Sleep

Last night I crawled into bed just after eight. I fell asleep, but then woke up around nine starving. I figure the reason for that is that I was running around all day and did not really eat anything until dinner. So I had something to eat and then went back to bed. Ryan then woke up at 6:15ish. I nursed him and then put him back to bed. I then woke up this morning around 8:45. That is the most sleep that I have gotten in a long time.

Ryan has been waking up several times during the night for the last several months. I decided I was done and he could cry it out. Friday night he cried a lot. I wonder why I was punishing myself to teach my son good sleep habits.

Since I have been trying to teach him to sleep more than a few hours at a time (which he used to do, but for some reason has stopped) everyone in the house has been a little on edge. Misery likes company. I figure I am finished being the only one that is awake during the hours that people should never be awake. What can I say, I am so nice.

Grace took the top picture.

Snow is Here

Dear Grace,

This morning I opened the blinds and you saw snow on the ground. You ran into the bedroom to tell daddy (who was still sleeping). You were so excited and it was very cute! You wondered if we were going to church because it had snowed. You made up a little song for the snow.

"Snow is here, snow is here.
All the world is white and clear."

Earlier this week you tried to read the Book Of Mormon all by yourself for family scriptures before bed. You read two verses almost by yourself. I am always amazed at the hard words you can read without help. You came across the word iniquities. I told you the word, twice. You then said, "That's a hard word for kids." It was so cute!

I love you Grace!
Mom

Hmmm...

Well, I have not posted for awhile. I have not stopped thinking, but blogging has just not been a priority this summer.

Grace has been in school for several weeks now. It is going really well. Yesterday morning when I dropped the kids off I asked Grace if she was ready to walk to class by herself. She grabbed my hand and told me not yet. She held my hand all the way down the hall. It was so sweet. It is nice to know that she still needs me.

On Sunday we had Stake Conference, but it was broadcast from the conference center. It was really good. President Monson closed the meeting out. His talk was about developing a house of learning, a house of prayer and a house of fasting. It was great! I got a pat on the back figuratively during his talk when Grace looked up and said, "Mom, that is President Monson."

Ryan is growing so fast. He has been into exploring everything. His world is getting bigger everyday. It makes me so happy. Derek and I have a bet. I am totally going to win. If Ryan walks before he turns one, which he will, then I win. And if he waits to walk until after he turns one, which will not be the case, Derek will win. I am thinking of something awesome for my victory because Derek doen't have a chance. Ryan has four months left and I am completely confident in his skills. Derek, I love you!

Your Mommy and My Mommy

Dear Grace,

Last week I put on a pair of your father's black socks. (He is always telling me that I can buy some for myself, but I only wear them two or three times a month. I would rather spend that money on something that I would wear more often. Also, he has a lot of socks. I should know, I bought them.)

Anyway, I put on the socks and you turned to Ryan and said, "Your mommy and my mommy put on our daddy's socks." Ryan of course then laughed at you. I laughed too!

I started thinking about the wording. Let me know if I am reading into this too much.

Do I treat you and your brother different? Well, duh, I have to. He is a baby. He needs attention and he needs it differently than you. And well, frankly he is a lot needier than you.

Do I love one of you more? No! I thought I would when I was pregnant. I didn't know if I could love and hold and smile at another baby like I did and do with you. If anything, having Ryan made me love you more than I did before. I love Ryan just as much as you, but my love for you grew. I am not sure how. Several times a day I tear up (just a little) when I think of you and Ryan. I am so overwhelmed with the love that I feel for you two. I am so blessed!

Is this a possession issue? I think maybe. Lately you are asking me to hold you quite a bit. I love doing holding you. I am trying to make more of an effort to not push you aside, but you don't often complain. You are patient and loving and so sweet.


Love,
Mom

Cookies

We made some chocolate chip cookies last night for family home evening. Should that be capitalized? Oh well. Anyway, this morning I am the only one awake and watching the sun rise at...8:15? Yeah. It is that early. I just put Ryan back down to bed and then picked up the front room that I should have cleaned last night. Well, I go into the kitchen and I see the cookies. My first thought is that I should reward myself for being productive this morning.

ARE YOU KIDDING???

The sad truth. I want to reward myself for being up at 7:15, feeding Ryan, changing Ryan's clothes from a spit up/diaper disaster, getting him to laugh, putting him to bed, starting a load of laundry and picking up the front room.

I know that there are a lot of people who are up earlier and have done more with their day, but I still want that cookie. For a girl that would like to get back to pre-Ryan weight, I should realize how bad cookies are for breakfast.

Well, I decided to back away from the cookies and come blog to take my mind off of my bad temptation in the kitchen. I turn on the computer and pull up the internet and on the front page of yahoo! is an article about how pizza is a not so unhealthy option for breakfast. I wish I had some pizza!!! (Here is the link if you want it http://health.yahoo.com/experts/healthieryou/1/pizza-for-breakfast-yes/)

I love pizza for breakfast. Derek thinks that I am a little crazy on this issue. I think that the Lord blessed me with the ability to enjoy cold food. I eat warm/cold food a lot. This is thanks to my children. It is part of my how to loose weight and crave cookies in the morning diet. Here is how it works.

You need to make sure that your children that can eat solids have everything on their plate that you cooked for your well-balanced dinner. Then cut everything that might even have a possibility of needing to be cut. You don't want to interrupt your dinner to cut something that your child freaked out over because it is the size of a nickel instead of a dime.

Next, grab the pitcher of what ever liquid you are serving your family to drink because you forgot it when you were setting the table. Oh yeah, and the cups. Time to eat? Yeah right. Good luck on that.

You think that it is time to finally eat and so you sit on your chair and pick up your fork and start to salivate because you are a world class cook and people wish that you would cook for them so that they could taste your heavenly creations. This is when your food starts to get really cold. The baby that you love so much decides that even though you fed him very recently wants to eat again. I think that may be he doesn't want to be left out.

There you go. Cold food. If you are like me you don't reheat, just eat. The more time you waste in reheating the less time you will have to eat.




I will brag about what I had yesterday for breakfast. I made myself apples and cinnamon oatmeal. It was good, but oatmeal is never good cold!!! I had to reheat once, but then when it came time to do it again I decided to wait until lunch to eat something.

I hope that my family knows I love them and that food it just one of the small sacrifices I am willing to make. By the way, I still want the cookie.

Graceful

Dear Grace,

Your Uncle Christopher came over this afternoon with his girlfriend Heidi. While he was here he reminded me of something you said about a year and a half ago.



I had said, "You are so graceful."

You then replied with, "And you are mommyful and dad is daddyful and grandma is grandmaful."

It was so cute!!

I was glad that Christopher reminded me of that.

I love you!
Mom

Happy Baby

Dear Ryan,

This past week you have started to smile and laugh. When you smile you look just like Grace did at your age. Your laugh is so cute. It sounds like you are hyperventilating. On Monday, as we were getting ready for our trip, I was singing along with Norah Jones and you were laughing, smiling and singing along with me. Daddy opted out of the singing.

I love playing with you!

During the family prayer at Grandpa Clark's funeral you were smiling and laughing so hard. It was very comforting. You are such a blessing to me!

Love,
Mom