Why Do I Even Try to Go to Bed?

I am beyond frustrated with my children when it comes to sleep. We are going on MONTHS of sleep struggles at our house. It seems like there is always someone awake. And that my friends gives this mama NO break and NO sleep.

I'm at the end of my rope.

During the day I'm currently struggling with how to go anywhere or do anything because someone always needs a nap. Wesley needs two naps - morning and afternoon. Xavier needs one nap, usually right after lunch. Wes isn't ready to take his 2nd nap after lunch and if I push X's nap back too late he won't go to bed at night. Got all that? Ugggghhh! I end up sacrificing someones nap in order to go out amongst the living. But I always end up paying for it.

Night time is a nightmare. It seems lately that one boy with go to bed easily and the other will be a challenge. Wesley ALWAYS gets up during the night - usually more than once (can we say "no self soothing skills!"). And sometimes Xavier gets up as well. Then it seems in the morning one boy will get up super early (hello 5:30am!) and the other will sleep to a decent time.

It's maddening on several levels. And exhausting on all levels.

I feel like I need to do a sleep boot camp with these kids, but I'm too tired to even attempt that. There are some habits that need to be broken, and some that need to be taught. I know this. But easier said than done.

Why can all my friends get their kids to sleep at the same time? And sleep all night? What the heck!!!!

Thanks, I just needed to vent.

Wesley On Cart

Wesley loves playing with the push cart just as much as Xavier did (ahem, still does!). I took this video about 3 weeks ago. I love how Wes sticks his butt out and pivots to turn the cart. Sorry if the clip is too long. It's one of those "I'm the mom and I want it for memories" kind of things!

What's amazing is how much speed Wes has picked up in the last 3 weeks. I almost feel like this video is playing in slow motion in compared to how he zips around the house on that thing these days.

Kids really do change fast!

And yes, he has no shirt, his diaper is hanging out of the top of his pants, and he only has 1 sock on. That's just how we roll around here some days :)

Lunch Buddy

Xavier has become good friends with Daniel, the little boy across the street. Daniel is 4 and Xavier just thinks he's the coolest thing ever! Whenever he sees Daniel outside he wants to go play. He talks about Daniel all the time too. And he even wears Daniel's clothes now (yeah for hand me downs!!)

So, the other day Daniel came in for lunch after the boys rode bikes in the court. They decided they wanted to eat at X's little table on the porch. It was really cute watching them . Xavier still does a lot of parallel play with kids. He's often off in his own world in social situations. But not with Daniel. They interact and talk and play so well together.

They were having such a good time sitting next to each other that I had to get a few pics!

His 10 Step Plan

Wesley is learning to walk!

We've been working on balance for a week or two. I'll stand him up and say "Get your Balance, Get your Balance, Get your Baaaalllllaaannnce". That's his que to get steady. Then I let go and he smiles, stands for a few seconds, then goes to the floor.

Thursday he took his first step. Saturday afternoon he took 3. Saturday night he became a show-off after dinner and took 10 steps. Xavier was really getting into the excitement by yelling "Walk to Mama Wes!" over and over.

Today......NOTHIN! We must have wore him out yesterday because he would barely stand up today. Every time I tried he just pulled his feet up to his chest refusing to stand on his own. Little Booger!!

Guess we'll try again tomorrow cause mama's gotta get this on video!

Wordless Wednesday - Shirtless Cuteness

Pickin Pumpkins

This weekend we took the kiddos to the pumpkin patch. We decided to stick with tradition and go to the same place we've taken X for the past 2 years (ya know, his whole life!) I love this pumpkin patch because it's on a family farm, quaint, mostly free, and has lots of fun stuff for little kids to do. It's not insanely crowded either. Oh, and they have funnel cakes...need I say more!!

Wes was going to wear the cute little pumpkin sweatshirt that X wore last year. Well, that didn't happen since it was 85 degrees here and we all were in shorts. Yes, even me! Despite my loathing for shorts, I wore them at Walter's request. He didn't want to listen to me complain all day that I was hot. Don't worry, I just complained about how I hate shorts instead :)

Walter and I both commented on how strange it felt though to have TWO kids to take to the pumpkin patch now. It's the annual events that make you realize how fast time flies. If you are killing time, take a look at our previous pumpkin patch trips here and here.


I took about 85 pictures, so be thankful that I've condensed it down to just all these. And of course my kids continued their own tradition of refusing to look at the camera 99.9% of the time. Enjoy!

Make your own free picture slideshow

Indian Summer

Just when I finally get all the boys fall clothes out and ready to go, it's hot again!

Yesterday we went to the Autism Walk with our neighbors. We had a great time, but I was sweating at the end of our 1.5 mile walk. I even broke down and turned the AC back on when we got home. I hate to be hot more than I love to save money :)

Later today we are planning to go to the pumpkin patch. I guess we'll be picking pumpkins in shorts this year. I haven't taken any good pictures lately, so I'm hoping to get a few good ones of the boys with pumpkins.

I love this picture of Xavier from 2 years ago. It was Indian summer then as well. It was his first time playing in a pile of leaves and he LOVED it. While I'm not looking forward to raking leaves this year, I can't wait for the boys to play in them!

Meet BOB



"The BOB" is my new best friend.

Not too long ago I came to the conclusion that our old double stroller just wasn't cutting it. It was a front to back stroller and was becoming impossible to push. The weight distribution was not good. I could barely make it around the block with that thing. And my kids are not getting any lighter!

With summer heat starting to subside, I really wanted to enjoy fall by getting out and about. And I was desperate to lose my last 10lbs of baby weight. So, we sold the old stroller on Craigslist and after some research (and recommendations from some folks) we decided to get a BOB Revolution Duallie. Can I just say - BEST MOVE OF MY LIFE!

This stroller is awesome. It's amazing how easy it is to maneuver with 2 kids in it. While the BOB is an investment (and ya all know how frugal I am!), I already feel like I've gotten my money's worth in just the 6 or so weeks that we've had it. We are walking A TON! My goal is to work up to running with it, but let's not go crazy just yet!

The kids love it. They both fit in it very well and enjoy being side by side.

 I absolutely love how big the canopies are. The kiddos have shade no matter what angle the sun is at. I bet you can't even tell that in the picture below Wes is actually snuggled up under the canopy.

 Yep, he's already taken a few naps in there!

I've been walking in the neighborhood with the boys in the mornings. We've been walking as a family in the evenings. We have taken many walks on a nearby trail. I also walk down the road (a few miles each way) to my grandma's for a visit. Since it's a jogging stroller, we've been able to take it on rougher terrain than we could before. Just this weekend we took the BOB to an outdoor fair at church that was on a lot of grass and it worked great. This stroller is also nice for X to hop in and out of too when he decides he wants to walk for a bit.

And I'm happy to report that as of this morning I'm FINALLY back to my pre-baby weight! YEAH!!!!! I guess the saying "9 months up, 9 months down" really is true. Imagine if I'd been walking like this 6 months ago.

Thank you BOB!