Holy Crap...My Kids are Almost 5!!!

Taken just a couple weeks ago.

I know, I know kids get older, time goes by soooooo fast. But seriously, MY kids are getting older and MY time is going by soooooo fast! This Saturday the girls will be five. Like just months away from kindergarten, losing teeth, dating, driving, graduating. I may be getting a little bit carried away but for some reason I kinda always pictured a perpetual state of "little kidness." Scientific term, no joke. I knew they wouldn't be babies forever (AND THANK GOD FOR THAT!!!!) but I never really imagined the part where they turned into independent, self-sufficient five year olds. As everyone says, they truly do grow up so fast.

I did just get back from a vacation sans children, which has been known to cause post trip infatuation. For example, Ava spilled her milk, not once, but TWICE at dinner the night I got home and I laughed both times. Laughed. Any mom will agree that one spilled milk is annoying, but tolerable, though two spilled milks at one sitting, no less, is enough to drive you insane. Having said that and assessing the weight of post trip infatuation, in the last week I have fallen in love with my kids all over again. And the beautiful thing is that this keeps happening.
 

Ava's first photo. 3/22/09

Sophie's first photo. 3/22/09

I remember wandering through Target pushing my double stroller with babies that could barely hold their own heads. Random passerby's would say things like, "it gets so much better." I didn't believe them because in that moment it was as good as I thought it could possibly get. I was already in heaven. You know what though, they were right. Each year gets SO much better. I fall more and more in love with my girls and I can honestly say that the last five years have been the best five of my life. I'll draw this to an end before I get too sappy, just one final thought. If each year thus far has been so much better than the last, and history is the best predictor of the future, I expect that I have many more fabulous years ahead. I am so incredibly lucky to have my little girls and cannot wait to see what our future together holds. 

What a difference five years can make (Ava, L, Sophie, R.)

 

 

 

 

A New Year-Sleep...I hope!

I'm hoping that 2012 is filled with many sleep filled nights for me! I'm embarrassed to admit that it's been over two months now that the girls have been waking up in the middle of the night. Naps have only been okay too, about an hour every day. I feel like a failure as a mom. How is it that I'm not able to figure this out? I've tried everything, cry it out, gates at their door and, yes, physical violence! Okay, nothing too serious...just a spank here and there, but even that's not working.

I had the pleasure of talking to a friend on Sunday who had similar problems with her son and had a ton of insight for me. The solution: splitting them up, using night lights as a cue for when it is/isn't okay to get out of bed, and continually walking them back to bed without saying anything other than, "it's not okay to get out of bed while the night light is still on." I have resisted separating them, well, their entire lives. I have a beautiful fantasy (hmmmm...noticing a lot of fantasizing going on lately) that my girls are in elementary school and have a very civilized discussion about wanting some privacy and space and we split them up then. Not at two because they are being total sh#$*ts and waking up four plus times per night. Oh well, time to let go of that. Is it weird that my fantasies revolve around Pottery Barn and my kids???

It's day three of the "new plan" at nap time. Batting about 500 here: day 1, success, day 2, fail, day three, one is awake and one is asleep. I haven't factored in any points for the fact that I am not sitting in their room in order for them to fall asleep and that they are both in their beds. I guess I could up that batting average a bit. Night time has been better too. We still have A LOT of room for improvement, but Ava, my sleep problem child, actually only woke up once last night, and only because she heard Sophie up. Sophie is a hot mess, sick as a dog, running a fever now for a week straight so I'm not surprised that she has been waking at night, last night at 2:45, 3:15, 5:00 and 6:00. I'm going to continue what I've been doing, as it does seem to be improving things, and once Sophie is back to her old self I'll be a little bit tougher on her. In theory, once the girls prove their ability to sleep through the night and get in a decent nap/quiet time I will be able to bring Ava back into the room with Sophie. Let's keep our fingers crossed!

I guess it goes without saying, I'm tired. Probably the primary reason I'm feeling so overwhelmed right now. I'm just trying to remember that this, too, shall pass.

The Girls' First Haircut

Needless to say, it's been a long time. A couple of updates before I get to today's main topic: 1. Accepted into grad. school, starting in the fall. 2. Girls turned 2 in March.
3. Great trip to the Bahamas with Will's work. 4. Taking Social Work (SWK) 1010 this semester. 5. And, of course, all of the little things, good and bad, that made up the majority of my life since last writing.

Moving right along...

The girls’ first haircut. A couple of days ago I finally decided it was time. Their bangs were hanging in their eyes, and the mullets were out of control shaggy. I tried taking them to a cute kid’s salon at the Orchard but the wait was too long so I opted to take them to Fantastik Cuts which is a mom and pop shop down the street from the house.

Sophie did really well! Embraced the cape, loved sitting in the race car seat and sat extremely still.


Sophie's First Haircut

Ava was not as settled about the whole experience. She was stoked about the car chair, however didn’t like the cape, and really didn’t like the cut. Thankfully, there were no tears, but she did end up finishing in my lap. Sadly, since I was by myself for this grandiose event, there are no photos during Ava’s first haircut.

As for the cut itself? As someone who has always hated when store owners mess with the spelling of words in effort to up the cute factor, i.e., "Kountry Kitchen," I should have known better than to take the girls to Fantastik Cuts. While the girls will always be adorable in my eyes, their resemblance to Harry and Lloyd from Dumb and Dumber is a little too close for my personal taste. You be the judge:


Sophie (L), Ava (R)

The day of the cut there were several occasions when I’d look at the girls and laugh out loud. All and all, a good experience, but maybe next time I’ll wait it out at the other place!