Insomnia

It is 3:00 in the morning and I cannot sleep. I usually do not have problems sleeping, but the past week or so has been awful. Will has become this little monster at night. He WILL NOT sleep. It doesn't matter what we do, he is awake for hours. We have tried letting him cry....and that he does....for hours. We have tried the gentle "have a talk" approach....no luck. I have tried the stern "mommy and daddy are not happy" approach.....doesn't work. I am at my wits end...exhausted with a baby due in 7 or so weeks.

Just when I finally think he is asleep I hear that little voice call "mommy" until he is either worked up into a full fledged fit or he gets up and comes out of his room. We have never had this problem until now and I do not know what to do. I feel like a huge failure as a parent which is very discomforting since we have another coming very soon.

I am exhausted but with 1000s of thoughts running through my head about why this is happening and what I need to do I cannot sleep. I know he is beyond tired, he doesn't nap during the day, and the teacher in me is telling myself this is hindering his development. I am at such a loss I just want to cry.

It's DATE NIGHT!!!!



I have to say that this weekend was one of the best I have had in awhile. My wonderful hubby surprised me with a date night Saturday. He knew I was dying to see a Predators game. Just so happens, he scored some amazing tickets for the game against the Detroit Redwings and it just so happened to be one of the best games of the year. Not to mention the fact that our seats were 3 rows behind the glass right beside the goal.

  

Merchants



We started off our night with dinner at Merchants. It was delicious. We had planned on going to Margaritaville but we decided on Merchants because it was a beautiful night and we could be seated right away on the patio....AND they had complimentary valet parking.

After a lovely dinner where we actually got in some good, quality adult conversation (which is rare for us due to the fact our son HATES for us to have in depth convos in his presence), we walked down to the game. It was a little early, so we pit stopped at a sports bar so Daniel could have a beer and I could look completely stupid sitting at a bar with a huge, pregnant belly. I didn't mind though.....I simply enjoyed my Sprite on the rocks ;)



Bridgestone Arena

After that, we headed over to the arena to enjoy the game. We had so much fun! We both really enjoyed the game, and I have to say I am now a hockey fan. It is such an exciting venue and the action is nonstop. Daniel is so cute watching sports because he gets so incredibly into it. I love that about him. He is a passionate person and he really puts 100% into everything he does.

Another person who seemed to enjoy himself was the baby who has yet to be named. Everytime the music would play or a loud noise would sound, the little guy would do a little gymnastics in there. It was pretty darn cute. We cannot wait to meet the little guy.

GO PREDATORS!!!

The Predators ended up winnng by a score of 3-1. It was a great game and for awhile it looked like the Redwings might take it with a 1-0 score. The crowd was great though and I imagine that the noise kept those players going on to victory!    

Well, after the game we headed home. By 11:00 this old, preggo lady is tired and we both crashed. Will had been up literally ALL NIGHT Friday night for some unknown reason so we were both tired to start with. However, Will decided to sleep in until 9:45 on Sunday and for the first time since I can remember, Daniel and I both slept until nearly 10. That NEVER happens!

We had a nice, leisurely Sunday that included a trip to the gym and Home Depot. Then daddy and Will cut the grasss while mommy went to the grocery store (ALONE). Such a wonderful weekend!

BTW, Carlie was not exempt from the weekend. She just spent her time with her new, wonderful friends. The girls she hangs out with here are such sweet girls and Daniel and I are so glad she has found some quality friends. She is having a lovely "staycation" for spring break hanging out and doing the teenager thing. We are so glad she is happy and thriving here. All in all, we are extremely blessed!

So, I realize I haven't posted in quite sometime. Reading my last post makes me laugh a little. So much has changed and I have to continue to remind myself that God is always in control no matter how hopeless the situation seems.

We are now settled in our new home. The funny part is that it is not the one mentioned in the last post. When we finally got a contract on our house in mid January, we ventured back to Nashville to take one last look at some houses, including the one I mentioned. Well, while that house was still in the top two, we actually found one that we fell in love with even more. It was a new construction with a fabulous floor plan so we made an offer which the builder accepted. We actually had seen a house with the same floor plan in our earlier searches, but the day we saw it, the owner got a contract on it. Needless to say, we were estatic when we got this house.

Anyway, it has become my absolute favorite house we have lived in thus far, which is saying a lot considering this it the 5th house we have lived in during our almost 6 years of marriage. I refuse to move for at least 8-10 years (and that would only be if the job was one which Daniel could not turn down). It fits our family perfectly and I can honestly say there is not one wasted space (especially when our next little boy arrives in 9 weeks!).

Here are some pre-move in pics. I will try to post some updated post move in pics when we are settled to the point that I am comfortable taking pics   ;)  

Front of the house

Backyard - LOVE IT!

Front Porch

    

Kitchen/Breakfast area 

Another kitchen shot 

Kitchen

Living Room

Looking down from upstairs bonus room

Master Bedroom

Master Bath

YAY for finally being in Nashville!!!!

FRUSTRATION

I am so frustrated at this point. We are in limbo and it is just not a fun place to be. We know we are moving; the problem is that we have no idea when because we have to wait for this house to sell. I mean we had SEVEN showings the week before Thanksgiving and received no offers. Sure, three couples are still interested, but no offers.

To compound my frustration, we went to look at houses in Nashville and I fell in love. We saw a house I know is just perfect for our family. However, we cannot do a thing, besides pray it doesn't sell, until we have a contract on this house.

I don't want to sound ungrateful because I really am not. I am so thankful that the reason we are selling is because my husband got an awesome job and not because we cannot afford this house. I know God has the perfect home picked out and already knows what path we will take. I have to be patient and have faith. It is just tough when you are stuck in a place you know you are not going to be for the long term. We are expecting another child and I would like to go to the ob/gyn in Nashville sooner rather than later. I would also like to have a nursery decorated and ready for our new little one. We would love for Carlie to be able to start her new school this next semester so that her senior year wouldn't be the first time she set foot in the school.

Well, what can I do besides pray? I have to just keep a positive attitude and try to look on the bright side. I guess this is a "good" problem to have.....because things could definitely be worse.

Halloween 2010



Stacey getting the kiddos ready to go!



We had such a blast this Halloween. This was the first time that Will really understood the concept of trick-or-treating. We began the festivities in Chelsea with my parents on Saturday night.

Their neighborhood goes all out and Will got a big dose of trick-or-treating. Will, Kaleigh, Brennan, and Colin all went door to door together collecting candy. Will was so excited he couldn't even wait until we got done to start digging in his candy. He had a sucker out and in his mouth by house #5.



Here are a few more pics from the night...



Will getting candy from Mrs. Kathy

 

Getting more candy!



Checking out the eyeballs in Gigi and Pappy's bushes



Carlie even got in on the dressing up fun!



Carlie and Tanner as a flapper and a gangster.

 



We got home later than planned on Halloween evening, but Will was ready to go once more! We went around our neighborhood that night where he scored more treats.



Are they home, mom?



Couldn't resist a sucker!







Check out spideman's "spider ring"

"I got this, mom"



"Trick or treat!"

He LOVED this cat.

We hope you all had as much fun as we did this Halloween. The only thing that would've made it better would have been if Daniel had been here to share it with us.

Now, bring on Thanksgiving!!!!









Just Plain Lucky

     So when I had Will, I was terrified of all of the responsibilities I would be taking on. I wanted to be a mom more than anything, but at the same time I was scared out of my wits.

     I can remember the first night home from the hospital. My mom, memaw, me, and Daniel were all trying our best to get Will to stop crying. He had awful gas when he was a baby and he made good use of his lungs that night. I remember thinking, "What in the world have Daniel and I gotten ourselves into?!?!?!"  Finally, it came to a head and I was crying as well because I felt like a failure as a mother. I mean, what kind of mother couldn't soothe her child. Well, come to find out, an exhausted, sore, overwhelmed, emotional mother couldn't soothe herself, much less a 4 day old baby.

     My wonderful hubby took the reigns and sent me to bed, no questions. He lovingly said, " Amy, you are not making this any better by crying and being emotional. You are tired and need rest. Go to sleep and when it is time for him to eat, we will come and wake you up." Well, we made it through that night and we have made it through many similar nights since.

    Since then, I have to say I have been just plain lucky. I have heard horror stories about having to do things such as ween the bottle, take away the pacifier, move to a big boy bed, and potty training. I can honestly say that these have all be so easy for Will. I don't know if he is just an independent little booger who wants to grow up so badly that he does whatever it takes to make him feel older, or if it is me and the way I have handled these things (thanks to some wonderful advice from some of the best mommies I know). I would like to think it is the latter, but I guess we will not know until #2 comes along and I get to do it all again. Either way, I am just plain lucky or better yet, I am just plain blessed.

Get it OUT!

So my life has changed drastically over the past few weeks. My niece, Carlie, who is 16 has moved in for the summer. While it has been a big change, it has been an enjoyable one and she is settling in nicely. Will LOVES having "Cardie" there and she really helps out whenever I need some extra hands.

Anyway, I haven't had a lot of time to sit down and blog lately, but I had some time today so I decided I would take a few minutes and tell a funny about Will. At this age he is doing funny things on a daily basis, but every once and a while he will really have me laughing. Last week was one of those times.
We have been looking for a job for Carlie since she has been at our house. Luckily, she finally got one, but that was after we spent a couple of days driving around Collierville filling out application after application. Needless to say, Will is not a huge fan of being in his carseat for extended periods of time, especially when the car is not moving. He had to do this a lot on those couple of days, so he resorted to entertaining himself in anyway he could find.

While driving from one place to the next he started whining. I looked back at him and he, of course, had his finger shoved up his nose (I know, lovely).  Our convo went something like this:

Me: "Will, don't pick your nose. It is nasty."
Will: "Get it out, Mommy."
Me: "I can't right now, Will, but when Mommy stops, I will get a kleenex and get it out."
(Did I mention Carlie doesn't "do" poo poo or boogers?)
Will: (whining) "Mommy, get it ouuuuutttt."
Me: "I will, baby, as soon at Mommy stops. I am driving and it is not safe for me to do it now."

He continued to whine for a minute or two more, then I heard a violent sneeze. As I looked back to bless him, I couldn't help but laugh at what I saw. Something had shot out of his nose and was now resting on his lip. It was not, however, the normal product of a sneeze. It took me a second to realize what he had done.

You see, I have to label all of his sippy cups for his mom's day out program. I am not crazy about my handwriting so I always use my label maker on those types of things in hopes that it looks "nice." Well, my little man had decided that it would be cool to peel the label off of his cup, roll it up (to fit his nostrils of course), and stick it up his nose. I guess he really got it up there because he couldn't get it out. Thank goodness he sneezed because I don't know that I would have done anything more than push it up there further if I would have tried to help him get out what I thought was just a boogie. It was so funny to look back and see the "WILL SHERWIN" curled up on his top lip.

It could have been a bad situation, but when Carlie and I realized what had happened, we died laughing. The poor guy couldn't figure out what he had done that was so funny, so he just laughed along for the fun of it. Goodness, I love that kiddo!