Monday, May 30, 2011
Help! It has happened. Sloan has started to rebel against bedtime. With Adriel it started when he learned how to climb out of his crib, and with his new found freedom came my new found slavery. Eventually with a lot of tears on both our parts, we over came it, but I vowed that I never wanted to go through it that way again.
So here's how it all started with Sloan. Sloan had been a little obedient angel when it came to bedtime. He'd go down with out a fuss for naps and bedtime. I worried once he learned how to climb out of his crib, he would be the same as Adriel. After he figured out how to climb out (which was almost a good six months later than Adriel, fewf!) he still didn't rebel. He stayed in bed til I got him out, and if I ever felt it was too early for him to get up I'd tell him to lay down, and more often than not, he'd go back to sleep or at least leave me alone for a while. But then everything changed. The weather got pretty warm here (it's not now though, and can I just say how frustrating I find the fluctuation?!!! Do I need summer clothes or winter clothes? I had enough of it by the winter's end, which I felt I endured quite patiently, given the mild type of winter I'm used to. Now my patience is up. It's almost June, start acting like it- ALL the time, not sometimes!!! argh- sorry, needed to vent about that apparently) so back to the weather. It got warm. And when it's warm, the upstairs bakes like an oven. I can't open the windows in the poor kids rooms because there are no screens on them, so I let them have the fans. Even with the window open it was hot in our room, so Kyle put the air conditioner up. Sloan woke up in the middle of the night, crying, which is usually pretty easy to fix, I just go in and tell him to lie down and go back to bed. But this night, his crying wasn't heard right away because of the noise from our air conditioner. When I did finally hear him, he was really worked up. I went into his room and he had climbed out of his crib. We have black out curtains on, so his room was pitch black and he was disoriented from that I think, which added to his fear. When I picked him up, he clung to me. It took me a good hour to get him settled and back to sleep. He kept calling me for things and crying, and in order for me to hear him, I had to stay out in the hallway. That was it. Things never went back to normal after that.
The next day, when I put him down for a nap, he wouldn't let me. He cried and cried whenever I tried to lay him down in his bed. I would leave the room and he would immediately climb out and try to open the door. I had to stand outside his door and hold it closed so he wouldn't come out. I hoped he would give up, but I have stubborn children! He lied down in front of the door and cried and cried. I let it go on for a while, but like I just said my kids are stubborn. I prayed, panicking to Heavenly Father- please don't make me go through this again, please help me know what to do! With Adriel I learned that you don't give into things that you don't want to have to repeat every time you put them to bed. So after thinking about it for a while, I got down on the floor and talked to him through the door. I told him that it was nap time and that he needed to go to sleep in his bed. He said no. He said he wanted to sleep in my bed. At first I was against the idea, but after a few times going back and forth with him, I said, "if you want to sleep in my bed, you have to say in my bed and be quiet and go to sleep by yourself." He agreed. And he did. He was sound asleep with in five minutes.
I don't want to bore you with all the details, but he's been going to sleep in my room ever since. I tell him at bed time that we are going to move him when Mommy and Daddy go to bed and he says "OK" but he's not always OK with it. I've since been trying to get him to sleep in Adriel's room, because we've had that goal in mind for the future anyway. He wakes up crying in the night, saying he wants to sleep in my bed- I know some Moms can handle that, I can't so I don't let him. They wake each other up super early, Adriel doesn't always want to share his bed (even though its a bunk bed, Sloan sometimes wants to sleep in the same bed with Adriel, which seems fine, because there's tons of room) which results in cranky whiney boys and a crabby Mother who has no tolerance. Today I started the "You aren't allowed out of your room til 7." I realize that getting them to follow this rule will take some time and in the meantime, it really doesn't mean extra sleep for me though because I kept having to get up and reinforce it. I don't know if there's any hope for that or if I'm just wasting my time.
What am I supposed to do??? I know there are people out there who have the transition from crib to bed go smoothly. What am I doing wrong??? I need the super nanny to come to my house. I need someone else to get up with the kids in the morning. Kyle gives me one day off a week, and I feel bad, because he's working two jobs and is so tired all the time. If my kids slept til 7- 7:30 every I'd be good.
I'm feeling pretty grouchy today. It's Monday, it's raining boooooooooo.
5 comments
Sarahstottle posted @ 7:29 AM
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Why do my kids have to confuse moles for nipples? Right now I'm missing a Relief Society activity about having a healthy body image. They had a guest speaker coming and I was interested. Too bad my husband works in the evenings.
So instead, I made an easy dinner (pot stickers) and cleaned up and the kids and I went to the park. Adriel mostly rode his bike around and around. Every now and again he'd stop and watch the big kids with curiosity and then he'd get back at it. Sloan is a fearless climbing machine. After a good play we came home and I threw them in the bath. It bakes in the upstairs of our house. Adriel has been going to bed in his underwear and an undershirt. They both have fans in their rooms. Their windows don't have screens on them so I don't really want to open them. Luckily mine and Kyle's does, however the noises outside are so loud. While the kids were bathing, I finished cleaning the kitchen and then put my clean children to bed and here I am. There's some satisfaction to be had about bathing your kids after a long day of play and putting them to bed scrubbed clean.
I taught my last joy school lesson today. Adriel will graduate at the end of the month. I can't believe how fast the year has flown by. I'm feeling sad to have to say goodbye to Winnipeg soon. Adriel has so many friends he's made in our neighbourhood. He plays and plays outside with them all day long. Every so often I go out and check on him, but that's all I really have to do. It's a safe kid friendly neighbourhood and they just take turns playing in eachother's yards. He's really going to miss that. I think I am too.
5 comments
Sarahstottle posted @ 6:42 PM
Monday, May 16, 2011
A Little Free Time Adriel has started this program offered by the school in our neighbourhood called Kindergarten Readiness. It's on Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons. It sort of works out perfectly, because I take him, and then I put Sloan down for a nap and I get two hours of freedom!! Most of you mothers would probably spend that time catching up on laundry, or other house work that may be lagging, but I'm sorry, I'm not as good as you. I read, or have a little sleep, blog and do things that I feel like doing. Sure, if I feel like cleaning, I will. It does happen, you know. There's something to be said about playing good tunes and getting into the nitty gritty, and making everything sparkle. But while Adriel is gone and Sloan is asleep I take some time for myself. And it's nice. Especially since Kyle isn't around much to relieve me of my motherly duties. But that's not anything new. When you're a student all your free time is spent studying and working, and then when school's done for the year, all your free time is spent working as much as you can to save up enough money to hopefully not have to work as much the next year....oh and to move. What a lovely expense that is.
I like Sundays because Kyle doesn't have to work at either one of his jobs. Church starts at 10 (which I think is the perfect time) and we come home, put Sloan to bed and eat and relax. Yesterday was "family dinner" at Marla's. She lives out in the country. The kids spent the whole time outside. Kyle and I ate our dinner out on her deck. "Papa Joe" her husband gave the kids a tractor ride which they were thrilled about. Adriel got filthy climbing on and off the tractor while it was parked. The weather has suddenly gotten so nice. Tons of sunshine and this week it's ranging between 20-25. So nice! I like this kind of spring. I don't want it to get a whole lot hotter though, because it's already sort of sweltering in my house.
The outdoor soccer season started. That was my mother's day gift. My first game was last week. It was a doozy. We started with only 8 players, and by half time another person showed up. If you are unfamiliar with soccer, it's 11 players on the field at once. So not only were we short, but no subs on top of it. I was exhausted by the end of the game! It's a big change from indoor because the field size is basically double and each half was 45 mins long (indoor was 25 minute halves). It took me a good four days for my body to recover. It was a different kind of sore. Of course it doesn't help that I'm not in the best of shape. We didn't do too badly considering though. We only lost one nothing. My next game is tomorrow. So looking forward to it. I love soccer. I know I've expressed that several times, but I really do, alright?
You know what else I love? Lazy summer evenings of sitting outside in the backyard while the kids play and reading a book. I also love Adriel's very brown chubby hands.
6 comments
Sarahstottle posted @ 2:39 PM
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
A photo post
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| I decided to get dressed up and take the kids out to play. It was a good way to spend the morning- they got to play and I followed them around with the camera, and tried to capture some of their cuteness. I also took a couple of myself. It's not every day that I try to look nice. |
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| Adril shows off his climbing skills at that park at the end of our street. |
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| He's a pro at the monkey bars |
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| Sloan's favorite is the swings. |
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| As always- it was windy. |
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| In the sandbox, Adriel works hard to make sandcastles and then Sloan steps on them. Little monkey. |
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| cool dude. |
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| Adriel tried snapping a few of me. |
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| Sometimes I try to be a model. But, I'm not. |
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| Just like Adriel, Sloan is a fearless climber. |
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| Just so you know, this is how he insists on wearing his hair, even though it's gotten a little long and out of control, he loves it like this. |
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| Me in our tiny back yard. |
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| If Adriel sees you point the camera at him, these are the sorts of poses he instantly strikes. |
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| He's pretty cool. |
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| This is what happened when I told him to stop making funny faces. |
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| Then I reassured him that he would be able to be silly again after. |
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| This is what happens when I try to take a picture of all of us together. Me and my crazy boys. |
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| I love this one. I think he's pretty handsome. |
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| Showing some brotherly affection. ha ha ha. |
8 comments
Sarahstottle posted @ 8:58 AM
Saturday, May 07, 2011
Gone This week on American Idol, Scotty McCreery rocked this song called Gone. He's this year's country singer. He's good, but I'm not that into country. I like the odd song, and he made me like this one. Now it's in my head. I think he may end up in the top two. Just sayin.
So now it's Friday night again. Got no special plans here. It's just me and the boys. The usual. I was lazy about dinner tonight and served my kids a platter of veggies and dip. Could be worse right? At least they like it and it gets some vegetables into them. Sometimes I just feel like what's the point of putting a lot of effort into dinner when it's just me and the kids? Today was one of those times.
And that's it, because I don't have a very interesting life.
5 comments
Sarahstottle posted @ 3:22 PM
Tuesday, May 03, 2011
Is it bad that I want cheesecake right now? So the day off was a hit of course. I relaxed, shopped (although sometimes I feel overwhelmed when I shop by myself, like I need someone there to give me their opinions). I met up with Aya for dessert and visiting. It was fun. I got a shirt and a new wallet. I know it doesn't sound that exciting but it was for me. I love my new wallet.
Easter was fun. Genevieve and Graham invited us over for dinner. I went to her house the day before and we made a whole bunch of perogies. It was fun. Now that I know how to make them, I don't know if I'll ever go back. They're sooooo much better! We spent the whole afternoon making them while the kids played in her backyard. It was also nice to have a few days off with Kyle.
Speaking of Kyle, he has a tiling job now, and it seems to be working out pretty good. They find the work for him and he does it, and they pay him. (well, they haven't actually payed us yet, but they will) So, now he does his tiling job in during the day. He may come home for a few hours in the late afternoon to shower and such and then he's off to Rona. He works there every night until 10 and then Saturdays. That's a lot right? So I told him I really wanted to have a date night with him, and he got Friday night off. We got a male babysitter for the first time, whose name is also Kyle. I was phoning for his older sister to babysit but she was already taken, so his mother phoned me back (they're in the other ward) and said that her son would like to babysit for us. He's 13. He was a super nice kid. When I came home my kitchen was spotless. The kids gave him a hard time though. Adriel, I thought would love having a boy babysitter, just because he loves babysitters period, usually. But this time he decided that he wanted to go to bed early. Sloan wasn't too keen on that. He didn't want to be left with a strange boy by himself. So he bugged Adriel, and tried to prevent him from falling asleep, which he eventually failed at, and then he cried himself to sleep. I felt bad. Our date was fun though. We went out for dinner and then to the cheap theater to watch Red Riding Hood. We liked it but agreed it wasn't anything extra special. When we woke up the next morning, I noticed that Sloan's diaper was on backwards. Made me laugh. Poor clueless 13 year old boy. He was so nice though.
Not much else has been going on here. I've been trying to keep busy with the boys. And they do keep me busy! They both are challenging me in different ways and sometimes I'm at a loss. I just don't know what to do. Being a Mom can be so hard!! And I only have two!!! I must be wimpy.
7 comments
Sarahstottle posted @ 7:29 PM