Pinterest Lately

I tend to ebb and flow with how much I am on Pinterest and especially how much I actually use it. Well, recently I have been on a Pinterest kick and have made two batches of cookies and one pizza recipe. and let me just saw- they were all fabulous!! The cookies were the peanut butter nutella ones found here, then came peanut butter m and m cookies found here, and tonight was personal pan pizzas. You should try them all, you will not be disappointed!!

To Each Their Own

It is probably a little ironic that I just posted about my kid who does not enjoy sleeping and now I am going to step out on a limb here and posting something a little bit controversial in the baby world- letting your baby cry-it-out. I will first say that it is really hard to do and pretty much makes you feel like you are a terrible parent for wanting some sleep. We did it with both our kids and both times, I thought I would throw up. But according to a five year follow up study that was just published in the American Journal of Pediatrics- you can rest assured (pun intended) that your kid is ok and is not going to suffer long term consequences. I can only link to the free abstract (but you better believe I am reading the whole article when I get to work and have access too it). I think there is definitely a time and place for it- not for little babies (these kids were 7 months old when sleep trained), they need to be big enough and old enough to handle it (which according to our pediatrician and Ferber, the guy who started this all is 4 or 5 months). Sure it is still really hard then, and a lot of people might not ever choose to sleep train their kids. and that is fine- just like people who use cloth diapers probably think I am crazy for spending sometimes what feels like a ridiculous amount of money on disposables. To each their own :)

*I feel the need to give Lily credit- she sleeps about 11 straight hours a night, those hours just start really early in the evening and at this point, she can't really be stretched to stay up later to try to shift those hours. And if we do keep her up, we usually pay for it in the morning when she wakes up even earlier than normal (last night/this morning). Sure, I could go to bed at 7:30 when Tripp goes to bed and then I am sure I would feel very rested at 5:30 in the morning, but then when would I ever get anything done, let alone hang out with Nelson?

Monday Morning

The fact that both of our kids are early risers has quite possibly been the hardest thing about parenting to me. I can deal with temper tantrums and poopy diapers, but the fact that a certain little girl has to be pushed to make it to 8 or 8:30 for her morning nap because she has woken up so early or the fact that we now go to Wal Mart for a lot of our shopping because it is open 24 hours, has really stretched me. I usually deal with it by trying to go to bed early, alternating with Nelson on the weekend on who gets to sleep in, and of course a lot of caffeine, but some days I just feel a little too tired to go on. I am sure that is an exaggeration, but today happened to be one of those days. And when one of those days strikes, I will often let Tripp watch a show (or two) while Lily naps in the morning so I can rest too. My rest time is getting a little interrupted lately though because Tripp has discovered Dora. Not only is this show pretty ridiculous in terms of laking any substance (but hey, it's TV, so let's call it like it is- I am not about to try to convince myself that he is watching TV that is educational, etc. It's TV and is for entertainment purposes only), it involves him calling out random phrases like "backpack!" or "map!" or "Swiper, No Swiping!" and it really cuts into my rest time. It is a little hard to get some good REM sleep going when it is being interrupted by "I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the map." (for a really funny take on this you should watch Brian Regan's feelings on it. I am so with him!) I can usually get a few minutes of shut eye in before being woken up to one of Dora's spanish words being shouted right next to my ear. I am really hoping this is a quickly passing fad and we can go back to World's Toughest Fixes, or some much more mellow show that involves a little less interaction from the viewer and a lot less shouting.
In other random Monday morning news, I swore when I found out that we were having a girl that I would not like girly things. I have stood my ground on a lot of things (like headbands- but I really can't wait for her hair to get long enough to just have a plain grosgrain ribbon in it) but when I came across a pair of flowery pants at the re-sell it shop this past weekend, I just couldn't resist. It has been pretty cool here lately so I just had to try these out and see what I thought. And I think they are cute. I think I like them because they are subtle and not overpowering (I guess that was redundant, oh well). oh, and cause my adorable daughter is wearing them.

Happy First Day of School

Someone had an awesome day at school today. After we were talking about what he did this morning, Tripp summed it all up with "so, yep, I had a great day today!" The thing that seemed to get the most excitement out of him was the fact that he learned to sit "criss-cross applesauce" and then he also added "spoon's in the bowl!" Not sure if the second part is really how it goes- maybe that means your hands are in your lap? I could not quite figure that one out. But he lined up all his cars this afternoon to show them that he learned how to sit "criss-cross applesauce" (or indian style, for all of us old school people who forget about the need to be PC all the time).  He was quite proud of himself! At least one of the kids in the family is happy-sure makes a difference!

Cranky Pants McGillicuddy

Not sure where the name came from, but Ginny would use it to describe some cranky people in her life and when all the nephews (and one niece) were born, it made for a nice description of them at times. For Lily, now is one of those times. I used to think teething was no big deal- and then we had Lily. I used to think separation anxiety was no big deal- and then we had Lily. I used to think transitions were not a big deal- and then we had Lily. You could pretty much fill in the blank- I used to think ______ was no big deal- and then we had Lily. And just when I feel like getting really frustrated, she burrows into my chest, almost like she is trying to get back inside and wraps her little arms around my neck and snuggles as close as possible. I think she just needs a little extra love in her life, and there certainly is nothing wrong with that (and I am happy to give it to her)! I mean- look at that face- it is pretty irresistible (minus the bruises- those would be the result of her thinking she can do bigger things than she really can)!

Preschool Really?

In those two and a half days that I was in St. Louis between Dallas and Birmingham, we had visiting day for Tripp's preschool. He starts this Wednesday but got to go meet his teacher, see his classroom and meet his fellow classmates. Since I just drop him off in the carpool line on Wednesday, I had to get a first day of school shot on visiting day. He is going to school where I went to preschool and where my mom used to be the director. It is a wonderful spot and I am so thankful he can go. I can not believe he is old enough for this already but I am looking forward to watching him grow over the year. Happy Preschool Tripp!!

Traveling Time

It has been a busy few weeks in our household- I left for four days to visit Winsor and the fam in Dallas  and meet our new nephew and then we all went to Birmingham for three days over Labor Day weekend. Both trips were wonderful and while it was a lot to organize, it was totally worth it. I got to meet Lane, one of the sweetest little babies ever and spend some quality time with my other nephews. It really is sweet to get to be with them without having the responsibility of my own kids. Nelson held down the fort quite well while I was gone, and I am so thankful to him for even making it possible!

I got back from Dallas and had just enough time to work a little bit, do some laundry and re-pack our bags to head to Birmingham to visit James and Steph. The highlight of that trip was not getting to see James and Steph but instead, the fact that we drove 8 hours each way and only stopped once both times. Ok, maybe that was not really the highlight but I have to say, I am pretty proud of us for that. The real highlight is probably just being together, having lots of picnics, eating delicious food (including awesome dessert), seeing friends and family, lots of laughing and watching Sarah's House and Pioneer Woman (we do not have cable so those were real luxuries :) ). I am bummed I forgot our good camera (there was no way I could remember everything we needed since it usually takes me a week to get everything together for us), but thankful I got a few kind of good ones. It is the memories that count right? 

So even though it is not often enough, I am thankful we can travel to see our families and am even more thankful for the wonderful relationships that we all have with each other- what a blessing!