Sleeping like a baby!

I've always hated the phrase "sleeping like a baby."

Why? Because my babies don't sleep! Nor do my 3 year olds!

Tim and I even sleep in separate rooms right now. Samuel is his responsibility at night and Gabrielle is mine. That way we are only woken by one child. This is our temporary solution. It keeps us sane for now. But I do miss my husband.

In my blogging absence, we've been sleep training my little petunia. We are only working on naps right now. It was high time she learn how to fall asleep and STAY asleep without my assistance. It's been hard. There has been crying - both hers and mine. It needed to happen so we can have some structure to our day, but I must admit I miss nursing my little baby to sweet slumber.

Anyway, today was the big payoff. It took about 21 naps total, but my little girl finally slept a full 2 1/2 hour nap today without any assistance! AND she did it while Samuel was napping. WOW!! That was the best few alone hours I've had in awhile.

In a few weeks we'll tackle night sleep. Daddy would like his spot back in the bed. But at least I get to snuggle with her just a little bit longer.

Fire Drill

This is a fire alarm.

What happens when you pull the lever down?

Ask my son! He pulled it at church today!
(During our fellowship time to celebrate our new teen wing)

I am still recovering!

50/50

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celeb - Collage - Morph

Just curious what the good old look alike meter would say. You know it never lies! And boy was I surprised! I just don't see any of myself in her at all.

I did the look alike meter with Samuel when he was about a year and it came out that he looked 39% more like Tim. If you had the chance to see him as a baby, he really was a mini Tim. Check out this photo...

No Michelle in there at all, right?

Then I did the meter again when he was a bit older and it came out equal as well. I knew my genes were in there somewhere!

Comedy or Tragedy???

Warning: This is a Real Life post!

Yesterday. Oh yesterday. How I wish I could forget yesterday. But I must tell you about it first!

You would've been proud of me. Despite the chaos, I totally kept it together. No complaining, flipping out, binge cookie eating (I'm doing that right now), or driving away to an unknown destination never to return! There was certain war between the spirit and the flesh, but the spirit triumphed!!!

So, let's start with midnight... we were sleeping peacefully after a short middle of the night visit from Samuel.

As the night progressed, Gabrielle nursed one too many times, as usual. Not a growth spurt, just a really bad pattern we've gotten into and I've been to chicken to break it. Totally my fault. Anyway, that's another post for another day.

Samuel got up at 4:40 AM and did NOT go back to bed despite Tim's best efforts. Who gets up at that hour??? The only people up at that hour are those crazy "I need to jog 3 miles, do yoga, and clean my house before work" people. We are no such people in this house. Now let me tell you, Samuel was a totally crankster the entire morning. Just existing seemed to frustrate him. This was not a good day for a family rendition of "This is the Day."

Yesterday was Samuel's first day at a new home day care. He goes two mornings a week. It could have gone one of two ways. He'd either be distracted right out of his overtired state or Miss Mary Kay might be wondering what she got herself into. Not a good day for first impressions. So, I put my clothes on from the day before and took Mr. Crankerton to day care.

Got back home, put Gabrielle down for a nap. Can you sing the Hallelujah chorus with me? Wait, not too fast! My little buttercup only slept for 20 minutes and I could not get her back to sleep. Now I had crankster #2 on my hands.

Good news! Samuel did great at Miss Mary Kay's house. It was getting him home and in bed for an early nap that was the trouble. I basically spent the next several hours either trying to put children to sleep or keep them sleeping. I think I had to lay down with my daughter 6 times yesterday to accomplish 3 hours of napping.

Time to make dinner. My master plan was to put Samuel on the computer and Gabrielle in her bouncer. That's when tragedy struck. The Playhouse Disney and Sesame Street sites were not working! WHAT??? How could they not work??? Don't they know that my sanity was on the line. So, I called the cable company pronto!

I spoke with a very patient man. And I mean VERY patient (3 month old + 3 year old + phone conversation = chaos). He walked me through a few steps and then refreshed my modem. Uh oh!!! No modem, no phone! My cable friend was gone just like that. Now what? Determination set in despite a crying baby and my son who was into who knows what. I preceded to plug and unplug many cords until everything was working. YES!!!

Dinner happened.

It was the post dinner events that trumped the rest of the day.

I saw the look on Samuel's face. The "I'm about to poop" look. If your a mom, you know this look well. Samuel has not been interested in potty training but tonight he complied! Woohoo! Off we went to the bathroom and we sat and sat and sat and nothing! I left the bathroom for no more than 30 seconds and upon my return, poop happened! Yes, poop happened alright but not on the potty. There was poop on the floor, on his hand and his face. I think he tried to clean it up.

I disinfected almost everything but the ceiling and sent Samuel off diaperless for a brief moment. Apparently he was not finished pooping and he didn't quite make it back to the bathroom in time. I heard an "oops" and that was it. Another round of disinfecting began.

And so the day finally ended around 9pm. The kids were finally sleeping in their beds. I, still in my clothes from the day before, decided it was time for a shower. A very LONG shower! You can sing the Hallelujah chorus with me now.

I survived yet another day in my real life!

A Family Portrait

A little glue, some googly eyes and a few pom poms and voila...

You've got Samuel's rendition of our family.

I started by making a smiley face. Can you guess which one is mine? Samuel decided that it looked like him and so the family portrait began.

Now, I know it SEEMS like he left out Gabrielle. Don't get all psychological and speculate that he wishes his little sister wasn't here. In fact, he loves her dearly. He loves her so much that she deserved the most amount of glue in this masterpiece. So much glue, that the googly eyes were floating in it. He decided a few feathers would fit better.

I'm thinking from the looks of things in this portrait that I better start bleaching my upper lip a bit more frequently!!! Yah, that's right I bleach my lip. It's an Italian/Romanian thing.

They make me smile!

Oh, how they make me smile!!!

A little cold couldn't stop those sweet smiles!

Can someone tell me where in the world those blue eyes came from???

Sweet Daddy kisses!

"Don't smile Samuel, don't smile!"

My beautiful family!

Real Life

So I've been thinking. Lately many of my posts have had a somehwat negative slant to them. Well, maybe not negative but they are certainly not the uplifting, "my life is so great" type of posts. They are posts from a mom who's a bit frazzled, a bit obsessive compulsive and a tad bit tired and I'm just being real with y'all. That's the season of life that I am in and I can't help but wear my heart on my sleeve.

Now, I read lots blogs from other stay-at-home moms (that might be you, my blogging friend). And sometimes it SEEMS as if every one else in the same season of life has it together much better than I do. They have schedules/routines, recipes, fun outings with the family, contests, beautiful photos, clean houses, deep thoughts, a clue what's going on in the world, time to care about people other than their immediate family, etc. I often wonder where in the world one has time to accomplish such endeavors, let alone take photos and blog about them.

The truth is, I know that this is not the case. Most of us would rather portray our polished side of life. No-one likes a negative Nancy. But I'm certain everyone has their struggles.

And some people are just not the transparent type. You have to respect that not everyone likes to let it all hang out for the entire internet to see. But I'm certain everyone has a response to their struggles. Feelings are universal.

And we all come with our own set of strengths & weaknesses. Some more obvious than others. Heehee.

And some of us have nice cameras!

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And so my conclusion is that I will continue to be me and I will continue to blog about my REAL LIFE. That's why I started this in the first place.

I happen to be in a season of life full of challenges and I don't have it all together but God is my strength (that is what Gabrielle means btw).

I happen to be transparent to a fault and an over sharer but at least I'm honest.

I happen to a realist but I also have an immense a mount of hope.

I happen to be in a serious season of life but I still have a sense of humor.

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And so my blogging will be sporadic as usual as I keep my priorities in check. But I'd like to write a bit more about REAL LIFE. Why? Because that is where God is at work in my heart. That is place where the rubber meets the road. Because that is the place where my theology and reality must mesh to testify to the One who upholds me in His right hand - Jesus Christ.

I have told you these things so that in me you shall have PEACE. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have OVERCOME the world!
-John 16:33-

Priorities!

I really shouldn't be writing right now (really late). Just wanted to let you know that I've not dropped off the face of the earth. Just a few things at home needing my attention. I'm keeping my priorities in check here.

Oh and I ate cheese for the first time in 2 months!!! What a glorious occasion. I'm a cheeseaholic big time and I've not been eating dairy because Gabrielle was having reflux issues. So, today I sampled a delicious slice of muenster cheese. Hopefully tomorrow I won't be covered in spit up.

I'm loved!!!

I just got done balancing the checkbook and paying bills. It's a dirty job but someone's gotta do it. The baby's been sleeping for a few hours now, so my sleep window is growing ever more narrow. Soon I will become the all night human pacifier. I thought I would check a few of my favorite blogs before calling it a night when I saw that Amanda nominated me for this award.

It's my first ever blogging award! Oh happy day!!!

Amanda loves me and she loves me enough to go public! (You're a brave, brave woman!) Thank you my dear friend. You saved me from the "I haven't blogged in 5 days" slump.

And with great blogging bliss, I pass on this award to 3 of my favorite bloggers!!! (The directions said 5, but it's getting late so here are 3 great ones)

1. Courtney @ Splashing Grace
2. Sarah @ Smack Dab In The Middle
3. Deanna @ On Eagle's Wings


If you want to share the love too, now that you have received this award, feel free to pass it along!
1. Winners: Feel free to put the logo on your blog.
2. Link the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate 5 other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on nominees' blogs (so they know they were nominated!)