Thoughts About Sleep

Here it is, the end of November. We are currently staying in Mesa at my parents' house until the baby is born. This is because Corey is always gone with school and work. He was going to be gone for the whole week this week, so we decided to pack up and come stay. That way, I wouldn't have to find people in the middle of the night to come watch the kids and take me to the hospital if I were to go into labor. Instead, either Corey can take me to the hospital, or my dad (if Corey isn't here), with my mom staying with the kids.

So it's been interesting staying here. The boys aren't sleeping well, neither am I (but for different reasons--mine are contractions galore). I kind of just want her to come to put me out of my misery of these horrible contractions that plague me at night!

Westley has been pulling "no sleep" nights and days. He goes to bed between 6 and 7. Some nights I try to get him to bed at 6 because he just doesn't sleep long enough at night. He ALWAYS gets up at 5 am to go to the bathroom. Then he won't go back to sleep, and often wakes up Caleb. If we get him to come into our bed so he won't bother Caleb, he ends up talking and messing around and still not sleeping, just he keeps us awake instead. Then he won't, absolutely WILL NOT nap during the day. Occasionally he has, but the conditions have to be JUST perfect. I finally got him to nap today, but I think it's because he cried himself to sleep after I laid into him. I was just so mad at him for his antics. I told him he HAD to stay on the bed and couldn't get off. I guess I said it angrily enough that it scared him into staying in bed and he finally fell asleep.

Caleb spends nap time filling his diaper. Even though he's doing great with #1 on potty training, he still isn't doing well with #2. So he spends the first 30 minutes to an hour filling his pants and then I have to change his diaper and try to get him to lay back down to nap.

Travis spends his naptimes crying. Today he spent the whole hour crying (we usually let him cry for 1 to 1-1/2 hours to see if he'll cry himself to sleep). He cried the whole time and never went to sleep. That was for the morning nap. Then I took him with me on an errand in the car, and he had a hard time staying awake. What a little punk! Then, for the afternoon nap, he cried out about every 1/2 hour for a couple hours. I don't know if he even slept in between the moments I would hear him or not. No wonder he's completely exhausted by 6 pm. Usually, if Westley doesn't wake him up in the morning, he'll sleep until at least 6, sometimes later.

With all these sleep issues and a new baby coming soon, I'm very nervous about ever being able to sleep again. I may not sleep for a very LONG time. Needless to say, this is the last baby for at least a while. I need to get back some sleep!!!

At the Zoo

On Friday, November 2nd, we went to the Phoenix Zoo as a family. It was the culmination of about six weeks of preschool science with Westley. We've been studying all the classes of animals (amphibians, reptiles, birds, fish, mammals, even spiders and insects). While it was mostly just an enjoyable day, we did talk about how this animal is a mammal, that animal is a reptile, and so forth. The two older boys really enjoyed it. Travis seemed to like it also, I think this was his first big outing in the stroller, and that, in and of itself, was an adventure.

Westley and Caleb both got to go inside a big tree they had at the zoo and see what it was like to be inside a tree, like the way certain animals live.









But I think the part they liked most of all was riding the carousel.

Happy Halloween!

For Halloween last night, I got the boys dressed up in their costumes and took them to the ward trunk-or-treat. Travis fell asleep in the stroller as we walked from trunk to trunk. Westley and Caleb were cute as ever. I think Caleb was a little tired because he wasn't as energetic as usual. Westley talked everyone's ear off at each trunk, as usual. He was so excited about being Superman. I dressed up as a farmer, sort of. I just wore a T-shirt with overalls, cowboy boots, a handkerchief around my neck and my hair in pigtails. Last minute costume idea. Westley was impressed anyway. But it was sure fun! After we got done going around the parking lot, we went back to our car and handed out some candy. When Travis really started to cry, it was time to pack up and leave. When we got home, I let them each have a piece of candy (even Travis). Then we put on pajamas, brushed teeth and went to bed. I stayed up and handed out candy at the door until about 7:45. After a long lull of about 20 minutes, I turned off all the lights and went into my room to watch TV until going to bed.

Hope everyone else had a safe Halloween!

Feeling Better

We are all feeling much better now. No more sickness for the time being. Although, I could definitely use some more rest.

Today is Halloween and the older boys are quite excited about dressing up in their costumes and going to the ward Trunk or Treat. I still haven't quite decided what to dress Travis up as, and after much deliberation, have decided not to dress up myself. Too much work and I'm way too tired.






These pictures are of the decorations Westley and I made in his preschool for Halloween. They fit in with something we were studying. We learned about spiders and bats and the human skeletal system. We also talked about pumpkins. The jack-o-lanterns that we made and hung on the windows have faded in the last few weeks with the bright Arizona sun, so it's hard to really see.

I'll definitely be taking some pictures and (hopefully) posting them tomorrow! Have a Happy and safe Halloween!

Chaos at the Kings

The month of October has really been a difficult one from the beginning. It started with a tragic event in the life of a dear friend of my brother's family in Texas (Oct. 2nd). Her 21-month-old child wandered into the backyard and got entangled in a soccer net to the point of strangulation. After several days in the hospital with little brain activity, he passed away (Oct. 6th). All week long we prayed and hoped for good news, but, alas, Heavenly Father had other plans. I feel such sorrow for that dear mother who lost her little child to a tragic accident. I know that Heavenly Father will make all things right in the end, but it sure is hard to have that perspective during such grief.

The following week (Oct. 8th), Caleb was diagnosed with a hydrocele, which is a fluid-filled sac that surrounds a testicle, causing scrotal swelling. It's caused by a hole in the abdominal wall. Most of the time, baby boys are born with it and it resolves itself by the end of the first year. But other times, it just occurs in older children, and when that is the case, surgery is required to fix the problem. The day after we found out what it was (Oct. 9th), the swelling got much worse, so we took him to the ER in case a hernia had developed. It hadn't, and we were relieved. However, I believe the ER trip brought the sickness into our house that has stayed for the last few weeks.

Two days after the ER visit (Oct. 11th), Caleb came down with a stomach bug. He threw up a couple times and spent the day dozing, either in his bed or on the couch. He also had a fever of 102 almost all day long. By Friday (Oct. 12th), he seemed much better, so we went ahead and celebrated his birthday as previously planned. But because he'd been sick, we didn't take him to church on Sunday. Travis still had a respiratory infection that had started at the end of September, so he stayed home as well.

On Monday, the 15th, Caleb had an appointment with the pediatric urologist. We were all planning on going to that, just so Corey and I could both be present to hear his assessment and ask our questions. Unfortunately, Westley came down with the stomach bug that day and had a few bouts of throwing up. So Corey stayed home with him and Travis, and I took Caleb to his appointment. At the appointment, we scheduled the surgery for a week later. Boy, that appointment seems ages ago now.

Tuesday the 16th was Caleb's birthday, but since we celebrated it the previous Friday, we didn't do anything really. Then on Wednesday, the 17th, Travis started throwing up. I had to monitor him carefully since he is transitioning from bottle to cup and not doing well with that. He's had a hard time getting enough fluids down because he refuses the cup and now the bottle too. I finally figured out that he will drink from a regular water bottle with help and a regular cup.

On Thursday morning, when Corey called me from school, he wasn't feeling well. He got sick with a respiratory infection on September 22nd and still hadn't fully recovered. But this time he was complaining of stomach upset and feeling like he had to throw up. By the time I talked to him again later in the day, he seemed to be feeling less like that. He still has a bad cough from his respiratory infection.

So we come to Friday, the 19th. Everyone seemed well, so I took the boys to playgroup. Later that day, however, Westley started throwing up and having diarrhea again. He had a really bad night where he was up a lot so finally we pulled a mattress into our room and he slept there with me in the bed and Corey on the couch. Travis had a bad night that night as well, and I couldn't get him back to sleep when he woke up around 4:30 a.m. Corey went to work on Saturday, and Westley slowly seemed to get to feeling better. I picked up some Pedialyte at the store as well as some more cleaning supplies and I disinfected the whole house--doorknobs, telephones, light switches, etc. I aired out the boys' bedroom and cleaned the bunk bed frame with Clorox wipes. I changed all the sheets and pillowcases and even washed all the boys' blankies and lovies. I thoroughly cleaned the bathrooms--sinks, counters, toilets, floors, tubs, and mirrors. And then I went through the house and cleaned every surface I possibly could think of that the boys had touched a lot--the refrigerator door, the garbage can, the bookshelves, the crib, the dressers, etc.
On Sunday, we all stayed home from church to recuperate and to not spread the illness. Also, I didn't want Caleb to get sick since he was having surgery on Monday. We went Sunday afternoon to my parents' house in Mesa (closer to the hospital and the surgery was scheduled for 7 a.m.). On Monday the 22nd, we got up and took Caleb to his surgery. I wasn't feeling very good, but I'd gotten little sleep the night before and thought maybe I was just hungry.

Caleb's surgery went well, except for the waking up part. He didn't handle that well. The anaesthesia made him nauseated and he threw up, plus he had been given an epidural and couldn't feel his legs. I think it was a bit scary for him.

I, on the other hand, ended up with a major stomach bug. I spent the rest of the day throwing up and laying in bed with massive stomach pain. By midnight, I was so sick I required a trip to the ER to get fluids. Because I was so dehydrated, I'd started having regular contractions, which wasn't good because I'm only 33 weeks along. But after spending the night in the ER, with my mom by my side (Thank you!), I got to feeling MUCH better.

Hopefully, that is the end of all the sickness and chaos for a while. I wish I could say for good, but that's not how life works, is it?

Caleb's Third Birthday

We celebrated Caleb's third birthday on Friday, October 12th instead of on his actual birthday, which is Tuesday the 16th. The dinner was fun. We ordered pizza instead of making a big dinner. Too bad that Caleb hasn't been feeling good, but we wanted to get it done when some family was able to make it.

Grandma and Grandpa came from Mesa to celebrate it with us. Despite Caleb's recent illness (flu) and current condition (hernia), he was in great spirits. He didn't each very much though, but he sure had fun with his guests. After decorating the train cake, we ate the dinner and then did the cake and ice cream. Caleb took a few tries, but managed to blow out all his own candles.



After the cake and ice cream, we did presents. Caleb got a simple, toddler-oriented video game from us (Corey's choice) and a set of cool African animals from Grandma and Grandpa. He really enjoyed playing with both gifts on Saturday, and so did Westley. I only had to break up about four fights, though, so it wasn't too bad...

Just Playing Around

Sundays are always tough days. Church is rough with three little kids and then we usually come home and Corey sleeps until he goes to work. I try to sleep, but often one or more of the boys is awake and I can't really sleep because I have to keep an eye on them.

Today was no different. Church was rough (Westley had a really hard time, as usual). Travis was super tired and had a hard time staying awake on the two-minute drive home and then at lunch (his head kept bobbing in his high chair). So we put him down for a nap, expecting him to sleep a while, but he woke up 45 minutes later when Corey was just going to sleep. He screamed and screamed for a long time, but finally Westley (who was awake playing with pattern blocks) and I got him calmed down and happy.

Then Corey went to work and it was just me and the boys. Caleb finally woke up around 4:15, and I fed them all "supper" (we have our big meal for lunch on Sundays). After dinner, I thought it would be funny to put some of their big Legos on my toes and tell them I was wearing shoes. They thought it was so funny. We ended up going in the toy room and finding all sorts of different "shoes" for our feet, and they were just shrieking with laughter. We put their Halloween trick-or-treat pumpkins on our feet and declared them shoes. We put the castle stacking blocks that we have on our feet and declared them shoes. We put more Legos on our toes and declared them shoes. We put Daddy's hats on our feet and declared them shoes.

After that, they were quite riled up. So I taught them how to play Red Light, Green Light (only after cleaning up all the "shoes"). I stood at one end of the hall and they started at the other. Westley understood it; Caleb sort of did, and Travis was just having a great time running back and forth down the hallway. We played that for maybe 20-30 minutes. Then I blew bubbles for them and they raced around trying to catch the bubbles.

After the bubbles, it was time to calm down, so they all took a bath together. After the bath, we all put our jammies on. The older two boys got out pattern blocks and I put Travis down to bed. Then I did pattern blocks with the boys for about 20 minutes. By this time, it was about 6:15. We got out a card game set that is Westley's and played a round of Fish. Westley is really finally getting it. Caleb, of course, didn't. He laid all his cards out face up so he could see them properly, which helped us know what to ask for and also what he should ask for from us. Westley won and then we brushed teeth and went and read books and said prayers. Then they went to bed.

I think this afternoon/evening ended up being much more enjoyable than the usual Sunday. More exhausting, yes, but the boys sure enjoyed spending that time together with each other and with me. Maybe we'll make this sort of thing a tradition.