I need an instruction manual

on how to raise these kids. I think someone could make a crapload of money by writing a manual and sending it out the door of the hospital with baby and mom. I mean, seriously, someone has to know how to do this. It is, however, most assuredly not me.

Bryn has been getting out of bed just about every night for the past month or so. And I am not talking the normal "I need a drink of water" or "there are monsters under my bed", but instead a 1:00 am "I am soooooo tired, but I can't sleep and I need you to help me sleep". Really? How the hell am I supposed to do that? Her answer is that she sleeps in our room and in our bed where she gets a blissful night of deep sleep and Aaron and I endure bruised shins and cracked ribs and maybe a total of 5 minutes of REM sleep. So the answer to that little suggestion from her is "ummmmmmm. No. Go back to bed." Let the misery commence.

Depending on the night, the above scenario occurs no less than three and sometimes more than 6 times. Each visit becomes a little more dramatic and somewhere around visit three, the hysteria grows so that there is wailing and crying and door slamming and, eventually, a total emotional meltdown. And that is just on my part. Actually, no matter how calm I remain, we are still generally up for 2 hours trying to get through it. Aaron will usually then throw the covers aside and, with bulging eyes, storm into her room and take the Nintendo DS or some other coveted item. 80% of the time that is the last time we see her. That night. The process starts all over the next night and after a full day of hearing her whine about not having (insert whatever item dad confiscated the night before), I am just that much happier to hear her padding down the hall at midnight.

I have tried rewards. I have tried punishments. I have tried reasoning and negotiating. I have tried crying. I have tried yelling. I REFUSE to let her sleep in our bed. I REFUSE to sleep in her bed. There is no reason we can't all have our own sleeping space. I just have to figure out how to make that happen.

I just need the instruction manual to tell me how to do it.

Sad, sick kid

Not looking too happy on the ride home...



She is feeling a lot better. She had no fever as of late yesterday afternoon and she is happily back to playing her DS while her brother terrorizes her. She is going to get to go back to camp for one of the two week sessions and the very nice camp director is going to credit the full amount we paid to the two week cost. So now just as long as her mom can survive TWO whole weeks of camp, Bryn is all set. Things are looking up and I am thankful for the blessing of a healthy kid and the generosity of a little camp in Missouri!

Oh no!

I got a call from camp yesterday morning...Bryn was in the nurse's lodge with a temp of 101 degrees and had been there since about 10:00 the night before feeling bad. As I was on the phone with the nurse discussing whether or not I should go get her, Bryn passed out and hit a railing and got a bloody nose. Needless to say, mama was in the car within 30 minutes making the 4 hour trip back to Rolla, MO to get Bryn. When I got there and went into the room she started sobbing and was just a little inferno. She was crying because she felt bad, didn't want to leave camp and wanted to go home all at the same time. Poor kid.

Her fever broke today, but she had to be fever free for 24 hours before she could go back to her cabin or participate in any activities, so she would have only had Friday and half of Saturday even I took her back. We are working on getting her back to camp this summer and I think we can make it happen, but it was just so sad...the poor kid has been looking forward to animal camp and saving her money for an entire year - not fun that this is the way it went.

Bryn and Cherry Cola

Here is Bryn with the first animal she encountered at camp - a llama named Cherry Cola. Cherry Cola posed with about 200 kids and as far as I know, she didn't spit on anyone. That is a good natured animal!


I only took one other picture when we dropped her off and that one turned out blurry. Fortunately, I ordered the picture CD of all the pics that the counselors and directors take and Bryn has two disposable cameras. Hopefully someone will get capture the camp experience on film because obviously I can't be relied on to do so!

And since I actually have a pic of Grant enjoying his pool, I will post it, too. There will be no pool time today...more rain for us. I guess it at least gives me a good excuse not to leave the house!

Camp

It is hard to believe that Bryn is old enough to go to camp, but considering we dropped her off in Rolla, MO (4 hours away from home!) today I am guessing that time has come. Within the first 20 minutes of camp, she had he picture taken with a llama named Cherry Cola and got to pet a baby pygmy goat, a baby wallaby, two kittens and a dog. The dog was rescued from a shelter and Bryn spent the time form the dog to the cabin trying to convince us that she is old enough to take care of a dog and that we need another one. Ummmmm...no. We never even saw where any of the animals live...these were just what they had out milling around with the camp counselors during check in. She is going to have a blast. I am not expecting to hear much until we pick her up, though - she informed me as we were packing her stuff up that she didn't need any self addressed, stamped envelopes because she will be too busy to write. Hopefully she will at least find the time to send a short email or two. I will try to post a couple of pictures tomorrow, but I will have to figure how to get them off of the new phone first.

In other news...we are likely going to put in a pool and redo the back patio. I have been checking into (O.K....obsessing about finding) companies to do it all and it just really sucks to not know someone good right off hand to take care of it. It is just so hard to know who to trust with a project that can go so very wrong...

So sad

I had to take a 24 hour break from our trip to Lake of The Ozarks with Mom and John this past weekend to attend Krista's husband's funeral. Not fun. I did have a nice time catching up with Nikki (she came and spent the night with me at mom's house and we stayed up for hours talking and laughing) and seeing many people that I hadn't seen for years- some I hadn't seen since high school. But the occasion for being there was definitely not part of that nice time. There were a LOT of people at the service - pilots, police officers and all the people that Lynn had touched in his all too short life. Krista and her family are hanging in there and doing better than I think I would be, but they are completely devastated. It is hard to make sense of the tragedy and even harder to think of those kids growing up without their daddy. RIP Lynn. You will be greatly missed.

Crazy few weeks and horrible news

It has been a crazy few weeks since I posted last. We took a vacation out to Jackson and Yellowstone and met Dad and Cheryl there. We stopped in Casper for lunch on our way out to see my grandparents (to my disappointment my grandfather is not going to get a rainbow colored glass eye to replace the one he had removed - just kidding Grandpa!). We stayed in the Old Faithful Lodge and mammoth Hot Springs (with no cell phone or internet service - what a lovely break!), listened to a ukelele serenade courtesy of Dad, Bryn became a Junior Ranger and a Young Scientist and we had a wonderful time exploring the mountains and looking for wildlife. We saw all of the animals on our wish list - big horn sheep, black and grizzly bears, wolves and moose. We did learn that a Yellowstone vacation may not be ideal for a 2 year old who would rather be running amok than staying on the boardwalks to avoid the geothermal features, but we still had a great time.

Bryn is in Boise until Wednesday and we will leave for Lake of the Ozarks to vacation with Mom and John for a few days on Thursday. In a few short weeks we will be taking her to "Animal Camp" where she will spend a whole week away. I am definitely feeling a little more nervous about it than she is - she can't wait to spend an entire week swimming, taking care of her animal for the week and doing "camp" stuff. Our girl is definitely growing up.

I am working on getting my online classes ready to go for the summer and catching up on laundry, my DVR'd TV shows, the to-do list and housecleaning. While on vacation, my track ball on my Blackberry crapped out and it seemed as good an excuse as any for Aaron and I to head to AT&T and trade in for a couple of new iPhones.

As all of this is going on, I got some devastating news about a high-school friend's husband. I have been alternately crying, attempting to ignore (not very adult, I know) and trying to figure out how to process the news. While browsing Facebook yesterday, I noticed a status update from Krista's sister that her brother-in-law had suffered a massive stroke. A call to Krista's parents' house confirmed that it was indeed Krista's husband who, at 36 years old, is fighting for his life. Despite the fact that Krista and I do not talk regularly I feel as if my heart is being ripped out. I cannot imagine this dear friend that I shared so many wonderful and crazy times with possibly losing her healthy, funny, caring husband. He has since suffered two additional strokes but is somehow currently defying the odds and fighting to stay with his wife and four children. It seems so trite and cliche to say that "life can change in an instant" or "live each day as if it is your last because you never know what is going to happen", but that is just about all that it seems there is to think at a time like this. There are lots of people praying very hard for this family and I just hope and pray that the miracle that Lynn needs to pull through this comes. Fortunately the family has a fabulous support system and tons of loving people around (imagine a family who has people who are working/have worked in law enforcement, the airline industry, the fire department and an extensive church family). But all of the love in the world doesn't change the awful reality that something devastating has happened. I think I'll go peek in on my baby and hug my sleeping husband while I have the gift of being able to do so.