double edged sword

As I write this I'm in a daze.  I'm in a hazy fog of days blurred together by Ryan and I crossing paths for a few minutes each morning, handing off duties, and him rushing out the door for work.

You can see from the huge gap between posts that I'm finding it difficult to write.  We're smack dab in the middle of baby sleep hell.  Point being, Leo's initial 'good sleep' habits have gone down hill drastically.  I'de say we went from pretty good in the beginning, to bad, to terrible and now we're at an all time low.  I won't go into details but... "seriously Leo?"

I will forgive him the past 10 days as he's had a runny nose and congestion which I'm sure is causing his hourly wakings, but the previous two months is purely his inability to get himself back to sleep after waking up with gas or whatever.  According to all the sleep experts, we've done the forbidden and now Leo relies on a soother to find peace in slumber.

I still stand by my belief that a soother isn't all that bad, if used for soothing.  What I realize now is that 'soothing' is quite different from 'putting your kid to sleep'.  It's a double edged sword.  But, desperate times call for desperate measures..... so we stuck the sword in again and again.... hoping for a few more hours of sleep......

.... we're still looking for that sleep..... and hopefully we'll find it soon.

On a more positive note, there have been a lot of good times around here too.  Check it out:

Leo's first meal.  

Ruby got in on the action too. 

He's learning to read!  

So, despite the lack of blogs, the lack of sleep and the lack of fresh air..... the Grants are still having fun.  There's no lack of love.  :)

manners and negotiations, please

For the past several weeks, we've been working on Ruby's manners.  She had (still has I'm sure) a very bold way of expressing what she wanted.  Simply put, she'd say, "I want _____ ".  "I want more milk!",  "I want some oranges!", "I want to read a story!", "I want more stories!".  With every demand came a  "how do you ask for that nicely?".  

This morning at breakfast she looked at me and said sweetly, "can I have some yogurt please mommy?".  It was magical.  

This is a conversation from later on during that same meal:

Ruby:    "I wanna watch Olivia!"

Me:        "How do you ask for that nicely?" 

Ruby:     "Can I watch Olivia please mommy?"

Me:        "No honey, we're going to get dressed and go to the Superstore."

Ruby:     "How about just one Olivia, mommy?"

And....... this is breaking news.  I just got back from her bedroom after putting her down about 15 minutes ago.  Before I left she wanted more stories, oatmeal, cheerios...... all the tricks to get out of going to bed.  Then I hear her whining up there so after a few minutes I go up.  She gets up on her knees and says to me:  "How about one more story please mommy?"  

I guess all our hard work is paying off.  She's becoming quite a polite little negotiator.  

Maybe she'll be a lawyer.

Good night Ruby!  

Nice try but I'm not going back up there..... 

Love Mommy.

oxox

This was taken a few weeks ago.  

Watching TV.  

halloween

I'm a few days late with the Halloween pictures, but life is a little hectic these days.  Sometimes I honestly think I'm crazy for going along with the tedious job of selling our house.  It's been on the market now for three whole months.  I think we've had about 20 viewings which means we've cleaned the house that many times, loaded up the van with all of the lose ends, packed up the kids and headed out with our hearts on a string......  It's a pain in the butt, BUT we're still going for it.  This will be the last month and if nothing happens we're ready to throw in the towel and be content where we are.  Fingers crossed.  

As we drive away before a viewing I always say, 'Good luck house".  Ruby echoes the sentiment and has even started wishing the house good luck randomly on her own sometimes.  It's pretty cute.  

So... back to Halloween.... 

Hurricane Sandy blew by early in the day on Halloween leaving us with a pretty mild afternoon and perfect evening for Trick or Treating.  We actually went trick or treating this year and Ruby had fun.  It was so nice to see her discovering what Halloween is all about.  When we got home she helped Ryan hand out treats to the big kids while I got Leo to sleep.  

Look how old Leo looks!  He's 4 months old.  I can't believe how fast time is flying.  It seems to be going faster this time around.  Possibly because I'm super busy with two kids and possibly because I'm super tired.  I couldn't remember how to spell the word "pretty" the other day.  I had to use a thesaurus to search for a synonym of 'beautiful'.    My brain is mush.  But, this too shall end.   Before too long it'll all be a blur. I'll be enjoying 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep again.... someday.... 

Until then, these cuties keep me going.  :)

Spotlight

OK... Leo needs his turn in the spotlight so this post is all about him.

Definitely the World's cutest Little Brother.

He's as cute as a button and getting better looking each day.  I don't think I've ever met a more mellow baby.  He was definitely born with a good attitude.  We made an impromptu trip to Pizza Delight tonight for supper and Leo was super cool until the very last minute.  (the service was slow as molasses so technically we should have been home by that time.... anyway.... can you get good service these days??)

Leo officially turned 4 months today.  He weighs 15 pounds!

Strike a pose.

My super cool little dude.  

He started rolling over last week (from his stomach to his back).  He's pretty good at holding his head up and actually seems relaxed when he's on his belly.  He does this super cute thing with his mouth (see Mr. Cool with the hat).  The dimples are going to be chick magnets, I'm sure.  

Oh Leo.... we love you.

potty training: take one

Mission failed.

I thought she was ready.  I thought I was ready.  It was more challenging than anticipated.  

So for the time being, we have a lot of potty paraphernalia lying around collecting dust.  

Oh well.  I've learned to pick my battles and this is NOT one that I'm able to handle right now. 

Testing out Mommy's potty.

This is Leo today.  Happy covered in toys (thrown on him by Ruby) and wearing a girl bib.  

Daddy's Little Girl.  

Wonder what tomorrow will bring?

Until then....
-L

some things get better with age

I took Ruby to the YMCA this morning.  They have a wonderful child-minding class where parents drop off their kids for only $3 per hour while they work out.  She was there about a year ago too, but our success rate wasn't very high.  The very first time she went I was amazed... she didn't know I was gone and didn't acknowledge me when I came back.  At the time she was just under one.  Basically, they only accept kids that can walk and I was anxious to get back to the gym so as soon as she was standing by herself (and walking a little bit) we were there.  As I said, our success rate wasn't great and every other time after that first lucky day started in tears and a broken heart for me.  How could I enjoy my workout when I knew Ruby was crying in a room full of snotty strangers?  (yes - today, as like last year, the very first kid I laid eyes on had green snot oozing out of her nose and down to her mouth.  It was so gross, but I'm determined to let it slide because I need this.  enough said.)    

Today, she was excited all the way there and walked right in and looked around.  Her back was to me so I snuck out quietly (that's a lesson I learned last year - get out while the gettin's good!)  When I returned an hour later, Ruby was standing at a table sharing her fish crackers with a little girl named Reece, playing cars and dancing to the music.  She quickly held up the craft she made.  You could tell she was so proud.  It was hard to catch her for a photo opp when we got home, but here it is: 

Bat on a stick.

So, in the end, I'm glad I decided to wait a year until she was ready for YMCA daycare.  We both had a great time today and look forward to going back tomorrow!  The year away was good for Ruby but quite the opposite for me.  If I intend to get better with age I'll need to hit the gym a lot more than I have these past several months.  It felt so good to be running without a stroller.  It felt even better to sit in silence and stretch for 15 whole minutes.  And, it was absolutely wonderful to have 1 entire hour all by myself.   I didn't say a word to anyone and nobody pooped (as far as I know!) 

YMCA!!!  Thank you!!
(I hope Ruby doesn't get sick.  Fingers crossed).
(I didn't talk to anyone but I did smile.  I'm nice.)

yes, we are thankful

We're getting pretty used to holidays being busy around here and this Thanksgiving weekend was no exception.    It started out with a hiking trip vacation for Daddy, then a camp fire and two turkey dinners.

We're definitely lucky to have so much family around and as usual, we had loads of fun.  Here's proof.

Saturday night:

The Grants!  Leo's first Thanks Giving and first fire!  

Ruby and Uncle Matt clowning around.

Ruby clowning around all on her own.

Sunday:  

Uncle Trevor played the wooden flute (sorry I do not know the proper name for this beautiful instrument) and Ruby was over the moon with excitement!  She clapped, screamed "again, again", and smiled from ear to ear as he played several beautiful songs for us.  

Uncle Trevor and his flute.

We're all so happy to have Uncle Trevor and Auntie Sammie back on the East Coast.  We look forward to celebrating many more holidays with them and having them here to see our kids grow up.  Family really is what life is all about.  You get a more solid understanding for that when you actually have kids and ours are so lucky to have aunts and uncles literally all over them!  

Our Sackville Family.

On Monday we headed to Lower Coverdale where we enjoyed some time outdoors and dinner with the Ginn crew.  Uncle Matt is in town and thought we all wish he could stay longer, I'm glad he got to meet Leo and spend some time with Ruby.

The Ginn's.

Ruby and her beautiful smile!  

Uncle Matt and Leo.  They really do look a lot alike.  

Ruby.  :)

So... another year has come and gone and here's a list of things I'm thankful for:

- a patient husband who loves me even though he's often last in line to receive my love in return.
- two healthy children.
- three sets of loving grandparents for my kids.
- helpful aunts, uncles and cousins who share their time and lives with us.
- close friends to talk to about life's struggles and share life's pleasures with.
- sunny days.
- sleep ins.


I'm a very lucky lady.
Thank you all for being part of this journey called life.