The Confessions of a Tired Mother

After one night too many of reaching into the fridge for a bottle in the wee hours of the night I put my mama foot down.  I gave Emma Claire the last bottle of the evening, put her in her crib and closed the door.  She must have been tired because she fell asleep - no complaints.  Then, midnight struck and like that she woke.  However, I gave her a paci and she fell back to sleep.  Whoop whoop!  Then, again at three thirty in the morning...wah wah!  I gave in and brought the little pumpkin into our room, we snuggled on the bed while I fed her a bottle.   When she finished I lifted her to a sitting position, leaned her over my arm, and she fell into her usual middle-of-the-night ragdoll position - eyes closed, arms dangling forward over my supporing arm, head drooped.  The only reason I knew in that hour that she wasn't actually a ragdoll...her deep snoring!  REALLY EMMA?  HOW ABOUT A BURP!

I carried that little pink sack to her crib and laid her down ever so gently only to be greeted with big, bright eyes, and a wide smile.  How does one do that?  Nothing was going to put her to sleep.  So, I thought to myself...does this little devil angel not like her crib or is she just wanting her mama.  Knowing if I returned her to my room she'd end up sleeping in there night after night I did what any normal, tired, petite, mother would do...I climbed into her crib, curled her under my arm and waited.  In only a few seconds she looked up at me with a little Emma smile, gave a little Emma giggle, stuck her paci in her own mouth, rolled in toward me and passed out.  YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!

At this point I am thinking how the hell do I get out of this crib without waking her?  Every move I made seemed to create the loudest of sounds.  I put one hand on the side rail one on the front and as gently as I could pulled myself up and out.  I made it!  I made it!  Oh how Jake would have done the "we did it" dance for my huge accomplishment.  THANKS FOR THE STORY, EM!  FEEL FREE TO GIVE ME DAYTIME EVENTS TO BLOG ABOUT!

I went to bed slightly tickled at the ridiculousness I surrendered to, slightly proud of my accomplishment, and very well aware that I need to work out these arms if I plan on doing any more pull ups at the crib!

October 2013

We accomplished our monster door!  Thanks Parent's Magazine for the cute, kid-friendly idea!

DECORATING

EMMA WAS FUSSING SO, JAKE ASSUMED SHE WAS SCARED OF THE MONSTER ON THE DOOR.  HERE HE IS EXPLAINING THAT IT IS A NICE MONSTER.

COMPLETED PROJECT

It's Fall! It's Fall! It's Fall!

When the seasons change it is so motivating to clean up a little, organize a little, and do a little seasonal decorating.  I love putting out some of Jake's artwork to decorate our fireplace.  I pulled out his "memory box" and we looked through it together for something that fit the season.  Here is what we found from last year's MMO program...

And here are a couple of cute finds Emma Claire and I scooped up today!

as we like to say in the south...

Happy Fall Ya'll!

Giggles

I can hardly put into words how watching these two interact makes me feel!  They are too amazing!  At the end of this, Jake laid down in front of Emma, looked up at her and said, "Emma, you are the best baby I ever saw!"  Oh how I love watching them grow!

Preschool Open House

River Hills Preschool
2013-2014
Ms. Catherine & Ms. Jean-Marie
MTW 9 - Noon (Lunch from Noon - 1pm on Tuesdays)


Jake has been in his new preschool for about three weeks now and I could not be more pleased thus far!  In such a short time I have met several parents and grandparents of Jake's classmates, met some of his new pals, joined the parent committee, been greeted by name by the director and received numerous school updates and information via email and letters, etc.  I feel like we've landed in a great place!

Neal and I joined Jake at school this past Thursday evening for Open House.  His teachers set up a scavenger hunt around the room for the kids to show us all the different stations inside.  They have already done so much.  In addition to the curriculum Jake has chapel on Mondays, Spanish on Tuesdays, and music on Wednesdays.

He is the second to the youngest in the class, but his teachers say he is doing great and mature for being one of the youngest.  They said he is so sweet and funny!  Ms. Catherine shared that on the first day he was buzz lightyear, but every day following he has worn a knights costume from their costume area.  She said he comes in and dresses himself in the mornings.  She had a great picture of him in full armor!

At the open house Jake was set on showing us the "Emma" in his classroom.  He showed us how to put her to bed, feed her a bottle, change her diaper, and repeat.  He insisted his teacher hold baby Emma.  It was so funny!

Jake,
We hope you have a fabulous year in your new preschool.  We hope you feel safe and loved and that all your moments there are fun and exciting!  We hope you are kind and loving to all your new friends and that you are received the same.  Bless you sweet boy!

~Mama

Melt My Heart

Tonight, after a reoccurring arguement about bath time, with Jake, things finally settled down.  I got him dry and tucked in for bed, read a couple of books and said our nightly prayer.  After prayer he randomly starts this one on his own...

"Thank you Lord for what you've given me,
The sun and the rain and the appleseed,
Yes the Lord has been good to me."

Now, I don't know if I got all the words right, but this is what I gathered from his sweet voice. So, I say "thank you Lord for sweet calmings after bath time storms and thank you Ms. Catherine and Ms. Jean-Marie for teaching my boy this sweet prayer."

Afterwards, he finally tried to show me "criss cross applesauce" and admitted he needed help learning it.  He was so happy when he succeeded.  I promised to help him every night until school next Monday.  Oh how he is growing!

Love you sweet boy!

Our Day Thus Far

What a beautiful day!  The weather is cooling down in Charlotte and I couldn't be happier!  I have been slowing reintroducing fall decorations and smells into our home.  Ahhh, the change of seasons is so motivating!  That reminds me that it's time to take down the hand and feet paintings of fish and lobsters that Jake made last year and put up some seasonal kid art!

Speaking of decor I have to share this cute halloween door idea I found in a recent Parent's magazine.  Isn't it cute?  I mean, if you can get past your cute Etsy must have or fancy Pinterest must do this year wouldn't this be a picker?  Don't get me wrong, I just bought bows on Etsy and am working on Pinterest teacher gifts, but this season I think our door will satisfy Jake and his pals more than my sometimes fancy pants taste.  :)

This is made with what looks like felt and different sized paper plates!

While I'm on a kick for sharing I have to introduce these books if you haven't heard of them...the Pete the Cat books by Eric Litwin.  They are a new favorite that I love reading with Jake.  I'd say they are good for about 2 1/2 up to maybe 5.  Jake's Uncle Perry, Aunt Mary Beth, and cousin Allie bought him Pete the Cat: I Love my White Shoes for his birthday.  It was a hit so I purchased Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons at the school's Book Fair and love it as well!  Here is a glimpse if you want to check them out!

Moving right along...

Today was hat day at Jake's preschool and I set out every hat he owns for his choosing.  I preferred his sweet little Citadel ball cap, but he chose his beaten up, over played with red cowboy hat.  Boy was he cute though!  So, I sent this little cowboy off to school.

Had to show this cutie off extra big!

When I picked him back up I had myself a...

Monkey!

While Jake was at school I did plenty of chores and then found myself feeding this cutie in her room which I spend way too little time enjoying while...get this...listening to a classical lullaby cd.  I don't know how that happened, but it was a relaxing and sweet fifteen minutes that I will now commit to doing on some sort of regular basis.  I'm not saying how often, because when I break a commitment to myself no matter how small it's beyond frustrating.  So, we'll just say I'll do this more often while I can hold her close.

That was our simple day thus far.  Just because this week has been a great one that doesn't mean all is perfect in our household.  Yesterday, my husband pointed out that I sent Jake to school with mismatched socks.  I also overheard the little stinker tell dad that he loved us all, but he loves him best.  So, no matter how many good things I find to jot down there are always a few little kickers that I'd rather not remember.  Just a reminder that no home is a perfect home!