Overwhelmed!

Usually when I am "overwhelmed" it is synonymous for STRESSED!! Too many things to do, not enough hours in the day, type of stress. And believe me, I have been feeling that A LOT lately!! This weekend, I have to say that I was overwhelmed in a positive way, for once! I was completely and utterly overwhelmed by the love and friendship I am surrounded by.

After church on Sunday, our friends surprised Scott and I with a baby shower!! I didn't expect this at all, considering it's our third child and all! I was actually so surprised and shocked that I started getting all misty eyed knowing what everyone did to pull this off!! I know, preggo hormones do crazy things!! But most (maybe ALL) of my friends who live close by have waaaaay busier lives than I do...more kids, more activities, stressful jobs, travel schedules, you name it. They are a BUSY group. The fact that everyone was there (husbands and all-to support Scott!!), made everything even more touching.

It was a great day and it was nice that Baby #3 will have some NEW stuff vs. all the "third child" hand me downs!!! We got stocked with diapers for awhile, too! I started putting everything away and things actually, FINALLY seem "ready" at home. Brookey has a brand new room, things are organized....but more on that later...

Buddy's Birthday in Sacramento!

We celebrated Will's 3rd birthday in good 'ol Sacramento, California. Although this city leaves a lot to be desired in more ways than one, we had a GREAT "stay-cation" in the capitol city!

Scott and the kids started off the morning by taking their very first (real) train ride!! They took Amtrack from a station very near our house to downtown Sacramento. I drove, and the train beat me!!! They had a great time on the 50 min ride. Now I have all these grand notions to take the kids to Canada on the train because they had such a good time. Ha! Maybe when they're older :)

The trains didn't end there. After the ride, we walked over to the California State Railroad Museum, which was actually a really cool experience! Buddy LOVED it because there was one floor of just trains, trains and more trains. Beautifully restored and they even let you walk though some of them. All the workers there were dressed up in 19th century clothing. Then upstairs, it was all Thomas the Train stuff. Little Boy heaven....definitely equivalent to a room full of Disney Princess crap for a 3 year old girl :)

After the train museum we had lunch, checked into the Marriott and walked around Capitol Park and inside the Capitol Building. I don't think I've been inside the Capitol Building since our 4th grade field trip! It's pretty cool, and the outside of the building is beautiful. Glad those tax dollars are hard at work for Capitol Beautification, if nothing else!!!

We all had a great time hanging out and relaxing this weekend. We ended the night with pizza and (you guessed it) a Thomas the Train birthday cake. Not a bad weekend for a 3 year old!!!

Their train tickets!


Getting ready to board the train!

At the Railroad Museum

Train Heaven!

The boys at the Capitol

Woo Hoo for Solano County!!

Capitol Park

He's 3!!!

My baby boy turned 3 this past week and I still don't know where the time goes!!! Even though he claims he's a "big boy," I think he'll still always be my 'lil Buddy...just like Brookey is still my "baby" even though her legs are longer than mine now.

He got a brand new big boy bike for his birthday. We figured it was time, since he was riding his trike around the neighborhood at 50 miles an hour. I guess he was hinting that he needed something more man-ly :)

Within minutes, he was riding his new bike around and racing his sister up and down the driveway like he'd been riding for years. I don't think we dared put Brookey anywhere near a bike until at least age 4. She didn't attempt 2 wheels until age 5, however I think Buddy will demand his training wheels come off very shortly (so he can go faster).

Happy Birthday, my Little Bubba!!!!

William Riley Rooney at OneTrueMedia.com

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

Birthday Boy!

It literally seems like last WEEK, I was doing Buddy's 2 year video and now my little sidekick is turning three!!!! Truly amazing!

I've decided from now on, I am just going to do a Rooney Kids Year in Review at the end of each year. I love doing these videos, but I am finding that I am using some of the same pics for each kid's video...so why not just compile ONE vs. THREE :)

Much to my delight, Buddy's birthday festivities will NOT involve a party, but a little staycation this weekend with the family. More details later :) In the meantime, I'm just enjoying spending time with my "little boy." I have truly enjoyed my time with Buddy on my days off...something I never really had with Brookey. He's my little sidekick and we go everywhere together. I will be so sad when he starts preschool!! Whenever that will be...

Happy Birthday, Little Buddy!!!

The Card "Trick"

Brookey starting 1st grade was a big adjustment for everyone. Kindergarten was plain child's play--1st grade is no joke! There are all kinds of tests—math tests, timed tests, spelling tests, sight word assessments and the homework, the HOMEWORK! In Kindergarten the homework was writing letters and coloring the square green. Usually we finished the weekly packet in a day or two. Now we spend a good 30-45 minutes NOT including studying spelling or reading for 15-20 minutes. It’s a lot. For Brookey and for me! By the time she gets home, has a snack, has dinner, takes a shower and does homework, it’s bedtime!!

I am all about incentives (and organization), so I found an AWESOME way to get it all done and keep her motivated to do all of these "jobs." I can’t claim to have made this up, I found it online. These cards have been working SO well for us! You can really start this at any age, for any tasks you need your child to do (brush teeth, clean up toys, read, do homework, etc).

The Card "Trick"

I started by deciding what "jobs" really needed to get done each day. For us it was: Homework, Studying Spelling Words, Practicing Sight Words, Shower/Bath, Reading and Setting the Table. I made a card for each one of these tasks in Powerpoint and laminated the cards:


I added "Free Time!" When she completes all of the "jobs" she gets free time to do whatever--watch TV, play on the computer, torture her brother, whatever. She quickly learned the faster she got the "tasks" done, the more free time she had. This also cuts the complaining down BIG TIME. There is no room for any exhausting child "negotiation." You don't get free time until the jobs are done. Period.

The key to making this fun was giving her the packet of cards plus her own dry-erase pen so she could check off each task as she completed it. Something about dry-erase pens REALLY gets kids motivated. Maybe it's the smell, I don't know.
When she is done with the tasks, she comes to me and gets a ticket for completing all of her "jobs." When she gets 10 tickets, she gets a prize. For her, she's motivated by cold, hard cash. So she gets $5 for 10 tickets. You can choose a "prize" to suit whatever your child is motivated by. Set up the terms how you see fit. Younger kids should take less time to earn a prize since they simply aren't capable of understanding time past a few days.

Enjoy The Card "Trick!" I know it's completely saved my sanity!!!

Hello 3rd Trimester!!

Although there is lots of confusion over when the "trimesters" actually start and end, I just do simple math: 40 weeks/3 trimesters and voila! Roughly 27 weeks is the third trimester in my book. It's also exactly 3 months until my official due date (May 13th). Not much excitement going on since the contraction episode a few weeks ago. Here are some random thoughts as I enter the home stretch:

1) I had forgotten how much I LOATHE, HATE DESPISE maternity clothes. With the exception of some side-ruched maternity t-shirts (which are somewhat cute), I've pretty much banned "maternity clothes" from my wardrobe. 1-2 sizes bigger in pants, nice, flowy shirts that are popular right now and my Bella Band are pretty much what I am sticking to. I'm NOT busting out my panel jeans until 9 months or the seams split on my regular pants :)

2) Speaking of 9 months, I have a good intuition that Baby 3 will not stay the full 9 months. Based on how I feel and my previous pregnancy (one month early), I am guessing Baby 3 will be a late April baby. Let's hope it not any earlier.

3) I'll post belly pics at some point. I realized I have NO pictures of myself preggo with Will. His baby book has a place for a picture of "Mom Pregnant" and I couldn't find anything to fill the space!

4) Continuing to work vs. staying at home is definitely weighing on my mind right now, but I am not making any decisions until this summer. I really have the most ideal job situation imaginable. 2 days a week, I get to be a part of the school where all my kids will eventually go, doing a job I love. But then there's major stress when the kids get sick, Scott travels, hectic mornings and just the sheer energy it takes to keep up with school events and homework, etc...working doesn't seem worth it. Plus, with Scott's new job NOT working from home--there is an additional challenge. I am not a person who gets bored at home with the kids. I have structure and we always find fun things to do. I like the fact that on the days I stay home, I have so much more energy to devote to my family. But I love my job! SIGH--it's such a tough call. No decision is perfect!!!!