Our Bedtime Routine

This post is linked up at Director Jewels!

Because of church and The Farm keeping us out past bedtime at least 3 nights a week, the kids' bedtime routine is pretty streamlined and quick.  Hubby is generally at The Farm or at work during the kids' bedtime so 98% of the time, I do it on my own.  I can get all 3 kids in bed by myself in less than 20 minutes assuming no one throws a tantrum (ahem, I'm looking at you, Little Man).

Looks comfy, no?

With the two older kids not taking naps anymore (thanks to kindergarten and a general stubborness from Little Man) and Star still needing an early bedtime, I try to feed the kids supper at 5 pm so the bedtime routine can start between 6 and 6:30.  They're all in bed by 6:30 or 7 at the latest.  Thank goodness that the kids can't tell time yet or they'd probably protest their early bedtime :)

The two older kids are in charge of putting their pjs on while I change Star's diaper and get her into her pjs.  Then I lay her down with her blanket and her pacifier in the pack n' play in my room and check on the progress/non-progress that the other kids are making.  Once they're both in the pjs, they're supposed to put the dirty clothes in the laundry basket and head into the bathroom.  They each go potty, get a drink of water, and brush their teeth.  They like to "forget" one of those steps to give them an excuse to get back out of bed later so I double check that they're done with everything before it's time for a story.  We read a devotional from Keys for Kids (You can get Keys for Kids for free through the mail, online or on the app) and then the kids each get to pick out one book to read.

We head into their room and the kids climb into bed, Princess on the bottom bunk and Little Man on the top bunk.  We took the ladder down because we didn't feel it was safe to have up with a preschooler and toddler, but it has the added benefit of keeping Little Man from getting out of bed.  :)  I turn on a lullaby cd and their nightlight, rub their backs for about 30 seconds each, and tuck them in.

Star generally goes right to sleep when I lay her down.  Unless they're super tired, the older two usually talk or play in their beds for a while before they fall asleep.  Sometimes, they keep each other awake for a few hours which is pretty frustrating since I know it means that the next morning will be full of whining and tantrums if they stay up too late.

So that's our bedtime routine!  Because of all three kids having very dry skin and exzema, I limit baths to 1-2 a week during the winter and 3-4 a week during the summer.  Those are fit in whenever we find time--morning, afternoon, or before bed. 

What's your bedtime routine like for your kids? 


 

50 Random Facts About Me

My best friend sent me on email with 50 random facts about her and asked that I return a list of my own.  It's such a fun way to get to know someone a little better so I thought I'd share my list here as well.  Enjoy!

 

1. My favorite season was spring until recently, but I changed my mind and now fall is my favorite.  Two words...pumpkin and spice. 

2. I like lazy days when I don't have a set schedule, but I thrive on a schedule so it's better if I have one.

3.  I just found the bottom of the kids' laundry basket this week.  I haven't seen the bottom all summer.  I think I may have to purge their clothes...

4.  I love Swiss Cake Rolls but only if they're frozen.
 
5.  I'm good about getting the kids' pictures taken around their birthdays every year.  I'm terrible at handing out the prints and displaying the pictures in the house.  Star doesn't have her picture up yet, Princess's displayed picture is from her 4 year pictures and Little Man's is from his 2 year pictures.
 
6. I crave orange juice when I'm pregnant.

7. I keep taking on new projects because I know they will be awesome (new blog with my sisters...yay!  New pattern shop...yes, please!).  I just wish I could find about 8 more hours in the day to keep up with everything.

8. I blog for several reasons...to have an online scrapbook/journal of my family, because I LOVE writing (I miss English class in school), and because it helps me promote my businesses.  I don't make a cent from blogging.

9. I stock up on pumpkin spice hershey kisses every fall.  They're like eating a chai latte.

10. I need 8 hours of sleep a night to feel my best.  Any less and I'm barely functioning, any more and it's too much sleep and I feel groggy.  

11. I don't usually get 8 hours of sleep a night.

12. I hate that I'm addicted to pop.  My favorite is Dr Pepper.

13. Somedays I feel like my kids are conspiring to slowly kill me via insanity.

14. Somedays I feel like my kids are conspiring to kill me with their unbelievable cuteness.

15. I love being a mom.

16.  And sometimes, when I'm having a really bad day, I don't love it.
 
17. My kids threw away my checkbook record over a year ago and I haven't been able to come close to balancing my checkbook since.  It drives me nuts and I'm late with bills a lot because I feel sick just looking at the checkbook.

18. I'm actually looking forward to giving birth again and praying that I don't have to be induced again, because that completely sucks.

19. I got my ears pierced when I was 17.  After 6 months, they still hadn't healed so I had to take the earrings out and let the holes close up.  I wish I could have pierced ears.

20. As much as I hate it when Hubby has to work night shifts, I actually look forward to having a night to myself after the kids go to bed.  I miss that about being single.  

21. I've been craving fast food hamburgers like CRAZY.  We live 45 minutes away from the closest fast food place.

22. Being so far away from...everything is the only thing I don't like about small town living.

23. When I'm in the car, I love to crank the radio and sing along.  It annoys me that the kids insist on talking to me when we're driving.  

24. My favorite genre to read is nonfiction.  Give me an 800 page nonfiction book and I'll be in heaven.

25. I love chick flicks.  

26. I don't cry in front of people, but when I'm by myself, I cry at sappy commercials.

27. I love names.  I love finding out the meanings of them, collecting unusual names, and making lists of ones I love.  

28. My whole family loves bacon, even Star.  If I make some to go with a meal, we usually eat it all off the plate before we sit down to eat.  

29. I secretly love the boy band sound.  Plus One (a Christian boy band) was my favorite when I was younger,

30. I do NOT feel like I'm almost 30.  No way, no how.  I still feel like I'm an older teenager somedays (18 or 19) and when I see my kids I think to myself, whose kids are these?

31. I would NEVER want to go back to the teenage years (14-17).  They were miserable in every single way.  I feel bad that my kids have to go through them.

32. I like fruit, but I don't usually eat it because I'm so picky about it.  It can't be too ripe or not ripe enough, no bruises, etc.  Basically, there's a 1 day window when I like fruit.

33. I haven't parallel parked since my driving test.

34. I love hats-in theory.  I never wear them. 

35. I'm an introvert.  Being around large groups of people for extended lengths of time literally drives me crazy, and I need to get away and be myself. 

36. I'm an HSP (Highly Sensitive Person).  About 1 in 5 people are and learning about it really helped me understand myself better.  (Now if I could just get Hubby to read the book...)

37. When my kids are cranky or whiny, I put them to bed.  Doesn't matter if they just got up or if they just took a nap.  It helps.  I wish I had the same option when I'm cranky or whiny.

38.  I don't even try to fix toys that are broken.  In fact, I like it when toys break because it gives me an excuse to throw them away.

39. I always have a secret stash of food that my family doesn't know about because if they did, they would eat it all and I would cry.

40. I don't like pork sausage, but I love sasuage links, sausage patties, and biscuits and sausage gravy.

41. I love home cooked food, but I hate cooking.

42. I love home baked food, but I hate baking.

43. I'm scared of traveling by myself because I'm never quite sure of what I'm supposed to be doing or where I'm supposed to be going.
 
44. My mom and I still get asked if we're sisters.  I don't know if I should be flattered or insulted by that.

45. I prefer wearing skirts to pants.  During the summer, I mostly wear skirts and if it weren't so stinkin' cold in Minnesota during the winter, I'd wear skirts then too.

46.  I let my kids watch too much tv somedays.

47. I was born with a cyst right above my right eye.  When I was a baby, it looked like I had a big bump on my head.  Thankfully, I grew and the cyst didn't so it's barely noticeable now.

48. If I had a shopping spree at any store, I would go to Hobby Lobby.

49. I don't correct my kids' speech because the way they talk is so cute ("Look at that looooong tree!" and "Look, I'm brooming the floor." are just a few that come to mind) and I know they're going to outgrow it before I know it.

50.  I firmly believe that the best toys for kids are the ones without batteries or buttons.  A set of blocks is one of the most basic toys that every child should own.

Have a random facts post (old or new)?  Link it up!  I'd love to learn more about you :)  If you haven't written one yet, here's your chance!  The link-up will stay open until October 30th so you have time to write one :)

 

What!!?!?!!

Princess has a secret she wants to share with you :)

Are you shocked?  You better believe I am!  I was pretty much positive that Star was going to be my last baby so this is an awesome surprise!

I'm incredibly a little freaked out because not only are Star and the new baby going to be only 17 months apart (I've always known that I wanted my kids at least 2 years apart in age), but this also means we're going to have to move.  I know I said that last time I was pregnant (wasn't that just last summer?), but this time we're really and truly out of space.  There's just no way to make our tiny 2 bedroom apartment work with 4 kids, naps, and Hubby's crazy work schedule that often requires him to sleep during the day.  Plus if we move, I will have more opportunities to make some extra money by babysitting during the week. 

During my last pregnancy, I let the stress of...everything and the negativity of others get to me, and I spent most of the pregnancy depressed, super stressed, and just downright miserable. 

That's not happening this time.

I choose to respond to this pregnancy with joy.
I choose to trust God.
I choose to be thankful that God has blessed us again even though that blessing comes with a great deal of responsibility. 

I choose to be joyful.

I found out I was pregnant on June 26th.  I took a test on a hunch, fully expecting it to be negative.  It didn't show a result right away, and I had to leave to get the kids to storyhour at the library so I tossed it in the garbage and we left.  A few hours later, we were home and the kids were eating lunch.  I'm not sure why, but I decided to pull the pregnancy test out of the garbage just to make sure it was still negative.

It wasn't.

I started crying with happiness, fear, excitement, etc.  Pretty much every emotion went through me in the first 10 minutes.  I told a private group I'm in on Facebook about the test because all of the ladies in the group are awesome and supportive and, most importantly, not local so I knew if I told them there wouldn't be any chances of anyone near me finding out :)  They advised me to take another test as it might be a false positive from sitting in the trash so long.  I took another test later that afternoon and... Bam!  Instantly two lines popped up.

I'm 10 weeks now and due on March 4th.  After what happened last time, I still intend to find out the gender at the ultrasound, but I'm not sure if I'm going to share the results with anyone else.

And just to finish this up...here are a few other bloggers I follow who are also expecting!

Jenni from the Blog-She is also having her fourth baby and her third one is about the same age as Star.
Hormonal Imbalances
Proverbs and Pacifiers
Everything and Nothing From Essex
Tales of Beauty for Ashes
This Year's Love Will Last-Her pregnancy announcement video was the sweetest thing I've ever seen.

Are you pregnant?  Just had a baby (anytime in the last year counts!)?  Have an awesome birth story (seriously, all birth stories are awesome so if you have one, it counts.)  Link up your blog!

May Giveaways and Contests Linkup

Welcome to this month's giveaways and contests link-up!  If you have a giveaway or contest that you are currently running, link it up!  If you're just stopping by, check out the giveaways and enter any that interest you. 

You can link up your giveaway or any other giveaways you find online!  Of course, use common courtesy and ask the host of the giveaway if you can link it up here first :)

If you're linking up your giveaway or contest here, feel free to grab my button!

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The only rule is that any linked giveaways or contests must be family friendly.  Please include the date the giveaway ends in your title.






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April Giveaways and Contests Linkup

I love entering giveaways online :)  I've actually won a lot of stuff from them so I'm always looking for another one to enter, but it can be hard to find them sometimes.  So I'm starting a monthly feature here on my blog!

Every month, I will have a giveaways post where you can link up your giveaway or any other giveaways you find online!  Of course, use common courtesy and ask the host of the giveaway if you can link it up here first :)

If you're linking up your giveaway or contest here, feel free to grab my button!

<div align="center"><a href="http://supermommyornot.blogspot.com/search/label/GIveaway%20Linkup" title="Supermommy!...Or Not." target="_blank"><img src="http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/j441/annaliesbabyboutique/GIveaways150x150_zpse7de7cd2.jpg" alt="Supermommy!...Or Not." style="border:none;" /></a></div>

The only rule is that you may link up to any giveaway or contest as long as it's family friendly.





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What's in the Easter Basket?

I'm kind of a bad mom.  I don't go all out on holidays because I know the kids will be getting a lot of candy and gifts from relatives.  Maybe that actually makes me a good mom?  I don't know.

Either way, this is what my kiddos are getting in their Easter baskets this year.  I use the term "Easter basket" loosely since I don't actually have baskets for them and plan to just arrange their gifts on the fireplace hearth (lame moment alert-I had to google that because I couldn't remember what it was called.  I kept thinking mantle, but that's on top of the fireplace.  I'm so shmart.)  Don't worry, I'll stick a post-it or something with their name above each pile lovely grouping of gifts so they'll know whose is whose.  This should especially be helpful to 6 month old Star since she's been busy reading War and Peace in her crib at nights and appreciates all the extra practice reading she can get. 

This is the "joint gift pile".  The egg shaped marshmallows will be shared by all (except Star, of course).  I won the Veggie Tales dvd at a giveaway on the Our Journey blog and was thrilled that it arrived in time for Easter!

 In case you couldn't tell, this is Star's pile of Easter goodies.  She's getting a couple of Carter's bibs and "shoe socks" from Target and a small doll from Tansy Dolls.  I won a $50 gift certificate to Tansy Dolls from a giveaway at Forty Toes Photography and was able to get a small gift for each one of the kidlets for Easter. 

Little Man's loot.  He's realllllly into cutting up paper and coloring so I got him his own pair of safety scissors (he's been using Princess's) and some Crayola Twistables crayons.  The sweet little robin is from Tansy Dolls.

Princess is in need of some new hair supplies (after 4 years, she's finally running out of hair elastics!) so I got her some hair elastics, glitter barrettes, and a hairbrush and comb set.  The cute little doll is from Tansy Dolls.

What are your kids getting in their Easter baskets?  Link up your blogpost here!






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Do You Have an Etsy Shop?

It seems like I spend a lot of time talking about my two Etsy shops here.  This post is not about my shops though, (see, no hyperlink this time!) it's about yours!

I'd love to see what you're making for your shop.  If you don't have an Etsy shop, but have one you love, link that up instead!  There are no rules for this linkup except that all links must be to a family-friendly Etsy shop.  You can enter more than one link.      







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A to Z of Me

Dawn over at Mom-A-Logues did this and I thought it looked like fun!  Here's mine!
 

AGE = 27

BED SIZE = We started out our marriage with a very uncomfortable double bed.  When I was pregnant with Little Man, our landlady (who is also a close family friend) was looking to downsize so she traded beds with us.  She took our double bed and we got her super comfy king size bed!  It made a huge difference in my sleep while I was pregnant.  With the double bed, I'd always wake up stiff and so sore I could barely walk.

CHORE YOU HATE = Laundry.  Hands down!  I don't mind washing, drying, or even folding (I save it for after the kids go to bed and then sit down and watch a few tv shows while folding laundry), but I hate, hate, hate putting it away. 

DOGS = No thank you!  I don't mind dogs, but it's just one more responsibility and expense right now.  When the kids are old enough to clean up after the dog ( I am NOT becoming a poop scooper!) and help pay for vet bills, they can get one.

ESSENTIAL START TO YOUR DAY =  Waking up before the kids.  If I have a few minutes to do my devotions and drink a cup of hot chai before they wake up, I can handle them so much better.

FAVORITE COLOR = Blue.  I love just about every shade of it!  My wedding colors were blue and yellow.

GOLD OR SILVER =  I've always like silver better, but all of the jewelry my husband has ever given me has been gold, so it's growing on me!

HEIGHT =  5' 5"

INSTRUMENTS YOU PLAY = I used to play the flute, but asthma made that difficult.  I play a little piano, a little mandolin, a little guitar, and a little violin/fiddle.  I really should buckle down and get good at one instrument :)

JOB TITLE = Small business owner.  I have my own children's clothing boutique and am starting a new business selling pdf sewing patterns for clothing I've designed.  I also count wife and mother as my job titles :) 

KIDS = Princess (5), Little Man (2), and Star (4 months).  I always wanted to have 4 or 6 kids (not 5, I grew up with 4 siblings and nothing divides evenly among 5!), but I'm happy with my 3 precious little ones.

LIVE = In a very small town in southeastern Minnesota.  We have to drive 45 minutes to buy anything other than the basic groceries we can buy in town here.

MARRIED = Married to my dear Hubby for 6 years now!

NICKNAMES =   My older sister calls me "Nanna" and she's the only one who's allowed to call me that.  I've been called Hannah Banana A LOT by pretty much everyone, but I generally try to discourage that, lol.

OVERNIGHT HOSPITAL STAYS = Um, yeah.  When I was 6, I was in the hospital for a week (and in a coma for 5 days) because I stopped breathing due to an asthma attack.  Asthma attacks put me in the hospital again at ages 10, 13, and 15.  I've also been in the hospital 3 times to have babies :)  The last time, I was kept 2 extra days because I developed cellulitis in my leg after giving birth.  After it was completely better, I finally looked it up in a medical journal (I didn't want to freak myself out while I still had it).  By the time cellulitis gets to the point where you're spiking a high fever like I was, you're going septic and will slip into a coma and die if you don't get help immediately.  Glad I didn't know how serious it was while I had it!

PET PEEVE = Inconsiderate people.  I always try to consider how my actions affect others.  It really bugs me when people completely ignore that and just do what they want.

QUOTE = "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain."  Philipians 1:21

RIGHTY OR LEFTY = I'm so right handed that I could probably cut my left hand off and not miss it.  When I was 6 (yeah, it was a bad year), I broke my right wrist.  Boy, did that make things interesting for a while.  Incidentally, that's when I finally learned to tell my right hand from my left.  Even now, I stop and think, "okay, I broke this wrist so this is my right hand and that's my left."  Pathetic?  Probably.

SIBLINGS =  I have 1 older sister, 2 younger brothers, and a younger sister, in that order.  I loved growing up in a big family.

TIME YOU WAKE UP =  If it were up to me, I'd sleep until about 7:30, but Star usually gets me up between 6:30 and 7. 

UNIVERSITY ATTENDED = I attended a community college during my senior year in high school and then took online classes several years later.

VEGGIES YOU DISLIKE = I'm a bona fide picky eater (sorry, Mom!) so there aren't too many I like.  Actually, it would probably be faster to list the ones I like than the ones I don't.  I like spinach, greens, green beans, carrots, potatoes, and corn.  Ok, corn is technically a grain, so that doesn't really count.

WHAT MAKES YOU RUN LATE = My kids!  Somedays, it can take over an hour to get out the door.

X-RAYS YOU'VE HAD = I had an x-ray on my wrist when I broke it and I've had quite a few x-rays for asthma related stuff.

YUMM FOOD =  I could eat pepperoni pizza 6 days a week.

ZOO FAVORITE ANIMAL = Elephants.






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Virtual Cookie Exchange

I love trying out new cookie recipes this time of year.  Do you have a favorite recipe you'd like to share?  The recipes don't have to be cookies, any dessert will do!  Link it up below!

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