Okay, at least one of my strategies for dealing with my "chillins" worked...for one night. I devised a sticker chart for Cate. From what I read, sticker charts are like magic vodoo juice for 3 year olds - they can get them to do anything. So the deal is, if Cate stays in her room all night and doesn't come hover over mommy's drooling dreaming countenance only to have mommy open her eyes to a little face inches from her own which sends her whole body one foot off the bed in 0.2 seconds, then she earns a sticker on her chart. After she gets 5 stickers, she gets to pick out an item from the dollar shelves at Target. I love that 3 year olds can be so easily pacified with cheap foreign-made toys. As we were going to bed, she was very excited about the chart and earning her sticker but I was fairly dubious that she would actually remember. But she did! Either that, or she was so overtired from her previous 2-hr plus awakening the night before that she slept right through. Either way, she earned her sticker. Mommy woke alert and happy and so did she.
Things are going a little better with the Bear as well. I'm giving her more choices which helps her feel a little more power in a house where she's surrounded by very big people and dog. And I've been trying to listen harder to her one-word garbled sentences to try to make out if she's hungry, tired or just plain frustrated. One word I can consistently make out plainly is Candy. She knows what's really important to convey. That's my girl.
Now we head out to Waterloo tomorrow morning. The sleeping thing will be shot as will the power I hold with Candy since grandma and grandpa will give them anything their little hearts desire. But we'll manage somehow.
Plus I get my sewing machine this weekend! Move over Martha!!
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Did I Really Say That??
I was just re-reading what I posted a week or so ago and it all sounds so rosy and picture perfect. The last couple of days...not so much. My girls have been giving me a run for my money. Clare has been in a particularly annoying Jekyl and Hyde mode. She's been on a vengence to hit and pull the hair of her sister. She squeals with laughter when I try to be stern with her about it. She broke my brand new $400+ reading glasses while in Target the other day. Yesterday she was particularly touchy - any very slight admonishment I would give her would send her into tears. And randomly she comes up to me and gives me a bunch of sweet kisses. I'm having a tough time figuring her out. But I've got a strategy in place to deal with all these prickly practices of hers.
My eldest dear daughter is still waking up at night. And I foolishly have been taking her back to bed and laying down with her until she goes back to sleep. The original intent was that she would nod back off within 10 minutes or so and I could head back to my own bed. But, for some unknown reason, that doesn't always happen. Last night, for instance, the little minx didn't settle down for about 2 hours. I've devised another strategy to deal with her.
And really, these strategies are to train me to react differently and to actually be a parent rather than going on robot-mom mode. This morning as I struggled to awake and open my eyes on my way to the bathroom after being up with Cate in the night, I pulled out an ovulation predictor test as I sat down to pee. Scott looked at me and jokingly said, "Are you sure you want to do that?" For a minute, I did actually think, "What the heck am I doing?! I can barely handle these two." But the thought passed. My test didn't (maybe God is telling me something here??!!).
On a brighter note, I had a great birthday week. It started off with a fab trip to Arrowwood resort for the Westwood Women's retreat with my friend Paige. We gabbed the entire time up and back and a lot while we were there as well (her more than me - she's way more social than I am). We also met up with a couple of other friends and made it into a fun girls' weekend. Plus, I was totally inspired by the speaker to really set aside time to read my bible and pray. I've been meaning to do it for, oh, 3 years or so. But that was the gentle push I needed to make it a real priority. We got back home late on Saturday night. Sunday was a gorgeous day and I met up with my friends Amy, Sarah and Karyn for a walk and some munchies. Since we've all started co-habitating and 3 of us have had kids, we just don't get together nearly as much as we used to but we are always able to pick right up where we left off and have really good conversations. Tuesday night I went to a happy hour with Teri and Marti which was fun. Wed, we went to dinner at Fuddruckers with the girls. It was so cute. Scott had taken the girls shopping on Tuesday for my birthday. Cate came into the bathroom as I was getting ready on Wed. (my b-day) lugging a huge pair of loppers (gardening implement) that were almost as big as she was. Scott let me know that he did get me the sewing machine. We'll pick it up this weekend when we go to Waterloo. Thursday night was my MOPs night. And on Friday night my parents came over for pizza as we all sat on our deck and enjoyed the beautiful evening. It was a very good birthday week and I barely noticed that I turned 39. Until Sunday, when Sharla reminded me of it repeatedly. I had a great time with her and Nan when we went out for dinner on Sunday night. Action packed week. I think Scott is a little sick of carrying the load so it's good that I don't have anything planned for an entire week now.
As I mentioned earlier, we're heading down to Waterloo on Friday morning to help Scott's parents celebrate their last days at work. Cheryl is done on Friday and Ken is done on Monday. They are very excited and a little nervous about how it will all go. But I think Scott and I may be just a bit more excited than they are. We're looking forward to having them up for extended stays when they can watch the girls and don't have to rush back home to work. We're selfishly hoping to get in some more time together now that we have some willing and free babysitters at our beck and call.
That's all for now, folks. My theme for the next week...Wag more, bark less.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Welcome to Schwakeland
It's official. I'm am a Schwake. Not that I wasn't really before, but now my name has been officially, before a judge, paid for with good cash, changed from Michelle Teresa Guillemette to Michelle Teresa Schwake. I stood in front of the judge this morning, with Scott and my sister-in-law Marie there as my witnesses, to swear that I wasn't changing my name to get out of any bad debt, run from the law or to defraud anything or anyone. Thankfully, he bought it. : )
I see that I haven't updated my blog since March 6th so I will work backwards from this morning on my update. Tuesday night, the 10th, the Guillemettes got together to celebrate my mom, Terry's, 62nd birthday. We went to Lion's Tap for their yummy burgers. Although I guess my mom should fire me as her top (only) daughter because I didn't find out beforehand whether or not they had wine (they didn't). Mom, although technically not a whino, really likes her wine, especially with dinner, preferably boxed. So she had to make do with some pop. I'll have to be sure to check into that little detail next time. Anyway, we had a good time catching up and chowing. Mom is looking forward to her retirement at the end of May. So we were talking about trips we're going to take this summer and finding a way to get her and dad to move up to the cities.
This weekend we traveled down to Waterloo, IA to spend time with Scott's folks, Ken and Cheryl. We spent most of Saturday at a farm just outside of town that had pony rides, baby farm animals, hayrides, an easter egg hunt, and warm cinnamon buns and carmeled apples. The girls had a great time with all the animals and finding the eggs. They were a little leary of the easter bunny but pretty much took him/her in stride. Cate is on a little of the fearful side. I'm hoping its just a stage because I don't want her to always be afraid of things. She wasn't too keen on petting the animals, didn't like the tire swing in the loft of the barn and didn't want to ride the pony (but she did get on it for a little bit). Clare was gung-ho on everything.
Later that day, when the girls (and grandpa) were napping, Scott, Cheryl and I went to look as sewing machines. Yes the excitement never ends for the Schwakes. I had told Scott that I might be interested in a new machine since so many of the clothes that kids wear - espcially the summer ones - would be really cheap and easy to make. And if I had a machine that could do some fancy stitching, I could make them really cute. Well we did find a place that sold them and at a discount too. From the look of the guy selling them, you'd think the store had a side business of selling weed - who knows, maybe they did! The machine's nowadays have little computers in them, thread the needle for you and probably could wipe your butt too! Its crazy. And they aren't cheap. But I have a feeling that Scott will get one for me for my birthday and mother's day. Mostly because then he doesn't have to sprain his brain thinking of what to get me. That evening, grandma and grandpa watched the girls while Scott and I went to an underwhelming and overpriced steak place.
Sunday was Easter with church, a delicious ham dinner and another (more fun) Easter egg hunt for the girls as well as Easter baskets for the both of them. Now we can't get them to stop begging for jelly beans - I guess I'll just have to eat them all...and the chocolate bunnies too.
The week before we went down to Waterloo, Scott went on an ice fishing trip up north with his friend Brad and a bunch of other guys. He needs his times to thump his chest, kill something and scratch. I think he had a great time but he did get lonely for his girls. He was gone a total of 6 days and he called home every other day.
Two weeks before he went fishing we did a bit of puppysitting. We watched John and Val McCain's new 12 week old American Water Spaniel, Kona. She was super cute but very much a puppy. Attley definitely put her in her place a couple of times but toward the end of the week, he was becoming a softy and letting her share his spot on the couch. She was a loveable, sweet puppy, but she definitely reminded me how much work a puppy can be. We won't be getting a new one anytime soon.
Well, I think that pretty much catches us up on what we, the Schwakes, have been up to. Everyone has been doing really well. Cate's been figuring out some sleep issues. She woke up almost every night Scott was gone and came to sleep with me in my bed. After he got back I started taking her back to her bed to sleep, laying with her for a little bit. Thankfully, she's finally getting the hang of getting herself back to sleep quickly (except for last night). Clare is starting to talk up a storm. She can do small 2-word sentences and can understand so much more. She is definitely one who likes to get a laugh. She'll do almost anything to keep us laughing. Attley is on a new "diet" dog food and we're seeing really good results. He's lost almost 5 lbs since he's been on it. Which actually is a little too much too fast. So we need to up his food a bit to slow down his weight loss. But I really think its helping his foot to feel better. He's back to running upstairs to join us for bedtime and has more spunk overall. Scott is starting to work more hours in preparation for the busy summer. Hopefully he won't have to work any all-nighters.
And I am just hangin' in there. I've been thinking a lot about babies and getting pregnant, mostly because we started trying for Schwake number 3 last month. It didn't happen this time which is fine. I am getting older...I turn 39 next week. So it may not happen at all. And that will be fine too. I am absolutely in love with my two little girls so I will never ever feel cheated or that I missed something if we're not able to have another. And this weekend I'm going with my friend, Paige, to the Westwood Women's retreat which will be a nice little getaway. And then next week, it's my birthday week which is always a fun time for me because I usually get to spend time with all of my wide variety of friends and family.
That's all for this month's post. Schwake out!
I see that I haven't updated my blog since March 6th so I will work backwards from this morning on my update. Tuesday night, the 10th, the Guillemettes got together to celebrate my mom, Terry's, 62nd birthday. We went to Lion's Tap for their yummy burgers. Although I guess my mom should fire me as her top (only) daughter because I didn't find out beforehand whether or not they had wine (they didn't). Mom, although technically not a whino, really likes her wine, especially with dinner, preferably boxed. So she had to make do with some pop. I'll have to be sure to check into that little detail next time. Anyway, we had a good time catching up and chowing. Mom is looking forward to her retirement at the end of May. So we were talking about trips we're going to take this summer and finding a way to get her and dad to move up to the cities.
This weekend we traveled down to Waterloo, IA to spend time with Scott's folks, Ken and Cheryl. We spent most of Saturday at a farm just outside of town that had pony rides, baby farm animals, hayrides, an easter egg hunt, and warm cinnamon buns and carmeled apples. The girls had a great time with all the animals and finding the eggs. They were a little leary of the easter bunny but pretty much took him/her in stride. Cate is on a little of the fearful side. I'm hoping its just a stage because I don't want her to always be afraid of things. She wasn't too keen on petting the animals, didn't like the tire swing in the loft of the barn and didn't want to ride the pony (but she did get on it for a little bit). Clare was gung-ho on everything.
Later that day, when the girls (and grandpa) were napping, Scott, Cheryl and I went to look as sewing machines. Yes the excitement never ends for the Schwakes. I had told Scott that I might be interested in a new machine since so many of the clothes that kids wear - espcially the summer ones - would be really cheap and easy to make. And if I had a machine that could do some fancy stitching, I could make them really cute. Well we did find a place that sold them and at a discount too. From the look of the guy selling them, you'd think the store had a side business of selling weed - who knows, maybe they did! The machine's nowadays have little computers in them, thread the needle for you and probably could wipe your butt too! Its crazy. And they aren't cheap. But I have a feeling that Scott will get one for me for my birthday and mother's day. Mostly because then he doesn't have to sprain his brain thinking of what to get me. That evening, grandma and grandpa watched the girls while Scott and I went to an underwhelming and overpriced steak place.
Sunday was Easter with church, a delicious ham dinner and another (more fun) Easter egg hunt for the girls as well as Easter baskets for the both of them. Now we can't get them to stop begging for jelly beans - I guess I'll just have to eat them all...and the chocolate bunnies too.
The week before we went down to Waterloo, Scott went on an ice fishing trip up north with his friend Brad and a bunch of other guys. He needs his times to thump his chest, kill something and scratch. I think he had a great time but he did get lonely for his girls. He was gone a total of 6 days and he called home every other day.
Two weeks before he went fishing we did a bit of puppysitting. We watched John and Val McCain's new 12 week old American Water Spaniel, Kona. She was super cute but very much a puppy. Attley definitely put her in her place a couple of times but toward the end of the week, he was becoming a softy and letting her share his spot on the couch. She was a loveable, sweet puppy, but she definitely reminded me how much work a puppy can be. We won't be getting a new one anytime soon.
Well, I think that pretty much catches us up on what we, the Schwakes, have been up to. Everyone has been doing really well. Cate's been figuring out some sleep issues. She woke up almost every night Scott was gone and came to sleep with me in my bed. After he got back I started taking her back to her bed to sleep, laying with her for a little bit. Thankfully, she's finally getting the hang of getting herself back to sleep quickly (except for last night). Clare is starting to talk up a storm. She can do small 2-word sentences and can understand so much more. She is definitely one who likes to get a laugh. She'll do almost anything to keep us laughing. Attley is on a new "diet" dog food and we're seeing really good results. He's lost almost 5 lbs since he's been on it. Which actually is a little too much too fast. So we need to up his food a bit to slow down his weight loss. But I really think its helping his foot to feel better. He's back to running upstairs to join us for bedtime and has more spunk overall. Scott is starting to work more hours in preparation for the busy summer. Hopefully he won't have to work any all-nighters.
And I am just hangin' in there. I've been thinking a lot about babies and getting pregnant, mostly because we started trying for Schwake number 3 last month. It didn't happen this time which is fine. I am getting older...I turn 39 next week. So it may not happen at all. And that will be fine too. I am absolutely in love with my two little girls so I will never ever feel cheated or that I missed something if we're not able to have another. And this weekend I'm going with my friend, Paige, to the Westwood Women's retreat which will be a nice little getaway. And then next week, it's my birthday week which is always a fun time for me because I usually get to spend time with all of my wide variety of friends and family.
That's all for this month's post. Schwake out!
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