6:25 a.m.

I don't really need an alarm clock. My children all wake up happy at 6:25 a.m. Nevermind that it is still dark outside (and throughout the house); or that Jonathan and I are sound asleep. Nevermind that James was up 2 hours ago with a fever; or that Ollie went to bed an hour later than usual. Nevermind that their genes handed down from Mommy MUST all say "NOT a morning person!!" in big huge letters. They are UP. (It's like Dr. Seuss says: "Up, up! Great day for up!") I sit in bed sleepily nursing Oliver (who woke up at 6:25 like clockwork) when I hear a sudden scream of joy. Ella is up and out of her new big girl bed. She shrieks and giggles as she galumphs around, pounding the back side of our closet wall. I later discover that James was sitting in bed, cleverly shining his flashlight on the wall and Ella was bounding around chasing after it. I manage to gain a few more quiet minutes in bed by getting Ella a stack of books and a flashlight of her own and tucking her into bed. She beams, all comfy and purple-pajamaed in her big girl bed. Both kids are quiet and content, reading by the soft glow of their flashlights. I return to bed and hear happy babbling and spitting from the crib. My quiet is lovely but short-lived. Soon we have five in our bed. Let another day begin!

big bed.

When James was about the same age as Ella is now, we moved him into a toddler bed. Oh, it was bliss. He went to bed without a fuss. We tucked him in and then had ourselves a little pizza while watching the season opener of "Lost" while he slept. He slept all night long and then woke up when the light streamed through his big window and as I tiptoed into his room with the camera to document the momentous occasion of him becoming a big boy. He was all smiles as I snapped these pictures.

This weekend we moved Ella from her crib into that same toddler bed. She was so excited. She played in it during the day while I rearranged the kids' room. She did cry for awhile at nap time but then did sleep well. She went down at night alright (we did hear some playing going on in there - she and James share a room - but we just close the door and let them do their thing until they fall asleep!). I tell you what, though, it is amazing how life (and particularly your nights) changes when you have three children. Let me illustrate by sharing this email I sent off to my family the morning after her first night in her big bed:

Dear Family,

I think Ella's first night in her toddler bed went rather well, don't you think? And I've been wondering why I always have a headache lately.......

9:00 pm fell asleep playing scrabble
11:00 got up to go to bed
11:30 Ollie was crying. Fed Ollie
1:10 fell asleep
2:28 Ollie crying, fed him
3:00 to 3:30 listened to Ollie happily blowing "raspberries" in bed
3:40 fell asleep
5:37 heard the kids, got up and found Ella out of bed and in the hall, bedroom light turned on, music turned on full blast, James lying in bed. Turn off lights, put Ella back to bed, lock their bedroom door to keep Ella safe.
6:30 James yells that Ella wants to go potty, wakes up me and Ollie. Jonathan goes and takes care of kids, I feed Ollie.
7:00 Everyone is wide awake, but Jonathan and I are in bed pretending that we will be able to fall back asleep. Ollie is in bed with us, smiling, Ella is crying, James is pounding on their door.

Love,
Sleepy Jenny

That's right, there was no tiptoeing in with the camera when the first rays of the sun shined in the window. We are so over that, people. Our kids are always wide awake long before the sun comes up. I didn't even take a picture of her that morning. Instead I was lying in bed with a big fuzzy blanket over my head trying to get in a few extra minutes of sleep and trying to block out the baby and Ella crying and James yelling and pounding on the door. I love my life as a mama, but I don't have to like it at 5 in the morning - haha!

Here is our sweetie girl in her new bed! Pictures taken the day we set it up. Note the tiny pillow with the cars pillowcase that she LOVES and will not do without, and the Cabbage Patch doll that was mine when I was little. (Ella and I discovered a box full of old dolls, including my American Girl dolls, and she was in heaven!)

my favorite weekend of the year

Twice a year, our church has what is called general conference. Instead of attending church, we spend the weekend at home watching a live broadcast of our church leaders in Salt Lake City speaking to us and members throughout the world and sharing spiritual messages and counsel. Conference weekend has always been like a holiday to me, right up there with Christmas and Thanksgiving (really!). We always come together as a family, eat lots of food (including traditional favorites like scones for breakfast, Mama's tacos and Marie Callender's pies), and partake in a great spiritual feast as we listen to our Prophet and the apostles. And the music, oh the music! It is one of my favorite parts. I love hearing the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing, and am so grateful for beautiful music that inspires and helps us feel the Spirit. Conference is a chance to receive encouragement and inspiration, and to ponder on the things we can do in our lives to improve and be better.

I have always loved general conference, and now as a young mother look forward to it even more. The first general conference after my husband and I moved to Texas, so far away from all of our family members, as the broadcast started and the pipe organ started to play I got a little teary-eyed with joy at the opportunity to receive counsel from my Heavenly Father. It felt like coming home!

This weekend was wonderful. We had lots of fun with our little family. We made a giant board game (Candy Land) - haha, we are nerdy - and played hide and seek with our kids! They loved it!

We watched general conference on Jonathan's fun projector and basked in the joy and inspiration. We were so glad to have friends come over and watch with us during a couple of the sessions.

The kids colored and played the "I Spy General Conference" game that I made up as we watched. It helped us to pay attention and listen for different topics that were discussed! We also got points for finding things like certain colors of ties, the organ, and my Aunt Ruth singing in the choir. We racked up enough points to earn ice cream cones!

We fried up some tacos (with my secret family recipe that goes back three generations) and ate with our good friends the Blairs. 

The men went to Priesthood meeting while the mamas watched a chick flick at our house (and the children ran around like crazy, turning off the lights and shining flashlights and screaming and playing with every toy in our playroom - such happy chaos!).

We ate an entire apple pie with our good friends (hot out of the oven with ice cream, yummy!) and then stayed up late playing the Wii. Oh, and all 5 of the children were still awake when they left at around 11:00. Talk about grumpy children in the morning, but what a fun memory :) We are so grateful for wonderful friends to celebrate holidays and conference with :)

Find all of the general conference addresses here!