Movie Night!

So, I am NOT one to typically break the rules.
As my best friend can attest to, I never have been!
That has rolled into parenthood for me. When we find what works for us, we stick with it for the most part.
Our kids thrive off routine, so I'm doing my best to keep a daily schedule for us.

Chris will frequently find me "Googling" toddler/baby related questions  to see if it's" OK."

Like...

"Is it OK to give a toddler molasses?"

Or

"Can you give a toddler Benadryl in combo with Zyrtec?"

Or

"What is safe to give a child with a tummy ache?"

Or

"Can you take Sudafed while breastfeeding?"

I like to know what the rules are!
And I rarely break them!

Chris and I greatly cherish our alone time once the kids are in bed and we also really prefer their well rested temperaments over their overtired ones.
So...
We have pretty strict bedtime routines that we don't really stray from often.

BUT we made an exception this week.

If you haven't done this with your kids yet, you need to!

I was tucking the girls in, we had already brushed teeth, read books, sang, prayed and were saying goodnight when Chris came in and we both surprised them with MOVIE NIGHT!

Instead of laying their heads down, they got to jump out of bed and come to the living room with us. Chris had already got a bed of blankets out on the floor for them and Peter Pan cued up.

He got them hot chocolate and a cookie to snack on and Joy was just beside herself! She couldn't stop talking about what a great surprise it was!
After their snack, they cuddled with daddy to finish the movie.

***I am 100% aware that the pictures on this blog, taken with my or my husband's smartphone do NOT meet current blogging photo quality standards :)***

As we've seen our girls start to mature so quickly into tiny little ladies (especially Joy), we've been trying to be more purposeful in having frequent "special" times with them. Something so small can seem so large to them!
Especially with Jackson around who can tend to steal all the attention with his cuteness....and the fact that I have to feed him every 3 1/2-4 hours!

Well this was a very special night for them. After I fed the baby and put him to bed, mom and dad's attention was all on them for their movie night. It was fun for us (I never tire of watching Disney movies) and because we're such sticklers with their schedule, the girls knew this was a big deal!

We did warn them that it was straight to bed when the movie ended, and Noelle was pretty tired anyway....so was Joy....but that child almost NEVER admits she's tired.  Even when she's falling asleep :)  (You can see a video of it on Facebook here.  You have to be my "friend" to watch it though)

So we made a memory this week with our movie night.

We'll do it again in a few months....Joy right away asked if we could do it again the following night! Haha

But we loved it so much, I just had to share and encourage other parents to schedule a surprise movie night with the kids sometime!

They won't forget it and neither will you!