Let Them Eat Cake!

Kyrie's birthday cake! The cake itself is lemon (per Kyrie's request) with both a raspberry and a vanilla cream cheese filling. This is my most ambitious cake yet, and I would be lying if I said I didn't have doubts as to its chances of making it to tomorrow's festivities (I will dub it "the leaning tower of cake"). It is the first time I have used rods to hold the cake together (first time with a double filling, too). It was a little difficult to ice because of the fillings. I am fairly proud of this cake, especially if I close one eye and scrunch the other eye up a little, too... then it appears quite beautiful. I hope that in Kyrie's memories, she remembers this cake that way!

Homeowners... At Last

Well, we made it official on Wednesday (3/24): we are now homeowners! The closing process was fairly comical because of the two kids. At one point, Degen was on my lap and fussing to "sign" each piece of paper as it passed from Darren's hand to mine. The closing took place in the evening, so he alternated from fussy to restless to sweet as pie. I'm sure that the title lady and the sellers thought that we were "those" kind of parents, but were kind enough to play along!
After the closing, we grabbed some dinner and then headed straight to the new house. Across the expanse of our big backyard, we spotted some new neighbors with two little boys playing in the backyard. Considering the dreadful state of our current neighbor, we have been a little worried about who we might be living near. Thankfully, the couple is our age with kids aged 3 & 5, a big dog and a cat! They were just as excited to see that we had children and gave us a quick rundown of the neighborhood, which it turns out is WONDERFUL with kids! We were so relieved!
Our new neighbors, eager to see inside the house, joined us as we toured our newly acquired home. As Darren told them about all our plans for remodeling, the four children ran wildly through the house in a screaming game of chase. Though Kyrie got a little nervous, as she is unused to the rambunctious nature of boys her age, she mostly had a great big smile on her face! My thoughts immediately wandered to warm, summer days with a happy gang of neighborhood kids traipsing through the house on the way to new adventures!
Now, some serious work begins! We have less than a month to begin remodeling, pack and move into our new home... I'm exhausted already!

Easter!

A visit with the Easter Bunny! Both kids did a good job, though Degen was much more interested when he didn't have to sit on the Bunny's lap! We finished the morning with a story time and lunch with our friends!

Out of Sync

Well, at this point I am having trouble remembering my last good night's sleep, but if I look at Degen's calendar I can find that last week he slept 11 hours straight. Then we adjusted the clocks for Daylight Savings Time, and it seems that we've had nothing but trouble since. I was fairly used to Degen waking one or two times a night, but in the past week he's been up four to five times each night and struggles to go down despite the "blackout" measures I've added to the windows. I feel like we've got a bit of a perfect anti-sleep storm: time change, teething (looks like we've got another molar on deck), a cold and some separation anxiety. I'm still trying to figure out a new bedtime, dose with pain reliever as needed, lay him down with the shirt I wore for the day...it just seems like I can't do enough to help him find and keep his sleep these days, which is frustrating for both of us. The first night was really difficult, but now I just expect that I'll be up (a lot) and it is what it is. Keeping calm and going through the motions to get him (& me) back in bed as soon as possible are my main focuses.
Though the nights have been difficult, the days have been a lot of fun! Degen has become a little monkey-man in the past few weeks. He is a climber, and it doesn't take but a moment for him to be up or down the stairs, sitting on a shelf, on top of Kyrie's desk, sliding off the bed or lounging on the couch watching his favorite shows! If I leave the room for a moment, I don't know where I'll find him when I return. Of course, he usually doesn't let me get out of sight for long! Darren has gotten really good at playing distraction for Degen so that I can get something... anything done. After dinner, Darren will roughhouse with both kiddos. One of their favorite games is car chase, in which he pushes Degen around the house on his little car chasing after a screaming Kyrie. Listening to those three play in the evening is a true joy for me!
In other family happenings: we have begun packing for our end-of-April move. It didn't take long for us to figure out that it will be difficult for me to do much packing (or anything else, truly) during the week while I have both kids by myself. So, we are trying to take advantage of our weekends and do as much as we can. This first weekend has gone well, as we've completed three big packing categories: pictures, knick-knacks & books. My hope is that we'll be able to complete 2-3 categories each week/end and be ready to move in about 6 weeks. We close on the new house this Wednesday!

Crazy!

I don't know what sleep-deprived lunatic wrote that last post, but this sleep-deprived lunatic just wants some sleep! Amazing how the tenderness of motherhood can so quickly turn into the frustrations of motherhood: seems to take about one (bad) night! Love my baby boy, but hope that he doesn't have another night like last night!

Sleep

The recent time change has a lot of people considering sleep. I think that we, as parents, spend a large amount of time concerned with sleep: my sleep, your sleep, kid's sleep, interrupted sleep, no sleep. Generally, I have found "Is s/he sleeping through the night?" or some other variation of that question is one of the most popular questions in the early days of parent-dom. We're pretty big fans of sleep in our home. Darren goes to bed early and gets up early while I like to stay up later and sleep in, and we both like 8 to 10 hours a night.
Of course, being a parent means that what you like doesn't matter a whole lot. Being the parent of a newborn means doing whatever you can to get that precious snooze. We kind of fell into co-sleeping with Kyrie because I was so wounded after my c-section that I couldn't get up to put her in the bassinet, but it soon became something that we embraced. Co-sleeping felt right to me: safe and peaceful and most especially, the easiest way that I could both tend to my baby and get the sleep that I needed. Kyrie co-slept with us until she was about 10 months old and then transitioned easily into her crib, though I still got up with her during the night when she fussed. Choosing to co-sleep when Degen was born was easy and natural, and we enjoyed an easy transition to the crib when he was about 8 months old.
Currently, Kyrie is a good sleeper though she likes to stay up late (like Mommy). And Degen is a good sleeper, too: early to bed and early to rise (like Daddy), though he will still wake during the night. Most pediatricians will tell parents that they can cut out those mid-night feedings, but I count myself lucky to have a pediatrician who understands that no one understands my babies more than me. Degen has not handled "crying it out" well at all; what starts out as a cry will flare to screams fanned by his baby temper. It's simply easier to go to him, hold him, nurse him and then put him back in his crib after a few minutes. So, that's what I do. Recently, Degen has had some great nights where he's slept 10-12 hours, and I'm grateful for the uninterrupted sleep. These nights are like gifts, restorative to body and soul.
However, on the nights when he does wake up I'm trying not to be quite so disappointed/frustrated/grumpy. I know that those middle-of-the-night cuddles will be coming to an end soon. My kids will grow, and I'll have night upon night of great sleep.... well, at least until they're old enough for sleepovers and dates and barely making curfews. So, I'll get up to tend to my babies when they need me and make my way bleary-eyed through the day until I can try to catch a few minutes more sleep at nap time. I'll try to be grateful for the nights when Degen sleeps through and grateful for the nights when he needs me, too. And now, I've got to get ready for bed because I never know what the night will bring!

Kyrie Belle Alyce, Age 4

Degen Richard Aurelius, Age 1

There was a little girl....

 
Kyrie was a darling baby! I'm sure that she must have fussed and cried like any other baby, but I simply don't remember it. What I remember is how much she smiled and laughed. She was a pure delight! And then somewhere around 18 months, my darling girl started to show a ferocious independence. Suddenly, our baby had the emotion and conviction of a tiny teen diva.
The past eighteen months has not always been easy as our fiery, Aries girl pushed against her fiery, Aries parents. Independence for Kyrie has often meant howling at the top of her lungs, "I just want to do what I want to do." And what Kyrie wants to do hasn't always fit in with what Mommy and Daddy want her to do- surprise, surprise. We've had some wild times with our darling girl: tantrums and tears and messes and timeouts. And as her parents, we take responsibility for our too high expectations. She walked so early and has spoken so clearly that we often haven't take into account how young she was/is. We're all new at this, and so we've had to muddle and claw and run and crawl our way through these first four years.

BUT as we approach Kyrie's fourth birthday, glimpses of that good-natured, mild-mannered and happy child have returned like sunshine after storm. Of course, we have always known (or at least hoped) that she was in there, but lately this lovely girl has decided to stick around. She still holds firm to her "I just want to do what I want to do" stance, but it comes out a little more sweetly than before. The words please, thank you and I'm sorry fall more easily from her lips and with a sincerity that wasn't always there. Sharing, especially with her little brother remains a challenge, but she loves him. That's evident in the silly faces she makes to fend off his tears and her insistence on carrying him around the house to show him her latest discovery.
Her sense of humor, her imagination, the sweetest words falling from her lips, her small arms wrapping around us in embrace... we're cherishing all of these because childhood passes quickly and being a teenager is never easy for children or parents.We'll need to remember that somewhere inside is always this darling and lovely girl who at times is very, very good though at times she may seem horrid. Kyrie, my darling girl, we love you beyond measure!

New House

So, we are really diving into preparations to remodel and move into our new home. We have just a few weeks until we close on the house and then about one month to get some remodeling started before we move in. The house is a true fixer-upper, so there is a lot to think about and plan for inside and out. Our first priorities are: windows, kitchen, bathroom, painting and floors. We have spent hours and hours on the internet looking at everything from sinks to swing sets. Darren is really doing the bulk of the work at this point, especially communicating with contractors and the bank to finalize the mortgage. (My days are coming.) There are lots of decisions to be made and even more money to talk about. We're trying our best not to get stressed out, and mostly, I think that we're doing a good job. We are nothing, if not planners, so we have lots of lists and Excel spreadsheets. I have marked on the calendar the exact date that I will start packing... and a packing plan of attack is in the works.

And amidst all the moving and remodeling, life continues on. Darren is up early and heading off to work. I'm running all over town for play dates, appointments and errands. The kids, as always, are either dear, little angels or ornery, little devils. Before we move we will celebrate three birthdays, have a swim party, enjoy Easter and in a final act of insanity (or pure genius), we will take a trip to California mere days after we move (cutting out a full week that we could be spending packing, moving, etc.). We thought about not going, but I simply can't bring myself to stay home... wherever home may be. I'm already enchanted with pictures of the ocean and the idea of a complimentary breakfast buffet. In my mind, this trip will be our reward for hours, days & weeks spent laboring mentally, physically & emotionally over our move. It will renew our strength for the days of unpacking, remodeling and organization that lie ahead, serving as a marker between our days as renters and homeowners: a homeowner's honeymoon.