Bargains: Yesterday I went shopping with a limited amt of money to spend, and I really hit up on some deals. I got me a $9.99 blouse at New York & Co that I can wear with a dressy skirt. I got me a beautiful outfit (that just 'screams' me) at Belks for $28 (reg $88) , I got Em some new tennis shoes (Wide Width) for $6 and lastly, I got Evan 2 outfits from Dillards for $6.25 each!! Dressy outfits too--plus some socks. I luv shopping days like that! :)
Wedding: A good family friend got married this weekend to a girl who sometimes comes to our church. They are both 18, but seem to be in love and I pray for the best for them. I had to sing a song at the wedding, so I weddalized this weekend. ;)
Remodeling: Dh and I spontaneously decided to remodel our bathroom. Today he literally tore everything out in there. I mean there is nothing left but the sink, tub (which will eventually come out) and the toilet. I'm excited! It will be a very slow project because we have youth camp and vacation coming up. Also, funds are limited again. We will probably just shut the door to that bathroom for a few weeks. Ya gotta start somewhere! ;o/
Bread "Winner": Well, I've decided to give up my bread-making career. My bread doesn't turn out too good and I just can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. It is very tough and hard, not at all like store-bought bread. It takes so long to fool with it and we always run out within a day. So, sadly, I am giving up that part of domestic housekeeping. I know my Dh will be so thrilled about this news. We haven't had bread regularly for some time! :) I made 2 loaves today and I don't know if it will even get eaten! The sad part is I've tried 3 or 4 different recipes. Oh well. :0/
Church news: We have a family who will be with us tomorrow to preach and perhaps, "try out" for our church's position of pastor. I'm very excited, quite hopeful, but want God's will to be done. Looking forward to a great weekend at church!
Baby news: No, this is not an announcement...LOL. Just a report on Evan. He is truly my most difficult baby by far. Today I was just in tears because he would not nap. I'm thinking of getting some advice from someone who may have had lots of children so they can give me some advice on what to do. Here's what today was like. Notice he is getting sleepy. We go out to the hardware store, I figure he will sleep either on the way there or the way back. Nope. Get home. Change him, give him some water, and we settle down to rock. I rock him for about 20 minutes during this time I do NOT lovingly gaze into his eyes, but rather think of all the things I could be doing in the 20 minutes of rocking (isn't that terrible? I can't help it tho, I just hate to be sitting down when so much is needing done!). So, I get him down good, go begin washing dishes, tidying up, feeding the pets, etc., and here him crying within 20 minutes of laying him down! UGH. I try to ignore the cries, but they don't stop. LOL So, I go pick him up and begin rocking him again (I know he hasn't slept long enough). He goes to sleep again after about 30 minutes at least, but he is really squirmy. I'm really impatient and ready to lay him down, so I do and he wakes up. So, I just let him stay in his pack and play and leave the room so frustrated. Finally, I go in the kitchen, pray a little to calm down (I'm not mad or anything, but I just need a breather to regroup, ya know, get a second wind) then I go back in and get him. I just let him stay up until this afternoon at around 5:30 or 6, he finally goes to sleep on the way to my MIL's house. He sleeps a little over an hour. I mean, that is about 1 hr 25 or so minutes of sleep for a 10 month old. Is that crazy? Now this is not everyday, but at least one nap per day, he sleeps for 20 minutes and that's it. At my mom's, he would sleep for 3 hours at the time. NEVER, here. UGH.
He is in a pack in play, nice and comfy blankets, I always change him and make sure he isn't hungry or thirsty, make sure he is good and sleepy, but not over tired. I have noise in the room (air conditioner)..he is a hot sleeper, so I put a light cover on him or none at all if it isn't chilly. I close the door and also turn on the bathroom fan that is nearby. I close the door to the dining room so for extra soundproofness.
1. He could be teething (no sign of redness, he has 7 already, no swollen gums, he DOES bite me a lot)
2. He could be still having ear problems (ear inf first part of last week) but doesn't mess with his ear much at all.
3. He could be and SO IS very spoiled.
I guess I just have to be very patient with him and know that this too will pass and is just a phase. I feeling like I am just living for his nap because he wants to be held most of the time. Sometimes he will really play good and crawling helps, but he still doesnt like me to leave his sight. Ever. I am so soft toward him as if this was my last baby and it isn't (I don't think, but today I was wondering was I insane for wanting more?) and can't stand to hear him cry-it-out for sleep. My nerves just can't take it! (Not get mad, but get so sad and emotional for him crying) I love him so much and he is the most beautiful child ever. He loves his mama more than anyone! Still, I just want him to nap like normal (one or two hours twice a day), and play some on his own.
Please pray for me because I so desperately need wisdom! I need the Lord to help me:
A. Not be so set on 'doing the next thing', getting something done, etc. Chilling out--I mean I can't tell much of a difference in my house on a schedule than not...It stays cluttered (to me) and I can't ever get clothes put up and other things. The Lord will have to help me to chill. I can't do it on my own. I'm like my mom in that way.
OR
B. Help me to know what to do with Evan and stick with it. I've tried the crying it out but I won't stick with it because I can't stand for him to cry. It affects me deeply. I just need wisdom! I don't mind rocking him if God helps me with A. (above) but I need him to sleep longer than 20 minutes!
C. Time Management. I have a schedule and that helps a lot. I'm getting schooling done and that is most important as is the Bible reading I'm doing with the kids. I still need to work on what is important in my schedule and what I could do without. Things like ironing my dh's clothes are important, but they might not get done because I will do something that I might could leave out of my schedule. I need to use my crockpot and do some advance meals. I need to use my dryer more instead of hanging out clothes. I need to ENFORCE the putting things away when you are through with them (esp for the kids). I need to be quick on the discipline if kids whine or disobey. I need to get up an hour earlier (at least).
Here's what I would like to see:
*More playing time with my children (even though I love hanging out my clothes, I could dry them so I could have the outside time with them).
*More time to read (I could get the kids in bed earlier, spend 10 minutes tidying the house, not over 10 or 15 minutes blogging, and then read)
*More time communicating and hugging/kissing my Dh (sometimes I'm just so busy I don't take time to give him a hug or a kiss--isn't that awful--someone so wonderful as him! I could make a concious effort to give him a kiss before work and when he comes home--stopping what I'm doing and greet him, etc. Snuggle on the couch before bedtime or in the mornings)
*The last thing I have got to do is to declutter my house. My house doesn't have junk piled in the corners and clutter to the point of nastiness, but my kids have way too many clothes and lots they can't wear which need to be put up...we have too many junk drawers, my book shelves are taken over by junk...just things aren't in the right places! Drives me insane. I know clutter causes soo much stress. My solution to this is I will ask my mom to keep my kids one day a week until I can get my house clutter free)
I hope this implementations will help me. I'm going to try to redo my schedule tomorrow for next week and make it work more for my advantage. I just want to have more fun with my kids AND my house run smoothly.
Isn't this a tough time with young children? I know when they are all older, they can pitch in and help and things will be better. I don't want to rush it, though, and I don't want to have any regrets about not spending enough time with them!
Thanks for listening to my book...er...blog. I'm open to any suggestions, sympathies, etc.
Find Your Fight Song And Sing It
8 years ago
2 comments:
This is Sondra. I read your blogs from time to time and enjoy them a lot. I decided to comment on this one because neither of my boys napped! I know that isn't encouraging but I'm feelin' ya! It isn't fun. If Evan napped for your Mom, I'm figuring he just thinks you are about to go back to work (like he was used to you for two or three days in a row and then back to Grandma's) But what do I know? I'm a no napper Mom and I can't stand to hear them cry either, Larry always tuned them out and I'd be crying in the next room! I still can't stand to hear a baby cry- I just want to go 'fix them' Hang in there- you are doing the best you can and they will love you! Remember that you may not do everything that other Moms' do, but just be YOUR KIDS Mom and that is always perfect! We should get together sometime now that you are one of us "Lazy Moms" haha
Big hugs!! I know exactly how you feel! I know for me, I get so much more frustrated when I'm trying ot do what *I* want/need to do. When I remember that being home is really about the children, not about the house, then my days go so much better.
I don't plan on anythign for Genesis's naptime, b/c there is no telling when she'll sleep. Now thankfully she does take a good nap every day, I have no idea when it will be! Some days she'll go to sleep at 10am, other days she doesn't go down until 3pm! BUT she plays well when she's not sleeping, so I can still get stuff done. It's hard when you have to hold a baby all day!
Scheduling too closely with littles simply doesn't work, imo. I have a general idea of things I need to get done in a day, and have them somewhat prioritized. Like washing dishes is a necessity. Vacuuming under the couches, not so much. You can't get it all done, you simply can't and you'll burn yourself out trying.
Getting rid of clutter will help, so forget about dusting for a week and use that time to declutter instead. For toys, my kids have 4 shelves of toys along with a box of blocks. The shelves are about 3 feet wide I guess? So really, not a lot of toys. They have about twice that really, but half of htem are put up to get rotated later on. What has really helped us with the daily toy mess is putting the things that have many peices on the shelves with doors. Those toys they have to ask before playing with, along with the blocks. The other 2 shelves have things that don't have a lot of pieces, like the bead-run thingy, a toy that makes noise, See'n'say, a train you pull with a string, etc. They have free access to those so they're not bugging me all day asking to play with toys. But they can only make a minimul mess with those. So if the house is already a bit messy and they want the blocks out, I will tell them to pick up xyz first. And they can't get the cars out until after they pick up the blocks. This helps with not only the messy house, but makes pick-up at the end of the day go MUCH better. This was confirmed one day when my MIL watched the kids for a few hours and they were allowed to play with whatever they wanted. The mess was huge, the fight to get it picked up was huger.(I know, not a real word)
So that's all the advice I have for now. Now if I only I could get off my behind and start cleaning, maybe my house wouldn't be a disaster. Morning sickness is not good for my house!
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