Update On The Sleeping In This House

Here's the latest update on toddler J. and his sleeping. Or well non-sleeping. And the mickey mouse clubhouse detox. Yeah I totally came up with that on my own.

We have just conquered day number 2 of the detox. Let me tell you it was no easy feat.  Toddler J. Is unbelievable determined that he will get you watch his cartoons when he wants and he will also have a great snack to go with them. Unfortunately for him, I am just as determined and quite stubborn in my decision that he will no longer have this privilege.

So it's been a very rough two days.  The first was catastrophic to say in the least. I actually, and see here I'm being completely honest, gave in for about two cartoons length. Which is 30 minutes. The only reason I did that was because he was hanging on to me screaming and I needed to throw up. Apparently something I ate didn't sit well with my stomach.  So while I threw up, cleaned up, and brushed my teeth he was quietly and very happily watching his shows.

The happily part quickly turned to anger and a screaming fit of the year when I came and quite calmly took away my cellphone. But we survived day one.

Day two was much better. He woke up insisting to watch his show. After maybe 10 minutes of pleading and crying he gave up and played with his cars. Around noon he remembered that he wanted to watch his show but that was quickly resolved by taking him to bed for a nap. And he once more remembered that he still wanted but so far hadn't watched his shows at dinner time. Which thank God was also easily derailed from becoming another fight of the wills because his dad rang the doorbell getting the boys all excited that he had come home from work.

So day two ended really well. I made sure to keep him constantly occupied and happy with other things. I have a notebook full of scribbles to show for the two hours that we spent just drawing together.

Now on to the sleeping. The first night went ok until about 3a.m. that was when little M. (previously known as baby VP) woke up screaming and crying. Which resulted in toddler J. waking up as well. Little M. went back to sleep sometime around 4 a.m. for about 30 minutes but toddler J. only managed to fall back asleep around 6:30a.m. and then only for a short time.

Needless to say everyone had a great nap during the later that day.

I don't think that the staying awake the first night had anything to do with being over stimulated. I'm positive though it had everything to do with little M. screaming his lungs out.

Night number two went much better. Little M. woke up again crying for his bottle of milk which resulted in waking up toddler J. He had been sleeping quite peacefully up to that point. Unfortunately it seems little M. also had an upset stomach because not long after drinking his milk he threw it up. I was brave and did clean up duty. Toddler J.  meanwhile ended up having a pee-pee accident. Not fun having to rummage for clean clothes at 2 a.m.

But I took care of that an about an hour later he went back to sleep. Calmly. No crying. No trying to get out of bed. No screaming because he doesn't want to sleep. A definite WIN in my book.

So even though we still stayed up at least 2 hours both nights it wasn't as bad as before. Really it wasn't. And I was very happy to see him do something other than watch mickey mouse clubhouse during the day.

Maybe later in when he is older he will be allowed 30 minutes here and there of cartoons but that's a HUGE MAYBE. I'm really leaning towards a NO on that. I think there are so many great things children can do to occupy their time that cartoons should really be a last resort.

To conclude this long and not so exciting update...we're on doing good so far. The detox is going great. Much better than I expected. And the sleeping is starting to improve.

Dare I say I have hopes of actually getting to sleep through the night before the year is over?! 

No More Midnight Parties

Ah the joys of motherhood.

It's currently 1:30a.m. and my eldest has been  awake since 11p.m. which brings us to a grand total of 2.5 hours. Of course he would choose the couple of hours during which his younger brother is sleeping to stay awake. No point in both of them being awake at the same time.

Plus it's a lot more fun apparently to see me get frustrated at losing several hours of precious sleep. And then falling asleep just as his younger brother wakes up for his night bottle of milk.  This ensures that mom ...meaning me...will lose the maximum hours of sleep possible.

I've been fighting this battle with my eldest for a while now. I'm not sure exactly what makes him stay awake at night. I've read in a couple of articles over stimulation will cause this. Others have said it's a phase or better yet it had something to do with naptime and not getting enough daytime sleep.

Which I can honestly say is not the case for my boy. He usually sleeps anywhere between 1-2 hours for naptime. Today he slept 2 hours. So he definitely got enough daytime sleep. And if this is just a phase that he's going through well it's been a particularly long one. This has been happening ever since the clocks changed in earlier this year.

What I'm thinking is that it has to do with the amount of screen time he gets. Today was a super duper rainy day. Which meant that we were stuck inside all day...we also had no car today. And he was extremely cranky and difficult to deal with. Then only thing that kept him from yelling and crying was letting him watch "mickey mouse clubhouse" on my phone.

Honestly it's not part of our parenting style to allow our children to watch cartoons. We did our research and we made our decision to limit any screen time they get as much as possible.  But then you have days like today when they get bored and cranky ...and you just really cannot deal with another screaming fit from an angry toddler. So you let them watch to their hearts content.

And I'm thinking that the over stimulation came from that. Ahhh...which is so frustrating because this means I've basically ruined both our nights myself.

Since I've been awake for a while now I've managed to do some intense midnight thinking. This intense thinking has also lead me to a difficult decision. I'm going to be a strong mama in the face of my screaming toddlers crying fits and refuse to give in to his demands. No more cartoons for him.

This is not a punishment...don't get me wrong. This is an experiment to see if his sleeping will improve. Because I honestly cannot keep functioning on 2-3 hours of sleep every day . And neither can he.

I'm hoping and praying this will bring about full nights of sleep and rest for the both of us. I'm also praying for lots of strength to stick to my decision.  I have a very stubborn child but what he doesn't realize is that mommy can be twice as stubborn.

So wish me luck!

Good-bye 26 and Hello 27!

It's official!!

I am no longer 26 years old but rather 27. Honestly I can't believe how fast time has flown.

I don't know about anyone else but it seems that up until I turned 18 years old time went by very VERY slowly. Then my 18th birthday came and went and all of a sudden I'm 20, then 24, and now 27.

Time has literally flown by since the moment I turned 18.

26 was a wonderful year.

I managed to get one of my articles published by a fair sized church magazine. We bought a new sofa that I love. And I got to learn what it takes to be a mommy of two. We had our first family road trip in about 4 years and this time it was no longer just Hubby and I.

Yep. 26 was a good and wonderful year. It treated me well and I enjoyed almost every minute.  I did not enjoy the hard spots as much but then again not many people do.

And I am really looking forward to seeing all the great and wonderful things and times that being 27 has in store for me. I know God will do awesome things this year of my life just like He has done every year so far and I am excited to see what He has in store for us as a family.

So with that thought I bring this post to an  end.

It's Good To Be Back...For Good This Time

Well, it has been a few months since I last logged on to do a post.

And boy has time been flying. Seriously, this morning I asked my husband what he would like for me to pack for his lunch today for work. Instead of giving me a straight answer he laughed and told me it was Saturday. No work for him. Poor, confused me thought it was Thursday. I totally missed out on living through Friday.

I have to be completely honest though. It took all my willpower just to open up blogger.com. I love writing about our days and ideas that float through my head and lately I've just been lazy. 

There I've said it. I've been lazy on the writing front.

I do plan to change that though. I've been really diligent in jotting down ideas and writing out thoughts so that when I did get back from my blogging break I would be good to go.

And there are some special announcements involved as well. 

So without further ado, welcome back readers. 

I've missed writing for you.

Oh Where , Oh Where Has My Space-Bar Gone?

Life has been well...life.

So, much has happened in the last few weeks that I've taken to keeping quick notes on my cellphone.

I keep telling myself "once the kids are asleep for the night I'll blog." But it's obvious that hasn't been happening. The kids fall asleep and I end up doing last minute laundry, dishes, or just picking up the toys that seem to multiply in the evenings.

Unfortunately, little J. has also learned to climb up and mess with our laptop. Which means we are now missing several different keys, the space-bar being the most important one. Have you ever tried typing without a space-bar? Believe me it's no fun. I deserve a reward in patience for the time I spent typing out this quick post with a missing space-bar.

The boys have grown so quickly this last year that I'm still reeling from the shock of realizing that my youngest is turning 1 this week. How...when? And next month is little J.'s birthday meaning he turns 2. I officially have no more babies in my house.

Unbelievable.

I also haven't forgotten that I promised a delicious recipe a few posts back. I'll be getting to that soon. I promise.

And I want to do a quick update on each of my littles. So be looking for those.

Mostly, I just wanted to let my readers know I'm alive and well...thank God and the blog will be up and running on a more regular schedule soon.

Whohoo for that!

Dinner.

Today was an amazing day. How so? Well, mostly because I managed to get a lot of housework done...well ok...not a lot but a little more than the bare essentials.

We've started spring cleaning around here but that's a topic for another blog post. 

What we've really been up to is enjoying some really good food lately. It's like, now that I'm fighting (and mostly winning) to lose weight, my skills in the kitchen have gone from passable to A-MAZ-ING! 

Here's the latest that came out of my kitchen and straight on to the dinner table...

I can most confidently say that this meal was a HUGE success with my boys and Hubby. Each ate until they were stuffed. It always brings a smile to my face when my family not only eats well but loves what they eat.

Recipe to follow. 

Hitting Mini-Goal #1.

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I am so excited to share my weight loss progress.

I know this isn't a lot but it sure puts a nice dent in the amount I have left to go before reaching a healthy weight. Which would be another 65 pounds. 

The amount I lost, you ask? Eleven pounds. 

What has me so excited is that I've officially managed to cross of my first mini-goal on my chart. Every 10 pounds equals a mini goal. Sure that's a lot of mini goals. But it's really a good way to motivate ones self.

And trust me...I am needing a lot of motivation these days!

I'm not going to lie and say that losing these 11 pounds was easy...because it wasn't. But I will tell you the truth when I say...I definitely look better with those 11 pounds gone!

Soon, I'll be hitting my second mini-goal. Just 9 more pounds to go!

When I look ahead at the finish line I really have to smile. Not only will I finally be a healthier, happier (because let's be honest everyone is happier when their clothes actually fit), and fitter me. But I'll finally be able to be the example I want to be for my children. I'll actually be able to do fun activities with them without gasping for breath. 

And my husband will also benefit. No more having to deal with a moody, on the war-path because her clothes don't fit, crying wife.

Yep. 

It's a Win-Win all around for this family!

Saving Money The Second Hand Way.

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Busy Busy.

That seems to be the only thing we know around here. But we also occasionally know how to do something that we enjoy. 

In my case...attending one of two huge children's second hand sales. I love that you can find amazing items at unbelievably low prices. Of course you have to really search for them as well. 

The biggest plus about attending and buying stuff from a second hand sale is the amount of money you save. Seriously, A LOT of money gets saved this way. If I had gone to even the cheapest store and bought all these items new...well let's just say there would have been a seriously big dent in our bank account. BUT by buying them second hand, I saved us a nice bundle of money. Actually, I spent $40 on the shoes for older children, and then $10 on the bench with toy chest, another $4 on the blanket, and $15 for the clothes. Now don't be fooled by the 8 articles of clothes pictured here. I bought two BIG bags of clothes for a total of $15. I just really did not want to upload so many clothing pictures to my computer. So, my purchases came to a total of $79. Still a whole lot cheaper than if I had bought everything new.

As you remember I mentioned we're working on saving money, and I did some serious saving by shopping at this sale. And to be completely honest a lot of the things I bought were either super gently used or new. Yes, that's right you can even find new things at these sales! Children grow really fast so sometimes things don't get a chance to be worn no matter how cute they are. Which is another reason I bought some of my boys clothing from here. They are growing so fast and I would get really frustrated to spend a lot of money on new things only to have to pack them away because they never got worn. This way even if the things don't get a chance to be worn at least I didn't spend a lot on them.

Last Saturday the sale happened and even though I didn't feel to great and the boys were cranky from having to wake up so early; I made sure we were all bundled into the car by 7:30 and present at the sale by 8:00.

I ended up leaving the boys with my dad in the car. Why? Because both my little ones fell asleep on the drive there and my dad said he wasn't feeling up to shopping. It was the first time in a REALLY really REALLY long time that I did anything without my boys. And it was GREAT!! I had so much fun being able to browse and search through 50 different sales tables without anyone crying, screaming, or refusing to cooperate. There was no one yelling or throwing a tantrum and after a year and 7 months...I needed those 2 hours of COMPLETE alone time!!

I did end up going to the car two various times to check on my little ones though...and on my dad. It was nice seeing them sleep so peacefully and it was nice having some time to myself. 

The biggest plus about attending and buying stuff from a second hand sale is the amount of money you save. Seriously, A LOT of money gets saved this way. If I had gone to even the cheapest store and bought all these items new...well let's just say there would have been a seriously big dent in our bank account. BUT by buying them second hand, I saved us a nice bundle of money. Actually, I spent $40 on the shoes for older children, and then $10 on the bench with toy chest, another $4 on the blanket, and $15 for the clothes. Now don't be fooled by the 8 articles of clothes pictured here. I bought two BIG bags of clothes for a total of $15. I just really did not want to upload so many clothing pictures to my computer. So, my purchases came to a total of $79. Still a whole lot cheaper than if I had bought everything new.


As you remember I mentioned we're working on saving money, and I did some serious saving by shopping at this sale. And to be completely honest a lot of the things I bought were either super gently used or new. Yes, that's right you can even find new things at these sales! Children grow really fast so sometimes things don't get a chance to be worn no matter how cute they are. Which is another reason I bought some of my boys clothing from here. They are growing so fast and I would get really frustrated to spend a lot of money on new things only to have to pack them away because they never got worn. This way even if the things don't get a chance to be worn at least I didn't spend a lot on them.

Anyways, we're back to our regular schedule. And my dad has gone back home. Which means the boys are all mine and mine alone. Well, except when Hubby shows up after work and spends the evening creating all sorts of fun chaos, I love seeing the boys climb all over their dad in their excitement to play with him. And let's be honest Hubby loves playing with them just as much. 

Below are a few pictures of some of our finds...

Working To Save.

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This year EverydayMommy Headquarters has decided to focus on saving money.

We noticed that in the last couple of years we've been struggling to put money aside because so many things had been going on. Which is normal and most families around the globe have trouble with this as well. More money going out than coming in. 

Which is why we decided to try to focus on saving money in the year 2016. Just like everyone else we have bills to pay, bank loans to pay back, groceries to buy, and much more that needs to be covered before we can actually put money aside. After much consideration and talking things over with Hubby, I started using Pinterest to my advantage. I love that everything and anything can be found there and that's why I turned to it to help me find an easy and affordable way to save a small amount of money each month.

Enter chart : 

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Hubby loved this idea but was really skeptical that we could actually pull this off. So, he asked me to give it a go and at the end of the year let him know how much I had saved up. So far it's working great. 

Each month, right at the beginning, I take out our BILLS TO PAY binder and grab my purse and head to the bank. Once, I payed all the bills I went ahead and added another category to my binder. Say hello binder to MONTHLY SAVINGS tab. 

I realized it would be much easier to set money aside if I right off the bat treated our challenge to save money like a bill that needed to be payed. After setting up an account, it's been working like a charm. Now I realize we're not that far into the year and it's going to get tougher each month to set aside the required sum. But my plan is to split up the expense so that I'll pay a half at the beginning of the month and a half at the end. That way there is a bit of time between so we can draw a breath before setting more money aside. But that's my plan for the months towards the end of the year. For now everything gets set aside right at the beginning.

Another thing we're doing is saving up our "small change". 

Yep, that's right. We're going at this with 100% dedication. We've jumped in with both feet.

Enter Second Chart: 

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At the end of the day, the boys and I raid Hubby's and my wallet and count out the required change. Then we quickly let it plunk coin by coin into our savings jar. The boys love hearing the coins fall into the jar (almost as much as mommy!) and Baby J. loves being able to toss the coins in. Sadly, Baby VP is still a little too small to partake in this new routine.

I figured if we're going to challenge ourselves using big money let's challenge ourselves using our leftover change as well. The great thing is if we don't make it one day we have until the end of the row to get it all in. That's my ultimatum. Each row has to be crossed off by the required day. And if it so happens that we can cross off a few extra days too...well...way to go us!!

I love pinterest and now I love saving money too!

Giving This Cold One More Go...

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Unfortunately, my little boys have been sick this week. It started with a simple runny nose for the both of them and has progressed into the beginnings of bronchitis.

We ended up going to the hospital on Wednesday because Baby J. was having trouble breathing and his heart was beating something fierce. Also, little Baby VP was coughing like there was no tomorrow and throwing up phlegm. At least he's managing to get it out of his system.

Anyways, after our visit there both my babies were diagnosed with the beginnings of bronchitis and Baby VP was also labeled with "just a virus" on top of that. We were given an inhaler, nasal spray, baby Tylenol and told to make sure they get lots of fluids and rest.

Tomorrow we're heading back to the hospital for a check-up. But I'm sure this time will be better news. My boys have both stopped coughing like their going to expel their lungs. And they have been fever free for the last 6 hours. Also, no more vomiting on Baby VP's part. 

I'm so glad things are starting to look up. Hoping for good news and that we get the all clear on not needing to use the inhaler anymore. The boys hate that thing and I don't like all the whining and crying each time I have to use it on them.

Well, that's were we're at right now.