I'm supposed to be working but blogging is more fun...

Last night and early this morning we got more snow (2 more months of winter and counting...San Diego, I miss you. Call me!!). Elizabeth's Day Care was closed, luckily our friend Maria was able to take her for the day. Between my parents and friends, E and I are so lucky to have a great support system.
Anyway, I wanted to write a little about cosleeping....Cosleeping, for me, falls under the category of one of those things I was NEVER going to do. And in fact, when E was a baby, I did all the "right" things to ensure that she would be an independent sleeper. I kept her on a good sleeping schedule, put her in her crib while she was tired, but still awake, all of it...And as a baby, E was a great sleeper. She almost never woke up during the night, and spent all night, every night, in her crib, in her own room. Which meant that I never had to wake up, and I got to sleep all night, every night in my bed, in my own room. I was actually smug. No sleeping issues with my kid. 'Cause I'm such an awesome mother, you know. All was right with the world.

Then she moved to a "big girl bed" and all Hell broke loose.

That happened last spring, and since then my "independent sleeper" is no more. I had to lie down with her in her bed for anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours before she'd fall asleep. I know, I was probably supposed to kiss her goodnight, shut the door and leave. And everytime she came out of her room, calmly but firmly escort her back to her bed. And in my defense, I did try this. But it got really tiring and annoying after the 50th time. So I decided it was just easier to lie down with her until she fell asleep. I should mention, too that since she was about 2.5, she would always wake up around 1 or 2am and come in to my bed for the rest of the night. I asked Day Care to keep her naps to only 45 minutes-1 hour, which helped a little. On the weekends, I usually don't have her nap at all, and she is out like a light by 8pm on Saturday and Sunday nights- love.it!! Anyway, sometime in October, my lying down with her in her bed somehow changed to her going to bed in my bed from the start, for the entire night, every night. So we are "cosleeping." And actually, I am surprised to say- I like it. The truth is, I miss her during the day when I'm at work. I love this extra time we get to spend together. I don't love it when she steals the covers, or kicks me in the face in her sleep, but over all it's good. Some people can look at this and say, you aren't letting her be independent, you'll never get her out of your bed... My thought? I think she isn't going to want to be sleeping with me when she's 12 or 13. I think she's going to be more independent that I'm going to want her to be, actually :) I sometimes do have some guilt about letting her sleep with me. Am I spoiling her? Taking the easy way out? Maybe so. But for now, it's ok. We're both getting enough sleep, and I know she's safe, snuggled right there next to me.

Cabin Fever

Elizabeth has been begging me for weeks now to take her to the zoo, so I decided to take advantage of the sunny (but cold!) day today (between snow storms) and get out of the house.

We went to the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston. E even got to pet a huge snake (eeeek- I did not get a picture of that).

Something I wonder about...

I wonder if Elizabeth's birthmom (who E hasn't seen she was about 7 months old) walked into the room, would Elizabeth "know" her? Would E feel instinctively connected to her, or would she just be a stranger?

My sister and brother-in-law

My sister Betsy and her husband Don live in Colorado. This past October, Don was working in their garage and had a serious accident. He was burnt over 45% of his body. He survived it, thank God. But for Don and Betsy (for our whole family, but for D and B especially), this was one of those life changing events that come so unexpectedly. Don is working his way back so hard from the accident and is making huge progress every day. Burns are an especially insideous type of injury. They aren't straight forward- you "fix them" and that's it. Nope, they are the gift that that keeps on giving- with long lasting repercussions and possibilities for complications. In Don's case, another huge trauma to his body was where the Doctors took skin from (most of) his back to perform skin grafts on his most severe burns.

The reason I am writing about this is because my sister and brother-in-law are just...amazing people. And I want to "talk" here about them a little bit. In the past 4 + months since the accident, I have witnessed (long distance) my sister's unending devotion to her husband, just really being in this thing with him 1000%. She has always been a very determined, focused person, and her sole focus since that October day has been to help heal Don. It's been quite awe inspiring, actually. And Don...hard to really imagine the physical pain he's had to endure. But he has never lost motivation or drive. He pushes himself every day, and is regularly acheiving milestones way ahead of his Doctors' predictions. In this age of disposable relationships, Betsy and Don are a rare gem. I am so incrediably proud of them.


Elizabeth and I love you, Betsy and Don!

Don and Elizabeth, May 2010

Betsy and Elizabeth, May 2010

Catching up

Wow- if anyone is still reading this (hi, Mom!)- so sorry about the unintended bloggy break! I just either haven't had the time, or when I have, I didn't feel inspired to blog. But I'm not ready to shut down this blog yet. So, I guess I'll give an update bullet style. Here is what's been going on around here for the last several weeks:

- We had a great Christmas, very relaxing with family. It was so much fun this year with Elizabeth because she was really able to understand what was going on and anticipate the big day :)

-Miss E is now 3 1/2. She is: smart, funny, stubborn (!!), sweet and FEISTY!! Sometimes that feistiness kicks my butt, but honestly- I wouldn't have her any other way...LOVE my little girl :)

-I had some minor surgery last week, so Elizabeth stayed with our friend Maria (who's house we used to live in) for 2 nights. It was the first time in our 3 + years together that we've ever been apart overnight. We both did fine :)

-We've been having lots of snow. It was nice at first, but now, I am SO done with it. And it's only mid January. Sigh...

-Elizabeth just moved up to the big kids' room at school- very exciting! She is doing great and seems to love it.

I guess that's it for now! One of my New Year's resolutions is to be abetter blogger!! I love, love, love reading other people's blogs. I just get lazy about keeping up with my own...