The Kleins: July 2014

Hello! Everything is going great here in the Klein household. We're having a great summer and doing our best to keep the kids entertained. They are definitely at a fun age right now and they're quite the silly bunch on most days. With the days being longer, bedtime has been pushed back to around 8pm. The kids are still taking one nap during the day usually around 1pm. On some days, they wake up around 3pm but other days we have to wake them up once it gets past 4 pm or else bedtime really gets pushed back. As always, Caleb is the first to fall asleep and the first to wake up from naps and in the morning. They used to sleep in until 7am but with the sun rising so early, Caleb is usually awake by 6 or 6:30 am at the latest. I'm usually using our treadmill at that time, so lately he climbs out of his bed and comes into our workout room and lays on the floor with his blanket until I finish. I've been so fortunate to be able to squeeze a workout in, especially now that all three of them are awake earlier in the morning. My workouts are a huge part of my stress relief so everyone benefits when mom exercises!

The kids are still sleeping in their tents which are inside their cribs. Caleb and Mischa have gotten much better about not climbing out of their cribs but once in a while, we still have to go back in their room and tell them to stay in bed. We have to "lock" their tents occasionally, too, especially when one climbs out of bed and encourages the others. Madeline is still our one and only child who doesn't climb out of her bed generally and prefers to sleep with her tent open. Somehow she manages to sleep with her pillow, blanket, turtle night light and about 5 or more stuffed animals. Caleb and Mischa each sleep with their pillow and blanket and on some nights one stuffed animal or none. It's so funny to see how different they are.

While Grandma Lynn and Grandpa Lanny were here last month, we tried putting the kids into big kid underwear. The kids each picked out their favorite characters (Mischa chose Disney Princess and Hello Kitty, Madeline and Caleb both prefer Thomas the Train underwear). They didn't get the concept of using the potty chair and we're still working on it. They don't like the feeling of having wet underwear so they tell me when they've gone to the bathroom but we haven't gotten any of them to actually use the potty chairs yet. Caleb got close the other day and told me he had to pee. I immediately put him on the potty chair but he couldn't go. After he got up he peed on the kitchen floor... go figure! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that one will go in the potty chair soon so that the others can learn from example. We've tried not to pressure the kids to use the potty and are trying to be encouraging yet matter-of-fact. We will see what happens.

We also have recently started using "time out" with the kids...well, actually, Caleb mostly. He sometimes takes toys away from his sisters if he sees them playing with something he wants. Usually a mini dispute will occur and generally hitting and crying starts, so we have a blue chair we keep in the corner of the living room which we use for time out. Caleb has had the most time outs but he seems to be getting a lot better about not taking toys from his sisters. One minute in time out seems like an eternity to him, of course, but it gives him a chance to get away from a stressful situation and take a break. Overall, we're liking time out!

We are very excited that Isaac is coming to visit next week. The kids love when Isaac comes to visit. He will be staying for almost 2 weeks and we can't wait! We'll definitely have to get lots of pictures.

Here are some more pictures from last month and some from the past couple of weeks.

Picture from last month at Virginia City with Grandma Lynn

At the Kite Festival at San Raphael park with friends

Getting haircuts at Hollylocks

Caleb eating snacks and watching Thomas the train

So angelic

Maddie at the museum

Caleb

Our little diva, Mischa

Snack time

Blurry but Caleb giving Mischa kisses

Maddie and her Thomas train sunglasses

Silly Mischa

Breakfast at Starbucks

Maddie really loves boiled eggs just like Mom

Caleb showing me his tongue

Mischa

Caleb sporting his new pair of Thomas the Train undies

Madeline wasn't sure what to think of them at first

Mischa had Disney princess panties, of course

A little blurry but Madeline and Caleb both wearing Thomas undies

Sitting on their potty chairs

Grandpa Lanny

Uncle Cecil

Madeline love popsicles

Caleb

Celebrating my birthday with the family

Grandma Lynn, me, Caleb and Mischa (Thomas too)

Maddie eating pepperoni

Me and my mini me

Madeline

Caleb

Mischa

Looking for bugs at the park

Ice cream on a hot summer day

Relaxing in a tent

Seth and Maddie at the lake

Caleb loves his beach toys

Mischa (she's still wearing that princess dress)

Caleb relaxing on the blanket in the sand

Maddie

Maddie & Mischa

Life is good

What a beautiful day

Our attempt at a family photo :)

This is a blog entry I meant to post last month but was having technical difficulties...better late than never :)

Hi everyone! I am so sorry about the lack of posts and pictures lately. It has been a busy summer! The kids have been enjoying the nice weather and love spending time outside. We've been taking advantage of the beautiful weather and spending as much time outdoors as possible. We recently took the kids to Donner Lake and they had a great time playing in the sand and splashing in the water. Since they tend to get restless inside the house, Seth and I recently got them a new play kitchen and Thomas train table to occupy them when they're indoors and they all love it. I finally cleaned out all of their old toys and donated them. I didn't realize how many toys they had accumulated over the course of two years. Fortunately, the kids didn't notice some of their old toys were missing since they were distracted by their new toys. We got rid of their old "play room" fence, which if you remember, was the octagon shaped enclosure we had in our dining room to keep the kids contained in one area. Well, they were climbing over it without any problem so we figured they had outgrown it.

Caleb is still very into his trains. He has collected just about every train known to man, but his original Thomas the Train is still is all time favorite and he carries it everywhere with him. Madeline has recently become interested in trains, too. She carries one with her and even takes 2-3 to bed with her. Sometimes Madeline and Caleb fight over Thomas so we finally broke down and bought Maddie her own. She has become quite the tomboy over the past few months. She will not let me put anything in her hair, will only wear a dress if it's blue (or rather, not pink) although she prefers no closes and wears Caleb's shoes, too. It's so interesting to see their different personalities because we have the opposite case with Mischa. She is about as girlie as they come. She recently became obsessed with Princess Sophia and wears a pink and purple frilly Sophia dress everyday. In fact, I had to buy a back up dress so that she can always be wearing one if the other one is in the washer. She wants her hair fixed everyday and has a large selection of hair bows, clips and ties that she likes. She even has several pairs of pink shoes. It's pretty obvious pink is her favorite color.

We just had a wonderful 3 week visit from Grandpa Lanny and Grandma Lynn. We took the kids to the Sacramento Zoo, to Virginia City, and all over Reno. What a great time we had! My dad has become an excellent cook and whipped up so many delicious meals while he was here (gourmet pizzas, vanilla french toast, Chinese chicken salad, and buffalo wings to a few). Needless to say, we ate very well during their visit. Grandma Lynn of course provided lots of goodies for the kids. She and I have always had a sweet tooth so we had an extra abundance of candy and treats for the kids. Overall, we had a great time with them here and we can't wait to see them again soon!

Here are some pictures from the past month.