Friday, May 16, 2008

It's been a rough one.




Today has not quite been as easy-going as yesterday was.  I  guess it started with the night time.  Sadie woke around 3 maybe, i'm not sure.  Whenever she wakes up from anything...nap or bed, daytime or nighttime, she starts screaming for mommy at the top of her lungs.  As she's running through the hall screaming, she wakes up Landon who then joins her in the dead sprint to mommy & daddy's room.  Greg and I have been doing much better at putting them back in their own beds and not allowing them to sleep in ours...so that's what we did.  At 3:45am Landon comes back in our room.  He curled up next to me and it was so tempting to let him stay.  I turned to Greg and said "your alarm is going to go off in a half hour" hinting for the ok to just let Landon stay.  Greg said "fine."  I laid there for about 30 seconds then (thanks to encouragement from anyssa) I took Landon back to his bed.  Greg is up at 4:15am and gone around 5am.  Landon makes it back to our room again around 5:30am.  This time I let him stay.  At 6:30 Sadie joins us.  At 7:30 Landon wakes and 5 minutes later Duke is up...and the morning begins.  I am going on almost 3 years of interrupted sleep.  Not all nights are like this, but seems that most nights at least one kid is waking up and we have to put them back in bed.  I think this is where I get my headaches.  
We went to the bank this morning.  (just the drive-thru, of course)  On the way back the kids wanted to go to the park.  I recently found one that is across the road from us.  It's newer and has a dog park.  The equipment is nice, but is normally dirty with leaves and cobwebs cause it's not used often.  Sadie climbed to the top, but then got scared and wanted down.  I told her to slide.  Halfway down she started screaming a blood-curling scream!  I'm asking her what is wrong.  She slides the rest of the way, I grab her and she's saying, "Fider web, mommy!  Fider web!"  Let me translate...spider web.  I think she's going to be just like her mommy...petrified of spiders.  We didn't stay long, but stopped by the dog park before leaving.  They love looking at the dogs, especially Duke.  When we got home we went straight to the backyard.  I think we may have walked through some poison ivy or oak, so I wanted to do a wash-down of the feet, legs, and hands.  I stripped them to their diapers and they played in the pool awhile longer.  (the pics)
Lunch went great, then nap time began.  At 12:40 I laid Duke in bed.  He's normally very good at going to sleep on his own.  Next I put Landon down and then Sadie.  Since moving Sadie thinks I have to be right next to her bed til she falls asleep.  If I tell her I'm going to leave her room she immediately starts crying.  It's getting rather annoying.  This week I have started sitting in her doorway for naps at least.  I can also see Landon's bed from there, so it works.  She was asleep by 1:00.  Landon still tossing and turning and Duke was still awake too.  He started fussing a bit, so I went in to try to help him get to sleep.  Within 10 minutes he was almost there and Sadie starts screaming.  She runs out of her room in search for mommy.  By the time she makes it back Duke is now wide awake and Landon is up.  I put Sadie back in bed and tell her I'm just in Duke's room (which is right next to hers) and I'll be in soon.  Duke is now screaming as well.  I step in Landon's room and tell him to go to sleep, then back to Duke.  He is trying hard to get to sleep, but can't cause Sadie will not stop crying.  If I walk out of his room to console Sadie, then he cries.  A never-ending cycle!!!  I'm about to lose it.  At 1:35 I've had enough.  I walk out to the couch and sit.  Both Duke and Sadie are screaming.  5 minutes later Sadie comes out to sit on the couch with me.  She looks up and says through her sobs, "I want to poop on the potty and pee."  I was like WHAT??  (the potty training is not going well, so i'm thinking where did this come from?)  I asked her why and she said "so i can get an m&m."  I take her to the potty and tell her to try while I go get Duke to sleep.  He falls asleep at 1:50, an hour and 10 minutes after laying him down!  Sadie does nothing on the potty and I put her in bed at 2:00.  At 2:15 she's out.  At 2:25 I hear Landon calling for mommy.  I put him back in bed.  At 3:15 Sadie is screaming.  I go in her room, she falls right back to sleep.  At 3:20 she's screaming again.  I let her come out to the couch and she falls back asleep.  Yesterday they were all out within 15 minutes.
I realize this is a lot of boring crap, but this is my life and this is my blog, so i'm writing it.  Any moms out there who have advice on what to do about a kid who screams every time they wake or how to get her to fall asleep on her own, I would greatly appreciate it.  I think I'm heading in the right direction with moving my way out of her room, but I have no clue about her screaming.  I have had numerous talks to her about this.  She will never tell me why she is crying.  I explain to her that mommy is always here.  I will always be here in the house when she wakes up.  I just don't know what to do.
Greg gets off work at 6:00 tonight, so i'm thankful he will be here this evening.  Tomorrow is a short day, off at 3:00...yeah!!  Maybe mommy should take some time for herself tomorrow night!

5 comments:

Betsy said...

Sorry about your night and day. Things always seem to be so much worse when you are tired too! I don't have much advice especially dealing with three at a time and not one. Maybe you could take some of those lizards they catch or get a turtle or fish or something to put in their room and tell them they have to stay in there to sleep with their animal. Good luck- I hope you find a quick and easy solution!

Stephanie Karnes said...

i really do have healthy kids! i was just looking at the pics and noticed their little ribs sticking out! duke was definitely sucking it in for that one pic. the water was cold or something!

Mandy Farris said...

i am so sorry. I will be praying for you. Just remember life is chapters, this one wil soon(hopefully) be over and on to the next. You are doing a great job though!

Chelle said...

Hilarious! This was my life for FOREVER!!!! Girl - I hate to break it to you but we STILL have nights like that. The kids just take turns coming in all night -- one right after the other. I know it's not funny at the time - but one day you'll look back on these times and wish they hadn't passed so quickly. And hey - maybe blogging about it is good therapy!

Rachel said...

Steph- wow...that was some night. I don't have all the answers, but I do know that I am so thankful that we never let the kids sleep with us. I saw this become a habit for my sister and before she knew it she had 4 kids in their bed every single night. As for naptime, i make it a game. I tell them that the first to sleep and the last to get up gets a surprise (candy, ice cream, etc.). this still works at ages 8 & 6 (or at least did last summer)!!! this might be hard right now, but might work in a couple of years. I am a firm believer that naps are necessary for kids. It just makes the rest of the day so much better. also.....remember....this soon shall pass. they will grow up before you know it and you really will miss this age.
take care!!