reckoning time {kind of like coffee i guess}

chase is my slowest waker upper.

i've never seen a child love to nap like him either.

if i let him, he would go 3 hours every day.

it is his full time life's hobby i tell you.

this of course is just not conducive to going to bed at any sort of normal time of the night now that he is 3 {even 6 months ago he would nap for 3 hours and then sleep another 12 starting at 8pm at night. it was a good long beautiful ride my friends. BEAUTIFUL beautiful ride.}.

so now every day i put this little baby man down for a nap in the crib he loves {b/c we just haven't had time to get the toddler bed crib put together with all of our flood catastrophes--it IS on the list. the long list. it's just that it's at the bottom of the list b/c it's a non catastrophe issue. you know, if it ain't broke, don't fix it non catastrophe list. that one.} 

so anyway,

every day after about an hour or an hour and a half i go into his little cowboy room,

complete with all of max's hair bows.

i turn off the fan,

open the curtains,

and crack the blinds.

and then for about half an hour he lays awake in his bed,

just slowly waking up,

while i rock in the nursing chair we put together for the littlest gibson who's about to change us all.

sometimes the house is quiet.

sometimes it's loud with neighborhood kids or max and brennan fighting after school.

it's the slowest part of our day right now,

and i treasure it.

the afternoon sun comes in,

or lately, the rain pounds the windows from outside.

sometimes i sing to him, rocking in my chair.

or i ask him which cowboy or horse picture is his favorite--anything to engage his little peepers open.

usually he yells at me to stop,

and to go away b/c he's not done "sweeeeping!!!"

he always switches laying from one side to another at some point.

he will sit up,

then lay back down at least once,

just trying to decide if it's worth it to him to leave the binky behind and get out of his bed for the rest of the night.

finally when he's fully awake he's climbs out of his little crib,

comes over and yells at me to "GET UPPPP!!!!" like i'm the one he's been waiting on the entire time,

and then we go downstairs,

get his sippy full of milk,

and i take on homework, dinner, and the balancing act of neighborhood friends in and out of our door until bath time.

it's the part of my day where i look myself in the eye and say,

you can do it em.

you're in the home stretch!

a daily reckoning of sorts.

some days i need it more than others.

but every day i need it still the same.

if we don't have time for it,

hell hath no furry like a chase that doesn't get to wake up slow.

also,

it messes with my reckoning time,

and that just ain't pretty either.

usually we cope with suckers,

and peanut butter scoops,

and trips to grandma's house and stuff like that on those days.

kind of like coffee.

i guess.

LONG LIVE THE NAP!

second chances

i told sean that i wish i could go back to when max was 3 weeks old again.

so i could hold her the entire day and never put her down once.

i still look into her face and see that tiny little baby face staring back up at me.

after trying to wake her up for half an hour monday afternoon with no success,

i lifted her out of bed,

carried her downstairs,

and held her in the rocking chair for another half an hour while she slept.

not 3 weeks old,

but still just as great.

when she finally woke up she was not happy.

 5:48pm and the girl was just waking up from a nap.

made for a rough night,

but i'd go back and do it all over again.

once a sleeper,

always a sleeper.

god bless makenzie maxine.

he likes it under there

i walked into brennan's room last night to find there was no brennan in his bed.

i thought for sure he was playing in the corner or had snuck into max's room.

then i saw a green stripped leg.

and just as i went to scold him for playing under the bed,

i realized how quiet it was.

he was conked out under the bed.

fast asleep.

he never woke up.

and this morning told us that he

"just likes it under there."

maybe we already are.

these are the days that make up for all of the hard ones.

this is when brennan found the camera.

and wanted to take a picture of max and me.

i wasn't puckering.

i was saying, "push it right there."

but only made it to the "p" in "push" before he figured it out himself.

...

max is too strong for the swaddle at naps now.

we wrap her up, she goes right to sleep.

then when the sleep cycles switch, Houdini gets her arms out.

then they flail.

binky pops out.

baby awake.

not the toy.

real life.

or was that baby alive???

panda binky, work.your.magic!

let her cry it out with the panda when she woke up halfway through her mid-day nap.

an hour and 15 min of crying and 10 trips back to her bed to pat her bum, tell her i love her, and to go "night, night," and it was time to eat again.

that went well.

guess we'll try again tomorrow.

as opposed to brennan, i actually can't hear her crying in the front room.

but for some reason,

it hurts more.

weird.

she'll learn.

and we'll all live happily ever after.

or maybe we already are.

calling all dream experts!!!

i love going to costco in the afternoon.
the crowds are awful, and the parking stinks.
but the snacks make up for the chaos.
i make sure to stop at every sample station.
sometimes we take it, sometimes we leave it.
i'm not a huge fan of coleslaw.
we usually leave the coleslaw.
i'm ordinarily not a veggieburger type of gal.
i love me some OMAHA'S!
bring on the beef.
but a few weeks ago, i was sold on the garden burgers.
delish i tell you.
have you ever tried them???
so i bought a box, and last night we mixed & mingled the beef and what the beef used to eat.
i couldn't believe how tasty the garden burger was.
i'm not claiming that they tasted the same or better, but they had their own little flair.
and that little flair is something i'm not afraid to add to my weekly menu.
i feel healthier just thinking about it.
the scout master had one of each.
am i becoming a vegetarian?
most definitely NOT.
my dad is from iowa.
i love me some meat.
and rare.
but i am a fan of the garden burger.
and that is that.
...
in other news:
the pork loin's head has taken a beating this week.
three days in a row.
sunday he bonked it on the sport court.
monday he had a fight with the pavement, the pavement won (see nose below)
tuesday he fell off the motorcycle bike at the gateway discovery zone.

my food dreams last night brought even better escapades.

you should have tasted the movie popcorn i ate in one dream.

it was hot, with LOTS of butter and salt.

perfect buttery, salty bites EVERY time.

then came the waffles.

i was at some sort of a breakfast celebration.

i had eggs benedict too, but never ate them b/c i was so full from the popcorn.

to drink?
raspberry lemonade mixed with sprite.

can't WAIT to see what i'm going to eat in my dreams tonight:-)

you dream experts out there, does this mean i'm not eating enough satisfying foods while awake???

i really feel like i do.

just yesterday i treated myself to a bite sized baby ruth from my halloween cauldron.

elevated crib

when brennan has a runny nose i have sean shove a blanket under the left side of his crib to elevate the mattress.
this has become second nature to us.
who knows if this actually does anything, but it is "supposed to" keep the drainage going with gravity.
"elevate the crib and use a humidifier."
i can't tell you how many times i have heard that line.
when he had rsv last winter i would call the nurse line at our pediatrician for advice on his wheezing and retraction saying, "the crib is elevated, there's a humidifier in the room, i've sucked his nose, and given him two breathing treatments."
it got to the point where i would just call the appointment desk, give brennan's name, and they would reply, "how does 3:10 work for you today?"
yes, we were really there that much.
let's just avoid the hospital this season:-)
so i still elevate the crib when he has a runny nose.
we're in a shortage for plugs, thus the humidifier has not been resurrected from the cold storage just yet.
so when the crib is elevated where does brennan end up sleeping?
with his head on the down slope.
figures.

elmo was busy

10:05pm
10:37pm

11:31pm

conclusion:

elmo was busy last night.

my question:

is he awake when he moves his things around or does he do it while sleeping?

...

elmo, compliments of the strong yard sale.

we thank you strongs, VERY much.

he has a great "downward dog"

i've been saying how brennan could be really great at yoga lately.
have you seen his "downward dog!!??!!"
it's the only yoga poze name i know, but i feel super cool when i say,
"oh brennan, great downward dog!"
like i do yoga or something;-)
cause you know, it's like pilates, chic & hip.
so i went in to check on him today after some abnormal pre-nap crying in the crib.
i found this:

it's not downward dog, but it must be something...

how is it possible to sleep like that?
there is definately breathing.
i checked twice.
brooke, are you having deja vu from seeing this post?
i can remember you finding blake like this once!
they really are two of the same, aren't they?