It seems each time I brag we go down hill!

Monday, Russell worked, and guess what????

Isaac could not go to sleep for the life of him, not in the bed, not on the couch, not in my lap, not in the house, not with a mouse-----He just would not, could not go to sleep.

Less tears-less sleep

Then. . . .
Last night was my birthday, and Uncle Brandon read him a book, and he fell asleep by himself after Uncle B left-WOW!!!

What a birthday present!!

In other news my friend Heather Cassidy, Mommy to Carson and Ella, is home!!!! She has been in the hospital and then rehab, following an automobile accident. We are so glad she is home and pray for continued healing and comfort.

Bedtime Update

2 nights in a row-asleep in 15 minutes :)

No tears!

No Screaming!

No Puking!!

One of us has been laying down with him, but at this point, anything is better than what we have been going through!

He still ends up waking up sometime in the middle of the night and getting in bed with us, but at least he is going to bed decently :)

Here's to many more nights of easy sleep!

Note: The evil mommy in me has started bedtime rituals at 7:00 everynight, so that he would be asleep by 8, hey, it worked!!!

More Bedtime Woes

Last night was another rough going to bed night at our house. I'm trying to wean Isaac from having to have someone lay down with him-it's not working. He hates going to bed, doesn't like his room, and just needs his mommy and daddy. We have being trying to be consistent about putting him in his bed, which he despises, so last night I even offered our bed as a solution-it finally worked after an hour and a half, a spanking, and puke.

I can't do this anymore!!

He works himself into such a dither that he starts coughing his awful asthma cough and then pukes up mucus. This week had been much better, until last night. . .

Isaac seems to have a deep fear that we are going to leave him---and I don't know what to do to fix it. When I was sooo sick Russell and I left before he woke up to go to the hospital and then I was gone for 2 weeks. He was shuttled back and forth between grandparents. Now, everytime he goes to sleep he thinks we are going to leave.

NO EVIL

Too Cute for Words!!

I thought that this was just adorable!

Daniel-See No Evil

Isaac-Speak No Evil

Daven-Hear No Evil

Too Precious :)

Entertain Me

Isaac and Mac

Over spring break we spent a day with Lana and Mac. It's so crazy to spend the day with 2 three year olds!!!

This is how I entertained them while Lana looked for clothes, a picture session!

What Hams we have!!

This face says it ALL!!

Daddy's Boy

What can I say?

I am completely out numbered!! It's amazing the difference in 2 and 3!

He's a boy and not a baby!

He knows what he wants.

He loves to sing!

He does everything himself---

EXCEPT GOING TO SLEEP

And now we talk about his day at school so much that when Daddy comes home he asks him

2 questions:

What did you learn today?

What did you do fun?

Oh dear, the teacher in me definitely shines in that one!!!

Nana and Pop-pop

Had to put this picture of Isaac with my parents. He loves Nana and Pop-pop tons!!

The Massive Entertainment Center

Whew!

Okay, so crazy here didn't take a picture until half of this thing was already gone, but at least I have one picture. This took up one whole wall of my dining room, complete with shelves from this cabinet to the ceiling. It was beautiful, the only problem being that something had to go on every shelf and it drove me CRAZY!!!!! It was way tooo much stuff and I just couldn't handle it any more. So it is for sale on Craigslist and I really hope that someone will love it!!

Everyone in my entire family thought I should keep it and that it was the biggest mistake to take it out, but just wait until you see the pictures of the room now!!! It's amazing :)

A Little Man

Dressed for Success

I have a little man with very specific taste! It's amusing, because everyone assumes that since I'm the Mommy that I have chosen Isaac's clothes and dressed him sooo cute.

WRONG!

It turns out that my 3 year old has very specific ideas about what he should and shouldn't wear. He has deemed some of his clothes as "Tacky" , other clothes have categories, such as football clothes, soft pants, Uncle Brandon Shirts, and chokey shirts.

Isaac's idea of church clothes is what you see above. Sometimes he will go without his jacket, but he refuses to wear just a simple polo shirt and khaki pants. Those aren't church clothes according to him. Also, they are only church shoes if they are dressy and shiny, brown casual shoes like you might wear with khaki pants don't count.

I do want to say one thing. I think it's very important for Isaac to make choices and this is one area where I can give him freedom, so I do. He can't decide what time to go to bed or to have candy for supper, but he can choose what to wear without their being a major disaster.

And that I think is important.

Bedtime Woes

Once upon a time I had a soon to be 3 year old who was so big for his britches that he didn't even want anyone to lay down with him at night. He was a big boy, he professed and therefore did everything on his own. Even on the weekend when we wanted him to snuggle and sleep with us, he refused, because he was a big boy.



Fast forward 6 months: Isaac has tonsilectomy, Mommy gets spinal menigitis and is in the hospital for 2 weeks, Daddy becomes a firefighter.



And now I have a 3 1/2 year old who screams and cries when going to be is even mentioned. Most nights he cries so hard we end up letting him fall asleep on the couch. He refuses to go to his own bed, says he doesn't like it and agrees that we can take everything he owns away. He has also suggested just putting his bed in our room. Some nights he gets so upset, he coughs and throws up.



SOooooooo-This week I have been tough and he has slept in his bed. I have gotten in bed with him to help him settle down and then gotten up when he was almost asleep. He still has cried and still makes us leave the lamp on and he still wakes up sometime during the night and gotten in our bed.



I am a Momma on the edge!!! What do I do??? I do not want bedtime to be traumatic every night. I do not want to continue on this path. So fellow bloggers, any suggestions?????

From the Mouths of Babes

We went to eat last weekend at our favorite Japanese restaurant in Tryon, NC. They don't do the cooking at your table, but it is great food for $6.00 each.

ANYWAY-

We had a great waitress, very helpful, very nice, and she brought Isaac a spoon when she brought out the silverware. He didn't notice until it was time to eat. He took the spoon out of the envelope, sat it down and put his head down.

He looked up at me and said "Mom, I am VERY AGGRAVATED now. Why did she bring me a spoon? That really aggravates me!"

Holy Cow!!!

His vocabulary continues to amaze me. He is such a sponge. I've always made an effort not to use baby speak with him, but now I'm dealing with a 3 year old that can express being aggravated!!

Holy Cow!!!

Happy Times!

Easter 2008

Okay, so these pics are very late, but better late then never, right???

Since I was little, every year our church creates a flower cross. Isaac was very excited this year to be able to pick flowers and take them to be used for the cross.

Please note the color coordinated outfits. No, I am not that anal retentive, my 3 year old SON is!!! He insisted that since his shirt and tie were green, that not only did Daddy's have to be green, but that I also had to wear green too. At the last minute I tried to switch and I was told very quickly that we were wearing green for Easter and that I had put on the wrong thing!!

Does anyone know how to rotate the picture???? Do you have to do it before you load it to blogger? I can't ever get them to turn, very aggravating.

Cousin Time

Deegan and Isaac love to play together! Deegan is a great big cousin and a great big sister to her brother Daven who is 3, just like Isaac! The 3 love to play in Nana Sandy's backyard hunting for catepillars, swinging, and planting flowers!!

Dining Room Makeover

Give me Color!

I have been wanting to re-do our dining room area since we bought our house 5 years ago. It had mauve carpet, maple paneling, and a huge built in entertainment center that took up half the room! We had used the room as a den, but when Isaac came it was too small, and it made more since to use it as a Dining Room, since it connects to the Kitchen!

Anyway, do you know why we finally started this project?

Our dishwasher died and leaked all over the kitchen floor, ruining it! So not only did I have to have a new dishwasher, but I also had to have a new floor. AND we couldn't get floor just for the kitchen b/c the kitchen and DR connect. Soooooooo-thus began a 2 Month process! I haven't loaded pictures of the finished product, but I will try do that tomorrow.

Check out my boys at work!

This was the floor under the mauve carpet-I actually like it more than the carpet!! To bad we didn't know it was there.

The laminate stuck to the floor, so it took 1 whole day to scrape it up!

Isaac being very handy with a scraper!

Parkay wood tiles replaced the old linoleum!