What Happened

Today being News Years Eve, I have been thinking about the year that has gone by.  So I thought I would share some of my highlights of 2014.

1.  One of the biggest things we did this year was move to a new province.  I have always  liked Nova Scotia and while Newfoundland may always call to my soul, Nova Scotia has become our home.  I don't see us moving back to Newfoundland any time while the kids are young.

2.  My camera broke so all the pictures I took this year have been taken with my phone.  I think they turn out pretty well when you take that into consideration.

3.  Little Prince has actually narrowed his eating choices down.  He basically only eats peanut butter and Nutella sandwiches.  He hasn't really learned anything new yet. But he is on the waiting list for several therapists and doctors and I really believe that things will be getting on the go for him in the next year.  The fact that he is being referred directly to a preschool autism clinic is wonderful.  He has developed into such a sweet, funny, contented boy and I love him more than I can ever explain. 

4. Princess Snifflefritz started kindergarten in our homeschooling and she has shown so much more patience than I can ever explain.  She is such a loving, cuddly little girl.  She still has a speech impediment that makes her difficult to understand sometimes, but she sounds so cute when she talks I just want to hug her. 

5.  Princess Magpie has developed into a little mini-me.  She loves to organize and clean and cook.  She loves to help in any way she can.  She adores her baby brother and plays with him whenever she has the opportunity.  It is all I can do to keep her out of his room when he is napping.  My only issue with Princess Magpie is that she is so insecure, she doesn't realize how very special she is and it has been my goal to help her with that.

6.  Princess Belle has really liked our move.  She has two friends that live right around our door who share her interests.  She loves having her own room and loves the fact that one of her friends is next door and yells out his window to talk to her in her window. So all in all she has been really contented here.  She is a great big sister and I am pretty sure, Little Prince thinks she is another mommy to him.  He adores her!

7.  Little Prince fell out of his crib in February of this year and broke his collar bone.  My poor boy!  I felt so awful.  He did heal though and you would never know he had fallen.  I was thrilled when he got his little brace off, but he and I are both a little nervous over his klutzy tendency to fall though.  I would love to pad his whole world to keep him safe and I admit it, I am really over-protective of my boy.

8.  My girls spent a great deal of time this year dressing up.  They love it so much and I LOVE to watch their fun and their enjoyment. 

9.  At the end of the this year, I decided to stop away from the TOS review crew.  They have been good to me, but I felt pulled in too many directions and needed to let somethings go for a while.  As much as I enjoyed the TOS Crew, it was honestly a relief to have one less deadline on my plate. 

10.  In March, Princess Magpie got into the craft supplies and gave her little sister a haircut!  It took a LONG time for her to look halfway normal again.  Good thing she is cute so that she could pull off that horrible 'do. 

11.  I started doing a lot more cooking with my little girls this year.  They love it so much and always ready to jump right in and stand on a chair to 'help' me in the kitchen.

12.  And this year, I finally became the mommy of only one child in diapers!  It took a long time, but Princess Snifflefritz finally got the hang of being completely potty trained.

13.  Princess Belle experimented with dying her hair blond and she loved it which was what I wanted for  her anyway.

14.  One of the things we liked about moving to Nova Scotia was all of the events and festivals we have been able to enjoy.

15.  It was our first year doing homeschool with three kids full-time.  I have struggled to get a routine but we are getting through it.  The kids are loving it and that is the important thing.

16.  Our friend Chris was missing this year and we spent a lot of time worrying about him, but we were thrilled when he was found safe and sound.

17.  Little Prince moved to a big boy bed and he made the transition remarkably well!  I am so proud of him.

In the Zone

Little Prince is enjoying his new big boy bedroom and it makes me laugh.  If he sees you coming and his door is open, he walks up and carefully closes the door.  And if you have something for him, he takes it from you and then quickly closes the door in your face.  This room is his own private zone and he likes it.  He has always preferred to spend time by himself and I guess he felt like this room was his perfect private place.  I am so happy for him.

Gratitude Sunday (on Monday)

Sunday's heart felt tradition. A time to slow down, to reflect, to be grateful.

Here are some things I am grateful for this week:

1.  My Sweet Princess Snifflefritz turning a whole five years old, where did the time go?

2. Fun shopping trips with my girls.

3. Keeping the magic of Christmas alive, having kids that are excited by growing candy canes and presents from Santa.

4.  Getting a cute picture of my babies in the Christmas Jammies!

5. Excited kids on Christmas morning.

 6. Sweet girls who help their little brother open his Christmas presents when he got up a little later in the day.

7.  Time with friends over the holidays.

8. The fun of Christmas morning, everyone excitedly opening presents.

9. I am VERY grateful that Little Prince successfully made the transition to his big boy room.

10. A silly boy who plays so hard in his new room, he fell asleep over his supper.  

Crash!

Well, Little Prince climbed out of his crib the other night.  The loud crash sound and subsequent screeching scared the heck out of me, and he cried LOUDLY but luckily he wasn't hurt at all.  But it does mean that it is time to transition him to another method of sleeping.  I was nervous about a bed because he rocks HARD at night and he has very little idea of edges and keeping away from them.  So I really felt like he would rock himself right off the edge of his bed every night.  I could see many bumps and bruises in my future.  I thought of putting a mattress on the floor, but I didn't want it to seem like I just threw a mattress on the floor like some poor college student who couldn't afford an actual bed.  But then I thought of the Montessori idea of little kids having mattresses on the floor so that things are all at their level.  If I did his room up nice, it could work for him and it would keep him safe.

Here are some rooms I am looking at for inspiration:

I decided to keep the chair in their because he likes it, but I put the edge of it by his mattress so that if he falls off it he will simply fall onto his mattress only a few inches down.  I left the decorations we had up high, but I am going to put some down low for him too.  Here is my start (It isn't finished, but it was a quick fix for now)

We tried him in his new room and he LOVED playing in there.  It does take him a LONG time to go to sleep and after "naptime" we took him downstairs for supper and within seconds he was like this:

Silly boy played so much he tired himself out.  I am just happy he adjusted so well to his room.  I really expected him to kick up a fuss.  When we changed around the living room he did.  I think the fact that I left as much the same as I could may have helped him adjust.  I think he liked having freedom to run around his bedroom helped too.  I could hear  him running around a lot, but every time I peeked at him, he was sitting on his bed with his monkey pillow in his lap, rocking hard.