Most days Hadley helps me with a portion of cleaning. Today, however, she lost interest…and it was pretty fast I might add. We started sweeping the floors, and she was loving holding the dust pan, and then all of a sudden, she bolted in her room and started playing. When I asked her if she was done helping, she walked over to me, tilted her head, rubbed my arm, and with a very encouraging tone said, “You can do it mommy.”

When Eric got home for lunch, he asked Hadley if she wanted to have a dance party. She replied, “not right now, I am busy.” That one kills me because we don’t ever tell her we are busy. It really makes me wrack my brain as to where she would have come up with this one.

Hadley also put two of her Mcdonald’s toys in time out for “fighting and being scary.” In all fairness, they are from the movie, “Kung Fu Panda” so I think they were meant to fight. It must have been some fight because they stayed in time out until we returned home from church late in the evening.

Hadley also cried when Eric dropped her off for bible class. She demanded to go to church. Eric eventually got out of there and Hadley did fine, but then ran upstairs and picked out a pew to sit in for church. I told her it wasn’t time for church because it was only Wednesday and she cried. We may need to start to differentiate between “worship” and “bible class” so there is no more confusion in the future.

Zoey is also trying to sit up more. She is getting the hang of it, but can’t do it by herself yet. She also has taken an interest in reading. We have learned to stick to the sturdy board books because she is very grabby. This frustrates Hadley, but she is learning to be more patient.

This day has brought us many blessings. First, Hadley took her eye drops for me with no fight. She has been doing this for Eric, but not so much with me. When it came time to give them to her, she just laid down and opened her eyes. She is a pro now.

Next, Hadley went down for a nap with no fuss. She just got in bed, and went to sleep. It was miraculous. Then, Zoey went down for a nap shortly after. Last, I got to lay down and sleep too! I was especially happy about getting to nap, because neither of the girls slept well last night, and Eric ended up in Hadley’s bed, and I ended up on the couch with Zoey. I guess we all were a little tired.

During nap time I got a message from Jenna stating that she was having a difficult time keeping up on her workload that she does from home. When I called her to talk to her about it, we thought it might be something that I could take over for her. It would be work I do from home, and only about 6 hours a week. Eric and I did not have any plans for me to work anytime soon, but it would bring in some extra money and I would not have to leave the house to do it. The job is with Epworth, typing therapy notes and the boss is the woman who has been trying desperately to get me to come back to work for her. We decided that I would help Jenna get caught up, and if I like it, I will take it over, and if not, then I won’t.

Then, I got an e-mail from one of the women at church. She runs a pretty nice blog/website about homemaking and all that it entails. Since I became a stay at home mom, I have been making changes in the way our family eats and some other habits we have, in attempts to be healthier and have a healthier lifestyle. (Baking homemade whole wheat bread is one of those changes). I have taken it slow, because we need to see which habits will stick for us and what works for our family at this time. Well, she has been a huge support to me through my learning process and has been an encouragement to me through the transition of me becoming a stay at home mom, and now she asked me to write a guest post on her blog. I am nervous about it, but it will just be about the changes that we are making and how we are doing it.

So, today has had all kinds of surprises for us, but each one has reminded me how blessed we really are. And I shouldn’t forget to mention that Zoey is has smiled throughout the day, and that she is still a constant blessing or the fact that Eric called today despite a very busy day at work, just to tell us all that he missed us. We are very blessed.

Today Hadley and I baked homemade bread. We had a really good time, and Hadley did a great job. I think she would have had more fun if I would have let her knead the dough, but given her illness, I thought it was best that she stuck to dumping in what I had already measured. She also did dishes, which was very kind of her. Hadley and I will be making more from scratch since we both enjoy it so much.

Zoey took an extra long morning nap, so Hadley and I got to spend some extra time together in her room playing with her toys.

We had lunch with Gerry and Kallie, and of course, in the afternoon, Hadley wanted nothing to do with a nap. I actually didn’t even try to make her. I was very tired from getting up at 5:45am with Zoey, so I just didn’t have it in me to fight the battle. This way I know she will go down early for bed, and I can get some extra rest then.

Hadley has a new saying. She says, “don’t sass me, boy!” It is actually very funny and super cute when she says it. I don’t think she really knows what it means, just that it is said on “Meet the Robinsons.”

Today Hadley also insisted on going with to Walmart. I was a little nervous, given how poorly she behaved previously at Walmart. I let her go and we reviewed expectations before getting in the car. She passed out before we were even out of the driveway and I had to lug her limp body into the store and lay her in the cart. She slept the whole way. I bought toilet paper and shoved it under her head so she at least had a pillow. When we got home, she woke up. It was a more successful trip to Walmart than we even had when she was a baby. I wish it always went so smooth.

This morning we had to get up and go to the store so we could make monkey bread for brunch at a friend’s house. We were getting together with Gerry to spend time with Callie, and the Welch family as well as Logan and Nikki.

The trip to the store was awful. Hadley would not listen and had to have time out in the cart. She cried a lot, and got into more trouble as soon as we got home because she wouldn’t keep her seat belt buckled. We made our monkey bread and were off to Gerry’s house.

Hadley had tons of fun playing with Ian and Kira. Kira also really liked Zoey and had fun with her too. At one point Kira and Hadley went outside to see the trains go by and sat in the hammock together. It was pretty cute.

We headed home for nap time. Eric got to experience what a normal day is like for me at 1pm. He couldn’t believe Hadley wouldn’t just stay in bed when it was so obvious she was exhausted. Sure enough, after letting her come out of her room, she sat down on the couch and passed out within seconds.

Eric had to go to Lincoln to film some fights tonight, so the girls and I stayed home and just followed our usual routine. We made supper, ate, had baths, cuddled on the couch, and went off to bed. Hadley didn’t want to stay in bed, but after a little bit she quieted down. Zoey also had trouble settling in for the night, but did pretty well. I headed off to bed early too, because I was starting to feel sick.

Today was kind of an odd day. Eric slept in, and Hadley and Zoey each took long morning naps. Usually, Zoey sleeps for about a half an hour in the morning, but today it was over two and a half hours. Hadley also feel asleep this morning, which is very rare. We had a fun morning and played for most of the afternoon.

When Eric got home from work, he had planned on taking Hadley to the tennis courts so she could ride her tricycle freely. He immediately got a call from work saying that a plane had crashed at the local airport and had to rush off to the scene. Hadley was disappointed, but I kept her occupied outside. She decided it was time to dig in the dirt, and continued to do so happily for nearly two hours. She was a complete disaster, but had fun. When I asked her what she was building she told me it was Cinderella’s castle. She even put sticks in it to symbolize the flags.

We finally headed inside and ate supper and took baths. When Eric got home we continued with our usual Friday Family Fun Night. Eric set up our little TV/VCR combo in Hadley’s room with PopCorn and Tootsie Rolls and we watched The Little Mermaid. This was Hadley’s first time watching it, and she seemed to like it, but was a little bit preoccupied

Today Hadley woke up with a cough. Since each day she seems to be getting worse, I thought we better go in to the doctor. It turns out she has a sinus infection and pink eye. Just lovely. The doctor talked to me large amounts about how contagious pink eye is, and I gotta say, I am not optimistic. Eric progressively felt worse and worse last night and is all stuffy now. I think the pink eye could be coming my way. Hopefully Zoey can avoid the plague. We also get to give Hadley eye drops. I was amazed at how well she took them today, but it was probably because we bribed her with a treat. I think it stings her a little bit, but hopefully as the infection goes away the stinging will too. The doctor also said that Hadley may be developing seasonal allergies, but there is no way to know until the first freeze.

When we got to the doctor’s room, Hadley put her My Little Pony up on the table. The doctor walked in and Hadley pointed at it saying, “My pony is sick.” I think she was hoping that the doctor would ignore her and check out the pony instead. No such luck.

Hadley’s face looks really bad. (That is an awkward sentence to type.) She is swollen up with goop everywhere and her left eye is almost closed from the swelling. Her eyes and nose are all bright red and her mouth is always hanging open because it is the only way she can breath. Eric and I took some pictures because it is just so sad. Poor girl.

Since Hadley only had about a 20 minute nap, we laid on the couch early to cuddle. She fell asleep at 6:45 and didn’t wake up for the rest of the night.

The bubonic plague has yet to leave our house. Yesterday afternoon the girls both slept from after lunch until suppertime. I let them, figuring if they were still asleep they must need it. I may have been wrong. Neither of the girls wanted to go to bed at a decent hour. Hadley was in her room just after 8, which is normal bedtime, but then continued to need random things until nearly 10pm. Zoey on the other hand did not actually fall asleep until closer to 11pm. And then she was up every two hours after that until 7am when she decided it was time to start her day.

Hadley also has massive amounts of green goopies coming from every hole in her face. She is not looking too good these days. Thankfully, her fever has not returned. Zoey seems to be doing fine, but is getting crabbier than usual, and needs more sleep than what she is getting.

Today, during what was supposed to be nap time, Hadley came out of her room several times. I continued to put her down to bed and this did not work. Finally, she was quiet. Then, right as I had begun to relax on the couch, she came walking proudly out of her room, with a HUGE smile, waving to me, as if she was in a parade or something. Who is this kid? She kept saying “hi” through her huge smile.

I responded by telling her to sit on the couch, and trying super hard to not let her see me smile. She sat quietly for a little while, but once Zoey was awake the jig was up and Hadley was wild as ever. I will be leaving her home with Eric tonight while I go to church. Somehow I just don’t know that other parents would be excited to see Hadley playing with their children and sharing the love.

**UPDATE***
We just sat down for supper and had to wake up Hadley who had fallen asleep on the couch. She was very tired and still not quite awake. She kept saying how she didn’t feel well. Hadley was laying across my lap while Zoey was jumping away in her exersaucer. Zoey grabbed a hold of Hadley’s hand and started to jump. Hadley suddenly perked up and swung her arms along with Zoey and smiled from ear to ear. She then announced, “Hey, she’s making me feel better!” It was the cutest moment they have had together yet. I think they might become best friends.

While reading one of Hadley’s favorite books about the five senses I decided to use the time as a “teaching moment.” As we talked about how David (the character in the book) sees I asked Hadley,
“How do you see?”

She then pointed to her hair tie.

I suppose it makes sense because that is my argument for why we need to pull her hair back daily. I always tell her “let’s pull your hair back so you can see.” I got a good laugh out of it and she stared at me with that blank look that says “you lunatic.”

Now, this morning, Hadley is still trying to recover from her night of vomiting. She asked if she could have some crackers this morning and I asked if she wanted the ones with the peanut butter. She did, so off I went to the kitchen to get them. When I handed her the package, she jumped up and down with delight and yelled, “I love these, they have the peanut butter and jelly sandwich in them!”

Sometimes that kid just cracks me up.

Zoey Belle also appears to have caught the black plague. She was only up for a few minutes this morning before showing signs of being tired again. She also has a stuffy/runny nose. Thankfully, no vomit and no fever…yet.

Oh yes, and last night, Eric and I stayed up late to redecorate the website. He was very patient with all my requests, and didn’t even appear to want to kill me. It was very sweet of him. I think that it turned out well too. He has a gift.

Today Hadley played really well and made some huge messes. I didn’t really mind, because she was playing so well. I had some concerns that she was going to be going through movie withdraws because she watched movies the whole way home from MN. Right after lunch Hadley went down for a nap, but didn’t actually fall asleep. She kept coming out of her room seeing what I was doing. At one point she stopped in the hallway and told me “mommy, I have a fever.” I laughed and told her she did not and it was time for nap. After many attempts at getting her to stay in her room, I finally admitted defeat and let her come out on the couch to rest quietly. She rested for a little bit, then got up and played again. After a while, I noticed she was quiet and she had in fact fallen asleep. By the time Eric was home, Hadley had woken up.

Emily had stopped by for a while previously and had noticed that Hadley’s back was really warm. Eric then made the same comment about Hadley being very warm. I went to get the thermometer and sure enough, Hadley’s temp was 102. When I asked Hadley how she knew she had a fever, she said “because my tummy hurt.”

That’s right…I laughed at my two year old who said she had a fever. Mother of the Year.

Good thing Emily was dropping off all those Veggie Tales videos. Now we have something new to watch while Hadley recovers.

All of Sunday was pretty laid back. We got some unpacking done, and some grocery shopping done. Eric decided to take Hadley outside while I got supper ready and she rode her tricycle. Hadley has ridden her trike before, but she always looses interest because her feet were just a little too short to reach both the pedals at the same time. This time it was perfect and she rode the whole length of our block. She also had a little adventure with a snake. I have nothing more to say about that, other than that Eric took video of both these excursions of Hadley’s and you can see them below.

We left late Thursday to get to Minnesota for Nana’s wedding on Friday night. Hadley did not fall asleep in the car until nearly 11pm. We arrived at 2:30am and Hadley was so excited over the whole trip that she could not stop jumping on the bed until 5:30am. I literally tackled her on the bed and bear hugged her until she was asleep. Zoey then woke up at about 6:30am. The hour of sleep was a little rough on Eric and I. We dozed a little bit through the day though, and had about three hours of sleep by the time we had to go to the gardens for the wedding. Hadley also refused to take a nap that afternoon, so we thought we could be headed for disaster.

Much to our surprise, Hadley was well behaved and enjoyed walking in front of everyone with her flower basket. She did refuse to pose in pictures because Nana had given her some disposable cameras and Hadley decided that she was the photographer. Lucky for us, Eric was the actual photographer, so he was able to work around her.

We had a fun time at the reception, and Hadley made a new friend, Griffin. He is three and had a lot of patience for Hadley’s antics. Zoey was loved on the whole time by various aunts and cousins and friends of the family. Everyone kept saying, “Zoey is just such a happy baby!” and in regards to Hadley they all said, “Wow, that is a lot of personality!” We also were asked “Does Hadley just have a mind of her own?”

Yes.

Our girls are as different as night and day. But Hadley and Zoey sure love each other.

On Saturday morning we got up and went to Nana’s house to pick up Uncle Dave. We sat and visited for a while, and then headed to Grandpa Ronn and Grandma Rachael’s house. We sat and enjoyed spending the afternoon with them, and felt sad to leave. Hadley had fun playing with the two dogs and exploring the new house. Zoey of course, loved to be loved on.

Finally, we headed into Minneapolis to drop off Uncle Dave at his apartment. There was a lot of traffic, so we spent a lot of time stopping and going again. Luckily, Eric, Hadley and Zoey had all passed out by then, so it was quiet and kind of peaceful. We arrived home late on Saturday night and just headed straight to bed.

It was a quick trip to Minnesota, but we treasured every moment spent with our family. It is so rare that we get to see the “Gusaas” side anymore, and it is so nice when we do finally get to catch up with everyone.

Hadley has decided to forfeit naps in her bed all together. Yesterday afternoon I put her down an hour later, and she was drifting off to sleep before I even closed the door behind me. Then, a moment later I heard a loud banging in her room. Upon investigation, I found her with her curtain rod in hand hitting her bed. I immediately put an end to it, and she found other things to make loud noises with. About twenty minutes later she came flying out of her room laughing hysterically. (I still have no idea what was so funny.)

Finally I let her sit down on the couch and pick out a movie to watch. I had barely put the movie in, and I heard her snoring loudly. She has apparently just decided that she will not be napping in her own bed. I think the only real way to get her back to her bed to sleep is if I make it seem that she is under no circumstances to take naps in her bed…that should do it.

This morning we played play doh for hours. This is not an exaggeration. That girl is all about the play doh (and not napping in her bed.)

Zoey has also decided today to forfeit any morning nap. I finally gave up on trying. She is always in a good mood though, so it is not a huge loss if she doesn’t nap (unlike someone else I know.) Zoey also has gradually grown out of spitting up. We noticed that there are days where she might just spit up once, and it is a very small amount. My laundry loads did seem to be shrinking, and I think this is why.

Hadley and I also went through the battle of the century this morning. I was attempting to have her try on pajamas so I could see if they were too small for her. She kept kicking and screaming and asking me “why, where are we going?!” I found it funny that she always asks where we are going when I tell her to put on clothes. I guess that just shows how “free” she is while at home. I finally wrestled the pj’s on her to find out that they are in fact too small. This shouldn’t surprise me, seeing as how she is up to Eric’s waist already. Did I mention that for the duration of our wrestling match, Zoey sat by and laughed? It was apparently very funny to watch. I only wish I could say it was as fun to participate in.

Well, we had a successful evening. Eric got home and we decided that as soon as we were finished eating supper, we would take the girls to the park. They had lots of fun, and burned off some energy. Hadley walked all the way to the park and back. As soon as we got home we got the girls bathed and sat down for some cuddle time.

I had previously talked to Eric about some different methods of getting Zoey to sleep like she used to, and we decided that we would try the Ferber method. Zoey fell asleep at 7:30pm and didn’t even move until midnight. It was beautiful. I got up and fed her and she fell right back asleep, and I didn’t hear from her again until 6am. I loved life. She only stayed up for about an hour before taking a long nap this morning. Even if she continues to get up nearly each hour, I at least had one night to feel rejuvenated.

We also decided that Hadley is not ready to give up her naps all together, because she keeps drifting off while on the couch. So, we thought we might try to push nap time back a little bit and see if that helps.

Hadley has been asking for a few days now when she will be able to play with Dawson, Makai and Lael again, so we invited them over tonight to play. Hadley has been having a really good day, so I hope it continues into this evening.

The past week has been rough to say the least. The girls are not sleeping anymore (or at least when they should be.) Hadley has not taken a nap for a while, unless she happens to fall asleep late afternoon while on the couch. Zoey is not sleeping at night unless it is in her bouncy seat, and even then, she wakes up often. I have still put Hadley down for a nap daily, and she usually plays in her room quietly for an hour or so. I am really not ready for her to give up napping all together.

We did have a good weekend, however, despite the lack of sleep. There was a parade in town on Saturday so we went to that with friends. Papa was here to help judge the photography contest, so he got to spend some time with the girls too. He also brought a new play structure with a slide for Hadley. It also has a steering wheel, so she loves that.

The girls did great during church on Sunday, and Hadley made it all the way through. She did get up to go to the bathroom, but that is to be expected.

This morning we woke up and it was cold and rainy out, so we opted to stay inside and watch a movie. We also cleaned up Hadley’s room, which is becoming quite a chore, and found a lot of lost toys. I am hoping we will save enough money soon to finish our basement, and then the girls can have a play room.

Zoey fell asleep sitting with Eric this afternoon, and woke up soon after. Hadley went straight into her room and started to play, so who knows what this afternoon will look like. I am praying I have enough patience to deal with it all.

We decided that every Friday night we would try to make it fun for the girls. Usually we have pizza and take the girls to the park or do something else fun, but it was kind of cold out. So, Eric took Hadley to the movie store, and she got to rent any movie she wanted. Of course, she picked out Cinderella III. After they got home, we ate our supper on the floor in front of the TV. Hadley thought that was especially cool, since we always have our family meals at the table. Eric made us fruit smoothies for dessert, and Hadley made a disaster out of that too. We all had tons of fun, despite Hadley’s poor taste in movies.

The past two days have been a blur to me. Zoey is waking up every hour at night, which leaves me with about 3.5 hours of sleep per night. Hadley is refusing to take naps during the day, which leaves me with no break and one crabby two year old. And let me be honest, I am not really in the greatest mood either. To top it off, I woke up today with a sore throat, runny/stuffy nose and a headache. Not so good.

We have started putting Hadley down for bed at 7pm since she is refusing to take naps, and that has helped us, but now I am debating on taking her to church or not. She gets really crabby when she is overly tired and I don’t know if keeping her up to go to church is going to cause bodily harm to another child. This is a dangerous game…I think I will end up playing it by ear. We will see if she lasts through supper tonight.

On a positive note, Zoey is holding her own bottle for longer periods of time, which does free me up a little bit to get more done around the house. Despite her lack of sleep, she is always in a good mood and smiling, so I suppose things could get worse!

***Brief update***
I just got a call from Jenna stating that Dawson appears to have the Chicken Pox. I couldn’t plan timing like this. The kids saw Hadley and Zoey at church on Sunday, Monday afternoon, and Tuesday evening…I think we have be exposed. Remember what I said about things being worse?

Today was a pretty good day.

Zoey has been having some sleep issues, so after Linds had gotten up with her several times throughout the night, I got up with her around 645am. It wasn’t too bad. She just sat there and smiled and talked with me.

Around 815, I had to get Linds up so I could mow the lawn. On the way down the steps, I heard Hadley shouting. I went into her room to find her on her couch, reading books, minus clothing. Thankfully, she didn’t have any accidents.

Linds kept the kids busy while I mowed and ran some errands. Hadley then came out with me to get the grill ready for lunch. She played on a lawn chair and played with her backpack.

The Schwarz family came over for lunch, along with Gerry and Kallie. We had a great lunch. The kids ran around like crazy for awhile and seemed to have lots of fun.

Hadley didn’t take much of an afternoon nap, her new routine. At least she is spending some time being quiet in her room, so that’s better than nothing.

We spent most of the afternoon snacking, so no one was really that hungry for supper. I gave the girls baths while Linds cleaned up. Zoey Belle loved her bath and splashed around a lot. Hadley had a complete mental breakdown about her bath.

After baths, Zoey cat napped and I read books with Hadley. Since she was really tired and missed her nap, we put her down at 7 and never heard a peep out of her. Zoey Belle fell asleep not too long after that.

It was a nice day spent relaxing with friends.