A happy ending

I wrote here about the problems we had been having with Carter at night time. HAD been having. He is now sleeping just great.... hold on....

Okay, I'm back. Just needed to find some wood to go knock on.

But really, he only occasionally wakes up now, and if he does, it is just once - usually because of a dream.

AAAAAHHHH.

He has now completed his chart. I told him that after he had 10 nights that he didn't wake us up crying, he would get a special big truck. So ... well, my neighbor Kelly gave us a big dump truck that her son no longer used, and now that truck has a new owner! :)

Since being at the end of my rope last month (at which point Carter was sick and waking up 4-5 times a night), I took him to our pediatrician and had a long talk about his sleep issues. She basically encouraged me to set limits with him, let him cry if there was nothing wrong, and have some kind of reward/consequence system. You know, basic stuff. I left thinking that perhaps that was too easy an answer.

But Chad & I decided to follow her advice. It involved letting him cry a couple nights but then he seemed to "get" what we were expecting from him. We also were giving him rewards for when he slept well. It only took a few nights and he really got in a much better sleep pattern. I'm so proud of him! (And wondering why I didn't think of this on my own, duh. But I was sleep-deprived, what can I say?)

Anyhow, the sleep saga at this point seems to have a happy ending. I am usually sleeping now from about 10:30pm - 6:30am. A whole 8 hours!!! Unbelievable.

Uh-oh

For some time now we have been concerned about Carter's wheezing, nighttime coughing (without having a cold), etc. It really seems to have gotten worse over the last six months or so. I have been giving him a prescription medicine for when it gets bad but it really is not a "fix", just a symptom reducer.

Anyhow, we decided to take him to the same allergy/asthma specialist that Audrey sees to hopefully find out some answers. So I took him today for that appointment. Part of the appointment involves allergy testing to see if something in the environment is causing a problem.

The good news is that Carter is only allergic to one thing. YAY!

The bad news .... that one thing he is allergic to is our cat. Uh-oh. :(

SO. I know, many would say "good-bye cat," find the cat a good home, and move on.

BUT, we just can't do that to our Diesel. I think Chad and Audrey would go into major depressive states. They both love Diesel. (Not that I don't love her too, I do, but I think for me it is different. I'm just not a big animal lover like they are.)

Thankfully the doctor said that we don't have to get rid of her. (Although of course they think that is preferable...) But it does mean that we need to spend a whole heck of a lot more time vacuuming and dusting our house. Can I just say, I really do NOT like either vacuuming OR dusting?? But maybe this will be a way to get my rear in gear with cleaning the house in a more regular fashion.

Or maybe not, knowing me.

Life just seems too short to spend lots of time cleaning things that just end up dirty 10 minutes later. Literally, 10 minutes later! Can I get a witness?

NOT cleaning also helps me to be less angry. Really, it does. When I spend a lot of time cleaning, then I just spend a lot of time frustrated with everyone for messing it all up. Have you ever looked under a table after 3 small children eat a meal? It looks like someone took 5 crackers, smashed them up, and threw them all around. It also looks like some kind of splatter painting under there, complete with ketchup and ranch dressing (condiments that take up special places on kid plates).

Right now summer weather has also descended around here (in a thick, humid air kind of way) and the kids are spending lots of time running in and out of our house with wet feet or shoes and leaving a trail of leaves, grass clippings, and dirt all the way through the house. {sigh}

Seriously, cleaning seems like such a huge waste of time. I figured I can have a neat and clean house once they grow up. Or at least once they get a little older.

But now. My children's health depends on it, so I guess I better get off this computer and start vacuuming or something... only the kids are napping, don't want to wake them up ... maybe I should just take a nap and vacuum later...

Becoming a big kid

So today Audrey is going with her fellow kindergarteners on a little excursion ... to take a tour of the local elementary school where she will attend first grade. She is REALLY excited about it, which makes me happy and sad all at once.

Happy, because don't we all want our children to embrace their next "step" of growth and independence? I am so glad that she enjoys school and is looking forward to going next year. She has done SO WELL on so many levels this year and I am very proud of her.

But sad, because ... yeah, I thought I was really excited about this (and maybe by the end of the summer I will be again)... but from now on, until she graduates from high school, like for the next 12 years, she will be spending a lot of her day at school. There will be homework. There will be school activities. There will be limited windows of time to go on vacation (haha, like we spend so much time vacationing!)

[Yes, I know all my homeschooling friends are saying to themselves that I could just homeschool her. And I will just say this: At this point, I really don't feel led to homeschool. For many, many reasons. It is great for some people, but at this point at least, it is not for me.]

So it's all bittersweet. But then again, isn't everything about raising children a little bittersweet?

Only 2 more weeks of school to go ... then summer's here!

I totally forgot ...

... how absolutely exhausting little ones are once they start moving. Wow. I can't take my eyes off Chloe for one second before she is pulling everything off the tall shelves or smacking a cup into the TV or eating ants off the kitchen floor. It is so exhausting!

How could I forget this?? Carter is only 3 1/2, it's not like it's been THAT long.

It doesn't help that the kids now go outside to play pretty much every day. Now don't get me wrong, I love taking them outside. More playing outside = less mess inside, not to mention less crabby moods for everyone. (And a chance for me to talk with grown-ups.) But it also means 2 mommy eyes CONSTANTLY scanning the horizon to make sure everyone is safe, kind, and in the general vicinity. Boy, it wears me out. Maybe it isn't so much Chloe getting around as it is dealing with 3 kids who all seem to run in opposite directions. And all have a habit of talking (or squawking) at once. And now summer is coming and that means all three will be home with me all. day. long.

So ... now that I am mostly sleeping through the night, I am just as tired as ever.

But hey, let's look at the bright side. If I was NOT sleeping through the night .... imagine how tired I would be then!!

Girls Gone Wild

Now just for fun ... a little video of Chloe & Audrey. Please do not call family services on me for allowing Audrey to do this ... all I can say is that my prediction is Chloe is going to be a rollercoaster girl.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Changes, Chapter 2, 3, 4, et al.

See this cute little boy?

Notice anything different about him? No?

He is officially potty trained.
Just call him Captain Underpants!
Good bye diapers!

(Well, good bye Carter diapers ... we still have little Chloe size ones :) )

Speaking of Chloe ...

Notice anything different about this little cutie?

Well, it seems to me like every day I can notice something different about her. Today she discovered pulling up to the TV and using the shelf as a teether ... Daddy will not be happy ....

...AND, as far as changes go
... here is a box of toys and clothes that Chloe will never use again.
In fact, these are things that none of our children will ever use again ... (sniff sniff)

Moving right along lest I start bawling like a baby...

See this pile of dirt?
(Now known as our garden ...)

Well, tonight we ate the following with our dinner - all from this pile of dirt ...

Strawberries!

And lettuce for our salad!

And - some freshly picked flowers from a special little girl!

One more very important change:

See this tired Mama?

She is now getting a full night's sleep!

See? Sometimes change IS a good thing.

Changes

Notice anything different about this girl?

No?

How about now?

She got her ears pierced yesterday.


Riding around on two wheels, finishing up kindergarten, getting her ears pierced...these last few weeks are full of changes!

My little girl is not so little anymore. :/

[Although tonight she was upset because a cat in a book illustration looked sad.
So maybe she is still kinda little ... maybe? ]