I'm becoming and insomniac

Last night was a tough night. Brayden has been sleeping so much better lately. I love it! But last night was kind of an exception.

I am done nursing now and that did help with the sleeping at night, a lot! Normally Brayden will go to bed between 7 and 8pm and wakes up around midnight. I will pick him up and comfort him, normally by walking around or rocking him until he starts to dose off again. When I put him back down, sometimes he cries for a couple minutes, sometimes not at all. Wonderful.

Then he will often wake up again between 4 and 5am and at this time I will give him a bottle and put him back down and he'll sleep until 8am or so.

The few nights past, he has gone to bed at his usual time and when he wakes up the first time, it's a little later, like 2 or 3am and it's just because he's been sleeping on his stomach, which normally he does not, and he isn't great at getting back over, he can but it takes more effort for him than rolling to his stomach, so he needs to be flipped over. Or he has gas, so I pick him up, he burps, I lie him back down and he falls asleep right away again. Then he sleeps until about 7am.

Last night, he went to bed at 7:30, when I checked on him at 8, he was on his tummy and he smelled so I had to wake him up to change his bum. He cried for about 2 minutes and went back to sleep. He didn't wake up until 4:15am and even though it had been 9 hours since he had his bottle, I thought I'd try to just comfort him and put him back down without it since it was the first time he'd woken up.

It didn't go so well.

I put him back down and he cried, a lot. I usually give him about half an hour of crying and then I go get him because that means he's really not going back to sleep. Well, he quit crying before the half hour, was quiet for awhile, then he started crying again. This was around 5am. I decided to go give him a bottle now, it had been a long time since he'd eaten and I was so tired, yet unable to sleep as he lay there crying. Plus Jason was actually awoken by this crying and he had a test in the morning.

I gave him the bottle and he slept until 9am. Good for him, not for me. I am sure I am becoming an insomniac. I used to be able to go back to sleep after I got up with the kids but lately I will lay there for hours unable to sleep.

The worst part is, since Brayden started sleeping better, Ashton has started getting up more for random reasons. I've never had a problem with Ashton sleeping through the night, not since he was 8 months old! I don't know what is going on now.

I'll be in a dead sleep and I hear "mommy, mommy, mommy". I fly out of bed and run to his room, very quietly of course, because I do not want him to wake up Brayden. But with the jump out of bed, my heart is racing, I'm sure its adrenaline or something and that is likely why I can't get back to sleep.

I don't mind him getting up to pee, we even tried putting a little push button night light in the bathroom so he'd go on his own, but then he was calling me to come and see the light at night. Kind of defeating the purpose.

Lately its been that he wants to come sleep in my bed. I have never let my kids sleep with us. Maybe when Ashton was a little baby and wouldn't go to sleep and I was desparate to get some rest but not since, and Brayden has never come to bed with us. I tell him no when he asks but then he starts to whin, therefore, waking Brayden up, Ashton falls back to sleep before I can finish explaining why he can't sleep with us, but I'm left then with another kid awake.

Last night before bed, I tried to tell Ashton that he was not allowed to come sleep with us in the middle of the night. I told him there just isn't room. I told him it is ok if he wants to come sleep with me after dad goes to school but not before. He said he understood and then he told me that he would instead call me in the middle of the night to ask me if daddy was still in bed. Imagine my frustration, after the laughter of course. Sometimes there is just no explaining things to kids!
 

why I am not having anymore children

- I am finally past the VERY difficult "baby" phase, Brayden is becoming more interacive and so much fun

- I don't want to deal with the terrible 2's, 3's etc more than one more time

- I already have 2 boys and a husband and am afraid I will not be able to keep them all fed when they are teenagers

- I am making room in my basement by giving away all the clothes that Brayden has outgrown to my sister-in-law for her upcoming son

- I am so excited for next summer when Brayden is able to do more and I am not sitting on the sidelines watching everyone else having fun while I am keeping the baby happy

- my 2 boys will be best friends

- pregnancy, enough said

- labour, again, need I say more?

- when I lose my weight this time, it will be for good. I am getting older and it's going to start to get harder each time

- I want to take my kids to Disney World but not until they are old enough to actually remember something, no more kids means a shorter wait time :)

- the possibility of a 3rd boy!  Oh my!

- I'd have to buy a van

- I want my kids to have everything and with how expensive that will be, 2 is enough

- it already takes me long enough to pack when we go somewhere

- 2 more years of diapers is plenty for me

- now that I have the family I want, I'd like to find a job I love going to everyday, I hear they do exist

- the grandparents already buy big noisy toys for 2 kids, what would my house become if I had more kids?

- more sleep, oh sweet sleep!

weight loss challenge?

Here is my random thought of the day.

As previously mentioned, I have been working on getting the rest of the baby weight off and I haven't been trying hard enough. I am really unhappy about what I see when I look in the mirror and when I try to find something to wear. It's even worse this time of year when you are trying to find clothes to go to Christmas parties and gatherings.

I have 6 years of experience coaching others through their weight loss journey, and from that I have come up with a few things that I know are important to success and the number one things is absolutely accountability!

With that being said, I'm trying to think of a way to make myself accountable. Accountable to someone other than Jason, because as much as a husband wants to help, sometimes they are really more of a hinderance than a help. I know there are other people out there that are struggling as well, whether it be from baby weight or just weight in general and maybe there is something we can all do together to be successful. A work out buddy is always great because you won't cancel on someone else the way you would cancel on yourself. My problem is that most of my friends that would be interested in doing the "team thing" live too far away. Plus, I can't just go out with someone to the gym or for a walk or anything like that because of the kids, one car, and the weather!

I know there are a lot of people I know are on facebook several times a day, this gave me an idea. I'm thinking of sending out a message, either privately or as my own status, to see who might be interested in doing something where we can be accountable to each other.

Some of the things I've been thinking about could involve the following things that would be accessable to the people interested in getting involved:
- keeping a food diary
- posting your daily thoughts/emotions
- exercise journal
- challenges and how you overcame them, or didn't in some cases
- amount of weight you want to lose and updates on how you're doing
- mini contests for extra motivation (for those of us that are a little competitive)
- reward system
- ideas and tips for other people in the group

These are just a few of the things I'm thinking about. I'm not sure when I want to start. I was thinking the new year but really, why wait? The longer I do nothing about it, the longer I am unhappy about how I am right now. No amount of weight would be too much or too little. 5 lbs to one person is like 50 to another person.

I don't want this to be like Herbal Magic in the sense that other people are responsible for my success, I just know that for myself, knowing other people are going through what I'm going through helps me handle things, especially because I have a lot of friends out there that are Stay at home moms right now with more than one kid. I also find that sometimes a little competition helps me be successful, not competition saying that I want to kick all your butts, but for example, when I did my run club a few years ago, you met once/week with the class for a run, then the instructor gave us homework, you could do it or not do it, it was up to you, but I ALWAYS did it because I knew that if I didn't, I'd go to class next time and be way behind everyone else, no one likes to be behind everyone else. I had huge success with this.

So I guess what this post is about, is to see if you have any ideas as to how to make this work or if you'd be interested in doing something like this as a group. Looking forward to some feedback

quiet book pictures

Here is the finished product. I just used the most simple patterns since it was my first one. Ashton has shown a lot of interest in it as well so I may make him one too, not for Christmas as that would be silly to add more to my to-do list but maybe in the new year. I also finished it off with a purple ribbon to hold it closed. It was a suggestion and I figured since my book isn't perfectly square, it made it look better. I also decided to put the girls names on the front to make it look more exciting and be more personalized.

practice photo

I didn't have the quiet book pictures on the computer yet, so here is my practice picture. I also do not have many pictures of my littl niece but Nikki has finally posted some so go look there! lol

Pictures

I do not know how to put up pictures so if someone (Sonya or Tif lol) could kindly let me know I can post my quiet book pictures for you to see

Merry Christmas to all

Yesterday, (notice I always start that way because I never get a chance to write anything in the evening) I realized that Christmas is just around the corner. I thought I had a lot of time but I don't.

As for my "making of gifts", well, I did start early enough but the procrastinator in me knew I had plenty of time and here I am, only a couple weeks before Christmas and so much to do.

I can happily say I have finished my first quiet book and the second one is well on its way. I needed to get the first one done on the ASAP because I need to send way up north in Sask (don't think I will even attempt to spell the whole province) and I ALWAYS wait until too late to send our gifts to our niece and nephew up there and end up paying extra to get it there express on the bus. This year I decided to get it all done early and send it by mail, probably way cheaper. But now, it is Dec 9 and I am sure I'm running out of time to send it by mail and will end up with the costly bus again. So much for saving money on Christmas gifts this year by making my own.

On top of that, I realize that we are having our Christmas gathering next Saturday with Jason's family and that is where the second quiet book is going, so the more I think, the less time I have to get this stuff done. I decided to skip the treadmill this morning get the show rolling.

I also started my gift for my parents from the kids. Its just a painters canvas. I put their handprints on (messy job!!) and then will write a little something on there. It was instead of the stepping stone I made for my mother-in-law. My mom isn't much for gardening or outdoors type stuff so a stepping stone seemed silly. Hopefully this turns out as well though. I opted to just get those handprints on there and save the rest for when I was alone. Hmm, now would be a good time.

I have also started making calendars for both grandparents. What grandparent doesn't want to look at pics of their grandparents all year round? I have my parents completed but not my in-laws, plus then I want to take it to staples to get the little ring things put on top. Another things I really should get on since I don't know if they do that in a day or a week or what!

The next project is my nieces snuggie. I do have until the actual Christmas time to complete this one and I really don't think it'll take long, I have the blanket, just have start cutting and sewing. But thanks to my sister, I have another niece to get something for (notice how I try to sound mad but really can't be because that little girl is so darn cute!!). I had wanted to try making her a sew-free blanket, so that means another intimidating trip to the fabric store where they know I don't belong by looking at me, not to mention how I mispronounce EVERY word I try to say.

I am also needing to buy some jars. I received a cookie-in-a-jar from Ashton daycare a couple years ago, (just made the cookies last week though) and I thought that might be a good idea for my nieces as well. It won't take long, again, just gotta get the jars!

What else, oh yes, then there is the trip to the liquor store to purchase a bottle or 2 for a friend. We don't really know what to buy him, he buys what he needs so this is our out :) A trip to Walmart for the stocking stuffers/Christmas candy. A gift for Jason, which is always impossible but this year it'll be worse because we really don't have money so I will only be buying something very small, looking at something practical for him, like a travel mug or something. I know that sounds dumb, but he does want a nice one to take coffee to school/work in.

I still have to buy a few more things for Brayden, that has been a challenge. Normally I'd buy him just any old baby type item but when you don't have a bunch of extra money, you just don't want to waste it on things you don't need. What does an 8 month old need anyway? Especially when he's not only the second child, but the second boy, he has all he'll ever need in the form of hand me downs!

Then there the wrapping . . .

Did I mention on top of all this wonderful stuff I still need to prepare, I must keep the house clean, entertain 2 kids when it's too cold to go outside and put meals on the table everyday? Oh and add the NO SLEEP factor in there.

It's funny, this may sound like complaining, but really it's not. I LOVE Christmas, its my favorite time of year. I love shopping, baking (eating the baking is likely more my style) visiting family and friends, the music, the decorations, the whole package!!

Tonight I am attending "the singing Christmas tree" put on at my friends church. I went a few years ago but it's never worked for me to go again. I can't wait. Best part, I'll be kid free. I can't wait.

I'd rather be drunk

As you say Tif, you don't think your life is interesting, at least you can make it sound interesting. This is part of why I was hesitant about starting a blog.

Yesterday I went to Ptg to meet my new niece. I was very excited but nervous at the same time. Jason had school during the day and hockey at night so it was just me and the boys. That is where the nervous comes in.

We made a stop in Austin to pick up my mom then heading to Ptg, some MacDonald's and off to the hospital. Ashton was very excited to meet his new cousin, but a hospital with a shared room is not the place for a busy 3 year old! We visited in Nikki's room for a little while but soon had to leave because there was barely enough room to stand on either side of the bed since the rooms in that hospital are smaller than the ones in Brandon and at least in Brandon you get your own room! You know the lady in the next bed just had a baby too so she is obviously tired as well and to try to keep Ashton quiet when he's not oogling the baby, not possible. On top of that, Brayden was in one of his moods where it was only ok for mom to hold him so he would scream when he went to Grandma, another thing you really don't want happening in a room with 2 women who just had babies.

We decided to head back to Nikki's house to put the boys down for a rest, maybe Grandma too since she just got off work that morning and although she was in bed for an hour and a half, I doubt she slept.

Back at the house, I give Brayden his bottle and put him down in the playpen for nap. He screamed for a bit then fell asleep. Ashton would not have a nap because there were just too many different toys to play with so I just tried to keep him occupied so Brayden would at least be happier when he woke up.

Time passed, not much time, only a half hour and Brayden started screaming. He was done napping. Why? He pooped. He seems to be very prone to constipation and this was one of the worst weeks since starting solids. He was very upset the previous night because he tried and tried to go but no results. He woke up early this morning and success! Once he starts, he can't stop so I was ready to go through a lot of diapers that day. I was very happy he was going but I just wish it hadn't woke him up from his nap.

So now I have 2 tired boys, one tired grandma and mom. We figured we'd head back to the hospital to visit a bit more before heading home. This time Paige was there so that caused even more excitement with Ashton. He runs over and starts tickling Paige who was sitting on Nikki's bed, not a good plan for someone who just had a c-section. I figured this wasn't going to work well so we went down to the TV room, myself and the kids, so they could play a bit and not disturb everyone hoping they'd get some of this out of their systems. In the meantime, my arms are shaking and cramping from carrying my other monster child around.

With Glenn's help we managed to get a few pictures with the kids and then we figured we'd better head home. I was kind of wishing that I'd left the boys with their other grandma for the day but I know how much Ashton loves babies and would have been very upset with me so I plugged away.

Another stop over at Grandmas and Paige and Ashton ran around for awhile to burn off some energy. When we got home, I had 2 extremely tired boys. Ashton was being uncooperative, as per usual when he's overtired. He phoned his other grandma to tell her the babies name, to which she replied "are you sure". She had never heard the name before. Then she told Ashton she had made cookies today for him and he burst into tears because he wanted them. We were supposed to stop there on the way home but we ran out of time as Jason needed the car to get to hockey.

I told Ashton because of his distress, we needed to go to bed, he wanted a snack, not because he was hungry but because its habit, he always needs a snack before bed. I was trying to think of something really quick so he could pop it in his mouth and be off to bed. I lucked out, he hadn't had his advent chocolate yet so that became his snack and it was off to bed.

Did I mention, this entire time, I'm carrying the other 20lb child around so he doesn't get all worked up before I put him down to bed? Yah, my arm is still sore today!

Finally I get Ashton into bed, he insists he's not tired. I leave the room, nurse Brayden for 10 minutes, put him down and check on Ashton. Out cold! Hmm, was mom right again? Maybe he was tired.

By this point I am so exhausted all I wanted to do was go to bed, but I still had to unpack everything from our trip today and tidy up the house. I'm not sure what Jason did this evening but it was the same as I left it the night before, but with all the added dishes from his supper. We don't have a lot of counter space and so a few dishes make it look so messy and I get anxiety when I see it. I almost washed the dishes, but opted to catch up on my final episode on Battle of the Blades before heading to bed.

It was over around 10. I looked over at the computer thinking I really should post something about my new niece or I might be getting in trouble, so I figure I'll quickly update my status and within a minute I had like 4 comments, so by the time I check those and respond, it's 10:30. Way past bedtime.

I head to bed, just hoping that I would fall asleep and not be woken up when Jason gets home from hockey at midnight. No such luck, and the boys had other plans too. Rough night.

They say being overtired is like being drunk, but it doesn't seem as fun to me.

Me time

It only took 7 months but I'm finally getting organized. Well, I'm getting closer.

Brayden is finally back to his VERY happy self. He sat on the floor last night and played by himself for like an hour while I sat close by and started cutting out stuff for my second quiet book. I was so impressed. Not to mention, he's been sleeping better at night and going down for naps and bedtime without screaming, he barely makes a peep most times. The odd time, he'll talk to himself for awhile but he's content. His napping schedule is getting a bit more predictable so that makes my life easier. I'm not sure if it is because I'm weening him off nursing or because with only one vehicle, we are forced to stay home and that helps establish a routine. Either way I am loving it.

I decided this morning that because of that I better get back on the treadmill. I took a break for a few weeks, which always seems to happen if I take any kind of break. I was running during Brayden's morning nap but I have been using that time to work on getting the plastic up on the windows to save on the hydro bill and to get sewing my quiet book. I could do neither this morning since I have no more plastic, and no vehicle to go get any until this evening, and I have no sewing machine because I've been using my mother-in-laws and she had to take it this weekend to make Brayden's blanket for Christmas. So, No excuses left.

It was nice to get back on the treadmill. I know I would do it more if it didn't involve so much time afterwards. That is my real reason for skipping out. I have no problem finding at least 30 minutes to be on it, but then I also need to find 15 more minutes to stretch after, time to get in the shower (which I don't like doing while Brayden is sleeping because it wakes him up), do my hair and make lunch. All those things are what holds me back. I know they are all excuses but I like to think of myself as pretty good as making up excuses. Gotta be good at something right?

I knew I needed to get back on there today because I've been feeling pretty down lately. I went out and got my hair done on Thursday to start things off. I normally can't justify spending large amounts of money on coloring my hair but I had a gift certificate to use so that took a large chunk of the cost away. I've never been really good at keeping up with my hair, I'm lucky if I cut it every few months but this time I went all out. There is a salon in Brandon I go to that has "the best stylist in town", this is what I've been told by many. I've gone to him a few times and I've never been unhappy. He really loves his work. He is like an artist with a canvas when you go in there without any real idea of what you want. I went in with fairly long blonde hair and came out with quite short violet and golden hair.

Yep, purple. I know it sounds crazy but it actually looks pretty good. It is darker underneith and then lighter on top. He did it that way because he knew I wasn't the kind of person to keep up with roots (is it that obvious) so he didn't want to do anything that was going to be high maintenance. He cut it in a bob because the bob does the work for you. I know they all say that but this hair cut REALLY is very managable. It only takes me 5 minutes to do my hair and it looks great.

Now I have a great hair cut that I really like but when I look in the mirror, I don't like how it looks on me. I started to picture the thinner, prebaby me and think it would look a lot better that way. I've been procrastinating for some time because losing weight really does take a lot of time and just like most people, if you don't see results right away, you tend to fall of course.

I am not setting major goals for myself. Just simple acheivable goes. I have to lose 15 - 20 lbs to be at my lowest point that I was before but I know that if I can just do 10 for now, I'd feel much better and have a much wider selection of wardrobe, which also makes me feel better. I have decided to work a little harder at not snacking so much during the day and to incorporate more veggies and fruits into my diet. Seriously, my diet mainly consists of carbs. I don't even eat much meat! I am not going to cut out treats, just cut back, a lot. It will be tough because I do like to attempt to bake, (notice I've said attempt) and when it's there, it's hard to resist, but I need to do this for me.

Moms always put themselves on the backburner and it shouldn't be that way. I've dealt with a lot of that over the years with my clients at work and its not fair. So many women don't realize that if they are not happy, their children will not be happy, and neither will their husbands. So enough is enough, it's time for a little me time. Wish me luck!

30 Day photo challenge

This seems to be a new trend on facebook right now. The 30 day photo challenge. Normally I don't care about these things, I find them rather annoying, like the color of my bra or where I keep my purse. Do people really think it's a big secret from the guys? Who starts these anyway?

This one does seem like fun though. I've enjoyed seeing other peoples photos so I decided I would do it to. Then I read through all the requirements. Seriously? Who has photos of all these things and even if they do, how do they know where to find them? I've had this computer for a year and a half, so the only photos I have on it are the ones I've taken in the last year and a half. Any that I have prior, meaning since I've been with Jason, are on a flashdrive that we took off our old computer. I could go and get it but that would require me going through who knows how many pictures to find the right one. What if I don't have time that day? Then I'll mess up the game.

On top of it all, I don't think this photo thing only wants to see the last 10 years of my life, that would be no fun at all. Now I am required to go to my moms house to go through pictures there? I can't do that every day! It's a 45 minutes drive each way and we only have one vehicle!

My brain is spinning with ideas of how to go about this challenge. I am cheating. I have copied the list of the 30 photos I must find and have pasted it onto a microsoft word page and I will, as I have time, fill it all in with my ideas before starting the challenge on facebook. There are a lot of answers I really don't know. By waiting a bit longer, it will also allow me to see what other people are posting for ideas.

It is really sad that I am reading this much into this little "game". It's supposed to be fun, but it is really giving me a headache.

Stay tuned for my 30 day photo challenge to begin!

Do any kids go to bed when they should?

Why is it that kids can find so much to do when they are in their beds. Ashton has been in his bed since 8:15pm, it is now 9:45pm and I can still hear him whispering to himself. Last time I was in there, about 1/2 an hour ago, he has asked me to do up his housecoat which he apparently thought he needed to wear to bed. I thought, whatever and did it up. As I scanned the rest of the bed, I notice there was a slipper in his bed as well as his back pack and more stuffed animals that were not there when I tucked him in.

It seems he is just playing some sort of game rather than going to sleep. He'd already exhausted all his excuses. I said to Jason the other night that I was going to make a check list of all the excuses he used each night and go through each one when I tuck him in. Maybe that would cut down on the time it takes to get him to bed.

I guess I shouldn't really be that surprised at this behavior, afterall, he does come by it honestly. I remember when I was a kid, I had a lot of dolls and stuffed animals in my bed and I would play with them for hours after I went to bed. I didn't get caught because my room was upstairs and the livingroom was downstairs. I even remember finding little pieces of paper in my homemade piggy bank that I used to write things down, name tags for my dolls maybe? I'm not really sure. I just know that I didn't go to bed when I was supposed to either so I shouldn't be such a hypocrite. At least he has the same respect for his brother as I had for my sister and is playing quietly and not waking him up.

Things sure are different when the tables are turned!

Quiet Book

I am getting closer to the end of this thing and its starting to look pretty good. I have to say I'm pretty proud. I will post pictures when I'm done and when I figure out how! lol

why can't things just be simple for a change?

We had to have a battle with EI yesterday.

Jason started back to school last week and he filled out his online application for EI and dropped off his record of employment last week already. I've already been very nervous about us both being on EI for the next 3 months, epecially because it's Christmas time!

Each year he goes to school for 10 weeks and he doesn't have to go through the 2 week waiting period like you normally do so at least we don't get backed up on bills while we wait but last year, we were sure there was an error in his claim as he was getting like $200/week less than his classmates who were all making the same wage as he was. He called EI and they said there were no errors. We just left it at that because, really, what can you do? At least I was working so it didn't hit us too badly last year.

Back to this year. He recieves his personal access code in the mail and goes online to check what he'll be receiving this year for payments and again, there has to be a mistake. He is still receiving the same amount he received last year and he's making $5/hour more this year. Of course the panic sets in for me because that is just not going to pay the bills!

He calls the woman that came to his class last week to explain to everyone how to apply and she said that his claim from last time is still open. I guess after 1 year, the claim closes, if you want it closed to file a new claim, you can't do that online, you have to call the 800 number to cancel the previous claim before filing a new one.

For anyone who has tried to call these government numbers, you know that it is almost impossible to actually talk to someone unless you have like an hour to wait on hold! Jason didn't think that he needed to call this number because he went to school last year in August so his claim should have been closed already.

Last night, he got home from school and sat on hold for 20 minutes before finally getting to talk to someone. I guess there was something funny about last year and it had not been a year. I'm not sure how the government works but August 2009 until November 2010 is more than a year. No? After a very lengthy conversation with the woman, they come to the conclusion that it is possible his boss filled out his ROE wrong. She tells him to get his boss to fill out a new one and refile his claim. They cancelled out the previous claim so it would not be an issue.

He went to his bosses house and the realized that he did infact fill out his ROE from last year wrong, but not altering it as much as we thought it would have. The lady from EI said we could bring in a new ROE from last year as well and there was a slight possibility that they could reimburse us for what we did not recieve last year. The amount wasn't significant enought to bother, it was like $300 or so, which yes, we could use right now, but is it worth the trouble?

They decided the ROE from this year is infact correct so now we just have to wait and see if his claim is adjusted. He was supposed to receive payment this week already but now we may have to wait until the next pay period, that is crappy, but it could make a difference of like $200/week. I am willing wait!

I just love dealing with the government!

Christmas Projects

Thanks to my friend Sonya, I have decided to get crafty this year for some of my Christmas gifts. My largest project is my Quiet book. I am really enjoying doing it but it sure is time consuming and time is running out!

I started this thing at the end of August and I am not done yet. Worst part is, I plan to make a second one! What am I thinking?

The last couple days I have gotten really busy on it, I have put aside all other tasks (that are able to be put off), like running my treadmill, cleaning the house, watching my shows etc and just got to my sewing. I am almost finished all 12 pages, just some finishing touches to do, then I have to cut out the cover and put the whole thing together. I am really hoping after all the work I've put into it that it doesn't look like Ashton made it! I am hoping to finish it this week and start the next one next week.

I haven't done any sewing, besides buttons, since I was forced to take Home Ech in Grade 8, so this is quite the project for me. My sister mentioned to me earlier this week that my niece wants a snuggie for Christmas so I thought maybe I could make one of those too. I looked online and found a "pattern", purchased a purple fleece blanket yesterday so hopefully I'll be able to get working on that. They had kids snuggies at Walmart for $30, with Princesses on them, that would have been the easy way out. I purchased the blanket for $12. So hopefully the time I put into this supposedly simple project with be worth the extra $18! lol

my day off

Yesterday I had a baby shower to go to for a friend who had twins a month and a half ago. I've known about the shower for sometime and with the way things were going with Brayden before, I was planning on taking him with me for the longest time but he's changed so much in the last week, I decided to leave him with his dad.

Dad was a little nervous but I reassured him he'd be fine and that I needed some time away from the kids. I tried to remember the last time I was out kid-free, and I'm pretty sure it was when I went to visit this friend in the hospital a month ago and on this occassion, I made sure both kids were in bed before I left so Jason didn't have to worry about them. Needless to say, I think I'm due for a break.

I had a fabulous afternoon being out of the house. The only drawback was that I have a terrible cold and basically no voice so it was very difficult to visit. I had a headache by the end of the day from trying to push out a voice of some sort. Most of the time I just whispered because that I could do easily. This happens to me at least once every year.

When I returned home, I found one little boy in bed and the other at the coffee table enjoying some smarties. I asked Jason how he made out. He said pretty good. Brayden was alright for him with one minor setback. They were sitting on the floor playing and the dog wanted outside so Jason left Brayden sitting there by himself to tend to the dog and Brayden, who can sit on his own very well but you know how babies are, sometimes they just fall over, threw himself backwards and smashed his head on the hardwood floor. Of course he screamed and screamed. That was one thing I forgot to add to the list of "instructions" for Jason on what to do with Brayden. I never leave him sitting when I leave, even for a second. He'll sit up forever if you are there but as soon as you leave, he dives for something or leans a little too far back.

Jason got him settled down a bit, gave him a bottle and put him down for a nap. Apparently he screamed for 1/2 an hour, which he hasn't been doing lately, so either his head still hurt or he wasn't that tired yet, who knows, but eventually he fell asleep and had a really good nap.

Next, how was Ashton. He was very good as well. He watched 3/4 of Ice Age - The Meltdown that I'd DVR'd for him and then some "Billy the Exterminator" which has become his favorite show. I know it's not for kids but he loves it. They had a very good afternoon.

I was happy to hear this, it put my mind at ease and started to get me thinking of what I could go out and do next, ALL BY MYSELF!

We also made another wonderful discovery yesterday. The root of Ashton's behavioral problem! ME!! I hadn't been home 5 minutes and he was back to his wild self, not listening and being obnoxious. Makes sense, grandma Haynes said she never has problems with him, he's always very good there. When he goes to Wheat King Games with Jason he's a perfect angel. So by the power of deduction, it's me. So now to find the solution!

Bed time

Why is it that I am always looking for an opportunity to go to bed early and today, when that opportunity has arose, I am sitting on the computer, hoping something new will pop up on facebook.

Why do I have this opportunity tonight? Jason is off playing hockey. His games are always very late, normally starting at 10pm. He generally leaves an hour early, plays for an hour and is usually home by 12:30 in the morning. As much as I enjoy spending time with my husband, I do look forward to these night where I can do what I want to do, alone! Whether is be just hang out on the computer hoping someone will come online and talk to me, or watching a movie I've recorded that Jason probably wouldn't enjoy (last night I recorded Maid of Honor, didn't want to watch it tonight because then I'd be up too late, but as you can see, I probably would have been going to be at almost the same time had I watched it)

Both the boys are off to bed. It was a bit late for them tonight because we were at the mall early this evening then went to Jason's moms for a visit. Grandpa always find a way to pump Ashton full of sugar, making it really hard for him to fall asleep. He was in bed at 8:45 and last time I checked in on him at 9:45, he was still awake. I stopped checking at that time because I figure he's more likely to go to sleep if I just leave him be.

Brayden on the other hand, I fed him and put him in his bed, awake, at 9 and I haven't heard a peep out of him. I have to say I'm loving this new bedtime routine with him. It's working so well. I'm slowly weening him off the nursing, only when he wakes up and goes to bed and if he wakes up any time at night. It's cut down on the number of times he wakes up at night, he's been falling asleep on his own for naps and bedtime, and he's so much happier and not a "mommy suck" as we've been calling him for the last month or so.

I love the fact that I'm the one person he needs more than anything. It makes me feel really important, but at the same time, it makes me feel bad when his dad can't hold him because he screams, or when we go visit his grandparents, or aunts/uncles and the only person he wants to be held by is mom. He still has his moments when only mom will do but I should enjoy them while they last because a few years down the road, I'll be begging him to sit with me and cuddle and he'll want no part in it.

It's funny how these little people know what to do to make you so mad you want to cry and in the next breath can make you laugh til you cry! I didn't think it was possible to love someone as much as I love those boys!!It's just trying to remember the good times when they are pushing your buttons and you feel like it'll never end.

On that note, it really is time for bed.

visit with Paige

Ashton had a great day yesterday playing with his cousin Paige. They don't get together too often but when they do they have a blast. It's really funny to see the differences between a 5 year old girl and a 3 year old boy. Paige has some pretty interesting ideas at times. She showed me one yesterday.

The kids were in the basement playing. Paige comes upstairs looking for something, she said they were camping. She gets what she needs, heads back downstairs. Shortly after, Ashton comes up looking for something. They take turns doing this for a little while, but other than that, we don't hear much out of them.

It was getting close to lunch time so I started the hot dogs. When they were ready, I yelled to the kids to come up and eat. They yelled that they were camping and they didn't want to.

I head down the stairs to force them to eat, planning to tell them it was like a weiner roast for their camping. As I am getting down the stairs expecting disaster, I notice the floor is completely clean. I'm thinking, wow, these kids cleaned up? How did Paige get Ashton to clean? A few more steps and my jaw dropped!

The shelves that we have set up downstairs for all the toys was completely EMPTY! That's right, not a toy to be seen in the toy area of the basement. I'm thinking, "where did they put it all?" I'm not talking a few toys, I'm talking like 3 or 4 ride on vehicles, 8 baskets full of various toys, at least 100 books and the list goes on. All gone!

I head down the hall to the spare room. A room in which Ashton rarely goes alone, but Paige seems to enjoy and they generally end up in there when she's over. Last time she was there, they had taken a number of things out of Brayden's room and put them down there.

I get to the end of the hall, open the bedroom door, or at least, attempt to open the bedroom door and I see where they have set up their campsite as well as solved the case of the missing toys! I couldn't believe my eyes, my first emotion was anger, knowing that I was going to be the one cleaning this up but then I couldn't help but laugh, out loud! You should have seen this room, it was wall to wall with toys, books, trucks, stuffed animals, blankets, you name it! Then in the middle, 2 little kids with big grins on their faces.

I know this had to be Paige's idea because, like I said, Ashton doesn't really go in that room too much. I'm very glad that she is good at helping clean up because Ashton is not, he just layed on the floor sucking his thumb because he "likes it messy". It took the 2 of us a lot of trips get everything back into the other room.

Lesson learned, quiet kids are not to be left unchecked!

Things are starting to look up

Yesterday I managed to put Brayden down for all 3 of his naps without nursing him to sleep. He had 3 naps because each was short, not enough for him as he woke up crying. He only does that when he's still tired. I felt very proud. I wanted to start trying that during the day when I'm not so tired. Hopefully it carries over into the night and he learns how to put himself to sleep.

I wasn't going to try putting him to bed on his own just yet but when I was nursing him before bed, he fell asleep but woke up when I moved. So I decided to give it a try. I put him in his bed awake, turned on his music and he cried for like 2 minutes, settled down and soon after was sound sleep.

This was at 8:30pm. The next time I heard from him was 4:30am! Fabulous. Being that it had been 8 hours, I'd feed him hoping he'd fall back to sleep. He did and he then slept til 9am! What a great night, for him. Of course that would be the night I have trouble settling and woke up several times but that's a whole other story.

This is the third night he's slept well. Wednesday night wasn't great, he woke up a few times until 3:30am but then slept til 8am. But Monday night, he went to be at 11pm and slept until 8am, then Tuesday night he went to bed at 7:30pm, woke up at midnight to eat then back to bed til 8am. He seems to like getting up at 8am it would seem. I am certainly not complaining, this is great. I'm thankful that if Ashton gets up before that, I can turn on cartoons and go back to bed.

On top of the good sleeping, today Grandma Thiessen, Auntie Nikki & Paige came for a visit and Brayden actually visited with them and didn't need to be held by me all day. The same thing happened last weekend when we went to Winnipeg for Kaylee's 3rd b-day party. He still needs his mom when he gets really upset but for the most part, my little boy is growing up!

Chocolatey Banana Muffins

1/2 cup veg. oil
1 cup mashed bananas
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 pkg chocolate chips
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Heat oven to 350. In mixing bowl, whisk together oil, sugar and egg. Stir in bananas and chocolate chips. Combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Stir in banana mixture just until moistened. Scoop into muffin tins. Bake 15 - 20 minutes

the things my kid says

I always thought of writing a book with just Ashton quotes and stories in it. The things that come out of this kids mouth! Last night, he's sitting on the toilet, mid-bath, and I'm waiting to wipe and put him back in the bath. He looks over at me and says "mommy, your tummy is getting bigger, you're going to have another baby". I just started to laugh! "when your tummy gets bigger, that means you are going to have another baby", he went on and on, using his little smile and high pitched voice, expressing his excitement for the apparent new addition.

I always joke that I look like I'm still pregnant, but when it comes from a 3 year old, it must be true! To clean up rumors TIFFANY!!! I am NOT pregnant. Just not commited to the full fledged diet. I have made improvements, but I have been unable to get on the treadmill this last week due to many different reasons/excuses. I do plan to get back on there today. I'd love to get at least 10 lbs off by Christmas, then at least I'd have something to wear.

decisions decisions

Today we are faced with a difficult decision.

Our dog hurt his leg yesterday. Jason picked him up and he squirmed, Jason dropped him from about his thigh, and Crosby started walking with one of his back legs up in the air. We brought him inside and he continued to limp along the rest of the day. He went about all his activities normally, just did them on 3 legs so we didn't call the vet, being that it was Rememberance Day and they were closed. This morning I took him in to see what was wrong.

Crazy thoughts of all the expenses were running through my head all day yesterday and even at the app't this morning. The vet examines him and says he's torn his ACL, the tendon in his knee. Apparently with small dogs, it's very common because the groove that the knee cap sits in isn't deep enough and their tibia (shin bone) is slightly rotated, causing the tendon that helps to hold the knee cap in place, to pull the knee cap to the side out of the already not deep enough groove. Then with the fall, it completely tore the tendon that is used to pull back on it. I was also informed that dogs are animals that are often prayed upon when weak, they don't show pain, so all this time I'm thinking it must not be too serious because he's still doing everything normally, he was likely just masking the pain.

Her solution, rest for a week along with anti-inflammatories. After that, it is most likely that he'll need surgery! Well, all I'm thinking is $$$$? The visit today with the meds for a week was already $80, money that we really don't have right now because Jason is starting school on Monday for 3 months and won't have a normal paycheck. Plus for the next week I have to try to make sure Crosby isn't jumping on and off the couch and not doing too much activity. The doctor goes over the estimate for the surgery that is likely inevitable, and I almost threw up right there! Best case scenario, $1700, worst case, $2100. Is that it? Wow, I thought it would be a lot (note there is no font for sarcasm here). There is no way we can afford that now, and I'm not even sure we would want to pay that much if we were both working!

It's going to be a lot of thinking involved. I don't know what other options we have, we have to just really hope that this next week goes well and he rests his knee as much as possible!

good night's sleep

Last night I put Brayden to bed at 7pm because he hadn't napped much during the day due to our family circle program in the morning and his 6 month needles in the afternoon, so he was very tired by 7pm. He woke up at 9:30pm, as he usually does, so I figured, since it wasn't too late, I'd try to get him back to sleep without nursing. Well, after an hour of walking around trying to sooth him, Jason took over. For 15 minutes straight, Brayden screamed with Jason. That 15 minutes sitting by doing nothing, felt longer than the hour I'd previously made the attempt to get him back to sleep. By 10:45pm, I had had enough and went to Brayden's room to relieve Jason, as I'm sure his back was getting sore too. I thought maybe Brayden was sore from his needles so I decided to give him a little more tylenol and feed him so he'd get some sleep. So finally around 11pm he went back to sleep.

We went to bed shortly after but I couldn't stop thinking about what I was going to do next time he woke up that I didn't fall asleep until 12:30am! Much to my relief, I did not wake again until 6am! The longest stretch of sleep in a long time. At that time, Ashton woke up to go pee and went back to bed. Brayden was still asleep! He didn't get up til 8:15! How wonderful. I don't know if it was the tylenol or the screaming for over an hour that tired him out but it was a wonderful nights sleep.

now here's a diet I could stick with

Saw this article on ebrandon, our local website. I think it's fantastic, and I have recently been wondering if this theory was true because I myself have been "trying" to lose some more of my baby weight without really trying to hard. I have been good with cutting back on my portions when it comes to my meals. But with Halloween just over, there is conveniently a lot of mini chocolate bars around. I did want to limit myself but I have not yet decided what that limit should be each day, so my limit is really whatever I eat each day.

Here's the link http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/08/twinkie.diet.professor/index.html

check it out!

what a night

Oh what a night! Ashton went to bed with very little supper last night. I made a roast with potatoes and carrots. I have given up on him eating meat but potatoes and carrots are his favorite. He only likes potatoes sliced like you do on the BBQ and with the distraction of him misbehaving, I forgot to take some out for him and mashed them all. He complained but ended up eating his carrots and I forced some potatoes on him. He definitely didn't eat enough and ended up going to bed without a snack because he wasn't listening.

I was pretty happy when I first woke up with Brayden at 2:45am, he's slept for almost 7 hours so I decided I'd feed him, but he didn't want to go back to sleep after that. I tried to lie him down and he chatted for a bit but then as I climbed back into bed at 3:15am, Ashton called for me. He wanted a drink of water. I got him one and by that time Brayden was done talking and now screaming so we went back into the livingroom. I tried to keep him busy and quiet for 20 minutes, then I gave up and fed him again. I know I need to stop doing that buy I couldn't keep my eyes open. I lied him back in his bed, he still didn't want to go to sleep but Ashton was calling me again. He wanted more water, and he ended up puking up a big of clear fluid, not a lot, just enough to mess up his sheets so I took them off and he went back to bed. I went back into grab Brayden and sat in the chair and rocked him and sang "twinkle twinkle" about 100 times. It seems to be the only song that keeps him quiet. Eventually he fell back to sleep.

I climbed back into bed, I think it was around 4:30am by this time, then I hear Ashton call again, he said he had to pee, we went to the bathroom and just as we got there, he threw up all over the floor. Wonderful, I guess this was as good a time as any to clean my bathroom, I've been meaning to do it for a while now. I got Ashton back to bed and cleaned up the bathroom floor, and climbed back into bed.

Ah, time to sleep, oh wait, nope, is that Brayden again, oh good, he had a nap and is ready to get up again. I paced around with him for 20 minutes and he screamed and screamed. My heart was pounding because I felt so bad that Jason had to get up for work in a little while and he was being kept up with all this commotion as well. I decided to just feed him and keep him quiet. By this point, I didn't think I was going to get anymore sleep. I got Brayden back to sleep and Ashton needed me again, I had grabbed a bucket for his room last time he threw up but he doesn't quiet understand that he needs to grab it when he has to puke. After this incident, we decided to go to the livingroom so the other 2 could get some sleep.

He puked one more time, threw up the tylenol we gave him and then we both fell asleep on the couch. . . for 20 minutes then up to puke again. This went on until about 7am when Jason got up for work. It's now almost 9 am and Brayden is still in bed, Jason is gone to work, and Ashton hasn't puked since before 8. I tried to get him to eat some toast but he took one bite and said he was done. There is nothing in his tummy to throw up, just stomach acid, so hopefully he is done. I think today will be a very lazy day. Hopefully with a nap somewhere in there!

Funny how things work out. I guess I wasn't supposed to get so much sleep the night before last, so we had to mix things up and just have 4 hours last night. I did sneak in a 20 min nap on the couch this morning. Hopefully that'll get me through the day.

how am I still tired?

For some odd reason, Brayden decided to sleep last night, he went to bed around 8pm and didn't wake up til 7:30am. So why is it that I'm more tired today than I normally am? Is it because it's Monday or did I get too much sleep? I really don't think I got too much sleep, I honestly don't think that is really possible! I think I fell asleep around 11 last night and with one minor interruption or Ashton getting up around midnight to tell me the bathroom light was off, I slept straight until 5am. At that time, I was only awake briefly and then fell back to sleep until Jason's alarm went off at 6:45. Didn't really sleep much after that because Ashton got up at the time and Jason put him into bed with me as an attempt to get him to sleep longer. It didn't work, he just layed there sucking his thumb talking to himself until we heard Brayden talking at 7:30am. But still, I got like 7 1/2 hours of straight sleep last night as opposed to my usual 6 hours of broken sleep.

I'd love to lie down and take a nap right now but I don't think it'll happen. Brayden is napping and Ashton is supposed to be napping but in the last 1/2 hour he's gotten out of bed at least 3 times. It always takes him a long time to fall asleep, which normally I don't mind but today, we have to take the dog for a haircut at 3 so by the time he falls asleep, I'll have to wake him up to take the dog.

What I really should be doing now is getting on the treadmill. I am using the excuse that Brayden may not sleep very long (because he has a nap this morning already), so I don't want to get started on there and have him wake up. I don't mind him laying there crying for a bit, but then we come back to Ashton not getting a nap. So instead, I will just sit on the computer for a bit until I feel I should go get my roast ready for supper. I need to have that done before we take the dog for a haircut.

possessed treadmill

Got one kid down for a nap today, the big one, which I used to think was the better of the 2 because he's so busy, but really, Brayden is much more time consuming and it does make it harder to get anything done. That is likely why I'm on the computer rather than cleaning. He was acting tired but then I guess he decided he didn't want to have a nap this afternoon. He did have a 2 hour nap this morning but he often has another one in the afternoon, especially when he was up so much at night. I am still hopeful that he'll go down again before supper or we are in for a grumpy night. He is quite content in his exersaucer right now so I should not complain. It's rare that he'll play on his own so I have to enjoy these moments. I think he is at a stage now where is mind is more advanced than his body and he sees other kids moving around so freely and I think he wants to do it too. It gets him pretty upset sometimes, you can see the frustration.

There are so many things that I really want to get done but never seem to be able to do it. I just don't understand some of you super moms who always look good and have a super clean house and great meals on the table everyday. I keep telling myself it can be done, but I've yet to find out how. I find myself choosing between my exercise, actually doing my hair, house cleaning and making a good meal for supper, just to name a few. It's like I can't do more than one of those things in a day! Lately, I've been choosing the treadmill because that is something that isn't a quick fix, its something I have to work at longer so I need to get at that. The other things can be done every once and a while and still give me results. Plus, running on the treadmill is a good stress relief. Today I thought I'd mix it up a bit. I want to get myself back to the same condition I was in when Ashton was 1. I normally just run on a manual setting and increase and decrease the speed myself. Today I thought that I'd try the interval program on my treadmill not knowing what to expect. I wasn't sure if it was going to just alter the speed or the incline. I never run at an incline, I know I should (for my butts sake) so I started off running a little slower just incase it was speed related, then after like 5 minutes, that crazy machine tried to make me run at 9.0 miles/hour, well, with these short little legs that was difficult, but I pushed through, thinking that had to be the maximum and I could do it for the minute, but then the next interval was going higher, of course I opted to alter the treadmills choice slightly as I thought that better than ending up on the floor! So I put it down to 7.0 which is still a pretty good run for myself. I thought maybe the treadmill was going to go up to a max (which I thought would be 9.0) and then would start decreasing, but after the 7.0 that I set it at, it went back up to 9.0 again! I again chose to move it down because I was lucky to make it through the first 9.0, didn't think I'd be so fortunate again! So after 10 minutes of letting the treadmill decide, I stopped it and went back into the interval setting and set the min and max speeds, or so I thought I did. Turns out, I did not and again, the treadmill decided I wanted to run at 9.0. I faught with it again for another 10 minutes, disagreeing with almost every speed it decided upon, then I stopped the machine and just did the last 10 minutes on manual. So much for trying to mix things up! I guess I could probably read the manual and it would tell me what I'm up against. We will see if I try something "new" again tomorrow, or just go back to where I'm in control!

Am I going crazy?

Today I was very fortunate to have both my boys down for a nap from 1:30pm - 4:30pm! This doesn't happen that often but I have managed to get Ashton to take a nap the last few days. He's been getting up before 7:30 so he becomes more ornary than usual by bed time if he's up that early so I made a new rule that if he's up before 8am, he has to have a nap. The last couple days, he's been going down without a problem but today he just didn't feel he needed a nap. I felt differently. I think he got up like 4 times before 1:30 and 2:30, most parents would give up on the nap at this time, but I NEEDED him to have a nap, for my sanity. Finally I told him he could sleep in my bed, I didn't know if it would work or not, it may have ended up just being a new window to look out, or a new lamp to play with, but it was worth a try. Well, it did work, thank goodness! Finally, both kids down and I had 3 hours to myself! It was exactly what I needed after the three year old behavior I've been dealing with lately.

I'm not sure why the change in behavior as of late. I chalk it up to a bit of jealousy of his little brother who is getting a lot of attention from mom. Brayden is becoming more of a little person, with his constant rolling around, clapping, waving, sticking out his tongue amoung other things that are really exciting, so in order to encourage his learning, we are always saying "good job Brayden". I'm sure Ashton feels a bit left out and is acting out in order to get some attention. He spent the day with Grandma and Grandpa Haynes the other day and Grandma said he was really good, not acting up at all, playing really well, with them and alone, maybe because Brayden wasn't there? Whatever the case may be, I hope it will soon end because if it doesn't, Jason and I may end up in the looney bin! I know we all tend to feel our kids are worse than they really are but I'm pretty sure I'm right on this one.

Then there is Brayden. He's been making-strange big time with EVERYONE, he is glued to me lately. We've even interpreted his "ummmmmm" to mean mom, cause he says it every time he wants me or when I pick him up. Its nice to be loved but it is also nice for him to visit with other people. Mom, the boys and I went to Portage to visit with Nikki and Paige on Monday. Of course mom wants to spend time with the boys but every time Brayden sat with her, he'd get fussy until I took him back. Paige wanted me to take her to school in the afternoon so I left Ashton and Brayden with mom and Nikki and they said Brayden didn't fuss the whole time I was gone, but as soon as he saw me, he needed me again. I was hoping he'd be getting to that stage where he wants to go to other people. I guess that's what happens when I'm the main one he sees all day every day! When Ashton was little, he spent a lot more time with Grandma H, so he was used to her, Brayden doesn't spend as much time there because I'm not as easily stressed out by a crying baby now as I was with Ashton and Jason's mom is working full time now so we just aren't there as much.

I heard a funny quote on TV yesterday, can't remember which show but it was "Kids are God's punishment for having sex". Thought it was kind of suiting at this time. I'm sure everyone has these experiences, but even when you are SOO mad at them, they do something so out there that you can't help but laugh and love them even more!

another supper fiasco

Suppers have not been fun around here, not only because I don't like to make supper but Ashton is the most picky eater I've ever seen. He has a select few things he'll eat and for the longest time I tried to always make one of them for him, but a little while ago I decided to start making him eat what we're eating. We tried bribing him with pop (I know that's bad! but he really didn't drink that much of it) and that seemed to work for awhile, but I really don't like him drinking pop so we stopped. Almost every night its a fight to get him to eat, usually it's just the meat he doesn't want, but on occassion, he won't eat anything. Last week Grandma brought over a fun chart with stickers for him and told him that whenever he ate his supper, he got to put a sticker on the calendar and after 5 she'd buy him a special treat. Well, that started last Wednesday and he hasn't even got 5 stickers yet!

So last night, I made shake n bake pork chops (boneless), side kick noodles and peas/carrots. All of which he has eaten before and enjoyed but he just felt like being in one of those moods last night and didn't want to eat any of it. He screamed and cried and asked to go to his room. We reminded him if he ate it he'd get his 5th sticker and get a treat from Grandma, but that didn't work. We had planned on going to visit Grandma that night and told him if he didn't eat his supper then we would not go visit her, thinking that would work because he loves to go visit Grandma, but nope, nothing worked! He sat there for an hour or so. I told him when I was done dishes if he didn't eat then I was taking away his chart and there would be no more stickers. I did that one time last week and it worked, he ate, but last night, it was a no go! We asked him if he wanted to take it back to Grandma and she could give it to Kaylee (his cousin) because she always eats her supper and would get lots of treats. To our surprise, he wanted to give it back to Grandma but I realized that was probably just because he knew he would get to go to Grandmas house then. So we packed up the chart and all the stickers and took it back to Grandmas house. We thought it would teach him a lesson to take him to Grandmas and not let him have any treats, this is unheard of at Grandmas. Off we go to Grandmas and we actually made it like and hour before he ended up having pizza with Grandma, then Grandpa pulls out a chocolate for him. Can't say I'm surprised, but it was worth a try. I hope this supper things is age-related and not just Ashton-related. It is pretty annoying having a fight at supper everyday.

Here we go . . .

So I've been thinking of starting a blog for a little while but was unsure about it. I thought it might be a good idea because being at home with the kids all the time, it feels like facebook has been my main "connection" with the outside world but I really don't want to post my life story on my status, so this seemed like a good alternative. Now we'll just see if my life is exciting enough for people to actually want to read about.

This is one of those rare occassions that I get to relax, both boys are asleep. I love how Ashton decided to stop taking naps right about the same time that Brayden came along. Lately Ashton has been a bit of  a handful in the evening so a forced nap the last couple days was that answer. He's been a bit attention seeking lately due to the extra attention Brayden has recieved. Ashton thinks because Brayden spits and doesn't get in trouble that its ok for him too. My solution to stop the spitting is taking away toys that he loves if he continues to spit. Today, he was tired so he was going for his nap, but being obnoxious, so he was spitting. I told him to stop it, he said no (did I mention he is in the back talking stage as well?) I told him if he spit again I'd take Moosey away (a little background on Moosey - Ashton takes him to bed every night, and as he sucks his thumb, he pulls out Moosey's hair, therefore, Moosey is a bald stuffed Moose). I walked out of the room, closed the door and waited for him to spit, because I knew he would, and of course he did. I went into his room and took Moosey away, closed his door and threw Moosey onto my bed across the hall. He screamed for a minute but then stopped. About 10 minutes later when I went by his room to put Brayden down for a nap, his door was open and he was not in his room. I look across the hall and there he is asleep in MY bed, with Moosey in his arms. Little bugger, but it's hard not to laugh!