Sweet Dreams...someday...maybe...

A typical night at our house:

8:00 PM
Jane goes to bed.
Besides an occasional whimper or knock on the door, she's pretty much out for the count.

8:30-9:00
Megan goes to bed.
I wrap her up and put her in the crib. I let her cry for 5-10 minutes, give her back the pacifier, and she's done.

10:00-10:30
I go to bed.
I could go to bed earlier, I guess, but I have to have a break sometime and being asleep doesn't entirely count...

12:30 AM
Megan wakes up.
I give her the pacifier, and we both go back to sleep.

1:30
Megan wakes up.
I give her the pacifier, she keeps crying. I rock her for a while, then lay her back in the crib, and we both go back to sleep.

2:30
Megan wakes up.
We try the pacifier, rocking, walking...anything but a bottle. I know she can go all night without eating, so I don't want her waking up expecting to eat. Maybe that's dumb.

3:30
We're still awake.
I cave in and let her lay in bed with me. She plays with the blanket, tries to get to me, and eventually falls asleep.

4:00
I fall asleep.
If I'm lucky.

6:00
I wake up.
I have no idea why. Megan is asleep, Jane is asleep, but I wake up at 6:00 every morning. Not by choice.

6:30
My alarm goes off.
I hit snooze every five minutes. Megan never flinches.

7:00
I get up.
I get myself ready, wake up Jane and get her ready.

7:30
I wake up Megan.
Oh, the irony.

8:00
We all leave for day care and school.

My longest stretch of sleep at any one time is two and a half hours at best. And then I get up and go to school all day. And then come home to take care of two little girls.

I'm tired.

I know I'm not alone on this one. It seems a trend among several people I know to have their second child be a poor sleeper. But, at the same time, I am alone on this one, too, because there is no one else to get up when Megan cries.

I can handle a baby having a hard time going to sleep. I can let them cry it out, or give extra cuddles, or plan a more sleeping-friendly eating schedule--all those I can manage to help a baby fall asleep at a regular bedtime every night. But I don't know what to do in the middle of the night. Part of that may be because I've been asleep and my brain function isn't all there, and part of that may be I haven't had a real night's sleep in over six months.

I am more and more looking forward to not teaching. Not that I don't want to teach, just that some things will be much easier when I don't have to go to school every day. For now, I guess I'll just be tired.

At the Grocery Store

Today, I bought a house.

At the grocery store.

Chris actually signed the papers yesterday in Salt Lake. The rep from the title company drove to Logan this afternoon so I could sign the papers, too. I didn't want to meet at school because my class was still there (I left them with the student teacher and skipped out early) and I didn't want to meet at my house because it is SUCH A MESS after rushing to pack, leaving for nine days, then dumping everything when we got home and not cleaning it up yet because I have a massive head cold.

So, as an alternative, we met up in "The Zone", a nice eating area in Maceys above their deli. It was quiet and relatively unoccupied (although one of my former students was there, oddly enough). I was not in a mental position to understand what all of the papers were, so I just signed with minimal explanation. I trust my husband, who had already signed them all with detailed explanation and discussion. That way, I only spent maybe 30 minutes signing papers.

I had to sign my full name, including my middle name. I don't think I've ever signed my middle name. It took me a while to remember how to write a cursive capital D, and more than once, I spelled it wrong. And once I had to sign my maiden name...that took me a minute.

I confess, I found the entire experience a little anticlimactic. We've signed all the papers, but I can't go see the house. And Chris wasn't there for the congratulatory "yay! we bought a house!" hug and kiss. Sigh.

But, now that it's official, here are a few more pictures:

Living Room

Kitchen

Dining Room

Upstairs Bathroom
there are two others

Note the pink countertop. Hello, fifties.

Garage

And just a peek at the basement.
Yes, we bought multi-colored countertops in a room with windows into the garage.

And yes, we have two kitchens.

We are planning on replacing all the carpets, putting wood laminate down in the kitchen and dining areas, repainting everything, and a dozen other random improvement projects. All upstairs. The basement is going to have to wait.

And just a random funny:
I asked Jane if she wanted to watch Kung Fu Panda or Monsters, Inc. Her response:

No, I want to watch Star Trek.

Amy and Chase, Chase and Amy

Amy and Chase

April 10, 2010

setting the stage...

Chris was responsible for the music. He was worried about ruining the entire wedding. Don't worry--he did it perfectly.

the groom...


the bridesmaids...


the bride...

She was worried that she was going to cry. She did.

the ceremony...

the rings...

the happy couple...

signing their lives away...



the lunch...

Well, the salad anyway.


Megan seemed to enjoy her meal as well.

the dessert...

Holy cow, it tasted amazing. The swan was filled with ice cream.

the pictures...





the guests...








the girls...





the cake...





the bouquet...


the garter...


the car...

This was my project of the evening. Luckily, I had help.




They were borrowing Chase's dad's girlfriend's car. We didn't want to cause any potentially permanent damage, so all lipstick was applied only on the Saran wrap.

and they're off...

Almost. Chase took a lot longer to get changed than Amy did.


Finally!



The plastic knife wasn't as helpful as Amy would have liked.




Chase found a more productive tool.


Then they just gave up.


And left anyway.


We found bits of toilet paper littering the road for probably a mile.

Congratulations!
Welcome to the family, Chase