The Importance of Sleep

One does not truly understand the importance of sleep until one is not getting any.

I don't know what happened but my sleep-loving little baby has done a complete 180 on me. He went from me laying him down with a paci and putting himself to sleep to screaming like crazy at any sleep time, naps or bedtime. He was sleeping all night and now he is up all the time.

I went 6 nights with hardly any sleep. Although, I can't blame him alone. He was the first 3 nights (honestly, he would only sleep 30-45 minutes and then was up again), then the 4th (when he actually slept from 11-4 (5 whole hours!!!)) Kayla was up from 12 - 3:30 throwing up. Awesome. Then the 5th was Trevor again and then on the 6th night Evan was up with a coughing spasm.

Seriously I feel like I haven't slept in a year. I am wiped out! And I can't sleep during the day because I have this business that needs my attention. Luckily, last night (night 7) everyone actually slept. And that means that Trevor slept 5 hours straight and then was up every 2 again.

I think that it is funny that Kurt says "hey, you got 5 hours of sleep last night. You must feel great". Uh, no. 5 hours doesn't make up for the loss of 30. Nice try though.

So that has been our life lately. One sleepy mom. I have learned that I am not a very patient mom when I am completely sleep deprived. Nor am I very organized. Or very on top of anything. Everything is a mess but o-well.

Running was going really good until last week. If I don't have the energy to shower or clean or cook, I really don't have the energy to run. So I thought this week I would get back into it. But I just realized that it is Thursday and I have gone once. Yikes - where did this week go?

Besides the lack of sleep, there is the small detail that bears were spotted in our neighborhood. Yep, thats right - bears. Right smack-dab in the middle of the burbs. Seriously. It kind of took the wind out of my sails for going early in the morning. Cody may protect me but I think bears may be past his limit. It was a momma bear with 3 cubs. Don't want to mess with them! So now I am trying to figure out another time to go.

Oh life. Aren't you full of surprises!

Adventures in Exercising

"Thinking Time"

So running/walking gives one a lot of time to think. It is wonderful. I can actually have full and complete thoughts without being interrupted a million times. Awesome! So I think and ponder and laugh at myself. It's a great time. I think of all these wonderful blogs that I want to post. All these funny stories to tell. And then I get home and either one of two things happens: 1) I don't have time or 2) I can't remember anything I wanted to post or any funny things I thought of. So frustrating! So this morning I used my phone to jot down thoughts. And here they are:

"The Glowing Chest"

I take my phone with me when I exercise so I can listen to music. The first day I put it in the waist of my elastic exercise pants. Worked good until I ran and then it wanted to slide down my leg. The second day I thought I would put it in my sports bra because that would hold it tighter. Which it did. But what I forgot was that when you start the music, the screen doesn't go off by itself. It stays lit. So I head for the door to leave and Kurt goes "hey hon? Um, we don't really want to be drawing attention to those." I looked down to see my chest glowing. Ha ha ha! We got a good laugh and I turned the screen off. Luckily he caught me before I left the house.

"Protector Dog"

I started taking our dog with me for added protection. We live in a good area but I go at 5:30 or 6 am and it is dark so Kurt wanted me to take the dog with me. The first morning that darn dog jumped and growled at everything and kept glancing behind us. Scared the hibbie-gibbies out of me. What a watch dog! Not sure if he was just being super observant and protective (probably unlikely) or was scared himself (more likely) but he was definitely putting me on edge. So much for feeling safer! Hopefully his size will be intimidating enough; although, this morning he seemed much braver and tougher.

"Breaks, breaks and more breaks"

Taking the dog leads to a lot of breaks. Gotta pee on this. Gotta pee on that. Oh! Look! The sprinklers are on at that house! I must get in the water! (Remember, he is a lab). Geesh! Not getting much exercise done with him around. So I started walking in the middle of the road. Nothing for him to sniff, pee on or play in and sounds safe doesn't it? Well, actually it is. Nobody is up and moving that early in the morning and if they are their head lights let me know they are coming way before they get to me. (And I am talking about our neighborhood streets, not the main busy streets.)

"Sympathy for Mac"

This morning I had a hard time getting out of bed. The last few nights I haven't gotten full nights of sleep (Trevor has been sleeping all night but the last few he has been waking up again. It really throws a body off when it is used to sleeping all night again). So as I dragged myself out of bed and walked down the streets of my sleepy neighborhood, I stared at all the dark houses and it made me feel like Mac on Lighting McQueen. You know, when he is passing the truck stop seeing all those sleeping trucks and McQueen is urging him to continue on to CA. I longed to crawl back into my own bed. But just like Mac, I continued on. Luckily I had upbeat music to keep me awake and no one switched it to sleepy music.

"My Second Line of Defense"

So, like I said, I take the dog. My number one reason for not wanting to take him? You guessed it - picking up the dooty. Really? We have to do this every time? Doesn't matter how long I put him out before we go, he will have to go on the walk. Urgh! But this morning as I walked the neighborhood with my dog in one hand and his full dooty bag in the other, I discovered that it might actually be helpful if one is attacked. If the attacker can manage to get passed my first line of defense (aka: scaredy-cat dog) then he will have me and the dooty bag to deal with. I imagined myself using it like nun chucks, swinging it around and scaring off any attacker.

And this is where I laughed at myself.

Good times, my friends, good times!

Me? Exercise? Are you crazy?

Apparently I am. Here is why:

Probably a little over a year ago, a friend of mine wanted a running buddy so she started asking around, put fliers in her kids classes and, I think, asked on Facebook. She was hoping to get 2-3 interested people in hopes of actually getting 1-2 running buddies.

She didn't get 1.

She didn't get 2.

She didn't get 3.

She got 80.

As in 8-0.

E.I.G.H.T.Y.

So she did what any sane person would do - she became a leader of an 80 member running group. And she has done an amazing job! She majored in physical fitness and was totally capable of taking on this monumental project. They had an amazing year last year and are continuing on this year.

Well, I have always wanted to be a runner but there is just something about it that I don't like. Oh, that's right - it's the running part. I'm not a runner. I sprinted through Sam's Club the other day because I forgot something in the back of the store and Kurt was loading things on the belt to pay. I about died. Ok, not really. But I definitely felt out of shape.

Last year I had the perfect excuse as to why I couldn't join her group - I was prego. Sweet. Easy out! Nice!

This year? . . . Still thinking . . . Hold on . . . Almost got one . . . Oh nuts! I got nothing. So I joined up! AHHHHHHHH! What am I thinking! I am crazy. But I am totally excited!

They are not hard core runners. The group ranges from 13 - 60 something year olds. Some only walk. Some only run. And everyone else in somewhere in the middle. She said everyone that has joined up has thought they couldn't do it but found that they could. It sounds like a great program that her and her friend, a doctor, have created. Training officially starts in January but right now is just getting in routine of exercising/walking/jogging. They have a schedule on their website: http://pacificcoasters.wordpress.com/

I think she said the only people who have stopped did so because they got pregnant. So then, of course, we teased that the only way out is to have a baby. So by this time next year I will either be running a marathon or having a baby, depending on how training goes. Either way, it's bound to be an interesting year!

Come be crazy with me! Either you'll get in shape or have a baby. Good deal either way =)

Amazing Changes

Unless you have seen Kayla in one of her melt-downs or seen her cower in fear, you can not appreciate the amazing changes that are happening in her. They truly are unbelievable!

This child would run from any, and I mean ANY, unnecessary attention. She does not like to be in front of people. She does not like to be in the spot light. She definitely does not like to step anywhere near the edge of her comfort zone, let alone, out of her box.

But do you know what she is doing today?

She is running for a position at school to be her classroom representative in the student body. In order to do that, she has to give a speech. In front of her class.

Holy Moly! Where did this child come from?

Last night she was in tears worrying about it and trying to decide if she felt brave enough to do it. Kurt and I both encouraged her but let her know it was ok if she didn't want to. Kayla and I said an extra prayer before bed saying that she decided she did want to go for it and asking for help for her to feel brave and strong today so she could give her speech.

She woke up this morning with such strength and determination. She wrote her speech, practiced and went to school happy as could be.

I am still sitting here in shock. This child has done a complete 180 and it is such an amazing thing to witness. I am in awe. I know that Heavenly Father is helping her so much and He is with her today as she completely jumps out of her box. He is there to catch her and hold her up, if needed. I am so blessed to be her mom and get a first row seat at the miraculous workings of our God.

So, whether she wins the position or not, it doesn't matter. She has already won a much bigger and better prize!

Me, My Mom and Jack-in-the-Box tacos

When my mom was pregnant with me she craved Jack-in-the-Box tacos. My dad, being the wonderful husband and father that he is, would get up in the middle of the night to go get her some.

When I was growing up, my mom and I would often, usually at night while watching movies, look at each other and say "taco time" and we would get up and go get some.

One time we even snuck them into a movie theater. Let me warn you - not the best idea. Besides the yummy food smell they emit, they are rather noisy to eat. Apparently people don't like you crunching in their ears while watching a movie. We giggled every time one of us took a bite. =)

Well, I can't drive by a Jack-in-the-Box without thinking of my mom and our late night, taco crunching escapades.

And I miss those.

So, most of the time, I stop and get 2 tacos and a root beer and think of my mom while I crunch away. It doesn't matter if it's 10 am or 3 pm, I stop.

Today was no exception.

It was just me, my mom and Jack-in-the-Box tacos.

(Oh, Trevor too, but he was sleeping)

Our New School

We are love, love, loving our new school!

It is a new charter school that just opened up this year.

So, yes, we are guinea pigs but so far it is wonderful. There has been the expected hiccups, like pick up and drop off procedures, but overall everything has been really smooth.

The students are amazing. Everyone is "new" to this school so they have all been super friendly. Everyone is in the same boat by not knowing a lot of other kids so they have all grouped together to help each other out. Awesome!

Kayla 5th grade

The teachers are amazing too! We went to back to school night this week and were so impressed with the teachers and their enthusiasm and energy. Everyone I have overheard has been saying positive things about the all the classes.

Hailey 4th grade

And, as you can tell, they wear uniforms. All I can say is I LOVE UNIFORMS! It is wonderful! So easy in the morning. Pick either a red, white or blue top with the school logo and either navy or khaki shorts or skirts. So simple!

My Kinder boy

Kayla is thriving! She was the reason we started homeschooling to begin with and we, especially Kurt, were really nervous about putting her back into the school environment but she is doing amazing! They all are and we are so proud of them!

Wonder Woman Complex

So about a week or so ago I was digging in a file in my filing cabinet looking for something and I stumbled upon some letters that a friend and I had written back and forth to each other a few years ago . . . you know, using snail mail. I am not sure why I kept these few letters because we had written a lot but, nonetheless, there they were so I read them.

We were talking about how women tend to try to take everything on themselves and expect too much of themselves. They try to be Wonder Woman.

I remember when we were discussing this and I was totally guilty of it. Probably still am but any-who . . .

Over the years I have tried to not think that I have to do everything but it is hard. I want to have a clean house. I want to have healthy, home made meals every night. I want to be at all my kids activities. I want our business to be successful. I want . . . it all and I think that I need to do it all. I have to say that I think I have relaxed somewhat in this.

Well 2 weeks ago I took another HUGE step in not expecting everything out of myself. I did something that I NEVER thought I would do.

I hired a house cleaner!!!!!!

And I love it!

And it is awesome!

And I am totally trying to not feel guilty over it!

Because having a newborn, keeping up with 3 kids school schedules and homework, and running a business is A LOT of work. And this is one step in helping me not take on everything.

And they come back tomorrow.

And I am soooooo excited!