Calling the Sandman...

The Lowe household is finally on the mend. It's a good thing, too, because this Mama was about to lose her mind. Last week, the exhaustion had set in, and one day I told Jason I thought he was going to have to order me some meds. Haha. A week later - still no meds - but I do feel MUCH better. Let me say that I cannot function for more than a few days without sleeping well. I'm not nice, and it's not pretty. With everyone in our house sick, it was just BAD. Connor had been sleeping in the pack 'n play by our bed since he was born. It made life much easier when I was breastfeeding, but the time had come for him to be somewhere else. Jake hasn't made the transition to the big boy bed yet, but believe me, it's coming soon. A few nights ago, we moved Connor into the closet. Okay, trust me when I tell you this is okay. My bedroom in college was smaller than this closet. His little part even has a window and his monitor and a nightlight are plugged in right beside him. Then, we made the decision to let him "cry it out." Connor has been a great sleeper, but after being sick, he got stuck waking up around 4. If I put him in the bed with us, he went right back to sleep. However, this woman doesn't really want to share my bed with anyone other than my husband - okay, well and the dog that is sort of grandfathered in to the bed. Night 1 went okay, and he cried for the better part of an hour which is a LONG time. Night 2 got us about 20 minutes of off and on crying then he was back out. Night 3 got us no crying at all. I will digress for a moment on a soapbox. Some of you might have been wondering where "the old Akisha" has been. If you continue reading, you'll see that I'm still right here ;) The "cry it out" method is not for everyone. Trust me, if I hadn't worked for so long in the nursery listening to crying on a daily basis I don't know if I could have attempted it. However, I am a much better mother when I have sleep so with Jake, I was willing to try anything to get some sleep. It sucked for a few nights, then it was totally worth it. If you can't do it, I completely understand, but for us, a few nights of crying is a good trade for nights of peace after that. It's one thing to say that you can't stand to listen to your baby crying and a whole other matter to say that the "cry it out" method is going to cause your child harm. If you think for one moment that crying is going to cause your child to be handicapped, I will say it now. You are an idiot. Plain and simple. Don't bring me your "research". I can show you just as much research that says otherwise. Now, children who are left to cry and are neglected do suffer damage, but a night or two of crying off and on is simply not the same. There was a girl I met here who seemed cool at first, and then she posted study after study on Facebook about "crying it out", the family bed, etc. Look, I don't care what you do, but don't try and tell me that because I am doing something that you disagree with that I am harming my child. This chick got deleted because a) we were not going to be friends and b) don't attack people simply because it is not what you would do. If anyone even had an opposing opinion, it was like she fought harder to prove her point. Now, I don't doubt that she was doing what she thought was best for her children, so show me the same respect. We agree to disagree. If what you are doing works for you and your family, then it's cool. What I do know is that while she was tossing around in a bed with 4 people, I was sleeping.

Okay, no more soapbox (at least not for now). We had people over last night, and it was so nice to have people here. Even though there were 2 couples besides us, we had 4 children all between 4 and 6 months old and 2 kiddos in the 2 year old + range. Cuh-razy. Oh, and they were all boys!!! It's our own little baseball team. It will be neat to see the boys grow and be buddies. I have been buzzing around the house for the last few days finishing up a few things, cooking, and cleaning. This morning, Connor woke up around 5:45. I got up to feed him, and that little booger went back to sleep. Of course, I was awake by then, so I did a few things around the house, and by the time I was finished Jake was awake. I don't know if it was craziness or bravery, but I decided to take the boys to the pool. It took about 20 minutes just to gather children and supplies.

• children - check
• pool key - check
• carrier for Connor - check
• bouncy seat (because he sweats like crazy in the carrier) - check
• camera (who knows when cuteness will happen?) - check
• towels, sunscreen -check
• life vest, water shoes for around pool - check
• diaper and clothes for after swimming - check
• bottle and formula because feeding time will probably occur while at pool - check
• burp cloth - check

Are you tired yet? Soooo, I lugged all that to the pool, unloaded the children, and hung out for oh, about an hour. Then Jake saw the slide next to the pool on the playground and it was over. I put Connor in for a few minutes, but apparently C likes his water about bath temperature and he cried. So it was back to the bouncy for Connor. Here are the boys at the pool.

The pool sits right on the intercoastal waterway and the view is beautiful.

The "cool cat" got his glasses on for the ride home. I told Jake he was a cool cat with his sunglasses on, and he meowed. Now, when he puts them on, sometimes he will meow because he wants you to tell him he's a cool cat. Even upside down, he is stylin'.



We came home and Jake had to jump in the shower while I showered. He ran around and splashed water. This from the same child who, moments before, had cried to get out of the pool. Then, we Skyped with Gammie, ate lunch, and the boys went down for a nap. All before noon... Anybody else need a nap? This Mama is about to hit the sack, myself. I heard Connor a second ago, so I may be snuggling up with C and coaxing him back to sleep, as well.

Before I sign off, I will share a quick recipe. I made these cinnamon rolls the other night. They are from Southern Living's "Almost Homemade" cookbook magazine.

Okay so if the road to skinniness is a narrow path, these are somewhere in a ravine at the bottom of that path, but they were yummy. Screw getting skinny this week. Maybe next...

1 c chopped pecans

1 (16 oz) package hot roll mix (I used Pillsbury and found it above the flour in the grocery store in a blue box)

1/2 c butter, softened

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

1 c powdered sugar

2 Tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Bake pecans 5-7 minutes until fragrant and turn once. Prepare hot roll mix according to directions on package and let stand 5 minutes. Roll dough into 10x15 inch rectangle and spread softened butter on top. Mix brown sugar and cinnamon together and spread on top of dough. Top with pecans. Starting at one end, tightly wrap dough. Cut into 12 pieces. Place pieces into lightly greased 12 inch cast iron skillet. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and cloth, free from drafts for 20 minutes or until doubled in size. Bake at 375 for about 20-25 minutes. Stir together powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk and drizzle over hot rolls. Dig in!

Now, with all that being said, I'm off to visit my pillow.