Jessalyn's bedtime routine

'We are co-sleepers in this house. And although I would love for our whole family to sleep in the same bed forever there just wasn't enough room for all four of us to sleep comfortably. And we knew it was time for Jessalyn to sleep by herself. So once we moved into our own place and she had her own room we started the process of transitioning her into her own he's. Which I knew was going to be a long and exhausting process. Which it was... And still is sometimes. 

We luckily got a free daybed that totally reminds me if mine when I was little. And got her excited about having her own big girl bed. The first few nights were brutal. I must admit I cried the first night because all she would cry about was that she wanted mommy. We slept in the same bed for three years so it was hard for both of us. Jordan did pretty much all the enforcing because I would have given in too easily. It broke my heart to hear he cry and wanting to snuggle mommy. But we didn't cave. It took a good four weeks for her to finally realize that we weren't going to give in so she stopped fighting... As much. 

We have the same routine every night. Take a "bass" aka bath, We put on "daffies" aka Jammie's. Brush our teeth and pick out some books to read. Lately it's been princess books. I can almost quite these books with out looking from how many times I've read them. 

After stories then we say a prayer. We help her say it. She usually repeats the last few words and throws in her own stuff every now and then. It's pretty much the cutest thing ever and we have to stop ourselves from giggling from the cuteness in middle of the prayer. 

Then it's bedtime... Or so it begins.

Her tummy suddenly hurts every night right after the prayer even if we asked if she had to go potty ten times before. 

Then she's thirsty. But she wants her water in a specific cup. 

She hurt herself so she needs a band aid. Which has turned into a nightly routine to put on a band aid on her finger which is never actually hurt. We go through a lot of band aids! 

Then she has to give baby brother kisses. 

But wait, 

she needs all the babies and stuffed animals she can fit in the bed with her.

She always has my phone at bedtime because it plays "twinkle twinkle". Which is basically a white noise app. Jordan put a code on my phone to block her from going on and trying to play games. And we've learned to plug my phone into the charger because it will die if we don't according to her. 

This can go on for quite some time depending on how tired she is. Some nights are easier than others. Sometimes she will cry herself to sleep because she wants to stay up for "two more minutes" and some nights she will pass out without a fight. 

This is how I found her one night when I went to check on her. Notice the band aid. Haha.

Luckily she stays in her bed all night most of the time. A fee nights she has attempted to come sleep with us but Jordan just takes her back it her bed. She gets excited to tell you that she sleeps in her big girl bed but it's a whole other story when the night rolls around. 

Pumpkin Patch: Then and Now

Here's a throwback Thursday kind of post. Jordan and I were looking back at old pictures last night and got inspired to post some old pictures. Here's some pictures from the pumpkin patch then and now. 

Our first pumpkin patch was pre-kids when we were married for about 3 years. This was Apple Annie's pumpkin patch in Arizona. 

Then our next pumpkin patch was the first year we moved to Kansas in 2010. I was pregnant and one day away from my due date. My mom was visiting and we went to Schaake's pumpkin patch for the first time with James and Heather and the boys. We were determined to put me into labor so I rode the hayride a few times In hopes to jump start labor. I ended up going into labor that morning and Jess was born that next evening! Unfortunately I couldn't find pictures from that day. 

We went back to Schaake's a year later in 2011. My family was visiting for Jessalyn's first birthday so we all went to the pumpkin patch.

We have made it a tradition to take a hayride selfie with the fam. 

Last year when we went it was the coldest year so far. We were all bundled up. 

This year was our fourth year at Schaake's. And we have added one more member to the family to join in on the fun. Jayven got to experience it with us this time. Although he slept through the whole thing. 

Jess on the wagon her first year at age one and here's Jess on the wagon at age three. 

Jessalyn's 3rd Birthday!

Our baby girl turned three on October 9th! I know everyone always says it but wow time flies too fast. Especially when you have kids. I can't believe it's been three years since our first baby was born. She's definitely not a baby anymore. 

Our baby right after she was born. 

Her first birthday! 

Her second birthday! 

And here she is for her third birthday! 

When she woke up we went downstairs and was surprised that it was all decorated for her party. And her princess Sofia dress was sitting on the table. She was so excited about it and had to out it on right away of course. 

She actually let me curl her hair because she wanted to look like Princess Sofia.

She was so excited all day for all of her friends to come over and have her pink strawberry cake with her. 

She enjoyed some dinner with her buddies Holly and Parker. 

And she got to hit the piñata with all of her friends. It was a very strong piñata. Even the bigger kids were having trouble breaking through it. 

So daddy went ahead and destroyed it himself and ripped it open for all the candy to go flying out and a huge stampede of kids came rushing to collect the candy. 

Then it was time for cupcakes and presents. I forgot to get more candles other than just the number three candle but she had Enough trouble trying to blow just that one out even with some help from Parker. 

I love how her best friend Parker was right next to her the whole time helping her with her presents. She has some pretty awesome friends and got some awesome gifts! Pretty much everything was princess themed of course. 

After all the fun, she got dressed in her new Princess Sofia jammies (or daffies as she calls them) and read one of her new books before bedtime. 

Jessalyn has been such a joy in our lives. She has always had such a strong personality since the day she was born. She knows what she wants and is never afraid to let you know. She is definitely a leader. Not a follower. She makes up her own rules and expects everyone else to follow them. As difficult as she can be at times, her eagerness is what I love about her and what makes her Jessalyn. She is as girly as they come. She loves anything pink and princess. She knows all of her Disney princesses and her favorites are Cinderella and Ariel. Or "cin-lella". She loves to wear bows and dresses. She loves to wear her pretend makeup and do her dolls hair. She's a great little mommy to her baby dolls and her favorite babies are her "Lella baby" and Snow White. She dances around and pretends she is a princess. When her cousins say which super hero they are she says "I can't like spider man. I'm Barbie." And although she is extremely girly she's not afraid to get dirty with her cousins. She can be daring and adventurous right along with them. She would spend all day outside if she could. Her favorite food is pizza and any type of pasta. Especially "Ack and cheese". And she loves all fruit. Her favorite music is currently the Fresh Beat Band and Sofia the first. She is a mommys girl but at the same time she's very much a daddy's girl. She loves to snuggle with him and laugh with him and spend time with him on their special father\daughter trip to the store. She's very shy at first but once she warms up to you she will talk your head off. She talks all day long and has full on conversations. I love listening to her talk and the stuff she comes up with. This girl definitely makes life very interesting and always keeps us on our toes!

Jayven's Baby Blessing

We were able to bless Jayven on Sunday. It was hard to find something that fit him since he is still in newborn clothes. I really love those white blessing outfits with the vest and jacket and whole shebang but they are so ridiculously expensive for him to only wear once. So luckily we were able to borrow some white pants from our friend Heidi. They were a little big but they worked. And his little dress shirt was size 0-3 months so that was a little big too. 

I made his bow tie at the last minute before I went to bed on Saturday night. I was lucky to find this fabric I remembered I had outside of all the mess of boxes. I couldn't get to any of my sewing stuff so I put it together with hot glue. Haha. He did look pretty stinkin cute in his little outfit! 

Jayven and daddy looked so cute in their matching white dress shirts. Jordan did a great job and said some very beautiful things during his blessing. I'm so in love with this new little man in my life. And Jordan is very proud to have his very own baby boy. We can't wait to see this little guy grow and can't wait to see what kind of amazing man he will grow up to be. 

Happy blessing day baby boy!