Fun with Nile

Since I had the opportunity to stay home an extra day with Nile, I thought that we'd have some fun. I feel like so often I don't spend the quality time with him that I should. Either I'm nursing Novak, or I'm making lunch, or we're getting ready to go to preschool or the gym. Add in a nap or quiet time in the afternoon, and I find the day has gone by and I've hardly spent any one-on-one time with him.

Today, I made an effort to correct that.

Nile and I sat down with our latest issue of Family Fun magazine, and picked out two projects to do. Both required me to do some prep work, so while I got ready, I gave him "ingredients" and let him "play cook" in the kitchen.

Then, we made silly ornaments out of pieces of yarn and cornstarch glue.
And we made "tarts" with a frozen pie crust and raspberry jam filling. Nile helped brush on the egg wash.

Of course, they wouldn't be complete without fluorescent orange frosting (Nile's color choice) and LOTS of colored sugar sprinkles. :)
Notice that, in all these pictures, he's still in his PJ's. Nothing better than a day home with Mom, hanging out in PJ's.

Note: I'm 0-for-3 on projects/recipes from Family Fun. None of them have worked out without having to make changes. So, although they have good ideas, at least when I do them, I have to be prepared for tweaks. Today, the cornstarch "glue" for the ornaments was WAY too thick and had to be watered down, and the frosting for the tarts needed to have extra water added in order to mix in all the powdered sugar. Live and learn!

Bunk bed update: after the dawn

I woke abruptly this morning, for reasons I couldn't quite determine.
My first thought was to the boys in the bunk bed. Were they up?
Lying in bed, I couldn't hear anything going on. I checked the clock,
it was 6:30 am. Wide awake, I went to the bathroom and climbed back in
bed.

That's when I heard it. The voices of two little boys, from the other
end of the house. I didn't know what they were doing. But they
weren't arguing.

So I went to check out the situation. Nile's bedroom door was open,
and the bathroom light was on. I walked into the bathroom to see...

Nate was helping Nile out of his PJ's. He had already helped Nile get
the potty seat out, helped him climb up on the seat, and clean up
afterward. He had also put a sticker on Nile's new potty chart (which
we made yesterday). It was the cutest, nicest thing I think I have
seen him do ever for Nile.

So I think the first night of sharing the bunk beds was a huge success!

Sent from my iPhone

bunk bed, part 2

A little over a month ago, we got Nile a bunk bed. Nate has been asking to sleep on the top bunk every day since then.

Finally tonight was the night. The requests had turned around: Nile has been asking us for the last few days if Nate could sleep on the top bunk. So we finally gave in and decided to go ahead and let them do it. Don't they look happy? ;)

Funny thing is, Nile has refused to sleep with a blanket or quilt over him for his entire life. The moment he found out Nate was sleeping under his comforter, Nile had to also.

Now all I am hoping is that we don't hear a crash in the middle of the night if Nate decides he needs to go to the bathroom. He has sworn that he knows how to get down, but in a sleepy stupor, I don't know how well that will work... I guess I'm also hoping that they sleep in. I do not want both of them in our room at 6 am (which is when Nate has been getting up). Maybe they will play together in their room. Wishful thinking? Probably.

Big Breakfast

I think this should hold him.

Three Days Until Christmas!

I know I've been negligent on blogging. I have cute videos and
pictures from Nate's Christmas program to share. I promise to work on
this later today if I get a quiet hour!

Nate has been counting down the days to Christmas using this calendar.
He was excited to see this morning that we were down to three days left.

Tummy Trouble

Last night Nate was up twice, at 3:30 and 4:45, which is really unusual for him. But the second time, he was up because he was sick. The poor kid hates to throw up (not that anyone likes to...).

This morning he got up with Tom and was watching TV when I came out. I told him that we would take it easy at breakfast to see how his stomach would handle food. His response?

"My tummy is handling shows just fine!"

Unfortunately, we didn't quite make it through breakfast. So it looks like it will be a lazy day at home for the family today. We are set up on the couch with blanket, stuffed friend, and bucket.

Of course, Nile has to be treated the same way too, even if he is not sick ;)

crazy morning silliness

Nile woke up incredibly happy this morning. Here's a glimpse of how most of the morning went. Thank goodness the farmhouse has a large open kitchen!

general silliness

Maybe it's the fact that I was gone for the last four days...but these two boys are incredibly goofy this morning.

making an entrance

Just this week, Nile started doing this when he comes downstairs. He will wait upstairs after the rest of us have come down. Then, when he feels it has been a long enough time, in he comes. I hope you enjoy this as much as we do...