She's Here!

You may remember from THIS post, or THIS one, that I have been anxiously awaiting the birth of Rose and Nick's little girl.

I don't have to wait any longer!

Jocelyn Pearl (to be nicknamed the adorable Josie) was born yesterday morning at 6:28 am weighing 6 pounds 9 1/2 ounces and measuring a perfect 19 3/4 inches.

Here is the only picture I have so far...

but rest assured I have a date with Josie this week and will have many many more pictures to share!

Seriously... Congrats Nick and Rose on your beautiful baby girl. She is one lucky gem to be born to you two!

And I am back.

Change of season colds stink. As per usual it started with the germ factory and spread to his parents. Luckily we are all starting to feel a lot better! Good thing because this week promises to be a busy one. We have story time, music class, tons of projects and crafts, packing for the 3day (*sigh*. I'm terrified!) and tons more.

Here are a few scenes from the past week.


Jenna and Chase playing the drums in music class.


Pounding on the bass drum... now that was fun!


So stinking cute!


Ok... now it looks like I stole this but I promise, I paid for it. I may have gotten it for a steal but I definitely forked over some cash ;~) A couple people we know have this FP Learning Home playset and Chase loves it everywhere we go. So... when I saw it at a yard sale, I just couldn't resist! Only by the time I went to buy it, the homeowners had packed all their stuff away because of the rain and went inside. So I knocked on the door... told them I saw it earlier and that I wanted to take it off their hands if they still had it. They were offering $20 so I countered with $10 because it's missing the balls and shapes. Reluctantly they agreed. W00t! Came home and ordered a replacement set on ebay for $10. Even more w00t!

We also got a toddler bed frame (similar to this one) for $20, a pair of shoes for Chase for $0.50, a radio flyer push trike for $10 and a set of 3 collector Thomas trains for $12.

Funny story about the trains. The guy kept saying that everything was half off the marked price. So I glanced down and saw $30. $15... not bad. Looked up and said "would you take $10?" He hesitated and said "$15 is a good deal". And I swear to you I looked at him and said "$10 is a better deal". I kid you not when I say I don't do that... I offer lower almost always but if there is confrontation, I usually back down. My mom was the haggler, not me. He hesitated again and I said "split it with me, $12?" to which he agreed. YAY! More trains for Chase!

BTW... if you are a yard sale shopper and you don't offer lower... you should. Originally the bed frame was $50 with a mattress (ick!) and the trike was $15! Lowered with a simple question! The shoes were $0.50 but you really can't beat that so I paid 'full-price' ;~)

Christmas and his birthday are taken care of!


And finally a shot of my little helper. I love this age... he wants to do everything we do, including chores. We went to help daddy set up a meeting and of course, since I was pushing the chair cart, he wanted to help. It takes a little longer to let him 'help' but it makes a world of difference. He looks up at me and just gets the biggest grin when he's helped... nothing like it in the world!

I would be remiss if I didn't at least mention the whole 'switch to private' move I did with the blog. I found out that David was reading it and to be quite honest, it totally tripped me out. I pulled the blog just until I had chance to think about how I wanted to proceed. While it was down, we had several good emails which turned into a really good hour and a half phone call. (Anyone want to guess how nervous I was for that!) It's totally insane (in a good way) to have connected with him. I heard stories about my childhood and got to know a little more of where I come from. I think I pinpointed it when I told my MIL that I no longer feel like I just materialized at a certain age... someone knew me when I was a baby. Someone has memories of me.

In fact David shared a memory that I had never hear before... I was suspended from pre-school.

[pause for laughter]

Apparently a boy had taken my seat and after asking him nicely to give it back, I said "get the hell out of my seat"... for which I was suspended.

Not much has changed in the past 25 years ;~)

It may seem like a small memory but it made a big difference to me.

So as you can probably tell, I am back to a public blog. Sorry about the interruption and I promise, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon!

Rough Weekend

Oh.My.Goodness.

This may have been the longest weekend in the history of Chase ever. The kid has hit the terrible 2's hitting, kicking and screaming.

The hitting - as soon as you go to remove him from a situation he begins smacking you. In the head, on the arm... it doesn't matter to him.

The kicking - the back of the seat in the car, under the table at a restaurant, while you are holding him... again, he doesn't care where. Oh and the adorable construction boots for this winter + the kicking = bruising.

And the screaming - I think he is actually performing when he screams. The jazz hands point down to the ground, the head turns to the side, the entire face shows what is about to happen... then the sound. The ear piercing, bring you to your knees scream. It rattles my brain every time.

Now don't get me wrong, he still melts my heart on an hourly basis. He is the same boy that will bump his knee on the wall, ever so lightly, and come running to me pathetically fake crying 'Mommy Tisses'... and who will then announce 'Chase Tisses' and bend down and kiss his own boo boo. The same boy who when we take Riley on the front porch points to the stoop and says 'Mommy sit' with surprising authority for a toddler. The same kid who wants 'oameal' in the morning, 'nogurt' with lunch and 'tooties' for dinner. The very child who runs to help daddy 'gind da beans!' and then simultaneously points to and says 'nose' so he can smell the fresh ground coffee.

I love him so much and he can be so unbelievably cute... and it's a good thing because he's cute and sweet until he isn't. Then it's every man for himself.

Now factor in a dog who lost all sense of what 'holding it' means. I will spare you the icky details but our bedroom carpets have been professionally cleaned and we have deep cleaned the bathroom no less than 4 times this week.

So my child is running a muck. The house suddenly feels like a peed filled sty. We are sleeping on our box spring and mattress in our 'office' with the real risk of being buried by packed boxes. The bed frame is in the garage, our laundry basket and craft table are in the dining room and the recliner is parked in front of the laundry room. It's impossible for me to go out without worrying about Riley messing in the house. We will never own our home and I want my mom.

At my wits end doesn't even begin to describe how I was feeling.

So Adam took the reins Saturday morning. Everything was a disaster anyway so we continued with the trend and emptied the spare room. Pulled every single thing (sans the closet because we don't have a month to go through it) out of the room and cleaned it. Wiped the baseboards, swept and mopped... sparkling clean.

Then we really planned out the room, moved everything back in and this is what ended up with:

a much much cosier craft/lounging room. The chair on the left is actually a geriatric chair... you know the one that actually lifts you to a standing position. <> It came with the house so we figured, why not use it! Now we can be in the same room... me crafting and Adam surfing the interhighways. Happiness!

I am also thinking of new ways to make the house seem more ours... at least until we move again. Painting is kind of an option if we want to invest the time and money in painting... and then repainting when we move out. We haven't decided yet. In the meantime I have been looking for good frame deals and we got one today. A large 24 x 36 (I think) frame for our bed room. I am going to fill it with wedding picture (thanks for the idea Townley's!) Also my friend Katrina gave me some great ideas using colored paper and shapes for Chase's room. Oh and I got some fabric to make pillow covers for the couch and a cover for a table in the craft room. And more fabric for baby blankets (wink wink Christine). Oh and some wooden letters to paint for a friends daughter... who really didn't think about having them until I offered to decorate them for her. I want to photograph them and use them to possibly start my own Etsy shop. We'll see though. And I want to make a fall-ish wreath for the door... and a Happy Birthday sign for a little man who will be turning 2 soon. I also have lots of scrapbooking to catch up on.

Bring on the long winter... I'm ready!

Anyway... back to this weekend. The rest of Saturday was ok... thankfully we had a friends house warming party (congrats again Bekah and Chuck!) which distracted Chase for a while... and where we got to interact with adults who don't scream and kick to get attention. At least not that I am aware of ;~)

Sunday we actually got our sorry lazy Christian butts up and went to a church. It had all the makings of a good church but fell short in the worship and sermon areas... and from what I remember, those are important parts. We aren't ruling it out but we are trying somewhere else next week. Of course I ended up hanging out in the nursery with Chase... 15 minutes of straight crying was too much. *sigh* I want Heather (aka Mopette).

After a rough tear filled morning we thought for sure Chase would nap for at least a couple hours... and he might have if it weren't for our neighbor and their lawnmower.

I so badly want to be angry but seriously, with who? The guy who mowed his yard on a beautiful Sunday afternoon? The baby who can't sleep with blades whirling outside his window? SO 45 minute nap with no one to blame... awesome.

I won't even go into the boring details of errands we ran after nap but just know that it ended up with Adam and I speaking to each other as if there wasn't a hysterical screaming toddler on my hip. If anyone in the store judged me or looked cross eyed at me... I couldn't care less because trust me, no one wanted my child to stop screaming more than Adam and I.

True to form though... when he wasn't hysterical, he was as cute as can be. If he wanted my attention he would crane his neck and body around so that he was looking into my face. No tapping, no call for "mommy'... just an eye to beautiful blue eye look. *sigh*

My one huge regret was that I missed Jackson's 1st birthday party. I wanted so badly to be there... I love him and his mama more than words. I just couldn't do it. With Chase being so 'two-ish', a 3 hour road trip may have sent Adam and I over the edge. Plus leaving Riley that long would have been too much for him right now. Ugh... I am just justifying to myself because I hate that I missed it. Jaime, I am so sorry and I hope that Jackson had a wonderful celebration for his first birthday!

So there it is... my incredibly boring long weekend. Now I will watch a little Doogie Howser hosting the Emmy's and then crawl into bed.

Night all!

Playgrounds, Music and Crafts

This might be one of my most piecemeal posts ever so consider yourself warned.

Lately at the playground I am noticing that I can hang back a little more. Chase navigates better, he is steadier and he is way more daring.

Exhibit A.

How little does he look up there! I think I would be nervous on this but he just climbs sits and slides... over and over and over again.


He has also mastered this part of the playground equipment. Not that I don't attempt to be nearby (and have a hand under him in case of a misplaced foot) but if I am not right there, I am confident that he can make it to the top on his own.

I am not sure how I feel about this new found independence. I, of course, am thrilled that he is growing up and learning to explore on his own... this is what parenting is after all. However, with more independence comes more opportunity for injury and that part scares the daylights out of me.

I don't know if I can accurately describe this part of parenthood but I am going to give it a shot. While your child runs around without a care in the world, your subconscious plays through every horrifying scenario... no matter how far fetched or ridiculous... in a matter of seconds... with surprising and terrifying detail. Like a mini movie in your mind. Except this is worse than any movie... and you are begging your subconscious to stop... stop... for the love of all that is holy, please stop. It in turn it laughs maniacally and keeps coming up with new scenarios to torture you. Oh and all the while you are supposed to be cherishing and enjoying these moments with your young children who will grow up too fast.

Super easy.

I digress. It's fulfilling watching him learn and explore and try new things... I can just feel the grays coming on.

We signed up for a 6 week music class which started yesterday. I kind of did it on a whim... a few of the other moms (re:7 of them) were signing up so I thought what the heck.

Oh.my.goodness.

So much fun. This session is percussion and I think we will be signing up for the remaining sessions... jazz, woodwind, brass and string. Chase had a lot of fun and he is learning some great classroom skills. For instance, the teacher brought out a snare drum and 2 drumsticks. Each kid got a turn to beat on the drum... starting to the right of the teacher. Can you guess where Chase and I were? Directly to the left. So Chase had to wait for all the other kids to have a turn. I kept repeating that it would be Chase's turn when all the other children went (gesturing to the circle we were sitting in) and Chase kept repeating "Chase turn". He jumped up a few times and said "Chase turn" pretty desperately but he waited and he did it well. I was so very proud of him!


Making some noise with the lollipop drums.


Once the free play session was over, Chase took it upon himself to pick up the basket of morocco's and carry them to Ms. Danielle. I like to think that he is just kind, thoughtful and turning into a little gentleman... and that it has nothing to do with the fact that Ms. Danielle is a pretty young blond who can make him smile with one look.

My latest craft has been to reinvent Chase's room. We can't paint (unless we want to paint it back to white when we are done and really, who wants to do all that!) so I am thinking of new (and cheap) ways to jazz up his pathetic room.

Here is my first step:

I was pretty happy with the outcome and can't wait to hang them up. Now to think of some other inexpensive decorations... any tips would be greatly appreciated!

Oh and Mandy, I printed the swing picture as an 8x10 and it's going to be hung in his room... I love that picture! Thanks again!

On the home front... things are busy and kind of chaotic. We currently have our box spring and mattress in the office where we will be camping out for a few nights... until our bedroom carpet dries from tomorrows cleaning. Our dear sweet 'never peed in the house' Riley the Wonderbeagle has done the unthinkable... peed in the house. We are pretty turned upside down because he has never done this... not since the 1st day I brought him home. He tried to pee in the house, I scolded and took him outside and from that day on he has been an absolute angel. We aren't sure if it's us... maybe we aren't giving him enough attention, maybe we don't take him out enough. Or maybe it is him.. maybe old age, maybe he's sick, maybe he's finally rebelling against us for bringing Chase home. Who knows. Whatever it is, we need a fix soon because I don't have the patience (or the money) for this.

I am not sure why that made it to my blog other than the fact that it is something happening in our life. Can you stand the excitement?

And there you go, a quick piecemeal look at what's up in our lives!

Rose's Baby Shower!

What a great day it was... celebrating a new life, eating great food and chatting with friends.

It just doesn't get much better.


A sampling of the yummy food.


Ok, so I just included this one because I was proud of the artistic-ness of it ;~)

A while ago I came up with the idea to make a baby blanket for Rose and Nick.

It started with the fleece blanket (folded next to Rose)... it's big enough to drape over the car seat for the winter and then when she is old enough, it can be used as a toddler blanket.

Then I had a vision of a cute 2 sided baby blanket made more from a cotton-y material. I have no experience making anything other than my super easy extremely time and labor intensive fleece blankets so this was definitely a challenge. I got my machine out, researched ideas and techniques, tried my best to apply them properly and in the end I was able to give her a sweet, girlie (but not too girlie ;~) handmade blanket.

And as long as it doesn't fall apart after the first wash, I will consider my endeavor a success ;~)


Nick opening his manly 'diaper dude diaper bag' (cue grunting). Actually I don't know what it says about me but now I want one. Thanks for that Rose and Nick.


The ridiculously adorable cake that Kara picked out and the decorations that In-Sung put together. We have some seriously talented people in our midst.


And here I am double fisting it.

Of course it is sparkling juice... it wasn't that kind of baby shower (cue banjo playing).

It's hard to believe that in less than 4 weeks we will get to cradle this little girl in our arms.

Until then, she has to settle for being a drink rest ;~)

The Corn Maze... finally

Even though we had been duped by the corn maze Sunday, we decided to try again on Monday. Man am I ever glad we did. I think Chase had the absolute best time of his life there. We may go back before they close for the season.


Bam-ma showing Chase the corn.


My little trailblazer.


Hmmm... looks like we should go this way Daddy.


Oh yeah... we're country.

Yet another video... just let me know when you get sick of these ;~) However, once you watch it, I guarantee you will want Chase to come with you on your next trip to a corn maze!

Life in the 21st Century

I have made mention of my ongoing biological father woes (re: HERE and HERE)... well they just shot into the 21st century something fierce and I wasn't prepared for it.

We have been communicating via email for about 9 to 10 months now and it's been ok. We aren't really breaking down any walls but we are communicating and that's a start. One of the last exchanges mentioned that he was coming to VA for work, I mentioned how close it was to where I lived and the next response I got was that he was back home. I was pretty hurt that there wasn't even a mention or thought to try to meet but whatever, I don't know his side of the story and I was fairly ambiguous about it.

Then I got an email from Facebook... a friend request... see where I am going with this? Yep, my biological dad friend requested me. Seriously folks, take a step back and just think about how freaking weird that is. At first I thought it was more 'ha ha funny' than anything. I mean getting a friend request from someone that I am blood related too but haven't see in 20+ years. Freaking funny. Until a few days later when I remember that I have to do something with the request. I have to accept, deny or ignore... either way, I have a choice to make.

I did it. I confirmed his friend request. I looked on his page but it was largely under construction... he is new and hasn't completed all the information. I closed it out and went about my other internet hopping. As time ticked on I got more and more panicky. I had just opened my world to him. He was going to see my entire life. I can't undo what he sees and reads.

2 hours later, I ended the panic attack by removing the friend connection.

I decided that opening up my Facebook world to him is asking too much. I post status' regularly, I add pictures and videos with alarming frequency, I have my blog addresses linked in my info section... if you are my FB friend, you know my life. And the thing is, I don't care if he reads these blog posts about him. These are my feelings and I am entitled to them. If he didn't want me to write them, he should have been a better father. Own up to the fact that we weren't around for the past 20+ years. Change what I say in the future.

My real fear was the fact that he would get to know me without having to talk to me... he could just hide behind a computer and learn every little tidbit about me. He would get away with ignoring me for the past 20+ years. I couldn't stomach that thought.

I deserve to know why. Why he left in the first place. Why he never called. Why his step-daughter is his daughter when I am no one to him. Did he know how sick my mom was. Did he care what would happen to me. I deserve to ask the questions that no one else can answer now. Why did he and my mom get involved. What does he remember about our life together. Did he ever love my mom.

If he wants to get to know me on anything other than a superficial level then I am entitled to ask these questions. I know I may not like the answer but I have the right to ask them. And I don't want to be cheated out of that.

I emailed him explaining why I removed the connection. I said I was sorry and it wasn't meant to be hurtful but that it was just too much too soon. I said I hope he understood and that we could still communicate via email.

I hope he does understand but really, it's in God's hands. I'll be ok with whatever he writes back.

Sunday Fun

Sunday started out with plans for Maugansville Pride Days and the Corn Maze. As we drove by the site where Maugansville should have been exuding pride, we were met with an empty lot.

Hmmmm. Something looks odd.

Then we drive by the sign boasting about Maugansville Pride Day, Sept 5. So apparently Maugansville has only enough pride for one day ;~)

Cross that off the list of things to do.

We stop by Grandma and Grandpa's and inform them of the single day of pride... then we head out to the corn maze.

Which has a rope pulled across the entrance with a sign that says 'closed'.

Hmmmm.

Apparently it's not our day to do outdoor country type events. We leave the corn maze and decide we will go somewhere that will definitely be open...


Cracker Barrel!


Good times were had by all ;~)

In the afternoon Adam and I prepared for some awesome dinner guests...

Nick, Rose and baby bump ;~) They are just 5 (almost 4) weeks out from meeting their daughter! They were passing through Hagerstown on their way home so of course, they had to stop by!


Chase spent some time helping daddy prepare dinner... homemade orange chicken and fried rice! Yummy!


Looks like Nick is ready for kids! He definitely knows how to get on their level ;~)


Trying to take a picture of Rose, baby bump, Chase and I... it turned into a tickle fest.


But we managed to get a good one.


Chase saying 'bye-bye' to the baby ;~) So sweet!

It was so much fun having them over for dinner... and next weekend I am traveling down to Baltimore for Rose's shower... twice in one week! It's insanity ;~)

Sleeping woes... and more pictures

Well we have one more puzzle piece in the sleeping issue saga. 2 year molars.

Last night Chase started saying 'teeth owie'... which at first I dismissed because just about anything is an owie these days. Boy who cried wolf anyone?

By the 3rd time he said it, it dawned on me... the molars. Sure enough Adam managed to sneak a peek back there and saw a tooth poking through.

The poor soul had his world uprooted and on top of that has sharp pointy teeth ripping their way through his gums. No wonder he's been extra clingy and not wanting to nap. I don't blame the kid.

I do feel bad about trying to make him cry out naps... it's been a particularly rough week here at the G house.

By the time Thursday rolled around I was dreading nap time. I let him scream and howl for me for just less than an hour and then I broke. Something didn't feel right... he wasn't following the same pattern as last time... he needed me and I went to him. I rocked him and he slept on me for over an hour. It was actually quite glorious. Not that I want to do that daily but watching him reminded me what a precious gift he is (how quickly we forget when they are screaming like banshees).

Friday... I had no idea what I was going to do. CIO was nixed... still didn't feel comfortable... and I didn't want to start the trend of sleeping on me. Then the thought popped in my head... we laid down together... him in his crib and me on the floor. He babbled and rolled around (didn't stand up though) for the longest time... about an hour and 15 minutes... just talking and talking and talking (*sigh* yes I know where he gets it from, shut it). By some stroke of luck I was able to get out of his room without him seeing... but it was only 3 short minutes before he noticed. He was up and crying in no time flat. I gave it a minute or so... then went back in and said I just went potty and now I am going to sleep. I laid down on the floor next to his crib. Not 5-10 minutes later I heard the beautiful rhythmic breathing of a sleeping toddler. I backed my way out of the room and enjoyed 45 wonderful minutes of Chase sleeping.

So Saturday I asked Adam to put Chase down for nap. Just wanted to see how it went. Chase went down without a peep and stayed asleep for an hour and 45 minutes.

-shakes her head-

I am frustrated and flattered.

Apparently it's a mommy thing. So our plan is Adam puts him down for naps and I put him down for bed time. This way he gets some consistent good napping and since the CIO is still in effect for bed time (I could bore you with the reasons but I won't ;~) he will (hopefully) learn that once mommy puts you down, it's sleep time.

God willing, after 3 days of this Chase will be ready for me to put him down for a nap.

*whew*... parenting is hard.

Now for a few pictures of my sweet teething love.


This is what happens when you give your husband the task of getting the baby up and dressed ;~) In his defense a bath was on the agenda for right after breakfast... this was temporary.


However, this was what he went out in public in.


'Sup?'

This afternoon we spent some time at City Park.


Swinging with Daddy... seriously, how sweet is this... so of course I took a few dozen hundred photographs...


which may have sent Adam over the edge.


We spent some time on the merry go round...


hanging on the bars...


checking out the ducks...


and climbing some rocks. A wonderful Saturday afternoon with the family... can't ask for much more.

WAIT... that isn't true. You could ask for ice cream... that would be the perfect ending to the day!


So that's how we ended it... ice cream with Aunt Becky, Grandpa and Grandma at Maugansville Creamery.


Where Aunt Becky made a friend for life ;~)

Back in Action

So we are back in the swing of regular life... well almost... I'll elaborate on that later... for now some recent pictures and their stories.



For Father's Day Adam received a coupon for a golf outing with the boys... he was pretty thrilled!


The boy loves his golf... maybe that's why he became an attorney... hmmm, puzzle pieces falling together!

While he golfed Chase and I spent some time at the playground...

which... mark it down (in the non-existent baby book)... was the first time I didn't have to stand next to him the entire time. I felt very comfortable letting him explore a little more on his own and he felt extremely comfortable pushing the envelope and going down the big kid slide on his own.

*sniff* *sniff* My boy is growing up.


He did a lot of this... without my help...


and a lot of this... without my help.

*sigh*

I will say that in the event he got an 'owie', he always came running to me calling 'Mamah Tisses, Mamah Tisses'. I did love that.


It's amazing how much I love him.


Here is a rare moment when 4 kids are playing together and none of them are yelling, hitting or screaming.


Ahhh my little chef... he makes a lovely home, don'tcha think?

The latest and greatest comes from today... some of the moms checked out a 'new to us' park in the area.


Chase cheering Lexi down the slide


Having fun on the merry go round... spinney thing... carousel... what the heck are those things called anyway?

And the last 2 pictures are from my friend Mandy who clearly has a gift... although she will roll her eyes when she reads that. You rolled your eyes didn't you Mandy? I know you did.

In an attempt to stop Chase and Sadie from a simultaneous tantrum, I told them to hold hands and walk back to the slide. They held hands alright... but then walked for the next few minutes around the park... no where in particular... although Sadie was definitely leading ;~)

I could seriously melt at the cuteness.


And this picture... well it saved my sanity.

Let me backtrack a little to set the context.

Ever since we got back from San Francisco Chase's sleeping habits have gone to crap... and I want to use a stronger word but I am refraining... with all my might. At night he would stand up and cry for Mamah or Daddy (usually whoever put him down) and instead of it being an easy "Chase lay down, it's time for night night" and boom sleeping... he would jump back up and cry out again... and again. It was repetitive and time consuming, not to mention robbing him of precious sleep... which I know he needs. But somehow, with 2 people it isn't as hard... it sucks but it's manageable.

The naps though... oh boy have the naps been rough. I have often blogged about Chase's napping... HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE to name a few... but for the last 6 months or so he has been a fairly consistent 2 or more hour napper. To which I was eternally grateful. But ever since SF it's been a hour and a half... then an hour and 15... then 45 min... to finally no nap at all. And when I say no nap... I mean in his crib screaming and jumping up and down. It wasn't for lack of trying on my part but I knew that the problem was with the ability to put himself to sleep on his own.

He had lost it in SF.

He spent an entire week napping on me or getting so tired and passing out that he barely remembers going into the pack and play... thus the ability to self soothe was gone.

So he spent an hour and a half alternating between screaming, jumping, crying, talking or shrieking.

The kid never fell asleep.

I went in just like nap time was over and it was time for him to get up and start the afternoon... like he had been sleeping for the past hour and half. He wasn't pleasant for the rest of the afternoon but wouldn't you know it he passed out at bed time... not even a peep until morning.

So today at nap... same situation. I tried settling him in for the nap and then laying him down awake and before I was out the door, up and crying. Awesome. I was close to having a mental breakdown... seriously, lack of rest will do that to a mom. I posted a status on my FB which my friend Mandy read... which prompted her to send this picture...


This picture stopped me in my tracks. I saw Chase the way I should always see him.

With a lighter heart, I went back in and tried to lay him down twice (in 15 min increments) but he wasn't having it... so I decided I had to do it... I had to let him cry it out again... or scream it out which was his method... and scream he did. So much so that I took video of the monitor just so I could show Adam (and FB ;~). He screamed from 1:00pm until 2:27pm... then the monitor lights stopped jumping. He was down and sleeping (God bless the video monitor).

Once I thought it was safe to come back in... oh yeah, I had my computer, 2 phones, work notebook, wires, video monitor and dog on the front porch - a girl's gotta work!... I snuck back in, laid on the couch and rested my eyes. And he slept for an hour and 10 min. Not great but you wouldn't believe the energy and hope it gave me.

Tonight Adam and I decided it was the cry it out method part 2. At first we thought we wouldn't have to test it... but soon enough he was back up again. At first I stood strong... no going in. Then I waffled and Adam stood strong... no going in. 5 minutes after that he laid down for good and was out.

Who knows how the rest of the week will go but hopefully we are back on track a little more than we were.

And this kid...

He's just awesome.