Updates

1. Operation:Organization Update - A few months ago I went on a serious mission to get the toys organized and under control in our house. Over the past two months a lot of that beautiful organization went to heck. With not feeling well (barely able to pull myself off the couch for anything other then the essentails - food prep, large spills, vital cleaning & laundry) things started to get out of control quickly.
I have been blessed/cursed with a lovely daughter that has a serious bag lady/hoarding issue! If there is a purse, bag, bin, tote, gift bag, even a pillow case within her reach she will cart toys around the house faster then you can blink your eyes. I seriously remove a full bag of garbage from her room every few weeks. Anyone else have child like this?
This morning my sweet husband helped me and my daughter (under much protest) get things back to their spots and get toys in bins and up and out of reach. The good news is that this took about 1.5 hours not the days and days it took in the fall. Hooray for the organizing that I spent so much time on..........so easy to get re-organized when everything has a place to be put. Sigh of relief for this neat freak ;)
Good thing AL doesn't typically have access to a cage of this size or she would fill it to the brim every chance she got!

2. School Kids Update - this was a big week here. AL has officially been registered for Kindergarten (gulp) and JA has been registered for preschool in the fall. There is only 13 mths between JA and AL but I have decided to hold JA back a year and put him in 2 years of preschool before kindergarten. Long story short I want him to have as much success as he can in school. He has a December birthday, is tiny for his age, has a speech delay and is learning things at his own slower pace so I know this is by far the best decision for him.

3. Baby #3 Update - At 14 weeks I have been delighted and surprised to be able to feel little baby movements the past few days (at least a week earlier then with the other two). Such a great feeling!

4. Winter Days Update - After barely being able to convince JA to wear a costume at Halloween I was pleasantly surprised this week when he has decided that playing dress up is the best.thing.ever. I have been surrounded by dinosaurs, fairies, dogs, princesses and firemen all week. I love seeing imaginations soar when a costume is put on. Fun.

5.Date Night Update - We made a goal last year to hire a babysitter at least once a month and go on a date. If we could get lucky and convince the Grandparents to watch the kids we have been able to get out even more! This has been just the best thing ever. I have been a bit of a slacker with getting a sitter when Thomas suggests it the past two months (let's face it, when you want to just crawl in bed by 8pm it is hard to go out). We finally got a sitter last night and went to the temple and then out for some food with a great group of friends from church. I was beyond touched when our sitter refused to let me pay for her service since we were at the temple. I did manage to convince her to take a bit of money since we went out after but there was no way she would take it all. Moments like those really are the sweetest.