Pleading

Sleep. . . must get sleep. . . Really. I'm not even in the least bit joking. I sit here at my computer while my youngest one (the main reason for the sleeplessness) cries in her crib and my older two play with their TAG readers. She cries in her crib because I can't deal with her right now and I only sit here at my computer because I am sick of tagging garage sale stuff and I don't have enough energy to do anything else. I have not gotten more than 3 hours of sleep at a time in over 6 weeks. . . do I have a newborn or a 7-month-old? I don't think she even slept this bad when she was a newborn. And what makes it even worse is the fact that I know she CAN sleep through the night because she did it for 2 weeks. Is there a way to get her to go back? Can I teach her how to sleep?
I also sit here at my computer because I am a bit sore. I started my 2nd session of Boot Camp yesterday at the Y. I must say, day 1 of session 2 was not near as bad as day 1 of session 1, but I am still sore nontheless. Why do we do this to ourselves? Is it really that important?
Anyway, I have ranted enough and let my baby girl cry long enough that I must go get her and try and convince her that sleep really is a good thing and she needs to try it out.

State of the Family #9

Let the summer really begin!!

Miss Thumb Sucker has the sniffles. She seems to be dealing with it pretty well but it is harder for her to breathe. Which of course equals even less sleep for mommy. I am still waiting for those teeth to come through too. She has been getting up about an average of 3 times a night lately. This is 2 times regularly and then she has about 2-3 bad nights a week where she is up anywhere from 4 to 6 times. Last night was a 5 timer. If it weren't for her bad sleeping habits, she would be a perfect baby. I don't know how many people told me this weekend at the wedding what a good baby she was, and she is. She is also now sitting up on her own! This is great for me cuz it makes it easier to sit her down places not having to worry about a soft place for her to lay.

Miss Firecracker had another potty incident the other day, and I must take partial blame (I hate it when I have to admit that). The kids had just gotten up when I was getting in the shower. So I hurried and got them their morning milk and jumped in. Well, about 2 min. later Miss Firecracker runs in screaming she has to go potty. So, I tell her to get on the potty and when she is done I'd step out and help her clean up. :) Well, she decided that she couldn't get on the potty by herself that morning, so the fit began. Screaming and flailing and running around, she refused to get on the potty and I refused to get out of the shower and chase her down. So I let it happen. When I got out about 3 min after the fit began there was potty all over my carpet and bathroom floor and she was finally sitting on the potty. There was not a good ending to this story as I lost my cool and got beyond upset with her, ending in me making her climb up and down off of the potty 5 times by herself to prove to her that she could do it by herself. Then she spent the next 15 min. in her room because I needed to calm down, clean up, get dressed and not see her for about that long. This girl is going to send me to my grave rather early. I must take partial blame, however, cuz I should have known to take her to the bathroom before I got in the shower since she had just gotten up from a full nights sleep. But of course this rational didn't hit me until I was done yelling at her for peeing all over my floor and throwing a royal fit.

Noisy Man had his first Bible School this week. He really enjoyed it and I loved watching him (when he didn't know I was watching) interact with his teachers, friends and singing the songs. He is so inquisitive about the Bible stories, I just love it. The theme for Bible School was obedience (I so totally just sang the obedience song in my head to spell that right!). So they did the story of Jonah and the big fish (non-obedience) and Daniel and the lion's den (obedience). However, he is very confused about why Daniel would be put in the lion's den if he was being obedient. He can't quite separate the King's rules from God's rules and it really confuses him. It is cute to see him try to rationalize it in his little head. I was so proud of him though, he was a champ with his Bible verses. They gave these guys 6 verses to work on in 2 days. (OK, so they didn't really expect the Pre-K kids to get them all, but just be comfortable enough with them to repeat them back. But all be darned if he didn't completely memorize 2 of them himself. One (John 3:16) was a bit of a review as we had worked on this one with him when we first started teaching him Bible verses, but he hadn't done it in quite a while.

Daddy's birthday is coming up (actually the same day as father's day) and I am struggling with what to do for him. I totally stinks that he has to have these holiday's on the same day so he doesn't get to celebrate them separately and have 2 fun daddy days so I want to make it super fun. I know what he wants for gifts (he makes it easy with his year-long running Christmas list. Yes, he keeps a list at the back of one of his steno pads,and whenever he thinks of something he might want, but doesn't want to spend the money to go get it or it is just something that he wants but doesn't need, he writes it on the gift list.) So, now I just need to think of something fun or thoughtful to go with the off-the-list gift. Any ideas?

I am ready for some down time. We survived May, which was absolutely, crazy busy and included no weekends with nothing to do. So, now I am ready for June, which really doesn't have too much on the calendar but a 10K this Saturday morning, my garage sale, Father's Day/Daddy's b-day and our vacation to Mahoney St. Park. OK, so that sounds like a lot, but it is so much less than May it really sounds relaxing. The garage sale with be the only stressful thing since I am still not near ready and it is only a week away. My sister's wedding last weekend marked the last in our crazy busy schedule list. It was a fabulous weekend and everything went smashingly. My sis was absolutely gorgeous, us bridesmaids came in a distant 2nd, and my kids and nieces and nephew did wonderful at their assigned tasks. It was a lot of fun and I am kinda sad it is over. But now I am ready for some down time. I run at 730 am on Saturday and have NOTHING else planned for the whole weekend. It will be FABULOUS!!!

Here are a few pics from the wedding:

State of the Family #8

So I missed a week. . . life has been crazy. It is the first time I have missed, but I am certain it won't be the last. Lets see if my exhausted brain can remember what we have all done in the last week and a half.
Miss Thumb Sucker finally decided it was OK to exert some energy and roll over from her back to her tummy, but only if she really wants a toy that is just out of her reach. She did this last Wednesday just after having her toes painted for the first time and has done it a handful of times since. I am also REALLY hoping that some teeth will be popping through very soon as she has been sleeping beyond terribly. She was up 5 times Sat. night, 6 times (in a 2 hour time period) Sun. night and 3 times last night. I don't know how much of that I can take. All I can say is, how close are we to nap time?
Miss Firecracker is loving this warm weather. This means she (according to her) doesn't have to wear shoes at all. She will put them on to appease me just to walk out the door to play, but after about 2 minutes they have been abandoned. I guess I can't complain about this too much, she does probably get this from me. She also has them off in the car before we can get fully out of the driveway. This also means that it is a constant search for her shoes. . . where in the world did she take them off this time?
Noisy Man has finished his first year of preschool and is now ready for the summer. Shorts, sandals and lots of dirt are on his list of to-do's this summer. That, and he keeps asking to go to the water park. He is a water boy with no fear. He will jump in anywhere, dunk himself under the water and slide down anything. I am not sure I will be able to handle all 3 of them at the pool by myself this summer. We might have to wait and go in the evening after daddy gets home.
Daddy is in project mode. He loves being outside getting things done. He has finally (after 2 years of having the tube) finished the bagger for our lawn mower. Yes, folks, he built it himself because he refused to pay $350 for it. I refuse to mow the lawn now because our lawn mower looks ghetto and redneck all at the same time with this wonderful bagging system on the back. I guess he is resourceful if nothing else! He also spent all last Saturday power washing the red stain off our deck because some spots were peeling up and he thought it looked terrible. Well, it didn't all come off with the power washer so now it looks awful! He got as much off as he could and now he is going to have to tear the deck apart to belt-sand off the rest. A fun project for him in the future.
I am still gearing up for the garage sale, with maybe about half of my stuff marked. Thankfully I was able to get most of the spit stains out of the baby clothes with the help of great suggestions from my FaceBook friends! I also got the family vacation planned and booked. So excited we were still able to get a cabin at Mahoney. This weekend is also my baby sister's wedding! The last one in my family. I am totally looking forward to it! It will be a blast. One of the best parts of it will be tomorrow when we get to go to Lincoln for girl time and get pedicures, go out for supper and get spray on tans, because tanning beds are TERRIBLE! Hopefully I won't turn orange. Since our dresses are brown, this wouldn't be a good combo. It will also be great to get such a formal family picture. Daddy is an usher, I am a bridesmaid, Noisy Man is a ring bearer, Firecracker is a Flower girl and Thumb Sucker has a very pretty dress as well. I'll post pictures ASAP!
Well, here is to a crazy busy week - no rest until Sunday for this family, some sleep and a fabulous wedding!

Sorting

So, I am having a garage sale this summer. Which means sorting through all of the gazillion totes I have in my storage rooms. Yikes! Started today with my baby boy clothes. . . talk about a trip down memory lane. I don't even remember him being that little. The 0-3 month little sleepers and onsies about broke my heart. Why don't they stay that little? I can say that about him too, cuz he slept through the night at 3 months old so I didn't even miss sleep for that long. My girls are another story. It is crazy too, how things that weren't dirty when you put them away have developed wonderful little spots. Bring on the Biz so I can get them all out and get them all sold. I am excited to have empty totes! I am always having to go buy the darn things. And, not a single thing that goes in the garage for the sale will be coming back in my house. All to the Salvation Army will the unsold stuff go!

And just for reminiscing sake. Here is my baby Noisy Man 4 years ago. tear. . .

State of the Family #7

Thankfully, it has been a pretty uneventful week at our house. . . I needed that.

Miss Thumb Sucker had her 6 month Dr. appt this week. She is in the 95% range for her height and 45% for her weight. . . tall and skinny. Lucky girl. She has also started a little thing with her tongue. It hangs out of her mouth all of the time. I should call her baby KISS. You know she is really happy when the smile grows then out pops the tongue. I don't see how she doesn't get a chapped bottom lip. It is quite funny.

Miss Firecracker is my one child who knows how to sleep. She got this from me. :) She will take 3 hour naps if things are calm enough around the house, and she doesn't have to wake up to go potty. She will also sleep in in the morning until at least 7:30 if allowed. I wish all of my children would do this. If he had his druthers, Noisy Man would be up, and would wake everyone in the house up with him, at 6 am every morning. He used to wake Miss Firecracker up with him, but without her sleep, Miss Firecracker is like her mommy, crabby! That mixed in with her father's temper (which he has learned to control well over the years, but she hasn't mastered this yet), it is NOT a good combination. So, we all just let her sleep as long as she wants!

Noisy Man turned 4 this last Saturday and I just don't know where the time went. He had a construction birthday party at the park and had a blast. He was spoiled with gifts from all our family and friends and absolutely soaked it all up. The one part he didn't like about turning 4 were the shots, 5 of them. Our pediatrician does shots at 4 instead of 5 because they want their Kindergarten visit to be fun. So they just ruin the 4 yr one. Oh goodness how he screamed and yelled. . . and of course his legs didn't work for the next two days. Funniest thing was, while he was screaming I shoved a book in front of his face so he couldn't watch the nurse actually give him the shots. I was asking him questions about the pictures and he would still answer me while he was screaming. It was quite amusing. Miss Thumb Sucker dealt with her shots 10 times better.

Daddy is itching to get out to the water. With our busy schedule and the hit and miss weather, he has not really been out at all yet this spring. He is an outdoors man with a desk job. . . sometimes it isn't a good combo. He is also a numbers man, which is why he is so good at his job and enjoys it as well. . . but he has to get his outside time or he gets antsy. Thankfully, we don't have to be anywhere this Saturday until the late afternoon so he will get his fishing fix that morning. Of course this means mommy is once again at home alone with the kids, but if it keeps daddy happy, it is all good.

Mommy has been having fun with some new recipes. This always makes daddy nervous. A friend got me hooked on some food blogs so I have been searching for things I think daddy might eat. So far, I have passed with flying colors, except for some peanut butter filled chocolate cookies that I thought were a shoe in and he didn't like them. The kids loved them though, so I was ok. Everything else, like honey and lemon marinated chicken, tender apple and onion pork chops with roasted garlic smashed potatoes, and last night's honey glazed chicken (which I was really nervous about since it is somewhat of a Chinese food type dish), he has really liked. I love being able to do new things, cuz most of the time I am stuck with the same ol' burgers, steaks and all that boring stuff. Daddy has grown leaps and bounds since we first met 10 years ago!

State of the Family #6

I'll be brief this week, cuz I am tired and I have a lot to do and shouldn't be sitting at my computer blogging instead of scrubbing my toilets and baking birthday cakes and folding my laundry.

Miss Thumb Sucker. . . .we might skip her this week. She woke me up at 2 am this morning and again at 4 when she decided to keep me awake until 5 and then wake up again at 6. I am tired and not really happy with her for this. But she is so gosh darn adorable. She did start eating actual baby food this week and turned 6 months on the same day I ran my first 1/2 marathon. She seems to be ok with the food so far and makes some good faces at the new tastes. Cracks me up.

Miss Firecracker is singing at the moment. . . it is beautiful let me tell you. If this is going to be the extent of her musical abilities, we could be in trouble, and she didn't get her mother's abilities (not that I am the next American Idol, but I can at least carry a pretty decent tune). I am hoping it is only because she is learning these "tunes" from one of my daycare girls who can almost make you cringe when she decides to "sing." I have Miss Firecracker on video doing this and if I can figure out how to post it I will. If nothing else it is entertaining and she isn't throwing a fit, so I'll take it.

Noisy Man has had a rough week. We started a "check mark chart" for him because he has been getting into so much trouble lately. Usually, he is my good one, but he seems to be testing the boundaries the last couple weeks. On Tuesday he had used up all his check marks by 11 am. It was not good. Yesterday he only got one, so maybe he is improving. I hope so, I can't take 2 trouble makers! His consequence when he gets 3 check marks in one day: no screen time. Which means, no TV, no computer, no Wii, no Leapster. This kid is an electronics junkie and losing these things is devastating to him. It seems to be working pretty well. I hope it continues.

Daddy built me a strawberry box! I am so excited to get my own strawberries. It might take a couple years but we'll get there. His headaches also seem to be improving after a 2nd try at the chiropractor. I hope it keeps getting better.

Mommy is so far behind in housework that it isn't even remotely funny. I was sick Saturday, took Sunday and Monday off to recover from the marathon and am now typing instead of doing what I should. . . I better sign off. Have a good one!

Rolling Credits after the 1/2 Marathon

Stealing this idea from my friend Julie. . .
So I finished the 1/2 marathon in 2 hours 28 minutes and 29 seconds (8 minutes more than what I was hoping for) #4698 out of 6116 runners. Considering my condition less than 12 hours before the race, it is nothing short of a miracle. All I can say is that if labor and delivery of my first 2 children without any form of medication is a 10 on the pain scale, I would rate the migraine headache I had for almost 7 hours the evening before the race an 8 1/2. I did have a great time running and it was a wonderful experience. Now I just hope to do it again when I am fully healthy so I know how well I could really do.

All credits go to:

-My hubby. Thank you for. . . sleeping with the kids while I was at the Y at 530 am and for getting up with them if they got up before I got back. For watching them with no complaints during my many long Sunday runs and practice races. For packing the van and getting my race packet for me since I was barely able to open my eyes or stand. For being my nurse and taking care of the kids while I was curled up in a ball on the bed/bathroom floor. For dragging 3 small children around Lincoln to watch me run and finish the race. And for giving me the best hug and kiss when I felt like crying cuz I felt like crap and had such a slow time after the race was done.

-My kiddos for putting up with mommy's crabbiness when I was so sleep deprived from early morning runs. For being good for daddy when I was gone running and for cheering me on early in the morning.

-Julie and her cousin Charles for running slow with me for the first 1/2 of the race so that I didn't have to do the whole thing by myself. You guys did awesome!! I hope I can run the full thing with you next year. -Julie's dad, Dennis, for all the awesome pictures he got of us during the race.

-My sister-in-law, Jen, for letting us bunk at her house the night before and helping Jeff with the kids during the race. And for cheering me on during the race.

-My dad and mother-in-law for coming to cheer me on and watch me race.

-All the other cheerleaders along the way! It was so nice of many of you to cheer on complete strangers. Any words of encouragement were helpful.

-Jill, for the awesome free CASNR shirt that I will definitely wear more than the neon yellow/green ugly thing LTC gave us for running!

-All the volunteers who gave me water during the race, especially those of you who took the time to put lids and straws on the cups! It is so much easier to drink that way when you are trying to run!

-All of my FB friends for their words of encouragement throughout training and before and after the race!

-Jaime for teaching me how to using a timing chip! ;) And the LTC for letting me keep the one from the 1/2 marathon! It will be staying on my shoe for a while cuz (as my friend Julie said and I am the same) I am and geek like that!

-My secret sister from my mom's group for the beautiful flowers and well wishes. I missed the delivery on Saturday, so I didn't get them until Monday, but they were a wonderful reward and make me smile every time I see them.

-My friend Amber, for getting up in the wee hours of the morning to go to the Y with me and chat with me while we were on our treadmills!

-And mostly to God for giving me the strength I needed to do it all!

I'll add some pictures later.