How do you Deal with a Problem like Camille?

Cami is one of my most cuddly sweet babes, but she is also one of my MOST troubling ones too.

Cami is our resident busy body & climber.  She gets into everything and fast if you are not watching such as the pantry for some Trix and Phoebe's water colors.

For the past two days she has been learning to adjust to her new room setup and it has been disastrous. She wanders for hours and never seems to just lay down and sleep. Josh and Phoebe I believe would coexist with little to no problems if miss Camille would LEAVE them alone & sleep! The first night Phoebe, who refuses to sleep on her bunk bed so she made a bean bag her bed & Josh were quietly laying down to sleep after 1 hour; Cami on the other hand, took 2 hours and a couple check-in after attempting unsuccessfully to try & climb the ladder. Last night it took Cory going to lay with her to get her to stop wandering after 2+hrs.  Today after 21/2 hrs into nap time Cami still wandering and crying now because she is just extremely exhausted while Josh ell finally sleep through it all and Phoebe eventually moved herself to her old room and is sleeping on the baby changing pad on the floor.

Any ideas on how to get this girl to realize how tired she really is and sleep???

Fergy Wee Ones Room Make Over

On Saturday we finally did the dreaded deed, move all the kids into one room!  I have been dreading this task mainly because I knew it would be a tough transition for the kiddos, but as Sophie will be here in less than 2 mos we had to do the deed.  To document the change we took before shots of the two rooms.  Phoebes cute simple polka dot room is above followed by the twins room.

We unfortunately received lots of help with the room change. The kiddos wanted to watch daddy every step of the way. Josh unfortunately wanted to be INVOLVED in every step so he got to watch the process from his crib.  Cami stuck to helping daddy locate the screwdriver and pre-slobber all the large bolts, both very helpful tasks.

After several hours & the kids naps the finished product was finally ready for the big reveal.

The kids LOVE their new room, however night & nap times have turned into a nightmare I am hoping in a week or so things will calm down and fall back into a normal routine.

On one last side note, we have discovered a design error on our part; the bed can easily be used to climb on to the dresser, which was were we found Josh yesterday morning taking a nap. We have since fixed the problem by blocking off the opening with a blanket wall.

House Party Philly Cremes

Once again I was lucky enough to be chosen to host another House Party.  This time it was for Philly Cooking Cremes.  As a hostess I received a great new cooking pan & oven mitt and all the guests received coupons, magnets, cookbooks, notepads & cooking spoons.

Here are a few shots of the 3 dishes (Creamy Chicken Broccoli, Creamy Shrimp Tacos, & Stroganoff- my fav!) I made withe flavored cooking cremes.  I forgot to take pics until we were all done eating so sorry not the best photos, but all the dishes were WAY good! I also had fun St. Patty themed door prizes for a few lucky guests, okay well all the couples got a prize except for mom because I only had 5 prizes and 6 couples ended out coming.  Sorry mom- the only loser of the night, but at least you got a full belly of goodies.

It wasn't as large of a turn out as I had hoped, but we all had fun and I am really thankful for all who did make it, we all had a fun night!

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The Fourth and Forgotten

Cory and I have noticed a decline in the notations we take with our fourth baby Sophie Marie (The Fourth & Forgotten Child) probably because we are so busy running around with 3 other crazy kids. Anyway, here I am 30 weeks pregnant already and I am just getting around to take my first belly shot of her.  So far Sophie is growing right on schedule & is one of my most active babies.  Only 8 1/2 more weeks to go until our newest wee arrival.

Nat'l Pancake Day 2011

On Tuesday afternoon I happen to see that it was Nat'l Pancake Day and in celebration IHOP was giving away a free short stack of pancakes to every guest.  I thought that this probably would be something that the kids would all love to to partake in so to IHOP we went.  On a side note this is the first time our family has gone out to eat at a sit down restaurant without any extended family (we usually only go out as as whole family if it is a an extended family celebration) since the twins were born 16 mos ago.

Phoebe of course didn't eat but the top crust off one pancake (I mean top crust too she peeled it off the pancake), but the twins finished off a whole short stack by themselves.  

The absolute true treat for Phoebe was when Miss Murray came by to say hello.  Phoebe was so excited to meet a real princess with a sparkley crown. 

As Phoebe was going to bed that night she thanked Heavenly Father for getting to see the princess with her sparkley princess crown.

Phoebe's First Talk

Last Sunday was Phoebe's very first talk in church. She was very excited to speak on I will Follow God's Plan. Here she is wating in he big chairs upfront to go up to the podium and speak.

She only had to give 1-2 lines on the topic so we practiced saying our talk over & over.  I went up with her to help refreash her memory & she did really very good!  Listen for yourself. 

February's Date Night

Last year Daily Deals ran a special for LaCaille's (a rally posh French restaurant)  The deal was $35 for an $80 gift certificate.  Cory & I decided to buy it because we both knew it would be the only way we would ever be able to afford eating there.  We choose to go out to dine with some friends  (Stephanie & Shawn Petterson) in Feb because it a romantic restaurant and that is the month of love. 

When we arrived we discovered it is valet parking only, luckily it only cost $3 because that was the amount of cash both Cory and I had on us between the two of us. We then got our coats checked, another restaurant first for me& were seated. When first seated they ask if you would like sparkling or bottled water, we of course were just fine with tap.  Then you get the hors-d' ouevres only menus.  We then returned those asking for the entrée menus, which made me feel a little low class.  When the bread and butter were brought out the butter was actually shaped like roses.

The entrées were all very spendy so after initial sticker shock we ordered our food. Cory ordered the duck and I the rib. We both loved our salads, mine was the wilted spinach and the crab avocado & grapefruit. As for our meals mine was good, but 1/3 of it was fat & Cory LOVED his meal. After the entrées they brought the dessert menus. Most everything sounded delicious on the menu, but it all cost $16 apiece, so instead we just took our check and all went to dessert at Baskin Robbins.

This was a fun experience, something you should try, but we probably will not be returning here again unless there is someone out there wanted to pay for us to enjoy ourselves.

The Artistic Era Begins

Lately Phoebe has entered into a new phase, her artistic era, which has been a little troublesome for the rest of us Fergy family members.  On day one of the era Phoebs got a hold of a ballpoint pen and colored herself and brother.

On the second day of her artistic era Phoebe got a hold of a Crayola Marker and in a short amount of time managed to color on all the walls upstairs, many furniture surfaces & her siblings. When I discovered the happenings, Phoebe was in the process of attempting to clean off her siblings, however she grabbed the spray and wash and not the water spray bottle.

After that I assigned  her duties to the cleaning off of walls while I took care of the cleaning off of wee children.

Unfortunately, Phoebe thought cleaning off the walls was fun and not a punishment, so I had to assign timeout time as well.  As for the children the damage was already done and I just didn't know it yet.  Cami had gotten some of the spray and wash in her eye and for nearly 2 days she was blinded, while we repeatedly had to flush out her eyes.

After many talks about how naughty coloring on the walls is and the dangers of getting step stools to reach into mommy's things, we have taken the temptations of all pens/markers and put them in high hidden spaces away from our wee Picasso and placed all chemicals even a little bit further out of reach.

I'm a Big Kid Now

I have been putting off the change from cribs to toddler bed for the twins, but after an indecent with the bottom cream being smeared all over Cami I decided it was time for the change. I later discovered Cami smeared the diaper cream all over herself, but still it didn't change the fact that I've become too pregnant to be able to reach Cami's crib mattress to change her greasy sheets.

The twins haven't adjusted to the change as easily as Phoebe did.  I think the fact that they always have a playmate around helps to prohibit their sleeping.  They instead play with each other for hours instead of sleeping, which makes for two VERY cranky babies which was the case in the picture below, both are just sitting on the floor screaming their guts out after not napping for the 3-4 hrs that should have been nap time.

 

We have now had to resort to one child sleeping in a potable crib for naps while the other tries to sleep in their bed.  Cami prefers the crib, but I think it is more for the fact she can then reach in her drawers and pull out clothes rather than the crib being better for her sleeping.

It has been a couple weeks now and naps are still a struggle, but I am happy to say nighttime is not a problem; both twiners choose to sleep in the middle of the floor next to one another.

PPP&P Party

Our family has had a rough winter thus far concerning sicknesses. About every 2 weeks one or all of us picks up a new ailment to share with the rest of the family. Always being out of commission has been rough on our family being couped up all the time so in a mini celebration I planned a Pizza, Pop, Pj & Picnic Party (PPP&  P Party). We pulled out a new movie for the family from our hidden stash, Sword & the Stone & ate our favorite Totino's Pizzas. It was such a fun night together as a family that Daddy has requested that we do this from now on 1-2x a month with our family. Growing up Cory always remembered Friday night were always a party for his family & so Fridays will be a PPP&P Party once-twice a  month in our Fergy Family.