Winkin', Blinkin', and Not On Your Life

It's no secret to anybody who knows us that Addie is a terrible sleeper--naps and bedtime have been a huge battle since day one (well, maybe day five...). There have been a few weeks at a time when she "gets it"--no matter how much she cries, she's going to bed, even if we have to lock her in her room. But then there is always an illness or a trip to a foreign bed or something that sets us back and we have to spend another few weeks getting back to bedtime. UGH!

Now we have had the set back of pretty severe cough/congestion for the past few weeks, coupled with becoming potty trained. We put a pull-up on her for bed, but she gets up and potties on her own. Which is a good thing, I know, except she has the hardest time getting back to sleep. She is driving us CRAZY, and last night I pertnear rang her gotta-pee-at-4-am-neck. So tonight we didn't give her any drinks after dinner (and boy is she mad about that one) plus we had a long talk between books and prayers about staying in bed and not waking everybody up when we go potty.

We had a nice lovey talk, and I gave her a kiss and said, "You be a good big girl and stay in your own bed and tomorrow we'll put your castle bed back up."

She smiled sweetly and said, "I'll be good, mom. I not scream and I wake up when the sun comes up....okay? I be good and cry in my pillow." Awww. That broke my heart. I told her she didn't have to cry at all, she just had to remember that everybody sleeps in their own bed and if we have to get up at night, we have to be very quiet and not wake everybody up. She agreed and pulled up her covers and asked me not to close her door all the way.

She's a crack up. I hope we have learned our lesson and that Heidi will be excited to sleep in her own bed, and will sleep through the night. Heidi is already a good, long sleeper (although her naps are shortening, dang it!) so it should go smoother. It's just amazing how much a kid with bad sleeping habits can throw the whole family life of kilter. I am just not a sane person without regular sleep, you know? (see last Friday's entry if you have any questions about that!)

Anyhoooo...life is good and much the same as it ever was. Just figuring it all out as we go along.

Addie, Heidi, and I were laying in bed this morning, slowly waking up. I got up and went in the bathroom and I overheard this:

[in a high-pitched voice grown-ups use to talk to babies]
"G'morning, baby! You wake up? ...You have a good dream? ...Oh, sweetheart, I so happy to see you!"

I returned to my bed and Addie and Heidi were holding hands and Addie said, "Look, mama---Heidi woke up and she loves me! She's my friend!"

Some moments are sweeter than anything. I'm going back to snuggle with them!

Look! The Melin girls wish you a happy Monday!

"THEN"--This is our project from Summit Street in May 2004. Our foundations had just been poured and tarred and our streets weren't even in yet!

"NOW"--This is our project from Summit Street as of today (our house is in the middle on the left with the red X) 

This is me on Sunday feeling much better than that horrible Friday picture!

Much Better

I had a great night's sleep on Friday night! Rich took the girls to his mom's at 7:30am while he went to work on the house and I slept in until 10! Then I did some house work and went to work on the house from 1-4pm and then collected my girls and stuff and made dinner for the missionaries. We had yummy tacos and watched a 9-11 show on CNN then we all hit the sack before 9pm! Tired folks we are.

So I've got 2 decent nights of sleep under my belt and I am feeling much better. Addie is still pretty much potty trained, but she and Heidi are both still waking up several times at night from coughing. Pobrecitas. I am looking forward to getting back into my normal routine juggling housework, exercise, childcare/playtime, creative projects and meals with some semblance of success.

I am posting some "then and now" pictures of our house project. It's looking really nice now that the garage is going up and the roof line looks more normal. It's raining right now and we are hoping to get a break in the forecast to finish the tar paper and protect our house and roof from more water. Last week we bought some materials to put up the basement walls, so maybe if it's rainy we can head downstairs. I swept most of the basement yesterday and came out feeling like I had black lung and some kind of mud-spa treatment. That super-fine dust down there made a nice putty with my sweat! Yuck.

So all is well with us. The days keep rollin' along and I'm keeping the family alive.

That's me at 11pm--one tired mama! (yikes! I look like a man! Shave my hair of and "Hi Dad!")

On The Edge

It's amazing exactly how far away I can get from being the person I planned to be/should be/can be/want to be on a given day. Nothing I did today turned out well at all. Most things were downright horrible. And so were my reactions. Wait--I take that back. Vacuuming under and all around the couch, loveseat and chair cushions went well. They are very clean and the vacuuming was uneventful, and I found 84 cents in the process.

I am tired so I won't even begin to list all the terrible two-year-old things Addie did today (aside: she always packs her naughtiness into one horrible day every other month or so, and the rest of the time she is a generally sweet little girl). But here's ONE: I woke up to her standing next to my bed saying, "Mommy, I need a bath. Mo-o-o-m, wake up! I need a bath"--covered from hair to toes in Desitin!! And that was just the 8 o'clock hour.

Suffice it to say that I spent the 3 o'clock hour in tears, with Addie crying in her bedroom and Heidi crying on my lap. Three tired and yucky-feeling drama queens under one roof...not so pretty. Potty training has gone slightly awry and I think I lost my marbles as I rinsed out a third pair of panties and Addie refused to nap. In my current state of long-term sleep deprivation, that is the worst thing that could have happened today. After my twenthy-somethingth night of less than 5 hours of sleep and no naps, my eyes refuse to focus, I have a constant cough, I tried to put my bra on outside of my shirt and I left Addie in the tub for a half hour...all I need is a nap.

Well, now it's 11:oopm and here I still am. I am taking a Unisom and sleeping through the night if it kills me (the girls haven't been sleeping well since mid-August because they have bad coughs and congestion from either allergies or a very persistent colds, therefore I haven't been sleeping well either). I have to wake up with some energy and health so I can keep up. I have to be a better mom and wife and have patience AND good sense to spare. Right now the well is dry and it's times like these that I miss my close girlfriends and I wish my mom were close by (one's in-laws never seem to understand such exhaustion, such end-of-my-rope-ness). Shucks.

Exhausted and isolated and freaking out. I'm off to meditate and medicate til it all goes away...more (and BETTER) tomorrow...

This is my sister, Sara, with her new baby Brady, born Saturday, August 28th in Michigan. 

Brady being admired by his Daddy and brother.