No-Nap Zone

Hi, Friends.

I missed everyone this weekend. I'm in the midst of non-napping/crying/screaming freak-outs at my household and that incorporated with shower/work/life exhaustion on my part has taken over the last 3 days of my life. The shower is this Saturday and I have a lot to do before I'm done. I still have to get my games in order, pick up prizes for the winners, arrange the rest of the food, order balloons, and then on Saturday pick up everything and get it all arranged before the onslaught of 90 (okay,about 30) people arrives. And this doesn't even include the fact that I have no real idea of how many people are coming, whether my mother-in-law plans to spend the night here, which means planning a mother's day gift for her as well as my mother, not to mention making sure my guest room is ready just in case and the list goes on and on and on.

But, Lexy. This is the most important. There is just little to no napping going on here. I'm not sure what's gong on and I don't know how to fix it. She's so tired she doesn't know which way is up, but she refuses to sleep. Her eyes are drooping and yet she's flailing her legs and singing songs. Unless it's a day like yesterday. Yesterday she cried for an hour and a half (interspersed with playing with her stuffed animals) before she fell asleep. Which of course was at the end of her typical nap time. And, of course, she woke up crying and was inconsolable until I found a Scooby-Doo cartoon on TV. But, because she was so tired she wouldn't let me put her down or do anything other have her sit on my lap for the next 45 minutes. This leads to the inevitable McDonalds for dinner which is just not good for any of us.

I have no idea how to combat this situation other than continuing to tell her that it's important for her (and Mommy's sanity) that she nap and attempt to get her to sleep. I've pushed her nap time back a half and hour hoping that will help. So far, no go. She's getting extra outside running time to try and wear her out even more than she already is. I know that kids out grow their naps. I understand that she's getting older. But she's not even 2 and a half and I see how tired she is. She's just taken to fighting the whole sleep issues and right now she's winning.

I need ideas people. Ideas on how to keep my sanity while keeping her in the napping routine. I need to know how everyone has dealt with this situation, because, please do not tell me I'm in this by myself. And I need suggestions on knocking your kid out. No, I'm not talking about drugging her or hitting her on the head with something. What makes your kids head off to dreamland. Share the love people, I need to get back into our routine! Oh, and did I mention that I'm REALLY tired. Any suggestions on how to STAY awake for Mommy?

Thanks for the support. Love to you all,

C-

Pink Duct Tape

Okay, I have to ask. Why am I putting SO much effort into this bridal shower? To be honest, I don't really know Josh's cousins very well. We see each other at Christmas and sometimes Thanksgivings. There are a few in between visits, but we don't call, we don't email... we don't even really talk over Facebook. And here I am just having spent 45 minutes searching the Internet trying to find the perfect bridal shower favor. Yes, 45 minutes. I think I found something, but anything under $2.00 per favor is absolutely hideous and I don't want hideous to be reflected upon me or Josh. Ah, the true crux. I don't want to be hideous. The favors that I found are little teapot shaped ceramic plates for teabags. The shower is kitchen/bath. Teapots would fit, right? Please say right because the shower is 2 weeks away and I don't have time to think of something else. 45 minutes today alone people!

I'm stressing over what to add to the menu. I have 2 boxes of hors d'oeuvres in the freezer. I have 2 platters of cheese. I have a shrimp ring chilling out in the spare ice box. I have pasta salad, veggie platter and some ham sandwich thing that the Mother-In-Law is going to bring all hanging around in my head waiting for next week to buy. But. I have 32 people on the guest list. And the invitations say "regrets only". I have heard from 2 people that they won't be able to make it. It's a little less than 2 weeks from the wedding and I have heard from 2 people. I was assured by the creators of the guest lists that at least 10 people if not more would be declining. So far... only 2. This is going to be the largest party I have ever hosted, and so far I'm doing 99.9% of it on my own, even though the invite says 2 names. Ugh. What was I thinking???

When did I think I would have time to do this. I work part-time. I have Lexy full-time. I have a dog. I have Josh. That should count for 2. I have my parents and Lexy's play dates and my groceries. And I really really really wanted to decorate Lexy's room with some new Pottery Barn beach theme items for girls. All postponed to pay for the shower. Who knew that showers were so FLIPPIN' expensive? No one told me. I knew that they were expensive, but really. $60.00 for food and I'm not even 1/3 there. I have no idea what else to put on the menu... any suggestions?

And games. Boy, oh boy, the games. I've already shot down the "bridal gown toilet paper" game. Save a tree. I think I have it pinned down to the trusty "Match the TV couple" game and this really fun one that I once played with rice and paperclips and blindfolds. Connect the dots. It was really hard and lots of fun. 2 games. 30 people means a lot of presents. I'm thinking that this shower will be about 6 hours and I may have to order out for pizza. Or run to Target and buy extra pillows and blankets for all the people that will be sleeping on my floors.

Please. If you read this and you love me or even like me a little bit, next time someone mentions something other than "Bridal Shower for Shelley", please find some of that really girly pink duct tape and slap it across my mouth before I can say "yeah, sure, I guess I can do that". Unless it's Shelley and you can get an enthusiastic "YES, I WANT TO HOST A SHOWER!!!!" I want that duct tape in place from date of engagement to date of wedding. Thanks.

What ever happened to...

Dear Friends,

Food has been foremost in my mind for the last few days. I feel like I've been inundated by the media with all types of health warnings and reports coming out about various stories relating how much salt or sugar should be in your diet, what the fat content of your food should be, whether or not coffee, wine, or chocolate is good v. bad. I've been seeing the same commercial on t.v. over and over from the American Beverage Association (sorry if I got that wrong) and how it's removed its full calorie carbonated drinks from schools across America. And then there's Jamie Oliver's "Food Revolution". I love it. He's trying to get a whole town, including the schools, cooking for themselves and eating smaller amounts of processed foods, more fresh vegetables and fruits, and so on. Very cool. I love Jamie Oliver. He's such a cutie and what a great idea.

My question is though, whatever happened to the parenting that kept our kids from becoming obese? What happened to the self-control that taught us that a muffin the size of your head isn't actually one serving, but 4? What happened to common sense telling you that drinking 4 Big Gulp size sodas a day probably isn't the best idea if you're trying to keep the calorie count down. When I was little I never got to drink sodas unless we went out for dinner, which was only once a week. Doritos were a special treat. I can count on 2 hands the number of times I got to eat Lucky Charms. My mother always gave us treats for desserts, but we had healthy snacks after school. Fruit, crackers... not cookies or doughnuts.

I'm just wondering why it's become so necessary to have the Today Show and the local news run 4 segments per airing about different aspects of the same story. I don't understand what happened to the common sense of people, parents especially, that told us that these things aren't healthy habits and that some things really are better in moderation. Don't get me wrong. I love my chips and cookies. In fact, writing this is making me really want one of those Do-Si-Do's that I have from my beautiful local Girl Scout troop. In fact, when I'm done writing, I'll probably get a nice glass of milk and a cookie. But, just one cookie. I don't really need 4. I may want four (or a whole sleeve), but one will do just nicely.

I'm really wondering what everyone's opinions are on this. Is it just that parents aren't home enough anymore that they have to rely on processed foods and things that are prepackaged so that their kids can grab things on their own? I try and give Lexy what I think is the best food I can. We only drink organic milk, we try and have mostly organic dairy products. She gets treats after dinner and that's it. If she eats all her lunch she can sometimes have chips, but they're reduced fat. I give her dried fruit and cheerios for snacks. Macaroni and cheese is a staple, but it's not everyday regardless of what Lexy might tell you. It's only 4 times a week. I get that I'm home more than most parents and that Lexy goes to family when I work so that helps with the diet thing. But, even before Lexy, I never really got the parents getting their kids large Frappuccino coffee drinks from Starbucks. What is that 750 calories? And the kids are about 10-20 pounds over weight. I'm confused.



Give it to me people. Help me to get it or let me know if you agree.

I'm off to get my cookie and tomorrow when I'm on my third cup of coffee I'll reread this, contemplate whether or not caffeine should be entered in on this post, ignore those thoughts and put it out there. I hope you all have a beautiful and healthy day.

Love to you all,

C-