The Sleep Study!

Its been about 3 weeks since Topher's sleep study.  The doctor started talking about medications, but I insisted before we get to that point we test everything. I have long suspected Topher to have sleep apnea or something wrong.  He has never, no not ever, slept through the night.  Even when he doesn't wake me up I hear him up getting a drink or something.  He also snores, and it can be pretty loud at times. Yep, he's only 3. 

 I wasn't sure if snoring was normal for him because of the condition he was born with, Laryngomalacia.  I may have spelt that wrong.  It is basically a birth defect, where the throat muscles are weak and actually close up on you when you breath.  Like the way a shower curtain gets sucked in to the shower.  His condition was actually really severe.  The doctor was on the fence about corrective surgery but Topher is strong and made a miraculous recovery.  He still gets bad coughs and vomits alot from them.  We aren't sure if this may actually be a type of asthma on top of all his other problems.  The pediatrician diagnosed him with exercise induced asthma and reactive airways disease. 

So we did the sleep study.  I was so worried I thought it would be a nightmare.  He did so well! I was like who is this kid.  He cooperated with the ladies, and just watched dvds till he fell asleep.  He did complain a lot.  I think it helped that he was really tired and really really freaked out by it all. He wouldn't talk to the ladies any louder than a whisper.  Which was crazy he is usually so loud. I have never heard him so quiet. 

He really hated the piece that went into his nose! He couldn't use his Binky, but thankfully he didn't even ask me for it!  The stickers on his legs with nothing connected to them were his to play with.  He was so freaked out it took forever for me to convince him it was ok to cover up with the blankets!

My only complaint was that at 5 am the lights were switched on.  It was like bam being hit by a freight train.  He looked really scared.  They were very bright.  If I had known I would have asked they wake me up first.  Then I would have woken him up myself before the lights hit.  They also told me they had dvd players there, but they only had one.  It was in another room.  The nurse let him watch dvds on her laptop!

Finally the doctor called with the results.  In all my paranoia I half expected him to say the test was normal.  Unfortunately, I am usually right when something is wrong with the kids.  I know that's actually a good thing, but I didn't want to be this time.  Apparently, Topher has mild sleep apnea and mild sleep disturbances.  I have no idea what that actually means I missed the doctors call and got his message.  I have to wait till Tuesday to talk to him, but he did say we'd most likely need to see an Ear Nose & Throat Dr to see what happens next.

Even thou I suspected this, I wasn't prepared for this.  Listening to that message my heart just sank.  I feel like I've been hit with a freight train.

No sleep and going insane!

I have had less and less sleep everyday lately. The kids as well. For some reason they keep staying up later and later. They won't sleep, and they are driving me crazy. Most nights lately it has been a bedtime battle, one I always lose! I am so wore out that I can't get anything done during the day. Everything is suffering! The house is a mess, and the kids main food group is chicken nuggets! Which makes me feel worse, and that doesn't help. I just need good sleep.

It's like they are trying to drive me insane. The kids pick the time when I need sleep the most to stage a bedtime coup! How rude! I am trying so hard not to take it personally, but most nights I wanna cry "Please let mama sleep!" Even if daddy takes over they don't let me sleep. I end up with one or both of them crawling all over me! Or crying at the door as they knock repeatedly! Thanks for loving me guys, now please just let me sleep!

I am going to try to get up earlier and make the kids get up! Easier said than done. If I can get up I am going to and so are they! If not then I am definitely working on nap time. No more than a 2 hour nap and no nap after 3 pm! No matter what. Hopefully this will help or I will need a vacation in the KooKoos nest!

Trouble in paradise.

We have been trying to get the kids off bottles, binkies, and in their own beds for some time now. The problem is I want to do it the right way. The problem with that is even experts don't agree on what the right way is. So how can I find it? I don't have the slightest clue. The older the kids get (the more I drag my feet) the harder it is getting (the more I want to drag my feet). I didn't want this to be hard on anyone. I just don't know what to do or how to do it.

Everything is telling me no more bottles, no more binkies, no more sleeping in your bed, but nothing tells me how. I guess I am supposed to just take everything away and let them cry until they can't cry anymore. I can't do that. The worst thing is that it wouldn't be 2 kids crying it would be 2. I don't know how parents of twins handle that. I have always tried to keep things quiet or at least so only one is crying at a time. I try to make sure they don't wake each other up etc...

I feel like a horrible parent not knowing how to handle such simple problems. I don't know how to get my kids off the bottle. My son still wakes up at night wanting a bottle. He shouldn't be hungry but he will drink 8-16 oz during the night. It is also mixed with cereal due to his acid reflux. My daughter insists on drinking milk in a bottle and asks for it when she is tired.

I have recently begun to refuse these requests and tell her that if she wants milk she must have it in a cup. I am having a horrible time finding cups she will drink out of though! It is slowly getting better. She doesn't like it, but she is occasionally asking for milk in a cup. She has only had 3 bottles in the last 4 days compared to her usual of 2-4 a day it is a great improvement. I am making a reward chart and going to offer a sticker a day without a bottle at the end of the week a prize from the dollar store. We shall see how this works out.

I have no idea how to get rid of the binkies, but I think I will worry about that once the bottles are gone. I don't know if it matters, but according to the dentist the bottles do the most damage to their teeth so that will be the first to go. I saw an episode of supper nanny where the binkie fairy took the binkies and brought small toys. Perhaps the binkie fairy will come here. I would prefer a visit from supper nanny, but I guess I am on my own!

The other thing is I can't get my kids to sleep. I can't get them to sleep in their own beds. I can't get them to sleep without a fight. I can't get them to take naps. I can't get them to sleep through the night either! It is a battle every day and night that never ends, and then once they are asleep I dread the night wake up. My son wakes up 1-4 times. Evie has been having more nights without waking up, but not many usually she is up 1-2 times. To get them to sleep at night I lay down with them in my bed. We watch tv with little to no volume. Once Christopher is asleep he is moved out of my arms into a spot next to me in bed. When Evie falls asleep I put her into her bed. Which is next to my bed.

I just want to sleep a peaceful sleep that lasts about 8 hours! If I stay up after they fall asleep to watch tv, clean, or spend time with my husband I am usually exhausted the next day because of how much the kids wake up throughout the night! I can go a night without getting more than 1 hour of straight sleep. It is worse than having a newborn.

Nana and Papa visit!

We all love when nana and papa visit for different reasons of coarse. For mommy I get a mini vacation, and the kids just love their nana and papa. The spoil the kids rotten. I don't mind since they only see the kids once or twice a month usually for 2 days. We try to visit them every other weekend.

However, this past weekend I didn't want to go. Everyone has been sick lately and I just didn't want to be away from home with sick kids. If something is gonna get worse it will happen late at night when we are far from home, that is just my luck! The kids have had runny noses for over 2 weeks, and I have been having headaches. Good thing we didn't go daddy actually got sick Friday, and now all four of us are on antibiotics. The bad thing is nana picked it up to. We called her today to say, "Happy Birthday!" and she sounds horrible.

The worst thing about nana and papa visiting is getting the kids to sleep. They get so exited to see them that it is nearly impossible to get them to sleep. Evie is the worst she will lay down and then say, "Papa, Nana!" Then she will cry until she I let her up to go see them. I figured out how to solve the problem though at bed time everybody goes to bed. When she sees everyone going to sleep she doesn't feel like she is missing anything. Even if most times it is just a show. It is what works for now!

Bad mommy!

I must be an awful parent. I can't seem to get right some of the simplest things. I can't get my kids to sleep without a fight. I can't even get them to sleep all night. I don't know if other people have these problems or not. It seems like they don't. At their age both the kids should be sleeping around 12 hours straight at night. Everything I've read says there is no need for them to have a bottle during the night either. Apparently they didn't read that article!

People tell me to just put them in bed and let them cry. That crying doesn't hurt them. But they don't just cry. They scream like they are petrified. They have tears and snot streaming down their faces, and cry so badly. I can't do that to them. It is too traumatic. I can't believe that other people could or would do that. It seems horrible. Know that is just my opinion, and I am not an expert. I am only a mom!

I can't get my kids of the bottle or binkie either. My mom constantly harps me. Evie is over 1 and doesn't need a bottle, and now I hear it about Christopher he will be 1 soon. Why does 1 have to be the magic number? Can't 2 or 3 be that number. I know why it has been hard on Evie, she sees her brother with a bottle everyday. Now I've got to get them both off the bottle. I am trying to offer sippy cups throughout the day. They don't really drink out of them much. Christopher doesn't appear to lift the cup up enough to even get a drink without help. That is my fault to I've always held his bottle instead of making him do it. He can, but he gets distracted and stops. So I just always fed him.

These things seem so simple. However, they seem to be the hardest to solve. In theory everything in the parenting books sounds so easy, but the reality is not so straight forward. Lay your baby down awake so he/she learns to self soothe. Yeah, right. Until the moment you lay them down and they scream and scream. Like your not going to pick up that baby.

I just feel like somewhere or some how I did everything wrong. Because nothing seems to work the way it is supposed to. My kids are very loving, independent, and outgoing so something is working. I am thankful for that. It just seems like the simpler things elude me some how. I went to the library and checked out as many parenting books as I could carry. I didn't have time to look at them at the library. With both the kids I was glad they were quiet long enough for me to grab the books I got. So I checked them out and maybe they will help. If not the library has a couple of shelves with parenting books still on them! So we will see.

Better Night!

Last night was better. I couldn't get the kids to sleep though. They didn't fall asleep until around 10:30 or 11pm. I don't know how people get their kids to sleep. Mine are so difficult. I refuse to put them in bed and just let them scream. So we do whatever. Some nights they fall asleep watching TV. Most of the time I have to rock my son. Or carry him in my arms swaying him back and forth or up and down until he falls asleep. I am getting really sore, so it must be good exercise. Without good sleep it is the only exercise I have energy for!

Last night Christopher woke up at 2:45am, and had a bottle then went right back to bed. He woke up again at 7:10, and had a bottle this time it took a little rocking to get him back to sleep. Then he woke up around 9 for the day. The only bad thing was my daughter woke up at 8, so I didn't get extra sleep. All in all it was a pretty relaxing night, once they fell asleep!

Worst Night!

Ok last night didn't go so well. Christopher woke up a lot. He ate a bottle before bed at around 8pm from then until 7:30am he ate almost 3 more bottles. The last one was only about half. He woke up another time because I moved his bed. I felt it was to close to the heater. He woke up another time, but I told myself if he wasn't crying I was not to go in. So I listened on the baby monitor and that time he fell back to sleep on his own. So all in all he was up 5 times.

That was not the worst part. The worst part was me. I could not sleep. I kept checking on him, and listening to the baby monitor. I need one with a camera so I can watch, or at least glance at him when I worry. I want a wireless one with two cameras so I can watch both kids where ever and when ever I want to. It is hard to let go and allow your kids to grow up. I was really worried he might cry and I not hear him. I imagined him crying all night long.

I was a wreck all night long. I don't think I slept much at all. The good part was that Evie slept pretty good having the bed to herself most of the night. If only I could get her to go to sleep in her own bed. One thing at a time. I think that it is really me who isn't ready for all this growing up stuff! My babies aren't babies their toddlers now. Just growing up and up!

His own room!

Tonight is Christopher's first night in his own room. I want to move to a 3 bedroom apartment in our building, but my husband said "NO". I told him the kids need their own rooms. I believe it is the only way to get them to sleep all night. Now that being said, I am afraid I could be wrong. If I make us move, even though my husband doesn't want to I had better be right. Or I will never hear the end of it. So we are testing it out. On Christopher because he is used to sleeping on his own anyways, but he has always been within a couple of feet from me.

So now finally he is in his own bed in his own room, AKA the "toy room". All this was good in theroy, but I feel sad. I can't sleep. I keep worrying about him. To make matters worse I just had the most horrible thought, what if he wakes up petrified because it doesn't look the same. He might be frightened and not know where he is. I know I'm a little nerotic and need to let go, but I can't. He's my baby. Plus out of both of my children he is the only one who ever has had any problems. He has Laryngomalacia, acid reflux, excema, and a very sensitive gag reflex. He is the child that makes me worry.

Wish me luck. It is already after 9pm and the kids have been asleep for an hour. I am enjoying the quiet, but I should be enjoying the sleeping time. I know they will be up early if not during the night!

If this works we will be moving into a 3 bedroom! Maybe I will get my bed back soon! I am not holding my breath!

Insomnia

I can't sleep and it is killing me. I am tired, but then my head hits the pillow and I can't sleep. All day my head has been empty, but when I lay down thoughts start swimming around my in my head. What to do, what not to do, grocery lists, budgets, birthdays, the past year, the next year, and anything else that climbs in there. I spent most of the day in a tired fog, and now my head is working overtime.

I took a nap with the kids. Which now I am thinking "big mistake". I was tired until I went to lay down! I hope this helps, because it's late and I NEED sleep!

I know some of my problem is stress. I am stressed over money, marriage, life, parenting, and anything else that list doesn't cover. Actually, my marriage is doing surprisingly well. Considering that we hardly get any time to ourselves, sex is a foreign word no longer in our vocabulary. I mean we share our bed with a toddler. The most exciting thing going on in there is dodging kicks throughout the night! But we love each other and I can't imagine ever loving anyone else, or ever being without him. He's my knight in shining armor.

I am stressed over money. Especially since I don't work. I feel like I need to find ways to stretch our money as far as possible. I also feel guilty for wanting things, they cost money! I feel guilty for not working, and that my husband has to work. I don't like that he feels he has to carry the financial burden alone. I wish I could find good work at home! I don't have money to start an at home business, especially one that may not succeed!

I am stressed over the kids. They still take bottles and binkies. I don't know how to not. I give them sippies throughout the day. My son doesn't even hold his bottle most times. I know I have over parented. I can't help it. It's my job, and I am good at it. Too good in areas, and not so good in others. Neither of my kids sleep all night without a bottle or two, or three. I lay down each night with my kids until they fall asleep. I don't know how to get them to sleep any other way! We all sleep in one room. I don't know if they need their own room or not, but I am so afraid of something happening to them. Plus, for them to have their own rooms we would have to move. Something not undo-able (I don't know if that is a word!). I just don't know what to do about these things.

I scared!

Last night my daughter fell asleep a little early (compared to other nights), but I wasn't tired so I was in the other room. Twice I heard her talking and I went in to the bedroom. She was sitting up and talking, but I couldn't understand what she was saying. I laid her back down and cuddled with her until she fell asleep. The next time I went in she told me, "I scared", and then asked "Where Santa?" She told me Santa was there, but now he wasn't. I couldn't understand all of what she way saying, and was trying to keep her quiet and asleep since her baby brother was also asleep.

It was to late she was awake. So we went in to the living room. She told everyone she was scared and again began talking about Santa. There is a blow up Santa on the porch so we asked her if she wanted to see it. Definitely not. She shook her head violently no. This was odd since she normally loved seeing Santa.

Later when I tried to get her to sleep she was afraid of the shadows on the wall. They are cast by the night light. She said that it was a "Ra". Which is the sound she makes for lions, skeletons, monsters, and anything that is scary. She has never really showed any fear of these things before. Daddy showed her it was not a "Ra" it was shadows, but I don't think she believed him. She pointed at the ceiling and opposite wall a few times and said something in audible (her binkie was in her mouth). She stared for a while as if she was watching something, and then finally she went to sleep.

Around 8 am she cried in her sleep and said, "Let go Daddy" repeatedly. I tried to hold her and comfort her it made her worse. So I laid down next to her and said, "Daddy let go! It's ok. Mommy is here!" After I said that a few times she was fine and back to sleep.

All this happened at NaNa and PaPa's house. We have had similar instances at our house, but she never seemed scared before. She points to area in our bedroom all the time and says there is a baby there. Sometimes she says the baby is crying sometimes she says she wants to play with it. Most times she only says baby and points. Another area on the ceiling she has said there is a "RA" and other things that I couldn't understand. Some nights she stares at this spot like she's looking at something. (It really freaks me out). Especially, since any time I ever sat with my back to this spot I always felt like someone was behind me. Creepy!

When she was a tiny baby she would always hold our hands over her forehead and eyes with her hands. She still does this at times today. When she is staring at the wall I cover her eyes with my hand and it usually works. Allowing her to fall asleep in a few minutes.

Definately not bed time!

My daughter just brought out a huge bag of mega blocks and dumped it on the floor. She is now sitting in the middle of the pile building guns and shooting me. No I do not encourage violence. She doesn't really know what she is doing. All she knows is that her favorite uncle Isaac (he's 7) builds something with the blocks and points it at people while making a swish and bang sort of noise. His rendition of a machine gun. So of coarse she copies. Either that or she is trying to kill me because sleep deprivation is taking to long! Just kidding.

I think it's time for bed...

I want to go to bed. It is almost 10pm and I know it is time for bed. However, my daughter (who unfortunately wears the pants) won't go to sleep. She keeps laughing and playing. So here I am on the Internet and she is playing next to me on her toy laptop. Everyone else is asleep and I wish I were to. We are supposed to get up early to go to Michigan. I don't know if that will happen. Mommy can't pack if she can't open her eyes. Why don't I pack tonight? Good question, I know my husband will wonder the same thing. I am to TIRED to pack.

I did discover what looks like a cool system to help me. It is the baby sleep coach system, and it sounds very interesting. I am tempted to buy it now, because it has a money back guarantee. It guarantees my kids will sleep! I can't even do that and I gave birth to them! I am just not sure if the program works with multiple kids. I emailed them and will post later regarding what they say. If it will I am gonna buy it. I need my kids to sleep, for mine and their sake.

Sleep please!

My son is up 4 or 5 times a night the past few weeks. I have no idea why. Previously, he was only up twice. I know that he is teething. He has 6 teeth now. The top four came in two at first, and before they finished coming in the other two started in.

The pediatrician says that he is in pain and that is why he can't sleep. Nothing I do seems to help. Tylenol, Motrin, teething drops, and tablets all help a little but he still wakes up crying and takes 10 to 30 minutes at least to get back to sleep. Half the time he will be asleep, but the minute I lay him down in his crib he starts crying and then sits up crying. I have to grab him because we all share a room, (My brilliant idea that has backfired) I have to get him out before he wakes up his sister. Unfortunately, for now we are stuck in a 2 bedroom apartment, and I refuse to change the toy room into a bedroom also. I like having a safe place that they can play. That way if I have to run to the bathroom I know they are ok. A bed in the mix just adds an unsafe toy for my monkeys to climb on.

So for now I am up every couple of hours all throughout the night. Complicated by nights when the kids take turns waking up. Those are the best! Add a sick mommy and you get a dangerous mix creating a sleep deprived, cranky, and judgement impaired whack-o. I can't wait for all this to pass! I don't want my kids to grow up fast I just want them to sleep all night, or most of it!

To Good To Be True!

Both kids were supper tired. I had to get my son to sleep first because my daughter won't go to sleep if she can hear her brother. So despite the fact that my daughter was super cranky and not to happy about sharing mommy this evening I had to take care of baby first. Then I laid down with my daughter and started watching a Thomas the Train movie. We didn't get very far into the movie when I realized she was already asleep. Yeah!!!

Nine O'clock and both kids were fast asleep! I used this time to clean up, and take a badly needed shower. I was finally in bed getting comfortable when my daughter began to whine! Uh, OH!!! She didn't eat much for dinner so I knew she was hungry. I had a bottle with 5 oz of milk and a container of Gerber bananas mixed together. I call them her smoothies! She loves them. She drank it in no time. Then she tossed and turned! I was worried. Finally disaster struck, she sat up and began babbling away! She was wide awake, and in a good mood ready to play! Yikes! So hear I am at 11 pm on the computer while she plays and just talks ans talks the night away! I wish I had her energy!

My daughter won't sleep!

My 18 month old daughter has never been one for sleeping a whole lot. Now that she is getting older it is getting harder and harder to get her to sleep. She has always slept in our bed and usually falls asleep in my or my husband's arms. She has regrettably never learned to fall asleep on her own. So if we can't lay down with her for whatever reason she is a bear. Also sometimes she just won't fall asleep. I don't know why. She can be super tired, but instead of sleeping she just goes and goes. As long as she gets whatever she wants she is fine, but if you tell her no she throws a fit because she is so tired. I don't know what to do. I have tried letting her cry in her crib, but I can't do it. We got up to 20 minutes of her just screaming then I quit. I couldn't handle it. Also during that time period she was extra clingy to me and extra whinny. I am at my whits end. I want her to get the sleep she needs, but I also want it at predictable intervals. So life can move on without tiptoeing around naps. I would like to create a schedule and have nap time at nap time. I don't know how to do this. We have always just let our daughter tell us when she is hungry or tired and worked around that. For infants this strategy is fine, but as kids age and become more vocal and active this no longer works.

No Power!

The other night a transformer blew at one of the main substations for the entire town causing massive blackouts. It was the first time since Evie has been walking that we didn't have power. I don't know if she just sensed my frustrations, or if she was put off by the change from our normal routine.

Of coarse this had to happen during our bed time routine so both kids were having a horrible time falling asleep. Both of them just seemed cranky and wanted mommy, but their is only one of me. Usually my daughter watches cartoons while I get her baby brother to sleep. I just couldn't get him to sleep! Probably because we always have a fan on for the white noise, even I have trouble sleeping without it. It is unbelievable how quiet the world is when you don't have power. Not to mention his cranky sister wandering around making noises.

Plus, it was the hottest day of the week. It only took about 20 minutes with out the air conditioning to turn our apartment into an oven. She enjoyed looking at all the candles, which frightened me to death. All she would have to do is bump a table just right and end up burnt. I tried to make sure they were all in the safest spots possible, but kids can do anything they want if they just set their little minds to it! I kept a vigilant eye and no fires or burns thankfully.

After I get my youngest to sleep my daughter and I usually watch the Good Night Show on Sprout until 8 pm then we go to sleep. My daughter kept pointing at the TV and babbling about something. I am positive she was asking why she didn't get to watch her "toonies" what we call cartoons around here. I hope she didn't think she was being punished because she was very upset by everything that was going on. She did enjoy talking to all the neighbors about what was going on.

After two hours without power I decided to head to grandma's house thankfully they had power. So I packed up and headed out. This only made bed time harder for everyone. Christopher who normally is asleep by 7:30 didn't get to bed until 10pm. Evangeline didn't get to sleep until 11:30. I was exhausted. The air mattress was also horribly uncomfortable.

My son normally wakes up at 7 was up at 6:45, and his sister who normally sleeps in a little was up at 8. It was the morning from hell!!!! All I wanted to do was sleep, but they were wide awake. Most likely it was due to different surroundings this was the first time we had spent the night at my moms. Hopefully the last my back can't take things like that any more. Now I know not to go camping! So exhausted I hurriedly packed us up and we went home.

Never enough time!

I never have enough time in the day. There is always something I didn't do that I wanted or needed to. After a while it wears on you. Then you start to miss sleep because you are to stressed out to sleep or you are trying to catch up on things whenever you can.

Unfortunately I just get overwhelmed when I don't get enough sleep. Then every body suffers. Because then I don't get time to myself. So it becomes a trade off either catch up on sleep or have me time, guess what i pick the sleep! Sometimes no matter how tired you are you just can't sleep! Especially when your mind is bogged down with the day and all they days before. You get stuck in a cycle where time becomes your enemy. Then I end up becoming my husbands enemy, because I can be nice to the kids no matter what, but the rest of the world needs to watch out when I'm not happy.

Sleep PLEASE!!!

Last night was awful...

I'll start with my son. He was asleep by 7:30, and I thought oh what a great night this is shaping up to be. He woke up at 10 and ate 5 ounces and went back to sleep after I changed his diaper. No big deal. He woke up a 1 am and I thought, "What the heck?" But I made him a bottle, he only ate 3 ounces and I changed his diaper. He went back to sleep. Then 4 am hit and he was awake. He was wide awake and didn't fall back to sleep until between 5:15 and 5:30. Then at 7 he was up. He took a 3o minute nap at 9am. Ok, so that wasn't too bad, but combine that with my daughter and "Ouch, I'm hurting for some sleep".

My daughter's night wasn't so pleasant. She didn't fall asleep until after midnight. I tried and tried. She then was whining at 3 am. She wanted to cuddle with me, but I didn't feel good and couldn't get comfortable so every time I moved she moved. We each made the other uncomfortable every time we moved so for about an hour neither of us slept. Then when her brother woke up so did she. She tried to get out of bed but I kept yelling at her, "No, lay down it's bed time."

Finally in desperation I turned on Muzzy, the foreign language DVD set we have, both the kids love it, and laid them both down. I tried to sleep. Every 10-15 minutes my daughter would bother me and I'd just tell her no time for bed. They both fell asleep a little after 5. Around 9:30 my daughter was up for the day.

Now its tonight and we are headed down the same path. Christopher has been asleep since 8pm. Evie is tired, but won't sleep. She sleeps with me and usually I don't have such trouble. We spent the weekend at my in-laws and there it is impossible to make her sleep so we basically let her stay up until she can't any longer. That's not gonna fly here. She no longer has her own crib. I couldn't get her to sleep in it. So instead of buying a second crib her brother sleeps in hers. She is currently screaming bloody murder because I put her in the play pin and told her she has to go to bed because it is bed time. I feel absolutely awful, but don't know what else to do. I have to sleep or I'm gonna go nuts!!!!

If any one has ideas to solve our sleep dilemma I am all ears!!!!!

Energizer Bunny!

My daughter has more energy than the Energizer Bunny! I swear it! She keeps going and going and going...

She woke up at 7 am which is early for her. She normally sleeps until 9 or even 10. I think it is because her baby brother was playing loudly in his crib next to her. Then when ever he would roll over or get stuck he would cry. I was trying to get her back to sleep, but kept having to get up to take care of him. Finally, she sat up and did the sign telling me she wanted a bath. Thus the beginning of the never ending day.

We were up and dressed before daddy got home from work after 8. So we all went to the park. Which was sooooo nice. It was early so it wasn't to hot, and nobody was there. It was great. She had a blast exploring. She usually only gets to be in the baby part because normally it's just me, her, and her brother. So I can't let her climb on anything, but with daddy there to help there was no end to the fun.

After the park we went and got some ice cream. Evie was getting tired so we headed home. She fell asleep in the car, and stayed asleep until we got home. I was putting her into bed when I realized she desperately needed a diaper change. She had pooped. Try staying asleep when your getting your butt scrubbed! Needless to say her nap was short lived probably only 30 maybe 45 minutes.

Then we went to the library for pack a sack story time. She loves the library. We signed up for the summer reading program so we went inside after the picnic. She got one of those fake tattoos for reading 10 books (listening to them she's smart but not that smart)! I put it on her leg she got mad it wouldn't come off! When I wanted to leave she got pissed and threw a tantrum. I know it was because she was tired. So we went home and tried for a nap. Nope didn't happen.

Some friends called so we went back to the park. She played more and we went for a little walk. She insisted on walking and not ridding in her stroller. So when we left I thought surely she would fall asleep. Nope.

So we went home. Some friends came by with their daughter to hang out for a while. My youngest brother (he's 6) and youngest sister (8) were here also. I thought surely this would wear her out. Nope, she played with the kids like there was no tomorrow, and just kept trucking.

Finally at 6pm she fell asleep, but bed time isn't until 8pm. I knew this would be a problem, and sure enough it was. She slept for a hour and woke up. I think she was hungry, but now to tired and cranky to eat. No, I was wrong again batting 1,000 today I guess. She had a nap and was ready to go, go, and go some more.

It is now 9:30 and she is still awake on my lap, making it very hard to type. I am totally exhausted and praying I can stay up until I can get her to sleep. I have laid down with her I don't know how many times. Wish me luck I'm gonna need it!