Bad habit

Ok, it's Tuesday, so I have another confession. For the longest time, I've had the bad habit of picking my cuticles. Any and all dry or raised skin around my fingernails gets picked. Sometimes even until I bleed. It's horrible. My thumbs are by far the worst, and my left thumbnail has nasty ridges in it from messing with the cuticle so much. I'm always so embarrassed of them. And it's so mindless, too--half the time I don't even know I'm doing it.

I remember one time in college while I was taking a behavioral psych class, I conducted an experiment on myself to see if I could curb the bad habit. I wore a rubber band around my wrist and every time I caught myself picking, I'd pop myself. The problem is, if there was still skin to be picked (OMG that just sounds so gross), it didn't matter how many times I popped myself, I'd go right back to picking. Pop, pick, pop, pick...ouch, ouch, ouch. Experiment failed.

Adam tries to help remind me not to pick, and even Aidan and Logan have started to get on my case about it, but I just can't help it. So frustrating!

But at this point, I'm seriously fed up with it, and I'm ready to really try to put a stop to it once and for all. This time the experiment is to keep my nails painted as much as I can, because I noticed that I tend to do it less if I have nail polish on.



Look at the fact that my nails match my shoes! Not at my thumb...

Adam and the boys got me an ELF nail polish sampler pack for Christmas so I've been having a lot of fun trying out new shades, and over the past couple of weeks, I've noticed my thumbs looking better. I'm SO hoping that if I can get my fingers back to normal, I can break the cycle. Anyone who picks probably know that it's a vicious cycle.

Unfortunately, my polish only looks good for like 2 days max before it starts chipping, which is why I never really bothered with regular manicures before because it's a PITA to keep up with and it takes my nails forever to dry. Oh well, I'm hoping it'll be worth it :)

In the meantime, if anyone has any advice for how to stop, I'm all ears! And if you have any recommendations for a good nail polish base coat and/or top coat, I'd love to hear them, too.

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Ice cold

Even if the weather hasn't made up its mind--going from light snow on a Friday to sunny and almost 60* the next Monday, and back down to below freezing and an ice storm a few days later--I've made up mine. I hate the cold. I'm done with winter.



I've lived in NC my whole life (granted, it doesn't get that cold here for very long) but I'm starting to think I might be a Floridian at heart. Sometimes it takes every ounce of me to resist the urge to hibernate, huddled under a blanket on the couch with my little loves.

I'm feeling mostly uninspired, unmotivated, and physically tense. I carry all of my stress in my shoulders, so when I'm cold and shivering, the knots in my back get out of control. "Angry," as one masseuse put it.



The winter storm on Friday meant the kids got out of school early. I drove home from work as snow started falling, and while part of me was loving the magical winter wonderland aspect of it all, the other part of me was dreading the thought of taking the kids out in the cold to play. Then I felt guilty for wanting to deny them a rare chance to play in the snow that we maybe get once or twice a year.

Fortunately for me, the snow quickly turned to a mix of sleet and freezing rain, which was significantly more unappealing to them. Instead, we watched from the warmth our house as the icicles magically formed on Adam's car and the trees outside.



The kids did kind of gypped in the snow department so far this year--first a lame dusting and then ice--so if we did have one real snow, I supposed I'd suck it up wouldn't complain too much. :)



But all this back and forth with the weather is just teasing me. I mean seriously, it's supposed to be 74 here on Wednesday! Who knows, maybe the hint of spring is enough to get me out of this funk. Hopefully I (and my poor daffodil bulbs) can survive until winter is officially over. Can't wait.


my poor, confused daffodils...

PS: I admit that this is pretty much how we spend our weekends when it's too cold or wet to play outside. So yeah, for the sake of their brain cells, it needs to warm up ASAP.


Lorelai does get a lot of exercise bouncing around on that ball though!

The good kind of sore muscles

This past Sunday, I had every intention of going for a run while Lorelai napped. And then the lure of my couch, my computer and my comfy pants won out and I bailed. But then I got mad at myself because there was a Becky-shaped butt print in my couch and I just felt blah.

Monday rolled around, and since Adam and I were both working from home with the kids for MLK day, I decided to just take the afternoon off from work. I couldn't come up with a legit reason NOT to run, so run I did. I think the key that day was that I got dressed for the day in my running gear, so all I had to do was throw on shoes and go.

It was a gorgeous day for running--not too hot or too cold--so Adam took the kids out to play while I waved to them on each of 3 laps around my neighborhood, for a total of a little over 3 miles. I did C25K week 4, but at the end of the program, I was still feeling good so I did another mile(ish)!




But DUDE was I sore on Tuesday. It was the good kind of sore though. Made me feel like I got a good workout, but I was still mobile (although I visibly limped down the hall at work on a couple of occasions after sitting for too long and getting crazy stiff...).

And I even did some yoga and a couple of those exercise sportskool Thin in 10 programs a couple more days throughout the week. Go me!

Could it be that I'm finally back in the swing of things with working out?! I sure hope so, because I hate starting all over again.

via

 Linking up with Noel @ High Heeled Mama

I confess: I'm a furniture anchoring newbie

Eight and a half years and 3 kids into this whole parenting thing, and before this weekend I had never anchored a single piece of furniture to the wall. I know, I know. Shame on me. But in my defense, Aidan and Logan never even so much as pretended to climb on any furniture so it never registered as a concern of mine.

Lorelai on the other hand...I've seen her try to climb up both her dresser and her bookcase. I yelled (yes, yelled) at her not to do it, but I knew that before we made the transition to a toddler bed and she could play in there unsupervised, we'd have to anchor her furniture. It was even more clear after I read this tragic story a few weeks ago. Unthinkable, and I was mad at myself that I even took that chance with the boys, knowing what could have happened.



So this weekend, we grabbed a pack of eyelet screw from Home Depot for $1.19 and used some cable ties we already had to secure everything to the wall. This was after we realized that apparently neither Target nor Walmart had any kind of actual kits. What?! But whatever, our way is just as good and probably cheaper.




I pulled out the bottom drawer of her big dresser and stood in it, and it didn't budge, so I think we're good to go. Whew! (Also, glad I didn't break the dresser...)

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A toddler bed fail...but a pacifier win??

I had grand plans this weekend to transition Lorelai to a toddler bed in the hopes that it would help with her overnight pee issue. If she can get out of bed herself at night, maybe she'd come get us when she had to pee? No guarantee, but worth a shot, right? And since she's basically day time potty trained, this is the next logical step to fully potty trained anyway.

So we secured all her furniture to the walls so she'd be safe unsupervised, and took the crib rail off.



She was very excited to play in her new bed and pretend to nap in there with Aidan, so I figured she'd be good to go at bedtime. But apparently she was all talk, no game. Because as soon as I turned out the lights and tried to lay her down, she freaked out and pulled every last blanket and toy off her bed and refused to go near it until I put the crib rail back on. Total fail.

Call me naive, I really had no expectations that this would be a difficult transition at all for her. Aidan easily moved to a twin bed right at 2 years old (to free up the crib for Logan on the way) and Logan had no problem doing the toddler bed thing when he was (I thought) the same age as Lorelai now. Could be that he was older, but either way, 2 out of 3 transitions were a total breeze. But just my luck, third time wasn't a charm. It's like I have three completely different kids or something ;)

BUT...since I had already steeled myself for a long night of being up with Lorelai in case she fell out of bed or took advantage of her new found freedom, I figured I might as well do something else huge instead. Yep, we went cold turkey on the paci.

We had already weaned her down to just nighttime and naps at home a while ago (funny enough, she hasn't napped with a paci at daycare for a year and a half) and she knew the paci always stayed in the crib, but it was time to take that last step and get rid of them for good.

I didn't have a real plan going in because I was debating whether to do the paci fairy or something else along those lines. I had previously mentioned several times that it might be time for the paci fairy to come and take her pacifiers to a new baby who needed them, but she didn't seem to like that idea at all so I didn't really know what to do.

So on a whim, I went with the "oops, I must have lost your pacis, I'll go look for them" trick, tucked her in and left with no intention of coming back in with them (she sleeps with two). Of course she cried for them, so I made a show out of looking for them under her covers and distracted her by taking her to the potty. She woke up crying like 4 more times that night (all while Adam and I were still awake, so not too bad for us), but amazingly, she only asked for the paci that first time.


Shhhh, they're in my sock drawer just in case!

That was on Saturday, so at nap on Sunday, she asked for them again. We looked under her bed and my bed with no luck (obvs), and she went to sleep just fine (although didn't sleep as long as usual, maybe coincidence). Sunday night was the exact same thing--she asked about them, we looked, and she slept fine without one. Tonight, she asked, I said they were still lost and she seemed fine with it.

I don't know if it's too soon to tell, but it's looking like we're pacifier free now, woohoo! And if it sticks, it's really not nearly as bad as I had anticipated.

And if I had to choose, I'd choose the paci win over the toddler bed because to be honest, I'm not all that upset that she's still contained at night. It's more peace of mind for me that she can't get into mischief while no one is looking...or go wake up the boys or crawl into bed with us!

Maybe we'll try the toddler bed again in a month or two...who knows. There really isn't any pressure, thank goodness!

"Snow" Day

At 4pm yesterday when it was 45* and rainy, our school district--in its infinite wisdom--decided to completely cancel school today based on a projected forecast of 2-4 inches of snow.

And this is what we woke up to:



Whomp, whomp. Only a lame dusting--not even enough to play in.

Granted, we don't "do snow" well here in central NC anyway, since it doesn't happen often. But seriously?? They couldn't have at least called a 2-hour delay until they knew for sure? Now we have to have a makeup day for no reason.

On the plus side, I got to hang out at home in my sweats with two sweet boys who kept me company. I mean, I was still working, and they kept me company by watching way too much TV and video games on the couch next to me...but they also vacuumed my floor, so that kind of makes up for the technology overload, right?

Adam went to work and Lorelai actually went to daycare today, since they just had a delayed opening (we pay for it regardless, she loves it and wanted to see her teachers, and I needed to focus on work...so I'm trying not to feel bad about it). But when she got home, she inexplicably ditched her pants (but not boots) and got in on the Wii action.


She really wanted them to play Skylander Giants.

And to top it all off, this guy lost his first tooth!



I really hope the tooth fairy has a $5 handy, since she already set that precedence with Aidan. And you better believe he remembers and has already mentioned how he's going to spend his $5 (putting it towards another Skylanders character, their new obsession.)

So even though we didn't get much snow to speak of, I suppose I can't complain about what's basically a 4-day weekend (aside from the fact that I still have to work) since everyone is out of school on Monday for MLK day. 

TGIF!

Overnight diapers are no match for her

How is it possible that Lorelai can pee so much at night? I really don't think my expectations are too high here. It's not like I think she should be dry all night. But is it too much to ask that she doesn't wake up (early) soaked all the way through with wet clothes and sheets??

I've had to change her sheets the past two nights in a row, and I can't remember the last time she's gone a full week without leaking. And last week, she had peed through her diaper by 2:30am! OMG.


Pee sheets? Nope, not funny, honey.


We've tried to cut back on her liquid intake at dinner and make her pee on the potty right before bed, but even then, she sometimes still leaks.



I have no idea what to do at this point. Do I really have to start waking her up in the middle of the night to change her diaper and take her pee? No bueno. We didn't have to do that for the boys until they only needed the less absorbent pullups at night which was easier than messing with a diaper. Any suggestions??

Oh man, I'm on a roll with the potty talk. First poop, now pee. You're welcome.