Happy Birthday Nicole! 3!

 Nicole was born March 30th 2009, but because Matt and I will be out of town on the 30th for our anniversary, we decided to celebrate Nicole's Birthday a week early this year. Ironically, we celebrated on the 24th, our anniversary.

Nicole decided to have a Mickey Mouse themed party because she loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. That worked out quite well because I had seen ideas for Mickey parties on Pinterest.

I made this banner for Nicole for her birthday.

Here is my beautiful 3 year old birthday girl!

I was prepping for this party for days. Making the banner, buying the food, making cupcakes, cleaning, buying presents, games, party favors, etc. This was my first time throwing a children's birthday party and I have to say that it is a LOT of work! Thank goodness Matt and I are only giving our children a "friend" party every other year because I don't think that I could do this every year.

So, my decorations for the party were very minimal. Just the banner, balloons, and I made Minnie Mouse cupcakes.

I tried really hard to plan out each element of the party ahead of time, but Matt obviously had a better idea of how these things go because he enhanced my plans and made them better. Matt set up a table in the backyard and took out all of our sports equipment and some of the kids toys and that was pivotal! As people and kids arrived, they grabbed a corn dog or a hot dog (because it was a hot-diggity-dog lunch) and headed out to the backyard to eat and play in the backyard. This totally saved my house from excessive mess and entertained the kids while they were eating. I am so grateful that we have a backyard with a fence now!

Damon was in heaven because there were balls. He kept signing "ball."

Here are the kids playing. You can see Nicole over by the fence. She went over there to cry. I don't know why she was crying, but it wouldn't be a birthday without the birthday kid crying right?

Here is everyone eating at our brand new folding table that we got for the party.

We let Nicole pick out the chips for the party and she picked these giant Cheetos cheese curls. Dan got a hold of one and loved it! They were a hit with all of the kids. I never would have picked them out because they looked gross, but it was the right choice for kids.

Dan tried to eat the corn dog, but since he doesn't have teeth, it didn't really work out.

After everyone was done eating their hot dog lunch, we played a little "pin the nose on the mouse."

Lucy

Nicole won this game because she totally cheated and opened her eyes while putting her nose on. 

Olivia

Damon

Dan just wanted to look at the thing taped to his hand,  and didn't know why he was putting it on the mouse.

After this game, we moved on to the main event, the PINATA! Matt strung up the pinata in the garage and had spent all week cleaning out the garage so we could play the game in there. It was a little bit of chaos when the kids first saw that pinata, but once we got everyone calmed down, we let the kids take a whack at the pinata youngest to oldest. Luckily, the pinata was strong and all the kids got a couple whacks and the oldest child, Danielle broke it open in the end.

Damon

Olivia was so cute! She was scared to get too close to the pinata and swung from afar.

Coley

Ethan was a little scary with this stick. He was swinging widly.

The kids loved the pinata and everyone got a couple whacks at it. After Pinata, we did presents. Nicole was not inclined to look away from her presents to look at the camera. She was very focused on systematically opening each gift.

tinkerbell plate from Jill

Lalaloopsy, My Little Pony, and Littlest Petshop from Marie

Baby doll with swing/highchair which she loves! From Momma Kimball

Mickey figurines from Corinne.

Backpack and book from me and Matt.

Nicole was very spoiled and got a lot of gifts. Luckily, we learned from Christmas and waited to open any of the gifts until after everyone left. Because Nicole melts down if other kids touch her new toys.

Finally, we finished the party off with cake, which was cupcakes. Then everyone went back outside to eat.

The party was a success! The kids had fun and I had fun and I'm also glad that it is over.

Day in the Life... Work Day

I've read other moms do Day in the Life where they chronicle a day in their life, hour by hour. I, as you know, am a working mom and a day in my life is a little different then a day in the life of a stay at home mom. So, I thought I would do a day in my life.

Though, you may notice that some of my day is vague and general because I signed a NDA for my work and can't actually tell you about what I'm working on. Use your imagination!

6:15am Alarm goes off and I press snooze.

6:24am Alarm goes off again and I get up and hop in the shower.

6: 39am Out of shower to get dressed.

6:50am Grab my breakfast of a granola bar and leftovers out of the fridge for lunch and head off to work.

7:06am Get to work and sadly leave my car where I am listening to Harry Potter Goblet of Fire and every day I wish that walkmans still existed so I could listen to my books on tape all day.

7:10am Get to my desk, fill up my water bottle, check my emails and start working.

7:15am Get bored already and open up my blog to start writing this post.

7:22am Back to work and editing stuff.

9:30am Go to meeting and miss my cozy desk.

10am Go to another meeting and think fondly of my origami that litters my monitor stand.

10:30am Start to get hungry, but resist temptation to eat lunch absurdly early.

11am Eat lunch even though it is a little early. Pretend to myself that I am totally justified in eating early because I wake up early.

12pm Receive phone call about documentation that I am hearing about for the first time that is due in one week. But no worries because I'm awesome.

12:30pm While diligently reading specs, my eyes close and then when I open them again, 10 minutes have passed. That was a long blink.

1pm Run over to the other building (because my company is separated into different buildings and we get to run back and forth between them) and do research but call it exercise because I had to get up from my desk.

2pm Find cake in the other building and eat it because carrot cake is awesome and totally ruins any "exercise" that I may have done.

3pm Leave work and head home to take care of my kiddos.

3:30pm Kiss Matt goodbye so that he can go to school.

3:32pm Nicole falls asleep on the couch even though we are trying to cut out her naps. Sigh, and let her sleep for a little bit.

3:35pm Make Dan a bottle and put him down for a nap as well. I know he needs it because he keeps telling me "night night."

3:40pm Start picking up toys, shoes, books, and everything else that is on the ground because my sisters are coming for dinner and I better have my house look semi presentable.

3:50pm Vacuum and it surprisingly wakes neither of my children. They are death nappers, nothing wakes them.

4pm Do the dishes.

4:15pm Start making bacon and chopping ingredients because I'm making pizza for dinner.

4:30pm Nicole has been sleeping too long so I go to her and move her around like my little marionette and talk in an annoying loud voice to finally wake her. But she doesn't want to stay awake, so I bribe her with my tablet and she perks right up and begins to play computer games.

4:45pm Sarah, Mark, and sweet little Jack arrive and I feel very ill prepared because I haven't even put the first pizza in the oven.

4:50pm I put the first pizza in the oven and I hear Dan hollering at me from upstairs. I retrieve him from his crib, settle him in with Sarah and Mark and go to get the pizzas out of the oven.

5pm The first two pizzas are out of the oven and Marie, Anthon and Damon arrive.

5:05pm I start serving up pizza for my kids by cutting it into minuscule pieces for Dan and small pieces for Nicole. Even though her aptitude at biting has gotten better since we fixed the front tooth, she still doesn't like to do it.

5:15pm I start the next round of pizzas and I think I eat for myself while doing this.

6pm Finally, all the pizzas are made, everyone is fed and my wonderful husband calls to tell me that he is skipping his last class to be home with me and my heart soars because I miss him so much.

6:20pm Matt arrives home and the rest of us are eating delicious cupcakes.

6:30pm I am cleaning off the table and putting dishes in the sink when my Mom arrives.

7pm My kids are happily playing, but my sisters' kids are melting down because they are super tired. So, even though I finally have time to chat with my sisters, they do not. Such is the life of a mommy.

7:15pm Do the dishes... again.

7:30pm All the mommies have had it and my sisters and my mom pack up to go home and put the babies to bed.

8pm Everyone is gone, so I take my kids upstairs, do diaper change, pajamas, brush teeth, potty, bottles, prayers and bed.

8:30pm Nicole is knocking on our door, "I need something." Me: "Go to bed Nicole." She goes back to bed
.
8:32pm Nicole is back, crying, "Please, please open your door, I need you!" I open the door, lead her back to bed, give her kisses, sing her 3 songs, kiss Dan, and go back to my room to read my book while Matt studies.

8:40pm Nicole is back again, sobbing, "I need you! Please open your door!" Matt goes this time and talks to her and it actually sticks, perhaps he is a super hero and has magical kid staying in their room powers.

9pm I read my book for a little while and Matt studies next to me and it is the first moment of the day that I am relaxing and doing what I want.

9:30pm Sleep because I am so exhausted and cannot keep my eyes open any longer.

So yep, that is one working day for me. I wouldn't say it is a typical day because I don't usually have visitors at night. I often just have to cook for just myself and the kids and then we play until Daddy comes home, but yesterday was a busier day. Maybe one of these days I will do a weekend for you so you can see what I do when I am full time mommy.

Dan Likes Spatulas

Stair Climber

Nicole didn't try this until she was two. Dan is 11 months. Boys are definitely different than girls.

The Perfect Day

Have you ever had a perfect day? Saturday was pretty darn close for us.

Dan finally slept longer than three hours Friday night and we were able to get 6 hours of sleep before Dan woke up because of his ear ache and cough. And, Nicoley was a fairly good sleeper too. Good sleepers make for happy parents.

The day started with bacon and eggs for breakfast, requested by Nicole. Though she decided that she did not want to eat, Matt and I still enjoyed our breakfast treat.

Then, we all went to the backyard and worked in the garden. Nicole played around and pretended to garden with her play garden tools while Matt and I actually got the garden ready for spring planting. Dan loved it too. He was very interested in what we were doing. Gardening only took an hour because there were two of us and it always goes faster with two.

Then, we ate leftovers for lunch, so I didn't have to cook and it was glorious and both kids ate, which was a miracle.

We then commenced to Lowe's to purchase a new weedwacker since our battery powered one is dying. The batteries, charged at full power only were lasting 15 minutes and trimming the lawn became quite a pain.... for Matt since I don't actually work with the lawn. So, we got a new gas powered trimmer that should work a lot better and last longer than four years.

We were off again up to Eagle Mountain to visit my parents because I love them and miss them. Also, my Mom has the best scrapbooking room and I wanted to make a banner for Nicole's birthday party. So, here are some pics of our day at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

I don't know why this pic is sideways. It is saved upright. Oh well. Dan and Nicole loved climbing all over this moose while we were there. I'm sure you have seen these moose at Costco. My Dad bought one for my Mom for Valentines. I don't know if she enjoys it as much as the grandkids do.

Dan kept attacking my mouth while I was making dinner. He thought it was hilarious.

Here is Nicole sitting in her chair and refusing to eat dinner. Ah, good times.

So, while at The Parent's, we chatted, I made my banner, Mom cleaned, Mom and I made dinner together and it was just so relaxing and nice to spend time together. But, we did have one little incident while we were there...

I was in the scrapbooking room and Dan was at my feet playing with a vial of glitter that Nicole had gotten out. Nicole was unable to open it, so I thought it was safe for Dan to play with. Dan was playing at my feet and got quite, which should have been a clue to me, but instead I thought, "Yes, now I can focus on making this banner." Matt comes in and says, "DAN!" I look down and he has opened the glitter, poured it out everywhere and has started to eat it. Yuck!

Grandma swooped in and started cleaning off his mouth and hands, so I didn't get a pic of him totally covered, but here is my little guy with his glitter-tastrophe.

His face is all clean here, but you can see the guilt in his eyes.

Dan is not happy that I am cleaning up his glitter.

Glitter legs

Glitter carpet

I guess I should never underestimate what a curious boy can accomplish. Dan has already figured out that doorknobs open doors. It took Nicole almost two years to figure that one out. Boys want to explore! Nicole was always just content with the situation presented to her.

Well, our Saturday ended with us driving home and the kids falling asleep in the car. We got the kids out of the car and I put Nicole in her pajamas and put her on the potty and then back to bed and she slept through it all. Dan took his medicine and went back to bed. Both kids were in bed, and asleep by 7:30pm. It was a miracle! This has never happened before. We just sat in our room waiting for them to wake up thinking that they had just taken the greatest nap ever, but they didn't. They slept until 7am the next morning!

I felt like the luckiest parent's ever because they went to bed early and slept for almost 12 hours. This never happens. My kids usually sleep from 9pm to 7:30am. And, all last week, we were woken up multiple times a night because Dan was sick.

And thus ended our nearly perfect day. We accomplished all that we wanted to accomplish, we got to do the things that both Matt and I wanted to do and the kids went to bed early. It was a glorious day.

Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck, Hop Like a Frog!

We have been prepping for Nicole's Mickey Party and the kids love playing with the ears.

Nicole loves putting the ears on Dan. But they really only stay on a couple of seconds before he yanks them off. They are excited for the party!

My Poor Baby

Dan hasn't been sleeping well the last few nights. He has woken up coughing every night for four days, but he is a happy boy during the day so I thought maybe it was a teething cough. It got worse yesterday and his appetite decreased and he was super fuss face, so I made him a doctor appointment.


It turns out that Dan has the croup and a double ear infection. My poor baby! I had no idea that it had escalated that much. I hate it when I am a powerless parent who cannot interpret or diagnose my baby when he isn't feeling well. Hopefully, with medication, Dan will be feeling well again soon.

I wish I were home to squish him and kiss his baby face.

Thoughts on Parenting: Allowance

Nicole is turning three soon and I started to think about allowance. Right now, she doesn't get an allowance. She gets spare change that we find around and puts it in her piggy bank that we used to use as an incentive system for eating. The pig stopped working as incentive, so now she just puts money in it when she finds it, but she never takes the money out and certainly doesn't spend it.

Here is what I figure... We give Nicole everything that she needs: food, snacks, clothes, toys, and entertainment. Why would a three year old need to purchase things above and beyond what I am already providing her. She has everything she needs, and she gets a lot of the things she wants because I think we spoil her a little too much, what else would she really get? Does she really need an allowance yet?

When I was a kid, I got $5 a month for allowance. I would earn this allowance by doing a weekly chore that rotated among the seven of us kids and I was required to clean my room and do my laundry. With 7 kids, my mom couldn't be doing all the laundry for us. I think I learned to do laundry as soon as I was tall enough to put it in the washer. Like 9 years old or something.

Now a days, kids are getting a weekly or even daily rate of allowance. I realize that there is inflation and perhaps the times have changed and I'm just being a fuddy duddy, but really, what can the kid possibly need that they don't already have provided for them? Do 8 year olds really need to be making $30 dollars a month?

When I was a kid, Johnny and Sarah would get their allowance, take out tithing and immediately walk to the local store or pharmacy and spend all of the money on candy and soda. I don't want Nicoley spending her money on sweets and junk food. She doesn't even get candy unless it is a holiday. We do not keep candy in the house. She gets snacks like granola bars, juice boxes and goldfish crackers, but she is already doomed with bad teeth, she doesn't need candy.

I remember being a kid... well, I remember being 9 years old, don't ask me to remember before that, it was too long ago. And, I remember wanting candy and sweets and useless toys that I would get sick of in three seconds, but being a parent changes my perspective. I want Nicoley and Dan to crave experiences... not just instant gratification.

If I started Nicoley on an allowance, I think I would direct her to what she was saving up to... like a trip to the Discovery Museum, or a day at Kangaroo Zoo. Then, she would learn that those things cost money and she earned that experience. Maybe I am living in a fantasy world of what Nicoley should be and want that doesn't exist... but, she is only 3... so I can dream.

Right now, we have a sticker chart reward system that seems to be working really well. She gets stickers when she is a Kind Friend, a Good Sharer, a Good Eater, a Good Helper, and a Good Listener. Those are the things we are really working on right now and her reward is a sticker on her chart. We have told her that when she finishes her chart, she will get a new play cellphone since her last one broke. I feel like this reward system works for right now and she really works hard towards those stickers. She sometimes asks what she can do to get another sticker on her chart, so I find things for her to help with to earn a sticker. This is similar to allowance right? Because allowance is... or should be just a reward system right?

I think that for now, Nicole (and Dan when he is ready) will stick with the sticker chart reward and we will forgo allowance for a couple more years. She doesn't even understand what money is or what it means yet and I think I will put that lesson off for now.

Yesterday, Nicole asked Matt, "Where is Mommy?"
Matt responded, "She's at work making money."
Nicole replied, "With paper?"
Matt, "... Yes."

That is how little she understands about money. I think I will keep her innocence for right now.

When Babies Attack!

Dan is a Strong Man!

Dan and Nicole were playing with the stroller the other day and we discovered that Dan is super strong! Or, at least strong enough to push 30 pound Nicole.

Little Man Hates Little Suits

My little man is not a suit man. He does NOT like to where his church suit clothes. I put him in it a couple weeks ago and he was super sad about it. Plus, he is crawling and he kept falling and slipping in those slippery pants. He did not stay in his suit for church. I ended up going with a collared shirt onesie for church because he was so unhappy in that little suit. I suppose that Dan will be a sweater or collared onesie church baby until he gets up on his feet.

Nicole snagged Dan's tie right when I took it off him and wanted to wear it with her Sunday dress.

This is Nicole's new spring dress. She looks so good in yellow.

Thoughts on Parenting

Every one parents in their own way. I know this. But, I thought that maybe I might share some of MY thoughts on parenting. I'm not saying my thoughts are right, it is just the way that I do things.

Yesterday I was watching a clip from the "View." I don't normally do this because the "View" is lame. But, they had a guest, Mayim Bialik, that I wanted to see, so I decided to watch her segment. Apparently, she has some...extreme views on parenting. She even wrote a book on what she calls "Attachment Parenting."

One of the things that she talked about was the "family bed." The family bed, if you don't know is when families (parents and children) all sleep in the same bed. This is also called co-sleeping. In her family, she sleeps in a bed with her 3 year old son and her husband sleeps in a bed with their 6 year old son and that is their sleeping arrangement. I also know of families that have their children sleep in their king size bed with them until they are well into their childhood (up to 6 years old).

Now is the part where I tell you what I think. Feel free to be offended. This lady is crazy! Sleeping in the bed with your child? Not even having at bed for you and your husband? This is crazy! This is putting your children first and your marriage second. Allowing children in your bed, or spending every night in their bed totally steps on the toes of marriage.

Here is how we do it in my house:
1. God/Gospel
2. Marriage/Spouse
3. Kids

When Nicole was first born, Matt told me that he did not want babies in our bed. He wanted our bed to be our space and kids could have a space to themselves. I felt like that was a reasonable request and we did not let Nicoley sleep in our bed. She slept in her bed. She could sit on the bed with us while we were all awake and I, of course, nursed her in the bed all the time, but when it came to sleeping, the bed was for us. We established a system when she got older and would come into our room in the middle of the night that she could lay on the floor next to our bed if she had a nightmare or was sick and just wanted to be close to us, but she did not sleep in our bed. Which is really for the best because she is a wiggler! She wiggles and shifts and lays sideways and is a total bed hog.

When Dan was born, I had a bit of baby withdrawls because I did not get to spend every day with Dan because I was working and I was super exhausted because I had to feed Dan during the night and still get up at 7am to get to work on time. So, I cheated on our no bed rules a little with Dan. When he woke up for a feeding, I would lay him on the bed next to me and nurse him and then I would fall back asleep and he would fall asleep and he ended up spending a bit of each night in our bed. I would eventually wake up and put him back in his crib though.

But, for Matt, this haunted him. Whenever Dan slept in our bed, Matt had a fear that he would roll over on Dan or that Dan would fall off the bed. He would have nightmares about it and start talking to me in his sleep and telling me to "Get the baby before he falls off!" Or, he would grab me and try to pull me toward the center of the bed to prevent ME from falling. Truth: he still does this and it wakes me up and drives me crazy; I'm not the baby! So, this was an added problem with co-sleeping.

When Dan stopped nursing, he stopped sleeping in our bed because there was no reason. And, as night time feedings decreased, he never was in our bed at night. Also, I found that Dan (and us) slept so much better when he was in his own crib at night.

I was watching Nanny 911 one time and the parent's laid in their children's beds with them until they fell asleep... every night, AND, they let their three year old sleep in the bed with them. Nanny explained to the parents that they were facilitating a co-dependency with their children. That their children were reliant upon the parent's to fall asleep. What happens when they become a teenager and have never fallen asleep in their bed by themselves? What then? Still sleep in the bed with the kid? Also, having one child sleep in the parent's bed created a rivalry with all the other children. The children felt the youngest child was the favorite.

I totally agree. Sleeping with the child every night creates a co-dependency. Aren't we trying to teach our children to be independent? To do things for themselves so they can be productive and normal adults someday? How does sleeping in the same bed with them help them to be independent? I think a parent who sleeps in a child's bed every night is not for the child's sake but for the parent's. The parent is being selfish and trying to fulfill their own bonding needs. Here's a tip, bond with your spouse more and your kids less when you are asleep.

Now, onto what I think co-sleeping does to a marriage. I'm just gonna say it... if you have a kid in the bed, there is no way for you to go making new kids and that is an important part of marriage. The bed is the place for me and my husband. It is our space to be free from the children and have time together where we are not mommy and daddy, but husband and wife.

Often times, Matt and I don't get a lot of time together between me working all day and him going to school at nights. Additionally, when we are together, we are tag team parenting and taking care of the kids. All our focus is on the children; getting them fed, dressed, keeping them entertained, and happy. So, when the kids go to bed, that is finally the time where we can talk, catch up on how we are doing, and be married. I feel like this is vital to my marriage.

I'm not saying that my way is right and family beds are wrong. I'm just saying that I think family beds (as in sleeping all together EVERY NIGHT) is insanity. I realize that there are times where parent's let the kids into the bed when they are scared or sick, but to have it be a recurring theme is just crazy, it can't be good for the child or the marriage.

Wordy Wednesday

I'm not listening!

Wait, what did you say?

Praying for Emmett

This sweet, little, 1.5 year old boy was recently diagnosed with a rare and aggressive cancer. His name is Emmett and he is related to my sister Sarah's husband. My prayers are with this sweet little boy and his family. To read more about his story, go here.

My heart hurts when I think about the things this little baby boy has to face when he has only lived such a short amount of time. I cry for the parent's as they go through something that I can't and don't want to imagine. I've never met this boy or his family, but I'm a mother, I know how much I love my children, I can imagine that these parent's love their child just as much as I love mine. So, I hurt for them and I feel love and compassion for this family, though I do not know them.

I can't seem to get this family out of my head. I try not to think about it because it only makes me sad, but then I keep coming back to it. So, I thought I would post something for them while I keep them in my prayers. And, if you, my blog readers, could keep this family in your prayers too, I think that it could only help.

I just keep thinking, this boy is only a few months older than my Dan. That is just not enough time, not enough life. As I am working, I miss a lot of moments in my children's lives, but I think, "I still have the rest of their lives with them, I will get to see more and do more with them when I return home." And then I hear Emmett's story and I think, "I have to cherish these little babies of mine because this time is precious." So, I kissed the head of my baby Dan and my little Nicole and I squeezed them tight and told them I loved them. And then, I said a prayer for Emmett.

Sleep

I love sleep! I go to bed early and try to get at least 7 hours of sleep every night. If my kids are compliant and sleep through the night, I can get even more sleep then that. I also love naps. If I get the chance to nap on the weekends, I take it because sleep is awesome. Now, I have two kids and I work all day, so I rarely get a nap and Dan still wakes up in the night, so I don't always get a full night's sleep. Maybe this is why I love sleep so much.

The way Nicole acts, it makes me think that she hates sleep. She fights sleep, she does not like going to bed. She will come up with every excuse that she can think of to not go to bed at night. Lately, she has been telling us that her room is scary and that she misses us, so she can't possibly go to bed. Bedtime is just awful when it comes to Nicole.

We do her routine at bedtime: pajamas, potty, brush teeth, prayers, and bed. And then the "game" begins. I tell her every night that if she stays in her room and doesn't cry, I will go in and check on her. This used to work with her, it made bedtime easy, but it doesn't work anymore. So, I go to my room and Nicole follows me in with some "need." I put her back in bed. Five minutes later, she is back with her blanket and a stuffed animal asking to sleep on my floor. I put her back to bed. Repeat who knows how many times before I finally get tired of it and shut her door (thereby locking her in). Then, within 10 minutes she is asleep. She is so tired at night, but she fights it until I finally have to force her to stay in her room and go to sleep. This is crazy to me. If you are tired, you should sleep, especially since sleep is awesome.

None of this phases Dan anymore. He does his own thing, ignores Nicole and falls asleep in his own time. No complaints by Dan as long as he has his mobile, pacifier, and seahorse.

But, the funniest thing about Nicole is that as much as she hates going to bed, she equally and oppositely loves napping. Nicole will often put herself down for a nap when she is tired and would, if we let her, sleep for 3 hours in the middle of the day. Nicole loves naps. She loves sleeping during the day. But, if she naps too long during the day, she stays up until 11pm at night. So, we have to try and wake her after 30 minutes to an hour in to her nap. Trying to wake her from a nap is like trying to wake the dead. She is like a little rag doll that does not wake when I move her around.

I am really bad at waking Nicole up from naps. I feel bad about waking her and I want to wake her gently, but this does not work. Matt is much better at waking her. He is okay with using a louder voice and sits he up so that she will wake up. I have a different method. I release Dan on Nicole. Dan is the best at waking her up. I put Dan on the bed with her and he goes into attack mode. He crawls on her and pats her face and yells at her until she wakes up.

I just wish that Nicole would treat bedtime like she does naptime. That would make our life immensely easier. But, I realize that kids don't make life easier, they just make life better.

I Love Reading

I love reading. I may have a reading problem. With my new tablet, I can now read ebooks from the library as well as paper books. They library's ebook rentals are awesome. I can get the books I want without having to go to the library to get them.

So, here are the books that I have read this year.

Description: This book is a mix of the Giver and Farenheit 451. In a world where books are burned and everything is decided for you, including your spouse, your job, and your life, main character girl discovers that the world might actually not be as perfect as the society makes it out to be. It is dysotopian, but with a love triangle. Who doesn't like a good love triangle?

My Impression: I really enjoyed this book. It is one of those books that sucks you in and makes you stay up until midnight reading it. I found that it was kind of a mix of stories that I have read before, but it is really the characters that make it different. The characters are very likable and the mystery of the society made me want to read more. If you like sci fi or teen romance, this is definitely worth a read.

Rating: 5 stars

Description: Sequel to Matched, main character girl fights against the society and chases after one of her "loves."

My Impression: If you liked the first book, you will like this second book, but maybe not as much as the first. I anxiously await the next book in the series.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Description: Twins Josh and Sadie find themselves drawn into the world of magic by the famous alchemyst Nicholas Flamel. They are chased down by even magicians and gods that they used to believe were myths. Real people from the history books turn out to be magicians and immortals. The twins fight to save themselves from evil while learning magic during the process.

My Impression: I rented these three books from the ebook library and I picked them out because I saw the name Nicholas Flamel and thought "Harry Potter!" But, this character is NOT based on the Harry Potter character and does not even slightly resemble the Harry Potter world. But, I do enjoy the world that the author has created. These are books definitely geared more towards children; it is all about adventure and discovery, a lot like Artemis Fowl or Percy Jackson. If you liked those books, you will like these too.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Description: Sequel to Clockwork Angel and based in the same world as City of Bones. This book ventures the idea that angels and demons are real. Tessa is the offspring of both an angel and a demon and is trying to find her origins and save the world from an evil doer with equally unknown origins. Oh yeah, and there is a love triangle. This seems to be a trend with writers.

My Impression: I love everything that this author has written and this is no exception. She writes her females as pretty, but strong and writes her males a lot like Edward Cullen. It is Twilightesque characters in a fantasy world. This book is set in old England, which gives it a whole other layer. I enjoy the fantasy world, but really I read these for the character relationships. It is like an addiction. Will Tessa choose Jem who is dying but safe? Or will she choose Will who is mysterious and dangerous? Read it, love it, become addicted.

Rating: 5 stars

Description: Percy Jackson is lost in a world of Roman Gods and demigods when he is the child of a greek god. But, he has lost his memory and doesn't know where to find it. So, he helps out the romans while on his quest to discover who he is. This is the sequel to Lost Hero and a continuation of the Percy Jackson Lightening Thief series.

My Impressions: This is a fun read. Rick Riordan builds a very entertaining world where ancient gods and creatures are real and exist in the current world. These are most definitely children's books. They are simple characters and simple plots, but they are entertaining to read. I would read this one to your 9-14 year old. But, start with the Percy Jackson series first.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Description: Set in the world of Drizzt Doerden, a young boy tries to discover his origins while fleeing from an unknown demon. The secrets of his past are hidden in the secrets of a black stone that is cursed and also bound to him.

My Impressions: If you like RA Salvatore, if you want to see more of Drizzt, this is the book to read. I loved these stories! The world is vast, the characters are many, but it is intriguing and exciting and there is no better writer and describing fight scenes. I love high fantasy, so I loved these books. I was able to rent them from the ebook library, so I was able to read through them pretty fast.

Rating: 4 stars