Mommy Sleeps

After sleeping on a comfy air mattress for 2 weeks while camping, coming back to our flat, lumpy, and possibly even concave mattress was a bit difficult. Pillows do not help this situation. We would buy a new bed, but we were hoping to do that when we moved. So, we were toughing it out. After 5 nights of unrestful slumber, I had had enough. I went to the mattress store in the mall... the one with really expensive beds and accessories and the salespeople all wear pjs to work... and found a mattress pad I liked for $300. Well, a bit much for my budget, so the search continued.

After much online searching, I found that there was a 2" memory foam mattress pad that was on sale for 50% off and I had a 20% off coupon for that store somewhere in the house... woo hoo. So, that night, I went about .5 miles down the road in my search of a restful night. Well, apparently the sale is only online. So, after 2 days of waiting, I had my mattress... put it on my bed, and woke up this morning feeling quite rested (and back not achy). This was despite the early wake up call from the little man who thinks that 6:15 is an okay time to be up and around (and mommy does not). Ah, sleep at last. I am tempted to take a nap today just to use it.

What a Big Boy

So, when we returned to VA, we (meaning my husband) had disassembled the crib. We decided to just put the crib mattress on the floor. With a rather large number of potential changes/transitions coming our way, we decided to tackle them slowly and one at a time. First step -- Getting the Little Man out of a Crib!

With much foreplay and talk about his "new bed" and what a 'big boy" he would be... we placed him soundly in bed, with his blanket and pacifier, turned out the light and closed the door to just a crack... I had even taken a "Before" picture of his room. The toys from our house have been so nicely organized in his room for the past 2 months with our house being on the market... i just figured that the little man would have free reign (unsupervised reign) over his room...

Much to my surprise, he fell asleep without getting up once (that we heard) and has done so pretty much everytime he goes down. If he does get up, it is to find me... How lucky could i be -- for the moment. What are the chances that he'll figure out this whole 'free reign' thing soon?

The one thing that we have modified is putting up a rail. He is a squirmy little guy and had fallen out of bed several times in before we went to target and got the only rail they had in stock. Since then, he is sleeping much better. Now, we just need to work on Mommy's sleep.

Really, our house is cute!

I am not sure why no one wants to check out our house??? It has been on the market for 40 days and 2 visitors... not so good. I am getting anxious now, since i am 25 weeks pregnant and have like a month or so left of 'eligibility' to move. :( CA is calling my name!

Home Sweet Home

I should change the name to "Home Aweful Home" given the horrible weather we are having... it is hanging around 100 degrees and is quite humid. I would prefer the 70-80s with the cool ocean breeze!

Apparently the heat wave that was sweeping the country while we were relaxing on the beach, did not sweep through completely before we returned to VA. When we arrived at 1:00am the other morning, we had to turn on the a/c in the car it was soooooooooooo hot and humid. Not right, in my opinion.

As for the trip, we had a great time. The Little Man loves camping!!! He had such a wonderful time playing in the dirt, riding in the wagon, building/destroying sand castles, playing in the waves, and sleeping in the tent. I wish he could live like that for more than 2 weeks... but, I am not sure I would have lasted much longer. All that good outdoory stuff, but no walls to contain the active little man.

Some highlights from the trip:

• The little man has learned several new words (dirtball, lucky boy, uncle joey, uncle sean, swimming, beach, and camping to name a small few) and has been talking up a storm. He is stringing several words together and has learned how to give things ownership ("mommy's munch"- translated: mommy's lunch).
• Sleep issues - no problem sleeping in the tent, just not sleeping long enough... those dang birds are noisy at 6am! we are back down to 2 naps a day for this trip!
• As mentioned before, no walls... escaping was easy if left unattended for more than 20 seconds.
• Finally started to eat bread and pizza - how could it take so long
• Awesome plane rides... the little man did much better than his mommy and her expanding tummy!
• Took 10 pairs of white socks, returned with 9 pairs of brownish-tan socks
• Playing in the sand is almost as much fun as the water... almost...
• When picking out a car at LAX, don't let your 21mos old choose the color... we ended up with an orange car! We were so cool!!!
• If you are ever in Santa Barbara, stop by La Super Rica Taqueria... the fresh tortillas are YUMMMMMYYYYY!!!!!

All in all, the trip was wonderful. We wish daddy could have been there. :(

Still waiting... and waiting... and waiting...

Well, the hope is there, but as of today, no one has come by the house. There are so many factors as to why not, but nonetheless, we feel helpless. Our wonderful realtor keeps reassuring us that the market is indeed "cold" and that we will just have to wait patiently. Baby #2 is not waiting patiently and is already kicking to come out (no worries, still 4 mos to go). So we wait... and to take my mind away from the distraction, I have done something crazy... I am taking the little man to the beach for 2 weeks to go tent camping with my mom, siblings, and friends of the family. I am both excited and nervous, as I am not sure if I will have the energy to chase the Little Man around for 2 weeks in a campsite with no borders/gates/doors. :) I am sure he will have a blast, on the other hand... and will need a new wardrobe upon our return (our campsite is dirt and rocks and grass is nearby -- I see many stains in our future).

Anyway, we aren't leaving until July 19, so in the meantime, I have busied myself with moving quotes, contacting pediatricians and OB/GYNs in CA. It is strange to think that we could be in a totally different place and time zone, with different doctors, and different everything in a matter of months. What a shock that will be. I hope we (Daddy) can handle all the stress. Preparation is key, so I have taken it upon myself to get as many quotes as possible for moving, to ensure a stress-free and hopefully reasonably priced move. Wish us luck.

This weekend is our 6th anniversary and we are headed about 2 hours south to visit my inlaws. While there, we are hoping to abandon our dear little man for an evening amongst adults. We have never left him overnight, so this will be good practice for both the Little Man and Mommy. I am sure he will not notice our disappearance when he lays eyes on Ba-Pa and Ma-Ma, and their several flights of stairs throughout the house. And, if there is trouble, we will just hope that Sunday is the day they decide to mow the lawn!

Soc-errrr

Apparently the Little Man recognizes the sound of soccer being played on the television -- Poor thing... exposed to so much World Cup action! :) Upon waking from his morning nap, he perks up his ears and turns to me to say, "Soc-errrr". Ah, how cute!!! (The Germany/Argentina game was able to be heard down the hall)

Today, fortunately or unfortunately, our early morning wakening allowed Mommy some uninterrupted world cup viewing today. Two naps perfectly timed during both matches scheduled for today. Since there were other things to do, I wasn't able to watch both games in their entirety, but it was fun nonetheless.

Something that was NOT so fun, which I am almost embarrassed to share -- Mommy was outwitted by the Little Man today. After lunch, we mutually decided (as if any decision with a 20 mo old is mutual) to take a walk. Since his shoes were in the car, I ran out to grab them so we could stick to our plan. As soon as I walked out the front door, I heard the door shut and the deadbolt lock. I did not have my keys with me and apparently the Little Man is only able to "lock" the door and has not yet learned to "unlock" it. Luckily, and I mean luckily, I had my cell phone in my pocket (not sure why) and I was able to call Daddy at work and make him come home ASAP. After about 10 min of freedom and singing with mommy through the window, the Little Man decided that it wasn't so fun playing with Mommy through the glass. He started to tell me to 'help', 'open', and 'mommy, in'. :( So sad. Daddy arrived as the tears were just pouring from his beautiful eyes. Thank you Daddy!!!!!

So, we headed out to Home Depot, instead of taking our walk, to get a copy of our house key made to hide in our yard. Just in case!

Ahhh... Sleep at last

Well, after several days of household chores, I finally was able to join the Little Man in slumberville. Our house is officially on the market and our list of things 'to do' has dwindled to a mere 3 items -- clean the pool, fix the posts on porch, and powerwash the siding on the front of the house. I guess there is actually 4 -- keep house clean. That last one is the doozy. I am not sure how other people do it, but I think selling a house with a toddler is not such a good idea. How in the world do you keep the house picked up every single day??? I will let you know when I figure it out! So, today's naptime was a nice change of pace. A much needed rest for the weary.

On a side note, the Little Man, who we now refer to as the Little Terror, has decided that he is two years old already. He is only 20 months (well, in 2 days), but he has decided to bring on the much dreaded 'terrible twos'. He really is a good little guy, but wow! he is really trying our patience. He can turn that terrible crying fit off and on like a light switch. And, he gets into things that he isn't supposed to (power cords, telephones, computers) repeatedly so that we are wondering if perhaps we should have his hearing checked. He really must not have heard us say "No phones" the previous 143 times that day... well, after he calls 911 for the 3rd time, maybe we'll try more drastic measures.

I hope that he is getting all this out of his system early so that when he is officially 2 years old, and there is a newborn in the house, he will be a perfect angel!!! Oh, maybe I haven't woken up from my slumber...?