What we've been up to

Ben is staying awake for longer stretches during the day, and still napping long (3 hr) stretches. He sleeps for about 3 hr intervals at night, which is okay at this point. He's still a 3rd shift alarm clock. No matter if he's sleeping or awake before 10:00, he'll wake up right around that time to just be fussy for awhile. Between walking him around the house and feeding him, we are able to eventually get him back to sleep.

Colin cut his two bottom 2 year molars--finally. Not that you would know. Molars are painless for him. He went to the dentist with me today and got a ride in the chair. He let the hygienist put the bib on, but wouldn't even look at her, let alone open his mouth. After trying to bribe him with a prize, we said enough and he got off the chair. Then he decided he did want the airplane prize, so he opened his mouth and did a great job of showing the hygienist his teeth. Our next appointment is in July, and hopefully he'll let her in his mouth.

We started a behavior chart with Colin. He'd been having a ton of time outs. Life with a sassy toddler wasn't really all that fun, quite frankly. So now he puts a post-it note on the fridge, and if he has a day with no time outs, he puts a sticker on the post-it. When he gets 3 stickers, he gets a treat. On Saturday morning, I took him to the gas station and he picked out a huge cookie. He has 2 stickers on his new post-it, so hopefully we'll be getting another treat soon.

Kevin has been home a lot since it's winter and business is slow. His flexible schedule has been nice so that I can run Colin to daycare three times a week while he stays home with sleepy Ben. He's a great diaper changer and fussy Ben walk-arounder.

I failed to mention that I sort of ran my Explorer into an embankment a week ago. I had taken Colin to daycare and Ben was at home with Kevin. I was driving home and started fishtailing on some ice and just couldn't gain control back. My Explorer started going toward the ditch. I debated whether or not to step on the brake or not. I did, and the Explorer did a 180 and hit the embankment on the drivers side. Of course I didn't have my cell phone with me (Murphy's Law), so I had to walk to a nearby house. The old guy that lived there was less than compassionate, just asking me if I had hit his mailbox. Eyeroll. Kevin and his dad came out to assess the damage and Kevin drove it home. Turns out I totaled it (doesn't take much when it's not worth a lot), and now we're in the process of getting a new vehicle; probably another Explorer. Since it was totaled, we can also get new car seats, so I ordered those today. I feel okay. My back hurts sometimes and I want to go to the chiropractor but, well, I kind of need a way to get there! My pride hurts more though. We haven't had a car payment for a long time, and now we'll have one, although hopefully it will be pretty small. Kevin's parents have been nice enough to lend us their vehicle for times I need to drive.

I've been decluttering some more. I'm sure you're all excited to see pictures of my Tupperware cupboard, dishes/cup cupboard, cleaning closet, and hear all about the rest. Let's just say that it's only January 23 and I'm done with the January and February calendars and much of March-July as well. :) Don't worry. I will post all about it soon.