Changes

This picture above summarizes my life. The funny thing is that this was only half the laundry that I folded yesterday. By the time I was done, the couch was covered. What does this tell us?? My kids have too many clothes. End of story. BTW, the reason these piles aren't falling over is because there are piles behind them to keep them up...

On a happier note, Callie FINALLY learned how to ride her bike on Saturday. YAY!! Let me tell you, it was way easier teaching her than it was Alexa. The difference in personalities is amazing! She even fell off once and scraped her hands- I thought that would be the end of it. But, in typical Callie fashion, she went inside, got herself a bandaid, came back outside and hopped back on the bike. Now she loves it and wants to be outside all the time riding. We are still working on braking at the appropriate times, but it will come. I'm so proud of her!

These three were the onlookers as we practiced. Alexa was in charge of making sure Quinten didn't run away... which isn't an easy task. The kids is everywhere. Like his messy face?? I just can't manage to keep him clean, so I've given up. He's clean from about 8PM to 7AM... it's almost half the day, right?

My cute little Leah. She insisted one of the pictures be just of her. What a sweetheart.

So, our big news is this: Quinten's crib came down today. After 8 years of nearly constant use, I took the crib down and we replaced it with a bed. It's kind of an odd feeling; it makes my baby days really feel complete. My kids will continue to grow and we won't go back to these baby stages. Every time we've moved one of our kids out of this crib, it has been because we are moving another baby into it. Quinten is our only child who ever learned how to climb in and out... and it's driving me nuts, which is why we are done. The final straw was when he fell over the foot of it on Saturday and scared me to death. I'm still trying to decide what to do with the crib- do we store it for 15 years till we have grandchildren and then put it up again or do we just get rid of it?? I feel a little nostalgic as I see it lining my hallway today. I remember when we picked it out for Alexa- I was in love with it. I remember the first night we ever had her sleep in it- I was so paranoid that I got up to check on her every hour and had a baby monitor on, just in case I didn't hear her... in our 500 square foot house in Provo. :) I remember how she bit the heck out of one of the ends when we were in our "letting her cry it out" phase... the tiny little teeth marks are still there. (And then we decided against the crying it out method... the kids would have completely ruined that crib!) It's lived in four different houses with us and been through four different kids. It's had visitors form time to time- cousins and friends who come to stay with us. I've spent many nights cleaning puke from between the bars, have spent many more nights sitting at the foot waiting for kids to fall asleep; I've seen my kids climb in together and lay with whoever has happened to be the baby at the time. And, now we're moving on... and that's OK with me. It's been a good run, but it's time. :)

My sweet boy, in his last minutes as my baby in his bed. How did this happen so fast?!