is telling her that it tickles, but her brain can't make the connection that she should laugh when I do it.  She actually even makes her whole face red from holding her breath!  As with the other girls, her lovely skin is just like butter.  I don't think I could EVER kiss those big ol' cheeks of hers enough.  They are so soft and yet so firm because they are just oh so big.  And her legs??  Talk about cottage cheese from thigh to ankle!  OMG...I love Gabi through and through as anyone reading this could tell. 

Other random things:

-Gabi is really reaching out and grabbing ANYTHING we put in front of her.  She loves all her little toys!  She is yelling and blowing raspberries and being her usual happy self most of the day, and is officially napping in her crib in her room during the day.  At night, she is still in the pack and play in my room, and I can't resist bringing her to my bed after she wakes at 4 or 5 in the morning.

- Frankie has also officially become a card-carrying member of the "We love Gabi" club.  She just wants to always hold her little sis' hand and give her gentle kisses and strokes.  Kisses from Frankie are a rare commodity for the rest of us, but she plants them on Gabi freely!

-Laynie is the chattiest of the chatters.  Oh my baby, I adore you...but you can go on and on like nobody's business!  You have the greatest imagination though.  Today we listened to "Just the Way You Are" by Bruno Mars on the way to Subway, and you couldn't stop smiling or keep asking me if I thought your eyes, hair, and smile are beautiful when I told you that this was my song to you.  You even asked Nana and Daddy when we got home if you would never need makeup and if you were the most beautiful girl in the world.  Of course, my love...you are!

I hope to post more frequently to avoid novels such as this one, but my love to my babies as always!!
Hugs and a million kisses from your mom who absolutely adores each one of you.....

A great Sunday!

So after getting off to a rough start...we had a wonderful family day together. 

First, the bad:
Laynie is having problems listening, especially to her Nana.  It's terrible, but Nana is the only one who is ALWAYS ready to play with her, and even ALWAYS ready to comfort her when she gets in trouble with me or her dad, but Nana is the one she listens least to.  Nana can ask her to do something multiple times, but she acts as though she doesn't even hear Nana talking!  She does the same to me sometimes too, but I will yell out what I'm saying in a loud enough voice so as to command her attention.  Nana just says something and then lets it go if Laynie doesn't listen.  Well, this weekend Daddy was home and he got wind of what was happening, and saw firsthand how Laynie is treating her Nana....and let's just say he was NOT happy!  We have been trying to plan a trip to Disneyland for awhile now, and today kind of told her we weren't going to be able to go if she doesn't stop treating Nana bad and start listening to us grown-ups more.  I thought the issue ended there, but when we got home from church, she started the same thing up again!  Nana asked her to get down from the couch because she was almost falling on Gabi, but she again acted like she didn't even hear anyone talking to her.  I had this big grandiose plan of planting flowers today, but even had to use THAT as a punishment and postpone it until another day since she continued with the same behavior.  I felt so bad, and thought surely the day had been soured.......but then......

Daddy decided to lift her spirits by taking her on a ride on his motorcycle.  My McGyver rigged up two belts as a sort of seat-belt to keep her on the bike and instructed her how to hold on and away they went around the block.  She loved it, and it was great to see her so carefree and laughing with her dad.  He got going pretty well and was even leaning into the turns as they wound around the block 3 or 4 times, and so was she that little lady of mine!  Then when the babies got up from their naps, we headed to Town Square to enjoy the sunshine and have fun together.  Daddy and I took turns chasing Frankie and Laynie around while the other stayed with Gab, who was just so happy to be out.  I am proud to report that daddy and I made it through our first sit-down dinner at a nice restaurant (Claim Jumper) with three kids.  It was a little crazy, but Laynie is getting so easy, Gabi is still a dream, and Frankie stayed relatively calm with some help from Mozzarella Sticks and mama's phone.  Hey.....we do what we can to get through a meal like that!  LOL.
Finally, it was off to Baskin Robbins for an evening treat.  It felt so great to be out like that, and I told Daddy that I felt a sense of accomplishment that we did it all without meltdowns!  Sure wish Nana could have joined us, but she was out shopping when we left and enjoyed her "me" time! 

Daddy and I made a great team together today.  We made some agreements between us that can only make us be better parents and better to each other.  Thanks for that, daddy! 

I love my family.

Other stuff I want to remember about today:

-Laynie is so cuddly to me.  We went to church together and she spent the whole time wrapped around my arm (when we were sitting) and leg (when we were standing) and kissing my hands and arms.  I want to live in this moment and be thankful I have her love now knowing she will inevitably not like me much later.

-Daddy was making loud noises while we were getting the girls ready for bed (kind of sounding like he was fake-crying), and Gabi got the cutest and biggest pouty-lips like she was going to cry, too.  CUTE!!!!

-Frankie was SO excited when we told her we were going to get ice cream.  She kept on saying it over and over and when we got there, she wanted to eat both out of her cup (Chocolate) and mine (Pink Bubble Gum) with the little bitty tasting spoon.