3:00AM Hide and Seek

About a week ago I went to Arizona for a short vacation to see my mom. Kevin did great, and I had a ton of fun...but that's an entirely different post. When I got back I went right back into my routine of getting up with the girls at night. My first night back this is what happened.

I woke up around 3am and thought I would go check on Ellie and Emma since they had been quiet all night. Sometimes, in my house, being quiet is worse than being loud. Anyways, I got up and walked into the hall. The first thing I spot is the girls door open. I walk over to it and Ellie is standing with her face to the wall. This was our conversation:

"Ellie, what are you doing?"
"Playing Hide and Seek with Emma."
"NOW? It's the middle of the night!!!"
"Emma wanted to play..."
"Where is Emma..."
"She's hiding, silly mommy."

Oh. My. Word. Are you KIDDING me?? So of course I had to find her...Off I go, Ellie trailing behind, doing a mad 3am search for a hiding Emma. I turned on the lights and looked in the bathrooms, living room and bedrooms. No Emma. The only place left was Elana's room. Sure enough, Emma was hiding under Elana's crib. It was a given that she wouldn't want to come out when I found her so, as quietly as I could, I literally had to crawl under the crib and DRAG her out. This was our part of of the conversation:

"Emma, what on earth are you doing?
" I 'iding from stisy."
" I see that, but it's the middle of the night. You can't hide in the middle of the night."
" I 'ide in mommy's room?"
"No you cannot hide in mommy's room."
"I 'ide in my Lana's room?"
"Nope, no more in Lana's room."
"I 'ide in my room?"
"You can hide in your room if you do it in your bed."
"Ok mommy!!"

So off to bed they both went, where Emma plopped down and promptly threw her blankie over her head. I kissed her sheeted head, kissed Ellie and headed towards the door. Just as I was about to close the door Emma popped out from under her blankie and yelled "BOO!"

I shut the door and walked away.

Words That Hurt

Lately Ellie has been just full of words that hurt. For example...The other day I called Kev from work to tell him to take chicken out of the freezer. Ellie said she wanted to say HI so he gave her the phone. What does she say to me when she gets on? "Hi Mommy, don't come home, stay away." Hmmm....nice.

Today was worse. I am going to AZ in a few days and wanted to get my hair done first. I got a cut and color which I have to say I LOVE. I got home and Ellie comes up and says, "Mommy, you look ucki-full." My dad, who was there at the time, asked "Don't you mean beautiful?" And Ellie responded, "No, ucki-full. Mommy's hair is ugly and all tangly." Nice.

Now, I know she's only 4, but I have to admit that her words can still hurt me. When Kevin told her to say sorry she did, but only because he wouldn't let her do what she wanted until she said it. When I explained to her how her words hurt my feelings, it really didn't seem to phase her much. I have noticed her attitude towards me getting worse lately. Not towards anyone else, just me. Another of what I call her "Pre-pre-pre teen" phase. Great. I can't wait to hear what she says when puberty actually sets in.

Updates

It's been a while since I posted updates on the girls so I thought I would do so and bring everyone up to speed.

Ellie: I can't believe how big my little girl is getting! Her newest thing is playing Nick Jr. games on the computer. She LOVES it. Plus she does surprisingly well considering she's never really used a computer before. It gives her something to look forward to when Emma is taking her nap. And she's using her big girl bike now...Granted, she was a little timid at first but she's getting the hang of it. Had her preschool teacher meeting the other day and they said she's above the curve with her writing skills, so that's very cool. I am so proud of her!!!

Emma: OMG, Emma is a nutball. Ask Jill, we were discussing it the other night. All attitude, NO FEAR. The girl has bruises and scrapes all over, yet she never sheds a tear about it. I think she inherited Kevin's high pain tolerance. Great. She is totally becoming her own little person now. Her favorite word is "no" and trust me, she uses it ALL THE TIME!!!! Our big struggle right now is getting her to sit down and eat. She refuses...And she NEEDS to eat. I'm afraid if I can't figure something out soon she's going to start looking like one of those starving kids on the TV. :(

Elana: My little bugsy is getting SO BIG! Will be 5 months in April, and I can't believe it. Out of all three she is certainly the most happy, smiling of the lot. Now that we are over the colic that is. She is also a major Mommy's girl. If only she didn't drool so much when she smiles....icky. Her favorite past time is to try and stand...Well, that and watching her big sisters. Trust me, she's constantly entertained. After I get back from AZ we will be getting rid of the bassinet and going to the crib. She's eating cereal and a little food with her formula. Seems to be going well.

Soooo...that's what's been going on. We girls were all sick this past weekend so Kev got the wonderful job of taking care of us all. I never even got out of bed last Friday. He did great!!! This gives me hope that my house will still be standing when I get back from AZ in a few weeks. Let's hope!

Emma's Under The WHAT?

That is what I screamed the other day when I walked into the apartment to find Kevin trying to coax someone or something from under the couch. Apparently he and the girls were picking up toys and Emma saw that there was a little people girl waaaaayyy back under the couch. Being the type of girl she is (aka. NUTS!) she decided to crawl under the couch and get it. It seems that if she pushes herself into the floor, turns her head to the side and scoots on her tummy she can get under. As I stood there and watched Emma scooted back out from under the couch, prize in hand. Oh my god.

Everyday it become more apparent to me that my middle daughter is either going to 1) join the circus, or 2) become a female stunt artist. Or perhaps she'll just be a stunt artist for the circus. Whatever. All I know is that whether it's nose diving off the couch onto (hopefully) a pile of cushions on the floor or shimmying her way up the cupboards I never now what she will do next. Honestly, sometimes I don't want to know. LOL.

Liar Liar Pants on Fire

We have been having issues with Ellie telling the truth lately. She will sneak into my bedroom and take something, then lie about it when I ask her if she took it. She's taken my wedding rings, nail polish, money, etc. Or she will get something out of the kitchen and put it in her backpack. The other day I came into the room and she said to me, "Mama, I only have toys in my backpack." When she initiates something like that I KNOW she's not telling me the truth. Sure enough, she had no toys in her bag. What she did have, however, was an entire sleeve of Thin Mint cookies. Huh.

Then last week things hit the ceiling. Ellie came home from school about 1.5 weeks ago with a toy bracelet which she said my dad had given her. I believed that because he will often give the girls little trinkets. The following week, however, she came home with a play phone and a pair of little girl sunglasses. Again, she said dad gave them to her. This time I wasn't buying it. Without Ellie knowing I called dad who confirmed my suspicions. I then asked Ellie what Grandpa would say if I called him and asked if he had given Ellie a gift. She said he'd say NO. I asked where she got them. Apparently she took them from a girl at her school. Great.

Needless to say this discovery was followed by punishment, a call to the school, and a plan on how to give the stuff back. We decided that since Ellie used another girls toys she would give that little girl some of her toys to play with for a few days in return. The teachers and the parent of the girl were all very understanding. I am hoping that Ellie learned her lesson.

Since the incident at the school Ellie has not told me any more lies. I am keeping my fingers crossed that she really did learn her lesson. According to my mom I started to lie about the same age. However, as that story goes, when asked why I lied I quoted a song with the lyrics "Tell Me Lies Tell Me Sweet Little Lies." Apparently I looked at my mom and said "The song TOLD me to lie."...and I fully believed that. LOL. As far as I know Ellie has never heard that song......

The Squeaky-Squeaks

This post is not about my kids, but rather something that has been aiding in my lack of sleep. I currently live on the second floor of an apartment complex. The people above us have never been quiet. In fact, they are often very, very loud. I am not sure what their young boy does up there but I am pretty sure he is training to be a heavyweight or something. Anyways, they have recently added a new noise to their bangs and booms. About 5 nights a week, always around 4:00am, I am awakened by the Squeaky Squeaks. Yes, that's right. Every night. Of course their master bedroom is right above ours so I'm not shocked that I've been hearing things. But it's almost every night...and almost always in the early morning hours. Last night, as I was listening to their, um, sounds, a couple of things cross my mind...

1) 4am?? If Kev even tried to touch me at 4am he'd get socked

2) 5 times a week??? Are you KIDDING??

3) I'm tired. I wish they would stop.

Soooo...that's what I am dealing with right now. As though it's not bad enough having Kev's snoring and three kids wake me up 20-30 times a night, I now have that as well.

Some "OMG" Moments

In my household there is no shortage of OMG moments. You know, those select events that make you laugh and cry at the same time while your mouth hangs open and steam comes from your ears. Here are a few:

1) Ellie thought she would be funny the other day when we told her to go to her room. She hid under the bathroom sink until I was in tears thinking she had gone out the apartment. Then she came out, walked up to me and said, "Mommy I made funny joke." Ug!

2) The girls got into our bedroom and took my rings. Kevin found all of them except my wedding band, which Ellie claimed to have put in her "secret hiding spot." After about 1 1/2 hours of searching we figured out that her hiding spot is under the couch cushion. At least I got my ring back.

3) I put Elana in her bouncy seat and went to the fridge to get a pop. I came back literally 15 seconds later and there she was, out of her seat, on her stomach and about 1.5 feet away. I think she was trying to swim or something on the carpet.

4) Emma can now get out of her crib. Lucky us. I woke up the other night and screamed at the top of my lungs. There, in the dark, was Emma on the side of my bed with her blankie over her head like a little Casper. Staring at me.

5) The girls have figured out that when the faucet in the bathroom goes on they are going to get into trouble. Now if they want to play with water they just get it from the toilet. Lovely.

6) Ellie and Emma got into Elana's room where I was storing 7 bins of clothes that I was sorting. They dumped them all over the floor. Nothing left in the bins. Guess I need to start sorting again.

Well...that's what happened in my house this past week. Fun Fun Fun!!! LOL. :D