Ah, it's Thursday again.
Considering how Monday through Wednesday went around here, I'm shocked that Thursday even came about. It's been quite a looooooong week.
This Thursday I am thankful that my boys are all in bed and asleep before ten pm. Yes, it's been a very long week.
We moved the twins out of cribs almost two weeks ago. We have turned Jonz' room into "the boys' room."
They haven't tried to escape the room as much as I thought they would, but they also haven't slept as much as I thought they would.
They're averaging about nine hours of sleep per 24 hour period, where they used to be sleeping about 13 or 14 hours. The result is extremely whiny and sad twins and a cranky five year old who is being woken up before he's ready.
I feel like I am on edge all the time. It's insane. I can't count how many hours I've laid on the floor in that room stroking backs or eyebrows, reminding them to close their eyes, telling them to lay down, etc. They are SO tired all the time now, but they won't sleep when given the opportunity.
What gives?? What is it about bars on a crib that make a child sleep better? I thought at first maybe they just slept out of boredom when they'd wake up super early in the morning. But such is not the case. I make sure they're bored to death when I go in there to try to get them to sleep and yet they lie there, yawning and rubbing their eyes, determined to stay awake.
Goose has a small excuse in that he burned one of the fingers he sucks last Saturday and has been unable to sooth himself to sleep as he normally would. But after five days shouldn't the body be figuring out a new system??? And his twin, who can still suck his beloved fingers, is only sleeping ever so slightly more than Goose.
I am at a loss. Huge loss. Of logic and patience.
But. There have been nights when they're just so exhausted that they crash after only five reprimands to get back in bed instead of thirty. And tonight is one of those nights. It's bliss after the crazy day.
PLUS, Bret put the kids to bed while I was out at a meeting! Double bliss!
But I won't lie and say that I wasn't worried they'd still be fighting sleep when I arrived home. They were both zonked by the time I walked through the door. Triple bliss!
Poor little Jonzy was still awake though. He's a night owl. We make him go to bed at a decent hour, but he regularly lies awake in the dark just thinking since that's all he can do. What an obedient kid to stay in bed:) I hoping though, that with his brothers waking him up before he's used to that he'll start to fall asleep earlier at night.
Why can't sleep be simple? It seems like it should be.
But yes, long-winded story short: I am so thankful there are at least some times that the boys go to bed easily. It recharges my sanity batteries:)
What are you thankful for?
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
Is the desire to sleep something innate?
I have this memory.
I don't know how old I was, but I know what house I was living in so I can't have been younger than four. I do know that I was still taking naps.
My mom woke me up and told me that someone had come asking for my older brothers and I to go swimming with them. She said I could get up early from my nap and go if I wanted to. I declined the offer in favor of going back to sleep.
Sleep and I are good friends and it seems we've been that way since I was at least four years old.
This is part of the reason I am so baffled at my twins' behavior the past ten days.
Ten days ago they stopped sleeping in cribs.
The transition, while not as easy as it was with Jonzy, it easier than I expected it to be. I'm hardly losing any sleep at all;) But those poor boys are so tired! The whining! The crying! My ears are bleeding from it all.
Wouldn't it stand to reason that a person, when given the opportunity, would sleep as much as his body required??? Then why in the devil aren't my boys sleeping?!?!? They have more than ample opportunity. Al was practically falling out of his chair at lunch today, while Goose couldn't find happiness in anything on his plate (an offering of classics that he usually loves). I took them upstairs right after lunch. That was almost two hours ago and they still aren't asleep. They'd much rather be whispering out the window and opening dresser drawers instead.
I'm following routine. Everything is as it was before the switch to big boy beds. All that's different is the bed and the location (right next to their old bedroom). We've even made it dark in there.
I am so confused and frustrated. I'm trying not to be angry. I know that most of the tears and whines come from insufficient sleep. Every time they whine or cry about something mundane, I try to remember how I had the urge to cry about the stupidest things when they were brand new and I was so tired. I know the feeling. The thing is though, I am giving them more than enough time to sleep and they're not using it. Each whine makes my back seize up. I can't take it much longer.
Is it the twin factor? Al isn't tired enough to sleep so he keeps Goose up until he is tired but then Goose hits a second wave and is no longer tired so he keeps Al up, kind of thing? Are they just not going to sleep when given the freedom to because it's not a personality trait of theirs?
Why? Why? Why? WHY?
Phew. They're asleep. Now I'll probably have to wake them up before they naturally would so that they'll go to sleep tonight. Oy.
I don't know how old I was, but I know what house I was living in so I can't have been younger than four. I do know that I was still taking naps.
My mom woke me up and told me that someone had come asking for my older brothers and I to go swimming with them. She said I could get up early from my nap and go if I wanted to. I declined the offer in favor of going back to sleep.
Sleep and I are good friends and it seems we've been that way since I was at least four years old.
This is part of the reason I am so baffled at my twins' behavior the past ten days.
Ten days ago they stopped sleeping in cribs.
The transition, while not as easy as it was with Jonzy, it easier than I expected it to be. I'm hardly losing any sleep at all;) But those poor boys are so tired! The whining! The crying! My ears are bleeding from it all.
Wouldn't it stand to reason that a person, when given the opportunity, would sleep as much as his body required??? Then why in the devil aren't my boys sleeping?!?!? They have more than ample opportunity. Al was practically falling out of his chair at lunch today, while Goose couldn't find happiness in anything on his plate (an offering of classics that he usually loves). I took them upstairs right after lunch. That was almost two hours ago and they still aren't asleep. They'd much rather be whispering out the window and opening dresser drawers instead.
I'm following routine. Everything is as it was before the switch to big boy beds. All that's different is the bed and the location (right next to their old bedroom). We've even made it dark in there.
I am so confused and frustrated. I'm trying not to be angry. I know that most of the tears and whines come from insufficient sleep. Every time they whine or cry about something mundane, I try to remember how I had the urge to cry about the stupidest things when they were brand new and I was so tired. I know the feeling. The thing is though, I am giving them more than enough time to sleep and they're not using it. Each whine makes my back seize up. I can't take it much longer.
Is it the twin factor? Al isn't tired enough to sleep so he keeps Goose up until he is tired but then Goose hits a second wave and is no longer tired so he keeps Al up, kind of thing? Are they just not going to sleep when given the freedom to because it's not a personality trait of theirs?
Why? Why? Why? WHY?
Phew. They're asleep. Now I'll probably have to wake them up before they naturally would so that they'll go to sleep tonight. Oy.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Thankful Thursday
Today I am thankful for my camera.
Or to be more precise, my digital camera.
I feel very creative with my camera. I can take hundreds of pictures and never have to worry about what the shots will look like when printed out. I can see right away if it will be a picture worth keeping let alone printing.
With my camera I can capture so many memories. Such funny expressions. Amazing vistas.
If I don't like a picture I took, I can delete it and try again.
Technology is awesome!
We recently went on vacation and I took 217 photos in 4 days. That's not counting the ones I deleted.
It was beautiful.
And I've got the pictures to prove it:)
What are you thankful for today?
Or to be more precise, my digital camera.
I feel very creative with my camera. I can take hundreds of pictures and never have to worry about what the shots will look like when printed out. I can see right away if it will be a picture worth keeping let alone printing.
With my camera I can capture so many memories. Such funny expressions. Amazing vistas.
If I don't like a picture I took, I can delete it and try again.
Technology is awesome!
We recently went on vacation and I took 217 photos in 4 days. That's not counting the ones I deleted.
It was beautiful.
And I've got the pictures to prove it:)
What are you thankful for today?
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Thankful Thursday
Two words:
Air. Conditioning.
I don't know how people survived before air conditioning. How did they sleep??? I was talking to someone the other day about this very subject and voiced my amazement that anyone survived ye olden times without air conditioning. She, a global warming...ist, said that it wasn't as hot back then. I decided not to pursue the subject because I knew I'd seen stuff on the news about temps back in the day. You know the deal. How on record breaking days they'll post the high temperature and next to it the year that previously held the record? Yeah, that. I know I've seen at least years as early as the 1920s on those.
Come to read today that the heat wave the country has been enjoying has not happened since the 1880s! It was this hot in the 1880s?!?! Well yeah, duh Lindsey, of course it was.
But seriously! I understand how one could get used to this over time and by drinking lots of water and finding occasional shade and a nice pretty paper fan, such temperatures could be lived through. But HOW did they sleep?!?!
Right. Anyway. I am so extremely grateful for the uber amounts of comfort that our air conditioner gives us.
What are you grateful for today?
Air. Conditioning.
I don't know how people survived before air conditioning. How did they sleep??? I was talking to someone the other day about this very subject and voiced my amazement that anyone survived ye olden times without air conditioning. She, a global warming...ist, said that it wasn't as hot back then. I decided not to pursue the subject because I knew I'd seen stuff on the news about temps back in the day. You know the deal. How on record breaking days they'll post the high temperature and next to it the year that previously held the record? Yeah, that. I know I've seen at least years as early as the 1920s on those.
Come to read today that the heat wave the country has been enjoying has not happened since the 1880s! It was this hot in the 1880s?!?! Well yeah, duh Lindsey, of course it was.
But seriously! I understand how one could get used to this over time and by drinking lots of water and finding occasional shade and a nice pretty paper fan, such temperatures could be lived through. But HOW did they sleep?!?!
Right. Anyway. I am so extremely grateful for the uber amounts of comfort that our air conditioner gives us.
What are you grateful for today?
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Thankful Thursday
Last night I knelt down next to my bed, beside my husband, and listened while he offered a prayer. As I bowed my head (or more aptly put, laid my head on the bed out of tiredness...) and before he started praying, I was suddenly struck by how special it was and how good it felt. And then I thought, "I LOVE being married to Bret." I know I often talk about Bret in my Thankful Thursday posts. Sorry. But not really:)
I am so thankful that I married a man who would pray with me. Virtually every night and most mornings that we've been married we've prayed together, just the two of us. I know that it's made the struggles of life more bearable and the joys sweeter.
Often we can't remember whose turn it is to pray. Morning prayers on weekends rarely happen. Sometimes we just want to go to bed and not pause for a prayer. Sickness, different schedules, and heavily loaded plates of responsibility all make it seem inconvenient at times. But it is always worth it. Whenever we've won over the temptation to not pray we've never looked back and said, "Man, I sure wish we hadn't wasted that time praying!"
Prayer is awesome. I'm grateful of the knowledge I have that my prayers are heard. I'm grateful that I can pray by myself, with my family, and with my husband. I'm grateful we made the goal to pray as a couple when we were first married. It's really paid off:)
What are you thankful for today?
I am so thankful that I married a man who would pray with me. Virtually every night and most mornings that we've been married we've prayed together, just the two of us. I know that it's made the struggles of life more bearable and the joys sweeter.
Often we can't remember whose turn it is to pray. Morning prayers on weekends rarely happen. Sometimes we just want to go to bed and not pause for a prayer. Sickness, different schedules, and heavily loaded plates of responsibility all make it seem inconvenient at times. But it is always worth it. Whenever we've won over the temptation to not pray we've never looked back and said, "Man, I sure wish we hadn't wasted that time praying!"
Prayer is awesome. I'm grateful of the knowledge I have that my prayers are heard. I'm grateful that I can pray by myself, with my family, and with my husband. I'm grateful we made the goal to pray as a couple when we were first married. It's really paid off:)
What are you thankful for today?
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
3 boys. 1 mom. Infinite repetition.
25 things I say every single day, often more than once.
1. That doesn't go in your mouth.
2. When has whining ever gotten you what you wanted?
3. Ikissyourface.
4. Share it or no one gets it.
5. Nap time!
6. Stop.
7. No no no no NO!
8. Get down, please.
9. Where are your shoes?
10. That's enough.
11. I don't know why.
12. That's not a toy.
13. That's not how we talk to each other.
14. Pleeeeease don't make a mess.
15. Too loud, take it down a couple notches.
16. No screaming.
17. Where is your brother?
18. That didn't sound good.
19. I love you.
20. That's not for hitting.
21. Be nice to your toys.
22. Soft please.
23. Would you like it if I did that to you? Then you shouldn't do it to your brother.
24. Because it's good for you.
25. Because it's not good for you.
Sure there are more, but that's enough for now. What do you find yourself saying often to your kids?
1. That doesn't go in your mouth.
2. When has whining ever gotten you what you wanted?
3. Ikissyourface.
4. Share it or no one gets it.
5. Nap time!
6. Stop.
7. No no no no NO!
8. Get down, please.
9. Where are your shoes?
10. That's enough.
11. I don't know why.
12. That's not a toy.
13. That's not how we talk to each other.
14. Pleeeeease don't make a mess.
15. Too loud, take it down a couple notches.
16. No screaming.
17. Where is your brother?
18. That didn't sound good.
19. I love you.
20. That's not for hitting.
21. Be nice to your toys.
22. Soft please.
23. Would you like it if I did that to you? Then you shouldn't do it to your brother.
24. Because it's good for you.
25. Because it's not good for you.
Sure there are more, but that's enough for now. What do you find yourself saying often to your kids?
Sunday, July 4, 2010
America. It's beautiful!!
It's not Thursday, but today is not a day to be missed gratitude-wise.
I am forever grateful to be an American.
I have been enjoying the last few weeks reading historical fiction about the Revolutionary War, things about the Constitutional Convention, the Declaration of Independence, and children's books about colonial America with Jonzy.
I adore history, and especially love the history of my country. What a story it is! I am astounded at the ways people sacrificed for the cause as they fought for America's freedom. I am also shocked at the similarities of people then with people now who wanted the freedom, but didn't want to have to do anything for it and expected it just to be handed to them because they asked for it. In the words of the great Thomas Paine:
What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated.
Oddly enough, I haven't had to give anything dear to me for my freedom. I was born here in this great land, hundreds of years after it's inception. But I am not ignorant. I have seen accounts of what life is like in other countries. I have read of many things suffered before America was independent. As far back as I can remember, my parents taught my brothers and me how special our country is. I have always felt some sense of patriotism and became quite zealous in my teenage years. Since I have become a cognizant adult, I have an even deeper understanding and love for what I am blessed with as an American citizen.
America is indeed a beautiful place. I am often awed by the natural beauty here. I am inspired by the incredible men and women who sacrificed for and established this nation and for those who have maintained it since.
I am grateful for this country; that I was raised here and that I can raise my children here. I can't help but cry when I sing The Star Spangled Banner, most especially the third verse. I get choked up reading the Declaration of Independence. The sight of the American flag swells my heart and stories of patriots make me proud.
I don't feel like I have the words to really say what I'd like to. So, in my opinion, music can say it best. Read these glorious lyrics of a simple and beautiful song and enjoy this amazing weekend of celebration:)
I am forever grateful to be an American.
I have been enjoying the last few weeks reading historical fiction about the Revolutionary War, things about the Constitutional Convention, the Declaration of Independence, and children's books about colonial America with Jonzy.
I adore history, and especially love the history of my country. What a story it is! I am astounded at the ways people sacrificed for the cause as they fought for America's freedom. I am also shocked at the similarities of people then with people now who wanted the freedom, but didn't want to have to do anything for it and expected it just to be handed to them because they asked for it. In the words of the great Thomas Paine:
What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated.
Oddly enough, I haven't had to give anything dear to me for my freedom. I was born here in this great land, hundreds of years after it's inception. But I am not ignorant. I have seen accounts of what life is like in other countries. I have read of many things suffered before America was independent. As far back as I can remember, my parents taught my brothers and me how special our country is. I have always felt some sense of patriotism and became quite zealous in my teenage years. Since I have become a cognizant adult, I have an even deeper understanding and love for what I am blessed with as an American citizen.
America is indeed a beautiful place. I am often awed by the natural beauty here. I am inspired by the incredible men and women who sacrificed for and established this nation and for those who have maintained it since.
I am grateful for this country; that I was raised here and that I can raise my children here. I can't help but cry when I sing The Star Spangled Banner, most especially the third verse. I get choked up reading the Declaration of Independence. The sight of the American flag swells my heart and stories of patriots make me proud.
I don't feel like I have the words to really say what I'd like to. So, in my opinion, music can say it best. Read these glorious lyrics of a simple and beautiful song and enjoy this amazing weekend of celebration:)
My country,' tis of thee,
sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing;
land where my fathers died,
land of the pilgrims' pride,
from every mountainside let freedom ring!
My native country, thee,
land of the noble free, thy name I love;
I love thy rocks and rills,
thy woods and templed hills;
my heart with rapture thrills, like that above.
Let music swell the breeze,
and ring from all the trees sweet freedom's song;
let mortal tongues awake;
let all that breathe partake;
let rocks their silence break, the sound prolong.
Our fathers' God, to thee,
author of liberty, to thee we sing;
long may our land be bright
with freedom's holy light;
protect us by thy might, great God, our King.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Thankful Thursday
Ah, July. How I love thee.
It's a darn good thing that there's so many awesome things to enjoy in July or else I'd slip into a heat-induced daze and not reemerge until September. I am not a fan of the heat.
Today I am thankful for visiting teachers. (For anyone not familiar with this LDS practice, the women get put into pairs and they visit other women each month, share a spiritual message, help out in anyway they're needed, etc.) It has been years since I've had visiting teachers who I can relate to. How happy I was when I learned that my VTs in this new ward were young moms, both who have boys right around my boys' ages. It has also been years since I've had diligent VTs who keep tabs on me and visit regularly. Who don't just come read something to me for five minutes, but who discuss the message with me and chat about life with me. I forgot how much I look forward to visits when I know that they won't be awkward.
Having gone from wonderful visiting teachers to not-so-wonderful, I don't know how long this may last, but I'm enjoying it while it does. I am very grateful for my VTs.
Now...if I could just walk the walk and be a good visiting teacher myself all would be right in the world. That's one of my goals for the second half of 2010. Wish me luck because I need it! (Or, more specifically, my visiting teachees need me to have it;))
What are you thankful for today?
It's a darn good thing that there's so many awesome things to enjoy in July or else I'd slip into a heat-induced daze and not reemerge until September. I am not a fan of the heat.
Today I am thankful for visiting teachers. (For anyone not familiar with this LDS practice, the women get put into pairs and they visit other women each month, share a spiritual message, help out in anyway they're needed, etc.) It has been years since I've had visiting teachers who I can relate to. How happy I was when I learned that my VTs in this new ward were young moms, both who have boys right around my boys' ages. It has also been years since I've had diligent VTs who keep tabs on me and visit regularly. Who don't just come read something to me for five minutes, but who discuss the message with me and chat about life with me. I forgot how much I look forward to visits when I know that they won't be awkward.
Having gone from wonderful visiting teachers to not-so-wonderful, I don't know how long this may last, but I'm enjoying it while it does. I am very grateful for my VTs.
Now...if I could just walk the walk and be a good visiting teacher myself all would be right in the world. That's one of my goals for the second half of 2010. Wish me luck because I need it! (Or, more specifically, my visiting teachees need me to have it;))
What are you thankful for today?
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