lack of sleep means lack of a coherent post.

Last night, Noah fell asleep around 10:30. We don't really have much of a "schedule" when it comes to Noah's bed time. Everytime I try to make one, he's all, "Schedule? What schedule?" and proceeds to prove to me, yet again, that I don't have much control over that part. But thankfully, he's been sleeping for long periods of time again. So if we're not going to bed till 2am, but we still get to sleep for 8 hours? Heck, I'll take it.

Anyway, I thought we were headed for normalville last night. Y'know, where kids go to bed before midnight? HAHAHA.

Poor kid wet himself, which woke him up at 1am.
He didn't go back to sleep until somewhere around 5am.

Someone want to just hook me up to a caffiene IV?
This boy. I love him to death, but geez. Motherhood is not for pansies, that's for sure.
He's lucky he's cute.

(source not found... apparently, the etsy shop this was on closed)

***

It cracks me up that teenage girls are crushing hard on actors my age (like Joseph Gordon-Levitt). I'm starting to realize how funny it must've been to older women when I was 15 and had a crush on Johnny Depp (of course, who can blame me... it's Johnny Depp).
One girl was all, "Did you ever see 10 Things I Hate About You?" Yeah, they were like 2 when that came out. So they're all, "He was sooooo cuuuuute". And I'm sitting here thinking, "Really? I remember me and my friends were all swooning over Heath Ledger. Y'know, the tall, hot, mysterious, manly-man kind of guy?"
Not that Joseph Gordon-Levitt wasn't cute then. But he was no Heath Ledger.

***

My photography business is starting to make me all panicky. I'm hearing nothing but crickets. Thankfully, most of my other photog friends (who are much more talented than me) aren't getting much traffic either.
It's cold and dreary, so it should be expected. I gave my name out for a few referrals, and only got one nibble. It's still my first year being in the business, and I have to remember this happens to everyone. But man, this waiting around stuff is for the birds.

I'm trying to make the most of it and use this time to learn. But still. Nobody wants to feel like they're getting passed over because they're no good. I'm just thankful I have lots of friends in the biz now, because I know they deal with the same exact issues and self-worth feelings.

So even if I'm not all smiles and sunshine about it at the moment, at least I know I'm not alone.

playing catch-up.

Life has been a bit of a whirlwind lately. We're coming into that busy season where we go-go-go for 2 months straight. It's actually my favorite kind of season. People are (mostly) happy and filled with excitement.
For me, I also have to factor in Noah's therapy appointments, Brad's crazy retail schedule, work, pregnancy, and all the stuff in between.
Frankly, I already have issues keeping up with blogging as it is. I can't imagine what things will look like around here in the next few weeks.
Bear with me, this may turn into a long post. Sorry 'bout that.

However, part of my blogging issue was that our laptop (we thought) had died. It wasn't charging anymore. So if I wanted to blog or do anything computer-related, I had to do it on the monster in the corner room upstairs. No more blogging while Noah played right in front of me. But, we tested out the laptop with my dad's charger, and it was indeed just the charger. So I have my laptop back. Woohoo!

Anyways, this is a catch-up post of sorts.
Just stuff we've been doing the last couple of weeks that I've been meaning to blog.

My Birthday.
It was actually a little pathetic. Life just got so busy, and I couldn't decide what I wanted to do. So I messaged a bunch of friends to see if they wanted to join us for dinner. It was kind of a last minute thing, so my feelings weren't going to be too hurt if it didn't work out.
And well... those who said they could come? Almost all had to cancel at the last minute, due to various reasons (mostly babysitter and sick kid issues). However, one of my lifelong best friends was so loyal that he and his fiance drove 2 hours from his granddad's 90th bday party to celebrate with me. It was going to be them and one other couple. And since both couples lived on opposite sides of town (and frankly, I was worried they wouldn't quite mesh well, personality wise)... we decided to keep it small. Which turns out? Is exactly how I like it.
We opted for a Japanese steakhouse (haven't had it in foreeever. shrimp sauce, how I missed you...), and we had an absolute blast. Afterwards, Brad and I picked up Noah and we all headed back to our place to hang out and play games.
It was low key. And it was wonderful.

More Birthdays.
Noah's cousin, Easton, turned two last week. To celebrate, his momma planned a little party at our grandparents' house for Easton's friends and family. Easton's daddy was actually in a very serious car accident last year. So bad in fact, that he is the only survivor. He recently started being able to walk on his own again, and it was so awesome to see him there. His progress is amazing, and I'm sure his parents are thanking God every single day for sparing their son.

We learned that Noah isn't exactly the best birthday party guest. Obviously, this is an area we need to work on a little more. Poor kid.
I wasn't able to get many pictures of the party, because a certain little boy decided to get into a massive mud puddle. He was originally heading for a big pile of dirt (my family has always been in construction, so random dirt piles are normal), but got sidetracked by a quick-sand type mud swamp. He stepped one foot in it, slipped, and was covered in mud. And of course you know I didn't pack an extra pair of pants. So the kid attended the rest of the party without pants, while his were washing.
I had to actually hose him off outside before we took his shoes and pants off. He thought that was so fun that he got mad when I wouldn't let him play with the hose himself.
He also doesn't understand that the entire gallon of ice cream is not for him.
Nor are the birthday boy's presents.
Or that you can't just walk up to kids and take their balloons, then proceed to let them go.
And while Noah is most definitely not the tantrum-thrower type, he certainly had a few fall-on-the-floor and whine moments because of our constant intervening. Apparently, we don't get invited to enough parties. haha.
But it wasn't all bad. My cousin had borrowed a bouncy house, which Noah loved. They also painted pumpkins (which Noah entertained for about 5 minutes). We also got to see one of mine and Brad's childhood buddies (he grew up down the street from us) who was there with his wife and little girls.

 

 That night, the rest of the family came over to celebrate the October birthdays. Noah was doing a little better. At least he had pants on. Although at one point, we were all sitting around the table chatting. I see my brother jump up from the table... because Noah had reached onto the kitchen counter and was carrying an entire sheet cake to us. Because he wanted some, and he didn't know how else to tell us. Thank goodness we caught him before he had a chance to drop it.

That boy.

Photography Stuff.
I need a nanny. Or a husband with a regular work schedule. I currently have two photo sessions and a wedding I'm editing, and Noah doesn't quite understand that concept. Brad has a couple days off this week, so I'm taking advantage and getting as much done as I possibly can.

Oh yeah, the wedding.
Well, the night before, Noah was an angel and went to bed at 10:30. And wouldn't you know it, Brad and I were both too excited about the next day that we couldn't sleep. We both got a little over 3 hours that night, before driving 2.5 hours to the location and spending the next 6 hours documenting a wedding.
Honestly, though? It was a blast.
I realized how much I enjoyed doing weddings. At least the easy ones. I'm not skilled enough to handle crazy lighting situations yet.
The only issues we really ran into were mostly with people. Guests who didn't want their picture taken or an incredibly shy groom. :) That and the actual ceremony itself. It's really difficult trying to balance between getting good shots and not being totally obtrusive. But it all worked out. I just hope the bride will be happy with what we got.
Here are a couple of shots I already posted on my Facebook page. Oh, and if you love me, do me a favor and go "like" my page. I'm almost at 100 likes! ;)

My dad and stepmom came to watch Noah for us for the day. They were awesome and were at our door before the sun was up. While they waited for Noah to wake up, they proceeded to wash the dirty dishes in the sink, fix our dishwasher (we thought it died, but the timer just broke), and repair our front door handle that was a pain to open.
We told them just to take our car if they needed to go anywhere (to avoid switching out the car seat). And boy did they go.
I think they took Noah on a tour of Charlotte. They went to Khols, Target, the nursing home (to visit my grandmother), their house, my dad's apartment building where he works (he had to check on something), and lunch at a drive-in.
When they got back, they proceeded to play outside.
My parents are hilarious.

("Grandaddy is a sugar bear with teeth"... not even sure what that means, but it made me laugh)

("Mama D is a Honey Boo Boo")

Pregnancy Stuff.
Still feeling pretty good. I'm starting to get some of my energy back, which is nice. I'm 10 weeks today, so I'm hoping I'm almost beyond the queasy stage. I'm very fortunate in that I don't really get sick sick when I'm pregnant. Just the idea of certain foods makes me feel gross.
I bought myself a heart rate monitor. The Doc doesn't want my heart rate going over 140, which turns out isn't very high. I attempted a light jog last night, and within a minute, my heart rate was at 170. I went back to a power walk, and within 30 seconds, it was back below 140. So no running for me, darnit. I wanted to be the awesome pregnant girl running 5K's, but apparently, that's not allowed. Looks like lots of power walking and yoga for me.
Also, if anyone has any workout ideas, I'm open to suggestions. It actually takes a lot for me to get something out of a workout. I bought a prenatal yoga DVD last time, and it was a big snooze. I never felt a thing. I like to actually feel sore after a workout. I'd prefer to be the tone type of pregnant, not the flabby, give-me-more-cake type (like last time). Honestly, I think I've been spooked into taking better care of myself this time. For any new readers, I got pre-eclamptic towards the end with Noah, and I struggled with weight gain (which was a shock for a skinny girl) and severe swelling. I want to do everything I can to prevent it. The Doc said I'm less likely to get it this time, but I'm still being careful.
My jeans are already starting to get a little snug. I can still button them, but when I'm sitting in the car? Yeah, they're totally getting unbuttoned. I need to get a rubber band to fix the issue. The good news is that they still fit everywhere else, just not my tummy. I guess it's true that you show sooner the second time around.

More importantly, I'm trying to do everything I can to keep the baby healthy. Since they're not sure what triggers autism, I'm doing my best to eat healthy, take my vitamins, and chill out when I'm exhausted. Basically just taking care of myself. That's all I know to do.
And if I still balloon up? Well, at least I know I did my best. :)

***

Alright I'll stop here. More later, hopefully.
Sorry for the random, all-over-the-place post. But it's a bit like my life at the moment, so there ya go. ;)

Happy Monday!


our crappy vacation (pun intended)

Okay, it wasn't ALL bad.
But I definitely learned that autism and vacations don't always mesh well. Particularly when it comes to sleep. The first night, it made me sad to see Noah grab his blankets and go to the door (I'm assuming asking us to go home so he can go to bed). There were plenty of highs and lows.

Crappy parts of the vacation:
1. Sleep deprivation. The first night, Noah was up until 2am. The next night, it was 5am. It wasn't until the 4th night that Noah was able to fall asleep before midnight and sleep all night long. After several attempts to help him settle down, we finally figured out he likes to sleep on the couch the best. He also didn't want to be left alone anywhere. So I would stay up with him until he fell asleep, then move the loveseat next to the couch. That way he wouldn't fall off in the middle of the night.
2. Inner ear infection.  Not Noah. Brad. Brad actually had complained a couple weeks before about his ear bothering him. But like a lot of men, he ignored it. So when we got down to Kiawah, it was hurting him to the point of him being miserable. Thankfully, they have a doctor there, and he got it taken care of.
3. Poop on the beach. Noah's sleep wasn't the only thing that got completely thrown off by our vacation. The poor boy didn't poop for 3 days. And of course, when he finally did go, guess where it happened... in the ocean. Brad picked him up, not knowing the state of Noah's pants, and was consequently covered in poo. I think this was the lowest point of our vacation.
4. Miscommunication in packing. First, Brad and I messed up by forgetting to pack our swimsuits. I remembered Noah's, just not mine.
Then the night before we left Kiawah, Brad went to bed early, so I decided to get a little packing done. But all I really achieved was putting away some of Noah's toys away. The next morning, Brad let me sleep in while he finished packing. For some reason, he thought I'd already packed away Noah's clothes we'd put in the drawers. I assumed he got them. Yeah. Noah has several articles of clothing just hanging out in the Kiawah place. Thankfully, my dad is the next one scheduled to go down, so he's going to grab them when he's there.
5. My dad getting called back in to work. My dad and stepmom were supposed to join us over the weekend. Unfortunately, after my dad left work early, he got a phone call that one of their apartment buildings caught on fire. Seriously?! So he didn't get home Friday night until dinner time, which basically was going to make the trip to Kiawah totally pointless. They would've been there for a day and a half at most. So my 30th birthday trip with my family was shot.

But. It wasn't all bad.
There were good moments too. Noah absolutely loved the beach. And he loved the ocean even more, even though the water was ridiculously cold.

Noah made some friends, a teacher and her husband. They were so sweet.

We brought the big guns with us this time. Noah's all about using the big boy tools.

Usually around this time of year, gnats are prevalent out there. Like biting gnats. Except this time? Not one gnat. Instead, there were butterflies. Everywhere. In the midst of my tiredness and all the other stuff, it was a nice little pick-me-up to watch a butterfly fly by me on the beach.
Also, instead of jellyfish, there were hundreds of starfish that were washed up onto the shore. So Noah and I went on a little walk, picking up the ones that still looked alive and tossed them back into the ocean.

 

So despite all of the crappiness, it wasn't totally terrible.
And really, if you're going to have a couple of rough days? Might as well happen in paradise. ;)

randomosity

I very rarely, if ever, get short with Noah. I don't yell, snap, or have any kind of harsh tone unless he's about to put himself in danger. In my experience, the more you yell and get short with a kid, the more immune to it they become. Then when you're trying to discipline them, they just stand there and laugh at you. And laughing as a form of disrespect? Not happening in this house.

However, I don't do well with a lack of sleep. Especially if it has no purpose. I mean, lack of sleep when dealing with newborns? I understand that. I have patience for that, seeing as how they have to eat to survive and all. Lack of sleep over a sick kid? They can't help it. I can totally rise to the occasion on that one. But when they're almost three, go to bed at 10:30pm, then proceed to wake up at 4:30am for no reason? This being after trying my darndest to get the toddler on track again? My fuse is short.
I still don't yell, but I surprised myself this morning when I snapped, "What do you want??" at him. I guess it's inevitable. If you spend 24/7 with the same person, with zero breaks, and then that person causes multiple inconveniences; I'm pretty sure that will lead anyone to snap.
Still. I'm not proud of it. But I have a feeling it's been forgotten.

***

You would think being from the South, that I would have built up some sort of immunity to the heat and humidity. But no. I hate it. While I enjoy the fun July 4th festivities, outdoor concerts, swimming, and being outside in the evenings... I hate summer. It's just too hot, and it lasts too long here.
I hate sweating and being sticky. So when all I have to do is walk outside and get sweaty? It makes me wonder why I'm not 100 lbs again. It's gross and unnecessary.
Also, does anyone else get uncomfortable when they see Kelle Hampton's kids dressed in long sleeves and pants in the Florida heat/humidity? Those people must've built up a tolerance, because it makes me uncomfortable to even look at.

***

I have another photoshoot for a friend from church today. I'm so excited, but I'm also really nervous. I do this before every one of these now. I panic that I won't remember any of my ideas or that the kids will hate me or my camera will die just as I set them up. It's the equivalent of having that dream where you show up nakey to school.
I'm also nervous because this woman has five children. Five. That's a lot of little bodies to coordinate. It will definitely be a challenge, but one I'm excited about.

***

Brad and I have been working out every night now, lifting weights together. He used to be a big gym rat back in the day before his heart issues flared up. He still struggles with the fear of lifting weights, afraid he'll hurt himself somehow, even though his cardiologist has given him the green light multiple times. In fact, they encourage it to help strengthen his heart.
Anyway, it's been fun having my own personal trainer at home. And my abs, butt, and arms are thanking him.

***

It's almost the weekend! So a big yay for that!

Randoms

- Noah had his first meeting with our EI coordinator recently. I don't know how most of them are, but I immediately fell in love with this girl. She was all smiles and had such a bubbly personality. Noah loved her too, as he showed off by running around, giggling, and hopping up on the couch next to her and grinning.
After weighing all of the options, we decided to go with CBRS (which is basically a combination of different therapies, including speech) twice a week. It seemed like a well-rounded approach, since he seems to be equally behind in several areas. Then we talked to the CBRS coordinator, and crazy enough, turns out she lives on our street! She knew exactly who we were (the ones that walk around the neighborhood a lot with a little red wagon). Anyway, even though it'd take some business away from them, she gave us her honest opinion and thinks Noah would benefit more with one session of CBRS and one Speech Therapy per week. Not only that, she worked it out to where we're not going to have to pay as much as we originally thought. God's favor, y'all. I've been doing a lot of praying over our finances lately, which always leaves me waiting and expecting God to move. The fact that we're able to miraculously afford this? All glory goes to Him.

- Last year, I got a subscription to Martha Stewart's magazine. It's a great magazine, full of all kinds of useful tips. However, it's turned out to be a big waste of my time (and money). It's not one of the cheaper magazines to get. The recipes are mostly ones I'm pretty certain I'll never make. And the crafts?? Cute. But my wallet isn't big enough to run out and buy all of the supplies at any given moment. So sorry, Martha. I think we're going to have to part ways now. It's not you; it's me.

- Brad is convinced he's come up with this incredibly genius diet plan for himself. He calls it "leanatarianism". He describes it as eating a lot of fruits, veggies, whole grains, and occasionally eating lean mean (and the occasional sweet treat). *insert blank stare here*
I tried explaining that this is just how you're supposed to eat in general. It's called "eating healthy". But I don't want to rain on his parade too much, so if it helps for him to think he's a nutritional genius? Okay, great.

- I like to randomly type in words in the Pinterest search box. Words like "wow", "whoa...", "get organized", "uh oh", "yikes", and "Ha". The results never fail me.

- Noah's sleep schedule has been a PAIN in my tush the last few days. Naps are random (if he takes one). He'll act sleepy, then refuse to go down. He'll wake up in the middle of the night for random reasons... wet, hungry, etc... and stay up for 2 hours (doesn't matter if I put him back to bed or not; he still stays awake). Some nights, he's out by 8:30. Others? Midnight. We've had a fairly consistent schedule lately, so I'm honestly not sure what's going on. I think it may be a growth spurt (he's too old for the teething excuse, so "growth spurt" seems to be the next obvious choice). Honestly, though, he wakes up and eats like a feast (and yes, we feed him enough dinner and snacks before bed). This isn't the first time he's done this. While he's always been a great sleeper, he's never wanted to sleep at normal times. Every kid has their own "issues". Mine just has to have sleep issues. I blame his dad. That whole family has nocturnal tendencies.

- I took Noah to Discovery Place Kids a couple of weeks ago. Every time we go, he finds something else to focus on. This time, it was a submarine (it's in this dark room that they made to look like you're under the ocean... VERY cool). He played with the switches and lights and pretended to drive. So cute. It's no secret that we haven't really had much luck with pretend play yet. However, we had a break through this time. I got him to pretend shop at the play grocery store. I showed him what to do, and he pushed that little cart around like it was his job. Except he kept parking it in an aisle and leaving it to grab more apples, then come back. Not at all indicative of how I shop, I'm sure...

Brad has the day off today and has taken over all parental responsibilities for the day.

Right now, they're at the new neighborhood playground, while I have a rare moment of having the house ALL to myself. Which means I'm now getting off the internet, cranking up some music, and getting my incredibly unorganized house in some sort of liveable state.

Have a great day!

the aftermath and some craftin'

So here's a tip. If you don't eat much sugar on a daily basis? Don't pig out on Halloween candy before bed. Something about this holiday brought out my inner 6 year old (and 10 yr old... and 15 yr old... and let's face it, 25 yr old) and, embarassingly enough, completely took over. We're talking a few pixie stix, a couple of snack sized Snickers/Milky Way/KitKat/Crunch bars, and whatever else I happened to dig out of Noah's bucket. Add that to the hype of it all, and I could NOT relax last night.
Noah didn't fall asleep until about midnight.
Me? I'm guessing somewhere around 3am.

I got 4 and 1/2 hours of sleep last night. The weird part is that I'm not a total zombie today. Noah didn't get enough sleep either, but he's been an angel all day.

I'm pretty sure the reason I felt so energized had something to do with getting together with some of my favorite girls today.
Our Moms Bible Study had a Stampin' Up craft day today, which is so right up my alley. Before I quit working, I used to be BIG into stamping. Some people loathe this kind of thing... it stresses them out. But for me? Totally therapeutic. So there was no way I was missing out on today.
The demonstrator was super sweet and NOT pushy. She was just there for us to have fun, not make any sales. We had a great time.

(BJ, on the left, leads the entire study. The lady in the middle is our table mom. She's the sweetest. And my girl Kara - on the right - is pregnant with her 3rd cutiepatootie. She's had morning sickness this whole time and is such a champ to keep coming to these things)

And these are the cards we made this morning!

Aren't they cute??

I'm going to use the one on the left to attach to a little gift bag.

Love it.

I was a little worried about Noah going to his little class this morning, since he was so sleep-deprived. He even zonked out in the car for about 15 minutes on the ride up there. But when I went to pick him up, he was busy playing with a plastic dinosaur. And it made my day to see that he was playing with the animals along with all of the other kids. He was all smiles and attempted (in Noah language) to tell me all about it. :) His teachers are so so sweet (they're from the school they have there) and said he did perfectly fine. Phew! I was worried for their sake!

I've decided to stay up for the rest of the day. Call me crazy, but I have other things to do (meaning I'll just lay there thinking about all the stuff I should be doing instead), and the exterminator guy is scheduled to come between 3 and 5. Which means if he comes early? I'd have only gotten maybe 30 minutes of sleep. So I'd just wake up feeling worse. Here's hoping for an early bed time.

***

Totally unrelated...

I made these muffins the other day for Noah, and they've been the biggest hit. I've been trying to sneak some more veggies in his diet, and after he downed like 5 of them in one sitting, I figured somebody else out there might want to give them a try. Go here if you're interested: Sweet Potato Mini-Muffins

sleep issues. revisited. (and a birthday)

The 4th was so fun, and I'll eventually get to it. Unfortunately, the post is being delayed due to the current sleep situation in our home today.

Last night, we kept Noah up passed his bedtime so he could see fireworks. He did fine. Lately, he's been falling asleep around 10-10:30 anyway, and the fireworks started at 9:30. Anyway, he didn't get in bed until close to 11 last night. I was absolutely exhausted. I've been running myself ragged the last few days... getting up earlier than usual, fitting in decent workouts (lost!3!pounds!), planning a party, hosting a party, cleaning up after party (Brad did a lot of it. thanks babe!), having my parents over for the 4th last night, then rushing downtown (ahem... "uptown" as it's now known) to see fireworks. So yeah, it's been crazy. I figured since he'd gone to bed so late, I'd get to enjoy sleeping in a little longer.

Rise and shine at 6:30am.
uuuuuuuuugggggggghhhhhhh.

I think he was hungry. He ate breakfast, we hung out with my sister for a little bit, then he crawled into my lap. We cuddled on the couch for a while (which is rare), he put his blanket over his eyes, and soon he was snoozing.
So he went back down around 10am.
I tried to go back to bed.
But see... I'm a terrible napper. I naturally don't take naps. But this morning, I decided to give it a try. And every single time I started to doze off, either my phone would vibrate or the garbage truck came or I'd have to pee or the dogs barked. So yeah. No nap for me.

He woke up an hour and 1/2 later and has been awake ever since.
We have a friend coming to visit tomorrow. I NEED to get the house in order, but every time I get something done, Noah coming running in like a bull in a china shop. I really could've used his normal nap today. And there's no way I was letting him sleep again, because it'd throw his schedule all off.

Yeah. So instead of a happy Independence Day post? I'm whining.

***

And just because I want to end this on a happy note...

My sis-in-law's birthday is today!! They recently moved back West, and we already miss them soooooo much. It was nice having another non-Kemper Kemper to hang out with. :)

So Happy Birthday Sara!! Love you and miss you terribly!!
Hope you had an awesome day!!

sleep is for sissies (sissys? sisies?)

Noah's sickness has thrown us totally off.
Problem is that with fevers and medicine, he was sleeping a lot. Like his naps were pushing 4+ hours. He wouldn't wake up until 6, 7, 8pm. And of course, that results in 2am bedtimes.
I wasn't going to mess with his sleep while he was sick. He needed to get better and sleeping when tired is a big part of that. But now that he's feeling back to normal? This is so not working.
Last night, he went to bed at 1am. I can handle that. I've been trying to get him back on a decent schedule, so this was better than 3am. And 1am was counting DST (love the longer days, but it irritates the heck outa me).
So... 1am bedtime. I'm one of those people, the kind that take forever to actually fall asleep. So I didn't doze off until somewhere around 2:30-3am.
This morning, he was wide awake at 8am. Not cool.
Pretty sure he was just hungry or got chilly or something.
But little man was not interested in sleep. He bounced and ran and did lots of babbling.
Finally, around 10:30, we both zonked out. I slept until 1. Noah? He slept until 3:30. Five hours. I assumed this counted as his nap and thought to myself, "OH! Maybe this means he'll go to bed a little earlier tonight!".
So we went outside and played, walked around, goofed off with the pups. Then we all headed out to the mall to window shop. Noah loves walking around and riding the escalators.
On the way home, though, he completely passed out. At 9.
The hubby and I watched the Bachelor, then went to bed.
Until 12:30. When Noah decided he wanted to wake up from his nap.

In case this is getting super confusing, here's today's schedule:
Slept from 1am to 8am.
Then from 10:30am to 3:30pm.
Then from 9pm to 12:30am.

What in the world.

Anyone have any suggestions? I mean, I get that most new moms with tiny babies are probably rolling their eyes at me right about now, and a year ago, I was totally dreaming of a nice 7 hour stretch... but he's a toddler. A toddler who is normally an excellent sleeper. And we need (somewhat of) a routine. Suggestions are welcome. :)

turns out, I ramble when I'm tired.

WHAT in the world?
Last week (the week that Brad was home and able to get Noah so I could sleep in), Noah was going to bed around 10:30 - 11pm and waking up around 8:30 - 9am. It was perfect. In fact, it was a little annoying. The one morning that Brad got up with him, he told me it was such a breeze. He slept in so late, that I was up already.
Since Brad went back to work, Noah is still going to bed around the same time, but is now waking up at 7 - 7:30am. That's barely enough sleep for me, let alone a toddler. (we like our sleep around here)

I've been trying to figure this out, and all I can come up with is the weather change. It's much cooler and fall-ish. Since we're broke, we haven't turned the heat on just yet. And really, it'll just get too hot during the day with it on anyway. It only gets cool at night. Last night, I think it got down to 66. The problem is that Noah is warm when he goes to bed at night. He doesn't need a bajillion heavy blankets or flannels. Just a long sleeve shirt and pajama pants.
(sidenote: What do YOU call them? PajAMas or pajAHmas?) :)
The problem is that Noah didn't have any long sleeve shirts. He only had a couple, so we ran to Target yesterday and stocked up on fall/winter clothes for him. I only spent $68 on him and was able to get a decent amount (woohoo!). Last night, I had planned on putting him to bed in one of his new shirts. The problem was that he was already kinda warm from wearing pants at bedtime. He goes to bed perfectly comfortable... but I'm thinking the major drop in temps at night is waking him up extra early. So he may have to bite the bullet and just be a little toastier at bedtime. :)
But not only is it nighttime sleeping. It's now dribbled over into naptime. He slept for an hour today, if that. Everytime I put him down, he just bounces around and plays. Noah is the type of kid that will just roll over and fall asleep if he's ready. But for some reason, he's dead set on fighting it.

Lots of exciting work-related things happening over here. But I can't quite share just yet. Stay tuned. (Don't you HATE it when people do that?? Sorry. Promise I'll dish when I get the "ok".)

I've been having my own sleep issues lately. I just can't get my mind to stop. I lay there and think about everything I need to be doing, other people's problems that I want to solve, and the fact that I'm having trouble getting my Mary Kay business off and running. I don't do naps either. Hmm... wonder where Noah gets his sleeping habits from??

I'm starting to worry that MK has recruited so many people that it's virtually impossible to be really successful at it unless you spend 24/7 searching for the last 15 people left in this world, who have been living under a rock (you can tell by their hair and makeup), that have never heard of Mary Kay before. It seems that everyone I ask has a cousin or sister or coworker or somebody that's selling. I even asked one friend if she'd be interested in doing a party (to help me get more practice), and it turns out she is a consultant! She's just inactive. Sigh.
I'm hoping to do a holiday open house in my neighborhood to try and let everyone know I'm here. Maybe help them get some Christmas shopping done. I mean, really, the products are awesome. I think just too many people have been pestered to death by the overly-zealous reps that they feel the urge to run in their house, lock the door, and turn off the lights. All that pink and fake smiles and Mary Kay-isms have left a bad taste in some people's mouths. Honestly, I'm not out to recruit more followers or convert people to the ways of Mary Kay. I'm really not that interested in Seminar (gasp! I said it!). I just want to help people look pretty, have fun little parties to get the much needed "girl time", and make some extra cash while I'm at it.

So at the risk of sounding desperate, if you're interested, here's an online catalog you can look through: MaryKay

We're going to the beach soon. It's a much needed retreat from life.
As it turns out, cleaning is genetic. Before we went on a vacation, my mom would always clean the house from top to bottom. That way, she could walk into a perfectly orderly, sanitized home when we got back. I know this isn't that uncommon. So maybe I'm just like most people in wanting to make sure everything is done before we leave. I'm just thankful I didn't inherit the craziness that would take over my mother. Literally. She turned into a crazy person. The URGENCY of getting the house clean was insane. I love my mom to death, but I do not miss being on high alert before vacations. We were afraid to walk on the carpets in case our footprints messed up the patterns the vacuum left. I learned how to hover. And eat over the sink. And only brush my hair outside so that strays weren't floating onto the bathroom floor. Yep. Don't miss that one bit. :)

But my new BFF these days?? The Steam Mop.

Isn't it so pretty??

It's the best, because it seriously takes me like 5 minutes to mop our floor. No cleaner. It disinfects. And it's awesome. This one was a gift from my mom, because she chose to upgrade after seeing the newer one on QVC. She's a total sucker for those QVC shows... but I don't mind! I end up with cool cleaning products for free!

Hope everyone's having a great week!