ROLL OVER

Do you remember that children's rhyme your mom used to tell you that went something like, "there were 4 in the bed and the little one said 'roll over'"? Well, little did I know that verse was a glimpse into my future. I know all the authorities on child raising say NEVER to bring your kids into bed with you...but I confess, my husband and I have done it. It wasn't so bad when it was just one son...but when we added our 2nd baby to the family, we knew it would be a little cramped. Luckily our firstborn magically stopped waking up in the middle of the night wanting to sleep with us. So we indulged our bad habit and let the baby sleep in our bed as that seems to be the only way any of us get any sleep. Well...its been about 2 weeks now since Rory got sick and started waking up in the night and, you guessed it, coming to sleep with us. And of course Toran still sleeps with us because we've never made him sleep on his own. I am here to tell you it is extremely difficult for 2 adults, 1 toddler and 1 big baby to sleep comfortably on a queen mattress. But thanks be to God, last night both our babies slept in their own beds! I could hardly believe it when I put Toran in his crib and he kept sleeping instead of waking up screaming! Oh the bliss of a good night's sleep...until 5 am when Rory woke up...and that woke Toran up...and we spent the next two hours trying to get them to sleep again in our bed. Finally Kevin and I had to get up and get ready for the day...I carefully put Toran to sleep in his bed and snuck out of the room. An hour later and they are still asleep...Toran in his bed and Rory in mine! So, there were 4 in the bed and the little one said, 'roll over'...and now he has that queen sized bed all to himself! :)

JUST ME AND MY MOM...by Rory George

We had a fun adventure planned for Friday...just me and my mom. First we took Toran to Grandma and Grandpa Coghill's - I didn't mind leaving him there to go home with Mommy and take a nap! After my nap we were going to go see a movie - I was so excited about this that I only slept for 15 minutes! My mom was surprised to see me up so soon.So we took an unplanned trip to the grocery store...just me and my mom. It had started to rain, so I got to wear my new hand-me-down raincoat! The grocery store was very crowded and hot, so I took off my shoes and hat and threw them out of the cart while we were walking - don't worry, my mom picked them up for me. She must have been hot too because she took off her coat while we were paying for groceries and carried me to the car in the rain without it.

After we dropped the groceries off at home, we headed to the movies...just me and my mom. I decided to surprise Mommy by finishing my nap in the car - it was such a good nap that my mom couldn't wake me up when we got to the theater. So she decided to get lunch instead. Since I was still sleeping, Mommy went through the drive-thru at Taco Bell. I woke up as she was paying for her order and calmly asked where my food was.
We parked at a nearby parking lot to eat...just me and my mom. Mommy gave me crackers, cheese and juice and then opened her bag to eat her burrito - the nice people at Taco Bell had given her 3 tacos instead. She must have been thirsty because she kept drinking her pop after every bite and fanning her mouth with her hand - just like when she ate David's jalopeno poppers! I guess she wasn't very hungry because she only ate one of them.

After that we decided to go to Cold Stone...just me and my mom. Mommy said that ice cream makes everything better. I got to have my own dish of cotton candy ice cream with gummi bears in it. I gave my mom all the gummi bears - she didn't seem to mind that I dug them out of the ice cream with my dirty fingers and shoved them into her mouth one after the other!

We decided to go to Target to buy a treat...just me and my mom. Mommy said we needed something to make up for the day. I didn't know what she meant because I was having lots of fun. Before we had a chance to choose something, Grandma Nina called and said that Toran needed us to come get him. He must have been sad that he was missing all the fun. We grabbed a copy of Finding Nemo and headed out the door - after paying, of course.

On the way we talked about what a great adventure we had! We made lots of special memories today...just me and my mom.

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

My husband and I recently welcomed a new baby into our family. Choosing a name for both of our sons turned out to be a long and sometimes painful process. I wasn't sure what to tell him when he announced to me that his favorite baby name was George when we were expecting our first child. After finally agreeing to the name Rory George, imagine my shock and surprise when he told me he wanted to name our 2nd son George Rory. I am still not convinced that he was joking.

One name that we were considering naming both our boys was BRICK. At first I mentioned it to Kevin as a joke...but it started to grow on us. We could imagine our son, a stellar athelete of course, racing toward the soccer goal while the crowds chanted, "Brick, Brick, Brick!" I even convinced myself that I would be naming the baby after my dad Rick (which was another name Kevin vetoed). But in the end we listened to the pleas of our families and our own good sense and named our 2nd son Toran James.

Flipping through the channels the other night, I caught the opening of In The Middle and heard the narrarator introduce one of the sons as Brick! I could hardly believe it! It was as if someone had snatched the name right out from underneath us (kind of like Asher, but that's another story).

For a few brief moments I almost regretted not choosing that name. But then I remembered that my two favorite boys' names are Rory and Toran...and we don't have room to store all the bricks our son would have received from his Aunt Amy! :)