Yay!!

My sister in law is in labor...baby should be here soon!
Must have been the stew we brought over last night.

Summer in September?

The weather here has been AWESOME!! In the 70's most days and no rain for weeks now. It is so weird to try and dress for fall without overheating.

Ryan has been having SO much fun at daycare. This week was A week. They had an apple tasting contest, went to the apple orchard, went on an ant hunt and looked for airplanes. Our daycare provider is so creative...we love her!

My sister in law had her baby shower yesterday and that was a BLAST! Hopefully she goes soon as I know she is pretty miserable. Will update with pictures soon.

Picking Apples

Hey buddy, lets look at the apples
This looks like a good one!
HEY MOM!! Look at my apple!!


MMM...what a good apple...right off the tree!!

Update

We had plans to dig out this holiday weekend and maybe get a fun trip in for Ryan (big kids are at their dads), but sadly, Aaron's grandma passed away suddenly last night. She was on hospice, so we knew it was coming, but it came much faster than any of us imagined. We are awaiting funeral arrangements.

Ryan is still sleeping pretty well. A couple of nights ago he had a bad night, but one out of quite a few isn't so bad.

We are on a roll!

4 nights in a row. He is MUCH happier getting good sleep. Even our daycare can notice the difference. We are still searching for a bed for us, although each night gets a little easier for us to not encroach on each others space. Ryan still seems happy in his crib, so we will stay there. We have a toddler bed just in case....but until he starts climbing out, he is staying in that crib. :)

Night 2 of CIO.....

We were in a bad rut...yes, I admit it. One of us always slept in Ryan's room in the big bed we put in there. Not only that, we rocked him to sleep EVERY night. Not putting him in his crib like we do at nap time. What did that wonderful plan get us?? A child who slept horribly for the first year home and parents who have been sleep deprived as well. So...after a stern talking to from our peds doc, we made the change. Amazingly, hubby was quite resistant. Probably because he did most of the rocking to sleep and really enjoys it and also, he and I are both used to sleeping in queen size beds alone.
2 nights ago a proclimation was made by the queen (that being moi) that I needed more sleep now that I am back to full time. So, the big switch began. Bailey became the new recipient of a nice beautiful bed in her room (which she loves and so needed now that she is getting bigger) and Ryan inherited a nice set of bunk beds in his room that noone is sleeping on unless we get a visitor.
Soooo...how goes it you ask? Ryan cried 4 minutes 2 nights ago before falling asleep for the WHOLE NIGHT and last night he made not a murmur and slept the whole night again. WOOHOO!! I know we will most likely have some rough nites, but this is very promising. Now, if Aaron and I could only learn to share a queen size bed again. I have been lobbying for a king size bed and I think after the last 2 nights I am getting somewhere with him. Ahhh...sleep is so awesome!

Some thoughts about this past summer...and random other stuff

I am taking a break from (ok....who am I kidding) I am procrastinating cleaning the house.
This summer has been kind of a blur. Between 1. full time work 2. big kids home alone 3. vacations 4. changing daycares 5. other crazy stuff - we are really behind in anything we ever wanted to accomplish this summer. And summer is almost is over.

I really was hoping to start back PT next week, but the economy put a hold on that. My family needs me to work FT, so that is what I will do. Sigh...I guess. How in the world am I going to keep all the kids on schedule, get them to and from their activities, keep dinner on the table, clean the house, have time to have ME time, get to the gym, do laundry, etc....
I know other people do it, but I can't see how it is all going to get fit in. I know I know...ask the big kids to pitch in more. Well, there is an old saying, if you want it done right....do it yourself. I will have to redo it anyway because I am particular. Lower your standards you say? Nope...I thrive on a clean house and my kids can't cook!!

Can you tell I am frustrated about taking this all on. I guess what is the most frustrating is I hear how I am too valuable at home to work full time, but when the times get tough...BAM...I take it on after I am asked.

Well...off to make schedules for kids, dinner menus, etc......