Trying to stay above water...

Do you feel like the laundry never ends and you are drowning in a sea of toys? Then, we may be in the same boat. It is amazing how your dreams shift to a commercial size washer/dryer and a magic sweeper that cleans up after your children so all you have to do is play with them and have fun! This is my "week off from work". Well, how about my away from home "work". The work definitely doesn't stop at home while you are on spring break!


James hit the 20 month mark today and Conner will be 5 months in a week and a half. James has graduated from his crib into his toddler bed. He had been napping at Ms.Kate's house in her bed and so I tackled the transition this week while off from work. It only took me an hour to get him to stay in bed the first night. Now, it seems that his preference is for the door to be open to their room when he goes to sleep in his bed. When he was still in his crib he would go to sleep with the door closed. We have decided that if leaving the door open keeps him in the bed we will gladly leave it open. Earlier today, James helped me take apart his crib and hand it piece by piece to daddy to bring out to storage. We officially waved bye-bye to his crib.

My other goals this week included getting Conner to take naps during the day for longer than 30 minutes and getting him to go to sleep at night awake but drowsy. He has earned the nickname of the "cat napper". I hope that he is just as brilliant as the famous "cat napper", Thomas Edison. Today, he slept for about a 45 minute stretch this morning. Currently, he and James are napping and have been for about an hour and a half. I was hoping to get him to take two naps one in the morning and then one in the afternoon. It will allow me and anyone taking care of him some time in the morning to spend time with just James and then in the afternoon to have some quiet time to ourselves(to clean, straighten up and prepare for the next onslaught of terror that two mischief makers deal out after their naps). Getting Conner to go to sleep at night drowsy but awake has not materialized this week. It was too hard to take that on and get James sleeping in his toddler bed too.


So, I am taking advantage of this "quiet time" to pack up some toys to put out in storage and catch up on some laundry. Yah, right! Who am I kidding? There is no catching up on laundry here. I just did 2 loads of darks for Jimmy and I on Monday and by today there is another load of darks ready to be washed.


Conner is starting to sit independently for periods of time. He loves to chew on anything and everything, his hands, your hands, toys, his bib, his shirt and his toes if he happens to pull them close enough. He has been rolling from his stomach to his back since he was about a month old. Today, for the first time that I know of, he rolled from his back to his stomach. He is a very social child and requires a lot of attention, more than James did at this age. He appears to be having separation issues. Every time I walk out of the room to go and switch laundry and bring something to the other end of the house he starts to scream and cry. Once I come back into the room, he gives you a big grin. If I leave repeatly to try to get something he won't stop crying until I pick him up. I ended up putting him in the Baby Bjorn pack this morning so that I could try and get some cleaning done. It wouldn't be so bad if he wasn't pushing 19 pounds!

James is climbing, running, and jumping all over the place. He loves to be outside. We have gone outside every day that I have been home and walked the property. Yesterday, we spent the day at my parents' house and my mom and I took the boys to the school where I work so that James could play on the playground. It is in the Pre-K area and is just the right size for him.