bribery

I am such a believer in bribery.

Miss C has slept in our bed her whole life with the exeption of a few random nights when she was moved by one of us (and ultimately joined us later). These days, I'm feeling a bit ready to have her move on, at least partway. She has a nice bed with a quilt I envy and removable princess stickers on her headboard that officially give her a princess bed. But that was not enough to convince her to do more than randomly nap in it when forced by sheer exhaustion.

And then:

This week her current love affair (a la Target) is the Furreal Baby Duckling:

She has the kitten and the blue and purple bird, but the duck is next on her agenda.

We're about to find out just how deep her love for this "duckie" runs since she has currently got a chart on her door with 2 pictures of the duck and seven (pink) squares. For each night she sleeps in her bed, she gets to put a sticker on a pink square. When the seven squares are full, back to Target we will go and the duckie will come home.

This started Thursday night. She would come out of her room every 3 minutes and ask if she got her duckie yet. Uh...maybe the concept was a bit above her head? She finally fell asleep in Daddy's arms much later than we'd hoped, but did indeed sleep through in her own bed! Tonight, she's out like a light. No fighting, nothing. I think she loves that duck.

I've already decided to find something else for the following week or 10 days after that just to keep it going.

mother's day surprise

Once in a while my brother and I like to surprise my mom on her birthday or Mother's Day. By this, we mean that she is a super low key person and does not care for much ado about days like these, almost preferring the quiet time to herself (well, as much as she can get with Dad around!), then having a good visit with us some other time when it's convenient. She's practical and kind and never presumes upon other's time. Some years, I have enjoyed my own Mother's Day quite fully, with a quick call to her at the end, but this year, we conspired against her.

Mom and Dad live about 45 minutes from us in a tiny town (near great outlet shopping...!). My brother lives a good bit farther out but drove over 2 hours to meet us at the new restaurant a few doors down from my parents' home. My dad arranged to have her there before us. We kept it very simple, with a vase of roses from our yard that Little B carried in. He simply sat next to her and handed them over, wishing her a Happy Mother's Day. She was very pleasantly surprised. My brother, holding his most favorite girl ever, Miss C, snuck around the side and let her kiss Grandma. When mom reached to hug my husband, assuming he held Miss C, she was shocked to see her own son with us.

The rest of the day was peaceful and full of restful visiting (and maybe a small trip to the outlets for a few of us).We got home, put the little ones down, and I managed a (not quite hot enough) bath for myself which in itself is a rare treat these past months. Now? I'm hoping for a good long night's sleep (Baby J might not let it be long enough, but I do forgive him). And when I wake, this awaits me with a brand new Starbucks travel mug boasting shimmery pink flowers. . .
(Okay, okay, I confess. This was a joint gift for my husband's birthday last week as well as Mother's Day...but we're BOTH loving it equally and I can hardly wait for morning! And I do have some new pens and pad of paper to jot down lists which is probably more exciting than you'll ever want to know!)

as promised:

Up to date pictures of my littlest confection . . . he is so sweet I could eat him. :) He is trying out his new Bumbo that accidentally rang up for $11.99 versus $39.99--I got a rockin' good deal is all I can say. (I even went back in the store thinking they rang up something else by accident, but nope, it was the tag on the box!! For the record, I tried to buy another one for a gift, but it was regular price.)