Tomorrow we are going to throw a baby shower for my baby sister. Ok, so she’s not a baby. In fact, she’s a year older than I was when I had my first child. She’s excited, anxious and, at this moment, a bit tired.We’ve been asked to collect our thoughts on mommyhood and share with her advice and tales. There are so many I’ve experienced over the past four years. I’ve tried to drag myself from bed to write down the memories and funny moments, but the need for sleep kept me tucked under my covers.I want her to know it’s OK to cry from loving a little creature so much, even though you’ve had two hours of sleep in 48 hours.That she MUST keep a notebook in every room so when funny things are said or done she can write them down, because there are so many that have slipped my mind days, weeks, months and years later.There are times I’ve sat with a sleeping child in my arms just because I could. I’ve laughed as my children colored each other - in permanent marker. I’ve loved the cooking flour all over the table, my son, the dog and the floor - and taken pictures to remember it. And I’ll never forget the morning my son yelled, "I’m done," and I came downstairs to find a very proud 3-year-old with an entire carton of cracked eggs in a pan ready to cook - and all the shells in the trash.Yes, I’ve lost it a few times too. My children remind me of that. Just the other day I lost my cool and my son started yelling, too. Then his sister joined in. Then I started laughing cause I’m sure I looked ridiculous to them and now they were giving mommy a taste of her own medicine. But those are moments that fade, and the laughter will always remain.

I love mornings. Really, I do. I wake on my own without an alarm clock right around 5:30, which allows me just enough time to get a shower before the toddlers awake. It is the two and a half hours after that that cause me to have a headache sometimes before even arriving at work. I have only been full-time with two toddlers for eight weeks. I still have not managed my mornings. I heard a story once about a single woman with five kids who had no problem getting everyone to school and her to work in the morning. I should borrow her tips. This morning, every little being in my house was in time-out before 8 a.m., including the dog who was banished outside for stealing a cheesestick from my daughter. It was a combination of not listening, rushing and "mom-just-needs-five-minutes-to-finish-a sandwich!" Finally, completely in tears, my son boarded the bus (he did not have a favorite cup that had to be tossed a month ago because it was leaking). My daughter happily took popcorn to the car for the drive to daycare since she would not eat breakfast earlier, and I managed to only spill a little of my coffee in the car. My son was all smiles when he greeted me at preschool and marched straight into daycare to see his friends without fuss. I think tonight I will make up lunches right after dinner and lay out clothes for my daughter. My son picks his out before bed, and I will try to do the same. Maybe the last day of the week can go a little smoother.

As soon as I returned from taking my son to daycare yesterday I realized - it was registration day for Parks and Rec! I obviously still hadn’t made a complete decision as to what to do with the kids this summer, but I thought I’d better keep my options open.So yesterday my 4-year-old son was registered for soccer and basketball through parks and rec (40 minute classes each). My daughter was left out because she didn’t meet the age requirements for a lot of the classes (she’s only 2), but I did get her on a waiting list for one class. I have until the middle of May to cancel the classes and as of right now, I’ve decided that if my son’s friends get into the classes with him, I’ll likely keep him there (they will register later in the month). If they can’t get in, I may just keep him in one class and leave the rest of the day open to just hang with these friends. I’m hoping this is a good balance for him… plus, I still hope we’ll take a week and head to the beach this summer where we’ll just have much needed lazy days prior to the start of kindergarten!

There are 28 days left of school for my preschool-aged son. I know this because the bus driver has posted a countdown sheet by her place in the bus (well, her daughter made it for her). Thankfully, this year, I’m a little more prepared for the arrival of summer and what to do with an active 4-year-old.Last summer I was not prepared. Seriously. On the day school ended, I picked up my son and thought, "Now what do we do for 10 weeks?" I thought we’d hang out at home a lot and play in the sprinklers in the backyard. That didn’t end up happening. We were running all over: The zoo, museums, plans with friends, a week up north, and yes, a bit of time in the sprinklers. But this year, it’s the first summer since he’s been born that I’m working fulltime. So weeks ago I started chatting with friends, last week the parks and rec schedule came out and today I got the church camp schedule. Thankfully, I also only work 4 days a week so we’ll still have that day to just hang - though there are some activity classes he would like that I may enroll him in so my daughter and I can do mom/tot classes at the same time. It’s a tough decision - do I schedule out every day (not too hard to do since he’ll be in daycare and/or church camp on the days I work, except for the week vacation we hope to take) and also plan on classes on my day off for two hours so I can do something one-on-one with his sister? Or do I leave that day open with no classes and just wing it - taking the kids together to museums and friends or just hang at home. I’m afraid my daughter will miss out on that one-on-one class my son and I got to do when he was that age. But I’m also worried my son will miss out on just "hang time" with friends since that’s the only day he’s not in daycare.

Wouldn’t you know, not 12 hours after I posted my first bedtime blog, my children would decide: Bedtime? What’s bedtime? Thus I ended up with two sleepless nights in a row, a tiresome adventure for a working mom.It started Tuesday night. I don’t know if it was the long nap at daycare or the iced tea with dinner, but my daughter did not fall asleep until after 11 p.m. It started innocent enough… We did our routine and headed to bed. As usual, I fell asleep reading books to the kids. And as usual, I awoke about an hour later ready to move my daughter to her own crib. But when I sat up, my 2-year-old was standing there. She met me face to face, leaned over and gave me a sweet kiss. Then reached over to continue playing with the doll she had in bed with her.I was exhausted so thought if I put my head back on the pillow she, too, would fall asleep. So again, an hour later, I awoke. Yup, still playing. I took her downstairs to change her diaper (note to mommy, keep diapers and wipes upstairs also!) and then just gave up. My husband and I crawled into our own bed (where daddy and toddler played peek-a-boo for 15 minutes). Then I curled her up next to me and said, "Now it’s time to sleep." I don’t know who fell asleep sooner, but when I next awoke, she was out and moved to her crib for the rest of a very short night!Maybe it is time to change the routine!

Bedtime is matter of routine at our house. As soon as the clock strikes 7:30 (or sooner if the two toddlers at our house start to show signs of tiredness) we march upstairs for a bath, put on PJs and settle down for a quick 20 minutes video (lately Bear in the Big Blue House or Henry’s Amazing Animals). Then both kids grab their cups and lay down for a story. My 2-year-old usually falls right to sleep, but my 4-year-old sometimes fights it. Last night was just the case. I moved my daughter to her crib then said good night to my son and walked downstairs to say good night to my husband. Then I heard the clomping of feet down the stairs.Now, what to do? It was the first home game for the Diamondbacks. We want to instill a sense of loyalty to the home teams to our son, but it was also 8:45 p.m. My first instinct was to say, "Back upstairs." But then I took a step back. He had taken a long nap in the afternoon at grandma’s. He really wasn’t ready for sleep. And besides, what a fun moment for all of us to sit and watch the game together. So my 4-year-old crawled up on his daddy’s lap and cuddled for the last two innings of a great game. We all enjoyed it… and he even cheered when a home run clinched the game. Now that’s a moment I’ll always remember. And afterward, everyone crawled into their own beds for a good night’s sleep.