Sleep Deprivation

I thought I was the only person in this household who was sleep deprived. I am beginning to think that Alexis is also suffering from sleepless nights as Timothy howls. Alexis and Timothy are both in the same room and Timothy has not been sleeping much lately. I'm not sure if he is just still in recovery mode from his cold or if he has more teeth coming in or what... but it is driving us crazy. Nonetheless, Alexis has been a good sport about the nonstop crying. Some nights when I go in the room to get Timothy, I'll see Alexis laying in her bed with her hands covering her ears. Poor kid. I think it is taking its toll.

Just this week she has fallen asleep at lunch twice and even fell asleep on the potty! This isn't very common for her. She is always fighting sleeping and running around like crazy. She also asked to go to sleep last night... and we were happy to oblige. Can't beat it when a two year old says, "I'm tired... can I go to bed now?"

David and I were just talking and neither of us can remember a night where we were both able to sleep the entire night. If that were one thing I could purchase... I would pay whatever it cost for a good night sleep. I feel like most days I am sleep walking. If someone could bottle sleep, I'll be your first customer, and I'm sure David and Alexis would be next in line.

You know it is going to be a bad day when...

You know it is going to be a bad day when the first thing your two year old does is set off the house alarm when she opens an exterior door after being told multiple times not to. I should have sent myself and everyone else back to bed for at least a few more hours. I sure wouldn't mind. We've all had the cold over here so my body is so tired... and congested. And there is nothing worse than being sick and not being able to take anything for it.
Alexis has really been testing my limits lately. I have made a conscience decision to be more patient and soft spoken with Alexis but today she spent most of her day on time out. Between her beating up on me and her little brother and just refusing to listen it has been a long day. Nap schedules were also interrupted today which I'm sure makes a big difference too. I thought that we were ending the terrible two's but I think her independent nature might make being three just as frustrating.
She will sit at the table for almost an hour before she finally eats her full meal. And getting her to pick up her toys has been impossible too. I think David figured out how to handle that though. He grabbed a trash bag and started tossing Alexis's toys in. He said if it was on the floor it was disappearing. I don't think I've seen Alexis move so fast in a long time... or scream so loudly. It sure was effective. No... we didn't throw away the toys... but they have disappeared for awhile. Any other ideas? I don't want my child living on time out... and I'm worn out!

Recent Sayings and Doings of Alexis

"Dad... I pooed for your birthday!" Yeah!

Every time Alexis gives Timothy a hug she says, "mom take a picture, we're cute!"

Recent Phone Conversation between Alexis and Katelynn:Alexis: Hi Katelynn... I'm playing a game of cooking and circus, and mommy had a baby in her tummy but then the baby came out and I take her to the doctor, and I go to the zoo, and I go to timeout, and then there are butterflies, and I miss you Katelynn. I love you bye,Katelynn: Ok... bye.Alexis is quite a chatterbox.

"Grandma lost her marbles, Can I find them for her?"

"Ahhhh... Turn Green"

"The bugs will eat it" (in regards to her food)

"Timothy picked your nose" (said to her pediatrician who was holding Timothy)

"The poot woke me up"

Alexis puts all the balls from the house in a pile, sits on them and waits for them to hatch

"This is Ridiculous"

"Mom your picture is lovely"

Tagged

I was tagged... so here are seven things about me that not many people know.

1. I love architecture. Not sure why, but it has always fascinated me. I attempted this in college but found that I didn't love the math or physics/engineering involved.
2. I had never had my blood drawn until I had Alexis. When the time finally came, I begged David to come with me and I was hyperventilating. I am scared to death of needles and just seeing other people with them makes me freak out.
3. I don't like chocolate so much... but love white chocolate.
4. In fifth grade I was such a "tom boy". I played rugby with all the boys. One day I was tackled by the stake presidents son, and when I went down my front tooth hit a rock and chipped a big chunk out of it. Luckily the kids uncle was a dentist and he fixed it for me... but I went to church that Sunday missing half my front tooth. NICE! My mom was pleased as you can imagine.
5. I am double jointed in my legs/knees. When I stand my legs will bend backwards like a flamingo.
6. When I was little I was in a commercial for a wedding store and had to pretend to be a flower girl. I was in kindergarten and the family of the boy I liked asked me to be in the commercial with my sweetheart. I must have been quite the playground flirt.
7. I love roller coasters, but they scare me to death. I think it is the closest I'll get to doing something super dangerous.

Anything anyone else would like to share about themselves? Lets hear it...

How easily we forget

For the past few years, my Christmas presents have been converting old VHS to DVD's of home videos. When technology changes, so must the memories. The nice part is that you can make copies for everyone. It is a long and tedious process, but well worth it. Part of this process is watching each and every VHS. It is so funny to see things that you'd forgotten about. Like a brother who is so adamant about building an igloo in the backyard. Or the fact that you tried to build a snow hill in your backyard for sledding.
Dating these videos is also fun. My first clues for dates are how many kids there are at the time. Then I look at the age of the youngest... and then if I still can't figure it out I refer to clothes and furniture. I know that I may be off by a bit, but it sure is funny to see those hideous and surely flammable 80's bangs. Good times. What makes this even harder to date is that we lived in Idaho at one point in time. For anyone who has ever been there, they know that they are 10 years behind in fashion anyway... so what looks like the 80's was actually the 90's. Refer to Napoleon Dynamite.
My mom also had 20+ rolls of undeveloped film. I snagged them from her and took them in to see what was possibly on them. Lots of the film was so old that it was no longer good... but some of the film turned out incredible. The funny thing is seeing pictures, being in them, and not having any idea what you were doing. There was one picture where I was surely old enough to remember the activity, but have no idea what we were doing. I showed my sister the picture, and she too has no recollection. It happened though, because we have the picture to prove it.
Amazing how we forget things. I guess that is why it is so important to document and write things down. My younger journals are pretty funny though. Not much more than, "so and so is hot and I hope he notices me..." If only I knew then what I know now. Maybe I wouldn't have spent so much time and energy on things that didn't matter. But the real question is... have I really learned? Or am I still spending too much time on things that don't matter... Time to take inventory and reevaluate.

New vs. Used

Yesterday was Veterans Day so there were lots of sales going on around town. Savers (a local thrift store) had 1/2 off all of its stuff... so I thought it would be a great way to get Timothy some warmer clothes without spending a bundle. I was very mistaken. I thought thrift stores were supposed to be inexpensive, or cheap. After browsing only a few racks of clothes I quickly realized this was not the case. Even with the half off sale it was still more than I'd pay for used clothes. I can't imagine anyone paying the full amount of what they were charging. I even found a button up shirt (size 12 mos) that they wanted $8 for! What? Are you serious? I could get a new shirt cheaper.
I guess my moms bargain shopping rubbed off on me. When I shop for clothes it isn't at the high end stores. I usually shop Walmart or Target... and when I buy clothes it is off the clearance rack or it has to be on sale. I refuse to pay full price. I buy off season clothes in larger sizes and wait for the bargains. Sure my kids don't have the name brands... but name brands are a rip off. I say cotton is cotton... so why pay more for a tag?
I wonder if things will change when I actually have money to spend on clothes? Will I buy it in the moment because I like it or will I still wait for the sale? I guess it also helps that I am not very trendy. Give me a simple t-shirt and jeans and I'll be happy. I don't need the latest styles...and it also helps that most trends are immodest... so I couldn't wear them if I wanted to.
So does anyone else have ideas on saving money on toys, books, clothes... anything? Other thrift store suggestions? Should I try garage sales? Or just stick to the clearance rack? Ugh... back to the same question of new vs. used!

Good idea? Bad idea?

Blue sand... good idea? Seemed good at the time. We found some fun blue sandbox sand at the store awhile ago and I finally placed it in the sandbox. They make the sand in all sorts of fun colors now and I thought it would be fun for Alexis. It is easier to spot when it gets tracked into the house at least. I guess it is one way to see if Alexis is still sandy. She loves it though... so I guess if she likes it, it must have been a good idea. Anything to keep her happy and occupied.
The weather has been great for playing outside, so we've been out every day playing in sand, picking flowers, and blowing bubbles. Timothy is mesmerized by the bubbles. He thinks they are great and they make him laugh.
Timothy is also starting to cruise around the house. He army crawls really good and when placed standing next to the couch he will walk his way around the couch. Look out world... and Alexis. His new found mobility is also incentive to keep the house more clean. He finds every little thing on the floor and uses his little pinchers to place it in his mouth. One might think he doesn't get enough to eat, but I'd have to beg to differ. Have you seen his thunder thighs...enough said.

The First Day of A "New World"

So yesterday was a really huge election, and I was proud to be able to vote. It is a privilege to be an American with freedom. Sadly though, my candidate did not win. There will be lots of changes in this countries future. Some I'm afraid of and I just pray that our country pulls together to survive some of our future trials. It will be interesting to say the least to see how this all pans out.
I am finding that talking politics can be risky business. One must be politically correct and tiptoe around true feelings, so as to not offend. Interesting how that works. I am happy though that some of the propositions I was hoping for passed! Yeah!
I also woke up this morning to TONS of graffiti. Gotta love it.
Not much else going on... just trying to survive and be more patient with a two year old that can hold up her end of an argument. Argh! Can't complain though... life is good... for now...

Halloween Costumes

So I guess I should post a few pics of the kids from Halloween. It was a fun year... just keep losing track of time. The years seem to fly by faster as we get busier. Here are the costumes nonetheless. We also have tons of candy if anyone is interested... any takers? Anyone?