A Toddler's Bedtime...

As a 35 year old woman, I'd give my right arm to be able to sleep 11 hours a night. Really. I love sleep. I could sleep anytime and anywhere. It's been about three years since I had a night of uninterrupted sleep. It's really been that long. For the last three years, I've been waking up at least once a night to tend to Itty Bitty or Little Mama. Don't get me wrong, I love them and have no problem with the waking up part because they need their mommy. However, what I can't understand is why my almost 3 year old just won't go to sleep at 8pm. It's a struggle every night. She has to pee. She's hungry. She wants another story. She wants to give me a hug. She wants to give me a kiss. She wants to tell me something. While it's great to be wanted like this, I know she needs more sleep than she's getting. In the morning, she refuses to wake up at 6:30. I'm practically getting her dressed while she's sleeping. I really hope that this is just a phase. In the meantime, I'm going to have to come up with something to make the 8pm bed time work...if I think of something and it actually works - I'll post it here. If you're reading this and have any ideas to try - please let me know.

$20 Crayon?

Maybe I'm insane, maybe I just do what I need to do to make it through the day because in the grand scheme of things spending $20 on a crayon isn't a big deal?

I can't get through putting on my make up without Little Bitty asking me to draw a pumpkin, a sun, a flower, or a whole slew of other things on her hand with my Laura Mercier eye liner. I used to have a cheaper Loreal eye liner that I used to use, but it's been missing as of late.

So is it bad that I don't mind using my pricey eye liner to draw on my kid's hand? Not if this little reward brings huge smiles and a bit of happiness to both of us.

Ran my first 5K in over 3 years...

I ran my first 5K in over three years on Friday. I can't say that I've really been training. I've been trying to run consistantly over the last couple of months, but I haven't been consistant at all. I've been run/walking about 2 miles at least once or twice a week. That is it. Lame, I know - but I had to preface the rest of my entry with this info. Anyway...

Holy hell - it was long and I was tired. However, the only two things I wanted to accomplish were: 1) Not coming in last; and 2) finishing in under 35 minutes. I managed to accomplish both. I didn't come in last AND I finished in 34:49 (finish line clock time.) By my watch, I finished in 34:11. So, I feel very good about my race. The last mile starts out with an up hill grind - for about 1/2 mile. That was beyond HORRIBLE. I ran what I could and stopped to walk when I needed to. However, once I got to the top, it was all either downhill or flat from there so I decided to lengthen my stride and put an end to my misery. I just started running and focusing on the end. I managed to pass 14 people in that last 1/2 - I'm not kidding or exaggerating. I started hauling ass and passing people is what motivated me to just run. (Well at least I felt like I was hauling ass - Run Jenny Run!!) Today, I'm still really sore from the run. After the run, it took me until the next day (since it was a Friday evening run) to actually cool off! It was worth it (eventhough I wouldn't have said that WHILE I was running.)

So there you have it. I'm really glad that I did it. I think I'm hooked!!

We survived AND we had fun!

We're back from our week long Cape Cod vacation and we had a blast. We spent a lot of time walking and a lot of time on the beach. We had great weather eventhough it rained a little. Here are a few pictures.

We're getting ready for our first family vacation as a family of four...

And I'm trying to work out the logistics on how to fit all of us and everything we'll need for a week on the Cape in one VW Passat Wagon. A couple of years ago, when we made this same trip as a family of three, the car was packed to the gills. I even remember looking at my husband and asking him if we'd be able to fit Little Bitty in there too. However, that year, we not only brought everything we'd need, but my husband also brought his beloved golf clubs. Kindly, he's already made mention of the fact that he didn't think the golf clubs would make the trip this year. I'm pretty happy about that for a couple of reasons. First, it's one less thing I have to try to fit in the car. Second, (and this is pretty selfish) why should he get to go golfing while we're on vacation when I'm a golf widow pretty much every weekend from about March to when the ground is too snow covered to be able to find your ball.

So on to my task. How do I fit enough clothes for four people (hot/cold weather clothes since you never know what you'll get on the Cape), a double jogging stroller, a Pack N Play, two bags of toys, books, videos, towels, sheets, bed rails, beach umbrella, and a bunch of other little things in or on one car. I don't have the answer to this yet, but check back for my update. I may even show you a picture or two of the packed car!

Why?

That's right, my Little Bitty has started asking, "Why?" to EVERYTHING. Sweet Jesus, I don't know how long this is expected to last and I don't know how I'll get through the question for the 3,679th time tomorrow. I thought I had a good strategy. We were talking about something and LB asked me, "Why is Mallie (her lambie blankie) white?" So, I reply with, "Because she's not black." LB: "Why?" Me: "When she was manufactured, they didn't add dye to the fibers, so she stayed white. Generally fabric that is white isn't colored."

I thought for sure she'd move on to something else. Sure enough, I get: "Why?" Good grief. Where do I go from here? So I end with, "She just is, LB. She just is." Of course, "Why?" went on for another 1/2 hour or so.

Today I thought I had another solution to the question "why?" I replied, "Why do you ask?" LB tilts her head, looks at me with a puzzled look and repeats what she's asking and wants to know why. I realize that she must have thought I said, "What did you ask?"

The only two things that have been EASY so far with Little Bitty...

1.) Switching her to her "Big Girl" bed; and

2.) Potty Training



Had I known that Potty Training would have been so easy, I think I would have tried to start earlier.

Finally, I feel like I can handle anything...

I am not exactly sure when the change happened, but I realized the other day as I took both girls shopping to Target AND to Marshall's after picking them up from daycare, that I can handle being a mom to two little girls. (Little Bitty will be three in October, and Little Mama will be one in August.) What I realized is this, among all the chaos going out anywhere with two used to be - I got better at it. I was actually doing this and able to shop for a few necessities as well!

It used to be that no matter how much I planned for a trip out with just the three of us - something always went wrong and I didn't have the correct "provisions" with me to fix the issue. However, now I can get ready and grab everything I need within 15 minutes and head out the door. If someone told me that it would get these easy - I would never have believed them.

Our shopping trips usually consist of a "prize" for Little Bitty. I have no issues with bribes/prizes as long as she doesn't start asking for diamonds, a porshe, etc. If she can keep it to things that are less than $5 - we'll be fine.

A Lesson In Sharing: Courtesy of Little Bitty

This conversation actually took place on January 10, 2008 when Little Bitty was 27 months old.

Last night Little Bitty and are were playing with her Little People Farm House. This is the conversation:

Mommy: "Which animal can I be?"

LB: "You can be the cow."

We start playing and a minute later...

LB takes the cow back and points to all the animals and says, "I'm going to be all of these."

Mommy: "Why don't you want to share with mommy?"

LB: "I'm going to share with me."

And there you have it. A lesson in sharing from a two year old. Who can argue with this logic?