Dr. Seuss

Caden had his two year well visit today. I told him we had to go see the doctor as I was putting his shoes and coat on him this morning. All of a sudden he starts jumping up and down and is extremely excited. I was shocked by his reaction so I asked him why he was so excited. He then starts to hop around and says, "I'm going to see Dr. Seuss! I'm going to see Dr. Seuss!" It was pretty funny. Then when his doctor entered the room he asked how Caden was doing. I said, "Well, he's expecting to see Dr. Seuss, so I'm not sure if he'll be thrilled to see you." His doctor loved it and said in 25 years he has never heard that one before. Caden is so silly!

Those darn gloves...

It has been extremely cold this winter. We are lucky if it gets up to 20 degrees lately. The ground has been covered with snow for what seems like weeks now. I have been praying that the weather gets a little warmer so we can get outside and play. So, today it hits 20 degrees and I was ecstatic! It took me awhile to round up all our outside gear. I get Alex dressed first and sent him outside. Next up was Caden. I got him all bundled up and sent him out. It was then my turn to put my gear on. As I was heading outside, Alex pulled "The Christmas Story" line on me and had to use the restroom. So I undressed him, sent him to the bathroom and continued to let Caden play in the snow. Alex got dressed again and we headed back out. As soon as we were out the door Caden started crying. In the 2 minutes we were inside, he had taken off one of his gloves and proceeded to make snowballs with his naked hand. Needless to say his hand was fiery red from the cold. I can not for the life of me keep gloves on that child. Caden had his 2 year check up today and I was telling his doctor that he will not keep gloves on and he said some parents have gone to the extreme of using duck tape to keep them on. Duck tape! I guess you can use duck tape for anything. So the fun lasted about 5 minutes after it took us what seemed like an hour to get ready. It was pretty funny! I guess that is what you have to expect with a 2 and 3 year old, right?

Vietnamese New Year

Today is the Vietnamese New Year. We were so lucky to have been invited to the Vietnamese Community New Year's party in our local town. I have to say the Vietnamese community knows how to party. It was pretty cool to be apart of another culture's traditions. When we showed up a red envelope was given to Alex and Caden. The red envelope is filled with "lucky" money. The night started off with delicious food, next was music and dancing and then a dragon dance. The dragon dance is a vital part of the Vietnamese culture, in which it symbolizes blessings and prosperity. The dance is performed to bring good luck. The dragon dances around and everyone feeds the dragon with money. Alex and Caden loved feeding the dragon. Luckily I was out of dollar bills because I think they would have fed the dragon a million times if they could. I feel so blessed that we have such great friends and that we can be apart of celebrating their heritage along with them.

Caden Turns 2!!

I can't believe Caden turned 2 years old today. He is my youngest baby and it's hard to believe he is growing up so fast. When I was pregnant with Alex, everyone said to enjoy every minute because they will be teenagers before you know it. They were right, and I think the more children you have the faster time goes because you are so busy. I wish life would slow down a little bit. I took Caden to a toy store today and of course he picked out Thomas trains and Thomas books. He is obsessed with Thomas!! I am making him his favorite dinner tonight, which is cavatini and also apple cupcakes with carmel frosting. We are not having a big birthday party for him considering we are suppose to have a blizzard tonight, so it's going to be very low key. We do plan on taking him to a indoor water park when the weather gets a little nicer. He will love that. Anyway, just had to write about my love turning two. He is growing up too fast!!!

Sanibel Island here we come....

So, here is an update if you read my previous blog about the winter blue's...hopefully I will be cured! I just booked a vacation to Sanibel Island Florida for my family. A close friend and her son will be joining us, so that means there will be 3 adults and 3 boys ages 2, 3 & 4. I am extremely excited!! I have heard great things about Sanibel Island. I know it is geared toward families. In fact, the lady booking our condo said they don't get spring breakers, so that means it's exactly what we need. Can't wait!!

I did get out of the house today and that helped with the winter blues too. I guess if it's going to be 20 degrees out, it better snow. We took Alex and Caden sledding at one of our local parks. It was so much fun! I can't remember the last time I went sledding. It has been years. I feel like I'm living life all over again through Alex and Caden's experiences. We plan on going back tomorrow and also on Monday. We are going to take advantage of the snow while we have it. I attached a couple pictures of you to see of Alex and Caden sledding.

Winter Blues

Are any of you experiencing the Winter Blues? I feel like spring will never get here. I believe this year has been more tough on me. I pondered over why the cold weather has been so difficult on me this year and then it dawned on me.

Here is my equation to best describe it:
"two active little boys" + "stuck inside the house" = CRAZINESS

Last summer Caden was 18 months old and Alex had turned 3, so they were at such a great age to play outside all the time. We seriously lived at our local parks!! It was great! I was training for a mini marathon in the summer, so my husband would ride his bike, the boys would be in the bike trailer and I would run along the side of them. After we ran/biked we always went to the park. I miss those days;( I am counting down until warm weather is here.

One sleep deprived mom...

The sleep situation in my house is not good. My youngest son who is almost 2 years old has climbed out of his crib ever since he was 19 months old. Up until that point, he slept great in his crib. We would lay him down and he would put himself to sleep. We had gone to Colorado for a week when Caden was 19 months to visit family. During our stay all four of us shared a king size bed. HUGE mistake! Who would have thought that one week would ruin his good sleep habits? When we came home, the little stinker would not have anything to do with his crib. We would lay him down and he was just cry and cry and cry. We tried for weeks every technique out there to try and get him to love his crib again, but I think he was truly afraid of his crib. So, the day came that my little man, my baby transitioned to a big boy bed. I was in tears! He is growing up way to fast! Well, he absolutely loves his bed. He thinks he is hot stuff like his 3 year old brother who is in a big boy bed. The problem is he won't STAY in his bed. I know you all are thinking this is normal, but to us it's not normal, which I'll get to in a second. Now, we read him a story about 50 times, or we make a story up, or we sing to him until he falls asleep. It now takes us an hour to get him to sleep at nap time and at bedtime. So, two hours a day is trying to get him to sleep. Two hours is a chunk of time when there isn't enough hours out of the day as it is. He wakes up in the middle of the night a half dozen times and crawls in our bed. We take him back to his bed, lay down with him until he falls asleep again and then head back to bed. It is a very tiring process.

Now I will explain what has been normal to us for the past 3 1/2 years. Our oldest son Alex has ALWAYS had excellent sleep habits when it comes to going to sleep on his own. Ever since he was a baby we could lay him down and he would put himself to sleep on his own. We put him in a big boy bed when he was 2 and he has never once gotten out of bed. In fact, he actually stays in his bed until we come and get him. When we put Caden in a big boy bed, we just assumed he would stay in his bed like Alex does. We were so wrong! Although Alex stays in his bed, he has his own sleep problem. Ever since he was a little over a year, he rocks and sings himself to sleep. It's very comforting to him, such as a child who wants a pacifier or blanket to fall asleep. We don't mind the rocking, but the singing can be soooooooo loud. He will sing just about anything to go to sleep. Since it has been Christmas time, we will hear Jingle Bells and Frosty the Snowman over and over and over again until he falls asleep. He also wakes up in the middle of the night and to put himself back to sleep he rocks and sings. He will do this for hours if we let him. Usually, we just go in his room, tell him to relax and he will stop. A lot of times we have to lay down with him until he falls asleep. I think the rocking alone deserves it's own blog so I will write about this subject again later.

So, there you have it. I know being a mom you are going to have a lot of sleepless nights, but my husband and I dream of having a straight 8 hours of sleep again. Will it ever happen? We could easily co-sleep with them and our dreams would come true. I do LOVE cuddling with them, don't get me wrong, but personally I think it's important to cuddle with my husband at night. I want them to be able to sleep on their own for many reasons. So, if anyone out there has any advice for me or if you want to share your own sleepless night problems, I would love to hear from you.