Monday, June 23, 2008

Night Terrors

Screaming wakes me up from a deep sleep. Stark. Terrified. Screaming. It's happened for the third night in a row, tonight, but thankfully, this time, I was still awake when it happened. Henry has been having them so often, now, and it is very worrisome. Everything I have read states that it's common for his age and also happens to more boys than girls. It also has been shown that is prevalent in kids who are giving up their naps and become overtired. Well, it's the Summer before Kindy so what are we doing? Dropping naps and staying up later. *sigh*

So, the dilemma...do I have him try and take a nap or do I enforce an earlier bedtime? Both of which he will fight me tooth and nail on. The worst part is that he and Wyatt share a room, so if Wyatt's not in there, he doesn't want to be either since he wants to do everything his big brother does. His little mind just doesn't understand that his body needs more sleep than he is getting. He is already the last one up in the mornings and I know he would nap if he just relaxed enough to try.

The worst part is feeling so helpless while he is crying out. No amount of hugs or kisses can help him to feel secure while he is in the middle of one. Poor Henry. Things just don't come easily for him, but boy does he fight his way through it.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Saving Up...

So, the new Legos Indiana Jones video game came out and Wyatt wants it desperately. Two of his friends already have the game and he absolutely loves it and can't stop talking about it. Unfortunately, Christmas is a long ways away as is his birthday, with nothing in between.

Todd and I discussed it and we have decided that we are going to institute and allowance of sorts so that Wyatt can earn it instead of it just being handed to him. He is going to be doing extra chores around the house which in turn he will be paid. Things like checking and sorting the mail for me everyday, helping his dad with yardwork--which, on a 1 acre yard is a lot, cleaning the loft and organizing it the way it should be, drying the dishes and putting away the ones he can, and dusting the house for me. He had already earned $9 as of this morning and when I handed him a ten dollar bill, he pointed out to me that it was too much.<3 I told him that was o.k., to keep the extra dollar for being honest.

That boy makes me proud every day of his life.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Fishin' with Papa




The boys and my Dad---aka "Papa"---went fishing twice this week and boy did they catch the fish! The first day they just did catch and release. The second day, they kept them and watched Papa fillet them to eat later on. They had a blast but Dad said that they kept him so busy because no sooner would he get one fish off one boy's hook and be trying to re-bait it that the other one would be reeling one in. I think that's why they had so much fun, though--so much activity. I love having my parents so close in the Summer. It is so nice that the kids are getting this opportunity to create these memories with them.




Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Faceplant...Part Deux

So I get a phone call at 1:55pm today. It rings up as the kids' school which automatically puts me on guard.

Secretary: Mrs D.?
Me: Yes?
Secretary: I don't want you to panic but Wyatt had a little accident at school. He was going up the bleachers and fell and hit his face pretty good. We think he needs his mom.
Me: Is he bleeding profusely or has it been controlled?
Secretary:Well, it's still bleeding pretty good, but it is slowing down now. Now, don't panic. Just stay calm and come get him.

Now, anyone who knows me knows that I stay calm at the moment and then break down later, so I was not needing to relax and not panic. I got to the school and Wyatt's nose was not only swollen to twice it's normal size, it was also looking crooked. I automatically assume the poor kid has broken his nose. I called his doctor and it was recommended that we take him to get X-rays and have it looked at, so off to the ER we go. I called his dad to let him know what was going on. He offered to meet us there but there but I told him to just finish up at his office, which is 45 minutes away from the hospital. The wait was very quick and the results came back that there was no break just a very bad contusion. Both the doctor and I were surprised that there was no nasal fracture but I am so happy about that. The last thing this kid needs is a deviated septum to make his sinus problems worse than they are.




It's 5 hours later and it has just stopped bleeding. He'll be o.k. but I think his shirt is a complete loss. There is blood all over it as well as his pants. Luckily, today was the final dress uniform day of the year.

My poor kids...they get their klutzy gene from me.

Faceplant...

So, my beautiful girl loves the swings. She loves running up to them and landing on them on her chest and then swinging back and forth. She loves the feeling of being weightless with the wind on her face as she does it. What she doesn't love is running up to one, flying over the top of it, and then landing on her face in a pile of pea gravel.



Poor baby. The good news is that it is already almost healed.

Monday, June 2, 2008

Pardon me while a brag for a second...


Wyatt had a game first thing Saturday morning and scored the game-ending tying run with two outs in the bottom of the 7th inning. It was an actual nail-biter and a huge moment for the little guy after striking out in his two previous at-bats. Todd gave him a huge pep talk before he got up there and he hit a line drive right up the middle. In doing so, he has kept the team at undefeated for the year and given himself a huge confidence booster.

Way to go, Wy-guy!

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Pictures, finally!

They're not the best pictures, but you'll get the idea.


First off, the boys' room with their new "old" bunk beds:


Wall where The Hankster's bed used to be where the cabinet will go:


Dresser next to the beds:


Close-up of curtains which I ironed on Cubs appliques. I think I need to order a couple of more:


Now, LC's room. First up is a shot of where the crib used to be. You can see that I moved the glider to that corner since we still rock every night:


The new linens I bought for her bed:


The new window treatment:


A shot of the room from the doorway:


Her dresser is also going to be painted white with a hardware change to "pretty" it up.

I am so happy with the changes we have made. The furniture placement isn't the best but we only have so much room to work with and I wanted to optimize the space in their rooms so they can start playing in them with space to spread out.