My Little Casanova

If ever a little boy was in the Freudian stage, it is Kaleb right now. He loooooves me...I mean, he is really in love with me.

And I love it. Yep, it makes my heart melt.

These are a few "Kalebisms" that have come out of his mouth in the past week:

"Mommy, you're soooo pretty." (btw, he said this to me about half an hour after I rolled out of bed...bonus points!)

"mmmm, Mommy you smell so good"

"Mommy, when I get bigger you can be my girl, ok? I don't want to get married and have kids; you can just be my girl." (sounds good to me!)

Kaleb, I'm not sure where you learned these lines, but keep 'em coming!

Is Ignorance Really Bliss?

So...is ignorance really bliss? Do you really want to be kept in the dark?



A few weeks ago at church we saw a lady who had on a beautiful jersey-knit dress. She really looked lovely. Except for the panty lines that I could not stop staring at.



As we watched her walk across the parking lot, I said to Keith, "why in the heck doesn't her husband tell her what the rest of us see? Why would he let her walk around like that?!"



I'm sure you've seen women fall into the same trap...they have no idea they are pulling a major fashion Don't as they strut around. And I always wonder why somebody doesn't tell them?!



So...the one thing about Keith is that he is always reliable as far as giving me honest opinions of how I look in what I am wearing.



Unfortunately, I don't always like the opinions!



This weekend he pointed out something that wasn't exactly flattering on me. As soon as he said it, he said, "great, I never should have said anything. Now I'm going to end up on your blog."



Well...sorry, babe you are right...but I promise I will not repeat what you told me.

Anyway, I was so bummed at what he pointed out to me even though I knew he was right. And I also knew he wasn't being mean; he just wanted to let me know what I obviously didn't want to see.

So, ladies...here's my question for you: Do you want to know or do you want to be blissfully ignorant? Would you rather have your husband (or boyfriend, or girlfriend) point out something that isn't flattering, or would you rather that strangers walk past you and giggle?

I am thankful for the honest feedback, even if it does hurt just a bit.

Operation Get Out of Our Bed!

This picture was taken at least 2 years ago. Sweet precious Kaleb snuggling with me in bed! It could have been taken last week.

****if you are the judgemental type who loves to tell everybody how to raise their kids, then please stop reading now! Thank you.

Here's the background: Kaleb has NEVER, EVER been a good sleeper. As an infant, he had horrible colic. He would literally scream if he wasn't being constantly held. I would spend hours rocking him to sleep. The minute I put him in the crib and removed my hands, he would wake up screaming. If you thnk I'm exaggerating, ask the amazing ladies at the nursery in our church. They remember!

I tried everything! Every cotton-picking piece of advice from friends, family, and even complete strangers! I remember the pain of utter exhaustion that I felt on a daily basis. I was desperate for a solution to get him to sleep so that I, in turn, could sleep and not go completely insane.

>>>> On a side note, I should mention that I LOVE sleep. I can fall asleep anywhere, any time. If I could, I would sleep 12 hours a night and take a 2 hour nap in the afternoon!

One time I called the "Babyline" that our hospital had available for new mothers. I called, crying, begging, pleading for help. This is what the well-meaning old lady said to me: "A well-rested mother is a happy mother." Ummmm...yeah, no shit Sherlock! Do I sound like either of those to you?????

Anyway, one night we put Kaleb down in our bed....and guess what? He fell sound asleep. Like a beautiful cherub. I swear, the skies parted and the angels sang!

And so, here we are, four years later and he is still in our bed. His bed sits, lonely, in his room. Those awesome Spiderman sheets waiting for him to lay on them. Every night, he falls asleep in our bed. Sometimes we move him to his bed and sometimes we don't, depending on how tired we are. I should also tell you that not only does he fall asleep in our bed, but he also has to be physically touching me to fall asleep...head on my belly, forehead-to-forehead, etc. (I know, I know...we have really failed, we are well aware! Like I said, stop reading!)

We have tried many times to get him out of our bed, and we always give up because he outlasts us every time! It's phenomenal the stamina he has!

We are trying again. We really want our bed back. We took a great class at church on Song of Solomon and it would be nice to put it into practice (wink wink, nudge nudge).

Here is how it's going so far:

Night 1 (Thursday): We prepped Kaleb ahead of time that he would be sleeping in his own bed and that if he did I would rent a movie for him. After dinner, he played and watched some TV, then after bath and jammies we all played a board game in his room. Daddy kissed him goodnight, then I read him a couple of books. I kissed him goodnight and went to our room. About 5 minutes or so later, he came in and asked me to come snuggle with him. I did, and as he started to drift to sleep I got up and went back to bed. He slept all the way until 4:30 and then came to our room.

We were ecstatic! It was so easy! We were all rested and happy!

Well, we should have known. It was too easy. A fluke.

Night 2 (Friday): All hell broke loose! Earlier in the day I bought a reward chart so we could track his progress. We decided on some nice rewards for him, and he seemed both proud and happy. As it got closer to bedtime, he was really cranky. Probably over-tired...not a good sign. Again, I read to him and then tried to say goodnight. It fell apart from there. For the next hour he screamed and cried, clutching to my leg as I tried to leave the room, chasing me down the hall.

These are some of the things he said to me: "please Mommy, please! I'll be a good boy I promise. Please, Mommy (kiss kiss) I love you don't you want to snuggle with me. Pleeeeeease Mommy I need you!"

It broke my heart. It was all I could do not to cry with him and bring him to our bed. But I didn't. I just held him and told him I loved him, and that this is best for him and he would be OK, blah blah etc.

Keith took over and basically held him until he fell asleep in his arms out of shear exhaustion.

So...any advice is much needed and appreciated, but also support and encouragement. This is probably harder for me than Kaleb and I don't want to fail again.

I'll keep you posted on our progress!