Alyssa's Sleep

While looking through post I noticed I had a lot of posts talking about Alyssa's sleep or lack there of. After about a year those post stopped. They stopped because I got used to it I think not because she was sleeping better.
   To be fair there were about 6 months that she slept through the night constantly and things were going well. We then had to move her out of her crib because she started climbing out and we were back to bad sleeping habits.
   After re-reading every sleep book out there and whining to many people about how my baby slept better than my two year old I went to the doctor today to ask for advice.
    We are going to try melatonin for two weeks. What we are looking for is that she goes to sleep and stays asleep. Usually the problem is not with her going to sleep (though we do have weeks where that is hard too). but the problem is staying asleep she can get up anywhere from 1-5 times a night. Sometimes it is just for a few minutes other times it is for up to an hour. The melatonin is supposed to help her stay asleep.
    If this does not work then he will refer us to another ENT specialist who will make sure the tonsils and adenoids are not the issue. if those are not the issue then we will be referred on to a sleep center. To make sure that there is not another underlying issue like sleep apena or something else.
   Lets hope for once Alyssa takes the easy road and this melatonin works.

Grant's Farm

On Sunday we went to Grant's Farm.The whole way there Alyssa talked about going on a train ride and seeing some horses.
  When you get there you have to ride a tram to get to the park. As the train pulled up Alyssa got really excited. She was happy to sit by herself until we got to the animal part and then she sat on Chris' lap so that she could see all the animals. At one point she saw a deer that had spots and she yelled "Look a Giraffe" everyone on our tram got a chuckle out of that.
 I had bought a coupon that allowed us to get two carousel rides, bottles to feed the goats, snow cones and two kids meals. Alyssa had a blast. It was the first time she had ever been on a carousel and she wasn't sure about it at first but we excited when she found out she got to go on it for a second time.
   Feeding the goats was a little scary for her but she enjoyed watching us feed the goats. We saw a bird show which both kids enjoyed watching the animals fly around. They both also enjoyed seeing all the other animals around the farm including the huge turtles.


   As we were walking in I realized I had forgotten to pack sunscreen for the kids, but lucky for us the park is so shaded that there were very few times that we were out in the sun.
   We got some lunch saw some horses and headed out about 2 and a half hours after we got there, but it was well worth the money we spent and I look forward to returning.

9 Months

Dear Colin,
   You are 9 months old today. You weigh 24 lbs and 4 ounces according to the doctor's scale today. We will find out how long you are on Friday at your well visit.  You wear size 12 month clothes but really need to move up to size 18 months as all your pants are tight on you. You wear size four diapers.
    You will eat your baby food but would much prefer table food. We still don't give you everything because you have yet to get a tooth. At the doctor today he said that we probably won't see one in the next week or two either. So for now you get crackers, pasta noodles and french fries.
    You crawl with sped and determination. You can also pull yourself up on everything and have started to try to climb on things so that you can reach other things. Mommy doesn't like you climbing and you have a bruise on your forehead to prove your adventures.
   Outside is one of your favorite places to be and you love to crawl around the deck. You are not as fond of the grass but will tolerate it if it means you are closer to your sister.
    You have started to not let anyone hold you other than mommy or daddy. Even people that you used to like you don't let hold you lately. Hopefully that is a faze you get over quickly.
     You still sleep through the night unless you are sick and then you are up more frequently.
  You are a smart baby and will fold your hands and clap for prayer. We are still working on bye bye but you enjoy sitting and watching people and have enjoyed outings to the Magic House and Grant's Farm the last few weeks were you can watch the people and your sister.
   Colin you are such a joy to our lives and I'm so happy that you are a part of it. I can't wait to see what the future holds.
Love,
  Mommy

Few Stories

These are all stories not long enough for their own post, however they are stories I don't want to forget.

1. This morning Alyssa heard Colin wake up, she ran to his room and I could hear the two of them playing. Then I hear Colin screaming and crying. Alyssa came running into my room and said "I pushed Colin down". I made her go tell him she was sorry and he was fine.

2. We were in the drive thru at McDonalds. We were waiting to put in our order. Alyssa is sitting in the back seat going "Large Coke, Mommy wants a Large COKE". I had to laugh because she is now knows my soda addiction!

3. Colin has learned to climb up on a small chair in our living room and stand on it reaching everything on an end table. He thinks it is funny to pull the tissues out of the box. (Mommy does not.)

4. We are teaching Alyssa her name and our names. This morning I asked her what her name was she told me it was "Alyssa three" when I corrected her to Alyssa (Lastname) she got really upset and said NO MOMMY my name Issa three.

5. Alyssa has decided that the community college by our house is Cinderella's castle and every time we drive by it we have to wave and say hello to Cinderella.
Alyssa is also really good at telling us how to get home from different places in town. It is cute to hear her tell us "go that way" while pointing the direction to go.

6. Today I was driving with the windows down and every time the breeze hit Colin he would laugh.

1 Year Anniversary

Today marks the one year anniversary of me opening Knight's Day Care. The kids celebrated today by being extremely emotional and needy and me wanting to curl up and rock in the corner by the time the last kid left. Yet even as bad as today was it still doesn't even come close to how bad my old job was. In fact today's worse was still 100 times better than just an okay day at my old job.
    I was so scared to start my business a year ago and there were many times in the first month or two that I thought about quitting. There were times when I thought I had kids and they fell through or other issues where I wasn't sure if we were going to have enough money to cover everything.
     This last year has been hard but it has been one of the best of my working life. I LOVE LOVE LOVE that I get to be home with my kids (even if they drive me nuts some days). I love that I still get to contribute to the family income. And most of all I love working with kids.
     If I had a job outside of the home it would have been super trying as well with as sick as Colin was and all the doctor appointments he had to go to, and also the time I would have had to taken off for both grandparents funerals.  With owning my own business it added another stress because I knew that I was in charge of making sure everything got taken care of, yet I knew that everything was under control because I had hired an amazing assistant.

     I don't think I could have made it through the year without my assistant. She is not only my employee but one of my best friends now. She is amazing with my kids and when I have had to step away from the daycare for whatever reason I don't think twice because I know she has it handled. She has gone over and beyond what an employee has to do and I could never thank her enough for all that she has done for my family and me.
   Also because of my awesome assistant I have been able to keep my word and my daycare has never had to close for a day due to my kids or I being sick. We have been closed but only for scheduled holidays.
    I also could not have done this without my wonderful and supportive husband. He has stood behind me from the start. He encouraged me when I needed it and helped me jump through all the hoops I needed to get through to get my licences. He knows each of the kids either through stories from me or from meeting them and playing with them when he gets home from work. He helps me keep the house in order and my sanity at night by helping with our kids.
    So this post is a HUGE thank you to all that have helped me be the successful business woman I am today I could not have done it without you!

Downtown Alton

A few weeks ago we had nothing to do on a Sunday so we decided to drive down to Downtown Alton and walk around. We parked by the river and walked along the river and marina looking at the different boats and birds. We then came across a playground so we stopped so Alyssa could play for a little bit. We then walked to the amphitheater that also has a large fountain and a lot of small fountains around it. It is encouraged that kids can play in the smaller fountains and the kids that were there were dressed for the occasion. Most in bathing suits and with towels.
       I had hard about these fountains but wasn't sure if Alyssa would like them or not. Well she saw the water and wanted to check it out so we did. At first she was shy and would just sit her finger or toe in it, but soon she loved it and was putting her whole body in the water. We let her play for about 15 minutes and then told her it was time to go back to the car.
   The car was a long walk away and Colin was in the stroller so we told her she had to walk because she was too wet for us to carry. She walked the whole way back to the car without a complaint. At the car I had a spare change of clothes from the diaper bag, so we changed her before we left.

    I'm hoping we have another free weekend soon and we can take her back with proper clothes and park the car a little closer.  

Magic House

On Saturday our plan was to go to Grant's Farm. As we started to drive towards Grant's Farm it started to rain and rain hard. We had one stop to make and by the time we got to our stop it was still raining and though we thought it would stop soon we didn't want to walk around on the wet ground. So we decided to go to the Magic House. The last time I went to the Magic house was about 10 years ago it was small and there wasn't much for young kids to do.

   I knew that they had done some construction and knew that a lot of my friends had taken their kids there so I thought it was worth a try. Alyssa loved it. There were a lot of things that were still over her head and also we didn't visit certain areas. But she had a lot of fun. She really enjoyed the three story slide. It is not recommended for kids under the age of three and the worker at the top told me he wasn't sure if she should go. I told him she would be fine and she took off. By the time I went down the stairs to the bottom she was already on her way back up to do it again with a huge smile on her face. She also enjoyed a smaller slide in the kid section. On one of the levels they had a "hospital nursery" Alyssa enjoyed feeding the baby a bottle and changing his diaper. Also on that level they had a library and she got to pretend to check out books and enjoyed sitting and looking at books while Colin drank a bottle.
   Colin also had a great time in a baby section where he could play in ball pits and look in mirrors and crawl through tunnels.




    It was crowded but both kids did fantastic and enjoyed it very much. After we left we went and got a bite to eat and then both kids were passed out within three minutes of getting back in the car and slept the whole way home.

Pulling Up

Colin has started to pull himself up on everything. He now can do it on the table in the kitchen, on people, and on some toys that we have around the house. Today he took himself from the small child's table over to a chair from the big table. Chris and I both watched it happen. Chris said "He is going to be walking soon" I said "I hope not". He said "Well you couldn't wait for Alyssa to walk" and I agreed with him but told him this time it is different I know what happens once they start walking.
    I'm excited to watch Colin grow and it is so fun to watch him now chase his sister around the house, but I keep thinking that he is growing up way to fast. I'm not sure if I can handle this being the last time I will have a baby that can't walk. I already miss some of the baby things.
   I am also not looking forward to trying to keep two from not running away from me at the store. One walker I can do. Two can run in opposite directions.
   Lets just hope Colin doesn't want to walk for a few more months.

Grandma Shores

While I was in the middle of my last post (the one to Alyssa) my phone rang. It was 9:44 at night and so when I went over to it and saw it was my mom I thought she had just not figured the time. I answered the phone and all I could hear was sobs and my mom call my name. My heart stopped knowing something was terribly wrong.
   She told me my Grandma and died. I tried to finish the post, and did, then closed my computer went upstairs crawled into bed and cried. I was up until way after midnight either on the phone with my brother, mom or just with my own thoughts.
   On Wednesday my brother flew in and we drove down to Centraila. The visitation was that night. I took both kids and I think it was nice for people to meet my two kids. On Thursday was the funeral and on Friday was a big breakfast in honor of my Grandpa's birthday.
     I am so grateful that my Grandma got to meet Alyssa. She loved Alyssa with all her heart. The first time she met Alyssa she was still able to walk and told Alyssa of all the things they would explore. Soon after that she had her spinal cord stroke and was confined to a wheel-chair. Every time we would visit she would let Alyssa play with the wheel chair and tell her of the adventures they would take when she could walk again.
   The last time we were there I was about 7 months pregnant with Colin. Grandma was so excited to meet Colin. I promised her we would come out as soon as we could after he was born.

   Well we planned three trips out to see her and every one of them fell through for one reason or another, Colin was in the hospital, Grandma was in the hospital, My other Grandpa had died.  So we were finally going to go see them in September.


   Well I introduced Grandma to Colin on Wednesday night and I know she was smiling. I know she loved her great grandson. I know that she will enjoy watching my son grow. I just wish I could have seen her hold him.
*Grandma I know we visited you at least 4 times but I only have pictures of two, I'm so sorry I won't have more of you and Alyssa.*

30 months!

Dear Alyssa,
   Yesterday you turned 30 months (that's 2 and a half if you don't want to do the math). I didn't even realize it was your half birthday until someone asked how old you were and I told them you would be two and a half next month and your Daddy corrected me and said no, she is two and a half today.
   I cannot believe how fast time has gone by it seems like it was only a few months ago that we were celebrating you turning 1!
    You still wear size 18 month clothes, though I have started to buy you some 24 month stuff. For pants they are the correct length but are so big in the waist that they just fall down. 18 month isn't too short on you so I just let you wear that, unless it is a dress and then it is 24 month. You weight about 26 lbs (you stand on the scale almost nightly before your bath and range from 25-27 lbs).
    You talk non-stop unless you are around someone your not sure about, then you pretend you don't know how to talk until you feel comfortable and then you talk a mile a minute again.  You love to sing songs, you know ABC's, Happy Birthday, Old McDonald, Jump up and down, and many many more.
    You love to play pretend with your friends and though you don't always understand what the older kids are doing you still go along with them.  You also love to torment the other kids and will do things that you know will make them mad just to get a reaction out of them.

    You still hate sleeping through the night. We have moved you out of a toddler bed and into a full size mattress( this just happened last week). Since we did that you have slept more of the night in your room, but still twice this week you have come to our room and slept with us for part of the night. Maybe when you are 18 you will sleep through the night on your own.
    You absolutely love your brother. When you hear him wake up in the morning you go running to his room and get on the step stool beside his bed and talk to him.  In the car you also talk and make him laugh almost non-stop. You love to give him kisses if he is crying and make sure that no one hurts him.
   I love watching the two of you play together and he just adores you as well. He will crawl after you if you leave the room.
   Alyssa, Daddy and I had no idea what was in store for us when you were born and as I sit here just two and a half years later I can't believe the joy you have brought to our lives. You are a very smart, funny, loving and out going you are. I can't wait to see what the future holds.
Love,
Mommy

Candy and Water Slides

Today Alyssa had a day of firsts. This morning she woke up at 5:45 I heard her walking around the loft closing doors. I waited for her to come in our room, but before she did I was back asleep. I woke up at 6:30 to her next to the bed with a bag of cheetos. I told her she was not eating those for breakfast( I had left a sandwich in a bag and the chips out from last night). She woke Vinnie up so I took him outside, put a movie on for Alyssa and went back to bed.
  At 6:50 Colin woke up and so I went and got him and brought him back into bed with us to feed him a bottle. Alyssa must of heard this and came upstairs. She was eating something so I asked her what she was eating. She told me "CANDY!" I said how many pieces have you eaten? She told me "just one".
  We came downstairs, she had eaten at least 6 Hersey kisses. She had taken the rest of them and put one in each spot on the deviled egg plate I had also left out from last night.
  I will let her be up by herself again, but lesson learned close and lock the pantry.

Then later today we went to her cousin Alex's birthday party. He had gotten a huge water slide (think blow up  bounce house size). Alyssa looked at it and her eyes got wide. She tried it once and wasn't sure. She hung out at the bottom for awhile watching the other kids go. She finally decided she was brave enough to try again. After that it was 2 hours before we had to pull her off of it kicking and screaming. She went down on her belly feet first( her favorite way to go), on her belly head first( she only did that once), on her bottom, and on her side. She loved it, she would go under the water at the bottom pop up and get the biggest smile it was so fun to watch her play.

Lost

On Sunday we went to Home Depot. It was past Alyssa'a nap time and she hadn't had lunch yet but we were hoping it would be quick and then we could go home and eat. Well we were quick but not quick enough and Alyssa was having one melt down after another. Finally we were walking towards the check out and she threw her self of the floor. We just kept walking.
  I kept watching for her but she couldn't see us. She walked out of the aisle and turned the wrong way. I followed behind her. She just kept walking, she was looking for us but was not crying and even 3 associate's asked her where her mommy was she just kept walking. Finally after walking almost the whole length of the store she finally stopped and was thinking. At this point she turned and happened to see me. She smiled and walked up to me. She then said "Go find Daddy and Colin".
   So I don't think she learned any lesson from it, and now I know that leaving her will not bother her at all. I guess I'm in for a lot of searching as the years go on.