Missing sleep, potty succes, and an award!

The kids have been waking up way too early lately. Like in the 6 o'clock hour. And as much as I want to blame my husband for making too much noise in the mornings, well maybe it all can't be his fault. Right? (or can it?) I can't make the kids lay back down.I tell them to go back to their rooms, get back into bed. And sleep. Now! Please. Pleeaasse??

No. They pile into my bed. Because after all, I am the mommy. And mommies ROCK. We rule the world. And make pancakes too. And there is no better thing on earth than to climb into a warm bed with mommy. The kids creep in. Quiet at first, then they start looking at each other. And then they hold hands. A patty cake game of sorts begins. I wonder to myself, could they entertain themselves this way for another hour while I slept? Quietly? The answer is a resounding NO. What a ridiculous thought. Out of nowhere, laughter ensues. They begin jumping on the bed. Jumping at each other, away from each other. Over me, to the other side of the bed. All the while laughing wildly at the sheer fun of it. Can't. Sleep. Through. The. Noise. I certainly cannot sleep through the little people trodding all over me. Ugh.

Morning time. It's starting way too early. So I get up. The day starts. When it used to be later. But on a positive note, my little girl is making HUGE strides on the potty. I've been putting training underwear on her for the past several days. There have been many puddles to clean up. Then yesterday, I think something clicked for her. She didn't have one single accident. She peed in the baby toilet 7 times. She told me each of the times before she actually had to go. Oh it was a proud day for us. And there was much rejoicing.

Today she is back in her training pants, and I'm hoping we can catch a #2 with as much success as yesterday. Hoping. Please dear Lord, let me have one child who is easy. Please?

On another happy note, I have received another blog award! I am surpsrised and honored to be thought of at all. I received it from Dawn over at Dawn's Place. Thank you so much!

Of course you should know how this works now. You get an award, you pass it along, there are rules and such:

Here they are...
Mention the blog that gave it to you and comment on their blog to let them know you've posted your award. Publish these rules. Share 6 values that are important to you and 6 things you do not support. That sounds easy enough.

So here are 6 things I value.

1. My family.

2. My health.

3. The health of my children and family members too.

4. The fact that I even exist at all. I thank God and my mom for that.

5. My maid. Honestly, she is a lifesaver.

6. Every single blessing that comes my way.

Now for 6 things I do not support.

1. Barack Obama.

2. Foul mouths in ear shot of kids.

3. Rude and inconsiderate people.

4. People who litter.

5. My dh's irrationally long showers.

6. Other people eating my chocolate.

Now that was fun, and relatively painless. And since it has taken me nearly an hour and a half to compose this blog post, I'm only naming 3 people to share this award with. (I've had a small child clinging to my back, one that unraveled the toilet paper in the bathroom, and one that missed the toilet and peed on the floor.) So you'll have to forgive me. One day, I just might actually follow the rules. One day. ;)

1. Mrs. Newlywed over at The Misadventures of a Newlywed.

2. Casey over at The Ever-Changing Life of a Military Wife.

3. Lizzy over at The Journey to the Hot Tub.

Random stuff.

Here is Alexa talking to Nana and Tito just before we sang happy birthday to her and let her open her presents. We brought the laptop out and called them up so that they could sing to her too. She loved it!

Eddie admiring the cake.

And loving Aunt Vicki's gift.

Playing with the water table. This is a big hit. I don't mind all the water, now that I moved the table outside!

I forgot to make Alexa take a nap yesterday, the kids were having too much fun. Here she fell asleep next to me while I was on the computer.

And no! Mom, I didn't leave her there. As soon as I looked down and saw that she had fallen asleep, I picked her up and laid her on my bed. (After I snapped this photo of course.)

OK. Now I know that I never post pictures of my dh. Mostly because he hates it. Doesn't like it. Prefers not to be seen, yadda, yadda, yadda. Well. Today, he can just bite me. I'm posting this pic. Because I can. And because I have changed the kids, fed them twice, folded laundry, moderated fights and now still he does this. It's 12:27 in the afternoon. Yes, mom. Truth be told, this is what your son in law is doing right this instant as I blog.

This is the best part of my day.

Because my children didn't listen to me when I asked them not to jump on the bed. Because they ignored my instructions to stop screaming "yee-haw". Yes. I know. It's kind of funny now. I'm totally loving this mommy time at the end of the day. I don't have to watch Barney. The Backyardigans, or Dragon tales. I can watch a movie. Or CNN even.

And I can eat whatever I want without having to give the other half of it to them. I can be totally selfish.

I had to take a picture for the blog. Here they are after literally wearing themselves down into a peaceful sleep.

The only thing missing here is a nice bottle of red wine.

PS.... This bathtub is really big. I'm 5'7" and with my legs outstretched, my toes just touched the end of the tub!