Texas Size Changes

The title says it all. We are moving to Texas!!!! That is something I didn't think I would ever say. The company Tim works for is aquiring another company. It will hopefully be easier to get people in for meetings in a city and so Tim might not have to travel as much (crossing my fingers). We have a house under contract and Kaden is signed up for preschool so this is really happening.

Of course, we are looking forward to this new adventure but with it comes sadness that we must leave a place we love. I just wanted you all to know. We will probably move around the 1st or 2nd week of July.

Calling All Sleep Experts

HELP! I have noticed lately on a couple of other blogs many of you are dealing with sleep issues with your kids and now they have hit our house. I asked my Moms Group this morning and got a few ideas to try and now I am asking for more. Here is what we have...

Jack - Sleep Problem #1 -Probably the easiest to solve. I just need to commit to it. He goes to bed easily. BUT, he wakes up at about 12:00 and will scream for an hour or until I come to get him. If I put him our bed he wakes up easily and wants to nurse all night. So I know it is time to stop going to get him. But, I haven't commited to letting him scream for several nights yet.

Sleep Problem #2 - He doesn't nap much! He will take about 1 nap a day for about an hour and that is it. If he does take a 2 nd nap it is only for 15-20 min. This makes for a very cranky baby!


Kaden - Sleep Problem #1- He is trying to give up his nap but he still needs one. I am trying to find a way to have a required quiet time and hopefully he will fall asleep. Moms of preschool age children what do you do? (Jenny - You are the one who comes to mind. What have you done with Brayden?)

Sleep Problem #2- We put him to bed at night between 8:00 & 8:30 but he won't go to sleep for like an hour or two. What is he doing? Reading books and playing with his toys. This used to be fine with me but that was when he played/read for 15 - 20 min. then fell asleep. This puts him actually going to sleep around 10:00! I am sorry but that is way too late for an almost 3 year old. Especially the days he doesn't have a nap! And it is way to late for his mom & dad who do like to have some time together Kid free! He has also started coming out of his room for a lot of different reasons (drink, scared, etc.) driving us nuts!

Here is my list of things to try:
1) Take all of the toys out of his room. I don't know where they will go but put them somewhere else. Leave the books. That way when it's bedtime there won't be so many distractions.

2) Set up a token economy (theres a word for my teacher friends!). A really good complete one. With a catalog of prizes, ice cream outings, playtime with mom & dad, and small trips. Maybe I could use this to change some other behaviors too? Any of you who have done something simiar what kind of token worked well with a 3 year old?

This is just so frustrating & exhausting. And yes we do have a set schedule, we do the same bedtime routine, we don't do anything too stimulating before rest time. Is there anything else I am missing?

Car Seats ????

"Riding in Cars is the most dangerous thing my kids do. And they do it everyday!" by unknown

Some of you who live close have probably noticed Kaden is now rear facing agin in the car. Here is the scoop... Over the past couple months I have been reading and researching car seats. It all started when Jack outgrew his infant carrier. I considered myself to be pretty car seat savvy. I know the laws, read my seats manual, and even knew *most* of the guidelines from the Safe Kids Campaign. But what I found I didn't know was SHOCKING. So I am sharing some of the links I was provided. Take them or leave them. I at least wanted to pass on the information I was given. It has changed my philosophy on carseats. I was informed that each car seat milestone your child hits is actually a step down in safety.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2LFo8vVi04&mode=related&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azgBhZfcqaQ&mode=related&search=
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/stayrearfacing.aspx

The thing that sold me (to do extended rear facing with Kaden) was the crash test footage on the cpsafety website. I won't lie it is more difficult to lift him into his seat and it has taken some adjustment for me. But he doesn't seem to care and hasn't complained. Even on a 7 hour car ride he was happy the whole time! If you have any questions reguarding your carseat visit the Car seat Safety board on Babycenter (you know I love that site). They have several Techs and offer great advice. They gave me all the information above. BTW - a lot of kids Kaden's age are too big to be RF. But Kaden's seat allows him to be RF until 33 lbs. and he is only 28 lbs. so I felt like I should turn him around for while longer.

* I really debated about posting this. I don't want to preach. But in the end I was so shocked I didn't know this stuff that I wanted the information to be passed on. If anyone has different or additional information please share.

Jack's New Skills

Jack can now army crawl (on his elbows, knees, and stomach). He can also get up on his hands and knees and rock back and forth. My baby is less like a baby everyday!

He loves to be like his big brother. In this picture he stole Kaden's FP3 player and was listening to music. You can imagine how this went over when Kaden noticed.

Thoughts from Vacation

We are home and recovering from a wonderful vacation. We took Alex and Kristy Awtry with us. Alex won our JJ competition so this was his reward trip. It was very relaxing, well as relaxing as possible with a 7 month old and 2 year old. Trust me our children tested us every chance they got. Jack decided he wouldn't sleep at night and Kaden was just being a 2 year old, throw potty training in and you get the picture.

We spent our time swimming, playing in the sand, reading, going on walks, talking, watching the waves, and just simply enjoying our time together as a family. Oh, and there was an occasional episode of Scrubs on! On the first day of vacation I came across this quote which made me step back and think about how much I need to do the things we do on vacation more often in everyday life.

"Too many families are overscheduled and overwhelmed with merely good
stuff, while they are missing out on all the great things God wants for
them!"
(Taken from Kid CEO pg. 23 - see below)

I want to make sure I am not missing the Great time with my family and
friends. My goal for May is to spend more time on play dates with my kids
and their friends.

One of my goals for vacation was to read a whole book. I didn't quite reach my goal because I didn't technically finish an entire book but I instead read from 3 different books for a total of 459 pages. So I did achieve my goal of getting to read a lot (thanks to tired kids and wonderful nap time). So here are my book reviews from my vacation reading. In case anyone is looking for some summer reading material.

1. The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards - My for fun read. An interesting story about a father who gives one of his twins away at birth because she has Downs Syndrome. This takes place in the 60's when institutions were the common way to go for anyone with a disability. Would definately make a good book club book with lots of possible discussion. Was very interesting to me since I have some educational background with special education.

2. Kid CEO: How to Keep your Children from Running Your Life by Ed Young - My Parenting Improvement Read. Bible based. Reminded me of the things I learned in parenting classes at OC. It is kind of a book about improving your marriage as well because one of it's main themes is to improve your marriage and then the rest of the family will fall in line. Great suggestions.

3. The Four Seasons of Marriage by Gary Chapman - Catch up reading for our Monday Mom's Bible Study. It is a great book. We are currently reading about strategies to move your marriage from a season of fall or winter to the summer or spring. I didn't think I would like this book when we started it but it has given me a lot of insight.

I am working on putting some pictures together from our trip. But I want to share a quick story. One night we went to a Mexican Fiesta. They had a pinata for the kids and Kaden said he wanted to try it. I couldn't believe how brave he was to go up on stage. Anyway, when he got up there they held a microphone up (parents: you know the fear that comes with that - you never know what they might say!) They asked him his name and his reply "My name is Kaden" (proud moment for me - I have worked with him on answering that question). Then they asked him where he was from and his reply "The Farm" - so funny! Anyway, I just had to share what a big boy Kaden is becoming. Oh, and our first microphone moment was okay. He is probably saving his shocking statements for the children's time during church!