Bed time disaster

Last week was a week of ups and downs, that's for sure.  We moved the boys into toddler beds (actually just took the side rails off of their cribs and put up a bed rail so they don't fall out).  If you remember, we had taken the bottom of their beds out so we could put the mattress on the floor to prolong this big boy bed stage, but Derek and Micah figured out how to climb out of their beds even with the mattress all the way down to the floor.  Little monkeys!  So we'd put them in bed, and 5 minutes later, they'd come walking back up the steps (They're all sleeping downstairs now in a room together).

This has been a fiasco, to say the least.  They think this new freedom to get in and out as they please is the best thing in the whole world, and they try to take full advantage.  Right away, they would stand up and jump, try to push their bedrail off, run around their room, take all the books out of their bookshelf, etc, etc.  Then we decided we needed to get tough if this was going to work.  So at nap time, I would put them down and then tell them I was going to sleep in the hallway right outside their rooms.  Then I'd listen.  It would be quiet for, ummm, maybe 30 seconds, and then the chaos broke out.  I'd go in, tell them very sternly to stay in bed, and go back out.  They'd get rowdy again.  I'd go back in and spank them and tell them no no,.  They'd push their bed rails off.  One day I stepped away for a minute b/c while putting them down I'm trying to keep Tyler semi-quiet, too.  When I came back after getting Tyler settled, the babies had all pushed their bed rails off, slid their mattresses on to the floor, thrown all their pillows and blankets down, and started jumping. This was not working.

Evan is amazing at controlling these boys, so I told him I needed some lessons on how to be tougher.  We see in so many ways how well we compliment each other and help each other in our weaknesses.  Anyway, this past weekend, I got way tougher with the boys and didn't allow any talking or getting out of bed.  NONE.  Zero. I had to give more spankings than I ever thought I would as a mom that first day, but since then, it's been much better.  I'm just going to have to be a tough mom to control these four crazy little stinkers.  They need to know their boundaries.  It's a tiring struggle for me when one of the four are pushing their boundaries at seriously almost every minute of the day.

Cute little Tyler in his lion towel....Bath time is always so crazy.  We usually take two upstairs and two downstairs to the tubs, and tag team it.  If we do all 3 babies together, they all want to swim on their tummies, and that's a very full tub of boys.  There's a lot of splashing, and "helping" mommy wash their brothers, which usually ends up being water dumped over a brother's head.

When I'm trying to make dinner, I put a show on for the boys sometimes.  One day this is how they were watching.  Tyler wanted to hold Micah.  Sweet.  D, M, T, A

Potty training.  It's starting, people!  They are so cute and hilarious when they are all three on their matching potty chairs.  We only try a few times a day, but Micah is really getting good, and the other two guys are really interested, too.  D, M, A

Andrew and my dad drinking coffee.  :)  It never gets old!

My mom took the boys and a bunch of animals and books on the landing.  They thought it was so much fun!

Reading books....I love when they all do this together.  Andrew especially loves books and carries one around with him most of the day.

My silly little Tyler in his batman glasses....