Stuff

Standard look when outside...run, run, run!

Loves being outside!

Things are insanely busy around here...crazy busy....absurd...can I get off the ride now? Anyways...sleep this week...well, she has put herself to sleep all week...but taking AT LEAST 1 hr every time (including naps). Not going to sleep until 845 almost every night...still up at 5am. Not typically waking up during the night, and if she does, it looks similar to what I posted before. She's averaging 8-8.5 hrs of sleep a night with 1.5-2hr naps...that means LOTS of fits, temper tantrums, frustration, etc. at our house because she is so tired.

She is such a soft hearted girl....if she thinks it is REMOTELY possible that you are laughing at her, she will burst into tears. It happens a lot more when she is tired..and especially if someone besides DH or I are there and laughing. She still does it for us (like this morning at 530!), but it doesn't happen as much.

We're taking her 2 year photos today...probably taking more this week with her traditional Chinese dress...errands to run, student needs to meet (and soon major projects to grade), house to clean, laundry to do, bags to pack, b-day party to plan/prepare for, dog sitter to meet...all before we leave on May 13. Oh boy. My stress level is over the top.

On a side note....a friend of a friend told me about this huge warehouse sale for a local vendor of kids table & chairs, play kitchens, etc. Everything is dirt cheap...seriously...I got this table & 4 chairs for $15 for the table...$2 a chair. They were selling play kitchens for $40. Can't beat those prices! They are new...has a few scruffs, but nothing serious. Yet another "birthday present" for our Sweets (and I need to stop shopping)!

First sentence

Just spoken...

And it is...

"where is Irish?"

How appropriate....

Drapes

(Sleep update post below)

I made Megan light blocking drapes this weekend. They honestly were easy. It was more a matter of finding the floor space to lay it all out, sew the sides together, turn right sides out, finish off the top. I made the valances she had in her room, but they were super simple. This was a bit more difficult since they are lined, but really not that bad. I could see in my head what I needed to do...and was confident I could do it. Mrs. Hemple (my high school home ec teacher) would have been proud!

Pin right sides together...

Sewing the 2 right sides together on 3 sides
(leaving the top open to flip it right side out)

Making the seam look finished

Ironing the seam flat

the finished product!

I'm very happy with them...And I've made my seamstress mom proud, too (I think!). I even had my wits about me to make sure the pattern was going the same direction! I actually was impressed with myself that I thought to check! And I would have been SO MAD had I not done it "right". I did break 2 needles...and thank goodness Grandma V saved the day and gave me some more so I could get them done Sunday morning....otherwise I would have had to finish them up today while Megan was at school. And wouldn't you know it...I didn't break ONE NEEDLE on the 2nd one. Go figure!

Aunt Katie is happy that Megan's room finally is "girly"...I was wishing I could get the fabric with the yellow background, but they did not have enough in the store. I had Megan with me, so I had to make quick decisions (that's not usually like me when it comes to fabric). Besides, the store I went to did not have a whole lot of kid prints that would work in her room, so it made the choices easy. I got the material here. If you are looking for high quality fabric at a reasonable price, you should check them out. I paid less than the cost of one room darkening blind for the material...and I have over a yard left over. But go in with an idea of what you want...because they have oodles and oodles of options. It's almost overwhelming! Many of the area's interior designers go here...that should tell you something!

Weekend Changes

Well, we did it. Megan was up at 3:30 on Friday morning, so I just decided to go ahead and start the "no rocking to sleep" thing since I wasn't even sure she would fall asleep in the rocker anyways. Friday nap went fine, I told her when we sat in the rocker that we would rock for a little bit then she'd sleep in her bed. I rocked until she was drowsy (like 2 minutes!), laid her in her bed. She opened her eyes and looked at me, then rolled over and was out...when she woke up fussing, I simply gave her a kiss, told her it was still sleepy time and laid her back down. She woke up I think 2 times that afternoon, but went right back to sleep both times and slept for over 2 hrs. YEAH! But I wasn't worried about nap time!

Friday night, we started bedtime around 730. She wasn't really that crabby and was playing so we just waited a little while. We did our usual bedtime routine, then we told her that since she as going to go to sleep in her bed like a big girl and that she could sleep with dolly. (We've not let her sleep dolly for several months b/c if she woke up during the night she just wanted to play with dolly!) So, we rocked for a few minutes (this was my mistake, I should have rocked for at least 10-15) then I put her in her bed. I sat next to the bed and shushed until she went to sleep. She sat up and walked around in her bed. I only laid her back down the first time she sat up or if she touched me (only a few times). Otherwise, I completely ignored her, had my eyes closed (but peeking!) and shushed. It took almost 90 minutes, and she was asleep. I honestly didn't think that was too bad!!! I don't think she woke up during the night...or if she did it, a little shushing is all she needed and she was out. I think she woke up at 430 or something like that. I did shush her for a little while, when it was clear she wasn't going to sleep, I told her I was going to go to sleep. She could either sleep in her bed or play in her bed, but it was still sleepy time and left the room. She cried...I waited for her to take a break from crying and I went in and sang our "good morning" song (which she dances to).

Saturday nap went fine again. No problems. She slept 2.5 hrs without a peep the entire time. Saturday night, we did the same thing, told her she was going to go to sleep in her bed like a big girl...she got to sleep with dolly b/c she's a big girl...I rocked for about 15 minutes--she was getting quite comfortable and close to being asleep. I got up and put her in bed...she immediately jumped up...it took 2 hrs before she completely crashed. Starting at 130, she was crying in her sleep off and on...at 230, she was beginning to get up on her knees (she was crying) as I entered her room, but then dropped right back down and was asleep. So she must have been having bad dreams, I don't know, because she was NOT awake. She woke up at 5am. I did the same morning thing I did before.

Sunday nap was a nightmare. Seriously. I rocked for a few minutes, she was almost asleep, I put her down, she rolled over and immediately sat up. I thought, oh crap, on the day I have to leave in 30 minutes (and I wasn't ready to go, yet), she decided to do this. So, after 10 minutes of me being in there...I got DH and he took over (he had not been doing any of the new sleep routine b/c it just wouldn't work). Well, after 90 minutes of trying...he gave up. (I would have too!) And, honestly, I was so glad to not be home that afternoon!!! She survived (barely) until 6pm when we went ahead and finished our bedtime routine. I rocked and she was asleep in less than a minute. Heck, she was almost sleep while she was drinking her milk! Didn't hear a peep from her until 220. Then she was trying and trying and trying to go back to sleep. Finally at about 330 I picked her up and snuggled with her for a few minutes. I laid her back down, then she realized dolly was in her bed (she hadn't even noticed we put her in there after she went to sleep). She grabbed dolly, snuggled with her and drifted off to sleep at 4am. She slept until 625am! Oh my gosh! I couldn't believe it! I immediately went in singing our Good Morning song. Of course her getting up "so late" (lol) meant our morning routine was shot to heck b/c she had school today. Oh well, we worked it out...and she got to school on time.

We'll see how nap time goes today...I am going to make some adjustments. I made her light blocking drapes (photos in another post) and I think the fact that her room on Sunday was SO DARK at nap time was disturbing to her. Today I'm going to leave one cracked open until she's asleep, then close it. We'll see. She's probably going to be pretty tired from school today, so that should help.

Growing up..oh, and sleep update

Megan is growing up so much! Let's see the newest things she's up to:

• She weighs 26.5lbs (12.2 kgs--she weighed 6.2 when we got referral!) and is 32 inches tall.
  
• She's interested in letters, colors and symbols on our shirts.
• She loves to help unload the dishwasher.
• She's gotten so tall she can reach up to the counter and pull things off. The bathroom counter is especially difficult to keep things out of her reach!
  
• She loves to say (and play) "where is?" (as in...where is dolly, who is hiding behind my back?). She plays it with everything...including food at the table.
  
• She's now eating with silverware, from plates and bowls and hasn't been throwing the plates, bowls or silverware on the floor
  
• She's drinking from a cup (kind of), but still won't drink from a straw, but loves to chew on them!
• She's talking more...I mean, babbling more. Her favorites right now are "bah-bah-bah" followed closely by "whoa-whoa-whoa" and "es-yah" (don't know).
  
• She's mimicking us a lot, which is fun--in a good way.
• She's loves to stomp her feet and then expects you to do it too.
• She loves to play with her scooter--which means she loves to push it around. When she wants it to turn, she's picks it up and slams it down moving it to the right and left until she gets it going into the direction she wants it to go in. It really is funny!
• You never know where you might find her rocking horse in the house. She pushes it all over...it's been known to be my bedroom closet, the bathroom, the kitchen, her bedroom or the office. It's always a surprise!
• She's really gotten into coloring, drawing and writing. Whenever we color, she digs in the color box until she finds a red color...and refuses to try any other one. She can draw and flip through her color book (and scribble on random pages) for literally 45 minutes. It's actually kind of nice!
  

I know there are so many more things she is doing now, I just can't think of them.

Sleep update
We met with the sleep specialist yesterday. He asked a lot of questions...I likely did not answer them in a very organized fashion. Thank goodness I had my wits about me and took some things for Megan to do...not nearly enough, though. Seriously...we were at a CHILDREN's hospital...meeting with a PEDIATRIC doctor...and there was NOT ONE indication in the room that children were welcome there. I had brought a few of Megan's favorite small toys, but since we were in there an hour, she got bored very quickly. She only had an hour nap (never good) and she could have slept much longer, but the day just did not go like it was "supposed" to. Oh well, she survived.

So, what did he say? Well, he wants us to start by not rocking her to sleep. We can still rock her to drowsy, but not to sleep. He does NOT want us to withhold comfort to her (aka cry it out) and he has no problem with us being in the room while she goes to sleep (if she needs it), just not rocking. He commented that like so many adults who need the radio on, the tv on or some other 'thing' to help them fall asleep, he believes Megan needs rocking. So, starting Friday night (oh joy!) we are going to begin the transition. I fully expect a couple of really long bedtimes...but the nights should be fine. Most nights lately, we have not needed to rock her during the night. Well, I haven't. DH & I are spliting the nights and he tends to rock more often than I do...I usually try to shush for at least 15 minutes before resorting to rocking. Usually, that works, but not always.

I am not sure how I feel about the direction we are going here. I've been saying for the last several weeks that I felt like Megan was wanting a change in bedtime...but I wasn't sure what that was...so we'll see how it works. Will I love being able to rock for 10 or 15 minutes, then put her in her bed to go to sleep?! Um, YEAH! And I love I don't have to give up the rocking part. The other part of this is that we have another appointment May 6th with him to see how it has worked and if she is still waking up for hours at night. He has also tentative scheduled a sleep study for that night in the event we need it. So, I feel like we haven't been given the "one solution" and sent on our way. That's encouraging. He did say she has a slight obstruction to her airway, but he's not ready to schedule surgery. It could be from her being congested, so hopefully in a month when we go back, that will be cleared up. I still believe she could have sleep apnea, but we'll see how this transition goes...and what happens next month.

As for me...I feel stress just thinking about what all needs to be done in the next month before we got back to SD and this just adds one more thing. Of course, if it means I'll get more sleep, I'm all for that!

Easter

Pretty dress...

Don't even ask me why I chose that dress for Easter.
I hate that dress...and really realized it when I got to church.
Consequently, after getting washed, it's going in the giveaway pile.

Megan had a gorgeous Easter dress...that wasn't exactly the plan...but she's grown so much that I decided Easter was a good opportunity to wear the dress she was SUPPOSED to wear to Uncle Collin's wedding in August. She's also going to wear the dress for her 2 year pictures. She got lots of compliments at church. We've not been to church this year (I know, horrible!), but between me being sick, Megan being sick, being out of town, Megan not sleeping...we've just not made it. So, I was interested in seeing how Megan would do in the nursery. Just like when she goes to school, I told her she would play with the other kids and we'd be back later to get her. One of the teachers remembered her from the last time we were there...when we came to get her, she said she did awesome. She did NOT have her paci or her blankey, so I guess she must have done fine!

We had a very busy Easter weekend. I was supposed to grade papers...but between running a whole bunch of errands on Saturday morning while DH worked to the impromptu Easter party Megan & I attended at the neighbor's on Saturday afternoon, the weekend zoomed past and I got only one paper graded. Oh well, I'll be busy while Megan is at school today.

Speaking of school, she is going today...through lunch, then I'll pick her up, change her clothes and we'll leave for our Pediatric sleep specialist appointment (FINALLY!). I'm leaving about 45 minutes (or maybe more) earlier than I need to...but since it's right in the middle of nap time, I figure I'll just drive around a little so she can sleep. And if I'm lucky, she'll sleep in the car when we get there and I won't have to drive too much extra...and can simply park. That's what I'm hoping, actually. I'll post more on it when we get back.

5 Years...

One of my favorite photos of Ian

It's really hard to believe that it's been 5 years already. This morning I was reflecting on that morning...how I couldn't believe it was morning and still no baby...how absolutely exhausted I was after having a bad week of sleep leading up to the climatic weekend, with almost no sleep on Fri the 9th or Sat the 10th...and it was Easter weekend, then too. DH's brother and family were visiting for Easter...and how sad they were they had to leave before he was born...how our nephew refused to leave until he saw his new cousin (his parents won out and they left about 7 hrs before he was born).

Today we plan on marking his birthday by releasing balloons as we do every year. I believe we'll release 7...one for each day he was with us.

It's amazing to think that if Ian was still with us, we most likely would not have Megan...but we'd be thinking about kindergarten in the fall. oh wow, now we're simply looking forward to sleeping through the night!

Speaking of which...our pediatric sleep specialist appointment is Monday. Oh, how we've been looking forward to that day!

Bluebonnets & Bubbles

Okay, so I uploaded these photos in the wrong order...but they are still fun!

Today we found a bluebonnet patch and decided it was a beautiful day to take photos. This morning was a little overcast and perfect for photos, but it was also a bit chilly and windy, so we decided to wait until this afternoon. It was entirely too bright, but really warm. We've been in Texas for 11 years and have NEVER taken photos in the bluebonnets before. We've seen the beautiful patches, but never stopped to take photos. I honestly had no idea they were so fragrant! Such a wonderful fragrance, too!

After the bluebonnets, we came home and played in the yard...Megan had so much fun running in the "grass" (one of her favorite words to say, but it always makes me think of Meet the Fockers--she doesn't pronounce the "gr"! We won't be teaching her "ole" any time soon! lol) that we broke out the bubbles and had even more fun!

Bubbles are fun!

Mommy & Megan in the backyard

Daddy & Megan in the flowers

Megan exploring the flowers

What a face...the usual one for the camera!

Sleep and all that...

Sleep has been bad since we got back from SD. Actually, it wasn't great there, but it's gotten worse since we got home. She's been averaging being awake at least 1.5 hrs a night. Whether that's being awake until 10pm or awake from 130-330am, she is getting about 7-8 hours of sleep a night. Not good when she needs AT LEAST 9.5. That means LOTS of fits, whining, fussing, throwing herself down on the ground and crying. Oh, and did I say lots of fits? Yep, lots of fits and throwing herself down. April 13th can not...let me repeat...CANNOT come soon enough! whew.

Words...Megan has seemed to find several words or rather sounds lately. This past week she started saying "whoa" (stretching out the "oooaaa", of course!). Today she started saying "bah-bah-bah-bah". She also likes to play "where is..." game. What's that game? Well, she hides something behind her back and she makes the sound of "where" (without actually saying where). Our job is then to say "where is...? I don't see it." She loves to play it with dolly. It's so funny!

Our trip..Megan did really good in the car, but honestly, I don't look forward to making that trip again in just a few short weeks. It made the goodbyes easy when we left on Sunday, but the trip is so darn long...so.darn.long. I swear we arrived tired (we left at noon and arrived at 2am), didn't get much sleep there and came back tired (we got home at midnight, then Megan was up at 230). I honestly would like nothing more than to lay on the couch all day with nothing to do and sleep. But, we all know that's not possible! Oh well. One day I'll not feel tired. Not sure when, but I'm hoping its soon!!!!

Bento's give-away

Never heard of Bentos? Check out Maisie Eats Bento! Right now she is giving away a great kit to get started.

Last Year on this day...

Megan was handed over to us! March 31st...at around 10:20am.

2008

2009

Wow how things change! (things other than my hair! haha)

We're back.

A few photos from our trip. It was fast and exhausting, but good. We didn't get much sleep, but had a great time with family. It was the first time all of my cousins (minus 1) were together in I don't know how many years.

Here's a few photos. Maybe more later...we took lots!

A tired Megan & Daddy at Nana's

Brooklyn, Ashley, Megan and Brady
(we did NOT purposefully coordinate the outfit colors! We're good!)

And we wonder why Megan doesn't like group photos! lol.

It's been a Year

Last year on March 25th we were getting on the plane to go to China! Wow, have things changed in the last year. You can see our first post from China here.

The clothes I'm buying Megan now days (okay, well, shirts) are toddler size. I thought it would be forever before we started buying that size, since she started out so small (size 3-6 mo). She's just changed and grown up so much. Its hard to believe that she's come so far in such a short period of time.

Just a few more days and Megan will have been with us a year. Wow has time flown!

Farewell, Grandma

This picture was taken in August when we last saw Grandma. When Megan & I were back in SD for Christmas, I got a stomach virus the day we were going to go see her and we left just a day later. So, we didn't get to see her.

Grandma passed away Monday night. She celebrated her 91st birthday earlier this month. We are leaving today for the funeral which will be on Saturday. Uncle Collin is driving to our house today, then we're all leaving together around 5pm. Pray Megan is able to fall asleep in the car and sleep well tonight since we're driving all night.

Such a big girl!

Such a big girl...

HEY, it went down my shirt!

A cute outfit from this weekend...
it's a dress, but not quite warm enough for dresses yet.
I don't know why she doesn't look happy...probably tired

Pics

A few photos from this week:

My sick baby girl

Okay, not her most flattering pose, but look at her hair!
YES! Those are pigtails~!

Paci cause we're sick.

Sickness Update

Megan is feeling better...but still has periods of clingy-ness. I am taking advantage of her wanting to snuggle, believe me. When she does run a fever, it's low. Her nose is running like crazy and she is coughing quite a bit. She went to sleep last night about 6:15pm, but then woke herself up coughing several times between then and 7:30pm. The beginning of the night wasn't too bad, apparently, but she was awake from 1230-220am. ugh. But, then she slept until almost 530. I think she fell asleep only because I told her it was still night time and she could either sleep with mommy or in her bed. When I asked where she wanted to sleep, in her bed? She shook her head "no", then I asked if she wanted to sleep with mommy and she rocked her fist "yes" (the ASL sign for yes). So, we started rocking (again) and she fell asleep almost immediately. We both slept in the rocking chair for about an hour, then she woke up and pointed to her bed. Surprisingly, I was cognizant enough to put her in her bed right then..she rolled over and conked right out. She fussed again at 430, I patted her back and she went back out again and woke up around 530.

She's loved having her paci almost all day (she better enjoy it while she can...cause it won't be that way when she's well!).

Oh boy

After a very long day....after a very long night...a couple of conversations with the pediatrician, it was decided Megan likely has the flu. So then we had the choice of waiting until morning and going into her office or going to an acute care center. The choice was given to us at 4pm today...we opted to go with the acute care center. Since they close at 5pm, we literally flew up to the closest one and didn't leave there until after 6pm. If it hadn't been for the pediatrician suggesting the flu before we went in there, we would have only gotten a stronger med for a potential ear infection. When I asked the doc if she thought she had the flu since the pediatrician had suggested it, she said she didn't think so, but we could run the tests to be sure.

Well, she does have the flu. Since we left the clinic after most pharmacies were closed, we had to drive an extra 15 minutes (away from home) to find the closest 24 hr pharmacy. They were SO BUSY that it took 45 minutes to pick it up. Megan was such a trooper...it was after 730pm before we got home. She didn't fall asleep in the car and needed to have supper, medicine and formula (which she wouldn't drink) before she did. She ate a little, drank nothing--unfortunately--and fell asleep immediately. Hopefully she doesn't cough herself awake all night long. We all need a good night's rest.

photos & video

A few photos from this week...

My little helper...and beginning to not feel well

Here's short clip of the princess dancing. She even was dancing at school this week during music time! Speaking of school, she's been doing really well...loves to see her teacher...yells "HI" as soon as she sees her and doesn't cry when I leave. I've been picking her up between 11am-11:45am depending on what time she wakes up that morning and how tired she is. We are still getting up in the 4 o'clock hour--we had hoped that the time change would help her sleep until 5am, but that hasn't helped.

Sick baby girl

We made it through the week of my class. Thank goodness Megan had pretty good nights most of the week. Both parents got adequate sleep, not enough by any stretch of the imagination, but enough to function. Friday night was "really good" DH said (he took all night since I had class all day on Saturday)--she only woke up 3 times. I laughed and said, yes, for US that is a good night, but that most parents complain their child wakes up that many times during the night! How sad is that???

When I got home from class (around 3pm), Megan had a serious fever. DH noticed she was really clingy and hot, but didn't realize she had a fever. I'm guessing (based on his descriptions) that it started around lunchtime...and only got worse after nap. When I took her temp--with an ear thermometer, which aren't always very accurate--it was between 101.7 and 102.1. Funny thing, while she was clingy and hot, she really was in good spirits. Consequently, last night wasn't so good, even with regular ibuprofen and tynelol. I think she has a sore throat based on the face she sometimes makes when she swallows. And she's been drinking her juice flavored water really cold. She's drank quite a bit this morning (yeah! since she's typically not very good at drinking). Her voice is also really froggy/horse and she has a "rough" cough. I'm thinking it's got to be a virus because she's just finished being on meds for almost 2 weeks (she was only supposed to be on for 10 days--there was lots of medicine--and I lost track of how long she'd been on it!)

Hopefully she's feeling better soon! (pics later)

Sleep

Could this be Megan's problem? Sleep Apnea? I think it might be. The description pretty much describes what a typical night looks like for us: restless sleep, frequent wake ups, stops breathing for periods of time longer than 10 seconds, overtired child which causes frustration, irritability and behavior problems (at our house it's hitting, which she does when she's tired--oh, wait, that's ALL the time!). I really noticed the breathing this morning.

She was awake at 10:30, 12:50, 1:50, 2:50 (we rocked that time...I fell asleep in the rocker), 4:10 then "for the day" at 4:45 despite still being tired and not hardly able to keep her eyes open. She didn't go to sleep until after 8pm either. That's less than 9 hours last night. ugh.

Treatment for sleep apnea in toddlers is a CPAP machine (if the problem is blockage), if the problem is the brain failing to send the breathing signal, CPAP machine doesn't work so I'm not sure what the treatment is for that.

Counting down the weeks until we see the sleep specialist. Only 5 weeks!

Sheer Silliness

Megan is VERY into her tongue lately. She loves to stick it out (not quite this much, though) and she's even gotten into touching it. Tonight (oops, she's in her pjs again!) she was sitting with me in the chair and being silly with her tongue. I asked her to stick it out so I could take a picture....this is one of the silly ones I got!


And just to prove I don't always just take her pictures when she's in her pjs...here she is on Friday. Both the shirt (former dress) and pants were from last year . I was hoping the pants would be more like capris...but alas, they are more like ankle length (aka high waters if you ask me!) or long capris. But, believe it or not, they fit perfectly around the waist--they are size 9mo.

Megan's Sleep...

This morning I've been doing some internet "research" to determine what's out there that describes Megan's sleep pattern. I found this question that pretty much describes what we deal with regularly. Dr. Greene's response is to contact a sleep specialist to determine what the underlying reasons are for their waking up at night. Done that.

I've considered melatonin. I was seriously considering it this morning at 3am when she was still awake after being awake for an hour (25 minutes in her bed, 35 min in the rocker), then woke up when I laid her in her crib (she laid there for 5 minutes rolling around, until I finally just picked her back up and rocked her again). But, in the research I've done this morning, I'm not sure melatonin would work. She doesn't really have a problem falling asleep, it's staying asleep that's the problem. Besides, most of what I've found does not recommend melatonin for kids--there has been very little research on the potential long term effects. There have been a few studies done on kids with brain issues as they do not produce adequate amounts of melatonin. So, I'm not sure.

I just have to wonder if she is processing subconsciously. It's been a year since referral...it's almost been a year since Megan was placed with us. So, could there be some processing going on in her little mind? I don't know, but I do wonder.

as promised...

Okay, so the plan with this photo was to include one of her wearing this as a dress (as it's supposed to be) last year. Do you think I could find one? Heck, no. At any rate, this is a dress she wore last year, which will be a shirt this year. Boy has she grown.

I did notice that I have taken A LOT of photos of her in her pjs. Guess we need to change that!

But, in keeping with the tradition...here is Uncle Collin with Meggie on his visit this weekend.

Various Updates...

Sleep update: DH & I have been splitting the nights. He takes until midnight, I take from then on. Man do I feel like a different person even if I only get 3 consecutive hours of sleep then hit or miss from midnight on. DH is having a much harder time functioning on much less sleep than usual. It just stinks in that I NEVER see DH. Seriously. He's been working late and getting home right about supper time. I put dishes away while he gets Megan ready for bed, then puts her down around 6-610pm. That's earlier than usual, but it seems like no matter what time she goes down, she's up at 4, so she might as well go down earlier. Besides, she is tired anyways. She has absolutely refused morning naps...no matter what. She can literally be dead tired, but she will NOT go down.

I emailed a friend who is a pharmacist to ask if there were any sleep meds approved for kids. She said no, so I'm not sure what the specialist is going to tell us. I guess problem not give us a solution that will work immediately. Last night I'm quite sure she was having bad dreams--the point that she almost had her eyes open. And she did some sort of running/walking in the circle in her bed last night DH said. He said it was actually kind of funny. I don't know what that was about, but she went back to sleep almost immediately, so she likely wasn't even awake. That was right before I took over, and then she woke up when I took over. I had to rock her--she was awake for about 45 minutes. ***I should clarify, here. She was awake about 25 minutes in her bed rolling around trying to fall back to sleep. In fact, her breathing sounded like she was asleep, but her eyes were wide open. It was only then that I decided to go ahead and rock her. Otherwise, when she wakes up, we always try to wait to see what she's going to do. Sometimes we just shush her, she's rolls over and goes back to sleep. Sometimes she just goes back to sleep without us doing anything. It just depends.

She has sinus infection which has impacted her ability to breath and thus sleep. Hopefully, once she over this she'll be sleeping better and I can take the nights by myself. Although next week, I'm teaching a mini term. We have class the next 2 Saturdays from 8am-5pm and every night next week from 5pm-10pm. I'm not sure how the overnights are going to work since we both need our sleep. There's no way that I can last from midnight to 10pm. While I love teaching, I'm an introvert and it is SO EXHAUSTING. Seriously wipes me out. This is the first mini I've taught since we brought Megan home, so it should be interesting how it all works out.

Dissertation update: I have a plan, I have guidance, I have data. So, now it's simply finding time to research and write. Oh, and I am applying for a $3000 grant. Hopefully, I'll get it which can help with costs for this stupid thing. I still need to email my chairperson to tell him what's going on. Don't know where I'd be without my boss (is she still my boss if I'm on hiatus?). Anyways. She's awesome.

Photos later.

April 13

...is our current appointment for the pediatric sleep specialist. Pray for a cancellation so we can get in earlier. He only does appointments on Mondays...hence the delay.

This Week in Photos

She looked so grown up laying on the floor like this playing with her toy.
The only thing missing was the feet in the air!

That ballerina leg at it again. It's getting quite good!
(it also likes to attempt to rest on the Entertainment Center, but it's just a little too high)

this morning...
she was my little secretary taking notes about what we were going to do today.

A typical night at our house

Someone wanted to know what a typical night looked like...while they are not the same every night, there are typical similarities. So, here's what last night looked like:

6:45pm asleep
7:30pm coughing fit (she lost her paci, but went right back to sleep)
8:00pm I don't remember, but I know she fussed, but went back to sleep on her own
9:30pm coughing again...needed me to shush for a few minutes
11:00pm fussing...needed me to shush for a few minutes
12:10am fussing in her sleep...but went back to sleep on her own
1:40-3am awake. Very, very awake. I started rocking around 2am as it was clear she was not going to back to sleep on her own.
3:07am I put her in bed, sleeping
3:20am woke up, but clearly tired. Standing in her bed. I started rocking.
3:25am fell back to sleep, I kept her in the rocker with me
4:10am decided it was time to wake up, despite hardly being able to keep her eyes open.

It doesn't seem to matter if she's asleep at 6:30 or as late at 7:15pm, she's still up sometime around 4am. This weekend when DH was on sleep duty, she was up around 320 each morning. Yes, 3:20 A-M. ugh.

So, as you can see...I get very little sleep. I've been awake since 1:40am and to say I'm tired is an understatement. DH went off to work despite both of us having pink eye (and he should've stayed home, but what do I know about pink eye?). I came down with it yesterday morning, and the doctor never called me back yesterday nor did the pharmacy. DH woke up with it this morning. I'll call the doctor again this morning.

Hopefully, I'll get a short nap when she goes down this afternoon. But, nap time usually is her only sleeping 40-60 minutes in her bed, but then she goes back to sleep in my arms in the rocker. She's been sleeping about 2 hrs in the afternoon and typically refuses morning naps. I might try one this morning though, around 530 or so depending on how crabby she is. The last several days it doesn't really matter what time I try it, she fights it and never does go to sleep. Today I was supposed to go into the office to see everyone, but called yesterday to say we weren't coming since I've got pink eye. So, we're just hanging around the house today...it could be a REALLY bad morning. Who knows, though. I guess she stays awake simply by not stopping...she's constantly moving. Constantly.

I called the sleep specialist yesterday...they said I should hear something from them by Friday. Apparently, they have a doctor look at the information the pediatrician submitted and go from there. I don't know. Anyways, I'm praying we hear soon and can get in within the next 2 weeks or so.

sleep

is almost non-existent at our house right now. Well, I guess I should say that hasn't been good, although the last night was better. At any rate, I hit my peak of tolerance on Wed. Poor Megan has just not been getting enough rest, which means we're not getting enough rest (okay mostly me). When you combine those 2 things together--it's really not pretty any way you look at it. So, I called the doctor on Wed and saw her yesterday.

The great thing about the appointment was that she was stumped. I think she was impressed with how much we have been doing to make sleep a better experience for Megan (and us, of course!). There were things we were doing that she didn't even ask about--whether that meant that she hadn't thought of that or she hadn't gotten that far to ask if we'd tried it, I don't know--but she was definitely stumped. And we didn't even discuss how to get her to sleep past 4am. Of course the variable to we do not know is Megan's genetic history with sleep disorders. We also talked about getting her off formula, the bottle, her eating as well as this runny nose/cold/allergy thing Megan seems to have started on Wed. She was surprised how particular Megan is (like she won't drink out of the sippy cup with a yellow lid) and chuckled at some of her antics. Since she is not drinking enough formula (despite being offered it 3x a day), she wants us to just leave everything else as it is.

Ultimately, I feel like I've been given a shot in the arm...it was a great confirmation to see that the doctor was completely stumped. But most importantly, she gave us a referral to a pediatric sleep specialist. I'm anxious to get in and see him to see what answers/solutions he has for us. Honestly, I think he's going to tell us she has a disorder. Maybe not, but I think he will. The answer I don't know is what the treatment is for it and whether we have to just hang on until she outgrows it. (Lord help us if that's the answer!)

Consequently, although I am still VERY tired, I'm encouraged that we are on the road to an answer.

Misc photos

Megan is so wiggly now, we simply wrap up in the towel for a few minutes, then get dressed in the bathroom as I'm following her around trying to get her dressed.
Thank goodness the bathroom is small!

Snuggling with dolly--who's very popular right now.

The sight today:
She saw a book on the floor by her chair...had to read it and have dolly close while I was getting her tray and food ready.

videos

For those who have never had the pleasure of watching Megan eat her peas...here's a video I took right before Christmas.



more to follow...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Fun with Horsey

Megan got this horse for Christmas. This morning she was giving dolly a ride. I asked her to smile for the camera...this is the face she gave me. Oh my what a ham!

We are getting up before 4am. Again. She's working on her 2 year molars. The gums on the bottom feel like the teeth have almost cut through. Hopefully this set won't take as long as the last 2 sets of teeth!

She is fully into size 18 months and some 24 month tops. It's hard to believe how much she's grown up...and so fast! I'm trying to prepare myself for a 2 year old...hard to believe it's almost here! When we go shopping now, she wants to walk into the store. And if you try and pick her up so that you can get past the traffic (who are not so patiently waiting for you to pass), she gets mad and screams an ear deafening scream. That's my big girl.

The Dancer

I have to blog this...and wish I could get the whole thing on video...so far, no luck.

Megan loves to dance. It's so funny (and cute!!!)! She starts off all rambunctious--stomping her feet, leaning side to side (lasts about 30 seconds, if that!)...but by the time the music gets going, she's simply holding her hands out in front of her and slowly moving them up and down. Think go-go dance or the dance they do on the commercial they "film" on the movie That Thing You Do. It's so cool, calm, almost 80s techno like. IT'S SO FUNNY! And incredibly cute.

I think I have the beginning part on video, she just started the last part within the past week or so.

Updates

Like the new look? I Love it!!! Thanks to Sasha at Princess Blogs for updating it for me--with very little direction! I only asked that it be cheerful and that I liked coral and pink. She took it from there. She and Ashton are honing their blog design skills and are updating blogs for free--contact them if you are interested in an update. You can click on their "button" in the right hand column. It will take you to their blog which has their email addresses on it.

We've been so busy...not sleeping well the last few days, I'm finally feeling better, Megan's doing pretty well with school and we're transitioning to one nap from 2. The nap transition is hit or miss...when you get up before 5am, it's really hard to wait until noon to take a nap. But, she needs to only be taking one nap for school...so we're working on it.

We celebrated Chinese New Year last night with the playgroup (which we rarely have time to attend). Here's Megan in our "practice" dress up for dinner. Then a group photo...which is not the best, but you can see there were a lot of families present!

Practice dress up..

White Swan playgroup

One year ago today...

We received "the call" at 2:12 pm from our SW, Rachael!!!! I was carrying my cell phone with me everywhere so I wouldn't miss that long awaited call. When it finally came, just hearing Rachael say "Kris?" made me break into tears, get all shaky and make my mind go blank! I couldn't believe it was FINALLY the day! We got so few details...but did find out that she was very little just 24 inches tall and weighed a whopping 12.5 lbs! A few hours later, we opened our email to see these precious photos.



And today she's doubled her weight and grown about 7 inches! Who would have known that her hair would grow in curly...that she's have so much personality...that we could be SO IN LOVE!

She is our "Sweets", our "Meg-alicious", our "Meg-pie". In every way a perfect fit for our family. I am still overwhelmed by the awesomeness of how she joined our family. We are so blessed and eternally grateful.

Fun at the park

This weekend we stopped at the park for some family fun.

Okay, so this was AFTER the park

Daddy & Megan by the slide

How sweet...

Today Megan & I stopped at an outdoor play area at the mall
I happened to have the camera from our weekend fun

Goodbye, Mr. President

Saw this awesome video on Debbie's blog...thought I'd share!

I'm still recovering from bronchitis, I'll post more about Megan later.