Will I ever sleep again?

So Bella is completely off the bottle, which is embarrassing to even talk about, really. Mike had to go to Vegas for the weekend and mommy threw the bottles in the garbage! I should've just done this a year ago, but mommy had to let daddy (first- time parent) learn from his mistakes. Nobody's perfect, but we as parents need to do what's in the best interest of our children. We are supposed to make the right decisions on their behalves until they are able to do so. Some parents are weaker than others, i guess, which is why there is usually one disciplinarian in the family and one parent that is a little more lenient. It works well in the grand scheme of things, but certain situations muster up the opinions of each parent. This isn't always good!

Long story short...we bagged up all of her and the boys' "babas" and she threw them away. She did well the first three days. Mike returns from Vegas and she asks him that night for a bottle. He sticks to his guns and we fight with her for over and hour to go to bed. She finally does and we take her to Chuck E. Cheese's the next night to celebrate her being a BIG GIRL now! We tell Chuck E. Cheese all about how she drinks from a sippy cup only now, and he nods his head and gives her the thumbs up (obviously he doesn't talk). We proceed to Wal-Mart to let her pick out a new sippy cup that she can take to bed (containing only water, is the plan). All is well so far.

She sleeps through the night, in her own room...score! We're making strides, as this would be day five "bottle free." Hit a road block last night when she decided she wanted to wake up in the middle of the night and not drink the sippy cup. She tossed and turned, whined, etc, etc. She has to program herself to fall asleep on her own, which is something she never learned to do because she always relied on the sucking of the bottle to soothe her back to sleep. So dad gets up and sleeps on the couch, which is the best thing for him to do when she starts up because he has the weak heart when it comes to this. I on the other hand, am the "bad guy." Which doesn't bother me in the least, whatever needs to be done. So i fight with her 'til 1:30am and she finally falls asleep.

Tomorrow will mark one full week without a bottle. I don't imagine this can go on much longer. I have to remind Mike (and myself) how resilient children are and that this will all be a thing of the past before we know it...sigh!!

"Gone away is the Bluebird, here to stay is a new bird"

Hello 2009! Every year I say "this year will be the best year ever!" Somehow, I really believe that this time. 2008 brought many blessings, yet also some grief. I am truly hoping to witness many triumphs this upcoming year with my family (parents, brothers and sisters) and my own family (me, hubby, kids). Mike is hoping the worst is behind us (I did say hoping) and business will pick up. He can go back to the five year plan of selling the biz and retiring. I will go back to school this fall and finish up my BA in Education. I'm not in too much of a hurry since I can't actually teach until the kids start school. So that is a relief to know I can take my time. Shouldn't take long though, because I was pretty far along and from the looks of it, pretty much all of my creds. from ASU will transfer to Ottawa. Pretty stoked about that! I will also continue to write. My book will probably never be finished, but I'll keep at in anyway...very therapeutic for me.

Jorden will graduate the eighth grade, start high school and get her braces off. ALL of which she's excited for! As for me....not so much! :(

Bella will hopefully learn a new vocabulary that consists of more than just "no", "leave me alone" and "I don't want to"...oh yah, and she'll all of the sudden LIKE her mother...ha!

Crew & Cooper will continue to grow and I will love watching them run (which they will be doing very soon) around and play. I can't wait for Bella to want to play with them and keep them occupied during the day, as I'll need my "study" time. Hopefully the never-ending feud between Bella and Cooper over any and every toy, will come to an end VERY SOON!

I am excited to look back at this and say "yeah, it WAS the best year ever!!"