Pumpkin Patch Kids

My children LOVED the pumpkin patch this year.  And I loved watching them play together and snapping pictures of them left and right while they were soaking up the fall sunshine last weekend.

It was the perfect afternoon to choose our grand assortment of pumpkins for Halloween this year, and we were very successful in our efforts!  We brought home 18 pumpkins!  Well, 20 pumpkins if you count these two super cutie-pies right here...

This afternoon, we set out on our mission to get our pumpkins carved.  Reagan has become the resident expert at choosing the perfect designs for carving some serious jack-o-lanterns, as she has been doing this for a few years now.  

Myers, however, was very anxious to figure out exactly what we were doing! At first, he was content to just explore around the pumpkins.  He finally got up the nerve to stick his arm inside, and before we knew it, he was LICKING the pumpkins!  Apparently, there's no better way to learn about something new than by using all of your senses to do so!

After our carvings were complete, we placed our prized pumpkins in our front yard on display for the rest of our neighbourhood to enjoy with us.

 

If I do say so myself, we did a pretty good job of decorating once again this year!

My First Pair of Rain Boots

Yep, you read correctly.  MY first pair of rain boots.  Not Reagan.  Not Myers. But me!

For the life of me, I can not remember ever owning a pair of true rain boots. Not even when I was a little kid.  I talked to my mom, and she doesn't recall me or my sister ever having a pair.  Of course, maybe this was due to the fact that I was raised in the South, not in the tropical rain forest that I currently live in! Reagan has been sporting rain boots for years now.  But not me.

I am perplexed as to how I have managed to live here for the past 9 years without owning either a raincoat or a pair of rain boots.  But that was the case up until this past week.  Yep, I didn't even have a legitimate rain coat... I would just throw on a hooded coat of whatever sort if it was raining and hope for the best.  In general, I have tried to avoid the rain as much as possible.

But I can't avoid it any longer...

I've mentioned before that I walk Reagan to school each day.  As we are now entering the "rainy season" for British Columbia, I have been getting soaked the last few days of our short trek over to her school.  I decided that it was time to suck it up and get a pair of boots.

I did my research, and I decided that if I was going to have to wear the boots, then those boots darn well better be spectacular.

And spectacular they are!  Say hello to my new prized possessions... my hot pink Hunter Wellies!

Like I mentioned, I also purchased my first rain coat last week.  I don't have a picture that I took of it myself, but this is it from the Leostar Athletica website...

Last weekend while we were in Vernon, Ryan snapped a picture of me in the horse riding ring with Reagan while I was rocking my new boots.

So, here's my theory.  If I have to endure the endless agony of the depressing rainy season that seems to last for months on end here, at least I can have a little fun and look stylish while doing so!

Thanksgiving Weekend in Vernon

Columbus Day is NOT Thanksgiving Day!

Reagan is in Kindergarten now, and it was when I was in Kindergarten that I learned about Columbus sailing across the ocean with the three big ships to discover America.  The day he landed on American soil is what is now celebrated as Columbus Day.  However, in Canada, they consider that day to be Thanksgiving.  Any American child can tell you that it took over a month for the Pilgrims on the Santa Maria to make friends with the Indians who were native to this new discovered land.  The day that they finally were all able to sit down and break bread together is what is supposed to be Thanksgiving Day!!! That is where the idea for the huge NOVEMBER Thanksgiving feast originally came from. I'm sure I am probably only confusing Reagan by teaching her something different than what she is learning at school, but oh well!  I want her to know the REAL story!

Sorry, like I tend to do more often than not, I just got side-tracked.  This is a post about what we did for Thanksgiving/Columbus Day weekend.  Not a history lesson...

We took advantage of the fact that Reagan did not have school on Friday, and we left mid-morning that day to go see Ryan's family in Vernon.  The trip to Vernon usually takes us just over 5 hours to make, and we were anticipating for it to take even longer this time due to the fact that Myers doesn't always do well in his car seat.  This would be, by far, the longest trip that we had ever attempted to make with him, and we weren't necessarily looking forward to the car ride.  We left the house just before what would be time for his morning nap in the hope that he would sleep a good portion of the trip.  Our plan worked!  After we had been on the road for about an hour, Myers finally fell asleep.  He slept for just over an hour, which meant that we still had about an hour to go before our planned stop in Kamloops.  Thanks to the portable DVD player that we had attached to the back of his seat (he is still rear facing in his car seat) we were able to endure the last hour of the Coquihalla Highway with only minimal fussing.

We spent a bit of time in Kamloops, visiting with Ryan's best friend Jeremy (my kids call him Uncle Jeremy) and having lunch.  We then got back on the road to finish our journey to Vernon.  Myers did well for the first little bit of his return to the carseat, but the final hour of the trip was a loud, tearful, screaming mess! Oh well, he did better than we had anticipated, but it still made us worry about the return trip home on Sunday.

We got all set-up and settled-in late in the afternoon on Friday at Ryan's parents' house, and spent some time visiting with them before walking up the hill to also visit with Ryan's brother and his family.  We woke up Saturday morning and went to the Davison Orchards where I instantly fell in love with their homemade caramel!  After eating enough samples of the super sweet stuff to equal Reagan's body weight, I decided to buy some to have at home. I doubt that jar will make it to see the end of the week!

After we left the Orchard, we went back up the hill to Reece & Marla's house for Reagan to have the adventure of her little lifetime.  Reagan has admired her cousin Julia for years now, and she always talks about how she wants to ride horses "just like Julia" one day.  Well, as of this weekend, that day has come!    Sure, Reagan has ridden a pony several times before, but never a BIG horse...

Together, they led Julia's show horse, Cadence, down the road from the stable to the riding ring.

Reagan was trying hard to contain herself when Julia helped her put the helmet on, but I could look at her and tell that she was ready to burst with excitement!

Julia was extremely patient with Reagan.  I told her later that she has found her true calling in life... she needs to work at a horse camp for young children or become a horse riding instructor for kids.  She has a gift, that is for sure!  She instantly had Reagan at ease, while also making sure that Reagan was confident enough to ride Cadence by herself.  Ryan and I sat off to the side of the ring, anxiously watching while grinning from ear to ear.  Reagan looked so small on top of Cadence...

But she also looked so happy that I quickly forgot to be worried about her falling off and I just sat back and enjoyed the incredible moment with her!

I was beginning to think that we would never get her to come out of the ring without having to promise that we would one day get her a horse of her own, but with Julia's persuading, Reagan decided that it was time for Cadence to have a rest.  Of course, Reagan is now convinced that she can ride any horse that she sees without the help of anyone because she's truly a pro now!  Can't you tell that is the case just from looking at these pictures... she's so proud of herself!  She floated on a cloud the rest of the day...

We woke up Sunday morning and decided that we should follow the same plan for returning home as we used for getting to Vernon, so we quickly packed up to be on the road once again in time for Myers's morning nap.  The ride home didn't go quite as smoothly as the initial trip, so it was a long day to say the least.  I don't think I have ever been so thankful to see our house before in my life!  And of course, as soon as he was out of the car for good, Myers went back to being his normal happy little self.  Still, Ryan and I are both grateful to have today off to recuperate from yesterday!

So, as this holiday weekend comes to a close, and we all return to our normal schedules tomorrow, I have one thing left to say...

HAPPY COLUMBUS DAY EVERYONE!

The First K-Pod Performance

We absolutely could not be any happier with the school that Reagan attends. Our only wish was that she could stay at this same school throughout her entire school career... it is just an elementary school, so it only goes to Grade 5.  

Reagan attends an Integrated Fine Arts School.  What does that mean, you ask?

The framework that defines an integrated fine arts philosophy shows children learning the curriculum in Literacy, Numeracy, Science and Social Studies while being engaged in music, drama, dance and visual art activities.  The development of meaningful connections between the arts and other curriculum areas truly describes "Learning Through the Arts".  It is important that students are well prepared in the core curriculum areas, and the arts provide a powerful vehicle for lessons to be learned and remembered.  

Her school is divided into pods, and being a Kindergartener places her in the K-Pod.  The first and second graders make up the P-Pod, the Tri-Pod consists solely of the third graders, and the fourth and fifth graders create the I-Pod.  The classes are organized into these learning pods, and each teacher in the pod has one of the arts as their specialty, as well as being trained as a core curriculum teacher.  Students have their main class teacher, but they also spend time with each of the other teachers in their respective pod during the arts rotations.  The teachers plan together and create common goals and themes that are shared and taught in each pod, giving the students many rich and engaging learning experiences that enhance their personal, intellectual, artistic and social development.   The mission of this school is to "provide academic excellence through artistic experiences by integrating dance, drama, music and visual art into the lives of students to enhance the learning of core subjects."

Like I said, we simply could not be happier!  We share the same core values and beliefs about the need for art in education, so it is a perfect match for our family.

Throughout the year, each of the Pods will host numerous performances for both the school, and the families of the students.  Today, the K-Pod had their first ever performance!  The families of the Kindergarten students were invited to view the performance this morning, and then the kids did a repeat performance this afternoon for the rest of the school.

Ryan, Myers, and I arrived bright and early so that we would be sure to get a good seat!  Reagan immediately started hanging out with her friends before it was time to get ready for the big show.

Myers, having already spent time in the classroom this week, felt right at home in the school.  He was ready to crawl out onto the main floor to perform with the rest of the kids!  We, of course, held him back with the rest of the audience, but he spent the majority of the performance clapping his hands and waving at his big sister.

The kids started off the show by walking out in their turkey headgear since Thanksgiving is this weekend.

(I've said it before, and I will probably say it for as long as I live in Canada... I will NEVER get used to Thanksgiving being in October!)

They immediately began to entertain us all by doing the "Turkey Tango", showing off both their singing and dancing skills!

 

Try the Turkey Tango

When You're in a Trance

Try the Turkey Tango

When You Want Romance!

I was able to make a short video of the second half of the song that they sang explaining what it would be like to be a turkey...

After the performance, and after the kids posed for endless pictures from the very proud group of parents in attendance, we were invited to see a small sampling of the artwork that the boys and girls had created so far this the school year.

The first board showed the entire class, on the bus, ready for Kindergarten!  I have to admit, the self portraits really were amazing!

From pumpkins to turkeys, it was obvious that the kids have been busy!

 

I've said it before, and I will gladly say it again right now, this is going to be a great school year!  We were thoroughly impressed with the first K-Pod performance, and now we're already anxious to see what they will have in store for us for their next performance.

Mommy Helper at Kindergarten

Myers REALLY misses his big Sissy (that's what he calls her most of the time) when she is at Kindergarten.  I'll be honest, I really miss her too!

So I was super-duper excited when her teacher asked for parent participation in the classroom, and gladly volunteered once I realized that it would be okay to bring Myers along as well.  He spent the morning in his stroller, while I spent the morning helping out in class.

It was amazing to witness first hand how much and how quickly the boys and girls are going to be learning this school year.  Reagan's Kindergarten teacher firmly believes in "whole brain teaching," so the classroom setting is very hands-on and extremely fun.  Human brains learn in five ways, by seeing (visual cortex), hearing (auditory cortex), doing (motor cortex), speaking (Broca's area) and feeling (limbic system).  Whole Brain Teaching believes the brain learns best when all five of these regions are involved simultaneously.  (Whole brain teaching at Reagan's age level encompasses four primary categories: seeing, saying, hearing, and doing.)  I was very impressed with how effective and efficient this teaching style really is... Mrs. Dreyer can certainly get results from these young learners!  I'll be honest, I was expecting to see something along the lines of organized chaos that was primarily based on playtime with a bit of education mixed in.  But what I witnessed was a classroom full of boys and girls that were eagerly listening, reacting, paying attention, reading, writing, counting... to put it simply, LEARNING... all done in a way that made them feel that they were playing when what they were really doing was working their little brains to the maximum levels.  It was awesome!

I've signed up to continue to be the Mommy helper once a week for as long as Myers will willingly and quietly continue to hang out in his stroller in the back of the classroom.  I'm sure the day is coming soon when he will be too much of a distraction, as he is already beginning to interact with the students!  But for now, I am thrilled to be able to be in the classroom with Reagan.

It's even making me entertain the idea of becoming a Kindergarten teacher myself!

Kindergarten Field Trip

Reagan was over-the-moon excited for today to arrive.  Today was the day of her first ever FIELD TRIP!  She was super excited to go to the Apple Barn out in Abbotsford, but she was most excited about how she was going to get there... SCHOOL BUS!

What kid doesn't get excited about riding a school bus for the first time?  I can remember thinking it was the coolest thing in the world whenever the rare occasion occurred that I got to ride a bus when I was younger.  It was when I got older and had to ride the bus as a cheerleader to football and basketball games that the novelty quickly wore off.

Sorry... this is a post about Reagan's field trip... not about me, from back in the day...

The kids all loaded up onto the bus immediately upon arriving at school, and Myers and I followed behind in my Denali.  (Myers is not allowed on a school bus at his young age.)

Once we arrived at The Apple Barn, it was time for a quick snack.  Reagan and her BFF, Trinity, were as thick as thieves as always, goofing off and having fun!

After snacks, we went over to the playground to burn off some energy before going inside the bee observatory to learn about how honey is made.  While the kids were paying attention to the speaker, I was busy shopping in the gift shop for organic muffin mix, flour for scones, pumpkin loaves, and fresh pressed apple cider.  DELICIOUS!

We then all loaded up onto the hay wagon pulled by a gigantic tractor for a trip out to the pumpkin patch. Each child was able to choose their own pumpkin to take home!

After pumpkins, it was time for The Apple Barn's claim to fame... APPLES!

The children were given a brief education about all of the different apples that are grown in The Apple Barn Orchard, and then they were each allowed to sample a few of the delicious varieties... Gala, Honeycrisp, Jonagold and Fuji. A few of the girls in the class quickly turned their attention to socializing as soon as the apple lecture had ended!

After jumping on the bouncy castle for awhile, it was nearing time to go.  We rounded up the whole gang for a class picture before loading back onto the bus...

Reagan summarized her first ever field trip for me by saying, "I had so much fun.  It was the best day ever!"

Meadows Maze

Year after year after year, we have made the trip over to Pitt Meadows for some Fall fun at Meadows Maze.  This year, we invited Reagan's boyfriend and his family to join us.  Yes, my 5 year old daughter has a boyfriend...  They have pledged their love to one another for almost a year now.

Just as in all the years past, we had a fabulous time.  Only this time was even better because we were sharing it with friends!

Reagan and Matthew took turns sliding down the mountain through the twisty tube on burlap sacks.

 

We all had fun inside the petting zoo.  Once again, Reagan fell in love with the baby goats.  Myers even fell in love just a little bit with them!

We then decided to venture inside the corn maze.  Every year, the owners change the pattern, and this year was no disappointment!  I will admit, we got lost more than once.  I will also admit that we did NOT go to every checkpoint. I guess that is what happens when you let the five year olds have control of the map!

After a few snacks, we decided to take the hayride over to the cranberry fields.  This is the point that things started to go downhill for poor Matthew. Apparently, he has a severe hay allergy because by the time the hayride was over, he had red swollen eyes and felt like poop.  He and his family decided to call it a day, but we still had one more adventure before we could head home ourselves.

It was time for the pony rides.  This is Reagan's favourite part of Meadows Maze, and there was no way that she was going to miss out this year.

Her brother was cheering her on the whole time!

Next year, buddy!  Next year, you can have a turn on the pony!

Hyper-Parenting

Reagan has a VERY busy schedule this year.  And we created it that way on purpose, to some degree.  But in the entire process of configuring her schedule of activities for this year, I have been asking myself if she is now a victim of "hyper parenting".  Truthfully, I don't think so, because even though she is in a handful of different activities and her schedule is full, Ryan and I didn't plan it this way with the hope to make her more successful in life.  We just did it to let her be a part of ALL of the activities that she asked to be in.

Maybe I need to do a post in the future about being spoiled...

Ahem... getting back on track here...

By definition, hyper parenting is

"a style of child-rearing that has, perhaps inadvertently, become the prescribed way to raise children in middle and upper middle class families. Hyper-Parenting, and its logical consequence - over-scheduled families - have evolved from the belief that within every parent is the power (and obligation) to craft the perfect childhood for our kids, one that will guarantee a successful adulthood in the impossibly competitive new e-world.
It is a philosophy built upon the belief that the right possessions and enrichment activities, combined with regular practice, and intense, parental guidance will enable every one of us to raise a perfect kid who will get into Harvard, Yale, Duke, UVa, Stanford, or Princeton (aren't those the places where successful kids go?) and therefore and thereafter, will lead a life of fame and fortune. Children not given these enrichment opportunities will end up hopelessly behind, losers not winners."

Like I said, Reagan has a very busy schedule...

6 hours of Kindergarten Monday - Friday
3 hours of Gymnastics on Monday
45 minutes of Ballet on Tuesday
45 minutes of Tap on Wednesday
3 hours of Gymnastics on Thursday
45 minutes of Jazz on Friday

We would have preferred to have only done 2 of the 3 dance classes, but the third class was practically given to us for free, so we decided to add it on as well.  And we would have preferred for at least 2 of the 3 dance classes to have been on the same day, back to back, so that she would at least have one day of the week with no after-school activity to attend.

But this is what she wanted, so this is what she got!  We agreed that, for this year, she could be involved in all of the above so that she can better decide what her favourite activity is and what she would most prefer to devote her time to in the future.  If any of them.  She can decide that she would rather do under water basket weaving, and we would support her in that decision.  As long as it doesn't interfere with her education, we will support it!  So, down the road, after kindergarten, her schedule will certainly have to become more relaxed.

And that is the thinking that I hope, doesn't label me as a "hyper parent".  It is her choice, not our calculated planning for success, that drives this busy schedule.   She loves all of it, and I honestly think that she would be bored out of her skull if she didn't have something to do every afternoon.

I, on the other hand, am having a hard time of keeping up!  It's only September, and I am already exhausted by the schedule of driving her to and from here and there.   All I can say is, thank heavens for Starbucks...  This taxi driver needs it!

10 Month Old Baby Boy

He's still a baby boy!  I don't have to officially start calling Myers a toddler until he starts toddling/walking around right?  But oh my goodness is he ever growing up.  My baby boy is turning into a little man way too fast!!!

Since the last update, (8 Months Old) Myers has been a very busy boy.  He has gone from being a casual crawler to an Olympic speed crawler.  He is currently showing no signs of wanting to walk on his own (he will take a few steps while holding on to the couch) because he can easily and quickly get to everywhere that he needs to go by crawling.

Speaking of holding on to the couch... he pulls up on it and ANYTHING else that he can get his hands on.  He's going to have some serious upper body muscles if he keeps this up.  He's like a little monkey!

Speaking of pulling, how about climbing?  He can now climb up to the top of the stairs.  Yes, baby gates have once again been installed in our house!  He is quite the mischievous little boy, and he loves to go exploring everywhere!

Speaking of upstairs... that is where the nursery is!  Life is so much better in our house now that Myers has mastered sleep training.  We are all happier now, especially Myers.  Nap time or night time, he now loves to sleep in his crib.  He also loves to play in his crib when he wakes up, tossing his stuffed animals over the railings.

Speaking of being happier... We moved him into a toddler style car seat (still rear-facing) instead of the infant carrier bucket seat, and he is MUCH happier in the car these days.  No more screaming coming from the backseat just for making a trip to the grocery store!

Speaking of groceries... this little man will eat anything you put in front of him. His appetite has definitely increased the last couple of months, and he now wants to eat "grown up" food and feed himself just like we do.  He now weighs 18 pounds and is 29 inches long.  He has also started using a sippy cup when he is not nursing.  (He's just like Reagan in that he never once used a bottle)  So far, we've only given him water, but it doesn't seem to phase him what is in the cup.  He's happy to put anything and EVERYTHING that he sees in his mouth.

Speaking of his mouth.. he now has two more teeth, giving him a total of six. He currently has four on the top and two on the bottom, giving him a precious smile.

Speaking of smiles... how about a couple of smiling pictures of our 10 Month Old Baby Boy!!!

Double Trouble

I've mentioned before that Myers absolutely adores his big sister.  And he already wants to be JUST like her!

Here's a shot of Reagan, just over 10 months old...  

And here is Myers, (in the same bathroom, only renovated) just under 10 months old...

What is it about little kids and toilet paper???

The First Day of Kindergarten

My sweet baby girl Reagan Marie is all grown up!  It seems like it was just yesterday that I was holding her in my arms for the first time.  But actually, yesterday was her first day of Kindergarten!

She's been preparing for and counting down the sleeps until the big day for weeks.  We had a day at the spa for mani's and pedi's, a day of pampering at the salon for a new hairdo, and she chose the dress that she would wear for her first day of school back in July!  

I wasn't sure that I was ever going to get her to go to bed on Tuesday night. We spent a long time cuddled up together, talking about school, and reading a few bedtime stories to settle her down.  We ended our reading with Dr. Suess's Oh, The Places You'll Go!, and it was the PERFECT story for the night before her first day of school!  I have big plans for this book for Reagan, so I was excited to share it with her for the first time for this occasion.  Over the next 13 years, I plan to secretly give this book to all of her teachers from Kindergarten through high school, and have them write a message to Reagan at the end of each school year.  Ryan and I will then give the personalized book to her at her high school graduation!  

She started off the morning of her big day with a phone call to her Daddy at work to sing Happy Birthday to him!  Yes, September 7th was a double duty celebration day for us this year!

Because the school that she attends chooses to do a "gradual entry" for the Kindergarten kids, Reagan didn't have to go to school until after lunch on her first day.  This was great news for us because it meant that Ryan would be able to make it home from work in time to walk with us to school.

You read correctly, we are able to walk to school.  We live one block away from the front doors of the school, so Reagan is already very familiar and comfortable with the school playground as she has already been playing on it for years!

One o'clock finally arrived, and Reagan was about to jump out of her skin because she was so excited.  I was able to slow her down just long enough for a couple of pictures before we left for school.

Of the twenty children in Reagan's kindergarten class, Reagan and 5 others all attended preschool together.  There is also another little girl in class that used to take gymnastics with Reagan, so it was an end-of-summer reunion of sorts for many of the kids!  I think Reagan was just as happy to see her teachers as she was her friends, as we were lucky enough to have already met her teachers before the start of school.

 

I must admit, as Ryan and I walked back home yesterday afternoon with Myers, I was missing my baby girl VERY much.  But I was also very happy and extremely proud of her, as she truly loves school and is so excited for this new adventure in her life.

Because of the gradual entry, less than 2 hours later we were on our way back to school to get our girl.  As luck would have it, and because we arrived a few minutes early, the kids were heading back into class from a playground recess, so I was able to sneak a quick picture of the big Kindergarten girl with a few of her classmates.

Today was a slightly longer day of school, and Reagan was thrilled.  That meant that she could use her new back pack and lunch box!  Trust me when I tell you that she thinks that she is some serious tough stuff with that backpack!

I had a little surprise for Reagan when Myers and I went to pick her up this afternoon... DIXIE!  Of course Reagan was excited to see her puppy dog, (although I don't know why we still call her a puppy when she just had her EIGTH birthday last month) and all of the other kids in her class were excited as well.  I think my surprise earned Reagan serious rockstar status among her classmates!

So, we have one more day of Kindergarten this week, and then we're heading off to Seattle for the weekend to do some serious back-to-school shopping and to celebrate Ryan's birthday.  I must say, I have a feeling that this is going to be a GREAT school year!

My dear Reagan, I am so very proud of you.  You are such a smart, talented, loving, and beautiful young girl, and I know that you are going to excel not only in school, but at everything in life.  Always follow your dreams, and never give up on those dreams.  You are a superstar!  And, as Dr. Seuss once said...

Congratulations!  

Today is your day.

You're off to Great Places!

You're off and away!

OH!  THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!

You'll be on your way up!

You'll be seeing great sights!

You'll join the high fliers

who soar to high heights.

And will you succeed?

Yes!  You will, indeed!

(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)

KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!

You're off to Great Places!

Today is your day!

Your mountain is waiting.

So... get on your way!

OH!  THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!

Sibling Love

Every single day, I am amazed at how much Reagan and Myers truly love each other.  I know the day will come when I have to deal with sibling rivalry... But for now, it's nothing but sibling love around here!

Today was the first day that they shared a ride in the chariot together, and something tells me that this is how many of my afternoons are going to be spent over the next little while!

Infant Sleep Training

As you may recall, I have been on the brink of insanity for months now.  Being a sleep deprived mother has truly taken a toll on me.

Over the past few months, one thing has remained a constant.  Everyone I know has been recommending the same book for me to use as my survival guide...

Seriously!   Preschool moms, gymnastic moms, my own mother, my cousin, a friend from high school, a sorority sister... all spread out across the world, coming together, united in their allegiance to Dr. Marc Weissbluth.

I borrowed a copy from a friend, and started reading it while we were on vacation.  I opened it up to a random page, and was instantly struck by the words that I read...

"WARNING!  Sleep problems in children may cause maternal depression."

Having battled with clinical depression in my life before, I knew that I was very quickly heading in this direction again.  I also knew that it was purely situational, based completely on my lack of sleep.  But I began to worry that if I didn't regain control of the situation, I would end up back on the meds again.

We had been home from vacation a little over 2 weeks when the opportunity presented itself to give sleep training a try.

It was August 1, and we were ready for bed.  Reagan was already asleep in her own bedroom, and Ryan and I were getting ready to settle into bed WITH Myers, as this sleep habit has continued since it started while we are on vacation.  We had only been in bed for a couple of minutes when I heard Reagan's bedroom door open, and then I saw/heard her come running down the hallway to our bedroom in tears from a nightmare.

Can you say FAMILY BED?!

Yes, we have a King sized bed that can accommodate all 4 members of our family.  But can all 4 members of our family get a good night sleep this way?


Ummmmmm, NO!

I encouraged Ryan to go sleep in the guest bedroom so that at least one of us would get a good night's rest.  He is, after all, the one that gets up at 4:20 every morning to go to work.  I may be a zombie all day, every day, from my lack of sleep, but at least I get to be a zombie in the comfort of my own home.  And I can choose to just stay in my pyjamas all day and forget to brush my hair or teeth without anyone else ever knowing that it happened!  Ryan has a crew of guys that he is responsible for, so he needs to be as awake and alert as possible!

Ryan moved to the guest bedroom;  Reagan, Myers and I tried to fall asleep. But Myers was being his normal non-sleeping, cranky baby self.  Reagan then started to complain that she couldn't sleep because her brother was keeping her awake.  I told her to go back to her own room so that she could sleep in peace.  She refused because she was scared that she was going to have another nightmare.

This is the point that I decided I needed to take action.  I was already at my wits ends, and I now had TWO children in my bed that seemed incapable of sleeping on their own...

Option One... Wake up Ryan and convince him to quickly put me out of my misery.  Only problem, we don't have a gun.
Option Two... Figure out a way to sneak quietly out of the house on my own, and then go check into a hotel under an alias.  VERY tempting, but not completely realistic.  Who would be home to listen to the children cry once Ryan was at work?
Option Three... Put Myers in his crib, put Reagan in her bed, and put in some ear plugs!  DONE!

I told Reagan that I was going to go to the nursery to feed her brother and that I was going to put him to bed in his crib.  I then told her that she could rest in my bed and try to fall asleep until I came back, but that I would take her to her own bed and help her fall asleep in her own room once I had Myers settled down.

I took a pair of ear plugs to Ryan in the guest bedroom and filled him in on what was getting ready to go down.  I gave him strict instructions that NO MATTER WHAT, he was not to enter the nursery at any point during the night!

Yep, I was going cold-turkey for extinction.  Extinction is Dr. Weissbluth's method of allowing the child to cry indefinitely at bedtime and for up to an hour at nap time.

I let Myers nurse until he was done, and then I put him in his crib.

And then I walked out of the room.

During the time that I was nursing Myers, Reagan had fallen completely asleep in my and Ryan's bed.  Since she only ends up in our bed about once a month, I decided to just let her stay there.  Plus, by not moving her back to her own room, I was able to shut our bedroom door completely, thus further muffling the sounds of the screaming that was coming from the nursery.  (Ryan and I normally sleep with our bedroom door open so that we can hear Reagan if she gets up since she has been known to sleep walk a time or two!)

I watched the baby monitor intently as the screaming continued for 8 minutes. He wasn't moving around or making a big commotion in his crib... he was just laying there, screaming his head off.

And then, just like that, after only 8 minutes, he stopped crying and went to sleep.

AND HE SLEPT ALL NIGHT LONG!

Why in the world hadn't I tried this sooner?  I still didn't get much more than a wink of sleep throughout the night as I kept waiting to hear him cry, and I would still wake up every 30 minutes or so to look over at the screen on the baby monitor.  But each and every time that I would look, all I saw was a peacefully sleeping baby.

The next night of sleep training wasn't much different than the first.  I nursed Myers, put him in his crib, and walked out the room.  After 20 minutes of crying, he gave up the fight and then proceeded to sleep for ELEVEN HOURS!

It has now been 18 nights since our first night of uninterrupted sleep.  No, all of the last 18 nights have not gone as smoothly as the first two.  By the fifth night, Myers had figured out that his cuddle partner had left him and that the "all night boob buffet" had closed it's kitchen door.  We went through several nights of having to listen to him scream for over an hour, but we stuck to the plan.  I'm willing now to say that we have successfully completed sleep training, and we are ALL much happier because of it.  I still get up once a night, usually around the same time that Ryan is getting up to go to work, to nurse Myers.  But he then goes right back to sleep and sleeps until 6:30.  He is actually even napping on regular basis, and that had also never happened before!

Our current schedule looks something like this:

6:30 am - Wake up
9:00 am - Morning Nap
10:30 am - Awake from nap
12:30 pm - Afternoon nap
2:30 pm - Awake from nap
6:00 pm - Bedtime

That schedule is working very well so far!  I'm sure we will have the occasional hiccup... like I said, Reagan is five and she still ends up in our bed about once a month.  But I have to tell you, it is a very very good feeling to know that the months and months of hellish nights are officially over!

Moving On?

We've now been home from our summer vacation for a little over two weeks. And in that time, we have not been able to do much of anything other than think about and talk about packing up our life and moving back to my home of South Carolina.

We go through this pattern for a few days every single time that we head down South for a visit.  But the conversations usually only last a day or so, and they never move past the "dream" state.

Not this time.

This time, we are seriously talking about it.  We're doing the necessary research. We're weighing our options and trying to make the best decision for our family.

But this is no easy decision to make.  This would be life changing for us.  We're talking about a move into and then across another country.  Trust me, I would know... I made the exact opposite move of what we are now considering just over 9 years ago.

We've spoken to an immigration lawyer and with several Canada/US Border agents, and it appears that we have plenty of time to make a decision about what we want to do.  Ideally, we would prefer to move next summer as soon as Reagan is done with Kindergarten, but due to new immigration processes between the US and Canada, that is not possible.  Well, it's possible that we could move tomorrow, but it wouldn't be the completely LEGAL route to take!!! Because we don't want to move in the middle of a school year, the soonest we are looking at would be July 2013.  That is a long time away.  The good news with that timeframe is that, by then, I will have become a Canadian citizen, meaning that I could move between the two countries back and forth as much as I want to.  (I am currently a permanent resident of Canada, not yet a citizen.)  The bad news with that timeframe is that our children will be even more established and settled in our current life here, making it harder to uproot them.  So we are extremely confused about what to do.

Because of our confusion, Ryan and I sat down separately and created individual lists as to the pros & cons of moving and the pros & cons of staying. Our lists were almost identical when we later compared them!  The reasons to move outnumbered the reasons to stay, but not by much.

But there is a problem that is holding us back...  And this problem is big enough to cause us to stop the planning process completely.  Neither Ryan nor I have any form of employment in the States, and with the current state of the economy and the current unemployment rate, there is no guarantee that either of us would be able to get a job.  Even though we could be mortgage-free and have only half of the monthly bills down there that we have here, it wouldn't make a hill of beans of difference if neither of us was making an income to pay those bills! And truthfully, we only want Ryan to have to get a job there because we both love the fact that I am able to stay home with our kids here while they are young.  Based on the conversations that we have had with people in the same industry as Ryan, we have learned that he would probably only be making a THIRD of what he gets paid here, as he would be starting his career over.

And Ryan has a REALLY REALLY good job here!  That is the #1 reason on his list for staying.  He nor I see the benefit in giving up a position that he has been in now for over 17 years.  He loves his job.  He claims that he doesn't love all of the headaches that come with it, but I think he is full of bologna when he says that. He literally walks around our house on the weekends like he is going to go insane if he doesn't find something to do to keep himself busy!  So I'm not so sure that the slower style of Southern life would necessarily suit my husband.

We have decided to complete the necessary paperwork to claim the right to US citizenship that is owed to both of our kids.  Technically, they are automatically US citizens since I gave birth to them, and I am a US Citizen.  But there is a lot of legal mess that we have to do to make it official for the two of them.

However, we just can't seem to bring ourselves to start the paperwork for Ryan. Sure, we could submit all the paperwork and then change our minds, but what would be the point in that?  It would be a waste of a LOT of money, as the immigration process for him would be expensive.  So, we are waiting until we know 100% for sure what we want to do.

Lord only knows if and when that will ever happen...

UPDATE:  It is now February 2012, and we still have not submitted any paperwork for Ryan.   We realize that this makes our dream of moving to South Carolina about as realistic as our dream of winning the lottery... pretty tough to accomplish when we don't buy any lottery tickets!  But it is just such a big decision to make that we know we can't rush it...