Sleep and Dreams

I dream almost every night. When I read the news too often (especially the depressing stuff), I have the worst nightmares. My dreams are always vivid and very real, so this really upsets me. It doesn't help that occasionally I dream something weird that seems to be a premonition and something related seems to happen. I also have dreams about my relatives who have died... especially my grandparents.

I can remember extremely vivid dreams from my childhood. When I was 3 I dreamed that I was small like the "little people" toys and I was inside the little toy hospital that I'd gotten for Christmas. Two gorillas who looked like King Kong picked up the little hospital with me inside of it and threw it over a waterfall. It was so vivid that I can still remember it in detail.

Some dreams have been beautiful. I always dream in color and with vivid detail. It's almost like I'm watching a movie. The only problem is that it feels as if I didn't get much sleep so I'm always so tired. I'm having to ban reading bad news reports just because they bother me too much and cause the nightmares. I guess the best that I can do when I see a headline about something horrible is to pray for the people in that situation instead of reading the tragic details.

Talking Big

I just have to share two things that MG said today. It was pretty cute coming from a 3 year old. She was admiring MB's new pillow. It's really a big stuffed duck that I bought for $10. She hugged it and said, "This is pretty good for a dollar!" Then later when I was making her clean up her toys while I cooked dinner, I called out "Are you really cleaning out there?" (Because it sounded like she was playing instead.) She said "I'm doing the best that I can!"

Princess or Super Hero?

Now that I've been outside with the kids today, I feel much better and will write about something fun. Ever since my daughter turned 3, I've been reminiscing back to when I was her age. I really have lots of memories of being 3. It must be a huge deal. For my 3rd birthday, I had a Snow White Disney Princess cake. I remember going to the bakery with my mom to pick up the cake and the decorations to go on top were in a little bag. They were little plastic figures of Snow White and the 7 dwarfs. I was so excited.

I liked princess stories, but my favorite show as a 3 year old was Batman and Robin in reruns. I LOVED IT. I had a crush on Adam West...but only when he was Bat Man. I also liked Bat Girl and Cat Woman and pretended to be one or the other. I loved Wonder Woman. I remember asking for a Super Hero doll, but my mother didn't like them for some reason. Since I always wanted a Super Hero doll, I bought the Barbie series that included Bat Girl, Super Girl and Wonder Woman before MG came along a few years ago. I have since given them to her. I think Super Heroes are better roll models than princesses, although I do like the princesses.

MG, on the other hand, really loves stuffed animals and My Little Pony animals more than any kind of doll. I gave her a new baby doll for her birthday. Metal Boy likes it, but Metal Girl could care less. I knew this and really shouldn't have bought it.

I'm amazed at how independent Metal Girl is. I like it though. She really shows lots of confidence. I grew up with such a low self esteem. This may have been due to fate because of things that happened after my dad died. I just know that I want my kids grow up confident and happy. Today we picked out her Easter dress. I actually let her pick it. Did she want the flowery frilly thing that I was pushing her towards? No, she wanted the polka-dotted one. It really suits her too.

Favorite Zoo

We are awaiting the opening of our favorite zoo in the area. It's a privately owned zoo and wildlife preserve. I like it much better than the Baltimore zoo. Here's a link to the web site. It's such a beautiful place and so much fun.

http://www.cwpzoo.com/

We're Outta Here!

I'm going to check the forecast and take the kids somewhere tomorrow! It's really was crappy to be stuck inside for two weeks. The combination of snow storm, stomach viruses and car's flat tire have kept us here at home. We have a terrible case of cabin fever. I truly feel like hopping on a plane and going to Florida or Hawaii... somewhere beautiful and warm! I guess I'll have to settle for a walking trail and small park if the weather is nice. We got the tire repaired today, so I get to have my car back for tomorrow.

I did get a little lift in spirits yesterday when we went on a long walk...I took the kids out in the double stroller. We saw a beautiful woodpecker in the top of a tree and several other birds. We stopped by the barn to see the cows. Ruby the red and white cow, who is really a pet, let me pat her nose for the first time. I forgot her name was Ruby, though, and kept calling her Rosy.

We also looked out the window to see a pretty gray rabbit nibbling the grass. Metal girl said "It's the Easter Bunny's friend!" and she proceeded to tell the bunny what she'd like for an Easter treat.... "I would like a chocolate rabbit, lollipops...they're my favorite...and candy!"

Piles of Mud

I haven't had time to post or read blogs for five days. It's really been a rough five days with the kids. I guess they both have a lot of pent up energy. We've had to stay inside a lot due to the Winter weather and Mark's car being out of commission for a few days. I have high hopes for today. I see the sun and it's supposed to be warm. We shall go outside and play in the mud.

Little Miss Independent has been especially difficult. She pitches a fit if you forget to let her do every little thing by herself. Her favorite phrase is "DO IT MYSELF!" while screaming and kicking. She's also been mean to her little brother, so I really haven't been able to hardly take my eyes off of her over this. Don't get me wrong....she's really sweet to him most of the time. But when you least expect it, she'll shove him or tackle him. We have to explain over and over and over again about why this is unacceptable. I get so upset at her. I've really had to watch what I say and that is hard.

So I've been quite depressed about this situation. I know that it's probably nothing unusual and that this is just part of being a parent. I think that suddenly Metal Girl is very active and being inside too much is not a good thing for her. She acts so much better when we go out. Today will be better, I'm sure. Most of the snow has melted away to leave piles of mud to play in.

Spring? Not!

Yesterday I saw a cardinal, a robin and a finch all together in the grass looking for food. I kept seeing and hearing Canadian geese flying overhead towards my in-laws' pond. The daffodils were peeking out of the ground. The air was warm, so we opened the windows. I knew in my heart that Spring had sprung. I even saw a spider spinning his web outside our window.

Did I forget for a day that I live in Maryland? Mr. Smartypants (ever the voice of reason) reminded me that we could still get a cold blast of Winter weather. Well, he was right!! We're supposed to get snow tomorrow. Every weather station says something different, but it's possible that we could get a few inches of snow. Yeah... in mid-march. It's cold again too...brrrr.

I have to tell you that yesterday I was so sick. It was strange because I haven't barfed since being pregnant. Yesterday morning I woke up with the worst headache that I've ever had. I threw up and was dizzy and didn't know how in the world I was going to keep up with my two kids all day. Fortunately, MM was able to come home early to relieve me. I had the kids for about three hours while I was sick. That was difficult enough. They were so full of energy, and all I wanted to do was go to bed and put a cold rag on my head. I missed work last night. It really was a 24 hour virus . I think that MB has had a touch of it too. Today I felt 100% better...thank goodness.

Speaking of MB, I hear him fussing in his sleep. He's probably going to wake up for his midnight snack in a few minutes. Gee, I can't get used to the daylight savings time change, so I'm staying up way too late. Tomorrow is my long work day...bah!

Happy Birthday Metal Girl

Today is Metal Girl's Birthday. She is three years old!

Happy birthday little girl!

I took a couple of days off from work to help in MG's preschool class and to enjoy time with her on her birthday. It was a nice and badly needed mini-break. :)

I feel refreshed and much better.

Freezing Fog

We woke up to a foggy morning on Thursday. When the fog cleared away, there were ice crystals covering the branches of the trees. These are a pictures of the line of trees behind our house. It was beautiful and sparkling with every branch encrusted with white ice. The white lacey branches looked so startling against the blue sky.

One of Mark's coworkers told us that we had an "ice fog". I had never heard of this (or seen it), so I did my research to find out that we had a "freezing fog" instead. An ice fog occurs only in the artic regions. Here's an article describing all the different types of fog.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fog

Am I the only person who needs sleep in this house?

Baby Blues

Super Baby wouldn't take a nap today. He was like a wild monkey all day climbing on everything. He climbed up onto MG's bed while I was kneeling down next to it to find something underneath. He fell off and banged his head against my head. It hurt me, but he rolled onto the floor giggling. MG wouldn't take a nap, either, but that's nothing new.

The strange thing is that MB woke up several times last night and then got up around 7am this morning! He seemed to have extra energy all day long. Why was I the only tired person in this house that needed a nap? I had such trouble sleeping last night that moved to the couch around 3am. Then the stinkin cat kept pestering me!

I think that both kids will probably sleep good tonight. Their batteries have to run down sometime. Whew...mine were run down when I got up this morning.

Two Rays of Sunshine

Here's a picture that I took of MG and MB last week. :)

I Need a Vacation!

Since today has been very trying and very stressful, I am attempting to view my cup as half full to be more positive. I tend to be a little negative and a cup half empty person with depressive thoughts, so I really am trying to change this negative part of myself. Despite lack of sleep last night and grumpy kids today, I captured two beautiful pictures of my kids this morning. They are cuties with sweet smiles. I don't have time to post them right now, but will try to do that soon. My daughter's birthday is coming soon, so I will save the pictures for that special day. :) Take care.

Friday and Saturday Sleepy

Mark and I take turns with working alternating Fridays and Saturdays so that one of us can always be with the kids on each of those days. Mark was with them yesterday. I caught this cute picture of their "naptime". (second picture) I was glad that Mark took a little nap....he rarely does that and is pretty much a work-a-holic or thinks that he always has to be busy doing something. The top picture was taken about an hour ago. Metal Boy was sleeping with his hair in his eyes, so I gave him his first haircut. I just trimmed the bangs. Looks pretty cute! :)

Mommy's tired....Mommy's cranky!

"Mommy's tired...Mommy's cranky!" That's what Metal Girl said to me this morning. And don't forget, Mommy is PMSing for the first time in almost two years, so Mommy feels awfully crummy. I haven't been too mean today, but my usual reserve of patience has been depleted. MG got to sit in time-out much sooner than normal for bad behavior. She is also getting an early nap right now due to my lack of patience today. She does seem extra tired, though, and didn't get a nap yesterday. Hopefully this will help us all to feel better and act better. I'm going to try to have a nap too. :)

Ma-Ma Ba-ba

Metal Boy is quite a character. I've been trying to wean him from nursing. Metal girl quit nursing at 7 months, and it wasn't a big deal. We can usually go all day without nursing, but then he decides that he has to throw a few hints. He picks up the boppy pillow (used for nursing) from the floor and brings it to me and says "ma-ma ba-ba". Isn't that funny? Of course it melts my heart, so he's still nursing before going to sleep at night. Maybe this will fizzle out on it's own, I don't know. Gee, it seems like just yesterday when I was worrying about nursing in public. Now we're way past that stage. Sigh.

Would This Annoy You?

I have a long time friend whom I've known since my freshman year in high school. He and I were close friends all through high school and then we went to the same college. He and Mark were college roommates and friends, so that is how I met Mark. He was also our wedding singer. :) To say the least, we've always been close friends and kept up with each others lives.

Well, he is expecting his first child and just found out that the baby will be a boy. He was talking on the phone with Mark updating us on these details and then announced that the baby's name will be the same as our little boy. It's not a very common name. We were very surprised, but even more surprised when our friend was shocked because he'd forgotten the name of our child! He didn't realize that he was choosing the same name at all!

Even though I've sent him several cards and pictures signed with the name, he couldn't remember it! I really don't mind him using the same name because that happens and no one owns a name, but it does surprise me that a close friend can't remember the name of my child. I don't think he remembered the name of my daughter either! Is it a gender thing... remembering details like the name of a child of a close friend? I always remember these things. Mark thinks that it's because he's never met our kids in person. I guess it shouldn't be such a big deal to me.

What a Day

What a day was today...

I hadn't taken both kids out for over a week because of the Winter weather, so I was determined to get out early today no matter what obstacles got in my way.... and there were many!

We were all ready and out the door by 11 AM which is a feat for us. I got ready to put Metal Girl into the car to discover that her car seat wasn't there. We had been using Mark's car and forgot to put it back in mine. I had to put Metal Boy into his seat and go back for MG's old car seat which is still ok for her to use. While working on that, Metal Girl fell off the porch and pitched a fit. She wasn't hurt, but was upset that her pants were wet.

The iced encasing my car's tires looked slushy, so I thought I could get out, but low and behold I was stuck. My father-in-law heard the commotion. I sure hope that he didn't hear me saying bad words...surely not over the tires spinning out. He helped me break up the ice with a shovel. (Sure I'll be sore tonight since I've never broke up ice with a shovel in my life) We finally got my car out thirty minutes later!

When I got back home , most of that gosh-durned ice had melted. It was good to get out, though. I'm so ready for Spring, but really did enjoy getting one snow worth playing in. If only we hadn't had the ice on top of it.

Well, now I'll change the topic and tell you about yesterday. I had been thinking about Britney Spears. When I first heard about her head shaving incident, I kind of thought "how stupid", but I've since changed my mind. Last night I really thought about how she may be having problems with depression and this could even be post-partum depression. Depression and stress can be very hard to deal with, so sometimes doing something crazy can relieve that pressure. I have to think back to when I was in college and did some crazy things to relieve the terrible pain and pressure of depression. It's probably a good thing that I didn't have kids till I was in my thirties. I definitely wasn't ready for the responsibility till now. I hope that she stays in rehab this time and gets help. It can't help to be so hounded by the media concerning every little thing you do. Wouldn't it be horrible to never have any kind of privacy? And to have everyone in the entire world know your every problem. Ugh....what a nightmare.

I finally managed to get a pretty picture of the sunset a few evenings ago. I've been playing around with my camera to figure out the various settings. The snow here takes a long time to melt, so I've seen so many pretty sunsets over the snow.

A few nights ago we had a very starry sky. It was just so gorgeous. The sky looked sapphire blue with the stars glittering brightly. I could also see the white snow glittering on the ground. It looked so magical with everything sparkling.

I guess I got my Winter weather fix, because now I'm anxious for Spring. Spring is my most favorite time of the year. It's just such a wonderful time of the year where everything begins anew.

Metal Boy has been going non-stop like the energizer bunny. I actually tried to lie down for a short time to rest while he played and Metal Girl napped. (Unfortunately their naps do not coincide any more) I fell asleep only to be awakened by Metal Boy pulling my hair and poking me in the eye. I'm glad that he did, though. I don't like to fall asleep when he's busy getting into everything. We have things "baby-proof", but we keep discovering new things to baby-proof.

I've had way too much coffee today trying to wake up and be alert. And it didn't do one bit of good. Sigh.

Happy Feet

Metal Boy has had a lovely week. He took his first steps on Valentine's Day, and has been toddling all over the house. He is so proud of himself and claps and laughs after he does it. He loves pushing this doll stroller around the house. We've been trapped here all week, but MB has taken advantage of it getting lots of walking practice!

Ice Ice Ice

The snow was beautiful, but the ice is yucky. I've had to keep the kids inside because there's a layer of ice on top of the snow! It's just too slick. That's not so bad except that I have an energetic toddler with cabin fever. Actually, I have two energetic toddlers....but the little one is just starting to walk. He took his first steps yesterday on Valentine's Day! :)