Grandpa Barney

We went to the mailbox yesterday and found a letter from Grandpa Barney. Nothing too fancy, just a handwritten note on regular notebook paper. Dylan was beside himself. I told him it was his letter from Grandpa and he couldn't believe it. Why he sent me a letter? Grandpa sent me a letter? He held the unopened envelope on his lap the whole way to Target yesterday. I asked him if he wanted to open it and he finally agreed. I helped him open it, but he wanted to take it out of the envelope. He proceeded to read me the letter. This is how it went according to Dylan.

Dear Dylan (long spaces inbetween each word). When Heavenly Father made the earth and then Baby Jesus came down...I am a child of God... I have no idea what else he said. After that my grin was way too big to contain and I wasn't paying close enough attention to remember the words, just the way he made me feel. Such a proud Mama! He was telling a little church story in his letter. I told him it was a great letter and asked him if he wanted me to help him read it. The actual letter went something like this:

Dear Dylan, I love it when you come to visit Grandma and me. I love you very much. You are a great friend. I like to go feed the llamas and the horses with you. I like to play outside and jump in the snow. I like elephants too. They live in the zoo and so should you. Please come and visit me soon. You make me smile, Dylan. I love you. Love, Grandpappy Barney Bumbleberry

It was so sweet. After that, Dylan made me read each line one at a time and he would repeat it until he pretty much could recite the letter all by himself. This morning Preston found the envelope, ripped it in half and took a big bite out of it. Dylan was devastated. Luckily it wasn't the letter! What a cute experience. Dylan and Grandpa are such good friends and I'm so glad they are! Thanks for the letter, Grandpa Barney. Who knew such a small gesture would mean so much to an almost 4-year-old boy? Who needs fancy toys anyway? I'll take a great relationship over stuff any day!

Precious Preston

My baby turned 10 months old on the 15th. I cannot believe how time flies! I took a few pictures the other day that I wanted to share. He is just such a cute little thing. He is so sweet and curious. Ten months is such a fun age too. He rolls and scoots around everywhere and wants to get into everything. He's such a wiggle worm. He throws his quick little fits and then they're gone again. Oh, how I wish that 3-year-olds could forget things that quickly. He claps his hands and is so pleased with himself. He's just a cute little dude. He has five teeth now and is working on the 6th, 3 on top (almost 4) and 2 on the bottom.

Long Days, Longer Nights

Man, I am such a blog slacker. I always want to post a little something, but I find two problems. One, I am completely exhausted and decide it's not worth staying up for. Two, I have a hard time posting negative stuff and it's been a rough few weeks. Routine, routine, routine. I've been running from one thing to the other. Two days at work, two days tending Anthony, one day of extracurricular classes for the kids. Phew, just thinking about it makes me tired. No big deal though. Nothing most people aren't dealing with. You make the schedule work. Then there's the gym. I've made it a goal to get back to the gym, even if that means after the kids are in bed. I just can't have it be the very last priority any more. I can't seem to make 5:30 a.m. happen so I go in the evenings when Marcos is home or when I can't swing that or need to spend some time with the kids, I wait until they go to bed, run to the gym and come back to throw myself in bed (after a much needed shower). So that's all working for me. Then comes then dreaded night. Preston has been going through a phase here and there where he wakes up. He is impossible to rock or comfort in the middle of the night without milk so I've stopped that horrible habbit and let him cry it out a bit. Luckily, he wasn't so far gone that he has to cry too long. I usually end up putting him in the playpen in the toy room so he won't wake Dylan. And then there's Dylan. He just won't stay in bed. We have a great bedtime routine and always have. We are consistent and he goes to sleep like a happy little boy. He sleeps 4-6 hours and then he is awake. He wants chocolate milk in a sippy cup or a stuffed animal or a book and a flashlight. So here's the problem. First, I can't cope at 2 a.m. when I've been doing that for nights on end. I am so behind on my sleep I don't know how I manage to get up in the morning. Something tells me there's no other option so I keep going, but honestly, it's going to catch up to me. I try to quietly walk him back into his room, put on his music and tuck him in. Usually I end up doing that a million times. Last night, he was just not taking no for an answer. He decided he wanted to sleep in my bed and was determined to do that. Either that, or negotiate for something he wanted more. So I can't figure out what's going on. Part of me thinks it's just a control thing. Another part of me thinks it's related to his needing to go to the bathroom and it wakes him up and he doesn't know what to do (he still wears pullups at night). Another part of me wonders if he's got something wrong with him, either medically or psychologically that is not allowing him to sleep at night. Whatever it is, I feel like a horrible mother who doesn't know how to raise her kid. I mean, what almost 4-year-old can't sleep at night. He doesn't act like he's afraid of anything. It's more that he decides he doesn't want to be in his room anymore that night. And I am just not in the right frame of mind to deal with it when I have not had a full night's sleep in ages. I think it also ends up affecting our days because both of us are overly tired so he is closer to a meltdown and I am closer to a reaction to any potential meltdowns. It's rediculous! Any words of wisdom?

Another Holiday Slideshow

Crazy Mom

Okay, I am a bad mom. I swear I try and I try, but sometimes I just can't do it. Yesterday was a horrible day. I wasn't in the best mood anyway and had a million things to get done. I needed some sort of a pick-me-up and just couldn't get it. You know the kind of day where you wake up negative or sad or just down about things and can't get past it? Maybe it was the snow. Whether Dylan fed off of my negativity or what, I will never know, but that kid about drove me crazy. It was a long hard day - the kind you see on Super Nanny. Dylan wouldn't even stay on time-out. It took me at least 45 minutes to get 3 minutes out of him. Ahh....I was so ready to freak out. At one point, I put him in the car for time out because Preston was asleep so I couldn't put him in his room. Honestly, am I the only one with this problem? He is an awesome kid, but can test me more than anyone. I finally asked Marcos to come home and help. I got the kids fed and then went to the gym for an escape. I was gone an hour and called to check in. This is how the conversation went: Me: Hello, Marcos: What is going on here? I can't handle this anymore. You need to come home right now. Dylan has peed all over the house. Me: I'll be home in a minute. So much for R&R at the gym. At least I got my workout in, but so much for my sanity. It was there and then gone again. I don't know what the deal was. He was reacting to something I'm sure and sometimes he just wants attention, even if it's negative attention. Oh, how I try. I read all the books, all the articles, watch and follow advice from people like the Super Nanny...I'm consistent, stern and loving. Hmm...I don't know what the problem is. He is an angel for almost everyone else, which makes me wonder if I'm doing something wrong. I've been told that many kids are that way and have their struggles at home, but I have got to figure this out if I'm going to be even close to a sane mother. Any thoughts? Maybe I need to trade kids with someone with a similar problem. If he's good for everyone but me then maybe a break from me is the answer. Just kidding. I don't know what to do, but I'm going crazy here!

Post-Christmas Cleaning Projects

Wow, I've been such a slacker posting. I just haven't gotten around to accomplishing anything the last little bit. Oh well, sometimes that happens. So, I finally got around to putting my Christmas stuff away this weekend (thank you snow storm). Marcos and I put the totes away Friday night, but didn't have the energy for anything else. Saturday took forever. Between cleaning, dusting, putting decorations back (or changing the decorations) I just couldn't stop. That's why I put stuff off. Once I start, I just can't stop. Now, the main floor is finally done and all I could do was stay up and start moving stuff around in the office, formulating a plan for how I was going to make that space more usable. Moving things in that room left me with a standing shelf unit in the laundry room so the reorganization of that room began...moving cleaning supplies, paper towels, lightbulbs, batteries, food storage, diapers....what a long weekend. So now the living area of the house looks pretty good (minus kid mess that never ends) and I'm right in the middle of the laundry/food storage and the dreaded office. I think I'm going to go looking for the perfect desk (or maybe have it built) and put some shelves up so I can get all my crafty junk out of totes and into an area where I can be productive. Oh, my projects. As if I don't have enough to do right now. I drive myself crazy. Actually I drive Marcos crazy. As long as the house is tidy, he's happy...organization is not really a strength of his so to even attempt to understand why I would pull things out and mess up the house just to have to clean it all up again makes no sense to him. And don't get me started on moving furniture around. He thinks I'm nuts, but always thanks me later. Anyway, just thought I'd share my border-lined OCD weekend. Hopefully I get over it soon. I'm exhausted. Between cleaning, lifting and being up late and then having kids who don't want to sleep (but never at the same time), I'm so tired. I don't know how many hours of sleep I got, but I know it's nowhere near the recommended 8 hours. What did I do wrong? All the other people I know with 3 or 4-year-olds have no problems. Dylan is just the worst sleeper ever! We have done everything they tell you to do and it doesn't matter. Routine, no sleeping with us, charts, etc. He wakes up 2-3 times a night anyway. The baby only does once if that...although he's going through some weird stage now too. Oh, I hope that doesn't mean he's turning into a horrible sleeper too. I just cannot survive with two kids waking up all night long. If you see me with big dark circles under my eyes, now you know why. Oh well, something has to be cut out and there's not much left besides sleep.