My bad.

Well, after trying a "Good Boy Chart" where stickers were added for good behavior (sleeping in bed without crying was TWO stickers), our sleeping is not much better. He has gotten better about just crying out, reorienting himself (I guess? as I'm half asleep and have basically refused to continue to get up at 3 am), crawling out of bed, and coming and laying down on the pallet. This would be really great if he didn't wake me up but he never fails to get all settled then say, "Mommy, tuck me back in." I refuse (am I a bad Mom?!?!) but I'm still up and, like I mentioned, cannot just fall right back to sleep. Jenny, we switched him from the crib at about 2 yrs and maybe that was a bad idea. My best friend's little boy launched himself out of his crib around that age while "crying it out" one night and ended up with a broken arm so I kept thinking about that! Anyway, we've gotten a bit more sleep with the pallet thing but that has to stop at some point too. Then, we went to his ENT yesterday for his PE (ear) tubes check-up....

The doctor questioned about his sleeping, snoring (why yes he does!), and overall wakefulness/sleepiness during the day. I gave him a brief report. He told me that the likely culprit is that his tonsils are a 3+, with the largest being a 4+. He might be waking himself up several times a night with obstructive sleep apnea. Poor fella! And here I am thinking, "He is the Lightest. Sleeper. Ever." Anyway, we're supposed to continue to watch/listen to him while he sleeps and if he starts "gasping" more often, to make an appt. I'm assuming the tonsils will have to come out. I know that's a really painful surgery as my 4 yr old nephew just had it so I'm hoping his throat will grow bigger and the tonsils will stay the same size, creating a bigger airway. Until then, I guess I'll just listen out for my child. stopping. breathing a few times a night. Yikes!

Oh, Beloved Sleep, how I miss thee.

Disclaimer: Our boy is one of the most laid back, cautious, easy, loving kids ever. I swear he's totally chill and knows his limits. It makes me nervous when we have friend's kids over and they're launching off couches/ottomans. He's never tried anything like that and, while he is a total busy body, he has never really tried anything crazy. He eats anything I put in front of him. While broccoli, carrots, or any other veggie might not be his pick over a cookie, he realizes you have to eat them if you want the cookie. I realize I got lucky with this one. However, before my readers go rolling their eyes and thinking I'm saying my boy is some kind of genius, I have to be perfectly honest. His ease of parenting skills go out the friggin window from 8pm-5am. That being said, I could use any help I could get...

We have a fairly solid bedtime ritual. His Daddy bathes him around 7, after dinner. We brush teeth, jammy and lotion up, pick out two books and typically "read them in Mommy/Daddy bed", then I've gotten bad about putting him in his toddler bed and playing with my Nook on his floor for the ten minutes it takes him to go to sleep. He's really not hard to put down...it's after this where our problems begin. We are usually crashing by 9 or soon after because we haven't slept through the night but a handful of times in the last month or so. Anyway, we crash and then sometime between 11pm-3am, he wakes up screaming. It sounds like a nightmare scream. Starts with, "No! NO!" Then a frantic, "MOMMY! DADDY!" We go in there to comfort him and I can usually pat him to sleep within seconds. However, this may happen a couple times a night. He requests going to sleep in Mommy/Daddy bed but we quit giving into this months ago. Following our OB's suggestion, we made a pallet on our bedroom floor that he can lay on if he can't sleep (which seemed like taking steps backward but we were desperate) but all he does is lie there and say, "Mommy, lay down here with me" all night. Sometimes, he just starts crying and gets out of his bed and comes into our room. We lead him back to his room where he sobs a few minutes then goes back to sleep. Usually within minutes, he's up screaming in his bed again. We are desperate for advice. Last night he told me, "my bed scared me." I kid you not, I almost got on Pottery Barn Kids that very moment (3 am) and purchased the big boy bed we've had our eye on. He also told me this morning that the reason he woke up was that he had a bad dream. When I inquired what a toddler could possibly think was a "bad dream" he stated matter-of-factly, "There was a ladybug outside my room."
"Lady bugs aren't scary, Baby," was my reply.
He looked at me in that parents just don't understand look and said, "Mom, it was a BIG ladybug." Okey Dokey.
The other thing is, even if he just wakes up a couple times and goes right back to sleep, I'm not the type of person that can immediately go back to sleep. I'll stare at the ceiling for an hour, despite how tired I am.

Other info:
He takes a two hour nap in the middle of the day. We've tried going without the nap considering that maybe he was getting too much sleep but those were the nights he's had night terrors because he was overly tired. If you've ever experienced night terrors with your child, you know what I mean when I say we avoid ANYthing that will cause THAT again. Had I not known exactly what was happening the first time he did it, I swear Homet would have rushed him to the ER.

Please, oh please, friends of mine with advice, chime in. I don't care if you've got 15 kids or none, just give me some suggestions. We are in survival mode in The Watts camp and are thanking our lucky stars for grandparents (the only nights we've slept solid have been those when we've desperately handed him off. It takes a village, I swear.)

New Years, fried chicken, and fessing up

Well, that's embarrassing. I was just thinking about needing to update my blog, I downloaded a few pics, and BAM! I forgot my blog password. I guess that means I've been gone too long? Whoopsies! Well, I've said it before and I'll say it again. I will not apologize for not blogging because we've been BUSY living and attempting to appreciate every morsel of these holidays. I do believe we have been successful in this endeavor so far with only one more holiday to go....LOUNGERAMA! We do the New Years Eve thing at my sister's house with close friends. It's what we've done for at least 7 years or so now and it's what we love. I told Homet that I pray to never be one of those people that says, "Well, I was in bed by 10 on New Year's Eve." Something about the New Year, wiping the slate clean, and a fresh start make me giddy. Hom and I have "Goal's Dinner" every year on the first week in January where we go somewhere super fancy and make goals for the next year. We each have to come up with a spiritual, professional, and personal goal and can't tell each other until dinner. We, then, record it in our "Goal's Book" and look back over the previous years and what we have/haven't accomplished. Yes, gasp, sometimes our goal's fall short but that's part of the fun. Anyway, I love everything about a New Year. That being said, the best part about New Years is our annual Lougerama (also held at Lindsay's.) We wake up late, stay in our pjs all day, put blow up mattresses all over her living room, pick up KFC fried chicken with all the sides, and watch football all day. It is heaven. We were talking about the logistics of it last night and I recalled that the last time I ate KFC fried chicken was....Jan 1, 2011. Love it. Anyway, I didn't intend on this being a blog about New Years and fried chicken. I actually was going to blog in reference to a friend who had "Fessed up" about being obsessed with Pinterest. She asked who had tested out some of the ideas on the site so here goes, Ashley...
Here were our fall/Christmas projects (all of these were from Pinterest and I am taking no credit for the creativity of them.)
The first was just a little centerpiece for our island. It was popcorn, split peas, and red beans topped with a orangey red candle and tied with some twine. My twine obsession is a blog post in itself. Anyway, the pic doesn't do it justice. I thought it turned out adorable and since I already had most of the items (I didn't have any split peas and Wade wasn't all too happy when he went to cook red beans and rice and I had used them, but anywho), it was cheap. When fall was winding down and Christmas decor started, I just popped that popcorn, strung it up, and put it around our tree.

Notice, my (reused) popcorn garland

This next one was free. I love all things fall. The football, the weather, the soups, and most of all, FREE ART SUPPLIES! E and I went walking on our neighborhood trail and collected these pine cones and leaves. I then spray adhesived them to a vase I had, tied on a little twine, and filled that sucker up with pine cones. I put this on our dresser in our bedroom. I don't think I got this from Pinterest but I'm sure it's an idea adapted from something I saw on there.


I made these little cuties for our Halloween party. They were a hit. Just a mini Nutter Butter, a bit of melted choc chips, and a Hershey kiss, and Ta-da---you have acorns. Plus, they were yummy too.



At Christmas, I repeated my fall layered decor for the mantle and gave it a Christmas candy land touch. It's hard to see in the pic but I layered Life Saver candies, then Hot Tamales candy, then red/green/white gum drops on the bottom. The jar to the left is just candy canes. The vase to the right was layered red hots, peppermints, and Hershey kisses. The garland was from our tree and there you have a mantle piece for less than $10. Not the fanciest mantle around but it was ours and we loved it (or at least I did. I think it was torture for E as he kept pointing up at the mantle and saying, "Mommy, I like to eat those.") And, yes, my TV is above our fireplace. I know it's tacky. Don't even get me started. That fell into that category with my beloved husband, "Makes him so happy/Not really worth fighting over."

Seaside Wine Festival

A few weekends ago, we traveled on down to Seaside to celebrate their annual Red Wine Festival. Months ago, Homet and I were looking for some way to, without child in tow, celebrate our 6th anniversary. As we asked around, a plan was hatched. It was also two of my favorite people's 40th birthday party (I can tell their age now because 40 is the new 30.) About 18-20 of us came from all parts of the country to join in the festivities. We had one house in Seaside for "the couples" and one house in Seagrove for "the girls." GOOD TIMES were had, I assure you. Anyway, if you're a wine drinker at all, I encourage you to try this out. I'm not much of a red wine drinker but they had options for all palates. If you've ever trekked to Florida with an almost 2 year old then repeated the trip without said angel a month later, you will realize that a 6 hour car ride really ain't that bad (the second time around.) We were well rested, bellies firm from laughter, and felt totally full (metaphorically and physically) by the time the long weekend was up.
When we left for our vacay, we left behind a one year old, barely grasping to the innocent one-ness. As I kissed him good-bye all I could think was, "When I return, you will be two." We returned on the day of his second birthday to an energy-filled two year old and were grateful for our weekend of rest and relaxation.
My littler big sis and I

Just a few of my fave PICU girls!

My sweetie and I celebrating 6 wonderful years. Hard to believe he's put up with me for over TEN! Sucka!

Love this guy. Too bad he lives in Cali/Texas:(

Wild Man

We took our Christmas pics a couple weeks ago and, to say the least, it was an adventure. I got so bad about taking pics after E turned one. I just didn't feel like stressing (and paying a small fortune). We have a nice camera and I usually have it perched in our living room shelves for easy access to capture priceless moments. Well, as he approached two, I started feeling all guilty that we hadn't had any professional pics in a year. Let. Me. Tell. You. It is way different taking professional pics with a two year old than it was just a short year prior. That child has his own agenda. If she said stand, he laid. If she said run, he walked. I have no idea where he got that stubborness from (wink wink.) Anyway, she took about 50-75 pics and I walked away with VERY low expectations. I was surprised a few days later with about 20 absolute gems. Here are a few of the wild child himself.

Media Days

I have been making a point to read more lately. It makes me happy, makes me feel more informed, and chills me out (typically before bed.) Lately, I have read some great books. Of course, I read The Help a few months ago which was unbelievable. My goal was to finish it prior to the movie coming out because I can't stand to see a movie THEN read the book. So, finish it I do and then.... I never got a chance to see the movie. I'm now waiting until it comes out on DVD/Infiniti. I know, I know, it was a breathtaking movie. You don't have to tell me.
After I finished The Help I was given a recommendation to read Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. I went into this read very skeptical. I am more of a chick lit sort of reader. I think a lot at work and don't want to think at home. While Homet reads something like The Life and Times of Genghis Khan, I'm snuggled up with Shopahaulic Takes Manhattan (and loving it. Don't judge.) Anyway, Unbroken is a story about a POW in World War II. I know right? I sound smart now. Told you not to judge. This book was so well written and the story so captivating, I couldn't put it down. After Unbroken was complete, I set my Nook down and allowed Homet to borrow it so he could read the book I had been gushing about for the last week. Well, after longingly staring at my Nook gathering dust on his bedside table, I swiped it back and bought another book. I gave him a solid 5 days and after that, I say "Too bad, so sad." (Poor fella was actually too busy reading up on some financial church literature that he has to teach on in a couple weeks. SUCKA!)
So then I just went into B & N Top 100 feeling all inspired by a "real" book. I kept seeing The Hunger Games pop up. Though it was, again, totally not my style, I bought it anyway. Y'all I REALLY couldn't stop reading. Homet found me reading while....putting on make-up, folding clothes, drying my hair, and even DURING BREAKS IN THE SAINTS GAME (I found myself wishing Payton would take a time-out at non strategic times.) It was quite out of control and I had to stop myself when I got flour all over my Nook while reading and rolling out dough for a pizza. Needless to say, it is a really strange plot but so well written.
Since my post is "Media Days" I feel it necessary to insert at least one other form of media besides books. Last night I got this great idea that, in "celebration" of Halloween, we put E to bed, pop some popcorn, and watch a scary movie. All that we could find was Halloween H2O which is apparently some sequel to the 5 previous Halloweens (is it called a sequel if there's 6?) Anyway, both of us couldn't even remember if we'd seen the first Halloween but we were both certain we hadn't seen 2-5 and feared we might be a bit behind with the info leading up to H2O. We opted for the only other option, The Happening. I'm not a big scary movie watcher. Hell, I'm not really a big movie watcher at all. I despise sitting still and not talking that long. Drives Homet crazy. Anyway, maybe I'm rusty on my movie critiquing but that was one of the worst movies ever. I was confused throughout and not in a really-pay-attention-you'll-figure-it-out-by-the-end-DaVinci-Code sort of confused. It left me scratching my head as the credits rolled. They tried to insert an occasional kiss and couples' dispute but it wasn't even a good love story. One plus was it had Mark Wahlberg and he's just as cute as he ever was (though this might be his first movie where he never lost his shirt:(()

--Please forgive my lack of underlining and quotes as appropriate. For one, I can't remember what's supposed to be in what. For two, I'm too lazy to look it up. Threesies, my almost two year old just woke up and I don't have time.

Yep, we're alive.

Well, hello there, blogging world! It's been a while. I have no excuses other than we've been busy. This blog post will be heavy on the pics since they pretty much sum up our recent life. Happy Halloween from our little boxer...


No, the shiner's not real.

Our little sports lover is gearing up for his second birthday in a couple of weeks. Here's a pic from his birthday photo shoot.


And here's his "Mom are we done yet?" face. He has mastered this quite well in his 23 1/2 months.

And a shout out to our pal, Lala, for E's birthday invites. Love them. Check her out at http://www.pickled-paper.com/. Not only is she fabulous, but she's super quick too.