Welcome to my life..my family..my world..unedited.

I actually created a new page up there (insert arrow pointing up here), but here is my photo!
This week’s challenge was furry and I took the easy way out.   Hey, I was going to wait for some mold to grow or something, but it was just too icky. hehe.
You can play, too!  Go here to read all about it!

I watch and listen to them playing; brothers and friends. But already I can see that there will be a day, soon, when Matt doesn’t want his baby brother hanging around.
Preston stands behind the marketplace, calling out to his brother
“Matt, you want to come shopping here?” “Matt! Come shopping! I have lots of good stuff!”
I find myself holding my breath, torn between distracting Preston with another game and screaming at Matt to just play with his brother. I’m not sure, but I think my heart might leap out of my chest and get soaked in my tears any second.
Finally, after what seems like hours but is obviously just moments, Matt approaches the marketplace and they play together.  I can see the happiness on Preston’s face and I can breathe again.
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My brother and I weren’t close growing up.. The five year age difference was too much. My cousins, on the other hand, grew up as best friends, the way that only sisters can be. I always wanted that; I still envy that.  When we found out Preston was a boy, my mind filled with fantasies of them being best friends, siblings who wanted to play and be together. I was thrilled …

THAT didn’t go well.
Preston woke up around 1am (we were still awake, reading in bed). He’d had some kind of bad dream, came to our bed doing that heartbreaking cry. We get him all settled in and he starts to fall asleep.
Then he wakes with a start and starts crying for the juice. CRYING. As if he’d just lost his best friend crying. You know, that cry – the one that breaks your heart? Yeah.
For whatever reason, him just sobbing like that, even though it was for JUICE for goodness sake, got to me. My throat got all lumpy and the tears came. There really isn’t anything worse as a mother than the inability to soothe or fix your child.
And crying it out is supposed to be done in a room far away, where I can ignore it, not right next to me, where he’s putting his soft little hand on my arm and pleading for me to get him the only thing he wants!!
So Mike got him some juice (and then reproached me for not being able to let him cry) after about 15 minutes of that.
Preston had a horrible night. Which of course, means I did, too.  He …

Well, I’m not going to assume that it wasn’t a fluke, but NEITHER boy woke in the middle of the night.
The DOG on the other hand, got me up THREE times.
Both boys went to bed on the late side, so that may have had something to do with it, but either way, there was no extended screaming last night.  We’ll see how tonight goes!
Thanks for the support, friends!!

Ok, so I did it. Told the boys no more juice/chocolate milk in the middle of the night. Told them they could open a brand new matchbox car in the morning if they could make it through.
My results?  Well, let us start with Preston, the boy I thought would be awake ALL night crying for his juice…
2:30am: up crying from bad dream, wants juice. offer him special cup (new sippy just for night water) of water, he cries about wanting juice. Asks to come to big bed. Give in and allow him to big bed (one crutch at a time, yo!). He is in and out of sleep for about 1/2hr-40 minutes, asking for juice. Finally just falls into deep sleep until morning. Wakes HAPPY. (asks for juice, which I am happy to give him).
Matthew was another story all together.
1:30am crying for chocolate milk and juice, but really wants chocolate milk. Offer water, he SLAPS it away from me. Soothe, calm, repeat my mantra “you can have all the chocolate milk you want during the day, but at night you need water”
1:45am repeat.
2:00am repeat. Add dad into equation, makes deal to bring him chocolate milk when he leaves for work.
2:10, …