A Lesson In Sleep

Grayson is still not sleeping well. Which makes me one very tired mommy. So, I'm going to try a gentle sleep method route. What is it? The No Cry Sleep Solution. Come on Elizabeth Pantley, show me what you've got!

To be honest, after reading the book, I'm not at all excited about charting sleep habits for ten days. Charting what? Yeah, sleep habits. For 10 days, you record your baby's sleep habits, and then you adjust accordingly until your baby sleeps through the night. Whatever gets me some sleep though, right? I mean, this waking up 3 or more times a night still is just not cutting it for me anymore. I am exhausted. I am so tired that I actually slept through him crying. I heard him over the monitor, but my brain interpreted it as a dream, and I slept. His crying turned to giggles and he was entertaining himself when I was finally able to get my body to sluggishly move and trip it's way to his room to nurse him.

So, come Tuesday, we're hopefully on our way to long nights of precious sleep. I'm ready. I'm more than ready. I need sleep. I feel constantly tired and am getting frequent headaches throughout the day as a result of little to no sleep. We're starting on Tuesday because David doesn't work Tuesday through Friday, so while I quietly (HAHAHA!!!) start Grayson on a bedtime routine, David can play with Claire and put her to bed. I can figure out a way to get it to work for us on the nights that David is working.

In other Grayson news, ever since his 12 month well check, he just hasn't been his normal, happy, little self. He's been pretty crabby really. There's a total of 2 hours in the day when he doesn't care that I am not holding him. The rest of the time he's crying and following me wherever I go. It makes it quite difficult to get things done. I'm not quite sure why he's like this now. He was quite content before to be alone with his toys while I did dishes or swept the floor. I'm sure he'll be fine though.

And now, I'm off to sleep.

Writer's Workshop: How Not To Have A Great First Date

It's Writer's Workshop Day! Writer's Workshop is brought to you by Mama Kat. It's also Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. I hope you are all having a fabulous time with family and/or friends!

Today's I chose the prompt Forget about Thanksgiving, tell us about that time you fell down! Let's go!

I am 16. It's June. I am living with my aunt and uncle and their 2.5 children for the summer. My aunt was pregnant, hence the .5. Before I had come to live with my aunt for the summer, I started dating a new guy. He was cute and funny and I wanted him to come and meet my family.

So, one very hot Arizona June night, he comes to my aunt and uncle's home for dinner to meet them, and then to take me out to a movie. It's going to be our first, official date. About an hour and a half before he shows up, I frantically start getting ready. I sit in front of my full sized mirror in my room with my then 5 year old cousin, Molly, asking me about a million questions about my boyfriend and what a boyfriend is and how come teenagers have boyfriends and....While doing my hair. My aunt floats in and out of the room insisting I wear make-up. I am not a make-up kinda gal, but I appease her, and splash a little on my face.

I realize I have about 10 minutes left to get ready. My aunt floats back into the room and helps me find a cute outfit for my date. I get changed, spritz myself with my favorite raspberry scented body spray, put on some lotion check myself in the mirror. I look great. I pull on my socks. This will be my undoing.

I hear the doorbell ring and my brain starts screaming, "Oh no!! OMG..Oh he's here!" I crawl next to the stairs and I hear him exchanging hello's and small talk with my aunt and uncle. They call me down. I stand up and start walking down the stairs, trying to look cute. And then, it happens. My sock slides on one of the steps, and in the most non-cute way ever, I fall the rest of the way down the stairs on my back. All the way to the bottom. I stood up, brushing hair out of my face and trying to salvage the little bit of pride I had left.

I looked up to see everyone stifling giggles. Then I said, "Well, just in case you didn't catch it, that was me, falling down the stairs. Is the pizza here yet?"

Now I'm Going To Tell You Where To Shop:: Overstock.com

Oh, the holidays. The visiting family. The pie. The turkey. The ham. Cooking and eating way too much. Laughing and catching up. It's super fun.

And then, there's the shopping. Me? I am not a huge fan of holiday shopping. I don't like going out into the hustle and bustle with three kids in tow. What makes it even worse is the fact that there is snow on the ground and the temp is hanging out at around 0*. Nope. No thanks. Not happening.

That's where online shopping comes in handy. I can sit comfortably in my pajamas (and yes, I do do that) and take my time leisurely strolling the "aisles" after my kids have gone to sleep or are happily lost in the world of Imagination Movers or Barney.

Right now you're probably all leaning forward with anticipation and saying, "Who, Chantel? Who do you shop with?" Well, I'll tell you one place that I have shopped in years past, overstock.com. Never heard of overstock.com? They are a fabulous online retailer offering everything from baby items to home goods to electronics and so much more! What's better than that? How about $3 shipping no matter what or how much you order!

Need a new Bed? Overstock has you covered! Remodeling your bathroom and need a new Bathroom Vanity? Look no further! Drooling over the digital camera of your dreams (much like myself) but not thrilled with the price tag? Overstock offers them at an excellent price!

Overstock also has a countdown to Black Friday. The deals aren't visible yet, but get that mouse finger ready for some rapid fire on what I'm sure are going to be fabulous deals. Headed out on Black Friday? They also have Cyber Monday waiting for you!

Want to save even more. Overstock.com has generously offered my readers a 10% discount on their entire purchase. Just enter code 121728 at checkout. Want free shipping on electronics? Overstock.com has offered my readers free shipping on any electronics purchase. Just enter code 202234 at checkout! I know, you're all anxious to get spending, so have at it. Happy shopping!

And, just so you know all the ideas and opinions expressed are my own. No monetary compensation was received for doing this post, however, I was provided with a discount code.

It Was A Gerber Houseparty Kinda Day!

Guess what I did on Saturday? I had a party. My SIL supplied her friends because, even after 4 years of being here in Wisconsin, I don't know many other mom's. She also supplied her house.

So, what was my party for? Gerber! A few months ago, I came across a website called House Party in a magazine. Out of sheer curiosity, I signed up to see what it was all about. I also liked them on Facebook. About a month and a half later, I saw a Facebook update from them saying they were having a Gerber Generation Party. I though, "What the heck? I'll sign up." I went to the website (www.houseparty.com) and applied. I got a survey a few weeks later. I took he survey. Then, I waited. I waited. And then I waited some more.

After all the waiting, I got an e-mail saying I was a FINALIST. Gerber wanted ME to throw a party. YES PLEASE!

I quickly called my SIL and told her all about it. She got very excited and she and her husband generously offered me their home and use of their friends. I sent out e-mails immediately. Then I anxiously awaited the arrival of November 20th.

A few days before my party, I got two huge boxes, both weighing about 50lbs each of Gerber products. What was in the boxes? Well, take a look!

Those bags are PACKED to the GILLS. The bags contained two four packs of yogurt, a cereal bar, three smart sips and a two pack of stage two smart nourish organic baby food along with nutritional information, a breastfeeding guide and a few coupons. The few bags I didn't pack, I set out on the counter with a sign that had a breastfeeding resources on it, this way if someone didn't want to dig through their own bag, they could pick and choose from things on the counter to give a try.

There were enough products in the box for 16 people to take home! Gerber was also generous enough to supply us with plates, napkins and cups for 16 people! I didn't have that many people at my party, so my SIL took the extra bags to give to a few people at work.

The foods and drinks were a big hit with all the kids. Claire enjoyed the smart sips.

Grayson was a fan of the yogurt.

All in all, it was a super fun day. I got to hang out with some other moms and the kids got to try lots of yummy Gerber foods! Want to know more about Gerber? Head on over to their website for lots of nutrition information and coupons.

Want to throw your own party? Visit House Party for more details!

When Your Day At The Portrait Studio Goes Horribly, Horribly Wrong

Last night I took the kids in to Target for pictures. Grayson is now one, and we need to get his first birthday pictures taken. I had them scheduled for the week after his birthday, but Claire got the pukes, so it just didn't happen. I rescheduled for last night.

As I'm rushing out the door, I think, "Oh crap, I'm gonna be late." I put everyone in car seats, and away we go. Oddly enough, we make it with just 5 minutes to spare. I check in and am told, "The other appointment ahead of you is just about finished." OK, I'm in no rush. I need to get the kids checked and cleaned up anyways. I then tell them that I want only pictures of Grayson alone since they are his birthday pictures, and the rest are to be of them together. Then I take off coats. I brush Claire's hair and fix her headband. I feed Grayson snacks. I think, "Wow, this is taking a little long." Why? Because it is. The appointment ahead of me has now gone 5 minutes over my appointment time. And, just to clarify, Target Portraits only schedules a ten minute session during the holiday. My appointment is now a 5 minute session. The door opens, a name is called and the woman behind the counter runs into the room and the door is closed. I feel my stress level rising.

Another 10 minutes pass. Ethan starts to complain that he is hungry. Claire is furiously trying to get me to take her headband out. Grayson has lost all interest in snacks. It is now 15 minutes over my appointment time. I do everything I can to make everyone happy. It isn't working. The door opens, and a family of 5 walks out along with two photographers. I look at my three, and I glance at the clock. My appointment was 20 minutes ago. My stress level rises.

The photographer leads us into the room. She takes out a ball for Grayson. I set Grayson down and the door is closed behind us. Claire picks up the ball, and hands it to Grayson. The photographer picks up her camera, sits on the floor and it begins. Grayson starts to cry. Now, this is usually where the photographer does something to make him laugh. It does not happen. His face turns beet red, and he screams. The photographer sits there, camera in lap, doing nothing. The door opens, and another photographer comes in and sits with the first one. They begin to chat. Grayson is still screaming. Claire looks upset, because whenever Grayson cries, Claire cries out of worry. The photographers carry on their conversations. Grayson lays on his back on the floor and wails. The photographer picks up her camera and starts taking pictures of him, tear streaked and red and saying, "Oh, these are great. Isn't he cute?" Um...No, he's not cute. He's angry, and I am too.

Not even 5 minutes after this mess starts, one of the photographers heads out the door while the other one suggests I hold Grayson in my lap while she takes a photo. I am not keen on this idea because my sweater says CARDINALS is red. She tells me she can focus on the gray. I'm OK with this, so I set him in my lap. He does not stop crying, and she does not focus on the gray. You can see the lettering all over my shirt. The other photographer comes in and says my session is over because they have another appointment waiting. It's has been 6 minutes. I am livid.

They try to get me to order pictures. I refuse. They all look terrible. I am ready to cry. Seriously. When I reach my boiling point, I cry. I am on the brink of my boiling point. They again try to make me order. I again refuse. She puts the worst picture on a Christmas card background and tells me it's cute. I just stare at her. She reschedules my appointment.

I don't know what to do now. If I knew a private photographer who was Target priced affordable had a comfortable studio setting that they could capture natural pictures of my children in, I'd make an appointment. However, I don't, and I have a coupon. So, I'm stuck with Target and the portrait session from hell. Hopefully next time I go in, they have a different photographer.

Now I'm Going To Tell You What To Buy:: Paperspring Review

Alright, so a few months ago, I did a review of Paperspring products here. I'm not gonna lie, I LOVE this company. I LOVE their products. I LOVE their customer service. It is everything I look for in a stationary store.

Recently I was asked to do a review of their holiday cards. Yes. I would love to.

Now, in my head, I imagine my holiday card being something fabulous, with my kids running in the snow, or smiling at me with their big grins and wide eyes, and then I realize I have three kids who are, in no way, capable of taking a picture that looks decent if they are in front of my lens, and are barely capable of taking a decent picture in front of a professional lens. That dream quickly died and I instead decided to go the three separate photo look. You want to know what card I would have chosen if I had been able to get them all in one picture?

It's simple and it's fun and I love it. It would have looked great....sigh....

So, I chose something that worked better for me. Now, I have an aunt and an uncle who are Jewish, and I really don't like sending them things that say, 'Merry Christmas'. I like to choose cards that say 'Happy Holidays'. The nice thing about Paperspring? They have Hanukkah cards. So, if you are Jewish and want to send cards to family and friends who are also Jewish, you have options. I love that. I always have such a hard time trying to find them a card. I, however, did not order any Hanukkah cards because I only have one family in my family who happens to be Jewish.

So, now you're wondering, "What happened when you ordered? What did you get?" I'll tell you.

I placed my order, and I patiently waited. And waited. And waited some more, and then one day, I got this:

I was THRILLED. And, look how securely they wrapped it. It was wrapped in a pretty ribbon and in bubble wrap to prevent them from being knocked around and getting bent corners.

And, I also saw this again:

That is the personal note from the person who packed and shipped my package. I really cannot even keep telling how much I love this feature. It shows how much Paperspring cares about their customers and how much they put behind their products. It's fabulous.

And then, I finally opened my card, and Ooohd and Aaahhed over them. They are perfect. I cannot wait to send them out.

Now, Paperspring also has a new, fun feature called Paperlinks. What's Paperlinks you ask? Let's say you create a baby announcement. You have several great pictures, but can only choose one. Paperlinks is a fun, new way to share the rest of those pictures. You add Paperlinks to your card and a scan code shows up on the back of the card. The code looks like this:

When your family gets it, they simply use a FREE app, called Paperlinks, on their smartphone to scan the code, and they are taken to a special site with the rest of those pictures. It's fun, safe and free! This app is only available for the iPhone at the moment, but Paperspring is hoping to bring it to the android market soon.

So, all in all, I am still a huge fan of Paperspring. They are still a great, ecofriendly company, just like they were 3 months ago. They are still offering wonderful customer service. And all orders ship FREE!!! So, head to Paperspring now and get your shop on!

And, just so you know, I was provided with these products for review. This in no way changed my opinions of these products. All opinions are honest and my own.

Writer's Workshop: Oh Crap....

Writer's Workshop. Super fun. Check it out Homies. Mama Kat's waiting!

Today I chose the prompt Describe A Moment When You Ignored Your Intuition. What Happened.

Let's go back in time. Let's go back in time 16 years. I am 11. I am in the sixth grade. It is a Saturday night and I'm finishing up my vocabulary homework while sitting on my grandma's bed and watching TV in her room.

Anyways, I happened to notice tampons in my grandma's bathroom when I went to grab some kleenex from under her bathroom sink. I was curious. So I took one, and decided that I wanted to inspect it. I quickly concealed one and I ran into my bathroom. I slammed the door, took the tampon out of the wrapper and stared at it. How the hell does this thing work? What do you do with it? All these thoughts rushed through my mind as I took it out of the cardboard tube and looked at it. And then I heard my grandma walking into her bathroom, and I panicked.

Now, my gut told me not to do this. My head screamed, "NO!!!" But I think my heart was pounding so loud that it drowned those things out and I quickly threw the tampon, cardboard applicator, wrapper and all into the toilet and flushed. The water went down, and then the toilet gave a gurgle and water started to rise. And rise. And rise. Then it splashed over the sides. I screamed. My grandma came running. I opened the door. She looked at the floor. She looked at the toilet. She looked at me. I confessed to everything in one breath.

Surprisingly, she wasn't mad. She actually found it quite amusing. Who didn't find it amusing? The other 3 apartments who had to have their water shut off so that the plumbers and maintenance men could fix my little problem. You see, I clogged the toilet so bad, that it backed up water in the rest of the units in our quad. Who knew a tampon could do that, right?

Now, I've learned my lesson. One: Listen to your gut before you flush weird stuff down the toilet. Two: Do not flush tampons under any circumstances. Three: Your grandma thinks weird crap is funny.

And Then The Illness Spread....

Claire had the pukes for two days. It was not fun. What was fun though?

Grayson went for his one year well check. I mentioned the shots part in my list of things I learned. He's also 29 inches long and 20lbs 11oz. He is still the smallest of all three babies. Ethan and Claire were both well over 25lbs by now. They were big babies. Their heads could not be compared to other children on the pediatric chart, which was made apparent by the fact that almost none of their clothes fit over their heads. Grayson is different. He is still fitting in 9-12 months clothes with all of his clothes fitting over his head easily. It's quite odd to not have to struggle to fit shirts over his head and wonder if his pants are going to fall off when I pick him up. His visit was perfect.

And then, two days later, he started to cry. He followed me around crying saying, "Mama Mama Mama". He was happily playing with toys by himself for at least two hours every morning. He actually got upset if I interrupted playtime. I knew something was wrong. So, Monday morning while David was at work, Clarie, Grayson and I bundled up and took a walk to the clinic. The clinic in our town is very small since our town is very small. There is one doctor. There are 4 rooms. There is one lab tech, one nurse and one receptionist. Very tiny. I think Grayson made everyone want to leave. See, Grayson is not a fan of any type of table he has to lay on. They told me they wanted to weigh him. I told them he had just been weighed less than a week ago and he was 20lbs. They said they still needed to weigh him. I reluctantly undressed him and set him on the scale they had in the hall. He immediately began screaming, and did not stop screaming until we were on our way out the door after the doctor diagnosed him with an ear infection. He has now finished day one of his antibiotics. Nine days to go.

And now, Ethan has a fever. He came home from school saying his head hurt and he was so very tired. He wanted to take a nap. Then he started to complain that he was cold, even though it was quite warm out today, and in our home. I felt his head, and he was warm, and progressively got warmer throughout the night. He had a dose of Motrin and was sent off to bed with a much loved puke bowl. Hopefully the contents of his stomach stay there...In his stomach.

Here's to a long week of the yucks in our house. Woo hoo!

A Few Things I've Learned This Week

1) Banana's are not fun to watch a 2 year old vomit. Neither is Trix. Let's just add in any type of food consumed by a toddler.

2) After seeing your 2 year old vomit, you learn what the signs are and have the puke bowl ready. She will learn to love the puke bowl and carry it everywhere and read to it.

3) Vomit is not a fun thing to wear first thing in the morning.

4) Taking your 1 year old in for shots automatically makes them crawl after you while wailing and calling, "mama mama mama" when they would previously play happily with all of their new birthday presents alone.

5) Robots are not a fun thing to build for an 8 year olds school project. And, not matter how many time you tell him it won't because he's just pretending, you're 8 year old will still ask you if the robot can take out the trash for him when he is done building it.

6) Halloween candy lasts for a much shorter period of time when being shared by an 8 year old, a 2 year old and a 28 year old. Yes, David is eating the candy. It's been less than a week, and it's almost gone. I think I need to make a clearance candy run to replenish the stash.

7) It NEVER stops being exciting when your baby does something for the first time. Grayson has finally figured out that he can keep pulling himself up on things. It's only a matter of time before I'm chasing him and Claire down.

8) After everyone's in bed, and it's quiet, I have a minute where I miss all the action, and then I watch and episode of Ghost Hunter's or whatever else I have stored on the DVR.

Halloween Parade

I'm taking part in the SITS Halloween linky. Three days of Halloween fun. There is also a freaking fabulous prize. Want to see?

That, my friends, is a Cannon Rebel T2i. That is my dream camera. Isn't she beautiful? I want her.

Today the topic is Halloween Parade. Create a post showing what your kids (or yourself) were for Halloween.

Ethan wanted to be something "scary". I disagreed. This was Claire's first year trick or treating, and of all people to be scared of, I really didn't think it should be her brother. I insisted he be something a little less scary. There was some "Awww man" and "But" thrown around, but we finally were able to get him to choose something simple and not too scary.

Meet Ghost Face. Yes, the guy from Scream.

Then there was Claire. We knew it would be chilly, so we wanted to find her something on the warm side. We thought a nice, long princess dress would be perfect because she could wear pants underneath it. We set out to find one. We found Cinderella. Unfortunately, Claire found Minnie Mouse, and once she saw it, she refused to be anything else. We kept showing her other options, and she kept saying, "No. Minnie." We had to some pants that matched to go under it to keep her warm. Hey, Minnie does wear pink, so it works....Right? She also ended up wearing her coat over it since it was chilly. It was blue.

And, just a note about this costume. If you want your daughter to be Minnie, you should find a costume with elastic sleeves. The sleeves on this costume were fitted and so tight on Claire that her little arms were red and sore looking. It's a good thing she wore it to a party a few days before hand so I could see that. I had to cut slits in the sleeves next to the seam so she would be comfortable in her costume. The costume was a 2T and fit perfectly everywhere but the arms.

Grayson was an alien from Toy Story. He didn't trick or treat, but he looked darn cute!

He was bundled warmly inside the weather protector in the stroller to keep the wind out of his face. Claire joined him once or twice. She fell asleep after 45 minutes of walking. Grayson, however, was wide awake the ENTIRE time.

Ethan finished Claire's trick or treating.

All in all, Halloween was a great night for all kids, and a great birthday for Grayson!