Pregnant Brain Strikes Again

No, I'm not pregnant. Settle down. But I am convinced that my brain has yet to return to its natural size. When I was pregnant with both of my kids I swear I lost brain cells. (Apparently, it's been proven that some of your grey matter goes to the baby in the form of fat, so you really do get dumber.) Anyway, several weeks ago I blogged about losing my mind? Well, this morning confirmed all of my previous assumptions -- my grey matter never grew back.

First, I set my alarm last night to make sure we were up earlier this morning. We've been rushing around in the mornings trying to get Kendall ready for school, and Tanner and I had a fun playdate planned at Meg's house. So I set the alarm for 7:45. At 8:05, I looked at the clock, trying to figure out why it hadn't gone off. Well, it was going off, but the volume was turned down. So ... we got Kendall dressed in her Halloween shirt with ghosts on it (so cute), grabbed juice boxes and granola bars and headed to the car.

We arrived at Kendall's school and I immediately noticed there were children getting out of the cars in their costumes. Strange ... the parade and party (that I'm in charge of) isn't until tomorrow. The teacher gets Kendall out of the car and I ask, "The parade is tomorrow, right?"

Nope. It's today. And not only today but in 2 1/2 hours.

So poor Kendall has to go to class in her regular clothes while all the other kids have on costumes. And I have food to cook, a shower to take, and two bodies to dress. And somewhere in there I have to call Heather and tell her that we won't be making it to her house, which is a bummer in itself.

So Tanner and I rush home, I bribe him with a Tootsie Pop (yes, at 9 AM) in order to get the food started. Rice Krispie treats have to be first because they have to cool in the fridge. Then I had to make the trick-or-treat pizzas, which I had not tried before, so I actually had no idea if they would really turn out or not. I had to gather up all the pieces of Kendall's costume and throw them in a bag. I called Heather while melting marshmallows to apologize for missing Meg's costume party. Oops, I forgot to feed the dog, so I had to do that too.

But do not fear. Somehow, Tanner and I made it out the door, showered and dressed, with BINGO games, art supplies for spiders and webs, goody boxes, pizzas, and pumpkin-shaped Rice Krispie treats by 11:05. I still can't believe we pulled it off!! We rushed to the school to get Kendall dressed as Snow White, and then everything finally slowed down.

Craziness aside, the party was a success and Kendall looked gorgeous as Snow White. Her classmates seemed to enjoy their food, and their art projects turned out super cute!

Now I have to attempt to clean up.

Because the house is a disaster. I didn't clean as I went this morning ... and Tanner made a huge mess while I was cooking ... but right now I'm tying to catch my breath ... then I'll clean. And eat a Rice Krispie treat. :)

The Lesser of Two Evils

**WARNING: THIS IS A SLEEP UPDATE. YES, YOU WILL HAVE TO "LISTEN" TO ME WHINE FOR A FEW PARAGRAPHS. AND YOU MUST FEEL SORRY FOR ME AT THE END!**

So here's where we are now. Still tired. Still taking it one night at a time. But I'm still using the Ferber method, too. We have yet to have a solid night of sleep since we started over 2 weeks ago. But Kendall does put herself to sleep. Unfortunately, she still wakes up several times in the night. She does one of two things when she wakes up, and neither of them are going back to sleep on her own. When she wakes up, she either A) calls for me to come to her room, or B) comes to get me out of my bed to put her back in hers.

Yeah, I know, it really doesn't seem much better than it was before. But I do sleep in my bed ... not in hers. She does spend 90% of the night in her bed. And most nights she goes back to sleep the first time I shut her door.

We are up to closing the door the first time at 4 minutes. I've been sorta wishy-washy with the closing of the door. Usually, the first time she gets up it's to go to the bathroom. So I help her go and then she gets back in bed. I don't like to close her door then because I don't want her to feel like she shouldn't get up to go to the bathroom. The last thing I need is a 4-year-old who doesn't sleep in her bed by herself and wets the bed. So, most of the time she goes right back to sleep after her bathroom break. Then, many nights she wakes again, about 3 hours later.

So I'm still awake every 3-4 hours of the night. Am I really getting better sleep? Not really. Is Kendall sleeping better? Not so much. So why don't I just go back to the old way of doing things? And crawl in bed with her the first time and get 7+ hours of sleep? I suppose I'm choosing the lesser of two evils. I truly don't want my daughter to be needing someone to put her back to sleep when she is in college. Her roommate may not appreciate it. I can give up a few weeks of sleep if it means she will learn to do this on her own.

While it does not seem like this is working, I have to keep telling myself that she has made a huge leap -- she goes to sleep by herself. Every time. Tim doesn't have to sit in the room with her. I don't have to hold her hand or rub her back. So I guess that's progress.

Of course, tonight she asked me what I would do if she got out of bed. (She asks this every night, I guess hoping I will say something different.) I told her that I would shut her door if she got out of her bed, just like last night. Her response?

"Will you shut the door and go away? Or will you shut the door and stay like you did last night and open my door when the time is up?"

So I guess she's figured it out. Wonder what Dr. Ferber would say about that.

Costume Party, Fall-Festival Style

One of Kendall's bestest friends decided she was going to have a costume party to celebrate Halloween. Well, I'm assuming her mom actually decided this since it is her favorite holiday. I was excited simply because Kendall and Tanner would have the opportunity to get some good wear out of their Halloween costumes. So on Thursday after Tanner's nap, we dressed in layers with costumes on top ... and coats ... because it was freezing ... and we headed out to Hailey's house.

I expected to see a few little kids running around in costumes; but the sight was amazing! Carnival games all over the front lawn. Bouncers. Bobbing for apples. Duck pond. Goodies and goody bags. Cupcakes. Candy corn ... you're smiling because you understand my obsession now. ;) And every costume you can imagine.

Naturally there were the princesses -- Ariel, Belle, Cinderella, Tinkerbell, Aurora, and Snow White. There were super heroes -- Batman, Superman, Mr. Incredible. And the TV and Movie characters -- Hannah Montana, the High School Musical crew (I don't know all their names), and even 2 little Indiana Jones-es, fully equipped with whips and hats.

There were more kids than I expected -- and it certainly caught my two off guard. Kendall and Tanner stuck to me like glue the entire time we were there, which wasn't too long. We played a few games -- tossed the beanbags, caught some ducks in the duck pond. We tried to play in the back yard, but there were a lot of bigger kids running around. Kendall did get one chance on the swings to show off her new pumping skills. And Tanner got a chance to climb up the ladder on the swingset and slide a few times. All in all, it was a good time, but I never would have taken on that task by myself like Melissa did! Of course, she appeared to be taking it all in stride. I never saw her running ragged ... like I do at every party I'm in charge of. She just sorta goes with the flow -- she must have better pills than I do! ;)

Anyhow, the best parts of the party ...

5) There was a little boy who was stalking the cupcake table. He would pick one up, bite it, and put it back. Then he'd pick up another one and continue the same process until he had gone through about 10 cupcakes. I should have stopped him, but it was so darn funny to watch!!

4) There was a little girl who was obsessed with Kendall. When we arrived, she ran up and threw her arms around Kendall, screaming, "No Why!!!!!" (Translation: Snow White) She followed Kendall around the entire time ... her mom said that they had just gotten back from Disney and she loved Snow White. It was precious to see the adoration in this little girl's eyes!

3) I was certainly proud of Kendall pumping those little legs on the swings ... Hailey kept asking me if I would push her on the swings. She said, "Ms. Keisha, you can push me and Kendall at the same time." Kendall told her, "No, Hailey, I can do it myself!"

2) There was another little Batman at he party. He was nowhere near as cute as my little Batman, but still precious. Tanner would run up to him every time he saw him and "punch" him in the stomach. His costume had those little muscles in it, and Tanner got the biggest kick out of hitting that little boy in his "muscles." Very amusing.

1) The best thing about the party? What made me the most proud? When all the other kids were pitching a fit and crying because they wanted more cupcakes or more punch or more candy, guess what my kids were doing???? Drinking water and eating apples. I wish I could say that this is because of my good child-rearing ways, but I think they just wanted to get out of the little bitty room where the screaming kids and sugar were. But to the other parents, my kids looked like such angels!!

If only they knew the truth ...

Candy corn, candy corn, how I love candy corn ...

It's not the little chocolate bars in the Trick or Treat bag that do me in. It's not the pumpkin spice lattes or the gingerbread cake. I love this time of year, especially the foods. But what is the absolute best food? Why is autumn so wonderful??

It's the candy corn. Especially the "autumn mix" candy corn with the little pumpkins. Mmmmm. Yes, I'm an addict. We keep some in a little pumpkin in the kitchen, and I cannot walk by without reaching for a bite. The kids are the same way, and so is Tim. Needless to say, we have gone through about 4 bags of autumn mix candy corn since the beginning of October!

You're thinking, "Keisha, you are a dork. Why are you blogging about candy corn?" Well, as most of you know, I'm a Weight Watchers fiend. And in my quest to find tasty foods that are low in points, I have discovered that candy corn is 150 calories and 0 grams of fat per serving. "Wow," you say. "That's, like, 2 points. Not really worth it for a few pieces of candy corn." But, NOOOOOOOO! It's not just 2 points for a few pieces. It's 2 points for 23 pieces of candy corn!!!!!

Holy crap! So eat up, girls and boys!! And stock up while you can find the good stuff everywhere!!! It's sure to cure your sweet tooth when you have a that little craving for something sweet. :)