One Day...

We will figure out how to help Monkey sleep better. Today at nap time I sat outside her door with a chair (it's easier than standing) and found out that if I just left the door open, she fell right asleep. Then I shut the door and voila. However, in our attempt to do that instead of the open/shut game, she's babbling happily in her bed, but not going to sleep. How I tire of her inability to fall asleep. I'm sure it'll figure itself out soon. I really wouldn't mind as much if she weren't up before 6:30 every day. Blah.

Long Day...

Today was a long day. Not in that it was a terribly tough day, but we chose not to have the kids nap. The time that we attend our church meetings changed with the new year, and we get home at 2. It's hard to get Monkey down for a nap, if we put Moose down at all, and so today we chose to forego and put them down early. Monkey anyway. So it wasn't a typically relaxing Sunday that I'm used to, but it was still a good day. Poor Monkey was so exhausted by the time she went down shortly after 6. She fell asleep quickly as I sang to her. She woke up a little while later absolutely distraught. She calmed down when I held her and after a while I was able to put her back down without her starting back up again. Hopefully sleeping through the night won't be a problem. She woke up this morning at 5:13, crying. We don't know what her deal is. Perhaps a growth spurt. She's a tall girl for her age. She's still drooling constantly and lately has been chewing on her hands again. Two year molars coming a bit early? Anything is possible with little ones. That's what makes it so hard. Once you think you have them figured out, they grow and change and you never know what causes what. But we do our best. I just hope we can get her back to a decent falling asleep/sleeping routine before this baby comes. I don't know if I can handle jumping through hoops to get 2 kids to sleep at night. Doing it for 1 tends to take enough out of me. Well, time will tell. 12 weeks to go.

Sleep Patrol...

So it seems like things come and go, for a while they're good, then suddenly they're not. For us right now, that's Monkey and sleeping. Last night she gave us a real rough time going to sleep. It's like she's forgotten how to fall asleep on her own. For the last few days she'll fall asleep while I'm singing to her, and she's usually exhausted so it happens quickly. Otherwise she has to get really mad and throw big fits, then she'll fall asleep while I'm singing to her. Either way, it's kinda crazy since she used to fall asleep just fine on her own. So after thinking about it and talking to the hubs about it, I decided on an approach. It might take a while to work really well, but me and the hubs feel good about it and I'm hoping if we stick to it, it'll get her back on track falling asleep on her own.

Here's what I did. We do a pretty regular bedtime routine. Brush teeth, read books, sing songs. When we sing songs, they're generally tucked in with the lights out. Then after we shut the door (or as we're shutting it, or even before that) she starts crying. When we shut the door, she eventually works her way back to the door and opens it. I just stand there right outside the door, and once she tries opening it, I open the door and tell her to go back to bed. So she goes, I put her blanket over her and tell her nicely to go to sleep, I love you, that sort of thing. Then we do it all over again. Each time I opened the door she'd get a bit more hysterical. But the last time I did it, she finally went back to bed and her eyes were so heavy. I just talked to her gently about being a big girl and falling asleep on her own. She's about to be a big sister, and I don't want to have to use extreme measures to get 2 kids to bed. While I talked and shooshed her, she fell asleep. So I left. After around 5 minutes or so she stirred and realized I was gone. So the hubs is currently doing the same thing. Open the door (when she's out of bed and about to open it) tell her to go to bed. Tuck her in, say good night, then shut the door. We're hoping that with consistent use of this by both of us for the next few days, or maybe a week, (hopefully not more) she'll find her way back to falling asleep on her own without all the hoopla. Oh, the hoopla. We could definitely do without.

So wish us luck. I'm sure I'll keep you posted. :)

Busy Hands...

I've learned this before, but have recently re-learned this concept. If I really want my children to leave me alone, I need to keep myself busy. Sitting and doing anything sitting does not count. But if I'm moving and cleaning, or laundering, or anything like that, I can either find myself doing it alone or I'll have Monkey by my side wanting to do it too. (Or sometimes just keeping herself busy near me.) As I'm adjusting to being a morning mom and getting my energy back as Monkey naps, (Yes, she did today!!) I'm more able and willing to keep myself busy while they're awake. Today me and Monkey did around 4 loads of laundry, folded clothes, cleaned a few things, and more. She's just entering that stage where she wants to imitate what I do. We've already covered make-up. (And we're done with that, since she's about broken anything that can be broken in my make-up bag.) So now we're going to move on to chores. (And helping cook dinner.) It ultimately leaves me feeling really accomplished too because I'm able to get chores done without stress, since she's just being my little helper. Moose is very content to occupy himself playing the computer, playing his V*Smile (love that thing) or watching a show, if he's earned one. It definitely takes patience to do chores with a kid tagging along since nothing gets done as quickly as it would otherwise. But normally I probably wouldn't be doing these chores anyway. I'd usually be trying desperately to read or something like that while she bothers me and her brother non-stop. But this keeps her occupied and leaves me feeling like I did something great with my time. Win-win.

Pokes...

I had my doctor's appointment this morning. When my son asked me about it, he inevitably asked if I would be getting a poke. (aka needles) I told him yes, since I was taking care of my glucose test today. He was completely freaked out. I had to calm him down a bit. He's got a needle thing. Anyway, I did my glucose drink (for those not savvy, you have to drink this soda like concoction that doesn't taste very good in under ten minutes. Then within the hour you have to have your blood drawn.) and went in for my poke. I finally gained some weight. I think I'm at around 14-15 pounds gained. With 12 weeks to go, I'm hoping I can stay under 25 total.

Well, the kids are in bed and most likely asleep from exhaustion since naps were a total bust today. So I'm going to take this opp. to go and relax with the hubs. :)

No Nap For Me...

Or anyone else for that matter. Today was one of those days. I think I handled it pretty well. But I'm still exhausted. Miss Monkey woke herself and her brother up at around 6:15. Moose said it was too early and went back to bed for about half an hour. She was a grouch most of the morning and went down at noon. Unfortunately, she only slept for an hour. She woke up right as Moose went to sleep in my bed. I wouldn't let her get up, because I know better, and she had an all out scream fest. It was insane. I feel sorry for my neighbors whenever this sort of this starts. I hope they don't hear much. (But they probably do.) But it didn't last forever. Especially since I was laying down in front of the door. (I was completely set on taking a nap today, which is rare. So I was totally geared up for sleep.) She finally went back to bed and I layed down next to her, prepared to nap with her. She was getting all droopy eyed and whatnot as I sang to her, and then guess what happened? I hear a door open (not her bedroom door) and Moose's signature *thunk, thunk, thunk* down the hallway, calling my name. He wanted to know if he had taken a nap. (Whenever he has to ask, it's because he hasn't. He'd been in there 30 minutes.) This was all it took to snap Monkey out of her droopy sleepiness and put her on the road to awake. But I made her lay in bed for a long time anyway. I finally gave up right before 3 o'clock, making her lay there in bed by me for well over an hour. Right after I let her go out of the room (hoping to still lay in her bed for a while) Moose came out too, again asking if he had napped.

I still tried laying in bed after they woke up, but Monkey's not good at letting Moose play along with his new toys, so the peace was short-lived. So I'm one tired Mama. And I'm still adjusting to getting up with the kiddos whenever they wake up, instead of sleeping in til around 7 when the hubs used to leave for work. But I know I'll adjust. Or I'll just be tired until the weekend, when I can sleep in, or until spring break. (the week I'm due.) Even if I do catch up on sleep, I'll just go back to being tired once she's born. Oh well. Not worth thinking about. I can handle tired. I'll just look forward to sleeping in Saturday and Sunday. Two days should be rejuvenating enough. :)

Sleep Aids...

So whenever we go through a phase when our kids have a hard time falling asleep, we brainstorm idea to help them fall asleep easier. A few days ago the hubs started his "work them to sleep" routine. It's one we've used before, but as you might imagine, it's hard work. Fortunately for me, the hubs does most of the grunt work. 

Take yesterday for example. Before bed, he started playing games with the kids, ending with an obstacle course. It involved crab walking, crawling, basketball, jumping jacks, running, army crawling and so much more. Even I tried it once. :) Today's event was sledding. And after a good 20 minutes of laying right next to Monkey and singing quiet songs, I'm happy to say that after 10 minutes of the door shut, there hasn't been a peep, toy creak, or squeak or any other type of sound that generally comes from that room.

The only other sure fire solution we have is screaming. We try not to do that one intentionally. But honest to goodness, it puts Monkey to sleep faster than anything else. Well, I'm going to go sit my sore right-rear end (pregnancy stuff. Oh joy.) down in the recliner and read until the hubs comes back from an evening meeting. Good sleep to you all. (And especially to your kids!)

Morning Mama...

So I have never been a morning person. Ever. The hubs is totally the other way around. He'll jump right out of bed, hop in the shower and get to the day. Me, not so much. However, we're trying to change up our morning routine so he can get out of the house faster, and then get home earlier in the evening. So basically, in order for this to work, I have to get up when the kids do. Before, they would get up and he'd do his things while getting them breakfast, or otherwise entertaining them. No longer.

So this morning, I woke up with the kids. It actually went well because they slept in a bit for the first time in about 2 weeks. Moose was up at 6:30. (The hubs left at 6:15, so he was able to do his whole morning routine solo, which he liked.) He layed next to me in bed til 7. Then a few minutes later, Monkey woke up too. We took our time to make breakfast. (Not just cold cereal today! Oh no!) Then we all got dressed, doing our morning chores, and getting ready for the day. It turned out awesome!

I know this won't happen everyday, but I'm super glad it went so well on the first day. So now we're working on getting them to bed earlier, since they have a hard time with the concept of stay up late = sleeping in. This might give me and the hubs more time together at night to relax, and ultimately get to bed earlier too. The hubs was lights out on his side of the bed by about 9:45 last night. But he is the one who wakes up at 5. I'll sleep in as long as possible. I know once this baby is born and nursing I'll be the one with a multi-timed wake up every night. I'll enjoy this while I can.

So here's hoping I can handle another morning tomorrow. And that they'll not wake up at 6:00. :)

New Year...

So technically yesterday would've been the day to write about the New Year, but since tomorrow's the hub's first day back at work, it really feels like tomorrow is more the beginning of a new year. So here's our old year in review.

*Monkey turns 1. Holy cow!

*Moose turns 4. Double holy cow!

*I got pregnant. (No cow comments!)

*The hubs was able to start his second year teaching high school. It's been significantly easier than last year. Yay.

*Moose is smarter and more active than ever. He's getting pro at writing his name, he can add (using his fingers), and has started learning to read. We're going to vamp up his school days at home with some new stuff soon. Hopefully it'll be tons of fun!

*Monkey is communicating better than ever. She has a new word every other day and is so much happier and sure of what she wants. (Or doesn't want.) Her latest words include bite, glove, boot, and her favorite new phrase is "please papa". (Which she says to me too.)

*Monkey has also warmed up to our extended family that lives near us. She's been the more stranger-danger out of the two kids, but lately has completely opened up. It's so sweet. We had family over tonight to celebrate the hub's birthday and she was laughing and giggling with everyone. It was awesome.

*Moose started a home-group preschool with a few friends of ours. He's by far the oldest and so I didn't know how he would like it, but it's been a great way for him to socialize and learn better group behaviors. I don't think he's actually learning much, since they do letters and things, but we still do things at home for that. Overall it's been great and he's finally getting more friends here, which is awesome! (And it's a great prep for starting kindergarten this fall. I can't believe it!)

So it's been a busy year. It's all gone so fast. I've learned that the more children we have the faster time goes. But with the pregnancy that's been great since this one has gone so fast I can hardly believe I only have 3 more months. And I know those 3 will just fly by. This upcoming year we're going to add another baby to our family, hopefully start the hub's third year of teaching high school, put our oldest boy in kindergarten (Aah!!) and who knows what else?! Time will tell.

As long as I can keep my perspective on what's most important to me (this sweet family of mine!) I know that I'll be able to take everything that comes. :)

Sleepy Time...

As most parents do, we have had a few sleeping-related issues lately. The main one is they're getting up a bit earlier than before, and it's too early for Monkey. Moose has been getting up early (6:00) to go to the bathroom. Monkey usually follows within 5 minutes. It's obviously too early for her. She can barely open her eyes. Moose is the type to get into routines really easily. We're thinking he's just starting a bad habit. But we're going to try and take precautions to help them sleep better. For one, Moose got limited liquids tonight, and none past around 5:45. We made sure he still drank a lot before that so we would know he's not dehydrated or anything. (He sweats a ton if he's active.) And since they've both been waking up earlier, we're putting them to bed earlier. They had been staying up late over the hub's vacation. But staying up later and getting up earlier don't mix.

At the moment, the hubs is trying to talk Monkey out of freaking out when he closes the door. We remember having to be super patient with Moose when he was younger. I would talk him out of many a tantrum. She's still a bit young, but the talking seems to be helping. Instead of running to the door immediately and crying, she will cry out once or twice, but then stay quiet.

Sleeping is always such an issue with kids. We've made some serious structured routines for our kids and tried really hard to give them consistent sleep times and good habits for falling and staying asleep. But in the end each kid is so different and their bodies all work differently. I can see that they need and respond to sleep the same ways me and the hubs do. We cherish our sleep and get as much as we can as adults. (Lights out at 10:00 sorta stuff for us.) When we don't get enough sleep, we're grouchy. So are the kids. I just hope we can continue their good habits and teach them to our next baby too.

We're shortly going to be outnumbered, so things might get dicey. But I'm sure we'll figure it out. :)