Thursday, December 23, 2010

Rock a bye baby

I HAD to rock both my babies to sleep last night. For me, that's not necessarily a good thing. We have our girls accustomed to going to bed on their own after a book, a prayer, and some one-on-one time with either mom or dad. But we are not the parents who plan to sit and patiently rock their kids to sleep every night. I would much rather them be able to fall asleep alone without my help. Plus, I really want/need my quiet time. Trust me, I'm a better mom because of it.
Anyway, last night Sophie decided to play in her room until 10:30pm, at which time Benoit was already in bed and I was ready to call it a night too. I went to bed and could just hear her quietly playing but was too worried about something happening while I slept to let her just play by herself all night. So I carried her to the couch and we snuggled until she fell asleep. Then 20 minutes after I put her in bed, Audrey starts stirring. She just got her first tooth in and the next one is on its way too, so she's right in the middle of teething, which is disturbing her sleep. This time, I made Benoit get up because I didn't want to feed her and I was worried that she would want me to if I was the one who came in. We ended up feeding her anyway, but she only had a little to drink. So I gave her some Tylenol and drops for her teeth, then rocked her for 20 minutes until she fell asleep. By midnight, I was in bed and ready for some rest...until my 3am nighttime fiesta with Audrey. Yes, we're still feeding in the middle of the night but that's another story.
Although it took a while to get to bed and was certainly frustrating along the way, its rewarding to be able to comfort both my girls and help them get the sleep they need. It's easy to forget to soak in the sweet moments when they are wrapped around rotten ones, but I'm trying to focus on the good parts of parenting. And last night was tough....but I choose to remember holding my sweet babies.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Sweet things

This weekend, we took a familial stroll in Grapevine to look at the Christmas lights and decorations. Sophie was scared of the big, plastic Santa and wouldn't go near him! Here is Benoit posing with Santa...my silly, sweet hubby!
Benoit and Sophie strolling down Main Street in Grapevine.
I went to wake up Sophie from her nap today and couldn't resist a few adorable shots. She looks so sweet and peaceful and I don't want to forget these little moments as she grows up. Sigh.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Where's the soap?

When I was a little girl, our teachers would wash our mouth out with soap if you said anything inappropriate at school. Nowadays, I'm sure you'd be sued for millions. But I digress. Sophie has started saying some peculiar things lately. She somehow adds an 'n' to Santa to make him Satan. And when asking to watch one of her fave tv shows, Max and Rudy, she asks for "Max and Booty!". And best of all, we watched the How the Grinch Stole Christmas the other night and now she's always talking about the "B**ch that Stole Christmas!" She says he 'bumped his head', which sounds a lot like "what the hell?" if you don't speak Sophie. Benoit and I have been cracking up, as I imagine you are too. :)

Monday, December 13, 2010

Christmas Cheer

I'm skipping Thanksgiving on my blog and diving right in to Christmas. I am way too lazy for that. Let's start with Sophie's Christmas party at her preschool. For each holiday, parents volunteer to throw a mini-party. This usually includes cupcakes and a holiday themed craft. Before age 2, Sophie understands that party=cake and she gets so excited because she doesn't eat a lot of sweets at home. For days afterwards, I get repeated requests for 'cake', 'me cake', Sophie cake', etc. Cute until about the 400th time I've heard it. But here is my girl with one of her teachers enjoying her precious cake.
A picture of me and my girls at the Christmas party. I was lucky enough to get at least one of them looking in the general direction of the camera!
Sophie is very proud of her Christmas tree. This is my secret weapon for keeping her out of my Christmas tree as she is allowed to play with her ornaments, not mine.
My handsome Brittany, Cody, for his Christmas photo.On Sunday, we went to Frisco Safety Town to meet Santa and tour the miniature town filled with holiday games, balloons, etc. It was super cold, so the girls are all bundled up. We had a great time and I think Sophie really enjoyed seeing all the Christmas lights and hearing the music. She loves to point out all the reindeer, snowmen, and Santa decorations. For the big moment with Santa, she was pretty brave and sat on his lap willingly. She was stunned into silence, though, and didn't say a word until we left the room. Audrey, on the other hand, was all smiles and was grabbing his beard!
Sophie and Benoit riding in Santa's sleigh.
Audrey keeping warm. Isn't she squeezable!
Sophie was proud of her gingerbread man tattoo and balloon!