Sleepy, sleepy

There's something about sleeping children that has such a serene quality. Almost makes me want to just sit and watch them.

Katie and her Cheetah, which is her latest favorite stuffed animal. And amazingly she wears headbands 24/7. I would think that could get uncomfortable to sleep in!
Katie usually falls asleep on our bed, with the light on (she's acquired an interesting fear of the dark) and usually has a book somewhere near her.
On nights when we insisted she fall asleep in her own room, this was common...
But now Ellie has been sleeping on Sarah's floor since we removed the crib from Sarah's room a few days ago and moved her into a toddler bed. It was the only thing that would keep Sarah happy and in bed. What a sweet thing for Ellie to do. We hope to move them all into the same room soon.

And then there's Ryan who may someday get his own room. He insists on being swaddled with a pacifier to go to sleep, but rarely remains in it for long.
At the end of the day, especially a rough one- these sights tug at my heart, put a lump in my throat and remind me that I love my children more than anything in the world. I am a proud mommy of these sweet angels.

Ryan's new tricks

Here are some recent pictures of Ryan.
First of all, Ryan was receiving the royal treatment from the girls. He was much easier to push/pull than the sisters were :)He can now hold his own bottle and feed himself. If it's too full he still drops it, but he's getting better!
And then today he decided to show off his newest skill- standing up in his crib. Looks like it's time to lower the mattress! (notice the monkey in the lower left picture)That reminds me, I don't think I've ever mentioned Ryan's "room" before. Since there are 3 bedrooms upstairs, Ellie and Katie share one room, Sarah has her own, Steve and I have our own room... and Ryan gets our walk-in closet. I'm hoping to move Sarah in with the other girls soon, but first we need to get her to sleep in her toddler bed.And I can also say that Ryan is officially crawling. He crawls when he needs to go slow, then does his breast-stroke army crawl when he wants to get somewhere fast. I love this little guy!

Raspberries

We went over to Pontious Farm with Mom and Dad Friday to do some u-pick raspberries and we all had an awesome time. Hale Bales (according to Ellie) were a big hit. There were also horses, llamas, goats, and the friendliest cats and dogs. We will definitely be going back there again soon! Oh, and the raspberries are tasty, tasty!

Ryan’s first swim

The labor day parade:

Sarah's latest

I have been waiting to post this, in hopes I'd get a cute picture of Sarah up and ready to share, but who knows when I'll get around to that- so here we go.

So, we finally took pacifiers away from Sarah last week. I was so incredibly scared to do this, as she has been especially attached to those "fawas". (She always had a blanket, "baba" and pacifier, "fawa", or as she would say... bafawa). But, as Steve said so well... we never give our kids enough credit. It wasn't horrible with Ellie or Katie, and it wasn't horrible with Sarah. We had two nights and one nap that were rough (cried for about a half hour) but then she was fine. But alas, as with the other two, when the pacifiers went away, so did the afternoon naps. I have always been amazed that there are children out there that continue to nap until they are 3 1/2- 4 years old. All the girls have given them up at 2 1/2. Having Sarah stay up in the afternoon has ended up being a blessing. She and Katie play together so incredibly well when it's just the two of them. They get to play with Ellie in the morning, then it's just those two while Ellie is at school.

As if this hasn't been enough transition, Steve decided we ought to encourage potty training with Sarah. So today I took her shopping for some new underwear. Little Mermaid and 101 Dalmatians is what we ended up with. And then she managed to wet through 6 pair of underwear today. Yeah- it's going great! Silly, silly Sarah. She has tried to reach the "terrible twos" but in the end just makes us laugh. She is truly a sweet, lovable little girl. For example: she and Katie always say, "I miss Ellie" as soon as she's dropped off at school. And she loves to give hugs and kisses. I love my Sarah.

Scooter

So, I thought Ryan would be crawling within a week, but he has found a different way of getting around that seems to get the job done.