Bribery

So, I did it. I resorted to bribing my 3 year old daughter. I've discovered over the last few years that some things are worth the battle and some things aren't. Getting a good night's sleep at night is totally worth the battle. Around September, when Abbott was born, L stopped sleeping through the night. It was horrendous. Not only were we up 3 or 4 times a night with a newborn, we were also up 2 or 3 times a night with our toddler. We were exhausted. As the months went on, Abbott adjusted to sleeping through the night. Laurelei, however, did not. So, after pulling out all other stops, we pulled out the toys. And the toys? They worked. Woo hoo!

It isn't as bad as it sounds. My first course of action was to stock up on small surprises for each morning for the first 5 days. I hit up Target's dollar section and found some little nonsense things that I knew our girl would be excited about. Dora socks, a necklace, Lip Smackers, etc. I dug a small gift bag out of my stash, put the surprise in it, tied it with a cute pink ribbon and placed it proudly on her dresser each night. We explained to L that if, and only if, she stayed in her bed until the SUN CAME UP, she could open her present in the morning. It worked like a charm. The first night she woke up once and yelled for a tissue. The second night she needed to be covered up. The third night? Not a peep. It was beautiful. There have been less tears at night all around.

I know what you are thinking. Of course I couldn't go on giving my child a present every single morning for just sleeping through the night. So, on Friday night we explained Laurelei's new sticker chart to her. If she slept through the night, she got a sticker. If she got a sticker on Friday and Saturday night, we'd take her to Target to pick out her own dollar section toy. She loved the idea of shopping for her own present of course. She is my daughter after all. After Sunday's outing, we have been making her collect a sticker each week night. If she gets all 6 stickers, we'll take her to Target again on Sunday.We intend to turn 6 days into 14 days into a month for as long as it takes to create a habit. For less than $10.00, we finally have solved the problem.

So why? Why didn't we just start with the sticker chart? Well, it just wasn't concrete enough for L. I am sure it works for 3 year olds the world over, but for ours it didn't. I just knew that L would respond better to an instant reward. Now that she understands in a more concrete way what she is earning, she is more invested in the process.

Part of me feels a little ashamed that I truly just bribed my child to sleep through the night. The other part of me is just happy to get some sleep. I think the happier part of me is the one who gets to sleep. :)

today

Today was absolutely gorgeous. We spent some quality time at the park together as a family. It was perfect.

I want to trap today and keep it in a little box. That way, whenever I am bogged down or stressed I can just open it up and a take a little peek inside.

Laurelei felt the same way. She didn't want to leave.

Abby Rabbit

Abbott has developed a little nickname, much to Matt's chagrin. Laurelei and I sometimes call him Abby, and more often than that, Abby Rabbit. 

We've had a hard time finding a soft toy or blanket that Abbott is attached too. L loved her Julius dog from almost day one, and I was wanting something sweet for Abbott to grow with. For Valentine's day I bought him this sweet bunny lovie and it did just the trick! 

When we hold his little rabbit out in front of him, he immediately reaches out for it. He grabs it and brings it up to his face and rubs his eyes with it.

If he is fussy, I give it to him in his vibrating seat and it comforts him. Sometimes he falls asleep with the rabbit tucked under his arm or smushed up against his cheek.

Thick as thieves those two. Thick as thieves. :)

outloud

This week has been full of moments when I think something and then immediately think, I really shouldn't admit that out loud.

For instance...
There are more clothes on my bedroom floor than in my closet or drawers. Who am I? The best answer is a 26 year old version of my 16 year old self, most likely.

After giving up chocolate and facebook for lent, I immediately wanted to swim in a tub of candy bars while browsing facebook. So, so sad. A clear reason why I decided to give both up for awhile.

 {source}

I want to paint stripes on my wall. The wall that currently has a stencil on it. That will make it the 3rd time I've painted my living room wall in 3 year of owning our home. Hmmm.

Matt and I are so like the Dunfees it's scary. Matt is our fun loving, child at heart Phil. I am so high strung I'd probably drive Claire crazy. We balance each other out I think. :)

If I averaged out how much I paid for my gym membership versus the amount of times I've actually used said membership, I probably pay close to $50 a visit. I'm gonna go ahead and admit I've not getting my money's worth, and probably should also go ahead and call and cancel that...

I've been bribing L to sleep through the night. Hey, a mother's gotta do what she's gotta do to keep herself from pulling all of her hair out get her beauty rest. More on that later, since I'll probably need to remember those details for Abbott someday too.

Whew. Good thing I have Matt who loves me despite the state of my house, my looks, or my sanity!

A few quick things...

one...I've been trying to figure out the manual settings on my camera. It's not going that great, but it's a work in progress! I think that the key to a better final result might just be learning to edit. Right now I am relying pretty much on what my camera can do all by itself. If I could do some post editing I think that might help! Anyway, here is a shot I got the first night I started playing around with manual and I thought it had some potential. Yes, no?

two... L helped me make Valentine's cookies this year for the first time. We went to my mom's house for an afternoon of baking. We had such a good time! She was a little bit dirty by the end of it, but the cookies tasted great. I love sharing this tradition with her. 

three...Thank you Mr. Presidents for having birthdays. I am enjoying the morning at home with my little family. The 4 of us are just holed up here, enjoying one another! It's been a perfect morning so far!

Happy Monday!

{linking up with lowercase letters}

five whole months...

This last month has flown by. I cannot believe that February is almost over and that our little one is five months old already. His half birthday is just right around the corner! So hard to believe.  I feel as though he has changed more in the past month that he had up until this point. What do you think?

Here are some special things about our little one...

growing...Abbott was barely 13lbs at his 4 month check up. I don't know how much he weighs for sure, but I would guess 15lbs at least! We went to Barnes and Noble the other day and I decided to carry him instead of taking him in his seat. Wow. I had to pass him off to Matt more than once. He certainly is a little chunk! And, he is pushing his little feet out of the bottom of some of his gowns which just totally breaks my heart. He is still fitting comfortably into his 3-6 months clothes, and I love it when I find some of the 3-6 months sleepers that are too big still. Makes me feel a little better about this rapid growth period. 

 eating/ sleeping...Abbott is eating a ton at school during the day. He still eats every three hours, but sometimes 6 or 7 ounces per feeding! He has finally started to take a bottle which eases my heart when I am away from him and at work. We were sleeping steadily through the night 8-6:30, but the past couple of weeks we've been waking to eat once in the night. This weekend we were back on track and I am hoping we'll stay that way! We are planning to try some rice cereal today. Our pediatrician gave us the go ahead last month but I've been waiting. He is so hungry now though, I think it might be time!

new things...Abbott is our little roly poly now! He's all over the place. He goes easily from his back to his belly, but stresses a little on his belly. We are trying to let him spend more time there figuring it out, but often we just give in and roll him back over. Abbott has also discovered the joy of toys. He loves his o'ball and pretty much anything that rattles. I am also pretty sure we are cutting teeth. He drools non stop and puts every single thing he finds into his mouth. His personality is really shining through. He loves to play and discover. This age is so much fun!

We have discovered that Abbott hates the car and his carseat. If we aren't moving or he's not asleep he's screaming. Should make for an interesting 10 hour drive to the beach this summer if he doesn't grow out of that!

We bought this little duckie for Abbott because L was majorly attached to her 'Julius' of the same brand. However, Abbott hasn't ever really shown a lot of interest in it. He did just receive an organic 'lovie' bunny from us for Valentine's day, and he does love that at the moment. I'll have to make sure it makes it in a picture or two soon!

We love you little Abbott! Happy 5 months!

Playtime

I need a little happy in my day, so here are a few sweet pictures of my favorite thing around here...playtime! The absolute sweetest of moments. 

Sometimes, we even play our hearts out and fall right to sleep, and that is pretty sweet too. 

So excited about a long weekend full of extra sweet playtimes. 

anchor

When all the world is spinning 'round
Like a red balloon way up in the clouds
And my feet will not stay on the ground
You anchor me back down 

 

 I am nearly world renowned
As a restless soul who always skips town
But I look for you to come around
And anchor me back down

There are those who think that I'm strange

They would box me up and tell me to change
But you hold me close and softly say
That you wouldn't have me any other way

When people pin me as a clown
You behave as though I'm wearing a crown
When I'm lost I feel so very found
When you anchor me back down

There are those who think that I'm strange
They would box me up and tell me to change
But you hold me close and softly say
That you wouldn't have me any other way

When all the world is spinning 'round
Like a red balloon way up in the clouds
And my feet will not stay on the ground
You anchor me back down

 Happy Valentine's Day Matty.

-lyrics by Mindy Gledhill

belly laughs

 

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This week has been a doozy at work. Maybe it's a full moon? No snow days? I don't know. All I can say is thank heaven for wonderful friends and coworkers, because I am pretty sure the only thing that got me through the week was some good hearty belly laughs! A Friday afternoon of laughing, commiserating, and lots of sugar was just what the doctor ordered. It probably wasn't the most productive few hours I've had at work all week, but it certainly was good for the soul. Thanks for that, friends!

{images pinned on my 'words' board.}

Live and Learn

So cliche I know. But still, so, so true! I can't count on two hands how many times I have said that to Matt recently. Seems like every day we realize something we've done with L that we could have done better. I try not to beat myself up over it. Instead, I just utter those three simple words and remind myself that parenting comes with a major learning curve (sorry sweet L, our poor little guinea pig! I promise being the eldest child comes with some perks too!) Even in these few precious early years I've learned some pretty important lessons, and there are some things I want to differently from here on out.

First, and probably most of all, I won't wish for the next stage anymore. Everything with your first is so precious and so exciting. You don't want to miss a thing, but then again you can't wait to experience the next thing either. You move from those newborn days, to first bottles, to first foods, to crawling, to walking , to big girl beds and on and on. You pretend the whole time that you want time to stop and you don't want them to grow, but on and on you push them anyway. Begging them to say 'mama.' Buying that potty before they are ready. Practicing those colors. It's a nonstop transition into the next phase. We were so guilty of that with L. She crawled at 6 months, walked at 9. Said her full name and about 50 other words by her first birthday. If Abbott starts to crawl in the next month and a half, I'm not saying I'll push him back over, but I'm not saying I won't either. :) From now on,  I want each and every stage to last forever. And since I know that it can't really last forever,  I think I am just going to be more content for them come at their own pace. No more pushing.

Second, I've realized that even when I am stressed, even when I am tired and frustrated and I'm at the point where if I don't pull my own hair out I might just pull someone else's; I am still blessed beyond reason. I think that I've let too many days go by with these precious little ones wishing for a break. If I look down the pipeline, I realize that I have years and years and years of breaks ahead of me. Right now, in this cosy house with these crazy kids...I am living the life I always dreamed of. And, just like every old lady I've ever met in the grocery store wants to tell me, one day I will long for these days again because, "they just grow up so fast." It's like I've turned around and Laurelei is three. For the first time this week I realized that she doesn't quite fit the same in my lap anymore. We were watching a movie and she kept shifting around trying to get comfortable. I wanted to cry. I wanted to take back every single time I ever told her to hold on a minute. I wanted to take back every single one. 

There are many, many more lessons I've learned about priorities, money, time, worry, stress, expectations, etc. Like I said earlier, parenting comes with a major learning curve. I have a feeling that my list will grow even with this second child. And maybe, someday if we are blessed to love yet another child, I will look back at this post and laugh. I'll probably realize how even despite my best efforts I managed to do just as much wrong the second time around.

For now though, I'm going to focus on each and every precious moment. The good and bad. I'm going to thank God for each and every one.

Fabulous Fonts!

One of the fun things about being a teacher is getting to use your creativity a lot. My team teacher and I love to find fun new font and make posters, newsletters and student assignments just a little more fun. Here are some of my new favorite fonts. I am just dying to have an excuse to use our schools fun poster maker and try some of them out soon! I've included the fonts and their names below if you want to take a peak at some of my new favorites! (I use dafont.com for most of my 'font needs')

faces

these are the faces I love. 

they make me smile. 

they make me laugh.

they say a lot.

they keep me grounded and remind me what is oh so important. 

it's funny how you get to know the little features that make up the faces you love,

 and you look forward to seeing those little features and sweet faces every single day.