Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Sleeping and settling


It already feels like we’ve been living in our new house forever. I think we chose a great home in a great community. I stopped by our new corner store Mabel’s Market the other day and after picking out some fruits and veggies, I realized I had forgotten my wallet. The cashier told me just to take everything home and pay next time.  Thanks, Mabel!

 We have most of our decorating complete, including some DIY projects that I’ve been wanting to do for a while. The first was painting some old brass lamps – see below. Alan also built a chicken wire compost container, a record shelf and is working on frames for our raised garden beds. Luckily our little sidekick often refers to himself as Bob the Builder, so he is always ready to help out with his tools.

Before
After with new couch in living room!



The best thing about our new house is that Cale is sleeping better than ever!! We’ve upgraded him to a twin bed and he is truly embracing having his own bedroom. To encourage and reward him for falling asleep on his own and for staying in his bed through the night, we bribed him with what he loves best – PARTIES!  We have started having ‘Good night parties’ each morning, complete with pancakes (chocolate chip pancakes on the first morning), songs and at his request, printing an image from the computer (hey, whatever works!).  We are trying to keep this going, but also trying to move away from the food rewards, so we’ll continue to print pictures and give lots of praise and encouragement as long as it keeps working. The change has been quite incredible. Not having to sit beside him while he falls asleep is amazing and actually frees up an hour or more each night. He’ll even get up on his own to go the bathroom and put himself back to bed. Yes, it has taken way too long for us to get to this stage, but it sure feels good!

Helping dad build a raised bed
We had a great mother’s day weekend with my parents visiting. I knew they would love the modern finishings and feel of the house, so it was great fun to have them here and show them all around. This coming weekend will be a boys weekend at home, as I’m off to Vegas for a friends wedding. Should be a blast!

Love you, mom!