Why my husband is the best in the world and why I love him so much.

Hi there, It's Gabe speaking this week. My wife has tasked me once again with writing the blog this week because she thinks I am such a talented writer!...or because she has the task of putting the boys to bed tonight and she will be to tired to start the blog after the boys have gone down. I like to think it's the first reason.

So speaking of the boys bedtime and bed routine have have finally found a method that works for its. It's called realizing that we are at their mercy and they get to decide when they want to go to bed and not us. So i may be exaggerating a little bit when i say that but we have come to accept something. We have accepted  that we are in their bedroom for about an hour before they will finally start to go to sleep and let us leave the bedroom. No I know some of you may be judging us on this one and I know we have probably judged some people in the past who have done similar things but at this point and time this is what works for us having 3 toddlers about to turn 3 years old in toddler beds and all in the same bedroom. Once our boys fall asleep they are out for the night until the following morning so they get a good nights rest. Around 7 pm we all to in to the bedroom to read a couple of stories with the boys and as I'm sure most parents will understand there is always the request for one more story...then just one more...and just one more. We go through this x3. And often Zachary doesn't like the story that Jacob picked. Or Sam has already come up to us with 3 books that he picked and his brothers don't think that's fair so they also want to pick some books. When we finally agree on a couple of books  and start reading things go great....until they fight over who sits were to view the book reading and end up sitting on top of each other or in front of each other. It does get frustrating but overall the book reading portion is 10-15 minutes. Then we get them to go in to their beds and one of us (we alternate nights) will stay with the boys. This mostly started because Jacob was SUPER attached to me and didn't want me to leave his bed side and unfortunately it has grown in to a routine but on the bright side he now lets me take a night off every other night and lets mommy hang out with them. We usually have to stay until Jacob has fallen asleep which is almost always around 8pm like clock work (give or take 5 minutes). Zachary and Sam are ok if we leave when they are awake.

We have tried plenty of other methods and end up with similar results. The boys falling asleep around 8pm. We saw no improvements with the other methods in the past and either. Its not like the were going to sleep at smaller intervals. It was always around 8 pm. On top of that there was usually a lot of crying and tantrums going on during that time as well as a lot of stress on us. We tried walking them back to bed repeatedly for multiple nights. We tried positive reinforcement with love every time they went to bed on their on and ignoring them when they got out of bed. We tried everything else we could think of and that people suggested for us but they all had the same result so that's why we decided to read some stories and sit with them in the bedroom until Jacob falls asleep. Not the best way to do it and who knows we might be setting ourselves up for a much larger problem but for the time being it's what works best for us. No crying or tantrums (for the most part) and some relaxing time for mommy or daddy and we're out by 8.

I still think we are really lucky because we may have a tough time putting the boys to bed but once they are down and out they are great sleepers. They always get a solid nights sleep and on the odd occasion someone wakes up in the middle of the night (usually cause Zachary fell out of bed) we go put them back to bed and they go back to sleep.

We have noticed that when it comes to their sleep issues Jacob is the instigator. He is the one when we first switched to toddler beds that would cry for us to come see him in the room while the other two were chilling in bed. He also realized that his pleas would no longer get the reaction he wanted from us so he decided to start biting his brothers so they would cry. Making us go to the room to check on the injured sibling. He's the reason we have to now be in the bedroom so much to. He's the reason they are all spread on at nap time. Zachary and Sam go down fairly easy for the most part sometimes even asking to go to bed. Jacob sleeps on the couch with one of us until he falls asleep. But by doing so he sleeps a go 1.5-2 hours and so do the other boys. He also recently starting not caring about waiting for the sunshine to appear on his grow clock. If we wakes up early and we bring him in our room or the living room he sometimes goes back to wake up his brothers. And finally 99% of the times he now wakes up crying or whining. Now for those of you reading this it may seem like we have given in to his demands and he knows it and can get what he wants so that's why he continues to do it. Because it works. And it is possible we are guilty of that and have created or own little monster but i don't think that's the case because each of the issues i listed above we tried to break the habit for weeks at a time. Perhaps he just needs a little more love and attention and that's why we decided to do what works for us and make some little modifications in some of those instances.

Now I don't want to paint Jacob as an evil little child. (that's only when it comes to bed time. ha). He is for the most part a happy go lucky little kid. He loves hamming it up for people. Love to make you laugh and loves being the center of attention. He is also very caring especially towards his brothers.

Monday he went to the speech pathologist with MC to review a couple of things and he is doing well. The speech pathologist did notice his voice was a little raspy and suggest we make sure he doesn't yell when he speaks. Jacob doesn't yell when he speaks. He just yells a lot in general and cries a lot and we think that his the cause of his raspy voice.

Saturday morning our friend Nesha and her friend Tara came to visit the boys. And the boys true colors came out once again. Once they go over their initial shyness Jacob became a little ham. Always doing exaggerated movements and projecting his voice in a theatrical manor when he was playing to make sure that the girls heard and and checking out the corner of his eye to see if they were laughing . Sam was being a HUGE flirt with Nesha and Tara. Looking at them why shy eyes and a coy little smile. Bringing them pretend coffee and food. He even brought over his little John Deere tractor over to Tara and explained to her that the batteries don't work anymore so she would take pity on him and tried to get her to play with his tractor and farm animals. Side note : it totally worked. And Zachary for the most part he was interacting with the girls and in a good mood.

Sunday morning we went for our  4th annual photo shoot which is the boys 3rd appearance in person. This year was tough but funny because Zachary was a grump and refused to smile for 95% of the photos. It just came to the point we all had to laugh about it. Lots of the photos turned out great though but we'll also include some of the outtakes.

So here's are some (lots) of photos :

This was the morning we ALMOST drove off with out buckling Jacob in his seat. I put the van in reverse to leave the driveway and Zachary yelled out : Maman!!Jacob est pas assis! (Jacob isn't sitting)

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Any ladies need some entertainment for a birthday party?

This is how our photo shoot started with an uncooperative Zachary. 

Almost a Great Family picture. 

This is a cute picture. Seconds later....

...This Happened!!!!

...Each passing second...

...More comical then the next!

Things are back on track. 

Zachary staying in character through out most of the session

Same taking this photo business serious.  

Jacob having a blast, Sam looking confused in the directions given and Zachary being Zachary

One of his flirty faces. 

Acting like goofballs. Still no smiles from Zachary .

Zachary does not like the paparazzi 

Sam preparing his photo submission for the Bachelor.....2036.

I don't like flowers

Get me out of here.

Nice family pic. (at least he's not frowning)

Zachary can't even!

finally smiling Zachary

Sam really turning up the charm . 

Blog Piggyback... See you later kids!

I read this blog post last week (SOURCE) from a mom who was about to go on an obviously well deserved girls weekend away.  This blog post basically prepared her husband for all the things he should be ready for while she's away because she obviously knows all the quirks.  She has SIX children and all have quite different temperaments and challenges as mine do so while I was reading it I got to thinking about what my letter would look like... Now I'm writing this letter to my in-laws and my mother because my husband is quite involved and would know most of this already.  This is also quite fitting because we went away this weekend and left our kids in the care of our parents!  We went to Cape Tourmentine and Port Elgin to visit with our friend Neesha who had rented a cottage.  Had quite a musical evening and got to know some new folks.  

Please note that our parents have also been really involved with the raising of our kids so they know most of these but it's more for your comedic benefit and memories that I write... Here goes...

Dear Mom, MIL and FIL,
   Thank you so much for giving us a night away, we will certainly enjoy sleeping in until at least 8am!  Mom, you're taking Sam.  Make sure he has his dodo with the dots.  He will not sleep without it.  Don't bother taking him to the pool, he will most likely not go in.  Don't take him to any fairs where they may have face painting, he will plain out refuse.  Also, make sure you don't dirty play as he hates getting his hands dirty.  He enjoys people watching so maybe sitting on Main street with a smoothie would be the best thing to do.  Although you may have to hold his smoothie for him because it's too cold for him to hold himself.  Make sure you play with the blue ball only because, as he informed me today, the red ball is broken.  I have no idea what balls he's talking about.  Oh, be prepared to pick up things he drops right in front of him because it's much to difficult for him to pick it up on his own even though it's 1 foot away from him and 10 feet away from you.  He likes to throw himself on you so make sure you're ready for a thirty pound toddler running full tilt at your chest without stopping.  Also, he seems to love to scream really high pitch lately which is great for the ears.  If you feed him any food, make sure he can eat it with a spoon.  A BIG spoon.  Tonight we had to figure out a way to feed him spaghetti with a spoon because a fork just won't do.  Oh, when you want to dress him in the morning, make sure you start 30 minutes ahead of time because you'll literally have to use legit wrestling moves to get his clothes on.  Once they're on though, it's like the whole episode which will turn you into a sweaty mess didn't happen.  I do have to say that our Sam loves to laugh and be tickled so if all else fails, get his sides!  Oh yeah, and he LOVES to sing, especially Happy Birthday, that's fun.

  MIL and FIL you're taking the other two troublets... I don't know why we decided to give you our toddler version of Wrestle Mania Duo together but there you have it.  Make sure to pay close attention, as I know you always do, because a fun game of let's grab each other's shirts and throw each other on the ground while grabbing at any limb in our way quickly turns to pinching and twisting and biting really quickly when one is not happy with the direction the game is taking.  Don't forget that Zachary is obsessed with TV and will not hear a word of what you say when he's watching it so you have to get directly in his line of vision and force him to look at you before you start talking to him about anything.  We are trying hard to wean this 33 month teenager off the TV so maybe try restricting that so he joins the rest of us in the non TV world.  If you let him watch "Wheels on The Bus" make sure it's the one that starts with the Yellow bus and not the Red bus because that's just not ok.  Also, the Twinkle Twinkle video can't be the one with the Owl.  That's just about the worst thing you can put on the TV apparently.  He prefers eating and drinking in yellow objects.  His dodo is the one with the owls on it.  If you have to put him in time out, be prepared to work on your muscles because you'll have to physically restrain him so that he stays in time out.  Please make sure you tell him to put his hands on his ears before you make any kind of loud noise because loud noises really scare him.  In order for him to brush his teeth (any of them really), you have to pretend that their teeth are really gross and yucky looking.  I have to say though, if you're looking to try new foods, he's your guy.  He will put pretty much anything in his mouth that is offered to him.  I like that about him.  If all else fails, you can pretty much convince him to do anything if there's food involved!

Jacob... oh Jacob... what can I say about that one!  Give him time to wake up or else Spawn of Satan will come out, noises and all.  Make yourself available for some cuddles and let him lead the wake up, especially during nap time.  He sleeps with about 20 different things in his bed.  Sometimes we look in the monitor and we're not sure if we're looking at his face or one of the 10 teddy bears he insists on having in there.  If you feed him yogourt and granola for breakfast... make sure you put the granola beside his bowl and not directly in the bowl, that would just not do.  When he starts his bacon floor dance, just let him be, he will eventually get out of it.  Don't let him win.  Try really hard not to laugh at anything that he does that is has dangerous potential (but still very funny) because his goal in life is for people to laugh at what he does so he'll just repeat it over and over again.  He REALLY doesn't see danger.  He will parkour the hell out of your house.  Oh, if you try to gain his happiness with Twinkle Twinkle on the van CD, be prepared to listen to it over and over again as you drive from point A to point B.  You're not allowed to complain about it either because you're the one who offered it.  Just say no.  He also has taken a liking to screeching in the house, it's a lot of fun.

Man there are so many other little quirks to them but my mind is a fog!! I'm not used to going to bed at 1am!!

Pics!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday I had a date with Sam!  We did groceries and got his hair cut.  It was a great day! 

On Thursday it was Zachary's turn for a one on one day with me!  We met up with the Kellys and their boys and had a good time at the Kay Arena gym! 

Wyatt

On Friday I had a date with Jacob :) 

Magic Mountain Saturday!

My pictures are all over the place... again... oh well!
This was BEFORE his got his hair cut

This was AFTER!  It was quite an experience to get this done! He's been such a grump lately! 

I do love that I can see his tell tale beauty mark again though! This is how everyone always used to know which one was Zachary!

Jacob and I went to visit my mom on Friday morning.  He was loving that he also had a coffee mug like Mamie!

Waiting for our friends to arrive

He had such a good time in that pool!

Oh look another ice cream pic!

The Kellys and I enjoying an amazing afternoon starting with a pedicure date

Felt sooooo good!

This was on our way to Shediac to watch my nieces in their play... I got there just as the applause started... we missed it all!  All due to this guy being a grump when you wake him and the crazy Shediac traffic!

Snack time!

This was the boys' favorite part of Magic Mountain.  Rolling down this hill!

Liam and Wyatt also joined the fun

THE PORT ELGIN EXPERIENCE

Nesha's rented cottage

Waiting to get in to the Port Elgin Exhibition

All decorated pretty like!

The night's entertainment! Sadly I didn't take a picture of Nesha's cousin and uncle performing! They did awesome!

Later, this mother son team joined in

Accordion and a neck time washboard... 

When we got back to the cottage, we joined the rest of Canada to watch The Hip's final concert... 

Nesha's awesome dog Nuka!

That's it folks!

Have a good one!