I'll Love You Forever

Dan is out of state on TDY so I am home alone with the kids. That's normal, and I enjoy my moments post-bed time routine/chaos. I love having the remote in my hand and the computer in my lap as I grade papers (with a glass - or two! - of white wine). It is so relaxing after a crazy day of parenting!!! Noah is a great napper, still - almost 4 years after his birth. He will turn 4 on 12 February and I. Can't. Believe. It. Wow, how time flies.

I have gotten nap time down to a science in this house! There is NO giving up Noah's naps till he goes off to Kindergarten. He and Ellyotte get up at 7:30ish each morning, eat breakfast and Elly and I take Noah to school at 9:00 Mondays-Fridays. Elly and I return home, she naps from 9:30-11:00, then she goes into the jogging stroller, we exercise, then back to pick up Noah at noon. Noah eats in the car on the way home, we play, they wear themselves out and then down for a nap at about 1:30is: Elly in her crib and Noah....... in our bed. I actually started that because it was vital to me when Ellyotte slept, Noah HAD to sleep so I could sleep!

Since she was born, Ellyotte has been a hard and serious, lone sleeper. I never had to rock her to sleep; we just lay her down with her kitty and paci and she's content. Noah, however, has always needed tending to. We had to rock him from day 1 because of colic, then out of habit. He started traveling between Hawaii and the East Coast at 2 months so he got used to being held: in the Bjorn, in the glider, being held period. And that's fine with me! It has required thousands of hours of attention in order to get Noah to sleep deeply - unlike his sister - but we haven't minded it.

Now, he goes to bed in his bed at night and at some point, ends up in our bed! We are convinced we will have to upgrade to a king size because soon Ellyotte is gonna realize that her "Bubba" is in mama's bed and she's not! Dan and I are okay with this - these babies are growing too quickly and we love the red headed bundle that ends up between us each night.

Tonight Noah had been asleep for about 2 hours when I heard him crying. This is unusual. So I go into his room and he holds his arms up - meaning he wants to be held. I gladly picked him up and for the first time in a long time, I was allowed to rock him. I cradled all 50+ pounds in my arms and with the lullaby CD softly playing in the background, I held my "baby" till he fell back to sleep.

As I rocked him, I looked down at that freckle covered, almost 4 year old nose and I was swept away in memory. Can it be that many years ago that we were worried about his eating and sleeping and pooping habits? We were so sleep deprived and clueless. Now, we are thriving parents to an active little man who loves Jesus and protects his sister. And as I rocked him, the sweet book I have read to him countless nights came to mind ("Love You Forever" by Robert Munsch):

"...The baby grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he was two years old, and he ran all around the house. He pulled all the books off the shelves. He pulled all the food out of the refrigerator and he took his mother's watch and flushed it down the toilet. Sometimes his mother would say, "this kid is driving me CRAZY!"

But at night time, when that two-year-old was quiet, she opened the door to his room, crawled across the floor, looked up over the side of his bed; and if he was really asleep she picked him up and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. While she rocked him she sang:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be...."


Noah Everard Beall may be that crazy red headed kid in that book, but to me and to his daddy, he is that precious bundle of love we brought home that night almost four years ago.

One of the first of MANY naps together

Daddy loves this red head

Don't judge... I was almost 2 weeks late. - Honolulu, Hawaii

Finally home.

Precious 3 year old

almost 4 years later, a still beautiful sleeper

Noah and "soon to be" Uncle Adam

Uncle Bob, Noah and Graddy in Destin - New Years 2012

Us! Christmas 2012

No Rest for the Weary

We spent the night last night at our friends' home, The Smiths. So this morning, I decided to keep Noah here while everyone else is at work and Dan is about 500 yards down at our house helping with the move. So I have a few minutes of internet access on Melanie's laptop (thanks, Mel!).

To say that moving is exhausting is an understatement. We are BONE WEARY!! We counted this morning and in the past 4 days, Dan and I have had about a total of 9 hours of sleep. The movers started on Monday and by last night, they had the majority of our home packed and ready to be loaded into the trucks.

Yesterday, we sent Noah to my girlfriend, Lori's home. Her nanny is named Maggie and she's been SUCH a blessing to me in the last 16 months of Noah's life. Noah loves Maggie so much and at the last minute, she allowed me to send Noah over so she could watch him while she also watched Tori (almost 3) and Tessa (1). That is a full load! But Maggie was more than willing to do it for us so we could keep him out of the way of the movers. HOWEVER..... Noah didn't nap one time yesterday. Not once. Not even for 5 minutes. He's really being affected by the changes in his life and he certainly doesn't understand what's happening.

When Noah doesn't nap, he doesn't sleep at night. Bottom line! So, although Dan and I had had 2 hours of sleep the night before last, we somewhat expected that last night would be tough since we were in yet another new place. We didn't think it would be as bad as it was though.... Noah projetile vomited for the first time in his life at about 8. It ruined the clean sheets and Dan and I were covered in it. He'd never done that before and he seemed to feel a ton better right afterwards. I finally was able to calm him down enough to get him to drift off. He was in and out of sleep till about 11 (only about 2 hours) and then he woke up and we. were. up. till. 4:30 AM!!!!

I had to rock him, lay him down, put him in bed with us, I did everything. Finally at 3:30, I had to leave the room with him so Dan could get some sleep since he had to be up at 6:00 am to get ready to head back to the house to help the movers. We both drifted off at 4:30 (Noah and I) and now, he's finally back to sleep after SCREAMING like his dog had died for 20 minutes. I had to just put him in the pack n play and make him scream because he's so exhausted after only about 4 total hours of sleep in over 24 hours.

We check into our luxury hotel (YAYAY!) this afternoon and cannot go another night with him being overtired. We will be there for the next 10 days and are thrilled for the break. So screaming it out was so necessary. Thankfully, the Smiths let me stay here this morning and we will then take Noah back to play with Tori and Tessa around lunch time. I am also going to lie down... my body aches and I have never seen my eyes be so bloodshot and purple underneath!

Piper made it to Pennsylvania well and is enjoying her stay with her Aunt Annie and Uncle Todd! She's apparantly getting along well with her cousin, Casey (a Jack Russell) and has had to endure quite a bit of humping from Casey! But Annie said that he got a dose of his own medicine last night when she decided to hump him back!! Mind you: they've both been fixed! Thanks Annie and Todd for all you are doing to help us out. We love you guys.

Maria was supposed to fly out on Monday. However, because she's a Persian, she was denied her flight because of the temps (I wrote about that previously). So she's flying out tomorrow night into Atlanta and my sweet mother is going to go get her. It will be good to have both the "girls" settled in their new temporary homes.

I am off to rest for a minute while Noah sleeps. Please pray for us though. We are having a great packing experience and have had a lot of help from our friends and "Hawaii family" with Noah and places to eat/sleep. But we have to have rest; especially Noah. We want to be healthy and happy and rested for our week + stay at the resort in Waikiki as well as for our trips to D.C., Florida and Alabama then ultimately, to Louisiana.

"Talk" to you all again soon!

Back on Track

Wow, that didn't take long at all! Noah is back to two naps a day - each one lasting at least an hour to an hour and a half. This morning, he woke up after 12 hours of straight sleep, ate breakfast and with the rainy morning we were having, wanted to go right back to bed. He is just waking up now after 2.5 hours. HALLELUJAH!

My girl friend Anne Rieger gave me some good advice. She told me that what worked for her was deciding a nap time and sticking to it. But making sure that Noah knows I mean business when it is time to nap. So, I did what she said. The first day was a little tough but he's back on schedule and knows that when he gets put into his crib, it isn't time to play but is strictly time to sleep. And I have decided that no matter what time he wakes up, if it is before the time I decide for him to get up, then he stays in his crib.

We were somewhat doing the above tactics but traveling threw us off quite a bit and it has been a struggle since to regain the freedom that naptime affords me. So, once I lay Noah down, if he pops up again in protest, I go right back in and put him back on his back. The first day, it took 20 times and a couple of flicks on the leg (not spankings, but a snap or two to get his attention) and he finally protested himself to sleep. Same thing for each nap since then. But today, he went down without any peep.

I will keep you all posted on how things continue but so far, so good! I ordered two books this week that I am anxious to read (I know, that takes my list to 10!). The first is "No-Cry Method: Nap" and "The Happiest Toddler on the Corner." Both books boast about being the go-to texts on child and toddler napping help. I am looking forward to reading about how much I DON'T KNOW about making my child happy :) Just kidding... not really.

Days Gone By?

This is just a short blurb to vent my frustrations.... Previous to our trip to Alabama at then end of February, Noah had been a fabulous napper. Taking 2-3 naps a day that extended well into 1.5 - 2 hour timeframe. However, since our trip and then since our return to Hawaii, napping seems to be a thing of the past.

His molars STILL haven't popped through. 3 of the 4 1 year molars are sitting just below the surface underneath painful looking blood blisters. But I refuse to give my child - and his tiny liver - Motrin everyday. And I am tired of rocking... and rocking... and rocking a 14 month old. No, I don't coddle him but sometimes I am so desparate for some time alone that I will do anything to get him to nap!

He's sleeping 12-13 hours at night and maybe sleeps a total of 1 hour in the daytime despite sheer exhaustion. He lays down on the dog bed to show me how sleepy he is, for crying out loud! Another thing we deal with constantly is that everytime he's in his crib (exception is the nighttime), he poops. I am so tired of reporting my child's pooping habits but it seriously is a nap-hindrance. Even if he's in a dead sleep, if he poops, he will become wide awake and naptime is over. Sometimes that means he gets 10 minute naps a day!!!!

Anyone else go through something similar at this age with their little ones? If so, I need some guidance. I hate to say it, but at this point, I am counting down till we can get moved and Noah is enrolled in a Mother's Day Out program so I can have some downtime to do the other things in my life that have been ignored for so long (i.e., bills, housecleaning, a SHOWER!).

Advice is greatly welcomed and appreciated here!