3 R's

I have had a thought to write about this for a while.  The reason I didn't is because I assume most people who reads this DO reduce, reuse and recycle.

Just for a moment through - bask in the words of Jack Johnson

Three it's a magic number

Yes it is, it's a magic number

Because two times three is six

And three times six is eighteen

And the eighteenth letter in the alphabet is R

We've got three R's we're going to talk about today

We've got to learn to

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

If you're going to the market to buy some juice

You've got to bring your own bags and you learn to reduce your waste

And if your brother or your sister's got some cool clothes

You could try them on before you buy some more of those

Reuse, we've got to learn to reuse

And if the first two R's don't work out

And if you've got to make some trash

Don't throw it out Recycle, 

we've got to learn to recycle,

We've got to learn to

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Because three it's a magic numberYes it is, it's a magic number3, 3, 33, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30, 33, 3633, 30, 27, 24, 21, 18, 15, 12, 9, 6, and3, it's a magic number

Then the other day Seth was watching his usual online morning show   Rhett and Link

I also enjoy watching this show, but when it was over Seth asked me if I had heard about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.  No - I have never heard of this.  So we looked it up, and this is what we found...

The Urchin Movement

and

Info for the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

I couldn't believe my eyes.  Something I cared so much about when I was a kid, but thought was getting better due to green bins and blue bins, but much of this garbage patch is made up of plastic - which means it could have been recycled and now it is as big as TEXAS!?!?!  CRAZY!

So just by chance, if anyone out there reads this and does not use their blue bin (recycling) it is time to start!!  I am of the mind that I want this planet to be a greg place for my great great grandchildren and if that patch keeps expanding my great great grandchildren won't even know what an ocean is - they will only know what the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is.

Wordless Wednesday: Not a Monarch

What I have heard EVERYONE talking about is NOT a monarch.... they left to mexico at the end of the summer.

This is a moth... albeit a fancy one, but most certainly a moth.

My experience with the Ferber Method

This is MY own opinion.  Let me be clear that I do not judge anyone who does or does not use this method.  I believe that every parent has a different approach and children are resilient, adaptable little humans. I don't condemn or condone any approach that assists a mother in getting a good night's rest. (aside from abuse, I would most certainly condemn abuse of any kind)


It all started on April 10th (which is actually my nieces birthday, but that is irrelevant).

Lucy woke up at her typical time, 11:30 - shortly after Eric and I get to bed.  I was bringing her into my bed, comforting her, and she would simply fall asleep and spend the rest of the night in our bed.

Well, this fine Tuesday she would not calm down.  I spent approximately 45 minutes with her screaming in my arms when the thought crossed my mind - If she is crying while I am holding her, why not just let her cry in her crib, and perhaps by this time next week, we will all be sleeping through the night.

So it went like this.  approximately 12:30 she went to bed in her crib and I left her room (checked back a couple times).  By 1 am she was sleeping, I went into her room, tucked her in and went to sleep.  At 3 am she woke up again, cried for 15 minutes, fell back asleep, I went into her room, tucked her in and went to sleep and she was back up at 6:30.  My thoughts now - only 2 short periods of crying on the first night!?!?  This is going to be a cinch!!  Oh!!  Sleep!!  I will finally get some sleep!


The next night Lucy had her cereal, her milk and went to bed around 9pm.  She woke up around 3:30 and cried for 30 minutes, I went into her room, tucked her in and went to sleep.  Still thinking - Down to one!  I feel more rested already! Why didn't I do this months ago?


Night 3 was the same, and night 4, and night 5, 6 and 7.

On night 8 Lucy woke up at 3 am and screamed for about an hour at which point I went in and rocked her to sleep.  She woke up her sister and her brother, who aren't that easy to get back to sleep either.

Night 9, and 10 were the same as nights 4 thru 7. At this point I feel like it isn't working BUT I have come too far to give up now.  I feel like I need to stick to my guns and not give in.

Night 11, SHE DID IT!! She slept the whole night!!  I might add here that my son was up several times on this night, so I, therefore, did NOT sleep the whole night. My thoughts then, AND now are this - Will I ever sleep through the night?  I have hope for after they have grown up and left my house...


Night 12 (last night) was similar to night 8.  She cried for so long that I went and got her, and she continued to cry in my arms for 30 minutes before falling asleep. I lay her back in her crib, she cried again but went to sleep on her own until 7 am.

I think I am being consistent, maybe I shouldn't have given in on nights 8 and 12, but I wasn't getting any sleep with her crying either.  I have heard from other moms that it takes 3-4 nights.  Then they are in their glory, they are well rested and can function all day long without massive amounts of caffeine coursing through their veins.

Regardless of all this - when I hold (even at 3 am) my sweet, lovely, yummy little monkey I can't help but love her, hug her, kiss her and occasionally have a desire to chomp on her gorgeous little cheeks! I might also add that I have a pretty good sense of humour about this.  I realize that not all children react the same way and perhaps this isn't the method for Lucy, but it did work for Seth and Miriam.  Mind you this is the closest I have been to getting a full night's sleep since June 4th. (FYI, Lucy was born on June 5th)

Who wouldn't have a desire to chomp those cheeks???

If you want more info on The Ferber method or any other sleeping methods, this was an article I liked reading  http://www.canadianparents.com/article/sleep-and-babies

Not at my finest...

I lurve Fridays!  The thought of the weekend before it is half way over, a fun day to stay up late with the kids. Actually - I don't do many exciting things on Fridays, but I still think they are the best!

Yesterday could have gone a little better...  Let me give you a quick overview of some the the highlights of my Friday.  (I wish I could say it was Friday the 13th, but it was not - it was Friday the 20th, the Friday following Friday the 13th)

10:30  -Rip tabs off diaper while changing Lucy's bum
10:31  -Secure diaper with masking tape because I am NOT about the throw out a perfectly good diaper.
10:35  -Put Lucy for a nap in her taped-on diaper.

fast forward...

11:45 -get craft supplies out to let the older girls make 'shakers' with tp rolls, rice, dried peas, elastics and wax paper - forget to close the cupboard.
12:00 -turn to run to the basement to use the hot glue gun to close the shakers....
12:00 + 1second -Smash head off the cupboard... watch sight go blurry, feel dizzy
12:01 -look in mirror to see a large indentation on forehead.
12:03 -finish making shakers in the basement
12:04 -ask the girls if they saw me hit my head, they reply "You hit your head?"
12:07 -open fridge to start making lunch and see Seth's lunch bag, realizing this means he ate nothing at his first break, and is probably famished by now.
12:08 -call school, ask when lunch starts, reply "12:15"
12:09 -cramming feet into shoes, arms into coats
12:10 -rudely waking Lucy from her wonderful nap, cramming her arms into a sweater... I might add, she is still in her PJ's AND still wearing a diaper held on precariously by masking tape.
12:11 -get all 3 girls into a double stroller
12:11 +3 seconds -neighbour stops me to chat about the weather
12:13 -run, walk, run, walk, run walk all the way to Seth's school, pushing 3 girls in a stroller
12:13 + 20 seconds -realize that I am far from being in shape
12:16 -arrive at the school, leaving Seth's lunch at the office

fast forward

12:30 -attempting to get the girls off the playground equipment so we can eat lunch, while being quite concerned about the state of Lucy's diaper.
12:35 -all 3 girls back into the double stroller
12:40 -home again, remove all 3 girls from the stroller to realize the tape has failed and now Lucy is wearing wet PJ's and the diaper has made it's way into one leg of her sleeper.
12:45 - things are back on track, only 45 minutes later than expected.
12:46 - exhaustion strikes, and all joking aside, I wonder if I got a concussion when I smashed my head off the cupboard.

The licking continues

I mentioned the other day that Miriam decided to lick the counter, window and door in the dollar store the other day, but yesterday she was hard pressed to keep her tongue in her mouth!  I caught her licking the following....





*The tire swing at the park
*The slide at the park
*Our bench swing in the backyard
*A soccer ball
*Her sister's crib
*Her sister
*The wall
*A book
*A rock
*The T.V.



And this doesn't include the things I expect her to lick like toy food, her plate and her spoon....

As I said before, I hope she doesn't wake up completely ill one day!  It's pretty gross!  Any suggestions on how to get her to stop???

Wordless Wednesday: My talented son

Whenever I am at a store, the library or just out and about with my 3 wonderful children, I hear this
"Wow! You have 3 beautiful daughters!" or "3 girls??!!"  sometimes I just smile and nod, other times I say that my oldest is just trying to fool everyone with his long hair.

This WW is devoted to him.... and last night his beloved fishy "Peko" was found at the bottom of it's bowl... so it's kinda for him too.

Handsome, not beautiful.

Artistic

patient... he cooked this bread over a fire!

Loving brother

Creative

This video is still in the 'editing' stage, it will be don sand uploaded to youtube soon, but I thought I would give everyone who reads a little sneak peak.

Sorry, my Wordless Wednesday wasn't quite "Wordless"!!

To be a kid again...

Seth is always telling me about what he is going to do when he grows up.  Forever listing the things he will do differently or the same as I do.

Eric and I always find ourselves saying the same thing "Just enjoy being a kid!"

No responsibilities, way less stress, no money worries, no houses to clean, no people to cook for.  If I could go back to being a kid, even for an hour, I would definitely do it! (not forever though, because I love my kids too much to be away from them)

Miriam is starting to grow up too.  She has recently hit the stage where a single word will make her burst into hysterical laughter.  Words like "Bum" and "Poo" and "Boogers".   Today she ran into Seth's room, looked up at him and yelled "POOOO!!!" and laughed so hard that she fell down and rolled on the floor, no jokes.

The words no longer make me laugh, or even smirk.  I am a true adult when the word 'booger' doesn't affect me. BUT seeing Miriam rolling on the floor in a fit of laughter certainly got me going!

Kids are care-free....  How amazing!!  Yet the other lesson I have been reminded of twice this week is that sometimes care-free is not so great.

Lucy came crawling over to me with fingers that were covered in poop.  She was still smiling, the smell was making me nauseous, and I have no idea where this tiny piece of poop came from, but in this instance, being care-free (and in Lucy's case, not knowing any better) is not a benefit.

We were checking out at the dollar store this evening and I look over at Miriam and see her licking (YES, LICKING WITH HER TONGUE) the window, then she runs over and licks the side of the counter, and runs as fast as she can to lick the door.  She did all of this before I could utter any words to make her stop.  I think my mind was still registering exactly what was happening, but she definitely licked 3 things in the dollar store, and quite possibly more.  An other instance where being care-free may not be so good.

I am just crossing my fingers that she doesn't wake up ill tomorrow morning....