Catching up from the East Coast

First, I have to comment on Rachel's drunken weekend and pacifier blues... this might be the weekend to drink those Skinny Girl Cosmos again. Call up your friend again and see if the dads will handle bed time while they are at it! Good luck to ya - the only thing I did right with my youngest daughter is take it away (cold turkey, by the way) at 13 months. Granted, she had thrush and I was told that it was quite painful to contract that via breastfeeding, but it was a flawless process. I was quite worried as well, but 13 months is world's away from 28 months. You can do it Rachie!

As was mentioned, I took my two older girls to Arizona to see their grandmother during Spring break. As a result, I was away from my 23 month old daughter for 7 days and nights. For the recrod, I put all 3 of my kids to bed every night and it is often a juggling act with lots of waiting: one or more whining they need help brushing and having to wait for me to break free, one falling asleep waiting in their bed with a book or two in my bed waiting, waiting, waiting. We just can't seem to get it down to a science due to nap schedules, activities that make them more or less tired, etc.  Most of the time my husband will read books or watch TV with someone while waiting for me to actually put them to bed. He never does it and they don't want it. So, naturally my little one was pretty worried and confused when I was suddenly gone. She acted much the way she acts with the babysitter - constantly searching and on edge. But, within 3 days, she was attached to my husband like glue. They came up with their own routines: getting a cracker to bring in her crib before bed, waking and eating oranges and crackers in our bed, rocking in the chair several rounds before bed, late night rocking in the chair until she pointed that she was done. Needless to say, this was not going to work for my already-busy work load in the house. (I will say that David changed the crib sheets and our bed sheets the day we came home - thankfully. But, when I asked if she took a bath every night he said that he thought he just gave her one bath early in the week... good lord). 

Sunday morning, when she called DADDY from the crib instead of my name, I immediately went in with a huge smile on my face and arms open wide. But, she seemed just as confused as I imagined she was with my husband in the beginning of the week. She just looked at me for a while and asked for a cracker and orange. When my husband finally woke up, she went right to him and preferred him for the day. The next day we got to know each other again and since then she is both mama's girl and daddy's girl. He put her to bed on Wednesday night and they played outside this evening. The extreme attachment that she and my other two girls also had at this age diminished and maybe not for good but for the time being. It's a nice thing for both of us. 

Nighty-night.

Soon to be Sleepless in MN

So, all three kiddos went to the dentist on Saturday.  This was the babes 2nd visit.  6 months ago, their bites were fine and the dentist was ok with the pacifier use.  Fast forward to this past weekend, not so much.  BOTH bites have been effected and the pacifiers need to be disposed of.  They are great sleepers.  I know for sure the pacifier helps them wait patiently in their cribs (especially my DD) in the mornings for one of us to come and get them around 7a.  Sometimes at night one or both cries out, but not for long because, yay!  I found my pacifier! 

I have been unable to sleep at night since the appointment thinking of how I am going to get rid of them.  I have talked to my ECFE class about it (no help) and I have read endlessly on line about the topic.  I know that I can not cold turkey it.  It just seems so cruel to take away the security just like that.  I have decided that we will poke holes in the tip to make it hard to suck.  So passive aggressive, I know.  They both understand that things break and sometimes when that happens, we need to throw things away.  It will also allow them to give it up, rather than us.  If they really want they can still hold it or chew on it in a different way.....until the next visit to the dentist.

I told myself that next Friday is the day.  I then said, why wait?  I will do it this Friday.  I just found out that it is going to storm this Friday.  I am going to wait for next Friday because of that.  They will not be sleeping well and without pacifiers, they will freak out with the storm. 

This whole thing hurts my heart.  Does that make sense?  This may seem strange because I am the mom that let her children cry it out.  My stomach still tightens when I hear them cry at night or at nap time, though.  With my first, it was so, so hard.  It was easier with the babes, but still hard to do.  Knowing that my oldest was a good sleeper, did help a little.

That is all for know.  I will let you know how it goes.  Cross your fingers!  

Happy 8th Birthday!

Happy Birthday to Charlene, my wonderful niece.  It is really hard to believe that she is 8.  I talked to her on the phone today and she sounded so grown-up!  She is spending her birthday in AZ (I guess it is up to me to share with everyone what is going on from MA now....)  There is an ostrich farm near where my mom lives and they have these monster truck rides there.  During the ride you learn everything there is to know about ostrich's and cacti and near the end of the ride you go ostrich fishing!  You attach oranges to fishing poles and feed the ostrich's!  It is pretty cool.  They have ostrich eggs that you can buy.  Last time we were all together in AZ, a few years ago, we bought one and made scrambled eggs.  We needed two frying pans, there was so much egg. 

I guess they were unsure if they would have monster truck rides today because it was sooooo hot in AZ.  First of all, it is AZ.  The high temps can't be unusual.  Second, the weather is a favorite topic that is brought up by my mom or anyone visiting AZ because I am in MN.  WE HAVE NICE WEATHER HERE TOO!!!!  It is really quite lovely here.

Again, Happy 8th Birthday Charlene!  I hope you had a wonderful day! xoxoxox from your family in MN!

Tired in MN

Hello there.  You will never believe what happened this morning.  The alarm goes off.  I get up, get ready, get breakfast ready and go up and get the babes.  My oldest was not up yet, which was strange because he is a human alarm clock for 7a.  I try to be quiet so he can sleep in.  He needs the sleep.  I dress the babes and bring them down for breakfast.  My hubby comes stumbling out of the bedroom and checks the thermostat.  He looks at me and says, "Do you know what time it is?"  "What?"  I ask.  It was 6:15a.  My alarm goes off at 6:30a and for some reason, my clock was an hour ahead.  WHAT????  I missed out on an hour of sleep????  Cripes.  All day I have been questioning the time.  I check my phone and three different clocks before doing anything.  I was terrified my oldest would miss the bus for school. 

Not surprising, I am soooo tired.  Luckily, Wednesday is not a big TV night so going to bed early will be easy. 

By the way, I feel like we should change the name of this Blog to Chattering Sister.  I am talking to myself here.  Hello??  Jenny???  I know you are in AZ visiting mom, but come on.  Help a sister out.

MN Hello!

Hello there!  I have to Blog about my weekend because I actually did a few things.  We never do anything as I am a person who has a schedule and sticks to it.  As the years go by, my hubby has also become quite the homebody.  The two of us together have become quite the pair, let me tell you! 

So, a friend asked me to a movie on Friday night.  I was excited because the movie she chose had the perfect start time so that I would be able to put the babes (what I call my 2 year olds') to bed.  I am fine with not putting my 6 1/2 year old to bed, but the little ones, I just would rather be there.  Well, my friend did some research on the movie and found that the movie was 2 hours and 20 minutes long and with a start time of 8:05p, that would be kind of late.  (Can you see why we are friends?)  So, I had to decide.  Go to the movies and forgo bedtime or forgo the movie?  The last time I did not put the babes to bed was in November when I took my oldest to Turkey Bingo at his school.  Well, the hubby told me I am ridiculous for even thinking that there is a choice to the matter, so I went.  We saw The Hunger Games.  It was my second time seeing the movie.  Loved all three books and the movie was very much true to the book.  I can not for the life of me figure out why they died Josh Hutcherson's (Peeta) hair blond.  He has dark hair normally and for some reason, I was completely annoyed by this.  I do not know how I can possibly wait until November 2013, when the second movie is out. 

That was all Friday.  On Saturday, we had some friends over for a BBQ.  They have a son the same age as our oldest and a little girl who is 6 month's older than the babes.  Us mom's drank a whole bottle of SkinnyGirl White Cranberry Cosmo.  Not each, but together.  The kids ran around outside and the dads watched them.  It was so pleasant! 

Sunday was cold and windy and rainy and I actually never got out of my comfy pants...but I had had a very busy weekend!

Greetings from the Midwest!

Hello there!  My name is Rachel and I am writing to you from the great state of MN where my sister, Jenny, and I grew up.  I am the oldest, but if I told you my "age" I would be considered the youngest.  I am 30-something and that is all you are going to get out of me on that one!  I am married to my high school boyfriend and have 3 children.  Gavin is 6 1/2 and Luke and Jillian are 2.  As my sister stated, I am a stay-at-home mom.  My sister is also a stay-at-home mom, but also has a business she runs out of her home.  I had the great pleasure of enjoying one of the many perks of her business today when a HUGE box of European clothes arrived at my door for my daughter.  Loooove it!  Thank you so much Jenny!

My idea for starting this Blog came suddenly while perusing Pinterest (my latest obsession).  It also came about because I really would like to talk to my sister everyday, but our schedules and the time difference (I know it is only an hour, but with nap and sleep schedules and my extreme love of sleep and her lack of needing very little sleep) it is not possible to do this.  Having a Blog would allow us to chat everyday.  I will never again forget what I was going to tell her (maybe), I will be able to complete an entire story without having to break up a fight, clean up a spilled glass of milk or someone screaming "mommymommymommymommymommy" at me because I am not paying attention to them.  My true dream would be for my sister to live right next door to me so we could see each other every day (she has told me this is not entirely her dream and I can't for the life of me figure out why she wouldn't want to live right next door to me....).  Hopefully this will bring the border of MA and MN just a little bit closer together. 

East Coast Welcome

This blog is the brain-child of my older sister Rachel, who lives in Minnesota. We are both stay-at-home mom's of three children, but we are also much more than our job titles. We hope you find humor, companionship and some bright ideas from our posts.