Jinx?!?

I'm afraid of jinxing it for myself....BUT Drew went down for his nap again today with no trouble and slept 2.5 hours. AND tonight he went to bed nicely again!! The only complaint I have is that he was up 3-3:45am again last night (and came into our room three times...ugh!). However, Drew was on the verge of giving up his nap and had been pushing back his sleep til after 9pm...until we tried this Super Nanny approach. Now he's napping 2-3 hours and falling asleep by 8:30pm. Next mission: sleep through the night...or at least not wake up Mommy!

Night Two

Well, let me begin by saying last night got more complicated than my previous post reflects. Drew woke up at 1:58am and was out of his bed 8 times before 3:30am. A nightmare! So, lack of sleep was strangling me all morning so that I could barely breathe never mind play. UGH.

The good news is I put him down at 1:30pm for a nap and he slept til 4:30!! We all did. Ahhh...peace.

Not only did he do remarkably well at naptime (he never left the bedroom!!) but he was awesome tonight too! He came out 3 times and was asleep within 30 minutes (even after the great nap).

I'm thinking better nights lie ahead! Yippee! Go Super Nanny!

Super Nanny ME!

Every parent watches the Super Nanny. How can you not? Joe works with some of the most wild, untamed, ill-mannered, loud children and creates harmoneous homes filled with love. Right? Sure...

Well, we needed a bit of the Super Nanny tough love to ease our bedtime battles. SO...super nanny ME to the rescue. Drew has been getting out of his bed (and prior to that his crib) for weeks now...maybe months?!? It's been a nightmare. He just keeps coming out of his room and is found either wandering the halls, creeping down the stairs, playing with chapstick, hiding, or giggling in delight. He's so pleased with himself. And every night we have the same talk...where Drew says: I'm not going to get out of my room tonight. I'm going to stay in my bed. And night after night after night he does not keep to the promise.

What have we tried so far?

We have tried talking nicely, getting angry, making threats (even threatening to take away his lovie Bubby!), following through on threats (bye bye Bubbie), locking his door from the outside (yes, I confess...we've locked him in a few times), and creating a rewards chart (which failed miserably). So tonight, we tried the Super Nanny approach.

We began at 7:28pm with lights out...good night Drew...we love you. Door closed. We nominated ME as the one to take care of business tonight. Drew came out immediately, I followed him to bed & put the covers back on then left the room, closing the door behind me. Repeat. Repeat Again. And again. Repeat 50 more times. In the meantime, Drew began jumping off the bed to run to the door; he slammed the door open to create a loud noise (and snickered!); he stumbled; he bumped his head against the wall when jumping back into bed; he laughed; he groaned; he sang; he winced. And ultimately...he fell asleep. 40 minutes later. Not bad, eh? ARE YOU FOLLOWING THIS?? Super Nanny wasn't lying! It worked!!

I'll let you know how tomorrow goes. Daddy's on duty :)

Busy, Busy!

I haven't been blogging as much as I'd like ~ especially considering the amount of reflecting I've been doing. But alas, things have been super busy here and blogging just hasn't been top-of-the-list. So, an update is overdue.

Rhode Island New Moms Connection has been doing really well. It's so exciting to have work that I feel so passionately about...and to see it grow. It's amazing. I will admit it is a lot of work to market, build community partnerships, build the website, register women ~ who are surely committed, and travel to various locations to offer the groups. But it's all worth it. We aren't making a lot of money, but then again our mission is to provide affordable and accessible pregnancy and new mom groups to women in Rhode Island. We've remained true to that mission and true to ourselves. I'm proud of the work we're doing - and proud of our new website too! Take a look; I did it ALL BY MYSELF!

The kids. They've been AWESOME. It's so interesting how we have our ups and downs...and when we're up we're really UP! That's where we are hanging out right now and I love it. The boys have been playing so nicely together - chasing each other around the house, playing trucks & cars & trains & animals, singing & dancing, playing hide & seek...it's great. They went out in the snow today (dean's first time sledding!!) and had a blast. The pictures don't reflect their excitement as they suited-up...and they don't show dean's request for "more please" when he came inside. Too cute. I'm really enjoying them.



I often feel like I have it all: a great husband, wonderful kids, fabulous parents, a business I enjoy, great friends...what I've been working on is re-assuring myself that I deserve it. I remain grateful for every one of these blessings in my life. And I try to have faith that good things come to good people. It's my responsibility to just be the best me I can be...and to respect, appreciate, and enjoy these blessings.

Giving Thanks

I'm really happy to be one of those people who always appreciates what she has instead of wanting for what she doesn't have. Really - that's who I am. And I'm so grateful for a wonderful family...and fabulous friends. Below is my beloved family on X-mas Eve. We celebrated with a magnificent holiday dinner with those closest to us. It was low stress and lots of fun!


And I've been equally blessed with amazing friends. While many of my closest friends live miles away, I am fortunate to have found such an intimate, supportive community of friends here in RI...in just 3 years! I'm always grateful that GOOD people seem to come into my life. New Year's Eve was enjoyed with some of our closest RI friends. Another easy, fun night!