Too soon? Fluke? Dear God I Hope So

I spoke just yesterday about how we have got the toddler bed sleeping down. I spoke too soon. Even as I was typing it I knew that it could have been too soon, but I was pumped, excited, overjoyed. Now? I'm tired, cranky, and cold (coincidence, but I'm still feeling it. It IS -29 degrees here after all). 

Josie went to bed at 8:00, her usual bed time, last night with the same old routine she does with her daddy. She fell asleep around 11:30. I'll do the math for you since it was painfully obvious to me how long it was taking last night. That's three and a half hours of us sitting by her bed, standing by the door, telling her that she can't get out of bed, putting her back in bed, flipping her over from tummy to back, trying not to yell, taking parent timeouts so we didn't lose our minds, switching off so we didn't lose our minds, sitting in the chair, changing her diaper, switching blankets. Do you get how our night was? The best part is that through all of this, she was laughing, talking, almost falling asleep, smiling. Hardly a tear was shed. It was just thatkindofnight.

Today, I sit with my coffee with sweet Audrey laying next to me. It's a bit cold in here, so the coffee in my hands feels good. I am enjoying the quiet as my oldest daughter takes her nap at 9:00 in the morning. It was needed. She didn't even argue. 

Love that girl.

Don't let Audrey's sweet demeanor fool you though. Last night at around 5:30, she decided that nothing I had to offer was good enough and proceeded to pull me through the wringer for a solid hour and a half. Let's just chalk up yesterday and last night as the day we'll look back on and sigh while thinking, "so glad that's not us anymore." We have plenty of good, awesome, fantastic days, so I'm not going to complain about life in general. It's still great. But last night? I'm glad that's not the norm.





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Puddle Sleeping Antics

We had an alley behind our house growing up. It had the typical dips and sways that old roads have so water collected all along it when it rained or when snow melted. Particularly, at the end of the alley, it was more like a pond than a puddle. 

Me being the older (4 years) and more mature sister, I was often left "in charge" of my sister even though it wasn't expressed out loud that it was my job. One particular rainy day, we were playing with our neighbor friends that just so happened to live right by that pond-like section of the alley. I so wish that I remembered the circumstances more, but my sister had the brilliant idea to lay down in the puddle like she was taking a bath. I knew with all of my heart that she shouldn't do it, I mean I was smart! I was all of eight years old and laying down in puddles was not cool. I couldn't persuade her to get up, so I went home. I know I didn't try all that hard to get her out of the situation, but still. It's not my fault! I'm still a little bitter to this day.

See, once I got home, things took a turn for the worse for this girl. That's not true. Once my sister got home, that's when things really got ugly. She was soaking wet with muddy puddle water, yet I was given the death glare. How could I let her do this? It was all my fault, obviously. I vividly remember that she was not disciplined for it. She was probably given a lollipop or sticker or something for remembering to come back home. (Ok, ok, it wasn't quite that bad)

I'm sure the punishment was appropriate and obviously not worth remembering, but when I remember this particular incident, my heart pounds a little harder for my poor eight year old self who got in trouble for her mischievous sister's muddy antics.



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the Randoms

+ I think we've got the toddler bed training down. I can't believe I am saying this, but Jo's been doing amazing with it the past couple of days. To review: we tried it out months ago and failed miserably. Instead of it getting better each night, the time we spent wrestling/pinning/trying not to scream at her each night got longer and longer and she would get up multiple times in the middle of the night to just wander around. She slept on the floor more of the night than she did on the bed. So, back to the crib she went. This time around, we sat with her until she fell asleep which could be up to an hour. She tested us, sure, but eventually it got better. There was less screaming and more routine. She tossed and turned a lot, but wouldn't freak out as much. Now? We read her a story, tuck her in, say goodnight, and leave. She may or may not cry, and she doesn't get out of bed. SUCCESS. I chalk it up to her being a couple months older.

+ We're hoping to get Audrey sleeping in there by 4 months old. Hubby doesn't know that is my goal, but there it is. She's sleeping in our room and it's fine so far, but she will outgrow that lovely bassinet at some point and I'd like to have her crib trained before that happens. I'm thinking I'll start having her take morning naps in there to start. Any suggestions besides that?

+ We had a great weekend of just staying home. We got a bunch done around the house (laundry, cooking, cleaning) and had my parents here on Sunday to shop and see the girls (and us too I guess). Shopping was a huge success!! I found my tall black boots (finally), got some more leggings, a skirt to go with the leggings, a top to go with the leggings, and a few regular shirts. I need to update my essentials in the closet and it was nice to be able to do it without too much of a struggle.

+ Today we had an appointment with a Pediatrician for Audrey. She's had a few incidents where she seemed to stop breathing during wake time. Her face would turn red and she'd take a few (long) seconds before inhaling sharply and screaming out in fear. It scared us too! I talked to our family doctor about it and she sent us to Peds to make sure it isn't sleep apnea. Thank God it isn't, and hopefully she'll just grow out of it since babies tend to not breathe regularly right away. I didn't know this, but now that I think about it I have noticed it with both girls. They will take a few normal breaths, pause, and then continue. It's not steady like adults until they are a few months old. 

+ I was talking to a friend the other day about staying inside most of the winter and how dreary it can be. Ironically, we were saying that it hasn't been that bad and definitely isn't as bad as we had expected. I was so sure last summer that winter would be awful since we'd be cooped up inside all day with the same scenery, sick of each other. Instead, we're cozy and happy, playing most of the day with enough visits to Grandma a week to keep us from getting stir crazy. It's nice to have these slow months with an infant before the crazy summer months come again.

+ Macy's had their "sidewalk" sale this weekend so I went and checked it out with my sister (who works there) and found awesome deals. To be fair, she found the deals and I paid for them, but I'm happy with it either way! I got coats for both girls next year along with pants, matching tops (love that), and a Christmas dress for Audrey next year (that Jo will probably wear at least once this year since it's gold, not red and green). 

+ I never mentioned it on here, but we got a new vehicle last month! Hubby found a black Ford Expedition that was within our price range. It has one row in the back instead of two since it used to be a cop car, and no middle console. It works awesome because I can jump in the back and sit between the girls when one (or both ) of them needs something. Not having that third row seating is also ok with us because we needed the extra space for our huge dog and all of our stuff when we are traveling, not for more people to sit in it. We were so thankful to find it! The best part is we sold our old Trailblazer this weekend so we are back down to a two car family. It felt good to get that out of our garage since it had been sitting there waiting to be sold for a solid month now. 

A few pictures to keep it interesting:

Pudding face

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