February News

I can't believe it's been over three weeks since I last posted. I've kinda been in a writers block, but also have been busy, busy, busy... so here is a recap of what's been going on with us!

Brooke now has a new big bed. She has done so well transferring to a bed instead of her crib. In fact, I am so impressed because she doesn't even get out of bed when we lay her down - which was an adjustment for both the other girls when they moved into a big bed. However, it did take a few days for her to figure out how to sleep - as we were finding her each morning all twisted around and usually above the covers with her feet on the pillow. She was moving around like she did when she was in her crib and didn't understand that your supposed to stay under the covers with your head on the pillow. She's doing a lot better now, but I do have to say - it was very weird for Chris and I as he took down the crib. This is the first time in 7 years that we haven't had a crib in one of the bedrooms. Wow, we really are moving to the next stage in our lives...one without any babies or baby gear!

Valentines day came and went and seemed to almost feel like a mini Christmas. The girls got several valentines presents from mommy, daddy and their grandparents. They had a fun day spending time with Grandma and Grandpa Mahoney while Chris and I took a mini weekend trip to Topeka for a little time without kids.

I am still watching Baby Dylan and the girls really do like having him around. It's even more fun now since he's getting so much bigger and is able to "play" with them. It's very interesting having a fourth child in the house. I definitely think it has helped to solidify our decision to not have anymore babies of our own. However, I do feel kinda bad for Baby Dylan. The poor child is a first child at his house and when he comes here, he is the fourth child. It's quite a culture shock for him as he has to adjust to having other "kids" around that take my attention away from him sometimes. He doesn't quite understand that yet and gets kinda "ticked" at me sometimes when I have to pay attention to the girls at times. The newest thing has been his "squeal" that he has developed. It usually comes out when he is having fun; however, it does happen when he is mad and it honestly sounds like a girl screaming. The first time I heard it - I thought Brooke or Ashlyn was seriously hurt. But honestly, I have no idea how people have four kids!! Three is difficult, but four is almost unmanageable. It is so hard to do anything. Going to the grocery store is practically impossible as both Brooke and Dylan need to sit in the front of the cart and putting Brooke in the back of the cart doesn't work either - she either takes up too much space so there is no room for the groceries or she tears open any package that you put withing her reach. Why can't more stores have shopping carts like the one's that Sam's club has. Those are so convenient! The other thing I find difficult is keeping Brooke from giving anything and everything to Dylan when I'm looking the other way. The other day when I was dealing with some issue Ashlyn was having - Brooke proceeded to give Dylan an Oreo cookie. When I came back into the room, Dylan had gummed that thing until is was all over everywhere. Check him out... his first taste of chocolate!

Lastly, but most importantly, our Ashlyn is now FIVE years old - I just can't believe it. For her birthday this year, we decided to take a weekend trip to Omaha, Nebraska and spend some time away as a family. My parents went with us and we had fun going to the Omaha Children's Museum and the Omaha Zoo. The girls had so much fun - even in the 29 degree weather. Luckily our hotel had an indoor pool and water park, so we even got to go swimming. It was definitely a fun way to celebrate her birthday. However, we're not quite done celebrating yet - we still have this Saturday with our extended family at the skating rink. Here are some pics from the weekend trip.