Code Red

Austin found a dollar, under the bed or something. I went to Wal-mart today to get a few things and while I was putting Lily in the cart he ran over to the pop machine before I realized he was even gone. Once I tracked him down I discovered he had inserted the dollar in a pop machine, a miracle considering how wrinkled it was, and had pushed a random button. Out came a Mountain Dew Code Red, the version with EXTRA caffeine. He was quite proud of himself, but I wouldn't let him drink it. I bought him a strawberry milk instead. But now what do I do with the Mountain Dew?

Happy Birthday Sivai, and A New Shed

After our trip to Rexburg Patrick's parents came up to visit and help us (Patrick) build a shed. We are quickly running out of space in our house and with #4 coming in a couple of months (still no name) it's going to be great to have a place to store things. Before they arrived Patrick had poured the cement slab with help from friends and my Dad, so Monday morning they were up early and in two days this is what they accomplished, plus the window and door are in. It was just too dark to take a picture when they stopped working that night about 10pm.

Patrick has been spending his spare time getting it ready to paint, insulate and and finish. It's such a blessing to have the help from both sides of the family and our friends. Since Sunday, Sivai's 7th b-day was spent traveling, we celebrated Monday night with Grandma and Grandpa Dotson. He had a great time and learned to ride his bike within about 5 minutes, now we can't keep him off of it.

I've started some things in the garden, onions, potatoes, peas, and some strawberry plants. I'm trying out a variety of vegetables this summer in small quantities to see that grows well and what I like growing. It's exciting to see them start sprouting, and I hope I'm not creating too much work for myself this summer.

Rexburg

We had a fun trip up to Rexburg last weekend. It my by younger brother Irvin's college graduation. My kids love spending time with their Grandparents and Aunts and Uncles.

My Mom always gets her arm twisted into frying a huge batch of fried chicken in a tiny college apartment kitchen, quite a feat.

On the way home we stopped in SLC while waiting to get my sister Renee to the airport. It was a beautiful day and we killed some time by taking a stroll around temple square. The flowers were amazing!

Eggs

In between sessions of conference Saturday was the perfect time to dye Easter eggs. It's great to have the kids be older and really enjoy it and understand how to do it. We didn't end up with any cracked eggs or "brown" eggs from dipping in every color.

Stubborn

This is how I found Lily one day after thinking she was asleep for a nap...well, I guess she was asleep just half naked and dangling from her changing table snoring.

The past couple of weeks have a been a rough patch for Lily and her sleeping habits. Since she was potty trained she seemed to have lost her zeal for taking naps and sleeping through the night. We've been lucky enough to have had very good sleepers in our house, even as babies, so I'm not used to this struggle. It started with her waking up in the early morning hours needing to use the bathroom but instead climbing in bed with her brothers and waking them up. I put a child lock on the outside of their door and it stopped that, she came to our room instead. It then progressed into not wanting to take naps so I figured she didn't need them and stopped trying to lay her down, but she eventually falls asleep on the couch late in the afternoon which would make for late nights. It turned into her downright refusing to go to bed.
One night she stripped naked and peed on the floor and then proceeded to play until we found her. This happened for a couple of nights, then she had a horrible night where she did her little peeing on the floor routine four times!!! It took her nearly 3 hours to get to bed that night. Oh, and this whole time she is still waking up in the wee morning hours and crawling into bed with us, which usually means kicking me out. I had had it at this point and decided I needed to employ a version of the bedtime routine I have seen on one of those "Nanny" shows. I put her to bed making sure all of her needs were met and stayed by her bedroom door. Every time, nearly 40 in total, she climbed out of bed I would promptly put her back in without talking or making eye contact.
I couldn't believe how stubborn she was about it. Really, 40 times crawling in and out of bedscreaming and crying at the top of her lungs!! It took about 1 1/2 hours to get her to sleep, but she never undressed. The past couple of nights she hasn't got out of bed and only cries about 10 minutes while I wait by her door for her to settle down. Now I have to figure out how to stop her from kicking me out of bed at 5 in the morning! I know this is a bit of a rant, but I AM TIRED! Being pregnant and not getting enough sleep is the worst, I'm hopeing she grows out of this fast.

Tournament

Sivai had his last wrestling tournament Tuesday night and he did great. He got pinned on his first match, but rebounded and pinned his opponent the second match. He can't wait until next year.