Sleep

"Change requires effort, and effort requires energy. In an exhausted state, we may find it easier just to keep things as they are rather than try something different. In other words, when baby wakes for the fifth time time that night, and I'm desperate for sleep, it's so much easier just to resort to the easiest way to get him to fall back to sleep than it is to try something different.
Only a parent who is truly sleep deprived can understand what I'm saying here. Others may be able to calmly advise, "Well if things aren't working for you, just change what you're doing."
-The No-Cry Sleep Solution

All I have to say to that is "Can I get an AMEN?!"
Hunter hasn't slept through the night yet (except for maybe one or two times), I'm working on changing that (hence the book). I don't really feel it so much any more, I've gotten so used to not getting enough sleep, I'm not sure what I would do with myself if I got more than 5 hours of uninterrupted z's. I thought it would be fun to look back on this time of my life and remember what my night time routine looks like:

6- eat dinner
7- give the kids a bath
7:30- put their jammies on (this usually takes awhile since it is impossible for Hunter to lie down to get his diaper on and is usually halfway across the room before I have a chance to get the diaper under him. He then thinks this is a fun game of chase and the process is repeated a few times)
8- try to get Mikayla to brush her teeth. Then try again. And again. Then finally give up and pin her down.
8:10- try to get her to go to the bathroom. And then ask again. Then tickle her until she has to go.
8:15- Put Hunter down.
8:30- Go read to Mikayla/lay down with her/ sit in my chair and read a book.
10:00- finally she falls asleep and I'm free (yes, it takes an hour and a half for her to fall asleep, I wish I were exaggerating) . Then I usually take an hour to myself. I should go straight to bed...but it's the only time of the day where there isn't somebody right there. I've tried explaining that to Joel, I don't think he really gets it though. How can he?
11-go to bed
12:00- Hunter wakes up
1- Mikayla comes into our bed
3:30- Hunter wakes up
6- Hunter wakes up
8:30- Mikayla and Hunter wake up for the day


So why am I still up?...good question. Goodnight.

It's Snowing

There is a quote that pretty much sums up my life: "Cleaning house while the kids are still growing is like shoveling snow while it's still snowing".

Everyday I vacuum, attempt to do the dishes {I say attempt because it's rather difficult to empty the dishwasher while your son is climbing into it, and harder still while holding him. Have you ever tried to wash dishes one handed? Vacuuming I can do...dishes? Not so much}.
Then there's the sickness that just keeps swirling around my house. Runny noses, coughs, mastitis...oh, wait, that last one just concerns me, but when mama's sick the World as my family knows it stops. So far I've gotten it 3 times and this last bout was awful. I couldn't get up, couldn't sleep because of a headache {I was convinced that a drill would've been less painful} and the next morning {Joel's birthday, of all days} my husband informed me that I was burning up...I don't know what my temperature was, I wasn't going to get up for anything. Luckily, a few hours later, I woke up drenched in sweat, my fever had broken.
So why am I telling all of you this? Well, a couple of reasons.
1. To justify why I haven't been updating my blog as much as I want/ need to.
2. To justify to myself why my house isn't as neat as I would like it.
3. While my husband has many, many good attributes, he is somewhat lacking in the sympathy department...it's not his fault he is the model of health and gets sick maybe once a year, while I get sick if someone sneezes two blocks away.

So here is the update on the kids:

Mikayla loves her tricycle and we go on walks a lot (I've decided that I prefer it if Joel comes with us, that way I don't tense up every time a white windowless van drives slowly by). She knows all of her colors as well as the alphabet. She will stand up (sometimes on an upturned laundry basket) with her pretend guitar and belt out songs (with accompanying actions) that she makes up. She loves to laugh and is constantly making me laugh in turn. The poor thing has recently become scared of monsters and other such things that go bump in the night and therefore can't go to sleep unless one of us is with her. Then sometime during the night she wanders into our room to sleep between Joel and I. We often wake up to a foot in the ribs or a hand being flung in our face.

Hunter will dance to anything. He could be right in the middle of wailing at the top of his lungs and if a song plays in a commercial he'll start bopping away. It only lasts a few seconds, but it's almost as if his little body can't help but dance along. He LOVES dogs and starts squealing with delight when one comes within sight. He is no longer wearing his helmet. He has 4 new molars (which all came within a week), poor Hunter, poor mommy. He has been cruising for awhile now, but has recently started taking steps. He loves to push his sister in her tricycle around the island in our kitchen. He's still not sleeping through the night. All in all he's a pretty happy little guy- when he's not teething and as long as mom is right there.

Gift

Hey everybody!
I'm giving away a personalized ornament to everyone on my other blog:
Designing my bliss

Go check it out!!