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30 March 2011

this post is on nothing in particular

I had set a goal for myself to blog a few times a week and was doing so well...

Then the Army decided my husband needed to be in the field a lot so I'm doing the single parent thing again. It's all good, we're just pretty busy over here. Ya know, life.

But hopefully I'll have the chance to sit down and spit out the posts rattling around in my head soon. Before I forget them...

Until then, enjoy looking at my boys.

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I think they're swell.

19 March 2011

this cracks me up.

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Dear Fellow Babies,

OK, here’s my situation. My Mommy has had me for almost 5 months. The first few months were great – I cried, she picked me up and fed me, anytime, around the clock. Then something happened. Over the last few weeks, she has been trying to STTN (sleep thru the night). At first, I thought it was just a phase, but it is only getting worse.

I’ve talked to other babies, and it seems like its pretty common after Mommies have had us for around 5-6 months. Here’s the thing: these Mommies don’t really need to sleep. It’s just a habit. Many of them have had some 30 years to sleep – they just don’t need it anymore. So I am implementing a plan. I call it the Crybaby Shuffle.

It goes like this:

Night 1 – cry every 3 hours until you get fed. I know, it’s hard. It’s hard to see your Mommy upset over your crying. Just keep reminding yourself, it’s for her own good.

Night 2 – cry every 2 hours until you get fed.

Night 3 – every hour.

Most Mommies will start to respond more quickly after about 3 nights. Some Mommies are more alert, and may resist the change longer. These Mommies may stand in your doorway for hours, shhhh-ing. Don’t give in. I cannot stress this enough: CONSISTENCY IS KEY!! If you let her STTN (sleep through the night), just once, she will expect it every night. I know it’s hard! But she really does not need the sleep; she is just resisting the change.. If you have an especially alert Mommy, you can stop crying for about 10 minutes, just long enough for her to go back to bed and start to fall asleep. Then cry again. It WILL eventually work. My Mommy once stayed awake for 10 hours straight, so I know she can do it.

The other night, I cried every hour. You just have to decide to stick to it and just go for it. BE CONSISTENT! I cried for any reason I could come up with:

-My sleep sack tickled my foot.
-I felt a wrinkle under the sheet.
-My mobile made a shadow on the wall.
-I burped, and it tasted like rice cereal. I hadn’t eaten rice cereal since breakfast, what’s up with that?
-The dog said “ruff”. I should know. My Mommy reminds me of this about 20 times a day. LOL.
-Once I cried just because I liked how it sounded when it echoed on the monitor in the other room.
-Too hot, too cold, just right – doesn’t matter! Keep crying!!
-I had drooled so much my sheets were damp and I didn’t like it touching me.
-I decided I was sick of all the pink in my room so I cried.

It took awhile, but it worked. She fed me at 4am. Tomorrow night, my goal is 3:30am. You need to slowly shorten the interval between feedings in order to reset your Mommies’ internal clocks.

Sometimes my Mommy will call for reinforcements by sending in Daddy. Don’t worry Daddies are not set up for not needing sleep the way Mommies are. They can only handle a few pats and shhing before they declare defeat and send in the Mommy.

Also, be wary of the sleep sheep with rain noises. I like to give Mommy false hope that listening to the rain puts me to sleep sometimes I pretend to close my eyes and be asleep and then wait until I know Mommy is settling back to sleep to spring a surprise cry attack. If she doesn’t get to me fast enough I follow up with my fake cough and gag noise that always has her running to the crib. At some point I am positive she will start to realize that she really doesn’t really need sleep.

P.S. Don’t let those rubber things fool you, no matter how long you suck on them, no milk will come out.

Trust me.

Sincerely,
Baby



From here.

18 March 2011

such a shame.

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It really is a shame Nick isn't a girl 'cause I could've had sooooo much fun with his gorgeous hair.

16 March 2011

just a question.

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Why is it that no matter how much planning you do or how careful you are, painting a room always takes about 10 hours longer than you thought and you end up covered in paint?

14 March 2011

mom and baby.

Well, it should come as no surprise that as the resident photographer I am the one always behind the camera. Which means 2347634857495894564958645069785067 pictures of Rob and the boys and 5 pictures of me. And of those 5, maybe 1 is actually one I would show people. So I think it goes without saying I love these pictures of Nick and I. See, this is what I look like!

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11 March 2011

Quattro!

Last fall the little man turned 4!! I still can't believe I have a four year old. Anyway, for his third birthday we went all out because I knew it was our last chance to throw a big shin-dig with all our Greensboro friends. So this year we kept things really low-key. It was great. The celebrations started the night before, however, by dad giving Max his gift:
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All four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movies!! Woo Hoo! (That kept him entertained for the evening while I got the house clean...)
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I took a picture of the packaging 'cause I thought it was so sweet:
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On his actual birthday the next day the poor boys both had doctor's appointments, but we made up for it later by going to dinner at Cracker Barrel (he loves their grilled cheese and chocolate milk) with Chris and Tiffany. Then we headed home to open presents and eat cake.

This boy is so very very loved. We were getting packages all week:
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Checking out his new Ironman:
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And Max and Ruby books (He LOVES Max and Ruby):
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Just watching the spectacle:
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Showing Chris one of his gifts:
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And now for the cake!
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He was THRILLED we sang to him (it was a little pathetic, I will admit. None of us are singers):
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And even more THRILLED to blow out some candles!:
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I decided to make cupcakes instead of a cake, and since Max loves monsters that's what I made. We totally raided the candy aisle at the dollar store and dyed icing some monster-ish colors. Here's the result:
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I made some mini cupcake monsters too:
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The monster family:
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Unfortunately, Max was not so fond of the candy on top. He's a strict icing guy:
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After the festivities the boys and I snuggled in bed and read Max's new books. They were so pooped this is what soon followed:
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Melts my heart.

And, the aftermath. I think it was a successful day, what do you think?
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09 March 2011

home schooling?

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(this kid is SO hard to photograph these days)

I'm just gonna come right out and say it... I'm seriously considering homeschooling. I never thought I'd say that, but I am.

When Max was a toddler I was so ready to have a few hours of the day to myself, but now I'm not so sure. Now that he's out of that crazy monster-ish toddler phase I really like spending all day with him. Recently I contacted the school Max will (?) be attending to ask about their Pre-K program (his birthday falls after the cut-off so he won't start Kindergarten until 2012) and they said they'd love to get me that info so just call them. And I panicked. Suddenly this whole school thing became very real and I realized I don't think I'm ready for it. Do I really want for him to be gone all day every day of the week? That would mean no more story time at the library, no going to the park all afternoon, no going to brigade runs with dad, no museum trips. Everything we'll do has to be fit in around a school calendar. Summer vacation would have to end by the end of July, with no trips during the school year 'cause they're sooo strict on attendance here.

And on top of all that, he'd only be learning like 20% of his time there. The rest of it is wasted by teachers having to deal with crap. And I don't think they get recess anymore. And even if they do, they aren't allowed to just play. And I can go on and on and on.

Now I'm sure you're thinking, "Uh, if you feel that strongly about it, why are you waffling with the idea of homeschooling?"

I'll tell you why, it's two things. One, I have no idea what he needs to be learning and when. I'm terrified of him being behind everyone else his age because of me. And two, I don't want him to be one of those socially awkward home schooled kids. Don't lie, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

What do you think?

I did have a great conversation with a "friend" (I put it in quotations because we've only hung out twice, but we get along great) about the whole thing. She is of the same opinion I am, although she is looking into private school instead of home school (something we can't afford right now). And when I voiced my concerns over the whole socialization thing, what she said really struck me:
"Is that REALLY the kind of socializing you want your kid to have?"
And she's right. I don't think it's any secret how immoral our society has become. And how kids are stripped of their innocence SO YOUNG these days. So I am faced with this decision:
"Is it more important for me to have a socially 'with-it' child, or to have a morally sound child?"
I must confess, I'm definitely leaning towards the morally sound child. I definitely want his innocence to stay in place for as long as it possible can. It is my obligation to rear my children in righteousness, and I'm not sure yet if I can do that by sending him off to fend for himself every day in this immoral world. (or am I just being overprotective?)

BUT, if I do home school, I'm clueless. I don't where to start. And if I don't figure it out soon, he's gonna end up right where I don't want him. So do YOU have any advice? A great curriculum I should look into? Especially for the preschool level? Anyone you know I should talk to? Am I the only one contemplating this? And PLEASE let me know if I'm a good mom for even contemplating this. It seems the older my kids get, the harder this whole mom career really is.

08 March 2011

oh, children.

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Life with 2 kids is different. Here's an example for you:

Today Max brought me a capri sun to open for him, so I did. Only I was a little thirsty too so I snuck a sip (am I the only mom who does that?). Except I wasn't as sneaky as I thought and Max freaked out. So I told him he could get another one and I'd keep that one. While he was throwing a fit on the floor (which means he wasn't listening too well). It only lasted for a minute though and he was off to go do whatever again and never came back so I forgot about it.

Until a couple minutes later. You see, Nick is crawling now. And guess what he found? An open capri sun. Which I found him shaking around, with capri sun flinging in the air. And when I tried to take it from him he instantly put his death grip on it. Which meant capri sun gushed out of the straw and all over him and the floor.

And that, my friends, is what happens to forgotten capri sun when you have 2 kids.

07 March 2011

fun in the... wait for it... water.

There are no ifs, ands or buts about it, Oklahoma is REALLY hot in the summer. With no beach in sight (sob). But we made do with two things: the splash park and the pool.

Can I just say I. Heart. The splash park. It's just a concrete pad with things that squirt water everywhere for the kids to run through, with covered seating and a spray mister for the parents. We would go and just stay all day.
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(I think it's safe to say Max enjoyed himself.)

And who doesn't love the pool? We especially loved to go with the Goodwins, have a pizza delivered and just chill until the sun went down. And even better? It didn't close for the season until October; pretty awesome since it didn't even start to get remotely cool until then!
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(Max loves water so much this is what he would do when it was time to go; I guess in hopes I would give up and leave him there?)

Lucky for us, Ft. Bliss has a splash park too!