The Test Drive

For the last week or so we have been looking for a new minivan. We decided that it was time to start looking for a new vehicle soon as our current van had many little things that needed fixing. We knew they were all little enough, but could add up to quite an amount when it came down to it. So on the hunt we went. We had a pretty strict budget, and soon knew that if we wanted to get a van that would last us fairly long, we needed to up our budget and look at newer styles.

Finally we found a few we were wanting to test drive. Today we finally went and did that! I was being very brave and decided to take all the kids by myself as Joel had work to do out at the farm.

Basketball

It's that time of year again. For the last three years Dahrran has participated in Basketball. Practices every Tuesday and Wednesday, then usually a few tournaments thrown in here and there starting in January on the weekends. This year he decided he wasn't so much interested in basketball, and was more interested in joining his class's Reading Classic team instead. 

Joel and I thought we had gotten out of the life that was basketball. Until MacKenzie came home with the form for spirit leagues. She insisted that she wanted to play and so we signed her up. Away we went driving back and forth to town on Tuesdays and Thursdays. She seemed to enjoy it, but would complain about her legs hurting or having to run too much. It was all going to take getting used to being in an organized sport that practiced on a regular basis.

Our children play softball and baseball in the summer, as well as Dahrran plays football in the fall. Organized sports are nothing new to any of them, but this was a test of schedule and routine for MacKenzie. She is thriving and doing well. It has been good for her to get out of her comfort zone and do something different for a change. Will she do it again? I'm not sure if she will play next year or not. That is a choice we will leave ultimately up to her.

This last weekend we were playing in a tournament in Seward which is where Joel's parents live. It was great to be able to see them and hang out with them as well. I realized finally where Joel gets his over aggressive attitude towards sports. His dad used to coach him when he was around MacKenzie's age in the local YMCA leagues. He is a lot like his dad sometimes! Also it was fun to have Joel's dad be able to be a part of the games. Joel is the youngest of 8 kids, and his parents have 32 grand children. This weekend 4 of them were all playing in the same town all around. For the first time ever Joel's dad was able to attend the kids' games. You see he is semi retired and is now more active in all the grand children's lives. It's amazing what a change you see in him. Here I go off on a tangent again. Sorry that's a whole other post for another day!

I also have to tell you just how amazing Addysen is at these games. She does so well watching the girls play. She has always been a fan of basketball, ever since I was pregnant with her. Whenever Dahrran had basketball practice, I would go and sit there watching him practice. She would kick like crazy the minute we got to practice and be calm as soon as it was time to leave. Last year when he played she slept through most of his games or would sit so nicely then as well. This year is no different, except that she doesn't really sleep! She sits so nice, and even yells at the girls "comeon MacKenzie" though only we can really understand her. :)

That moment when you quit your job as a SAHM

Today I called my husband and informed him "I quit." I was turning in my two week notice and he could find a new housewife. At first he thought he had done something wrong and sighed a little when I informed him it was me and not him. :)

You see I have a daughter who I swear (but I don't really) will be the death of me. This girl test every ounce of my patience. Every. Single. Day. For the second time this month, I have walked into the kitchen to find her sitting in a mess of egg yolks. Yes you read that right, the SECOND time.

The first time it happened, it was totally my fault. I had decided to bake cookies and left the eggs sitting on the edge of the counter top. They were just begging to be brought to the floor. Of course she had a blast playing in them. She then proceeded to also dump a bag of cereal into the mix to make things even worse.

Now one might ask where I was when all this went down. You see there is this little person living in our house. She doesn't walk or talk yet, but she does depend on me. I provide her with her every meal. So when mama sits down to feed the baby apparently that means the house is free game for Addysen to go and destroy whatever she knows mama won't let her get into.

Today was no different. She was doing so good. I had cleaned up the living room, all the clutter and she had even helped. I swept the floors. It was awesome. Then Emmerson starts crying, so of course that cues me that she is hungry as she didn't nurse long shortly after getting up. Addysen wonders off into the kitchen where she comes back with a cup of yogurt. I figure, okay fine she got one cup we should be good.

Until there was silence. I honestly believed that she was just sitting in there being quiet because she was finishing her yogurt cup that she had gotten on her own. She knows when she is in trouble when mama is feeding the baby and she gets into things she isn't supposed to. Emmerson gets done eating and I walk into my kitchen to find this lovely little mess. Thankfully she hadn't broken all the eggs but she was still sitting in an egg yolk mess. Needless to say she wasn't exactly thrilled to see me.

After a big long hug and her saying sorry, I decided maybe this job isn't so bad after all. I recanted my resignation and we headed to town to buy a refrigerator lock.

Bed Time Struggles

With 5 kids we have had our share of bed time struggles. When the big kids were older it was fairly simple. For the most part they went to bed easily on their own after a few books and snuggles after being tucked in for the night. Rare were the nights when they "needed a drink," had to potty or were scared of something in the dark. Bed time was fairly simple. I never really understood bed time struggles until Addysen came along.

From the time she was a little itty bitty baby, we had bed time struggles. We could not put her to bed the same way two nights in a row. What worked last night, didn't work tonight and most nights left us pulling at our hair in exhaustion. Some nights we would finally break down at 1am and go for a car drive. Usually once around the block and she was out like a light. We always drove just a little bit more to make sure she stayed asleep.

As she grew older the only thing that worked was the dreaded Cry It Out (CIO). I wasn't one of those parents until she came along. She needed the confinement of her crib, but also needed to know that everyone else was sleeping. She was always afraid of missing something. If we sat next to her crib she would fidget for hours on end until we finally would just leave the room. One night I sat for over 3 hours, finally decided that was enough and went to bed myself. She fussed in her crib for less than 5 minutes and was out. Cold. It was that moment that I realized that she just needed that confined space to wind down and go to sleep.

This method worked great for about 6 months. After that it was another challenge we had to over come. Addysen had figured out how to climb out of her crib. The first night it happened I figured it had to be a fluke. She had to have stepped on something to gain leverage to get out. The next day at nap time when it happened again, I decided to sit in there and figure out how she was doing it. Sure enough she was climbing her way out with nothing else in her bed.

Confinement was no longer an option. Don't think I didn't try though. The thought of trying to confine a 21 month old while also trying to nurse and get the 6 week old to sleep scared the crap out of me. I'm alone all day. I NEED that peace and quiet nap time brings. We tried the playpen. Nope. She climbed out easily. So I had a friend offer me her playpen that sat on the ground and it was what she used when her kids started climbing out of the crib. It worked wonders for her. Not for us. Addysen climbed in and back out again in 30 seconds flat while I watched in the living room.

Our next step was converting her bed to a toddler bed.This was a joke to her. She could climb out easily and run around her room! We tried sitting next to her at nap time and bed time. The only thing that worked to get her to sleep was laying down IN her bed with her. Soon we realized this option wasn't going to work as well because we couldn't sleep in there with her and every time we went to get out, she would wake up.


On to a big girl bed was our next step. So one night I took all evening and rearranged the girls rooms to incorporate 3 regular beds. We had a set of bunk beds for the big girls, but I realized soon enough that Addysen would try climbing in the top bunk and it was a safety issue. So we took the bunk beds apart, and brought up the guest bed out of the basement. MacKenzie was excited to get a new BIG bed and Addysen was quite thrilled with her new bed as well. The only problem. She won't stay in it. So we are back at the bedtime battle again.

Thankfully we have been able to lay next to her at nap time and she will usually go down fairly quickly if she is tired. Though there are those days when she just won't lay down for nothing and it seems as if a car ride will be our only option. There are also those days when I fall asleep before she does and I end up getting that much needed nap I didn't really know I needed.

Bedtime is still a struggle. Some nights we fight back and forth to get her to sleep. There isn't a magic solution to our bed time struggles. Some night she ends up in bed with one of the girls and those are the smoother nights. We just transfer her back to her own bed when we go to bed. Other nights we end up putting her in our bed to fall asleep and then one of us transfers her when we come up to bed. If you have any suggestions for helping to keep her in bed I would LOVE to hear them!!

Why Blog?

When I first started blogging it was more to keep family updated on our journey through Craniosynostosis. Our middle daughter (now 6) was born without a soft spot. She had a long football shaped head, and it required surgery. On our trip I needed a way to keep all of our family updated on how things were going and a quick way to send them the updates in a mass format.  Blogging was the answer.

As her treatment continued we were able to update our friends and family easily. I also started to just blog our life for fun. It was an easy way to document our daily lives. I still like documenting our daily lives, but it seems it has gone more into picture format. I miss blogging. I miss reading about our days. I also miss all the friends that I made along our journey. I do stay in touch with a few of them thanks to things like Facebook and Instagram, but I miss that personal connection.

Also along our blog journey we came to try many different things and our main focus was cloth diapers. I wouldn’t say I was a giveaway blogger, but more a review blogger who wanted to spread the word about the products I fell in love with. When you are a mom you tend to gravitate towards products others tell you they love. I want to be able to use this new blog to help spread the love of the brands we have found over the last 2 years of my blogging hiatus. I’m also counting on all of you to help keep me accountable! I want to learn all about you, and would love to hear what you want to read about! I’ll probably start off with posts about our daily life and go from there!! Have a great Tuesday everyone!