15 minutes

Just a few days ago, I was reading one of my favorite blogs about motherhood and family, 71 Toes. If you are one of the 3 people who might read my blog, you should definitely check out her's. Shawni (the author of said blog) writes beautiful posts daily about her family of 7. She has 5 sweet children and how she makes time to write, edit photos and blog every day is beyond me. She recently decided that she was going to limit herself to just 15 minutes daily for blog-writing, and it inspired me to at least try and do the same. 15 minutes for me to devote to writing about what's happening in my little family's life. 15 minutes is so much more than nothing!!

So, here goes! Halloween was last night, and we celebrated in our traditional manner. The kids got ready and we made the quick drive to my in-law's home. Avery and Nate love seeing them, and were happy to show off their costumes (Little Women's Amy and Spongebob). After a few minutes of chaos and visiting, we began our Trick-or-Treating trek. What to remember about last night: the kids wanted to run everywhere, but after numerous warnings, they finally began to listen. At every door, Aves would say, "Trick or Treat, smell my feet!" Thankfully, she knew better than to add the last part! They both said "thank you" after every treat was dispensed, and they wanted to go for longer than we have in the past. We returned to Nanny & Granddad's, and they "helped" to give out candy. By the time we returned home, they were exhausted. After a quick shower and bath, they were both out like a light.

For the past few nights, Avery and Nate have both been sleeping in Nate's bed. I decided to try this, because they both like to snuggle with someone and it seems to help them sleep better if they can be attached to a warm body. I was hoping that maybe they could attach to each other, rather than me?!? :) So, we're trying it and the first 3 nights went exceptionally well. In fact, yesterday morning I had to wake them up. I can count on one hand the number of times that has happened. Seriously. (Seriously.) I was giddy with dreams of being able to sleep all night long, every night, uninterrupted. Last night, though, Nate burst my bubble, because he woke up multiple times and would not stay in his bed. So, he was back in our bed, and Aves woke up at her extremely early time....somewhere between 5-6 this morning, I think. Oh well. I'm not giving up. They seem to like sleeping together; Avery has said that she feels safer with Nate, and so we will keep trying for that elusive "good night" of sleep for all of us. Wish me luck!