Routine and Change

Well, with our new little one on the way and school season upon us, I decided we needed to implement some routine and change around our house to get ready for the baby to arrive.  First things first was to create some "down time" in the afternoon for mom.  Since Allie has not been taking naps for around a year now, it's hard to have a "mom break" in the day and take a breath.  Allie will go play in her room and do an activity but then she'll be back at my feet in 5 minutes.  So I had a talk with Allie about our new "quiet time."  She was to play in her room and not emerge until the timer beeped (I brought up my kitchen timer and set it right outside her room).  We talked about all the activities she could quietly do in her room (read books, color, play Lego's, etc.)  during this time.

I thought this would be more tricky and I would get a lot of resistance to this change in our routine, but I was shocked by Allie's reaction on our first day.   After about 20 minutes, Allie was calling me into her room telling me that she was done.  I reminded her the timer hadn't gone off and that she needed to finish her time so mom could have hers (I quickly thought she would be calling for me again soon).  Well about 5 minutes later I didn't hear any more chatting going on in Allie's room.  I went into check on her and started to cry (pregnancy hormones I guess).  I was shocked that this little child of mine would put herself to sleep for a nap, tucking herself in and all.  I was so grateful to Heavenly Father for the obedient little child that had been placed in my home and for the outpouring of love that I had for her.  I was a changed mommy after day one of "quiet time."  Since then, Allie has done super with her quiet time.  She now remains in her room, I get a breather, and occasionally she will get some extra rest time in too.  I am a firm believer in establishing some routine quiet time in the house!

Day 1 of "quiet time"- Allie fast asleep

The next thing that we've been working on over the entire month of September has been our night time routine.  Allie crawls into our bed a majority of the nights and snuggles right up next to me. I am the one closest to the door and I am a very sound sleeper, so I literally don't notice that she enters into our room and crawls into our bed.  To my knowledge I was sleeping fine with her next to me but we wanted to get Allie staying in her own bed for when the little miss comes and is in our bed for night time feeds etc.  So we set up a three week chart one night and thought of the rewards that could gradually get bigger and better to motivate Allie to stay in her bed.  One of her rewards, after two weeks of sleeping in her own bed all night, was a trip to Wahooz to play some games and ride the go-karts with dad.  Allie has definitely struggled at being consistent at earning her daily stars but she finally got 14 stars and earned her trip to Wahooz.

Allie got to enjoy a few rides and a few games before her big go kart ride with dad.  Here she is riding with "Spidey" as she calls him

Playing a few games with the assistance of mom....I grew up going to Po Jo's and love games.  I know, big waste of money, but fun in the process

Spending some time with dad watching the other riders, building up the experience

In line with dad waiting for their turn

Allie speeding around the track with dad; she really did enjoy her ride.  All of the action shots I got of them were blurry.  Blake actually stopped for two seconds on the track so I could grab this picture of the them which show a non-enthusiastic Allie.  I'm so proud of you Allie girl and all of the progress and change you are able to make.  We love you!