Of Course.....

We are embarking on Code Red Level Sleep Training on the Stubborn One. Bri is still having problems sleeping through the night, which means we ALL are having sleep problems. Up until Thursday, I was getting up with her, sitting by her crib and trying my damndest to hush and calm her back to sleep. This is all part of the theory from our Sleep Training Bible- Good Night, Sleep Tight.

However this little girl is resistant to the charms of this model. So we are stepping up our forces.

Our newest plan is to use the brutal (on all of us) Cry It Out. So we did. Friday morning I was 2 hours into my sleeptime. 2:30 am, the beast awakens. I get up and sat with her for an hour. She is teething, but had enough medicine to cover that. She was just simply awake. Wanting me to get her out of the crib, wanting me to rock her, wanting me to take her to our bed. Nuh-uh. Not gonna happen.

SO...after an hour of no results, I kissed her head and said " It's night time, you need to go to sleep. Since you won't lay down, Iam leaving the room. I love you. Go to sleep."

Harsh...and did she? Not for another hour. Instead, she cried. In fact she screeched. Her mantra of choice? Mama Mama Mommmeeeeeee. Then I heard her 1 paci hit the ground. Uh oh....Insert Pac-eeeeee to her monologue. 45 minutes in, I went in got the paci from the floor stuck it in her mouth, kissed her, and said good night. I walked out. Boy that pissed her off to now end. But it did end. Soon after she settled, and we all went back to sleep.

Our plan, to be continued last night was to be me going in, saying lay down go to sleep kissing her and walking out. Hmmm but it changed.

She slept all freaking night. Woke up at 6:30 (Daddy did kid duty this morning so I could replace some missing zzz's).

I am jaded enough to know that it CAN'T be this easy. We are armed with the same plan for tonight. Here's to hoping though.....

Rah Rah Sis Boom Bah!

I am in a Girls League for Fantasy Football. Last night was our draft night. I love football, I watch as faithfully as I can when my beloved Niners are on. I have followed them since I was wee one, through the Golden Years, the Suckin' Years, and now the Rebuild Years. Because I am watching so often I get a glimpse of other players and their accomplishments. However, none stick in my mind long after the fact.

So back to my draft....

The time was 5:30. Smack dab in the middle of prepping dinner time. Smack dab in the middle of feed the babies time. Thankfully I have my laptop. I sat at the dinner table with the kiddlets and monitored their simple dinner of pasta noodles, broccoli, turkey meat, string cheese, yogurt and cherry tomatoes. And I sweated.

Nerves hit me because I didn't really understand the draft process. I had no idea how many players I was drafting. I barely knew some of the players, and damn, there's a lot of players to scroll through! My pick was 10th, of 12. That was good because I had time to figure out my next move. but THEN, it snaked back. So immediately after my pick I had to be ready with a 2nd.

Oh the pressure! Add that to a whiny 1 year old, a barking dog, and a curious 3 year old. My brain hurt!

Anyway, after about halfway, I figured out the queue system (DOH!) and began using the down time to line up choices. I figured out the amount of players by looking at my lineup. It showed my filled positions and left over ones. COOL. I came out of the draft with an ok team.

There is money to be won if my players cooperate!

Retratos del paseo a la casa de me mami

(Did I mention that I am fully bilingual in Spanish? You might find some if it popping out on Blogger.)

Here are a few fun pics from our trip.

sooo tired

it was a horrible night last night-teething monkey wouldn't sleep, mommy and daddy were desperate....no dice. a whole total of 3 hours for me. early rising, wouldn't you know it....that girl is brutal. consequently, no pictures from our trip ready to share. guess it will be tomorrow's post. just thought i'd pop on to update my status.

100 Thoughts...

6 am wakeup*coffee*breakfast on the road*TRAFFIC*5.5 hours driving*rest stop*on the road again*fast food lunch*midday arrival*beautiful crisp blue sky*towering mountains*NO WILDFIRE SMOKE (!)*Hugs and kisses*Stretch legs*unload various travel junk*settling in at grandma's*start cooking grapes down for jelly*pile back into the truck*head to the lake*blackberry picking time*collect about 8 lbs of sweet purple jewels*wildlife*yummy eggplant Parmesan dinner*blackberry crisp*bedtime*whole family in 1 room*many nighttime wakings*early wakeup*daddy fishing*mommy girls and grandma relax*jam/jelly process begins*finish grape jelly*yields 5 jars*blackberry jam yields 8 jars*all stocked up*us girls head to town*check out CAL FIRE helicopters at the airport*ice cream*park*head back to "Dam-ma's"*BBQ Chicken dinner*bath/bed for babies*quiet time for adults*more nighttime wakings*another early wake up*daddy goes fishing*fussy babies*scaredy 3 year old freaking out about 3 kitties*frustrated mommy*adventurous 1 year old*No, No and more No*make lunch*get ready for the swimming hole*head out for a day of play*arrive at the swimming hole*no one else is there*awesome*HOT weather*ice cold snow melt water*soft sand beach*crisp blue sky*beach picnic*baby girls enjoying it oh so much more*end of season last visit to the HOLE*head out midday for car nap/explore the area*1.5 hour nap*1.5 hour peace and quiet for the momma*nice convo for me and my momma*saw cool helicopter picking up supplies for the fire fighters*got it on video*arrive back at the house*clean up and change from wet clothes*begin packing up*fresh trout tacos dinner*final clean ups*final packing*pjs on girls*final hugs and kisses*load up*7pm drivin' away*fussy teething baby*motrin*highlands tablets*soothing radio*drivin' through the mountain roads*sleepy babies*gas up*coffee up*McD's Caramel Iced Coffees*YUM!*Snoring Babies*5 hours driving home*dark ass country interstate*checking voicemail*crink in neck from snoozing in front seat*interesting night time talk radio on AM*pull up to house*unload sleeping babies*unload important junk*shower travel off*settle in*

ROAD TRIP

Heading back up to my mom's early tomorrow morning. We were supposed to hang out and play at the county fair and swim at the swimmin' hole. The fair is canceled since CAL FIRE is camping at the fairgrounds while they fight remaining California Wildfires.

In it's place will be making jam (I just picked 18 qts of fresh grapes..stems still on...to bring up), the park, the swimmin' hole, some hiking....it should be a nice visit.

Check y'all in a few days!

No more naps....

I see a trend. Elly, now 3 and 5 months, is not taking naps. Last week, she remained awake during 3 of them, and today too. She is perfectly happy playing in her room with the lights out, curtains drawn, and music on. She plays with her stuffed animals or her babies on her bed. I peek in every so often, and no sign of drowsiness. Luckily, she isn't toast by bedtime. She maintains more or less, her same ol' self. No tantrums, no wipe outs. I guess I need to resign myself to a new era. One that I will be doing less internet surf time, less nap on the couch time, less eat my junky treats so the kids can't see them and ask for them time. Poop! Ah well, I guess as long as lil crazy Bri continues to nap I can deal. (Cross your fingers for that one to remain in place....)

How do you make....

More Big Ideas and Questions from the 3 year old girl:

She is all about the idea of making things. So her newest prompt is "How do you make _______________?" This includes--

• pasta noodles
• tomatos
• watermelon
• other garden delights
• tortillas
• bread
• and tonights newest--PEOPLE (lol I am so not ready for the BIRDS and the BEES! My answer was "they grow in a mommy's tummy and then they are born!" It's plenty for now.)

Pinkalicious Fun!

This book rocks! It is so cute and fun....totally recommended for little girls to read and enjoy!

I decided to have a party-playdate based on the story. There are lots of ideas out in the virtual world for anyone to peruse and pick from (FYI...)

Remember (read my other post from today explaining my absence online) we had no power so I was trying to keep us unsweaty in all our pink finery. The Pretty Pink Peanuts all arrived in Pinkalicious Outfits. There were some coloring sheets to start with. Then they spread out and began playing with various toys. Once we were all accountecd for, I set the craft out. We had painted some crown picture frames pink and the girls were adding jewels to decorate.

Then it was time for munchies...the whole basis to the book is Pink Cupcakes. So of course, we had those, pink lemonade, plus some rasberry jam sandwiches shaped like hearts, home grown watermelon, and circus animal cookies. This was a 4pm event since the original date was rescheduled due to illnesses (Elly's) and now we are working around preschool and other commitments. Food was hard to plan because of this.

After the goodies, I read the story. Then we passed out goodies bags (a pink bag, a pink feather boa, a plastic beaded bracelet, pink beaded necklace and pink heart stickers. I have 44 pictures, so I thought I would make a slide show to share our fun with our readers.

Technical Difficulties.....

Whew! You know you're addicted to technology when your power goes out, then your phone line goes down and the last straw, your modem draws a blank...and you are all twitchy and snarky on withdrawals. (No I am not delinquent on paying my bills.) Here's the scoop...

THURSDAY: Setting up for a Pinkalicious Party (will explain later) to be hosted at our house with 8 little girls. The power goes down. Oddly enough we had some things working-like the cable box turned off, and the tv stayed on with no signal. Go Figure....Trouble being, it was 100 degrees HOT and no AC...and guests coming over to melt....hmmm. Luckily about 45 mins into the event, we were up and running. In the 2.5 hours of no power the house went from a standard 77 to high 84. It wasn't until about 7pm that the AC caught up.

THURSDAY NIGHT: Setting down to peruse email and other internet fun after the girls went to bed, and no signal for th laptop. The PC is in my room, where lil miss B sleeps and so that wasn't an option. I tuned into Spider Solitare for my electronic wind down. I assumed that the modem took a hit with all the power surging (even with my surge protector). The plan was to hit up BestBuy in the morning.

FRIDAY: Tried to call a friend and no dial tone. Hmm guess that explains the lack of internet. Called the phone company from my cell. Established that my line had a short in it and would need a tech experience. Made the appt for Saturday morning. Nothing else I could do but wait....oh and pick the brains of the BestBuyGuys. We did, learned that I can't just buy a modem without the router. Went home to ponder. Was held to more Spider Solitare...

SATURDAY: Surprise phone call! Yay for service restored! Not so for the internet....We went to the Farmer's Market and got a call saying the tech would be by to verify all was good. He came and tested and all reported to be in fine working order....no internet. I finally decided to get the new modem/router while the girls slept. Came home and installed. No internet. WHY does it have to be so difficult. Nowhere does it talk about changing passwords and using my ip address to match the modem. I hate calling tech support for SBC/ATT. Seems like I always get someone offshore, as in out of the US that has a thick ass accent and a long distance cnnection which makes me feel like I am talking and listening through cotton and tries my very lats frusterated nerve. Well that is pretty much what happened. Fortunately for me (and the support person "Brian") it went much smoother (perhaps because I have done it before and it is familiar?).

Result: All systems go! Oh and if anywone needs a router....I have a perfectly good Lynksys router....just talk to me! It will be going to ebay soon enough.

Night Terrors

My nights have been horrible. Most of the time I am dealing with my teeny one's teething pains. She is still getting most of her teeth. Now we are working on her lower teeth. The past 2 weeks have me averaging about 4 hours max of sleep.

Last night was different. She actually slept. Go figure that the big girl would have some issues in place of the little one. She hd NIGHTMARES. I could hear her rolling around on her bed (she hits the wall). Twice, she called out for me. The time she woke up, she was in tears with a racing heart. Poor thing. I am curious to see if she can express what she was dreaming about. She said monsters last night. Crazy because I am not sure exactly how much exposure to MONSTERS she has had. I limit her viewing pleasure to the mundane. She herself is super sensitive. Most Disney movies have her freaked out in minutes. Think Lucifer the cat in the opening scenes of Cinderella.

I think last night I actually slept for 5 hours (broken up of course....)

Endless Bounty!

We are thoroughly enjoying our garden. Love pulling out our harvest! The girls enjoy walking through and picking the goods. Bri especially is proud of herself for her grape (eating) picking abilities. Additionally, we are always on the hunt for Tomato Bugs (because we run an organic garden). Little did we know that Baby Bri-Bri would be a threat all in her 19 lbs self. She delights in pulling all tomatoes (no color preference) and biting then dropping the remains. Silly little thing....we are gonna have lots of volunteer plants next summer.

All alone but certainly not lonesome!

Today marks a first. For me. I am heading out to spend some time with one of my BFF's. So why will I be alone? Simple. No kids! Yipppppeeeeeeee (gee do I sound a tad excited?). Since having girlchild #2, I have had only short bits of freedom. She is what I often term as my velcro child so I just went with it. However, Mama needs a bit of a refresher. So I go. Daddy is gonna take his girls to visit folks, thus properly distracting them from the absence of Mommy. We will all reconvine late afternoon again at our house. Then I pick up my pace again and it will be play time and dinner time and bath time and bed time.

Comparisons

Today's reading enjoyment will be a comparison post. My girls and I spent the afternoon with a friend of mine that I have known since our 1st year in college. (Spring '95). She now has 3 kiddos and I of course have my 2 sweets. It was fun times (then and now and in between!). On our last babies, we were due within weeks of each other. Our babies are 19 days apart. Here are a few shots to show how time has passed!

1)Preggo Mamas Feb '07

2.) 7 month olds October 07

3.) Today me with the both

4.)Today Us Mamas

5.) Heather with our lot of kids today
Fun stuff!

Big Ass Bugs!

Our family has been gone now for a few days, but we are still enjoying the goodies they left behind for the girls. One of the toys they left was a package of MAGIC GROW BUGS. So we staretd them on Sunday morning, and I just took them out a few minutes ago. The girls had a blast playing with them! They are super grossly huge!

Product Endorsement

I am going to use my blog to advertise my new favorite cleaning solutions! It is environmentally friendly, children and pet safe, cheap, and effective!




It is my new Vinegar solution for windows and mirrors! It totally rocks! It rocks so much that I am prompted to wash all the windows and thereby making me wash the sun screens that cover them. I am a women possessed. This is indeed a miraculous event simply because I clean just enough to get by-unless of course we have impressionable people coming by. I found the solution on this website. I have filled a new squirt bottle with 1 cup water, 1 cup rubbing alcohol, and 1/4 cup vinegar. Actually, I did this once, and needed a refill. So then I re-did the recipe and doubled it the next time. Now I am searching for (not very hard at this point) a bulk size of the rubbing alcohol. So far, all I have encountered is the standard 1st aid size. I wonder if it is even available.....?


This project will be a week long one. We have TONS of windows in our home. I have completed (inside, outside and screen) 4 of them. UHM yeah, at least I can burn calories with my furtive scrubbing.

Sing-Along-With-Elly

Here are some videos from a while back. Elly is practicing her "show". Enjoy!


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

The Past 3 Days in a Nutshell

This weekend (Friday to today) we jam packed with family, friends, and fever. We had cancelled a paydate for Friday because my lovely big girl became hot, well fevery, around 2am Thursday. I watched her, and dosed her, and it continued. Just a fever. Nothing else. But to err on the side of caution, we cancelled. Instead, we drove our sweet 10 year old niece back to her home and then came home to prepare the house for my family coming to visit from Los Angeles.

-sweep

-scrub

-clean

-make beds

-start dinner

-Whew!

It was a nice visit-Elly is really remembering and getting excited about her family these days. Bri, was full of her usual hard core energy. Dinner, desert, some hanging outside enjoying the waning summer day led to bedtime. The next morning, Saturday was more of the same. Family left around noon, and then we got ready for dinner with friends. SO MUCH FUN. I was able to have a few drinks, to enjoy some convo at the adult level, we stayed LATE (lol well to about 10pm....). Jammied the girls and drove the few minutes home. Youwoulda think that sleep would be sweet...nope. Fitfull babies, makes for long mommy night.

Today included gardening, cleanig the garage, naps, etc. Mundane easy day from home.

As a side note, I do think that gal, Rose-e-ola is back to visit. I noticed E's belly is dotted with rashy bumps. That with the solo fever, I do believe we have a diagnosis!

So that catches us up....come back Monday for more.