this & that

 My brain is full today.  I am thinking about a million things. And I thought, hey, let's put this blog to good use & try to sort it all out.

 I will soon be posting another Care Packages blog~ boy were we spoiled on Wednesday~ and I have another blog, one about Motherhood, in the works as well.
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{Valentine's morning...}

 We had moose the last two nights in a row.  First steaks, then a roast. It was delicious!  I was really proud of the roast- I threw it in the crockpot with a soup starter & it was a huge hit!
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{Julie sent us everything I could need to decorate for the holiday of love!}

I have lost another pound.  I am down to 163 pounds now. I haven't been at 163 since before I had children, so I am feeling quite inspired.  For five weeks now I've been doing the Mama Wants Her Abs Back workouts, and last week I added the Mama Wants Her Body Back workout.  So now I'm working out six days a week.  But I am loving it.  The workouts are short (ten or twenty minutes, depending which one I do) and I am so much happier after I do them. I don't want to get ahead of myself, but I think I could see the 150's, and that is exhilarating!

I am glad I've been working out because it has been giving me an extra boost of energy, which I have needed with this sleepless baby of ours.  

Here's the deal- he's been waking up five to seven times a night pretty much since we got here.  I thought it was to eat, but after reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child (HSH, HC) front to back, I now know that there is no way he needs to eat that often.  So we tried "Crying it Out" about two weeks ago, but it was miserable.  He was still in our bedroom, and he cried for over three hours!  We almost lost our minds.

So we went back to what was working, which was me waking up every two hours to hold, feed & console him back to sleep.  As you can imagine, that wasn't actually working.

So on Wednesday night we moved the baby's crib into the boys' bedroom, upstairs next door to our room.  The boys went down pretty easy, and they were all asleep until 10:30 when Wyatt woke up crying.  Josh went in to console him, but he only cried louder.  The twins started to stir... I gave up. I fed him.  And again at midnight, one, four, and five.  Epic fail.

So last night we moved him downstairs into the playroom and I slept on the couch.  I was determined. This was it. I was going to sleep train this baby if it killed me.  He woke up at 11:30, which was an improvement as he's usually awake by 10 or 10:30, but once he woke up, he would NOT go back to sleep. He cried until 1:10am.  Yes. For nearly two hours.  Once we hit one'o'clock I knew it was time for him to eat (according to Dr. Weissbluth who wrote HSH, HC).  So I scooped him up, fed him & put him right back in bed. Voila. By 1:30 he was asleep again.  And he slept until 5:00am, when I fed him again (per Dr. W's advice) and put him back to sleep. He slept until 6:30.  So while it was not perfect (I could have done without the two hour crying block) it was an improvement over going in six times.

I am hopeful that moving the humidifier in there tonight will help.  The air is really dry and when he woke up at 11:30 last night he was coughing pretty bad.  I am committed to only going in twice to feed, at about midnight & five.  And when he turns nine months, I am going to cut one of those, per Dr. W.  I am very hopeful this will improve. Because if it doesn't, I am going to spend the rest of my life walking around in a blurry daze.  Yesterday morning I showered, turned off the faucet, opened the shower curtain, realized I hadn't washed my hair & had to turn the shower back on to do so.  Being sleep deprived is obnoxious.

And knowing he's going to be up, needing me, crying any minute, has brought back my old foe- nighttime sleep anxiety. I lay there, mind racing, thoughts frantic, unable to take a deep breath, knowing that as soon as I fall asleep I will hear him and have to get up.  It's crappy.
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Josh is picking up an accent. It's crazy to hear him talk.  I hear it the most when he says Logan. The L lasts longer than it used to: Llllogan. And his t-h is turning into d.  Like that=dat.  His O's are long, like he's from North Dakota, and his R's are different. It's how his students talk. And everyone in the village, really. It's rubbing off on him. I love it.

I'm jealous.  So when he starts sounding Native, I put on my Sarah Palin accent (I will admit, I do a mean Sarah Palin impersonation!) and together we become Alaskan!  Oh man, good times.

{We did haircuts for the first time in Marshall. I cut everyone's hair- Josh, Logan, Jack & Wyatt}

 We were also talking, not in our new accents, about our old pets.  Every time either of us crinkles up a piece of paper, we think of Sukie, the cat we had from our wedding to just last year.  She used to come running when we did that, and then we'd throw it for her, and she'd chase it all over the house. 

{The boys always ask Josh to carry them like a sack of potatoes...}

And that got me thinking about Bonnie, the Scottish Terrier we had growing up.  And how whenever we had popcorn for years after she'd passed on, we'd all miss throwing it to her, or calling her to eat it when we dropped it. She loved popcorn.  And we loved her.
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{It always ends in a fit of giggles!}

There are some things I've been enjoying lately, despite the lack of sleep around these parts:

-Wyatt & his love of Cheerios.  The kid is addicted! He smiles at the box when he sees it! 

{Jack discovered a hole in his sock one morning}

-My new house cleaning plan.

I have never had a house so big, and cleaning it two weeks ago took the entire day Sunday.  So last week I just didn't clean it- not a good option.  Then this week, it hit me. Pick one room for each day of the week to tackle.  

{I think he is growing!}

Monday: The main living area (living/dining/kitchen)

Tuesday: The playroom & arctic entry

Wednesday: Downstairs bathroom

Thursday: Twins' bedroom

Friday: Our bedroom & upstairs hallway

Saturday: Our bathroom

Sunday: Mama's Day of Rest!!!

I did it each day this week, and the house feels tidy, plus I am not overwhelmed. Awesome.

{Wyatt's old bath seat has made for some casual movie watching for Jack... hehehe!}

-I've also been enjoying reading again.  I read Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. It's a novel about a set of twins born in Ethiopia, and I could not put it down.  And the last two chapters, I bawled my eyes out. Just sat on the couch reading, tears streaming down my cheeks.  It was a touching book, beautifully written, so moving.{love}

{He just cracked me up sitting in there!}

 I am looking so forward to the weekend.  Everything slows down & Josh is here with us.  I love that. I think that the weekends were the worst part of being apart.  Oh, how I missed him.  Now the weekends have their sparkle back.

{Oh, how I do love this baby!}

 Our weekend plans:

• Take turns sleeping in... delicious!
•  Hang curtains in our bedroom
• Also, hang hooks for our broom, Swiffer & my cooking aprons
• Attend the Junior High Basketball Tournament with the boys tomorrow while Josh takes pictures for Yearbook
• Make bread on Sunday, as well as Chili in the crockpot
• And, finally, tonight is date night, which means pizza, (this week it will be home made~double yum!) soda, a movie (Seven or Inglourious Basterds-- It's my week to pick, and  I can't decide), and Red Vines for dessert.

{He is just so stinkin' adorable!!!}

I've been inspired by Helen at Three Times the Giggles to do a Q & A.  She lets her readers pose questions and then she answers them in a blog post.  I think it'd be fun to know what people want to know about me/our family.  I feel like I pretty much "spill the beans" on here, but if there's something I've been holding back you'd like to know about, let me know!

Bring on the questions!