The first leg of our summer blowout trip

Our weekend is coming to a close today. It's been fun an busy! We rolled into town Friday afternoon and had a wonderful afternoon of playing kids and chatting mommies. Hanging at Lisa's is pretty much my favorite thing to do. Especially when the neighbor/great friend have a lemonade stand with door to door sales!

Friday night we tried to go eat at my favorite Mexican haunt, Chuy's, but the wait was over an hour. With it being almost 7, us having 2 already tired kids, and being starving ourselves, we decided to just walk next door. To Cracker Barrel. Now don't get me wrong, I loves me some Cracker Barrell. They are the kings of of the hash brown casserole and their bacon is tops in my book. But I didn't want breakfast. I wanted a Chuychanga. And a swirl margarita. And green sauce and chips. Copious amounts of green sauce and chips. We ate our breakfast, and it was good. Just not Chuy's good.

Why is it the first night with kids in a hotel always sucks? It started out sucking because the hotel we're staying at had no crib. The desk clerk actually looked at me funny when I asked for one. Now I realize that this hotel caters to business travelers, but hell, I've never been to a hotel that didn't have a pack-n-play. Can you believe the clerk actually gave us some extra blankets and pillows and told us to put our crawling 8-month old on the pull out sofa? Aside from crawling off the bed and cracking her head, can you imagine how many strangulation and suffocation hazards exist on a pull out sofa? So she obviously doesn't have kids. Or at least I hope she doesn't. Oy! Back to the pack-n-play. We called Lisa's house and the day was saved, because of course she has one (we use it all the time) and of course we could use it. According to her mom, because Lisa and her husband were at dinner. Alone. Nice!

So we swung by after dinner and picked up the pack-n-play and threw the kids in bed as soon as we walked in the hotel room door. Only they weren't really happy about it. Actually, BJ was cool since he likes being thrown around, but Lovey, not so cool. Let's just say it was not a night filled with lots of cozy, peaceful sleep and sweet baby sighs. That silly, silly Lovey. She's so crazy.

Day two was all about Lisa's baby shower. A bunch of women away from the husbands and kids for 2 hours. A wonderful restaurant. Lots of talking was going on. Because we never get to talk uninterrupted, you know. So we talked. And we got to read the menu and actually decide what we wanted to BEFORE the waiter got to our table. And when our food arrived, we got to eat it while it was still hot. Pretty novel ideas, there folks. Yessiree. So back to the shower. It was great. Lisa is glowing and beautiful and so pregnant. Did I mention that? Yep, come to find out, she's having another baby! In about 6 weeks, no less. She received many wonderful gifts, although I think my Starbucks gift card and cash, was the best. Hey, I know my girl, okay. She's going to need the caffeine once the baby's born and she loves to get her shop on. Plus, she can buy whatever she wants, baby related or not. Did I mention the cake? The wonderfully beautiful, chocolate and raspberry creation that Lisa's friend Julie made. Amazing. Pictures coming soon! I took lots. With Lisa's camera. Because forgot mine. Doh!

So to recap. Women without kids. Adult conversation. Amazing food (I had blackened catfish enchiladas). Baby presents. Cake to die for. Two hours. It was great!

Then last night it was family time. We went to dinner at a restaurant Lisa recommend. Excellent margaritas and pretty good fish tacos! Then we figured we'd push our already tired kids and hit the outlet mall for some school clothes for BJ. School clothes shopping, done. Until it gets cold sometime in December. Then we'll actually have to buy pants and long-sleeve shirts.

And here we are, on Sunday. I'm doing a little work (which I've been doing all weekend here and there) and waiting for ruby & roja's new project to launch. Darned lag time with propagating and such. Such a pain to wait. We'll be heading to Lisa's later to hang until Wednesday when we leave for Indiana. Beth, are you reading this? 3 more days, Hooker. 3 more days. Really, it's only Monday, Tuesday and HALF of Wednesday. Get your sleep on now, girl, cuz' we won't have time for that silliness once the Mensis hit town. And there will be absolutely no folding laundry either. Because we're going to be crazy like that.

Thank you!

Thanks to everyone who commented with advice or just to commiserate on Mia's sleep issues. I was talking on the phone earlier today with Lisa and she made a tiny suggestion. Maybe I was waiting too long to put Mia down for her nap. I typically wait until she's been awake for 2 hours to put her down again. She said, "maybe you should bump it up a half hour." And I said, "why not."

So I did. Today Mia woke up at 7 a.m., so I put her down at 8:30 and she slept unitl 10! Then I put her down at 11:30 and she slept until 1. We've doubled her nap time, just like that. Now, it could be a fluke, but I have high hopes!! She is so much happier today and I feel much less stressed. We'll see how the rest of the day plays out and if she does it again tomorrow, I'll be willing to give Lisa a big huge smooch when she gets here on Tuesday! Get ready girl!!!

Edited to add photographic evidence!!

Yesterday. Do you see those red rimmed eyes?

And today. Much happier. Eyes not so red!

Can you help?

I am having some major issues with Mia and her sleep habits. I've come to the conclusion that it's not anything I'm doing wrong. The girl just doesn't want to sleep.

Here's a typical day for Mia:

• 6-7 a.m. - wake up, bright eyed and bushy tailed (mama, not so much). When she wakes up I nurse her
• 8:30 - 9 a.m. - down for a nap, and believe me, she's ready! I put her down awake and she generally goes to sleep right away
• 45 minutes later she wakes up, grouchy, but so happy to see me. I usually try to coax her back to sleep. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
• 11ish - We eat lunch and I feed Mia cereal and some sort of baby food, also nurse again.
• 12-1 p.m. Mia back down for a nap.
• 45 minutes, sometimes an hour later, Mia is up again. I try to get her to sleep again to no avail.
• 3ish, I nurse her and mabye a nap again. Maybe not. If she does, it's only, you guessed it, about 45 minutes.
• 5:30 p.m. Dinner time. More cereal, some baby food.
• 6:15 p.m. Bath time
• 6:45 p.m. Nurse her
• 7:15 p.m. Bed time

So I feel like we have a pretty good schedule. I'm typically consistent with her feeding and nap times. She sleeps in her bed, the room is dark and cool and quiet. I just don't get why she won't nap longer. Plus, I won't even go in to the still numerous nighttime wakings. It's enough to push this mommy over the edge though.

So here's what I've tried.

• Baby Whisperer - Pick up/put down method
• Ferberizing
• Crying it out (only once or twice when I just couldn't handle it anymore)
• Holding and patting until she's almost asleep and then putting her down and patting some more

Could it have something to do with her size? She was 13 lbs. 2.5 ounces at her 6 month checkup. She is a petite princess. Or that fact that she's slightly anemic (on iron supplements 3 times a day) and constipated (on laxatives to help with that issue) because of the supplements? Who knows.

I will say that I know she can sleep longer. Occasionally she will nap for an hour to an hour and a half. And TWICE she's slept for 2+ hours. So it is possible...

Maybe one of you, my faithful readers, can offer some advice. I'm really at my wits end with all of this.

PLEASE HELP ME. I'll be your best friend forever :)

"I'm worned out, mommy"

BJ apparently had a very strenuous day at pre-school. This is his current wherabouts.
Update: I carried him in (which is no small feat!) and now he's resting peacefully on his bed. Mia on the other hand is in her bed raising hell. Gotta go!