nap woes

So Isaac has not been a good napper lately. If you read my blog at all, you will have noticed all the crazy stories devoted to him. He is exhausting, literally. I need time with him asleep not destroying anything. Lately it has been hit and miss. He is only two and a half and really should not be giving up his naps this soon. I just allowed him to get out of bed after listening to him sing to himself for the last 1 and 45 minutes. He was so excited to be set free. To his credit he had been laying/sitting/jumping (some of the time) in his bed the whole time. There were no toys in bed with him, which is often the case, but he was wearing his pj shirt over his clothes (I guess he found it in his bed somewhere). When I asked him why he didn't take a nap he told me, "Dak and Eenstak was in my 'oom" (Jack and the Beanstalk was in his room?) Okay, wierdo. Early bedtime for you tonight.


A wise woman once told me the best advice she had ever gotten as a new mom and I thought I'd share it with you all. She said,"You can give a child food, but can't make them eat it. You can put them on the potty, but can't make them pee or poop in it. And you can put them in their beds, but can't make them fall asleep." It is so true. . .

Needing to catch-up. . .

I know I need to catch everyone up on our happenings, but we'll save that for another day. For today, I'll let my sister Angie speak for both of our families. . . .

Here's what she had to say

Disney pics

Here's just a few pics from yesterday at Disney

ahoy, thar mateys!

Isaac's first roller coaster.

Vacation woes -- with a ray of sunshine at the end

So last Friday we started Erin's spring break by heading to FL to visit his mom, the pool, and Mickey Mouse. After a bit of a later start than usual we only made it to an hour outside of Atlanta (the St. Louis side). We usually try to make it past Atlanta on day one, since it makes for a much easier second day. God was with us this trip though (I mean, I know He is always with us, but I really saw him this trip) But storms and tornadoes went through Atlanta right around the time we usually would have been driving through. So good thing #1, we made it to Gramme's house safe and sound Saturday night.

After a lot of swimming on Sunday and Monday the kids were tired and I wasn't feeling too hot Monday night. Erin was grilling hamburgers when he came in to tell me we needed a plan B. Apparently the gas grill was rusted through and at one point he went to lift the lid and the entire grill fell to the ground. Good thing there is a Wendy's up the street. So after dinner we watched "B Movie" and got the kids to bed. Still not feeling well, I took my temp and it was 100+. Not good, we were going to Mickey's House the next morning, but I was determined to make it through the Disney day regardless.

As we were packing up stuff to take to Disney, I realized I hadn't seen the camera bag since the hotel in GA. The camera bag that contained our new ESO digital camera, our video camcorder, and 5 full tapes of recorded memories. 6 AM is not really a time to be looking for the camera that I am sick to my stomach sure in somewhere in GA, so we grabbed Gramme's digital, lots of Advil for me, snacks, diapers, jammies for the way home, etc. . . At this point my fever is still over 100

Once at Disney, my Advil has started kicking in, the kids are having a blast, the weather is perfect (partly cloudy, low 70's), and the crowds are not too bad. We met several characters and got there autographs in Kalista's new autograph book. We rode lots of their favorite rides, plus some new ones. (Isaac really liked his first roller coaster -- Goofy's Barnstormer) At some point mid-morning I started shivering and told Erin I was buying a sweatshirt. (I also took more Advil) The kids got some new pirate gear with their souvenir money (thanks, Gramme!) and got to meet Capt' Hook. Next we headed over to Animal Kingdom to see Finding Nemo - the Musical. We had a bit of time to kill, so the kids (and Erin) played at the Boneyard Playground in Dinoland. I sat and watched. The show was great, but I was not, so we got a quick dinner and then caught the bus back to the ticket center and our car. As Erin was changing Isaac's diaper I started looking for the new autograph book and realize that it is no where to be found. Deciding we must have left it in our rented stroller at Magic IKingdom, Erin hopps back on the Ferry to find out, while I take the kids to the car for jammies and a movie while we wait. (Thank goodness for car DVD players!) Erin got back, but no luck finding the book. Disney did give him a replacement though . . . minus the autographs of course.

So we drive home, or Erin drives home while me and the kids sleep (me covered up with our picnic sheet from the back of the van with my heat set on 85) My fever was up to 103 when we got back to the house and my throat was killing me. I got in bed, covered up with four blankets and tried to sleep. This morning I decided I better find some walk-in medical center, or I would be no help to Erin driving home on Thursday. Diagnosis -- Strep. At least now I have some antibiotics to help me get well. . .

So what's the ray of sunshine the post title eludes to, you may ask. . . Erin called the hotel in GA where we stayed and of course they don't have our cameras, but as I sat down to write this "poor, lil' me" post Isaac woke up from his "nap" where he had been playing in our bedroom. Apparently he moved lots of stuff around, including all our jackets where our camera bag had been hiding underneath of! YEAH! Now if we can just make it home safely without losing anything else. . .

Bye-bye Binkie

For those of you who know my son, a shocking title for this blog. . . Here's what happened. Wednesday Isaac decided not to take a nap. We could hear him through the monitor talking and playing. At one point he came to the top of the stairs with his two binkies (he is only allowed one) saying, "Wook, I got two binkies, I found my sheep binkie by my bed!" I told him if he wasn't going to take a nap he needed to throw his binkies on his bed. Isaac had other ideas. "I throw away my binkies," looking at the trash can at the bottom of the stairs. Erin and I were all for it, so into the trash they went.

Now some of you know we attemped this several months ago with hour long screaming fits at nap time, bed time, and in the middle of the night when we finally gave in and gave him a binkie he "missed" when throwing the others away. This time we were more prepared. At bedtime he said he would go get his binkies out of the trash. After trying to convince him otherwise and stopping him from digging through the trashcan, Erin removed the binkies but announced we needed to wash them.

As he was washing them, I got out the scissors and cut off the end of one of them. When we gave it to Isaac, you can imagine his reaction. Total and complete meltdown! "It boke, my binkie boke! Daddy boke my binkie! " (I explained to Isaac that he throwing them away broke them, not daddy) This went on and on through storeytime and prayers. Once in bed his body realized that he hadn't taken a nap that day, and he actually fell asleep pretty quick. However, he was up at 11:00, 2:00, and one other time I didn't look at the clock. Each time he woke up crying for his binkie, but each time was awake for less time. In fact, Erin didn't even hear him the last time.

So how was nap and bedtime on Thursday you ask? It did take him a lot longer to fall asleep each time, but there were no tears and I didn't hear a peep out of him until 8:00 this morning! I'm so proud of him, now if he would just give up his diapers . . .

Snow Day Number 4

Here was the scene this Sunday. . . high of 78 degrees, Isaac in shorts, Crocus in bloom, great afternoon of bike riding and other outside sports. . . .









Here was the scene today. . . high in the 20s, everyone in three layers of clothes, Crocus buried in 8+ inches of snow, great afternoon of snowball fights, drive-way shoveling, and attempted snowman building. . .



As you can kind of see from this pic, it is still snowing, a lot! While we were outside our street was plowed. Before we came in, it was covered again. . . No school tomorrow? Guess we'll wait and see.

Checking off Goals. . .

Well, I have accomplished another 2008 goal. The goal in the #2 spot has been completed. As of Thursday afternoon, I (almost) officially became the new librarian at Hazelwood Central. YEAH! I say almost because contracts aren't ready, so I haven't officially signed yet. This has totally been an answer to prayers. Not only will I be working a lot closer to home (15 minute commute vs 30), I am back at the school where I started my teaching career (so I still know lots of people), and as many of you know Erin works there too! I am excited about getting to eat lunch with my husband everyday without our two wonderful, but very time-consuming at meals children!