What a Cute Stinker

Don't let that cute smile
& those sparkly eyes fool you,
this kid is Hell on Wheels.
He keeps me busy.

In the last week Nick has:
1) broke open an ink pen all over my favorite chair & ottoman (darn it)
2) fallen in the pond at the bottom of our waterfall in our yard (burr)
3) slept through the night only twice (he's 2 1/2!)
4) tripped in a parking lot and got a raspberry on his forehead (ouch)
5) pitched a fit about going to sacrament meeting (what else is new)
6) done lots of playing outside (even though there's still a bit of snow)
7) insisted I take this picture when my camera was out (Mr. Photogenic)

Great News

My soon-to-be sister-in-law!
May 8th, 2010!!!

My older brother, Cory, got engaged over the weekend. We've been doing some engagement shots (thought let's be honest, I'm no professional photographer).
I'd love to post a whole bunch of their darling pictures, but I don't want to take away from the excitement of letting Angie see them first. I'll post a few that I'm sure she's not going to use for their announcement, but keep in mind that by posting them it also means that these are the ones that are not the best of the 1,000 pictures we've taken.

Quick & Easy Breakfast Option

Okay, so I'm a breakfast person and so is Jeff (since he married me) and Ryan loves a hot breakfast every morning. If you asked Ryan what cereal he wanted for breakfast he probably wouldn't even know what his choices were. When asked what he wants for breakfast it's usually pancakes, french toast, blueberry muffins, eggs of some sort, or German pancakes. He might have cereal about 6 times a year. I think I learned to love making breakfast from my mom, she always made us a hot breakfast.

I've found something new that I tried this morning...WE LOVED IT.

Egg-in-the-Hole

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/07/egg-in-a-hole-see-alternate-names-below/

It was Yummy. Try it! You'll like it, especially if you like "dippy eggs & toast."

(side note, you should also really try her chocolate sheet cake, too)

If you don't already LOVE Ree Drummond, aka: The Pioneer Woman, you really should. She is seriously awesome. I have her cookbook, but most of her recipes are on her blog: www.thepioneerwoman.com. All her recipes are delish! The best part about her recipes (besides that they are so good to eat) is that Ree puts step-by-step pictures of how to make almost every recipe (sometimes there are like 20 pictures).
I'm really aspiring to be more like her. I got on to her blog about three years ago when she was just starting up because I love her photography stuff. No matter if you are in to cooking or photography, you'll love her and her blog. Just reading her blog and cookbook makes me want to buy a giant chunk of land in the county and start raising cattle (less all the dirt, of course)!

Sleep Sense Update

I should update on how Sleep Sense is going for us. It's going really well...overall. Barrett goes down for naps and beds without a peep. It has been so nice not to rock or nurse him to sleep. On the downside, he is still waking once a night for a good period of time (like an hour and a half) before soothing himself back to sleep. Really, though, it's going great.
Nick...now he's a different story. He has no desire to have rules enforced on his toddler lifestyle and domain. Tonight, we're going to really start clamping down because Nick is still up 2-4 times a night and wants us to hold him. As soon as we pick him up, he's instantly back to sleep. I guess we need to start being the parents here and standing firm with Nick, but he is a seriously determined little boy and it's tough to decide what to fight him on. Tonight, we fight the sleep issue!
The really good news, I have a phone call on Wednesday with the sleep sense expert (as part of the program) and anything that isn't going well can be talked about with her.
All in all, sleep is still going much better in our home.

Sleep Sense, Night 2

Last night I put Barrett and Nick down at 7:30. I didn't hear a peep out of either one of them when they were put down. Well, Barrett did kind of "talk" himself to sleep, but he didn't cry. Barrett woke at 5:30, I fed him, and he went back down until 7:40. Nick didn't wake until 7:15. Miracles DO happen everyday. I seriously couldn't be a happier mom this morning.

Sleep Sense Program Night 1

So, I'm at the end of my rope with sleep deprivation. I'm pretty sure I haven't had a good night's sleep for virtually two years. I read all of these books several times and tried all of the strategies at least once or more in the last two years. One of these books may have worked perfect for you, but for my stubborn boys, they were to no avail.

Last night we started this:http://www.sleepsense.net/

OH, HAPPY DAY!

and I'm so happy to say that Barrett slept for 7.5 hour straight without waking!!! WAHOO!!!!!! I'm tickled to death about such huge miracle in our home.

Today, we did the same process for morning nap and he has now been asleep for an hour and a half. This is almost the longest nap he has ever taken (aside from the freak nap he took at Amber's for three hours a few weeks ago).

I'm trying not to get too excited about the sleep program, but so far it's going well.

Yippee, there's light at the end of the tunnel and it's not longer a train.

If it isn't one thing, it's another

i REALLY should post more than just the traumas in my life, but right now the traumas and dramas are my life.
After Barrett's whole ear infection issues, we found out he had Roseola. He got over it, but it was a miserable time.

Jeff had knee surgery three weeks ago and his knee is doing pretty well now.

Two weeks ago Jeff woke up without feeling on the right side of his face and a tingling in his right arm. I thought he had a stroke (is it terrible that my first thought was, "really? great, just what we needed was a stroke.???). Turns out he has Bell's Palsy. It has been painful and frustrating for him. He's on some steroids and some anti-virals, but so far the prognosis could be up to a year before he get feeling back to the right side of his face. He was off work for two weeks, and has attempted a couple of short hours this week. It kills him to stay home all day.

Jeff's Grandmother passed away a few weeks ago and it has been really sad for all of us.

My mom saved me and took Nick & Ryan for the three-day weekend over Valentine's. It was a great break and much needed.

Ryan's school called on Tuesday and asked me to come and get him because he wasn't feeling well. He has just a terrible cold and a stomach ache. That boy also has some serious anxiety issues. Maybe I'll post about his anxieties later.

Nick and Barrett have now joined Ryan in the cold trend and all three are fairly miserable. I'm praying Barrett's won't end up as an ear infection.

Me...I'm sleep deprived, as always, but have only had a lingering cough the last few weeks and am really hoping to avoid the cold going around in our home.

Do you wish you were me? Any advise on my two non-sleeping babies?

I Spoke Too Soon...

I guess I jinxed Barrett. Poor thing had a bit of a cold for a few days and then he wouldn't eat very well, so I took him to the doctor one night after a YW meeting. Dr. Peterson assured me that babies at 4 months vary rarely get ear infections, but I told him that Barrett was acting like Nick used to act when he got an ear infection. He immediately determined that Barrett had pink eye and the croup and after check both Barrett's ears the doctor congratulated me on having a baby with two ear infections. As if I wasn't already sleep deprived enough! I guess Ryan must've brought it all home from school because I don't take Barrett anywhere yet...I haven't even taken him to church except to bless him.

So...we only made it 4 months and 12 days before Barrett got his first ear infection. I think that was early than Nick started getting his.

(Nick thinks all things "baby" are for him, not Barrett. ei: baby bouncers, swings, and toys)

As for Nick...we finally had our appointment at Primary Children's (only about a 6 month wait) about a week and a half ago. We are on a VERY strict eating regiment with him, but he seems to be doing really well. I seriously thought he was going to die of dehydration, but he finally started to drink a little milk and some water after about 8 days of being on the meal plan. Overall, he's doing well, but still a very challenging little boy. Even while Barrett has been really sick, Barrett is still so much more mellow than Nick on some of his best days.I'm not sure what possessed Ryan the other day, but he decided part of his hair was bugging him, so he cut it with the fingernail scissors. If you look close in the picture you can see the chunk he took out. Don't be too jealous of his beautiful smile that is a prime candidate for braces in the future. We go to the dentist next week, I'm sure he'll love seeing how Ryan's two top teeth are coming in at an inverted V.