Evenings at our house

I was going to post this last night but, by the time the kids finally settled down to sleep I was too tired to do anything. :)

First step is to get everyone fed before Daddy gets home so that we can eat in peace (yeah I know) Logan goes first because he loves to eat and run. Litterally - he grabs whatever is on his plate and runs through the dining room and play room scattering crumbs everywhere. He likes to check gravity all the time too. He has to make sure it's the same everywhere he goes so he grabs a little bit of whatever he's eating and crumbles it between his fingers and watches while it hits the floor. Once he's satisfied that gravity is as it should be in that area, he smiles and runs off for more.

Katie and Marie come next - Marie is Mommy's big helper by getting Katie up into the highchair. (this consists of nudging her over to the highchair where she will climb up into the seat like a little monkey) Katie's new favorite dinner is a peanut butter sandwich. Don't you dare put any jelly on or it's going to fly through the air. Marie is the easiest to feed as she eats just about anything (with the exception of cucumbers and "anything yucky") She will sit at the table and wolf down whatever I give her so she can run back and play in her room or play with the other kids.

Then comes Ryan. Wow - he's easy for the moment. As you know he won't eat much without yakking it back up on me so we settle on his favorite fruit with some cereal and some juice. Not too much juice because he doesn't like it but enough so he has something in him. Once he's done with his fruit and cereal, (sometimes with a little help from Katie if he's slapping the spoon away) he gets his favorite. He loves his Next Step bottle with a little bit of flax oil for taste.

Now that the kids are fed, Mommy and Daddy's dinner should just about be done cooking. If we're lucky we get to eat with no children climbing all over us (very rarely) Katie likes to eat her p.b. sandwich and then eat with us. Sometimes I can trick her to try to get her to eat new things. Like the time I told her that the sausage bite on my fork was really a hot dog. Yeah, that went over well. She did eat one bite but then said "No, I can't, I not" to the next offer of the "hot dog". After that she wouldn't eat anything else Mommy offered. Way to go Mommy!

Now the fun part begins. We get to chase them around and change diapers and get jammies on so that wherever they stop and fall out they can be covered with a blanket. I'm not sure who is the hardest to get in jammies at this point. Logan will come to me to get his diaper changed and if he's in a REALLY good mood will allow me to put on his jammies but.....

Marie and Katie go into their room and start watching either The Grinch or Peter Cottontail. I know, it's the middle of summer but I say whatever it takes to get them settled down. (When I say them it's really Katie although Marie will watch right along with her night after night after night....)

Logan is watching a Barney video with Ryan and running all around until finally I can't take it anymore and turn off the light. If he's too tired he won't turn it right back on. If I'm lucky he will turn the television off himself, climb up on his couch (his bed) and go to sleep quietly. That happens sometimes. Most nights it's at least 9:30 if not later before three of the four finally go to sleep. Ryan likes to hang out with us in the living room when everyone else is asleep. If we're lucky he will get tired before 10:30 so we can put him in his crib. Just last night, I said to Curtis at 10:15 "Do you hear that?" his response "What?!" - it's the "Silence". We both smiled and then tried to keep our eyes open to watch the game.

Needless to say - I didn't make it too much longer before I fell asleep for about 5 minutes in the chair. I finally gave up after the game went into extra innings and I went to bed. And, yes, it did take a long time to type this and get the pictures uploaded. No, I wouldn't trade it for the world. I love where I am right now as I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be. :)