Sometimes You Just Need a Nap

Yesterday began pretty well.

I've been trying to figure out how to help Grig get more sleep. After praying about it, I realized that the best way for me to help Grig get to bed on time, is to get up with him in the morning. If I have to get up early to, it's easier to remember to go to bed.

So, Monday I didn't do very well, because Kevin got sick and kept me up a lot of the night.

However, Tuesday, I was able to get up. Unfortunately, so was Kevin. After struggling to get him to go back to sleep from 5:30 a.m. until 7:30 a.m., we finally just got up. Kevin and I were both pretty tired by nighttime.

Yesterday, went a lot better. I got up, Kevin kept sleeping, and Grig got out the door on time. I was able to work on my story, and Kevin slept until 8:30 a.m. It seemed like it was going to be a great day.

Then, after a little while, Kevin spilled his potty all over the bathroom floor (one of my least favorite things). Then, after I picked that up, I found out I had made a mistake on my taxes that I had to fix. That took a while, so, I was tired and grumpy and poor Kevin wasn't getting the attention that he needed.

Finally, after lunch, while Kevin was watching Winnie the Pooh, I decided to take a nap.

Sometimes you just need a nap.

Afterward, I felt a million times better, and today is going better too.

We're not doing that much better at going to bed on time, but we are doing better at getting up.

We just have to try harder every day.

Meanwhile, I'm much happier when I'm giving Kevin the attention he needs, and not being a grumpy mom. He was a good sport about it, even though he's had a cold, and I apologized later to him. He is a pretty awesome kid. 

I sure am grateful for the many wonderful things in my life. 

I Kind of Love Doing Taxes and This Week's Highlights

So, I realized something pretty funny about me today.

We finally got our last W-2 in the mail, which I have been looking forward to for days, and I quickly ran inside and began to plug in numbers.

We've been babysitting kids all week, and so it's been kind of crazy around here. So, for fun today, I finished my taxes.

When Grig came home, we looked them over together, prayed about it, and then submitted them. This year we're using Turbo Tax. It tends to be more user friendly than some others that I've worked with before. It's also free as long as your using just the standard deduction.

It was nice to get done, but I realized that I look forward to taxes every year. I don't just look forward to the refund (though that is nice too), but I also look forward to just plugging in the numbers.

I used to think I hated math. I used to think that math was lame and wasn't any fun at all. Only since I've been married have I realized that I don't hate math. I actually really like working with numbers, especially when they have real-life application (like money).

Taxes were a little tricky this year, since it's the first year that we've owned a home, but all-in-all, I think it went pretty well, and I'm happy to have it submitted.

Kevin has been having a great time with friends this week. One of his friends has been staying with us for a few days, and it's been fun to experiment with having two children. Of course, it's a little different because I'm used to the way that Kevin works, but it was still fun. She and Kevin had a lot of fun playing (and fighting, occasionally) together.

Here are some of the highlights from this week:

On the first day, we made puppets. I printed off black and white pictures of Elsa and Superman and the kids colored them. Then we taped them onto straws as puppets. We also did a cat and a dog for each kid. They loved it, and had a great time. 

 We tried to go outside at least once every day. We would alternated between playing in the front yard, and playing in the backyard. One night, we were still playing when Grig got home, and he was able to join us!

 They loved having him pull them around in the sled.

Arkhon loves being outside with everyone too, though he gets cold quickly. 

I built this shelter out of stray branches in the yard. The kids enjoyed helping me create it. I'm hoping that it will snow and cover it in a good thick layer so it will end up more like an igloo. 

 We celebrated Havelock's birthday. We all had a good time and enjoyed meatloaf. (Havelock loves my meatloaf, so I always make it for him for his birthday.)

 After playing for hours, we'd go downstairs for lunch and have a picnic on the basement floor while we watched a movie. They were pretty cute together. I have some other cute pictures of the two of them, but since she isn't my child, I didn't feel like I could show her full face. She is a cutie though.

Arkhon and Kevin like to relax together. Arkhon was exhausted by all the playing and just wanted to take a nap. The kids were having a hard time leaving him alone, but eventually he got his nap.

We've been playing and working hard. Hopefully next week is a little less crazy, but we never know. Sometimes things just keep coming up!

And sadly, I have to wait another whole year to do my taxes again.

;)

More Care Troubles

So, the other day, Grig mentioned to me that the front headlight was out. However, when we drove the car later, it was back on again. We were grateful that it wasn't actually out, because at the time we didn't have money to replace it. 

However, last Thursday I was driving back from a meeting and both headlights were out. That wasn't good. We only had one working bright as well. So, that night I went and picked up two low-beams and one high beam. 

Friday, Grig went to replace the two headlights. The high-beam was able to be replaced with no problem. However, when he went to replace the two low-beams, they were both fine, but the inside of the beams was melted. 

That means another trip to the car emergency room. Our neighbor was kind enough to follow me out and drive me home after I dropped the car off. 

Hopefully, the problem isn't too severe. 

Other than that, we're starting to pack and clean. If the loan moves through the USDA quickly, we should be able to close by Friday still. We're very excited. 

We've been very blessed that everytime we've had car troubles, we've had money to fix it. This time it's the same. We got our tax returns last week, so we should be able to do what we need to do. 

Baby's First Bloody Nose and Other Consequences

Why'd You Let Me Get a Bloody Nose?

At 9 months of age, most babies are crawling and just starting to pull themselves up to things.  Kevin, however, is now walking.  He doesn't even need any help standing up.  He can go from a sitting position to a standing in less than five seconds.

Though this makes his parents quite proud, it has also been a bit trying.  Now he can hurt himself even more frequently!  Usually, he does pretty good.  He knows how to catch himself with his hands when he falls forward, and he knows how to fall on his backside pretty well.  However, when he falls and things are in the way, he tends to get a few bumps and bruises.

Last night, he was walking around the living room and he walked up to our bookshelf.  He wanted to see the books that were on the bottom shelf, so he leaned forward, not realizing that the shelf above was just the right height to clock him in the face as he fell forward!

I saw him hit and I rushed over.  As I held him and he cried, he looked okay, but after a couple minutes, his nose began oozing a bit.  It never really bled too badly, but it kept oozing on and off the whole night.  I got blood on two different shirts.  He was pretty tough though.  He cried for about five minutes and then his daddy took him outside and he felt better.

I don't think there is any way to really stop kids from getting hurt, and maybe we shouldn't be concerned if they get a few bumps and bruises, but it sure is hard!  Grig and I have tried to let Kevin be a bit more independent.  When he falls, we usually don't rush over.  We wait and if he looks at us, we smile and clap for him.  This has made it so Kevin only cries when he's actually hurt.

As Kevin gets older, he will continue to make mistakes and choices.  Sometimes he will be hurt by the consequences of his own actions.  As parents, sometimes I think that we want to protect our children from these consequences.  We want them to have peaceful, carefree childhoods.  However, if we don't let children make mistakes and learn from them, how are we going to keep them from making even bigger mistakes later on?

During a parenting class one time, the speaker told a story.  He told us how he was at the fair one time with some friends of his and their son.  The boy came running up and asked his parents if he could buy a toy airplane that a vendor was selling.  The plane was very cheap and poorly put together.  Instead of telling their son no, however, the parents asked him if he could afford it.  The boy quickly counted his money and told them that he could.  The parents allowed him to buy the plane.

The man was concerned and asked the parents why they had allowed their son to spend money on such a junky toy.  The father explained that the son had earned that money, and after taxes, he got about 80 cents a week.  The toy had cost about $5.00.  The man was shocked that they boy was using that many weeks worth of allowance to buy a poor toy, and again he asked why they had allowed the boy to purchase the airplane.

The father explained that when he was in college, he had found a really nice car.  It was very expensive, but there wasn't much going on under the hood.  The exterior was quite fancy, and the father had bought the car.  When it broke a short time later, he lost a whole lot more than five dollars.  The father explained that they wanted their son to learn to be wise while he was young, so that he wouldn't make the same mistakes when he had more to lose.

A few minutes later, the boy came back crying because his plane had broken.  The parents didn't say, "We told you so..." or "Now do you see why..."  They didn't explain the lesson to him.  They simply held him and comforted him and allowed him to learn the lesson himself.

I really liked the example of these parents.  I want Kevin to make lots of mistakes now when I'm here to comfort and love him, and not after he's on his own.  I want to help him to learn to make good decisions because he wants to, and not because I want him to.  Grig and I feel the same.

So, Kevin might get a few bloody noses here and there, but he's learning.  And the more he learns, the less often his nose will bleed.