After an hour of inconsolable kicking and screaming and thrashing around on the floor, my 19 mth old finally let me hold her and she nursed herself to sleep. Normally, she nurses herself to sleep in my arms so that part isn't any different. The hour of hell was definitely out of character.
I got her tucked in at 9:10 pm. Usually she wakes up at midnight, 2am and 4am before getting up for the day at 6:30. Did I mention that I also wake up at midnight, 2am, 4am and get up for the day at 6:30?
Last night, she fussed at midnight but didn't wake up, she flopped over and all was quiet again. Whew! Next time I heard her fuss was 6am! WOW! She slept for 8 hours straight! All in a row! No interruptions!
If you could see me jumping around and smiling my face off, you'd see how excited I am! I don't want to jinx it by thinking this might be the start of sleeping all night, but I am celebrating it! Major accomplishment! I didn't even care that I was so filled with milk that I nearly exploded by the time morning rolled around. Went to bed a B, woke up a DDD. Had to keep the happy excited jumping to a minimum.
And after 2 years of not sleeping through the night (I'm including pregnancy in that time since I had to get up to go potty 6 times a night!), I am exhausted and have some catching up to do. A good long night snuggled in my bed is just the kind of quality mom-time I needed! Bring it on, I'm ready to make this a habit!
Friday, October 19, 2007
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Princess Party!
My oldest princess really is a princess! She was hired to act as Belle from Beauty and the Beast at a birthday party for a 4 yr old girl named Mia. Mia was speachless when she saw that Belle came all the way from Disneyland to be at her birthday party. And she was 100% convinced that Katie was the real Belle! Here are some pictures from the party, Gracie was invited and had a good time too!
The princess costume was an adventure. The party mom asked her to come dressed as any Disney princess. Katie tried on costumes at the costume shop for Snow White and Cinderella and Belle. I've never seen my daughter look so awful in a dress! The costumes just hung on her and she just looked like a girl wearing a cheesy cheap costume. And the wigs weren't very good either; Poor Katie doesn't have the right hair for Snow White or Cinderella. She can't let this little girl down! Mia has an annual pass to Disneyland and she knows what the princesses look like!
So we ran to Walmart to buy fabric since everything else was closed at that hour. By the way, this is the night before the party around 9pm. Luckily, they had a bolt of beautiful golden satin. Whew! Belle will be at the party! We came home and put Baby Princess to bed, Katie ran off with her friends and I was left with a job to do. I laid out the satin on the dining room table, pulled out some patterns for guidance since we didn't have a pattern to work from - I had to piece some old ones together and size it with our best guesses. I worked on it till 1am when Princess Gracie woke up for the first of her night-wakings. (she wakes up 2 or 3 times a night and needs to be fed, snuggled and lulled back to sleep). I went to bed after that. Gracie woke up again at 4am and couldn't get back to sleep till 6am, her next normal waking time. We slept till 7am and then it was back to the piecing together the dress. Between Gracie's demands, and Katie's fussiness about looking perfect, I got the dress done at 12 noon. We grabbed her tiara that she wore to prom last spring, and we were ready! Party in two hours and we had an hour drive to get there!
The neatest thing that happened at the party was Katie's connection with a down's syndrome girl. Jandi does not socialize and prefers to be left alone in her own space, and nobody is allowed to touch her paper and her markers! Nobody until Katie came along dressed as Belle. Not knowing Jandi's personal space issues, Katie was able to interact with Jandi which drew attention from her family. I heard whispers of "Look, she's talking to Belle!" Cameras started coming out. Then a collective gasp from the crowd as Katie took one of her markers and began to color with her. Katie and Jandi drew pictures together and talked together. Tears were being choked back by the grown-ups in the room. Jandi gave Belle a hug and a drawing, Belle gave Jandi a hug back, a drawing and a piece of candy. Katie has a gift with children and her interaction with Jandi was the gift of the day for everyone! Katie was thrilled to pieces after she learned that her interaction with Jandi was a major accomplishment. I'm so proud of her! She has once again been refueled with desire to become a special education teacher. Thank you, Jandi!
The princess costume was an adventure. The party mom asked her to come dressed as any Disney princess. Katie tried on costumes at the costume shop for Snow White and Cinderella and Belle. I've never seen my daughter look so awful in a dress! The costumes just hung on her and she just looked like a girl wearing a cheesy cheap costume. And the wigs weren't very good either; Poor Katie doesn't have the right hair for Snow White or Cinderella. She can't let this little girl down! Mia has an annual pass to Disneyland and she knows what the princesses look like!
So we ran to Walmart to buy fabric since everything else was closed at that hour. By the way, this is the night before the party around 9pm. Luckily, they had a bolt of beautiful golden satin. Whew! Belle will be at the party! We came home and put Baby Princess to bed, Katie ran off with her friends and I was left with a job to do. I laid out the satin on the dining room table, pulled out some patterns for guidance since we didn't have a pattern to work from - I had to piece some old ones together and size it with our best guesses. I worked on it till 1am when Princess Gracie woke up for the first of her night-wakings. (she wakes up 2 or 3 times a night and needs to be fed, snuggled and lulled back to sleep). I went to bed after that. Gracie woke up again at 4am and couldn't get back to sleep till 6am, her next normal waking time. We slept till 7am and then it was back to the piecing together the dress. Between Gracie's demands, and Katie's fussiness about looking perfect, I got the dress done at 12 noon. We grabbed her tiara that she wore to prom last spring, and we were ready! Party in two hours and we had an hour drive to get there!
The neatest thing that happened at the party was Katie's connection with a down's syndrome girl. Jandi does not socialize and prefers to be left alone in her own space, and nobody is allowed to touch her paper and her markers! Nobody until Katie came along dressed as Belle. Not knowing Jandi's personal space issues, Katie was able to interact with Jandi which drew attention from her family. I heard whispers of "Look, she's talking to Belle!" Cameras started coming out. Then a collective gasp from the crowd as Katie took one of her markers and began to color with her. Katie and Jandi drew pictures together and talked together. Tears were being choked back by the grown-ups in the room. Jandi gave Belle a hug and a drawing, Belle gave Jandi a hug back, a drawing and a piece of candy. Katie has a gift with children and her interaction with Jandi was the gift of the day for everyone! Katie was thrilled to pieces after she learned that her interaction with Jandi was a major accomplishment. I'm so proud of her! She has once again been refueled with desire to become a special education teacher. Thank you, Jandi!
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Toddler in a Glass Shop
When Keith started up the mower the other day, a rock came flying out of it and hit the patio sliding door. Wow, what a mess! The glass broke into a zillion pieces and of course, it fell inside instead of outside. It was all over the couches, rug, floor, every nook and cranny. Lexie took Sandy and Gracie upstairs and Keith and I cleaned it up.
Today I took my patio door to a glass shop to get a new piece of glass put in it instead of buying a whole new door. I saran wrapped the entire door frame so that no little leftover shards of glass would get in the van, and I'm going to bring my saran wrap to bring the door home too cuz if we are in an accident, I don't want my family to be all cut to bits. I tucked all the seats down on one side of my van and the door fit in there pretty sweetly. (thank you stow 'n go)
18 month old in a glass shop – bad idea. But we got out of there without buying any more panes of glass than we need. But she did touch and/or lick every piece of glass and mirror in the showroom, played peek-a-boo, and ate some Styrofoam off a cut-out display, yelled “HEWWO” to the secretary on the phone, and screamed bloody murder when I restrained her. I’ve never seen so many people so happy to see me go away.
The pane of glass is costing us $147.00 and it’ll be ready later today. I’ll pick it up after I get Lexie from school so that Gracie will be asleep in her carseat and Lexie can stay in the van with her while I get the door.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Balancing Act
As you know, I'm going to college full time while raising princesses. This is a careful balancing act on my part. I admit it.... I feel like I'm wobbling too far in both directions - like a tight rope walker about to fall. That'd be me; I'm a circus star!
Albeit, a falling star.
I picked up two more classes giving me 18 credits this semester. I don't have time for one credit, let alone 18. I've decided I'm just insane, so what the helk. Rephrasing Forest Gump, Insanity is as insanity does.
This morning I am worrying about my daughter's math test, reading Beowulf, watching Sesame Street, doing dishes and laundry, and letting the toddler out to run through the sprinklers. Forgot what I am reading already. Oh yeah, Calvinist theory as it applies to western literature.
Yesterday, I skipped three classes. Baby Princess had a high fever and she was "exploding". This is her very first illness, aside from vaccine reactions. So, I stayed home most of the day with her. As soon as my frazzled hubby came home and muttered something about working from home tonight on the computer (he's working two jobs and picking up extra hours at one), I grabbed my books and headed out muttering something about diarrhea and drove away before he could respond. Poor daddy. He's overworked but he loves his daddy-daughter time, so it may have been good for both of them. I heard they had some nice snuggle time in the rocking chair.
I hope I can balance mom duties with being a college student. I am sure to be wobbling between the demands of both. Hopefully I won't fall - oh heavens, if I do I just wanna do it gracefully!
I need to go out and buy a vacuum cleaner belt and pick up some African literature from the library. Then we'll come home and watch "Cars". Balancing insanity, that's my plan for today.
Albeit, a falling star.
I picked up two more classes giving me 18 credits this semester. I don't have time for one credit, let alone 18. I've decided I'm just insane, so what the helk. Rephrasing Forest Gump, Insanity is as insanity does.
This morning I am worrying about my daughter's math test, reading Beowulf, watching Sesame Street, doing dishes and laundry, and letting the toddler out to run through the sprinklers. Forgot what I am reading already. Oh yeah, Calvinist theory as it applies to western literature.
Yesterday, I skipped three classes. Baby Princess had a high fever and she was "exploding". This is her very first illness, aside from vaccine reactions. So, I stayed home most of the day with her. As soon as my frazzled hubby came home and muttered something about working from home tonight on the computer (he's working two jobs and picking up extra hours at one), I grabbed my books and headed out muttering something about diarrhea and drove away before he could respond. Poor daddy. He's overworked but he loves his daddy-daughter time, so it may have been good for both of them. I heard they had some nice snuggle time in the rocking chair.
I hope I can balance mom duties with being a college student. I am sure to be wobbling between the demands of both. Hopefully I won't fall - oh heavens, if I do I just wanna do it gracefully!
I need to go out and buy a vacuum cleaner belt and pick up some African literature from the library. Then we'll come home and watch "Cars". Balancing insanity, that's my plan for today.
Sunday, September 9, 2007
My Flogging
Wow. I'm taking a ton of flack for my latest post. My dictionary style writing where I defined Holiday from a Mom's point of view. Not all here, but on Shoutwire and elsewhere in the cyber world.
Shoutwire shows that this had over 8,000 views. 41 comments and most were flaming me. Granted, most of them are knuckle dragging Neanderthals that frequent that forum, so not much harm done. Two very supportive comments that I really appreciated totally made my day!
My husband wrote a comment on another forum where this post appeared - again, I only posted it here and to my close friends - "She was being sarcastic--so was I. In reality, we share many chores over any holiday. After 24 years together, her sense of humor still really cracks me up." That comment made my heart melt! I love making him laugh! And its true, he does a lot of extra Dad duties on any given holiday.
Let me clarify something... I wrote this on the fly. I didn't mean to offend anyone by it. It's just something I wrote. I didn't write it to be viewed by 8,000 people!
Actually, a friend of mine who is a new mom was commenting on how holidays just aren't what they used to be for her since motherhood adds a new dimension. Holidays are actually a lot of work and very exhausting! I agree whole-heartedly! She wasn't complaining and neither am I. At no time did I ever say I am oppressed by my role as the mom. I am just saying - I'm the mom. Being the mom changes things. IN MY OPINION. And as my humor permits me to view the world, that is what I wrote.
Hey lighten up folks, it's just a post written in fun.
Shoutwire shows that this had over 8,000 views. 41 comments and most were flaming me. Granted, most of them are knuckle dragging Neanderthals that frequent that forum, so not much harm done. Two very supportive comments that I really appreciated totally made my day!
My husband wrote a comment on another forum where this post appeared - again, I only posted it here and to my close friends - "She was being sarcastic--so was I. In reality, we share many chores over any holiday. After 24 years together, her sense of humor still really cracks me up." That comment made my heart melt! I love making him laugh! And its true, he does a lot of extra Dad duties on any given holiday.
Let me clarify something... I wrote this on the fly. I didn't mean to offend anyone by it. It's just something I wrote. I didn't write it to be viewed by 8,000 people!
Actually, a friend of mine who is a new mom was commenting on how holidays just aren't what they used to be for her since motherhood adds a new dimension. Holidays are actually a lot of work and very exhausting! I agree whole-heartedly! She wasn't complaining and neither am I. At no time did I ever say I am oppressed by my role as the mom. I am just saying - I'm the mom. Being the mom changes things. IN MY OPINION. And as my humor permits me to view the world, that is what I wrote.
Hey lighten up folks, it's just a post written in fun.
Monday, September 3, 2007
Holiday
Today is Labor Day, a holiday. This is my definition of holiday:
hol i day - /noun/
1. a day when the Mom of the family works extra hard as the entire family is home from work and school. Longer hours are expected of the family matriarch.
2. customarily a time of excessive manual labor for every Mom. Extra burdens are sometimes called "family outings" in which the mom plans, organizes, executes, and cleans up after a long day of hauling her family's belongings around an amusement park, beach, or fair on a record-breaking hot day.
3. a holy day in which the family gathers for a feast, a feast prepared solely by the Mom after cleaning the house six times while chasing the children and keeping up with their messes before guests arrive to judge her housekeeping skills, while Dad relaxes in his lazyboy in front of a televised sporting event. The feast is then followed by a bigger mess than ever that Mom alone tackles, as it is a holiday after all.
/verb/
4. to vacation. A period of travel in which the Mom becomes not only the organizer and beast of burden, but also must extend her holiday duties for days on end without ever eating a healthy meal or sleeping more than 4 hours in a comfortable bed. Added duties are keeping the Dad calm while he is lost and maintaining peace and tranquility between the siblings during long boring travels. Mom also competes in vacation sporting events such as "strapping the children in carseats" and "pump gas, wipe the windows, and take the children into the creepy gas station to pee".
Synonyms for Dad: to take a break, to relax. Synonyms for Mom: slave labor, to loose one's mind, insanity
hol i day - /noun/
1. a day when the Mom of the family works extra hard as the entire family is home from work and school. Longer hours are expected of the family matriarch.
2. customarily a time of excessive manual labor for every Mom. Extra burdens are sometimes called "family outings" in which the mom plans, organizes, executes, and cleans up after a long day of hauling her family's belongings around an amusement park, beach, or fair on a record-breaking hot day.
3. a holy day in which the family gathers for a feast, a feast prepared solely by the Mom after cleaning the house six times while chasing the children and keeping up with their messes before guests arrive to judge her housekeeping skills, while Dad relaxes in his lazyboy in front of a televised sporting event. The feast is then followed by a bigger mess than ever that Mom alone tackles, as it is a holiday after all.
/verb/
4. to vacation. A period of travel in which the Mom becomes not only the organizer and beast of burden, but also must extend her holiday duties for days on end without ever eating a healthy meal or sleeping more than 4 hours in a comfortable bed. Added duties are keeping the Dad calm while he is lost and maintaining peace and tranquility between the siblings during long boring travels. Mom also competes in vacation sporting events such as "strapping the children in carseats" and "pump gas, wipe the windows, and take the children into the creepy gas station to pee".
Synonyms for Dad: to take a break, to relax. Synonyms for Mom: slave labor, to loose one's mind, insanity
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