is there a newborn in the house already?!

For the amount of sleep we have gotten in the past two nights, one would think so. But, no. The baby is right where it should be causing all sorts of havoc rolling, punching, kicking inside my belly (which keeps me up in and of itself). The culprit of our sleepless nights is the 2 year old. Miss Finley decided that the stretch between 12:30 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. is WIDE AWAKE time. Mind you, that is just shortly after I go to bed (that might need to be adjusted if this keeps up). So, I am 8 months pregnant living on 3 VERY short hours of sleep. I would expect this with a newborn- that is just how it is (it is the part I am so dreading), but this time- BEFORE the baby comes I should be able to get lots of good sleep. Unfortunately that has not been the case the past few days. Finley is NOT sick- she might be teething (those stubborn molars), but other than that I can find no legitimate cause for her waking. We have tried to let her cry it out with no avail. A full hour of SCREAMING with not a sign of letting up. She is very persistent- always has been. We tried bringing her immediately into our bed, hoping she would stay sleepy and just drift off again. No luck. We tried going through a modified bedtime routine- rock, sing, bed. Again- did not work. She just wanted to be awake. I would think this means she is ready to give up naps (oh, please no), but then she falls asleep in the car on our way to pick up Avery EVERY DAY!? Then she transfers into her bed and sleeps for 2 hours?! What to do? I CAN'T have a sleepless 2 year old AND a newborn- my poor sanity!!!

i want curls like you

I am one of 4 children born to a father with very curly hair and mother(s) with stick straight hair. ALL of us got the curls. So, I just assumed that meant it was a dominant trait and would be automatically passed down to my children. Apparently not. Both my girls have straight, straight hair. I am at a complete loss of what to do with it. Despite of all my complaining through my growing up years, I have truly come to love and appreciate the low maintenance style my curly hair affords me. I get out of the shower, put some gel in it, scrunch and go. I have come to terms with my own hair, but I am having fun living vicariously and experimenting with Avery's- ponytails that fall nicely, braids without the frizz, pigtails, and super cute haircuts (the ones in magazines that would look ridiculous with curly hair- trust me, I have tried with HORRIBLE results). So, I was a little saddened yesterday, she came to me and said, "Mommy, I want curls like you." I guess we are never too young to want whatever it is that we don't have. sigh.


So, we tackled a new experiment and I found that getting straight hair curly is just as difficult as getting my curly hair straight. We put sponge rollers in her wet hair and then waited. Waited some more, and painted our toes. Then waited a little longer.


Finally we took the rollers out and NOTHING. Apparently we didn't wait long enough. I obviously have never used rollers before?! So, we dried her hair and resorted to the curling iron- again not a tool I am too familiar with- with better results.


It turned out in big, soft wavy curls.

Avery was thrilled- exuding the same excitement I get when I am able to run my fingers through my hair when I walk out of the salon (the only time my hair is straight- because I refuse to spend more than 2 minutes on my hair).

She flipped her hair around, looking in the mirror, giggling all the while.

She couldn't wait to show daddy. She dressed up in her princess best.

He thought she looked too grown up.... of course he would say that. I am sure he will be saying that A LOT, probably for forever.

I would deem this experiment a partial success- I don't have 2 hours to spend on a regular basis to do it, but it made her happy. Does anyone have a better technique for achieving overall curl- for the next time she wants curls like mommy!? Short of a perm, of course- I am not willing to go that far.

I have created a t.v. monster! HELP!

We have gotten into a rut from living in the chaos of a remodel- in order to be at home during the day, we have had to hole up in the back bedroom a lot of times. We turn on fans, turn on the t.v., and try to block out all the noise. After a year + of this routine, things are SLOWLY starting to get back to "normal", and I have found I have created a MONSTER! Avery is completely addicted to her shows! As soon as she wakes up, she wants a show. It is the first thing she asks for when we walk in the door and the last thing she wants before she goes to bed. It has even gotten to the point that she says she is hungry, but refuses food or drink if it means she has to come to the table?! She knows how to operate every t.v. and dvd player we have- I will come in the room after telling her "no shows" and find her sitting in her chair vegging out in front of The Backyardigans that she set up all by herself (turning on the t.v., changing the tv/video input, turning on the dvd player, finding the dvd, putting it into the dvd player, pushing play- ALL BY HERSELF). She is so content sitting there, watching, laughing! I do suggest other activites- "let's read books" (which she usually loves), "lets play a game," "let's color," "let's, play dress-up, dance, help mommy cook, or have tea time," but usually her response is, "I don't wanna do that." I KNOW it is not what is best for her and I KNOW that I am the mom- she is NOT (or should not be) the boss, but sometimes it is just easier to let her be than engage in the inevitable struggle to pull her away. I use the quiet time to pick-up around the house, clean, and *gasp* blog! I really HAVE to do something. This remodel is ALMOST complete- I can no longer use it as an excuse- and I need to regain order (in all aspects of my home and family)... HELP! What do you do in your homes to limit "plug-in" play?! I need ideas!