Need a new workout?

Here's what you do...

Get a baby sling, a 12 lb. baby and a two year old. Strap the baby to your chest. Turn on the Backyardigans. Follow the steps the characters are doing and at the same pace. Try not to pass out.

The Naptime Wars

Last week when I went into Little Man's room during naptime, I found this:
Of course, I couldn't get mad at that face. At least not until this continued throughout the week. We had to take out the top drawer so he wouldn't jump in it and one day the green box of wipes you see was completely emptied into the crib. This weekend we changed the crib to the toddler bed. Unfortunately, now there's not anything keeping him in bed during naptime. So the big question is, "how in the world do you convince a 2 year old to stay in his bed during naptime without the use of duct tape or benedryl?"

Becoming Babywise

When we had Little Man this book was recommended to us. We both read it and liked the concepts that it taught. It really helped us get Little Man on a schedule and to help me know what his crying meant. Knowing where we were in our routine helped me to figure out what he needed.*

I'm having a more difficult time with Baby Bear. I have a much harder time letting him "cry it out". There are days when he spends so much time crying because of the reflux that more crying is more than I can handle. So I "cheat". He has to sleep elevated, for naptimes that usually means the swing. At first I would turn on the mobile but not the swing. On "bad" days the swing got turned on, then it went a step further to almost always being on. Now he's moved to the sling. He wants to sleep strapped to my chest. And I let him because it's easy and I can still get something done. (He's there right now.) I feel like instead of making progress to a happy healthy independent sleeper, we're back tracking to a point where he has to be rocked or cuddled to sleep all the time. I know that at some point he's going to have to learn how to sleep by himself in his crib and I would love to make that transition as easy as possible. I just don't know how to do that and maintain my sanity.

I'm really good at telling friends that you have to do what's best for you, because your sanity is priority. Why can't I cut myself the same slack?

*While I was looking for the picture above, I found some other websites/opinions on Babywise. Apparently it has caused some controversy.

General Conference A/V NetCasts!

For years now I have been downloading General Conference MP3s from the General Conference pages on LDS.org. Each time I pull the files, I have to import them into iTunes and rename and label and all that jazz. This year, the guys in the Church IT department made things easy peasy!!!

They now have 2 feeds for iTunes or any other audio player that can pull NetCasts [a.k.a. Podcasts]. If you go to the most recent General Conference page you will see both links at the very top of the page! The first link is for audio and the second link is for video. The Priesthood Session is not included; however, they did include the General Young Woman's Session.

I am happy to see these links and have it much easier to get and listen to Conference

Reflux and the Naptime Wars...

may just be the end of what little sanity I had left.

Seriously, between sleep deprivation, a very fussy baby, and a strong-willed two year old, I think I might lose my mind.

Dinner with Friends

A few weeks ago, while online on conference Saturday [I think], a friend appeared in my contact list and I hopped right in there to annoy him, only to find out that he lives near us. I also found out that another friend of mine lives close by also. Both were friends of mine in SA, that I hadn't seen in years and Lauren had never met. We made plans to meet for dinner at Hellas, a Greek family restaurant that has fantastic food!

We made the drive up to find BT and his family already there and as we were getting seated, we saw Raz and his family walking up to the restaurant. Greeting and introductions were made and we sat down to catch up on each other. Raz at one point said, I was in SA in 2001 & then I realized that it had been about 7 years since we had seen each other. I was shocked, because that much time had passed, I didn't say anything . . . I just marveled.

[Side Note: I am always pleasantly surprised by friendships that transcend time and distance]

Over all, the food was good, the conversation was good, and the company was great!!! We live far enough apart to make it inconvenient to see each other often, but we are already hoping to do it again. Maybe we will have them down to the house.

So So Yummy (and without the guilt)

Zizi brought home a box of granola tonight. It looked so yummy that she kindly gave me a baggie to bring upstairs. Craving something sweet that wouldn't throw off the quest, I opted for a strawberry sundae. "How is that being good?", you may ask. It was 1 cup of fresh strawberries, 1/2 cup of light vanilla ice cream and 1/4 cup of granola. Wow. It was good! It almost tasted like more, but then there would be guilt.

Naptime, Round 3... A New Twist

Life as I know it is changing again. Little Man figured out how to climb out of his crib onto his changing table. Hopefully the nose dive onto the wood floor will deter him from trying again for a little while, but I doubt it will take long before he figures out how to climb down the shelves. Which also means that he won't be stuck in the crib for 3 hours to play on the days where he refuses to sleep.

I'm going to miss naptime.

Naptime, Round 3

I was talking to Zizi on the phone a few minutes ago and told her that I needed to go get Little Man ready for his N-A-P. Hoping of course that the spelling of the word would keep the naptime tantrum at bay for a few minutes. Nope. The next thing out of his mouth was, "No naptime, mommy!". Oh well.

He does really well with pretend naps though. This was earlier today...

It could have been the novelty of a nicely made bed with the new purple pillows. Notice too the Lightening McQueen slippers that haven't left his feet in days.

A Spoonful of Sugar

Medicine makes a happy Baby Bear