Babies.

I just love this picture!

Today.

Today was not a great day. It wasn’t awful, but it was just so long. And not what I expected. But then, like everyday, there were pockets of goodness too. And I just felt like writing it down…

Sonnet started school this week. (She loves it, by the way). One of the [only] things I like about summer is that we don’t have to get up early for school. This summer, both kids and I got in the habit of sleeping in until 8:30am and then just sort of bumming around eating breakfast and watching Disney Junior for an hour or so after that. It was nice.

Now that school is back in session, we have to leave our house by 7:30 to get Sonnet there on time, which means she gets up at 7:00 to get ready. By the time I get home from dropping her off, it’s usually getting close to 9:00, which means if I want to have a productive morning, it’s best for me to work out and shower off before I take her. Which means my alarm ends up going off at 6:00.

I know that’s not all that early to some people, but to me it might as well be 4am. I am not a morning person. I never have been. I seriously have a much happier outlook on life when I can stay up late and sleep in late. I never feel happy or productive or glad to be alive early in the mornings. Say what you will about the virtues of “early to bed, early to rise.” It’s never been a healthy rhythm for me.

But you do what you gotta do.

So, getting re-adjusted to this schedule again is going to take some time. So far, I just feel myself getting more and more tired. I keep getting up early, but I haven’t really made it to bed early, and this morning it caught up with me. I woke up super tired. And then the day just dragged on and on…

I was supposed to have some people over today to see my house, so I felt like it had to be really clean and organized. Also, I had some things to do early this morning, so I got up early enough that I could get totally ready for the day, get the kids ready for the day, and make sure the house was all picked up and clean… all before we left at 7:30. I took Sonnet to school, ran some errands, and then came home. Stetson really wanted to play outside, and even though it was a trillion degrees outside, I figured it would be better than letting him loose to destroy the house while I waited for the people to come.

But he’s Stetson. He can’t just play nicely in the sandbox. After we’d been out there a while, he was drenched in sweat, covered in dirt, wet from splashing in the dog’s water, scratched up and crying because he fell off the scooter, sticky from a peach I gave him to eat, and then he stepped in dog poop and started freaking because even at 18 months old he's smart enough to now that that crap is nasty. I finally gave up and took him inside for a shower.

He got all clean, I fed him lunch, and he went down for a nap. I had planned on working on this church project that I’ve been meaning to do, except I couldn’t find my notebook that has all my information in it. I seriously have no clue where it is. I searched forever and it’s nowhere to be found. Things like that make me especially crazy because I am such an organized person. I know what’s in every drawer and cupboard in this house. I have no idea how things get misplaced.

Instead, I decided to just take a nap. The early morning caught up with me and I had no motivation to do anything productive. I lay down, but I left my phone on in case the people who were supposed to come over called. They did not call, but I got several [unneccesary] texts from someone who was coming to pick up something I have for sale that woke me up each time I dozed off. And then my neighbor let her three yappy rat-dogs outside and they spent the next 20 minutes barking hysterically. (Holy crap, I hate those dogs. Seriously, I fantasize about opening her gate and just letting them run away when no one is looking. Or throwing rat poison over the wall). So, I gave up and got up. I thought I would have another hour of free time to sneak in some yoga and get some stuff done, but Stetson woke up and started yelling for me from his crib. I got him changed, fed him a snack, tried to keep him from destroying the house, and we left to get Sonnet from school.

Stetson is usually not too bad in his car seat. He doesn’t love it, but he tolerates it. (Sonnet screamed bloody murder every time we put her in the car when she was little). But today, he was just not having it. He screeched and squirmed and yelled “out!” and "up!" and "no, no, no!" over and over. He got so mad that he couldn’t get his buckle off that his whole head turned red. He threw all the snacks I gave him on the ground. I tried turning on a DVD, but he just wanted to push all the buttons on the player, so I finally just cranked up the talk radio and ignored him. Sean Hannity lulled him into a stupor.

We picked up Sonnet and she begged to get ice cream (which she pretty much does every day). I figured that sounded great, so we stopped at Yogurtland. We got our ice cream and sat outside and Stetson ran around and made a huge mess with his ice cream (but he was sure happy about it) and Sonnet and I sat happily and ate and talked for about a half hour. I felt really good.

We got in the car to drive home and Sonnet zonked out. The early schedule and being back in school for 7 hours straight is doing a number on her too. But if I let her take an afternoon nap, then she won’t go to sleep at bedtime, which means she’ll be even more tired in the morning… it’s a vicious cycle. So, I made her wake up, but I told her she could rest on the couch and watch an episode of Doc Mcstuffins. Stetson kept trying to play with her (he is the only non-tired entity in this story) and she was not having it. She started yelling at him and that made him cry and then he tried to run over to me and he tripped and smacked his face on the floor and she kept yelling because she couldn’t hear her show and I started yelling at her to stop yelling at her brother and then I realized that’s stupid parenting but I was too tired to think of a better solution, so I just sat there and we watched two more episodes of Jake and the Neverland Pirates.

Finally, I got around to, you know, moving, and we did Sonnet’s homework and made dinner. All the while, I was obsessively trying to keep the kids from making messes (which is completely futile) because I was still expecting someone to come over. (Turns out I was stressing myself out for no reason because they never actually showed up. Holy crap, I hate that. I cancelled plans with a friend earlier in the day and tried to keep Stetson in check all day… heck, I even re-made my bed after my stupid non-nap expecting these people to show and they did not show. So, welcome to Crazytown).

But after we got full bellies, we headed outside to play. I felt like we had been out there forever, and that I was doing a pretty good job keeping it together even though I have a million things going on in my brain and no physical energy left, and I was thinking it must be almost time for bed and then I looked at my clock and it said 5:57pm.

Dude.

My kids don’t go to bed until 9, which means I had three more hours to fill. Three hours! How is this day not over?! So we went for a long walk, we drew with sidewalk chalk, we rode bikes, we played in the kiddie pool… and somehow only another hour had passed. I swear, I was in the twilight zone today.

So, then I checked out. I laid on the swing in the backyard and ignored the dog poop and the fact that Stetson was trying to ram the Flintstone car into the side of the house as hard as he could with Sonnet riding on top of it (broken something waiting to happen there) and the wet feet prints being tracked in and out of my clean living room and the fact that Stetson fed his popsicle to the dog (stick and all) and just turned on a documentary I’ve been wanting to watch on my phone and closed my eyes. I could have fallen asleep, but finally it was 8 and the kids were both filthy, so we went upstairs for a bath and stories and finally [finally!] bedtime.

They are now both safely tucked away in their beds. And now, rather than crashing like I should, I am writing this and watching Project Runway and eating a brownie because, well, today stunk. And it’s getting late which means I finally have energy because no matter what I do, that’s how my biological clock ticks.

There are some things that were supposed to happen today that did not. There are some things going on in my life that could be great, but I don’t feel like I have very much control over right now. I hate that. I prefer to make a plan and then have it work out. (Don’t we all?) I just want things to work like I want them to work. (Yes, I am familiar with the term control freak, thankyouverymuch).

But then, I think about the good moments I had today...

I mean, at least I have a house. And at least it’s clean (until Stetson wakes up again).

I have a good bed to sleep in, even if I don’t get to spend as much time in it as I want. (We blew our savings account on a tempur-pedic mattress a few years ago…. Best.Decision.Ever.)

I got lots of fresh (smoggy, city) outside air today.

Sonnet goes to a great school and I have a nice car to drive to get us there and back every day and even though it's a long drive, we get so much talking time together everyday and I feel so good about the environment that she is in that it is totally worth it.

Yogurtland had good flavors today and Stetson actually got some of his ice cream in his mouth (and on his shirt, pants, shoes, the table, the ground, and the trash can) and Sonnet said it was the best ice cream ever because she’s optimistic and wonderful like that.

I got a bunch of random/funny/nice text messages today, which I love. (Seriously, talking on the phone without having to actually make a phone call? The best.)

I read a chapter of my favorite book.

Sonnet told me she wants to be a scientist when she grows up and convinced me to do a “scientific study” of the rocks in our yard with her. (We made many profound observations).

When bedtime finally rolled around, I rocked Stetson for a minute and he fell asleep in my arms (which very rarely happens) and I swear there is nothing better on the planet than holding your sleeping baby close to your heart. Nothing.

And I did not kill anyone’s dog today. So, I’d say I’m on the plus side.

And I will do it all again tomorrow. And it will all be OK.

The end.

First Grade!

Sonnet had her first day of first grade today! She loved it! We've had a fun summer, but I think she was ready to get back into school. We're at American Heritage Academy again and we are so happy. Sonnet has a fabulous teacher who is so creative and enthusiastic and fun, while still being demanding and educational. She has 16 kids in her class, some of them friends from last year. I'm so excited for all the new things she'll learn this year and I am so proud of my little 1st grader!

The night before school starts, we have the tradition of going out to eat. Sonnet gets to pick the place (I suppose the kids will have to flip for it when Stetson gets older) and this year she picked Olive Garden. She ate a ton of food, then we went home and she got all showered and snuggly in her jammies. We packed her new backpack and then Nate gave her a very nice father's blessing. We tucked her into bed (even though she said she was too excited to sleep!) and she was up and ready to go the next morning!

I walked her into her classroom and she sat at her desk. She was so comfortable and I didn't even cry this year! :) I love her school so much and I am so grateful she is in a good environment, learning good things from good people each day.

The Kids.

Stetson has been giving me a run for my money lately. He's a good kid, but he is so busy... and hyper... and destructive... and funny... and opinionated! And he's only 18 months old! Holy crap. He's so freaking cute, but I don't think my house is going to survive him. I'm about to just take everything off the walls, pack everything up, lay bubble wrap on the floor and call it good. I keep thinking I've "baby-proofed" and then he finds something else to get into or climb on or throw down the stairs...

 

A couple days ago, he tipped over the barstool and it fell on his toe. It wasn't broken or anything, but it turned purple and he whined about it for two days straight. He would yell "ow!" at random times and stick his foot in the air so I could kiss it. High maintenance, that one.

 

We went out to dinner last week and Stetson snatched my malt off the table... huge glass cup and all. He sucked on it for 15 minutes straight! I kept trying to get it back and he would just push my hand away without even breaking suction on the straw. When he was done, he set it on the table, wiped his face with his pudgy little paw, and yelled "yum, yum, yum!"

 

Yesterday, Stetson ran over to Blaze, jumped on his back, hooked his arms around his neck, and yelled, "Neigh! Go, go go!" Thankfully Blaze is lazy (and used to being sat on by crazy children) so he just sat there, or else Stetson would have been in it for the 8 second buzzer.

 

Stetson went to nursery for the first time a couple weeks ago. He did fine, but I was sad. He's a troublemaker at church so you would think I'd be happy to get rid of him, but he's still little and he's my baby and it's weird to leave him for two whole hours when I never, ever leave my kids with anyone else. Plus, there are a couple other little kids in there with some bad habits and I don't want Stetson learning to do things that I don't think are OK. I'm not a helicopter parent, but I am picky and I am protective. And I don't even want to think about how many germs are on those nursery room toys. Yuck!

 

On Thursday, Nate put Stetson down for a nap and left the room. 5 minutes later, Stetson came walking down the stairs with a huge grin on his face! He figured out how to climb out of his crib! OH NO!!! That night he refused to go to sleep. We would put him down and he'd immediately hop out. I thought about doing the whole "supernanny" thing where you just keep putting them back in their bed with no other interaction over and over until they get the point and stay, but he just kept getting hysterical and it doesn't solve my problem anyway. I don't want him to be able to climb out. I'm not going to sleep if I'm constantly wondering about whether he stayed put or not. He needs to take a nap... and he'll go to sleep no problem if he knows he can't get out, but now that he knows... ugh oh! He finally went to sleep that night, but then he came wandering into our room and climbed on our bed way before the sunrise the next morning. The next day, he took a 20 minute nap and then hopped out. It was not a nice few days.

 

Sonnet started climbing out of her crib when she was a little older and we just moved her to a big bed, but I don't feel like Stetson is ready for that at all. I don't want to just lock him in his room because he's such a terrorist, that I don't feel like it's safe to leave him alone. I can't just teach him to lay down and go to sleep because he wakes up and starts roaming around the house. I don't feel like he's old enough to really understand the concept of "bedtime" and not coming out of your room until sleep time is over, etc. We've got top locks on all the doors and stuff, but I don't feel comfortable unless I know he's contained.

 

I researched crib tents, but apparently they're a safety hazard and no one sells them anymore. There's no way I'm giving up naptime completely at 18 months old, but I can't possibly rock him until he's completely out and then just hope he stays put. So, we finally decided to lower his crib mattress. It was already on the lowest rung, so we tried setting the mattress on the floor inside the crib, but there was an unsafe gap between the top of the mattress and the bottom of the crib. So, Nate screwed in some hooks below the lowest rung but above the unsafe zone, and now the mattress sits as low as it possibly can inside the crib bars. I also removed the cute bumpers that were in there because he was kind of using them for traction to climb out.

 

Then, just to make myself feel better, I bought a couple of "sleep sacks" at Babies R Us in size XL. They are sleeveless, but they zip all the way up from the bottom and his legs are contained inside it so he can't spread them far enough apart to fling one over the side and climb out. It's kind of like a baby straight jacket for his bottom half. Haha. :) So far, it's solved my problem and after 3 days of stressing out and not sleeping well, we seem to be back on track. As long as I can get some solid sleep, I suppose I can survive Stetson's toddlerhood. :)

 

I mean, really, he is so freaking cute!

 

Sonnet goes back to school this Tuesday. We had "back to school night" last week and we are excited about first grade! She has a GREAT teacher and we love her school and I know it will be a great year. We've had a fun summer, but I am more excited for a little routine than I ever thought I'd be. I love that she wears uniforms to school. I think they look nice, clean, and conservative and I don't have to try to convince her to wear something that "matches just a little better" every morning, and our back to school shopping was a breeze. Her shirts and jumpers and sweaters from last year still fit, so we just bought some new black maryjanes and a new princess backpack and lunchbox!

 

Sonnet loves dogs. Like, loooooooves them. She always has. Lately she's taken her obsession to new heights and she pretends to be one all the time. Oh my gosh. I swear if she barks at me one more time, I'm going to make her sleep in the doghouse.

 

Yesterday, Stetson ran up to her and yelled a string of gibberish. She replied, "I don't speak baby. I only speak dog. Oh, and English too."

 

I inherited a super cute daybed a while back and it's been sitting in my garage. I finally decided to put it in Sonnet's room a few weeks ago. Then we got some mosquito netting and made her a canopy. She thinks it's a princess bed. (It's actually quite fun to lay in there!) When we were setting it all up, Sonnet goes "I love this place! It looks so beautiful! My bed is now my second favorite place in the world!" I asked her what her first favorite place is and she said "Dad. Dad is my favorite place." Be still my heart.

 

A couple weeks ago, I told Sonnet to turn on the TV because Nate was going to be on the news (the news crews filmed a fire he was fighting). Sonnet goes, "Oh he's just trying to impress us!"

 

The other day I was tucking her into bed and she said "Today was the best day ever!" We hadn't done anything all that special so I asked her why she liked it so much. She said, "Because we played, I felt happy, and we made rice krispie treats!" She sure is easy to please. :)

 

We went to the Bellagio on Thursday to check out the gardens and the fountains. A worker was there with a vacuum sucking up all the coins people had thrown into the water. Sonnet yelled "NO! You can't do that! You're sucking up wishes!"

 

Sonnet is a sweet little thing. She talks like a Disney princess and she can't be quiet to save her life and her imagination is so bright! She wears me out. But I love the little Blondie and I hope all her wishes come true.

 

 

 

 



Spears Couples.

Every summer Nate and his four brothers go on a camping trip. This year, they decided to include the wives and do a "staycation" instead. I wasn't brave enough to leave my kids overnight, so we didn't get a room, but we all met up for a full day of activities and we had fun, fun, fun. There are 5 Spears boys, but one couple didn't come so there were 8 of us total. I like all these people and it's nice to get together as a family when we can. We played bingo (Nate won!), went bowling (I stunk!), saw a movie, talked, and ate lots of food! I'm thinking the bingo/bowling/lunch combo will become a regular tradition for the 8 of us. Nate and I soooo needed the day out and I'm grateful to my parents for watching the kids and my in-laws for hanging out with us! :)

 

 

 

 

 

Bellagio.

We went to the Bellagio today to check out the gardens and the fountains. We usually do this once a quarter because it's free and fun and pretty! This time, the garden was covered in two of my favorites: sunflowers and hydrangeas! GORGEOUS!

18 Months!

My boy is a year and a half old! I love his guts so much I can't even stand it.

 

 

Here's 18 things about Stetson right now:

 

1. He is a “tinker.” He loves to push buttons, turn knobs, "fix" stuff with his tools, build stuff, knock it down, and then build it again. He’s always trying to figure out how things work and he’s super logical. He can get into anything, break anything apart, and probably put it back together again before you even know what he's up to.
 

2. He takes one 2-3 hour nap per day and he sleeps 10 hours at night.
 

3. He’ll eat just about anything, but if he doesn’t like it, he’ll spit it right back out and then give you a look that says, "How could you feed that to me?!" Chicken nuggets and macaroni seem to be his favorites right now.
 

4. He literally runs in circles around me. He always has to be moving and he just loves to run! And he’s fast! Sometimes he'll just tear off down the hall or run in circles around the kitchen island laughing like a maniac.
 

5. He likes animals and babies and if you remind him to “be soft” he’ll just pet their feet or head and say “awww” over and over. It’s pretty sweet.
 

6. He’s a little on the shy side. He’s not clingy or scared, but he mostly just likes me and Nate. It takes him a while to warm up to other people.
 

7. When he wants to go to bed, he'll lay down wherever he is and say “night night” over and over.
 

8. His nicknames are Tank, Bubba, Love, Lovey, Dream Boat, Stink, Little Man, Boy, and Sweet Boy.
 

9. He knows where his nose, ears, and toes are. And if you ask him where his button is, he’ll lift up his shirt and show you his belly button!
 

10. He’s always on the go, but he’s kind of a snuggler too. He’ll pretty much give me kisses and hugs anytime I ask him and he’ll just randomly come up to me and hold me for a minute or two several times throughout the day. Love.
 

11. He has no interest in TV or movies. Because, you know, that would require sitting still.
 

12. He loves to dance!!!
 

13. He loves to climb up on the coffee table or bed and then he holds up his arms and waits for you to catch him. He has no problem leaping into thin air! He also learned how to jump off the ground with both feet at the same time and he is pretty proud of his knew trick. And he's a climber! He makes other people nervous with his climbing, but I'm so used to it, I don't even flinch anymore.
 

 14. He loves to play "Don’t Break the Ice." We take turns banging out the little cubes (it's sooooo hard for him to wait his turn, but he does it) and he thinks it’s hilarious when they all fall out.
 

15. He’s secretly funny. Most of the time he’s serious and it takes some work to get him to crack a smile, but underneath all that is a jokester who's willing to play around... he just won't admit that he's interested.
 

16. He loves to play catch. We have some soft balls that we throw to each other and that kid has an arm!
 

17. He's gotten really into reading books lately. You have to read fast because he won't sit still long, but he likes to turn the pages, point to things, tell you what he thinks, shut the book, throw it, and then bring over another one and start the whole process over. Hey, reading time is reading time. His current favorite book (that we have to read 800 times a day!) is called "bubbles bubbles" and don't you dare try to put him to bed without reading it or he will stand in his crib and yell at you until you come back and go through it at least three times.
 

18. He is quite talkative. And his little voice is sooooo cute! He’s very expressive! He has tons of little inflections in his voice and he’s always gesturing with his hands. He says tons of words and I feel like over the last week he has started parroting words so I think we're about to have a spike in vocabulary. These are the words he uses most often:

Mama

Daddy

Sis

Pop Pop

Up

Night night

No

Yes

No way!

Oh no!

Ow (ouch)

Play

Baba (bottle)

Go!

Ha ha

Dink (drink)

Danks (thanks)

Pees (please)

Hi

Hello

Yay!

What?!

Nog, Nog (knock, knock)

Ball

Hot!

Aye-yi-yi

Doggie

Dog

Woof

Meow

Yum!

Mmmm

Bobby (baby)

Buch (book)

Cook (cookie)

Bob-ulls (bubbles)

Lub you (love you)

Buh by (bye bye)

 

 

Now, look how gorgeous he is...