Friday, February 12, 2010

Thoughts...

BEWARE! Below are the mind-ramblings of a sleep-deprived, often-incoherent mother:

1.KEZI: Sleep...how I miss you. So terribly. Kezi went from being a solid sleeper to waking up 3-4+ times a night the past few weeks. And what does that equal? A tired, ornery, non-motivated, sad, sad mommy and wife. Not fun. I've tried to put on my detective hat here. Teething? Growth pains? Gas pains? I've tried Tylenol, schedule changes, crying-it-out, etc. Nothing seems to make a difference. I'm hoping it's just a phase (I found in my journal that Ireland did the same thing at 3 months). Anyone that has suggestions, though, please send them on. I'm about ready to try anything.

2.IRELAND: I keep wondering when to start potty training her. She'll be 3 in July. She keeps wanting to go - keeps taking her diaper off and sitting on the potty. Sometimes she goes, sometimes not. My reluctance comes from my first experience with potty training. McKinley kept regressing and it ended up being this big power-struggle thing. I hated it. Maybe Ireland will be a cinch. Who knows? I don't want to miss what might be a window, but if she's like McKinley I have neither the mental nor emotional strength to go through that right now.
3.McKINLEY: My sister thinks that McKinley will be super-bored in school if we put her through another year of preschool (she barely misses the deadline - Sept 9). McKinley knows pretty much all her letters, sounds, and can read small words with a little help. She was doing some of her cousin's homework with him & even helped him with some of it. I know she's not a genius or anything, but most of her friends are going to Kindergarten this year. I have no idea what kind of effort it would take to try & get her in this year. Any help from anyone who has gone through this would be helpful!

4. No updates on Jason's job search. He's had quite a few interviews & even though he feels really good about them, there's just so many applicants, it's hard to compete. It's been a full year now with no income. I can't say it doesn't weigh us down sometimes - it's always there in the background. The stress never completely goes away. We are hopeful, though, and cannot deny the miracles we've seen as we've gone through this. An entire year with no help from the government? I'd definitely call that a miracle - I didn't think our savings would last us 6 months, let alone a year. Definitely a miracle. And we definitely will take this trial over so many that we have seen others go through. We have much to be thankful for...

5. I've read a couple good books lately - The Giver and The Secret Journal of Brett Colton. I think I read The Giver in middle school or something. I remember it being a good book. And it definitely gave me something to think about - and things to feel blessed about. The Secret Journal of Brett Colton was just a great book with a creative story line. It was an easy read. For more in-depth reviews, become my goodreads.com friend! I'd love to see what you're reading!

6 comments:

Patricia Potts said...

I can't say enough about how much I LOVE YOUR BLOG! I tell all my friends about it and often send a link to it.

Your honesty, willingness to seek advise and your amazingness are refreshing to all of us.

Love,
mom/sis

Lena Baron said...

I'm going to ponder your struggles and I'll get back to you. Love you!

Lena Baron said...

So I thought a bit last night about your struggles. I especially understand your struggle with constant waking through the night. Both my boys did this. I was able to handle it for a while, but then my body just couldn't do it. By then we tried a couple of things. I tried to feed them baby cereal during the day to see if they wouldn't get so hungry at night. I'm not sure that really did too much. But it's worth a try. The next thing we tried was to turn some of the wakings over to Leif. I set up a couple of times that I could wake and feed the baby and any other times that he woke, Leif took care of him. He set up his own routine with them. I think it mostly consisted of going in, reasuring, giving a binky and a sippy cup, and leaving. Once the decision was made that I had my on duty time and Leif had his, I was able to sleep through the Leif times. Or at least try. When it comes to potty training, I wouldn't force it. There's no hurry and chances are she'll have several "good times" or "windows" that you can teach her. Take one battle at a time and try to get some sleep, then move on to the next. Just a thought. Well, I need to go change a diaper;) Love ya!! GOOD LUCK!

Lena Baron said...

I need to clarify, when I say "any other times he wakes", I mean when the BABY wakes, not Leif.

Ryan and Shannan Hoffman said...

Let me go how the potty training goes. I'm trying to decide if I should start with Maren.

I hope so much that Jason can find something soon! I talked with my HR department today and they have a hiring freeze for the time being because they haven't gotten in the business they were expecting. I will definately recommend Jason again once they start hiring.

Looking forward to seeing you again next month! I need to give you back your lasagna pan!

Melissa said...

Remind me what line of work Jason is looking for. My brother always seems to know of good jobs out there. He is the type of guy people love and trust too so he's a helpful one to know.

I just started to potty-train Lincoln this week and he turned 3 in Dec. I personally think it's over-rated and wish I hadnt started. I love diapers! bad, I know. At least she is showing interest! that's a good sign. Good luck! If you're too tired, hold off ;)

Have you read "baby wise" I have it if you want to borrow it. I have several friends that swear by it! I liked some parts, but I didn't live by it.