We are having a baby - maybe 3!

No, not in real life. :-)

However, Aidan seems convinced that she (or we) are going to have a baby soon. Maybe in June. This has been going on for a few weeks now. It used to be that I was going to have a baby the old fashioned way (in my tummy), but tonight, Aidan informed me that the plan has changed. She stated that *she* is going to have a baby (which she will get from the baby hospital) and she will name it "Baby Girl." I will also have a baby and name it "Baby Woman" (because I am a woman). Christianne will have a baby and name it "Baby Mama." I asked her how we were going to feed all these babies and Aidan answered, "With baby bottles." Glad that was cleared up. I have no idea where she got this idea. And, for those of you hoping for additional, live children from us: don't hold your breath. I'm not sure what we'll do come June. Maybe dig out the baby dolls that she has not wanted to play with much so far and give them to her again. Very interesting....

Deep thoughts by a 2 year old

Me: Aidan, what do you think about life?

Aidan: It's pretty fine.

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Aidan: (Running around naked except for black patent leather shoes) "I have stinky bo-bo!!!"

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Aidan: Mama, I need this rock. It is a magic rock.

Mama: What makes it a magic rock?

Aidan: It sings.

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There are more, but the chronically sleep deprived mommy brain is having trouble remembering them right now...

The end of a big day

So, what happens when you are "Two and seven months" (as Aidan likes to tell people who ask her how old she is), have gone on an Easter Egg hunt, played at the Children's Museum, refused to take a nap, dyed Easter Eggs at home, helped clean up the yard, and had a melt down because you were not allowed to watch TV or play computer games after dinner (because you hit Mommy earlier in the day)?

This is what happens:



She was being a pill while we were eating and we gave her the choice of sitting with us and eating her dinner, drawing in her princess drawing pad, or going upstairs to her room. First we heard cries and then, before long, we heard little snores. The above picture is how we found her. She woke-up briefly while we were trying to get her pants off and a pull-up on for the night, but went back to sleep without too much fuss. Poor girl. I hope she sleeps long and hard so she can have a happy Easter tomorrow.

Coloring Easter Eggs

Update from Ellensburg - finally

Finally, an update from our new home in Ellensburg. We miss all of our Dallas friends and family soooooo much! You are in our thoughts and prayers all the time.

Here is a picture of Aidan helping us pack in Dallas:



Here's a picture of her attempt to put on make-up that Ms Ferzeta and Ms. Mona gave her as a good-bye present. I tried to tell her it was blush, but she insisted it was eye shadow:



Here are some picture of our new house (the Princess house as Aidan likes to call it):






Here's Aidan helping us unpack:



And her nap on the move-in day in Ellensburg:



Palm Sunday:



Playing at the park (fashion forward as usual):





Easter Egg hunt at her new school:



Ready for Easter Egg hunt on Holy Saturday:



Some picture of the area we live in (everywhere you look, there are hills and mountains in the background):

Singing in the shower

Aidan is working on her singing talents while getting clean. These were too cute not to post.

You are my sunshine:



Jesus loves me, this I know:

Update on the bedtime saga

So, I had a great conversation with my sweet friend Barbara, who also happens to be a great psychologist and play therapist (shout out to Barbara for always being willing to talk through parenting trials!). We brainstormed some things to try with Aidan. Among them was trying to get Aidan help brainstorm how to make bedtime better for everyone involved.

I also had the idea that perhaps a new stuffed animal that was specifically for bedtime might help things along. I was going to make a big deal about how this is her baby and she needs to take care of it and help it go to sleep by cuddling with it like Mama and Mommy cuddle her to help her go to sleep. This was my devious plan.

So, last night I picked her up from school and we had the following conversation:

Me: Aidan, you know how at bedtime you yell and get mad and cry and Mommy and Mama get mad. Do you like that?

Aidan: No.

Me: Well, I have an idea. What if we went and got something special that would help bedtime be calm and quiet. Do you think that's a good idea?

Aidan: Yes.

Me: So, do you think it is worth it to yell and scream and cry at bedtime?

Aidan: Yes.

Me: What makes it worth it?

Aidan: 'Cause...I *really* want to watch "Dora Saves the Ice Princess."

Me: So, if you got to watch Dora before bedtime do you think that would help bedtime be calm and quiet?

Aidan: Yes.

Me: What if after dinner, you put on your pajamas and brushed your teeth and then you got to watch some Dora before bedtime?

Aidan: That's a good idea.

Me: How long do you think you would need to watch Dora before bedtime?

Aidan: 10.

Me: 10 minutes and then you could go to bed and be quiet and calm?

Aidan: Yes.

Me: OK, so the plan is: dinner, pjs, brush teeth, Dora, bedtime.

Aidan: Yes.

And we went off to Build-a-Bear to get a special bedtime baby (aka Hello Kitty).

We came home and shared the plan with Mama, who gave her blessing to the plan. It went very well in the beginning. We had dinner. Aidan got her pjs on and did the best teeth brushing I have ever seen and got to watch Dora (more than 10 minutes) and then went to her room with no trouble at all. We tucked Hello Kitty into bed and Aidan got in bed an started to read stories (Oh, and I gave her a little homeopathic kids sleep aid just to hedge my bets), and then...

Aidan gets out of bed, starts running around the room, hiding in the closet, etc.

First we tried reminding Aidan that Hello Kitty needed her help going to sleep. Aidan gave the 2.5 year old equivalent of screw Hello Kitty and went back to playing. So, then I told Aidan that if she did not want to snuggle in bed and read stories with us, that we were going to leave the room and not come back until morning.

I called Aidan over before we left and asked her what was going to happen if we left. She said, "Don't come back!" I asked if that was what she wanted. She said, "Go!" So, we turned out the light, turned on her turtle start gazer, and out we went.

While Aidan and I were shopping for Hello Kitty, Christianne had been changing out the door knob to one that locks from the outside. When we left the room, we locked the door. It took Aidan about 3 minutes to discover that she could not leave her room. Boy was she MAD. She screamed, hollered, kicked, attempted to pick the lock. Never did she sound scared, however. Just not happy about her circumstances. So we just let her go and stuck to our word that we were not coming back in until morning.

This went on for almost an hour. About 45 minutes in, she seemed to calm down, accept her fate, and turned on her pirate story CD. She climbed in bed with Hello Kitty and finally went to sleep.

We went in to check on her after she was asleep and made sure all was well. She's pulled the covers all the way over her head and was sound asleep. We unlocked the door and left it ajar in case she needed anything in the middle of the night.

Here's the interesting part. I heard her wake up around 4:00 or so. She got out of bed, found her sippy cup, and went back to bed without coming in to get me. Hooray on that front!

Aidan, if you are reading this years from now, just know it broke our heart to let her cry it out and lock you in your room, but it seemed the only option left. We love you!