Extra Long Bedtime Routine

So I need all the advice and suggestions anyone can give. Rylan's big boy bed situation is not going so well. In fact, I think each day it gets worse. Being tired and pregnant is not a good combo and throwing in a tired and cranky toddler makes some days extra hard.
We spend at least 2 hours every night getting Rylan to go to sleep in his own bed. That includes picking up his toys and getting ready for bed but still, TWO HOURS??? I usually end up in tears and Kevin usually ends up sitting in Ry's room until he's asleep...and then of course Rylan comes in our room several times in the middle of the night wanting to get in bed with us. I feel like we've been pretty consistent in what we do, but obviously we are not doing something right!
So guess what I did today? I went and bought a twin size mattress to switch things up. We're going to set it up in his room and put his crib back together. I'm hoping that by giving him the choice of sleeping in the "big boy" bed or the "baby" bed, which ever he chooses he will just sleep! So wish us luck on this new adventure and again, any suggestions are more than welcome!
Well I can't leave on a bad note so let me share with you something cute (even though this has also added time to our bedtime fiasco). The other night after picking up toys I took Rylan into his room to put on his pajamas. I grabbed his pjs out of the drawer and he went back to the drawer and grabbed more pajamas out. At first I thought he didn't like the pair I had picked but then he went to his bed and grabbed his teddy bear backpack and monkey. Before he let me put on his pajamas I had to put pjs on the monkey and bear. Okay, if that makes him feel better sure, I'll send monkey and bear to bed as well. So the three of them are dressed in pjs and ready to brush teeth. Sure enough Ry grabs his little friends and off we go to brush teeth. With a wet toothbrush Rylan scrubbed at their mouths and made sure to get the back, front, top and bottom. I thought it was very cute how thorough he was! Task complete. Off to Ry's room to say prayers. I sit down and Rylan hands me the monkey and tells me to fold his arms. Then in a whisper he says "monkey, close eyes". Hmmm, that's a little tricky. So I put my hand over monkey's eyes and Ry put his hand over the bear's eyes. Whew, it's now time to crawl into bed. If only Rylan followed the lead of monkey and bear on this next task I wouldn't be so tired--he tucked them into bed and they stayed there the rest of the night...Rylan however did not. But it sure was cute for him to get them ready for bed. And yes, monkey and bear get their teeth brushed and say prayers with us each and every night!

September Pic (33 Weeks)

I'm really not fond of this picture. I thought black was supposed to make you look slimmer. Does the fake out not apply to pregnant girls? The last few days I've been feeling on the large side and I feel like I'm getting wider. I should have been standing where Deborah is standing--I need that dark door behind me. She doesn't have this big belly to hide! But I can't avoid the way I look because let's face it, it's reality. And hey, I'm pregnant with only 7 weeks to go. Yep, 7 weeks and I know it's just going to fly by. My goal for this week is to get the baby's room painted. I have a vision in my head that will look fantastic. Of course, I had vision for Rylan's room also, and that room, well, it's never been finished. But what's done is cute and really if I just spent a little time on it the unfinished things would help the room out a lot. Maybe that should be another goal...to get Rylan's room done before the baby comes. But look how cute Kacy is. She's gonna be having her baby in the next few days--hopefully!

Now this picture, I'm VERY fond of! My sister threw a party for her hubby and asked everyone to wear a wig because Garren is "wiggin out" that he's 40. It was quite comical and very fun to see. So here's my dad and my lil sis--don't they look great?

He Really Is a Big Boy

It's been several days now, but Rylan is doing great in his "big boy bed". After talking about switching him over to a mattress, and me telling everyone I was hesitant about doing it because he was such a good sleeper, Rylan switched things up and stopped sleeping so well. Nap times were dreaded for me because I was spending way too much time in his room trying to get him to take a nap. Last Thursday I had had enough of that and I decided that if he was not going to sleep, we may as well make the switch. Plus, Rylan had tried to climb out of his crib...yep, just after I had told everyone he had never tried to climb out. So Kevin got home from work on Thursday and I gave him a project...taking the front of the crib off and replacing it with the toddler railings.
Rylan was so excited! Kevin had Rylan "test" it out a few times and all night before bed time Ry kept saying "test bed" and he'd go lay down. I thought it was going to be great! Well, that first night didn't go so well. Rylan came into our room just before midnight calling out "mommy". I have to admit, it was a little creepy! He's done it one other time since and I just haven't gotten used to hearing that little voice so close to me at night calling "mommy". The calling out from the bedroom is a different story. Anyways, I put him right back in his bed and left the room. About 15 minutes later I heard a thump followed by a loud cry. I immediately knew he had fallen out of his bed...sad! I went in his room and held him for awhile until he fell asleep again. Well, throughout the night he was crying out for me and I got little sleep trying to get him calmed down. It wasn't until about 4:00 am that I realized he had a stuffy nose and couldn't breath. Bad night to start the big boy bed I guess!
Well each night since then has actually been pretty good. Even nap times have been successful for the most part. Last night was the second time Ry came into our room. I put him back to bed and I thought he went right to sleep. So I went to the bathroom and heard a strange noise. I called out "Kev" wondering if maybe he got up to do something but the response I got was "It's ABC time". I walked out of the bathroom to see Rylan laying on my bed. He had scooted his car toy into my room and climbed up on it (pressing the ABC button on his way up) to get into my bed. That little stinker! I smiled but immediately took him back to his bed. I really don't mind Rylan sleeping in my bed, but I definitely don't want to make a habit of it so I've been trying really hard to just take him back to his bed.
Anyways, it's hard to let this little guy grow up! We will have to switch him over to a mattress before the baby comes, but for now we'll let him enjoy what he has. He still does get excited about it and he likes to put his monkey to bed, cuddled up with blankets and everything. And I'm glad he's only fallen out of bed the one time! (And if you're wondering, he is holding his nail clippers, and yes, he insisted he sleep with them that night...strange choice, but I'll allow it!)

Half Birthday

Today is Rylan's half birthday. I can hardly believe he's 2 1/2!! We celebrated by cleaning out the garage, cleaning the house, doing lots and lots of ironing, and getting a pizza for dinner. Okay, so there wasn't much celebration, but I thought about my growing boy all day. His favorite thing to mark the occasion would probably be a new pillow. Actually, it's an old pillow, but it's new to him...he's never slept with a pillow in his crib before. He was so excited he was continuously wanting to test it out. Instead of sitting with me for story time, he wanted to lay in his crib with his pillow while I read to him. He usually sleeps on his stomach but he went to sleep on his back. Let's hope he sleeps soundly. I can just see him waking up bugged with the pillow in his crib and throwing it out. That's what usually happens with his blankets and stuffed monkey so we'll see how the pillow gets treated. Anyways, Happy Half Birthday my sweet boy. We hope that old used pillow is a good enough gift :)

Easily Entertained

As excited as I am to get some grass on the side of our house, I have to say that having all this dirt has been constant entertainment for Rylan. Maybe one day we'll have an actual sandbox for this boy to play in, but for now, Rylan is more than happy to play side by side with the weeds. Early in the summer when I would take Ry outside to play, I had the idea in my head that we'd be playing in the grass. You know, kick around a ball, play chase, whatever. It didn't take me long to realize his idea of playing outside was digging in dirt. We've lost many tools out there because Rylan will grab whatever looks the best for digging that day. One of his favorites? The hot dog roaster. It's hilarious to hear him asking me for the hot dog roaster so he can play in the dirt.

August Picture

I'm behind in posting this because this picture was taken over a week ago. But here it is anyways. And yes, Amy had her baby!! That sweet little boy in her arms is Gavin and we all just love him to pieces :) (And don't mind Rylan with his messy shirt and face. Still, isn't he cute?)

I'm now 30 weeks and I can hardly believe there are only 10 more weeks to go. Time has just been flying by. We have people asking us all the time if we have a name picked out, but we don't. We've thrown around a few names but there always seems to be something holding us back from settling on one. My number one is Asher. We had a little boy in our ward in Belgium and his name was Asher. That was the first time I had really heard it and I thought it was just so cute. Since then I've seen/heard of several other Ashers, and I just like it more and more. Plus it has a great meaning: blessed, happy. Not that we go by meanings around here because "rye land" (Rylan) sure doesn't touch my heart! Kevin is hesitant with the name because he would always be calling him "Ash" for short and we have a niece Ashley who is also "Ash". Doesn't bother me at all, but whatever. The other name I really like is Ty. And I don't know why I like it so much. I just think Ty Doyle sounds really good. But then we'd have a Ry and a Ty and that might be too much. I also like the name Rhett, but Kevin vetoed that one long ago and so it hasn't come up again. Anyways, we're open to hearing suggestions because like I say, we are so not set on a name.

And other than aching hips (which have been killing me the last week) I'm feeling great! I do better on days when I can sneak in a nap but I feel like I'm keeping up with things (for the most part). Rylan is still in his crib and I've been struggling with moving him over to a big bed. We really won't need the crib for several more months so I feel like I still have a bit of time. Taking him out of his crib just seems like such a big step and I want my little Rylan to stay little. Does he really have to grow up? On Labor Day we took him to look at twin beds. He laid on each one to test it out. He'd close his eyes and pretend like he was sleeping, but I think his real test was when he'd jump on the bed and see what kind of air he could get. I'm sure he's just going to love being in a big bed...when I can get myself together and actually let him!