Nothing new!

There hasn't been anything exciting to report this past weekend. Jenna and I stayed home for most of the weekend. We did travel next door for a fish fry Saturday night, which was great. We had lots of fun and Jenna slept wonderfully all weekend. 12 + hours each night. Then last night, we weren't so lucky. She just wouldn't go to sleep, I have no idea why. I tried to put her down around 7:30 the first time. I would leave her fuss for about 15 minutes, then I would go in to check on her and inevitably get her up. Then try again in about 30 minutes. Usually, all I have to do is try a second time after she has really worn herself out. But last night, she didn't get to sleep until 9:30. It was rough. Of course, then tonight she was really tired. So, she went down early tonight. I only hope she sleeps through the night. Typically, Bella gets me up at least once at night. She usually doesn't have to go to the bathroom, she just wants to be outside with her boyfriend, so she wakes me up. I put her out and leave her in the garage for the rest of the night. Sometimes I hear her barking and let her back in, but not lately. It always makes me chuckle when I hear about people who have one "bad night of sleep"! I don't think I will sleep all night through until Kelly is home for good and Jenna is about 10 years old. But, that is okay. If there is anything I have learned, it is that I am one tough nut and that this will all be a memory some day! Have a good week and Happy Halloween!

Wordless Wednesday-- Walking!!

Three day weekend

This week we had Friday off of school for Fall Break. The kids had Thursday off as well, but I had parent teacher conferences that day. But at least I had Friday off, which was very nice. Thursday night Jenna went to bed rather late, 8:30 PM, so she slept in until 7:30 AM, which was great for me. I was up by 7, but at least I wasn't woken up by a screaming Bean. It is nice to just wake up and sit in bed for at least a few minutes before you have to rush downstairs.
Friday afternoon I had an appointment to get a massage, so my friend Rosi came to watch Jenna for a few hours. Jenna pulled a fast one and slept most of the time, which was VERY new for her. Lately, she has had trouble napping at the baby sitters, so I was happy she got a really good nap in Friday afternoon. She was great in the evening, not very fussy at all.
Saturday morning we got up and went out to run our usual errands. We headed to the Commissary on base to pick up her formula, then she fell asleep so I drove to Bloomington to check out Once Upon a Child and a few other stores. Bean needs a new winter coat, and I have had trouble finding one. She needs a size 9 months and everything I can find in that size is more geared towards a baby, not a little walking "toddler." They did have one coat that can replace her fall coat she wears, which is a 3 month size. But they didn't have anything that would work for a winter coat. They also had a crawling toy, with a slide and everything. I have been looking for one at yard sales, so I was happy to find this one.
After our errands, we did stop for a quick bite before we headed home. It was only McDonald's (Jenna had the yogurt parfait), but it is never easy eating when you have a little one in tow and you are all alone. Heck, carrying the supplies by yourself is a challenge. But, we did it and she slept all the way home since she had a full belly.
Saturday evening, was a bit of a challenge, as it usually is. We did visit Grandma and Grandpa Taylor, which was nice. We got to see their "new bathroom" which was half painted. But afterwards, Jenna was fussy most of the night and wouldn't nap, even though she really needed one.
Being home in the evenings with Jenna is great, but often tough. I get lonely without anyone to talk to, but talking on the phone isn't easy with her here either. She usually wants the phone from my hands or gets upset that I am not paying her enough attention. It's times like this that I really miss my husband. Just another person popping in, sitting at dinner, watching TV with me, really makes a difference. I don't think people realize how much. Friends complain that their spouses aren't around enough, even when they are home every evening, or even just the weekends. Having Kelly gone for 6 weeks at a time... well it's tough.
I keep trying to remember that it could be worse, but... Many times it doesn't really matter where he is, just that he isn't here with me. Someday, right. Someday.

Monday!

It was a 2 piggy tail day today, I guess. I went to pick up the Bean and she had 2 piggy tails in her hair. I was truly surprised. They are cute, but I will tell you tonight I almost couldn't get one of them out. Jenna was so fussy tonight and I am not sure why. Perhaps her teeth are bothering her again. It's hard to tell. Last night, she went to bed around 8 PM, which is her normal time. She fussed, but finally fell asleep. Then at 4 in the morning, she woke me up with her crying, which isn't normal. For the past 2 weeks or so, I have turned off her baby monitor for the night and just listened for her loud crying. Crying that is loud enough to make it upstairs. Usually I don't hear her until the morning now, since I can no longer hear her little night sounds of grunts and things when she rolls over. Anyways, last night I heard her at 4 AM, so I did go down to check on her. I did take a bottle, since it is usually the only thing that will get her back to sleep. When I went into her room, I picked her up and she immediately pointed to the door. (That is her new thing, pointing to whatever she wants or where she wants to go.) I sat in her rocking chair and offered her the bottle. She took it immediately and drank almost all of it. So, then I laid her back down in her crib, and she started crying again. Not the normal fussy cry, but the "I'm going to die if you leave me" cry. So I picked her back up and went to lie down with her. However, since Kelly took the alarm clock from the spare bedroom, I didn't know where to go. I was afraid to lie down with her without a clock because I knew I wouldn't fall back asleep and if I did, I would just be worried that I was going to oversleep. Anyways, I took her upstairs to our bed. She did fall asleep a few times, but she just couldn't get comfortable enough to stay asleep and neither could I. So, at 4:30 we trudged back downstairs, where I laid her down in her crib. Of course, she immediately started to cry, but I left her there and by the time I closed her door and started walking up the stairs, she was no longer making any noise.
Needless to say, I didn't want a repeat of that today, so I tried to keep her up as long as possible. She went down around 7:30 which is about normal these days. I only hope she makes it until at least 6 am tomorrow. We shall see, but I really need a good night sleep.
Enjoy the pic of her two piggy tails, if you can find them.

Jenna's little piggy tail!

The Amish girls love to do Jenna's hair. There isn't much, but they are able to put it in a pony tail nowadays. Of course, it really isn't big enough to be a pony tail, so I call it her piggy tail. You can barely see it in this pic, but it is curled up at the back of her head. The rubber band is about bigger than the piggy tail.

STRESS!!

Okay, things this week have been stressful to say the least. School has been rougher than I thought it would be. In my defense, I have the largest number of students in this class that they have had in 12 years. In addition, I have the largest and most aggressive second grader the district has EVER seen. Today, he threw a chair in my class that left a divot in the wall. Needless to say, I am working through the paperwork nightmare to get him the services he really needs, but that is never a quick process as many of you know. In the meantime, I am doing my best in the class of 10 with the help of my 3 assistants. It has been stressful to say the least.
The last few days, I have come home and tried to relax while Bean is up. Stretching while we are on the floor, walking with her, doing whatever I can think of to help me relax. It hasn't been helping too much.
Last night, I talked to Stacie, my oldest sister. We haven't talked in several weeks. Anyways, she was telling me stories about my neice Bridgette who runs cross country and is training for a half marathon. It really made me nostalgic for the days when I was running and training for the next race. I started thinking, if only.... And then I realized I could do something! I could run a little bit. It would definately help me sleep and help with my stress level. Not to mention help with my health and show Bean a positive role model.
So, tonight, after she went to sleep, I changed and headed outside with the baby monitor. I couldn't go far because the monitor isn't THAT good, but I could run laps around the "poop loop" in front of our house. So, I did.
I didn't try and go too far or too long. Just a few laps to see how I felt and I felt GREAT! I stretched when I was finished and then jumped in the shower. It's amazing isn't it. How such a small change can really help with a person's outlook and demeanor.
Okay, so I am going to try and continue. I have a few ideas how this will work and it may be a one day at a time thing most days. But, at least it is something.
As for Jenna, she went to yet another Amish wedding today. She was in a great mood when I picked her up, although she was exhausted as usual. We left the sitter and headed to the Preschool where I used to work to check out the Open House. It was nice to see everyone, including some former students. And it was wonderful to see how much the new teacher has done that is different. She is very creative, I can tell. Jenna loved crawling around outside and in the tent they have set up in the classroom. She just went in and out of the tent about 30 times. Not sure what the fascination was, but she seemed to enjoy herself. She also met a little boy about 2 months older than her. It was cute because his mom kept saying "baby" to him and pointing to Jenna. And he is only 2 months older than her, pretty much a baby himself :-)
Anyways, Jenna fell asleep on the way home around 6 PM, but I woke her up when we got here to take her bath and play at home for a bit. Can't have her going to sleep too early, or she will be up too early. When it was time, she laid down and fell fast asleep. She is just growing so fast!
Okay, now off to prep for tomorrow. Lunches to make and laundry to get started.
Hope you all have a great night.