Big Boy Bed!

Today, we finally switched Alex's bed to a toddler bed.  He is so stinkin' excited to have his bed accessible to him whenever he wants it.  He thrives on the time he gets to show us how grown up he really is and express his independence.  We've avoided doing this as long as possible.  I didn't have any desire to get rid of my 2 year old's cage.  He has such a good nap and bedtime routine down and I knew that by switching him over it would mess him up.

We also knew that our little toddler is quickly becoming a little boy and is growing up so fast.  We felt like if we were going to do this it needed to be before we moved to a new place and adding too much change into his life.

I also figured out, you can just turn the bed around and it becomes a cage again.  So far today, we gave him several opportunities to stay in his bed for nap time but he just couldn't resist coming out of his room.  After about half an hour of telling him to get back in his bed, we turned his bed around and explained why he lost his big boy privileges.  He of course cried himself to sleep.

Tonight I talking several times with him about what happened at nap time.  He was very aware of what the consequence would be if I had to ask him more than twice to get back in bed.  What two year old can help himself when freedom comes his way?  After the second time of getting out he bed, I turned the bed around and the screaming/crying started.  After 10 mins he calmed himself down and called for me in a nice but sad voice.  After talking to him again about why we had to switch his bed around, I asked him if he was ready to give it a second chance.   After explaining the rules again and saying what would happen if he didn't follow them I said goodnight.  I haven't heard or seen him off his bed yet.

Knowing Alex, I know he'll make mistakes again and he'll forget but he is such a smart and good little kid that he'll have this change in his life down before we know it.  I'm so grateful to learn how to be a parent with a kid like Alex.  He accepts change and goes with it and responds so well to the way we have chosen to teach him.

#30 Five good things that happened since you started the challenge

First off, I'm supposed to put a picture of myself on here but I'm having some medical problems that make taking a picture of myself VERY undesirable!  Last Saturday, I noticed that my tongue had gone numb and then my jaw felt really funny all day.  Later that night I noticed that when I smiled, half my mouth was droopy.  We quickly went to the ER thinking that it could be a stroke.  After being there for a short time, I lost the ability to blink and close one of my eyes.  Luckily it wasn't a stroke but it was something called Bell's Palsy. It is caused by damage to the facial nerve usually through inflammation.  So for the last week, half my face doesn't work very well.  When I talk, it is usually out of the side of my mouth.  I've had to tape my eye closed when I sleep so it doesn't dry out at night.  I've had to avoid a lot of time on the computer or reading.  Eating has been a challenge as well.

To some it up...my face looks funny right now and I have rarely even applied makeup for the last couple of days because it usually just irritates my eye.  The picture will have to wait until I can get over this!

Five good things!

1. I got to know myself a little better and what I really want out of my life.
2. I was able to really reflect on the things that matter to me in life such as my family and friends.
3. I have some really high dreams but I'm okay if they don't all happen.
4. I'm able to see the things that are wrong with me, share them, and get motivated to fix them.
5. I'm not the best writer but I realized that this blog is for me and my record of my family. It will be so fun to come back to this 30 Day challenge in a year, five years, or ten and see how things have changed or stayed exactly the same.    

Thanks for everyone's support during this challenge!

#29 Three Wishes

Wish #1:  I wish Mike was completely done with his schooling.  I know what we are doing is the right path for us now but it has taken us a while to get there.  Mike will finish up his thesis and graduate with his Master's Degree here in the next few months.  He will then be going to get his teaching credentials over the next year.  I feel like we've lived the poor student life long enough!

Wish #2:  I wish we were completely out of debt.  We have very little credit card debt but we have car and student loan debt.  It would be so nice if those would just go away!  It would free up so much of our money each month.

Wish #3:  I wish I could be to my goals weight and be able to keep it off FOR GOOD!  I'm fully capable of losing weight but for some reason it finds it's way back.  It would be nice to be able to enjoy cloths shopping again and actually dressing cute.  It would also be nice to fit into cute maternity cloths next time!

#28 Something that Stress You out...

What usually stresses me out isn't our lack of money or having set in stone plans for the next few years but...

Never ending piles of clutter/paperwork on every surface...

Piles of dirty laundry that fill up our bedroom floor and piles of clean laundry that fills our living room floor waiting to be folded...

A sink and kitchen that usually looks like this...

And a floor that is covered with toys from all over the house.

It has taken me a while to finally understand how having a cluttered and dirty house affects my mood.  When the kitchen is a wreck I don't want to cook anything and then I end up cooking some quick junk meal high in fat or getting fast food which is even worse.  When my laundry isn't done, I just want to wear lounge cloths all day without taking a shower.  When there is clutter and paperwork everywhere I just want to sit and be on the computer so I don't have to deal with it.  When the floor has exploded from Alex's toys I don't want to do any of the above chores.

When my house is clean (not perfect by any means), I can feel myself come out of my hole and be active as a mom and wife again.  I'm more likely to do a project or play with Alex, fix a nice healthy meal, or get myself fixed up for the day.  When I wake up and find myself depressed I can usually come out of my mood but putting on some music and getting to work around the house.  A couple hours later it feels like a whole new me.  I often tell Mike if he wants to make me happy not to bring me flowers or chocolates but to clean the house.

I blame my mom for the way I am.  I grew up in a relatively clean house.  Even with four kids and three of them being boys my mom was always good about de-junking (sometimes too good) and keeping things in there places.  I'm usually very stress free while I'm at my parents house.  I know that is part of the reason why I love going to visit and find myself so comfortable while I'm there.