Please. Just. Sleep.

I had such grand plans for today. I was going to finish the crib sheet and start working on the crib skirt for a bedding set I'm making for a customer. I was going to clean my incredibly messy, craft and laundry strewn, maze of a house. I was going to put away everything I got on my "restock the house" shopping trip on Tuesday. I was going to work on some laundry. After last night (and two other similar nights in the last week and a half), my plans have changed. I have zero motivation for doing anything, except napping.  Little Man couldn't sleep last night. He didn't have a fever or seem sick at all, he just screamed. All. Night. Long. He sounded like he was seriously in distress, but I could not find a way to alleviate it. We tried feeding, changing diapers, changing cloths, swaddling, unswaddling, rocking, crying it out, tylenol, orajel, music, bouncing, and even a scolding. Nothing worked. By 5 am, when he woke again after 15 blessed minutes of sleep, I handed him off to Hubby and said, "I'm done." Hubby decided it would be easier to care for Little Man in our bed so he plopped him in between us and let him scream. I was so tired, I rolled over and passed out despite the very unhappy baby beside me. At 6:45, Hubby woke me on his way out the door to work and lo and behold, Little Man was sacked out in the bed beside me. I have no idea how Hubby got him to do it, but he was practically comatose because he was so tired.
If this were just one night, it wouldn't have been such a big deal, but in the last several weeks, I haven't slept well because either someone is sick, teething, or just restless as night. This was also the third night in 9 days time that I was up literally all night. The first time was when I caught the flu, the second was when Little Man had the flu, and the third was last night for which I still can't find a reason.

Anyways, both kids are napping and I think I'll join them.

BTW, my blog has its own Facebook page now! If you're wondering why, it's because I follow other blogs on Facebook and I like seeing whenever they post something new without having to look them up again to check.
Look me up! http://www.facebook.com/pages/Supermommy-Blog/181409978554570?ref=ts If you wouldn't mind helping me get to 25 likes so I could get a vanity url instead of having such a long link, that would be greatly appreciated. :)

Sing a Little Song

I didn't try to do it, but somehow both of my kids ended up with signature lullabyes. These are songs that I started singing to them when they were newborns and somehow they kind of stuck.

Princess's song is "You'll Be In My Heart" by Phil Collins from the Tarzan soundtrack.  I don't really know how she ended up with this lullaby, it just kind of happened.

"You'll Be In My Heart"
Come stop your crying
It will be all right
Just take my hand Hold it tight

I will protect you
from all around you
I will be here
Don't you cry

For one so small,
you seem so strong
My arms will hold you,
keep you safe and warm
This bond between us
Can't be broken
I will be here
Don't you cry

'Cause you'll be in my heart
Yes, you'll be in my heart
From this day on
Now and forever more

You'll be in my heart
No matter what they say
You'll be here in my heart, always




Little Man's lullabye is "Baby Mine" from the Dumbo soundtrack. Yes, I know that both of the kids' songs are from Disney movies, but seriously, they're cute songs. Turns out that Allison Kraus (awesome bluegrass musician!) redid Baby Mine and it's so beautiful when she sings it. I think he got this song because he cried SO MUCH when he was a newborn and the first line addresses this "issue". Whenever I would sing this song to him, he'd settle down and listen to me and I would actually bond with him a little which was hard to do otherwise since he screamed nonstop. Also, the lines in the bridge ("All those same people who scold you, what they'd give just for the right to hold you.") meant a lot to me too because quite a few people, from the nurses to the hospital to complete strangers, were frustrated by his screaming and told me that they were glad he wasn't their baby. Although he was so difficult at first, I LOVE him and that precious baby boy means the world to me.

Baby Mine
Baby mine, don't you cry.
Baby mine, dry your eyes.
Rest your head close to my heart,
Never to part,
Baby of mine.

Little one when you play,
Don't you mind what they say.
Let those eyes sparkle and shine,
Never a tear,
Baby of mine.

If they knew sweet little you,
They'd end up loving you too.
All those same people who scold you
What they'd give just for the right to hold you.

From your head down to your toes,
You're not much, goodness knows.
But you're so precious to me,
Sweet as can be,
Baby of mine.

All those same people who scold you,
What they'd give just for the right to hold you.

From your head down to your toes
You're not much, goodness knows.
But you're so precious to me,
Sweet as can be,
Baby of mine.
Baby of mine




Unsolicited Advice: After opening Christmas gifts, box up a lot of your kids' older toys and stow them in a closet or spare room for a few months. The kids will be so enthralled with their new toys that they won't even notice them missing and when you do get them back out, it'll be like Christmas all over again.

Please Welcome Veruca Salt to the Family

Princess has been driving me BONKERS for the last 8 months or so. She used to be so sweet, obeyed really well, went right to sleep at night and naptimes. Not anymore!

Frankly, if I saw a child whining and throwing the types of fits that Princess constantly throws, I would wonder why the parents didn't discipline better. I really have to learn not to judge without knowing the whole story.  Princess has turned into one of those whiny, screaming, "Gimme NOW!" kids I always dreaded. And it's not because of lack of discipline. Lately, time-outs, removal of privileges, and spankings are all common occurrences at our house. I keep telling myself, "It's just a phase, it's just a phase, it's just a...Princess! For the 11th time today, stop pouring the milk carton out on the floor!!!"

I was venting about this to a friend the other day and she responded by asking me how much quality time I really spend one-on-one with Princess. I shrugged it off. I mean, I spend time with her every day, she's not in daycare and we're constantly together. But then I started thinking. I remember before Little Man was born and and I quit my job at the B&B to babysit four mornings a week. This meant that Princess was no longer at her cousin's house every day of the week while I worked and instead, was able to come with me when I babysat. I saw this as a wonderful change, she saw a change. Having spent so much time at Will's house ever since she was a tiny baby, the sudden change was devastating for her. She was pretty crabby and hard to manage for a while until she finally adjusted several months later.

Last May, just as Princess was getting used to my new job situation, I had Little Man. Who refused to eat, sleep or stop screaming for the first several months. He took up ALL of my time at first because he was so difficult, and I was unable to do much with Princess other than throw some food on the table at mealtimes. Not only was she not getting Mama's attention anymore, but she also had to listen to a screaming baby. Many times, she would either cover her ears, tell him to be quiet, or just run into her room and hide out in there.

Little Man finally started turning into an adorable happy baby around 3-4 months. Incidentally, this was when I also started my at-home online boutique which sucked up a lot of my time. While I still think this has been a good move for me and my family, it meant that I still didn't have much time for Princess. Now that I've got an inventory made up, I'm not as busy with that as I was before and I'm able to do more with Little Man. However, she isn't able to switch off her terrible behavior just because things are better. From now on, I plan to spend a little time each morning, while Little Man is napping, giving all my attention to Princess. Hopefully, after about a year of doing this, she will snap out of it and turn back into the sweet, loving child I had before.

Unsolicited Advice:
No matter what you have going on in your life, remember that your children will grow up quickly. Be sure to enjoy every stage (even the bad ones!) because it won't last long and soon they'll be moody teenagers who hate us.

Care To Dance?

Princess is having a ballerina birthday party for her 3rd birthday next month. Ballerina birthday supplies are surprisingly hard to come by so I'm searching Ebay and Etsy for decorations and making some myself.
Here's what I've got so far and what I'm planning to get:

Invitations from Ebay
http://bit.ly/i9MrTm

Possibly ballerina silhouette cupcake toppers from Etsy seller Two Sugar Babies
http://etsy.me/eCjLN6

Tutu Outfit
Made by Moi, of course! I'm almost finished with this. It includes a hairbow, tutu, matching tutu for her favorite doll, and applique shirt. Pics will be up on Facebook when it's done.
Here's a link to the album:
http://on.fb.me/f3fmGF

Ballerina Dress
Also made by Moi! I made one for Princess and one for her doll. I figured she probably won't want to wear a tutu for the whole party so now she has a backup outfit


Paper plates and plastic silverware
From a party store in colors that coordinate with the party theme

Ballerina Cake
Your basic bowl-shaped cake "skirt" with a barbie stuck in the top. Sounds tasty! Hope it turns out because I've never made one of these before.

Ballerina Garland
Designed and handcrafted by...Moi! Does anyone else think I'm putting too much work into a 3 year old's party?

I Told You So...

The plan for Christmas was to drive 6 hours on Christmas Eve to celebrate with relatives, then drive 6 hours back the day after Christmas. Except that we live in Minnesota where the record for the most snow in December has been surpassed this year and was added to on Christmas Eve. So we decided not to risk getting stuck somewhere with 2 small children and stay home instead. We missed spending time with family, but it sure was nice to be able to spend a quiet Christmas at home. Christmas morning, we did the stockings and gifts.  Little Man was thrilled with his toy puppy that barks and walks that Princess gave him (and that she keeps trying to take back since she loves it as much as he does). Princess got a dollhouse and accessories from Hubby and me. I had asked him before Christmas if he would help me put the dollhouse together so I could wrap it up. He told me to wrap it up in the box and we'd put it together on Christmas. Here's the conversation that took place Christmas morning after opening gifts:

Me: Didn't I tell you we should've put that dollhouse together a week ago?

Hubby: Part of the fun of (Stupid hinges!) Christmas is (These directions are worthless!) watching someone put your toys together (throws screwdriver in frustration)

Princess: I wanna play! Waaaaaa!



So yeah, next year we're assembling all toys in advance.
My kids have a very special tradition of either being sick or cranky on major holidays. Not being the kind of kids who break tradition, they were (thankfully) both healthy, but crabby.  Little Man wasn't too bad since he's easily distracted with a toy or pacifier, but Princess was....well, let's just say that if there was a Santa, he probably would've come over last night to take back all her toys.

Here's the loot. Keep in mind that these are just the gifts Hubby and I bestowed upon our little angels. This does not include gifts from friends, relatives, etc..



Big news that I'm very excited about since potty training turned out to be such a nightmare.  Princess is fully trained. I know I put that in the last post too, but yesterday (Merry Christmas!) we took the last step and let her sleep in her big girl "unners" instead of changing into a pull-up because it had been over a week since she had an accident, sleeping or awake. We're done!!!!! Just one in diapers! And this time around, I absolutely refuse to start potty training until he's good and ready. I don't care how much pressure I get from people, if they want him potty trained earlier, they can do it themselves.

Unsolicited Advice: I think this goes without saying, but assemble all toys before the Big Day. Oh, and it probably isn't a bad idea to remove all toys from their packaging so you don't have the traditional "I want it now!" tantrum.

Profound Thoughts....HA!

I had something very profound to write and then Princess decided to stand right next to me and throw a fit because I won't give her a potty treat until she actually goes potty. Profound thoughts go straight out the window when a child is throwing a tantrum near me. As you can guess, I don't have too many profound thoughts anymore.

Methinks Princess may be a bit spoiled. For her birthday I'm making her a tutu outfit which includes a tutu, applique shirt, hairbow, and matching tutu for "Mink Baby" (her favorite doll which just happens to have a pink outfit). I'm also making her a pillowcase dress and matching dress for Mink Baby. Everything will, of course, be ballet theme. She is my little Princess and my little ballerina. She loves anything frilly and girly and the pinker the better. At a garage sale last fall, I found a Disney dress that is pink with tulle for the skirt and sparkles. I held it up and asked Princess if she wanted me to get it for her. She responded by attempting to strip off her clothes right then and there so she could put it on. I managed to keep her clothes on her until we got home, but then she HAD to wear the dress. Since that time, the dress is either in the laundry basket or on Louise.

Hmmmm, I was going to insert a picture of Princess wearing the famous Princess dress here, but upon reviewing my photo records, I see that, despite how much she wears her dress, we have not taken one picture of it.

Anyways, I'm writing this blog about my children, but as of this second I am telling Princess to stop bugging me so I can finish writing. This kind of defeats the purpose. This is to help me appreciate my children more, but here I am neglecting one of them so I can write. Time to go!

Unsolicited Advice:
Now is the time of year when joy and goodwill toward men abound. It's also a good time to get back at your now-married-with-a-baby brother-in-law who gave your kids the most annoying toy in the world two years ago.

Too long

Has it really been 4 months since I last blogged? Seriously, I've been so busy I've barely had time to pee let alone, stop and write an entire blog post. I'm not kidding about peeing either. At least once a week, I'll go into the bathroom to brush Princess's teeth and realize that I haven't been in that room since before breakfast. Thankfully, this generally happens while I'm in the bathroom so there is a toilet very conveniently place, saving me from having to explain to my potty training 2 year old why Mommy just had an accident.

Speaking of a potty training 2 year old....she's potty trained!!! After 1 1/2 years of trying EVERYTHING, she decided last week that she was ready. And that was that. A very good friend of ours was around when Princess wet her pants and made sure Princess knew how disappointed she was in her. Apparently, that was all it took and I wish we'd tried that a year ago!

Ever since I got pregnant with Little Man, I've had an issue with my temper. More like I've had an issue with losing it. I've had very little patience with anyone. At first, I wrote this off to pregnancy hormones. Then I had the baby and was still frustrated with every little thing (The milk cap fell on the floor?!?! Someone must die!!!) so I wrote it off as new baby hormones which we all know can be pretty wicked. Then I stopped nursing, baby stopped screaming 21/7, and things got much easier. And I was still seeing red. Being home with me all day, poor Princess bore the brunt of my temper, although Hubby got more than his fair share as well. He'd walk in the door at the end of the day and I would realize that here was someone I could yell at without worrying about paying therapy bills in 13 years. Recently, I sat myself down and had a talk with myself (should I be worried about this?) about how I needed to get myself under control. As I sat there, lecturing myself and getting angry with myself for lecturing myself, I realize that it had been several months since I'd opened my Bible outside of church. Hmmmm.... Now I'm back in the Word everyday and things have gotten better. Why do I always let things get so bad before I turn to Jesus and give everything over to him?

My New Boutique

I'm so excited! With the help of my sister, I recently started on online baby boutique, Annalie's Baby Boutique. It's been up for less than three weeks now and we've had a good response to it. I've been having so much fun designing and making baby and boutique things. Hubby has been having fun watching my supplies take over the living room and our credit card balance hit alarmingly high levels. You gotta spend money to make money, right? :) Because the boutique is online, I've been spending a lot of time on the computer promoting the business and updating the store. Hubby has begun to drop hints about our energy usage around here and asked me the other night if I was ever going to come sit by him on the couch instead of sitting with my new boyfriend, Mr. Acer Computer. I told him that Mr. Computer is always there when I need him (except for when the wireless goes out) and loves to take me shopping so... The housework has also been a victim of the boutique. Dear Hubby made the mistake of informing me that just because I have a "little hobby", it did not give me the right to neglect my real job. The next day, I persuaded (with a little threatening speech) my younger sister to help me turn my city dump back into a pleasant dwelling and let Hubby know how I really feel about him choosing The Farm over his Honey-Do list at home. That evening, he promised (of his own free will) to help out more around the house.

Anyways, gotta go try out my new sewing machine. The one I was using was over 30 years old and decided to retire last Wednesday so I went shopping again today. ("Do you take a visa card that's dangerously close to it's spending limit?")

Unsolicited Advice:
Check out my boutique. No, really. Do it. And tell your friends.
www.facebook.com/annaliesbabyboutique
www.annaliesbabyboutique.etsy.com

My Bouncing Baby Boy

I love Little Man. He smiles easily and has started laughing although I'm not sure if he's laughing because he's happy or if he's laughing at me.

Little Man is also pretty challenging. The only way to get him to sleep is to swaddle him tightly, give him a pacifier, throw a blanket over his face, and bounce him. I have an exercise ball that I spend several hours a day on...not exercising, but bouncing Little Man, who is quite literally my bouncing baby boy. If I forget to cover Little Man's face with a blanket while trying to convince him that he needs at least one nap during the day, he simply will not close his eyes. My theory is that he never has actually fallen asleep, but simply passes out from lack of oxygen due to having his face covered. Don't worry though. When he falls asleep, I pull the blanket off his face so he can revive himself within 11 minutes and then proceed to scream for the next two hours because he's so tired.

Little Man may view falling asleep as tantamount to having his fingernails pulled out one by one, and he may have issues with taking a nap that's longer than 17 minutes at at time, but he does sleep through the night. So my days are frustrating and long while my nights are peaceful and full of sleep. When I'm out somewhere and Little Man is screaming his head off like I've forgotten to feed him for a week, I get looks of pity which turn into deep sympathy when I explain that this is what he does EVERY TIME he gets tired. Then, I usually make the mistake of saying, "Well, at least he sleeps through the night." At that point, most people roll their eyes and tell me that I don't know how good I have it. I'll agree with that. I've been blessed with two children who, so far, (knock on wood, cross fingers, pray HARD) are good at sleeping during the night, but lack that skill during the day. However, people don't have much sympathy for a mom with a "high-needs" baby if that baby sleeps through the night. Guess I don't blame them though. I'd much rather that Little Man is a bear during the day as long as he sleeps all night.

Unsolicited Advice:
When taking laundry out of the dryer, fold it and stack it in the laundry basket instead of just dumping it all in. This ensures that, even if you don't have time to even look at the basket of clothes again until you actually need to wear something out of it, you will at least find folded clothes instead of a wrinkled mess.

Why Won't You Stop Asking Me Why?

I hate the word "why." And if you ask me why, I'll probably bite your head off. So please don't ask, let me just tell you. Princess is in the "why" stage. She has been for a while, and at first, I thought it was cute that she wanted to learn so much. Now, she seems to think that no matter what I say, I expect her to follow up with "Why?"
Me: "Princess, you just stepped on your sunglasses and broke them."
Princess: "Why?"
Me: "I don't know why you did that."
Princess: "Why?"
Me: "Because I have no idea why you do most of the things you do."
Princess: "Why?"
Me: "Because 2 year olds are inexplicable."
Princess "Why?"
Me: (Pulls out hair in frustration) "Stop asking me why! I don't know why!!"
Princess: "Why?"
Me: (Screams and locks self in bathroom)
Princess: (Bangs on bathroom door) "Why?"
So yeah...not so cute anymore.

Have you ever noticed that people are never happy with how many children you have or don't have? After the wedding ceremony, people (especially prospective grandmas) sidle up to you at the reception with a glint in their eye and casually ask how long you plan to wait before having kids. Five months later, the same question is posed, but this time with a vague sense of urgency. A year later, people start slipping you brochures with titles like "How to Overcome Infertility" and "Babies: A Fulfilling Experience"

When you finally cave and become pregnant, complete strangers feel as if it's acceptable for them to add their opinion. Questions arise as to the number of babies you are carrying even though you've had two ultrasounds to prove that there really is only one baby in there. Fast forward to when the baby is 6 months old. People start to whisper behind your back. "Do you think she'll have another soon?" It's almost as if, since you've proven your ability to create a new life, they expect you to pop out another one within the year. After you've had your second baby, some people start to change their tack. Instead of pushing you in the direction of pregnancy, they tell you how you now have the perfect pair and don't need any more. Others will still hold out hope that you continue to have more. If you dare to become pregnant again, you will receive advice on how three children is really a difficult number to have because someone is always left out. About half of the people telling you this are trying to make you feel guilty for bringing another life into this world, the other half are telling you to have one more to even things up a bit. When you bring home your fourth baby, with only a few rare exceptions, people will begin giving you literature on the dangers of overpopulation and asking you how you can possibly handle so many little people hanging on you all day long.

Unsolicited Advice:
One of the best things about having kids is that they make great gift ideas. I don't mean you should wrap your 10 month old up and give him away at Christmas time, but pictures of your kids or personalized items with pictures of your kids make great gifts for relatives (your boss at work may not be too impressed with a mug showing off your children's "silly" faces).