Sleep {or the lack thereof}

My sixth grade English teacher, who is still friends with my mom, sent this book to me when Mom told her we were still having sleep problems.  It was a very sweet gesture, especially because Ms. Howell doesn't have children.

Little did she know that I borrowed that book from the library and read it when Caroline was a baby.  Very helpful book, indeed.  In my sleep deprived state, I have not had the extra brain capacity to think of borrowing it again.  (A friend of mine with 5 kids said she read it with all 5 children.  It is a great resource.)

However, it is almost as discouraging as it is encouraging because most of his "hints" and suggestions end with something like...this might not work so well with post-colic babies.

Yesterday I was especially discouraged when I read this paragraph (because Schaeffer is waking sometimes 3 times at night... like a newborn!):

Thankfully the Lord renewed my heart mid-day concerning waking in the night. Though it is hard and all I can think of at times is sleep I know He is using Shay for His Glory in my life.   This exhaustion causes me to lean on the Cross in ways I would not if I were at "full capacity."

I am being refined. I am giving myself up as a living sacrifice. I am trying to view the night times as worship. Reading the sleep book yesterday caused me to come to the realization that I might not sleep for another 6 months (or more!).  Only the Holy Spirit could bring me to this place of peace 'cuz I really love me some sleep!  I am thankful that I am not begrudging my lil guy.

On an encouraging note: two days ago, I started the sleep journal like the author suggests and it has been enlightening and helpful.  We are making strides at become more predictable (unpredictability is another symptom with post-colic babies.)

Yellow Bellied Sapsucker

The first day I saw this bird out my window I was excited.

I thought, "How cool is it that I can watch a woodpecker so close?"  We watched her a few days and my husband said he thought it was not a woodpecker but a yellow bellied sapsucker. (Females have a red crown but not red throats.)

After searching the internet and confirming with a few friends, I too believe it is a yellow bellied sapsucker.   Have you noticed what she is doing with the bark?

I'm afraid that unless I intervene, the tree will die (many internet sites confirm this, too.)  Today it was too cold.  Tomorrow I hope to rig up an impressive red-neck contraption to discourage further destruction.

This bird, along with many other woodpeckers, are protected by the federal government.  Do you think Uncle Sam would miss one on my street?  Just kidding.

Stormin' Norman Still Missing

The truck is still gone. Good memories remain *sniff*.

You may remember that it was also stolen when we lived in Phoenix - but recovered three days later with only a broken steering column. After it was returned we promptly bought Clubs to use on both vehicles.

It was with great enthusiasm that when we moved to Little Rock, we stopped using the Clubs since we'd never heard of anyone having their vehicle stolen.

My sister cracked me up when she said, "If I were going to prison for Grand Theft Auto, it would be for a faster and much cooler ride." :) Mr. Intensity thinks the 21-year old truck is cool (and so does his daddy.)

I'm thankful this incident hasn't fazed the little guy (or his daddy). They both are so good at rolling with the punches. Yesterday when the officer was at our door writing his report I was fearful that Mr. Intensity would be fearful that the bad guys would come back and break into our house. Today I overheard a conversation he had with a playmate. He said, "Good guys don't steal." Other than that, he hasn't really talked about it or seemed worried. I am thankful.

The Little Rock police officer was hopeful, but of course didn't promise, that the truck would be found. Either way, we are trusting in the Lord's provision. Today I talked with our landlord, just to tell her what happened, and she offered to loan us her extra car. However, John's boss, Bob Lepine beat her to the offer. Bob is going to be out of town for a few days. Maybe when he returns the truck will be returned, too.

Infertility Grief

Last night Mr. Intensity asked, "Momma, did you ever decide the name of our baby?"

me: "What are you talking about?"

"You know, in our old house in Phoenix, sometimes after dinner we would talk about what we wanted to name our baby."

me: [stab me in the heart] "Oh that's right. No, I don't think we decided on a name.  Do you have a name?"

"I think we should name him Fizz."

This conversation was the cherry on top.  Saturday we'd gone to a b-day party where it seemed at least half the women were pregnant.  Seriously.

Sunday at church, b.c we're new, a lot of people innocently ask, "How many children do you have?"  I want to explain that I want more children, but we only have one.  Instead I say, "Oh, this one - he's enough for now." [insert awkward laugh to keep from crying.]

The infertility grief monster is bAaaack.

Edit: meant to link to this excellent post by Molly Piper on grief, 17 months post still-birth.

SOLD (almost)

Remember last week, I told you that Hubby and I were driving to Little Rock to look for a place to rent? (Someone offered to pay our Little Rock rent until we found a renter for our AZ house.) While there, got an offer on our AZ house!

This is good news since it's been on the market for almost a year. However, the offer was soooo low I wanted to laugh but I didn't. I've cried.

After much prayer, deliberation, and seeking a lot of godly counsel, we decided to accept the LOW offer instead of trying to keep the place and rent it out. (And wait many years until the market bounced back.)

The housing market tanked and we were in the way. After 9 years of house payments, there's nothing. No equity. It really stinks.

I suppose I should be happy that we didn't have to pay the bank to get out of the loan. Certainly, I don't feel happy right now.

As it stands, the close of escrow is planned for February 26...if nothing crazy happens between now and then. Anyone who's bought/sold real estate knows that crazy things can happen - and did indeed happen to us the last time. We lived in a guest house for 6 weeks (after moving the stuff out of our house) waiting for the buyer's loan to go through. It was a stressful nightmare I hope not to re-live.

It appears like we will rent a 2 bedroom apartment in Little Rock so that we can begin saving towards a down payment. I've been looking for something around $600/month - anyone have ideas or leads?

Not Fun in KY

The roads were clear yesterday as we drove 6 hours from Little Rock to Nashville. We stayed at Hotel de Claggett (home of Tom & Anna, former FamilyLife staff) because we weren't confident of road conditions further north.

In a few minutes we'll drive to icy KY, where 525,000 are without power. Magaw and Grandpa say it's been an adventure with Mr. Intensity and no electricity.

Nothing So Boring as Perfection

While cleaning my floors this morning, Mr. Intensity needed to take his morning constitution. Later I found this mess - only for him to say, "I peed a little on the floor. I was trying to clean it up."

As the title of this post suggests, perfectionism is boring - my life is so fun it's a far cry from perfect! Just look at the imperfect bread I made for the family tonight:
While we were gone for 6 weeks, this wayward corn plant decided to take root. How the heck it got there or how it's survived the dry heat, I'll never know. Mr. Intensity decided it needed a drink of water today.

And, if my life weren't perfect boring enough, the dishwasher decided to spring a leak. Thankfully, my hero husband is fixing it as I type. Love him.

Yippee - he found mold under there. Are we havin' fun yet or what?!

Feel the Love?!

As we were making our way out the door this morning (which is always a process) I asked Mr. Intensity if he were wearing shoes.

Quickly he responded with one of his lovely rhymes, "No-Ho."

I didn't think anything about it until he came back with, "Did you hear that?! I just called you a ho!" Lest I loose my sanity, I just chuckled. I don't think he knows what he just called me.

Fast forward to this afternoon. We were in the car and unprovoked, he blurted, "I hate you."

Why? I do not know. Maybe to get a response from me? I tried not to show it but it did hurt my feelings.

Watch Kids Around Water

Our complex was crawling with fire/rescue squads today. I counted at least 7 trucks...and later at least that many news vans reporting the happenings. Three children nearly drowned in our pool. Mr. Intensity was playing at a friend's house (I was a bit thankful he missed the action.)

After hearing the sirens and realizing all the trucks were going to our complex pool, Hubby and I walked into the green space to see it swarming with men in blue shirts - and a small boy being wheeled away on a stretcher. We both had pits in our stomachs.

From what we could surmise (or over hear, really) - there were several people in the pool, including the children's parents. A man (not related to near-drowning victims) saw the three children floating face down in the water. He pulled them out and began administering CPR.

How scary!!

This was a super reality check for us - to keep our eyes open at all times when Mr. Intensity is near water.

According to one source, "A child will lose consciousness two minutes after submersion, with irreversible brain damage occurring within four to six minutes." This can happen in only one inch of water - like the bathtub.

Let this be a reminder to all: watch kids around water.

Crazy Maker of a Rhyming Game

Yesterday I sought advice for Mr. Intensity's nonsensical word game. From the comments, I realized I'm not alone. Here's a taste of the game. This is what I listen to ALL-DAY-LONG.

Advice is still welcomed.

and - if you want to see another video...I'm not the only one frustrated by this game. :)

All Boy Weekend Part 3

In previous posts I forgot to mention our brief run in with a coatimundi. Even though we slept inside a building, I didn't sleep well (at home I don't sleep well.)

Our first night I probably slept a total of 1 hour. At one point, John had to get up to find out what was scratching. We deduced that it was a mouse in the rafters.

The second night I slept better but still on and off. Until I heard the crinkle of a plastic grocery sack. Nudging Hubby I said, "There's something in here."

He said, "I didn't hear anything. Go back to sleep." He didn't hear because he was asleep!

A few seconds later I heard the same noise. I grabbed his arm and said with more sternness, "Turn on your light. Something IS in here."

Sure enough, it was a raccoon-like animal. I was so scared and very glad my manly man was there to rescue me. He was able to open the door and shoo the varmint into the wilderness. Most of all, I'm glad Mr. Intensity slept through it all.

Paper Mache Disaster

This morning we tried our hand at paper mache. We blew up two balloons and had a blast covering them with sticky goo.

When we left for lunch I felt the balloons; they were dry.

Disaster struck while we were out - only it would get worse. For some reason, one of the balloons popped and met its demise on the ground. The other balloon had not yet popped but was looking squeamish.

Quickly we removed balloon #2 from the clothes line. As I was reaching for the materials to begin the second layer - Mr. Intensity (formerly known as Destructo) stomped on the paper mache balloon. Why? I do not know.

I wanted to kill him...or at least strangle him a bit. I'm not kidding.

Thankfully (for us all) Magaw was here and she was quite cool about the event. We decided to patch it with tape best we could and add the second layer.

Sonic

On the way home from the zoo today, we stopped at Sonic and got a cherry limeade (half price, of course.) Before leaving the parking lot I filled his cup. However, for the next 5 minutes, lil man kept asking if he could have the cherry in the cup. Each time I said, "once we get home I'll look for it."

Fast forward to when we're home. The phone rings and I'm caught talking on the phone. Realizing my thirst a few minutes later, I searched for my drink...only to find the lid and straw on the floor.

Hmmmm...I didn't put it there.

Straight to the bathroom is where I go to find my curious little boy...looking for the cherry. He'd dumped my drink into the sink!! GRRrrrr!!

"Oh! John Isaac, what did you do? Where is my drink?"

blank stare.

"I'm so sad you dumped my drink in the sink."

His response: "That's OK Momma, I forgive you."

I went back to Sonic...by myself...one of the perks of Daddy working at home.

Zoo Day

We had a fun day at the zoo today. No pictures of JI but did bring home this note to self: Never leave kettle corn unattended.

Ding Dong

My husband bounded out of bed at an amazing speed then stopped suddenly in the hallway. It was 3:45 AM and the doorbell abruptly aroused us from our slumber.

From his inactivity in the hallway, I could tell he was dazed and not sure why he was standing instead of laying in the bed. I called to him, "Go open the guest bedroom window (upstairs) and see what they want." Adrenaline was pumping in my veins and I knew it was in his, too.

He opened the window and in his most macho gruff voice he yelled, "What do you want?!"

A man was standing there on his cell phone wanting to know if Serena lived here.

Needless to say, it took us a while to go back to sleep. Later John told me that he had hesitated at the top of the stairs wondering if he should take a weapon to the door. He's my hero.